By Gabriel
Having been living in a tropical island state in south east asia for most part of my life. I could never have imagined and experienced what it is to be like in a temperate country like Japan.
From the forever sunny summer city-state of Singapore, never have I encountered Typhoons, Earthquakes, nor any other natural calamities till the days I stepped foot onto Tokyo, Japan, which only been 3 months ago. I have seen TV's footages of typhoons causing severe damages causing lost of properties, some human lives, extensive damages to buildings, roads, mudslides, severe floodings, etc. In addition, not to forget about the occasional bouts of earthquakes within and surrounding Tokyo. As a matter of fact, I had just experienced one small earthquake this morning while in the office. All I felt was that the building was shaking abit under one's feet, felt the chair you sitting having a warm vibrating sensation from under one's bum, while some of my fellow colleagues stopped conversation in mid-track talking and silence prevails for those few split seconds while the building shake abit.
These experiences for a guy like me from a tropical city-state could only possibly be imagined, or watch through from evening news reporting on typhoons or earthquakes, etc. But to personally experienced it is somewhat different from imagination. All I can say is, Japan is indeed an extremely interesting place with lots to see and offers - be it in cultural, language, spiritual or natural beauties of her landscapes, etc. On the other hand, it also offers somethings so starkingly unique and refreshing to a person like me who never had this experiences of the climatic seasonal changes from a all-year summer driven city-state, who is well protected from all natural disasters like typhoons or earthquakes, etc.
As a traveller to many cities, Japan definitely is unique in its many ways. Ultra modern metropolis cities with unending neon lights gyrating throughout the entire nights, with numerous pachinko parlours, countless restaurants lining up the streets, with throngs of people moving in droves in all areas/ all hours. This big metropolis city in Tokyo is definitely well stocked with many happenings and stories, yet, to an uninitiated stranger, Tokyo can be an extremely daunting, unfriendly and difficult place to roam around if language does poses a problem. However, the Japanese people are extremely nice decent people who will be most willing to help and assist whenever they can, especially the station-masters in the Metropolitan subways.
This is a personal views from a tropical person (bred and raised) like me currently living in the the metropolis city of Tokyo. Hopefully, on my next posting, I would like to post views on areas of visits, or personal encounters with interesting events within Japan for those who may continue reading....
Cheers,
Gabriel
