For a tagger and a mother, I think I've seen a lot *huge grin*, and even more than derod, though he's richer in terms of the experience with the World Skills Competition.
I've walked a large area of Fuji City, to the extent that I'm able to navigate back to the hotel without a map, and taking a different route by which I came from.
I've seen life in the suburbs through living in a local style hotel and being familiar with the streets and shops around it, through looking at life via the route of a train.
I've tasted as much variety of food time and budget could allow.
I've been to selected spots in Shizuoka, taken a trip to Izu Hanto and the highlight of it all, to Hakone. The beauty of nature never fails to awe me.
I've experienced the speed of the famous bullet train, walked the streets of Tokyo, seen its night view from the 52th floor, watched how the city's fishermen trade their morning catches, and even had a gourmet Japanese meal to celebrate derod's birthday.
For a tagger and a mother, I think I've seen a lot. But a part of me can't help but wish I could have more time, more space, more energy to complete my wish-list itinerary. I had to cancel some of my plans to visit other parts of Shizuoka as I realised that gabe had to have his morning nap and meal before I could effectively go out. This meant that I had only the afternoon slot, and perhaps it was for the better, since I was quite tired out by evening. But that meant missing out on some of the must-see locations.
Izu Hanto and Hakone are places that you have to spend at least a few days at, but due to limitations in schedule, we had to make do with two-day trips.
My last job gave me the opportunity of learning about a dimension of buildings I'd never known before. And Tokyo was a great place to behold much architecture, but alas with 2.5 days, we could barely keep up with a simple itinerary.
The trip was dotted with loads of hits, but I suppose these are the misses I wish aren't on my list.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Evaluating Japan: Gabe
Many gaped when we announced that we were tagging along with derod on his two-week posting to Japan. Taking the 9-month old along on a relatively long trip as such didn't seem like an idea that was at all wise, especially to the doting grandparents. Many well-meaning elders worry about how we will cope, how I will manage alone while derod is at work and more so, how gabe will adjust to the plane rides, life and food over there. Will the cold get to him? Will the parents be experienced and knowledgeable enough to dress him up for the weather?
We considered the possibilities too but came to a decision to take him along. For an experience of a family holiday. For not leaving him behind just so we can have an easier time. It would involve a lot more hassle, no doubt, but we figured it wasn't that big a deal enough to leave him behind. Plus, he's proven himself to be a rather easy-going one. That's a big factor in the consideration process.
From the moment I did up the packing list, the reality set in, though we definitely did not make the tag-along decision in haste. Gabe needed a suitcase of his own and it wasn't even enough to put all his logistics in. A third bag containing nothing but his diapers had to be included.
Each day in Japan, I had to time his naps, meals, prepare the food in advance, lug a huge (read heavy) backpack wherever we go, consider the destinations and modes of travelling that were most friendly, etc. We couldn't stay in the hotel allocated to derod (if gabe wasn't there, bunking in would be so easy) so we had to stay somewhere else and derod had to commute between the two accommodation venues. We went on trips out of base camp and checked in and out to reduce expenditure (luggage will be chucked in the allocated hotel) so we had to lug three luggages in and out, up and down stairs, incurring taxi cost and essentially packing and unpacking almost every other day. Meal times involved trying to silence the shouting, screaming baby. Whether it was in restaurants (we were usually given tatami rooms so gabe can sit on the floor with us) or standing along the streets slurping up noodles, we had to take turns to eat. In Tokyo, we had to "sedan" gabe half the time in the train stations as elevators weren't or weren't easily available.
We were tired. After efforts to put gabe to bed each night, we had to wash and sterilize bottles and utensils, and derod had to work on his computer. That and all the constant moving and "exercise" we were getting.
The photos on his blog and the narrations of our trips look fun and great but that's not the whole picture. It wasn't easy. Any parent would know. It's perhaps no wonder then that we were given the areyousureyouwanttodothisandcanyouhandleit look. It took lots of effort, lots more than what a holiday should do for a person. But you know what, after thinking about it both before and after the trip, the conclusion's still the same. No regrets.
I enjoyed it on the whole. And because I did, derod was happy. And because my hubby is so sweet to give me that priority by placing his satisfaction level on mine, I am happy. If gabe was a "problem", then many times he's also the "solution". We will be given priority at the airport (only in Japan) simply because we have a baby in the stroller. When one of us takes a seat to entertain him while the other is running around trying to get something done, there will be no lack of people popping their heads in front of him, declaring how cute he is, asking for his vital stats and playing with him. He attracted so many obasan that I'll even get assistance carrying the stroller up buses, having the baby carried by the owners of the eateries/ restaurants so that we can have a proper meal, free entertainers on trains, along corridors and underpasses and more importantly, even the hotel staff loved him.
They knew that we inquired of upgrading our room from Singapore all the way to the reception on the day of arrival. And gabe being the only baby around, we stuck out. Some days we actually crammed into the allocated hotel and I was the one asking for extra towels, returning and requesting for keys at the reception, so the entire staff actually know that we did put up there on some days. Though we were told that the hotel would not put us up due to space constraints of a single room and fire regulations, they said nothing. In fact, they lent me as much assistance as I required. And, they loved gabe. A couple of older obasan-staff carried him in the lobby, and the younger ones who couldn't speak English would play hello-bye with him. On the day we checked out, a lady I was familiar with and who spoke English told me that gabe was the subject of discussion in the staff room: how good a boy he was (somehow he never made a noise when we were in the lobby), how cute he was and what a great mother I am (faint right?!). They even went to the extent of speculating why he was such a good boy, that perhaps it was because I take him for long walks (they know because I always ask for directions on how to walk to places and they'll widen their eyes at the distance) and hence this satisfies him. But for two "illegal immigrants", we enjoyed a lot of favour. And we enjoyed a lot of favour generally, though I have to admit that it's partly because of the high level of service in the country.
So, I suppose though there were valleys, there are more mountain-peak experiences on this ride, and some surprises too -- his development process. Thank God. I'm still all smiles.
We considered the possibilities too but came to a decision to take him along. For an experience of a family holiday. For not leaving him behind just so we can have an easier time. It would involve a lot more hassle, no doubt, but we figured it wasn't that big a deal enough to leave him behind. Plus, he's proven himself to be a rather easy-going one. That's a big factor in the consideration process.
From the moment I did up the packing list, the reality set in, though we definitely did not make the tag-along decision in haste. Gabe needed a suitcase of his own and it wasn't even enough to put all his logistics in. A third bag containing nothing but his diapers had to be included.
Each day in Japan, I had to time his naps, meals, prepare the food in advance, lug a huge (read heavy) backpack wherever we go, consider the destinations and modes of travelling that were most friendly, etc. We couldn't stay in the hotel allocated to derod (if gabe wasn't there, bunking in would be so easy) so we had to stay somewhere else and derod had to commute between the two accommodation venues. We went on trips out of base camp and checked in and out to reduce expenditure (luggage will be chucked in the allocated hotel) so we had to lug three luggages in and out, up and down stairs, incurring taxi cost and essentially packing and unpacking almost every other day. Meal times involved trying to silence the shouting, screaming baby. Whether it was in restaurants (we were usually given tatami rooms so gabe can sit on the floor with us) or standing along the streets slurping up noodles, we had to take turns to eat. In Tokyo, we had to "sedan" gabe half the time in the train stations as elevators weren't or weren't easily available.
We were tired. After efforts to put gabe to bed each night, we had to wash and sterilize bottles and utensils, and derod had to work on his computer. That and all the constant moving and "exercise" we were getting.
The photos on his blog and the narrations of our trips look fun and great but that's not the whole picture. It wasn't easy. Any parent would know. It's perhaps no wonder then that we were given the areyousureyouwanttodothisandcanyouhandleit look. It took lots of effort, lots more than what a holiday should do for a person. But you know what, after thinking about it both before and after the trip, the conclusion's still the same. No regrets.
I enjoyed it on the whole. And because I did, derod was happy. And because my hubby is so sweet to give me that priority by placing his satisfaction level on mine, I am happy. If gabe was a "problem", then many times he's also the "solution". We will be given priority at the airport (only in Japan) simply because we have a baby in the stroller. When one of us takes a seat to entertain him while the other is running around trying to get something done, there will be no lack of people popping their heads in front of him, declaring how cute he is, asking for his vital stats and playing with him. He attracted so many obasan that I'll even get assistance carrying the stroller up buses, having the baby carried by the owners of the eateries/ restaurants so that we can have a proper meal, free entertainers on trains, along corridors and underpasses and more importantly, even the hotel staff loved him.
They knew that we inquired of upgrading our room from Singapore all the way to the reception on the day of arrival. And gabe being the only baby around, we stuck out. Some days we actually crammed into the allocated hotel and I was the one asking for extra towels, returning and requesting for keys at the reception, so the entire staff actually know that we did put up there on some days. Though we were told that the hotel would not put us up due to space constraints of a single room and fire regulations, they said nothing. In fact, they lent me as much assistance as I required. And, they loved gabe. A couple of older obasan-staff carried him in the lobby, and the younger ones who couldn't speak English would play hello-bye with him. On the day we checked out, a lady I was familiar with and who spoke English told me that gabe was the subject of discussion in the staff room: how good a boy he was (somehow he never made a noise when we were in the lobby), how cute he was and what a great mother I am (faint right?!). They even went to the extent of speculating why he was such a good boy, that perhaps it was because I take him for long walks (they know because I always ask for directions on how to walk to places and they'll widen their eyes at the distance) and hence this satisfies him. But for two "illegal immigrants", we enjoyed a lot of favour. And we enjoyed a lot of favour generally, though I have to admit that it's partly because of the high level of service in the country.
So, I suppose though there were valleys, there are more mountain-peak experiences on this ride, and some surprises too -- his development process. Thank God. I'm still all smiles.
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