Japan - In a Nutshell

I have finally loaded up the whole Japan diary entry. The last count on Word was 78xx words altogether and yet I feel that it cannot describe fully all the new sights, sounds and tastes I experienced, not to mention the insanity that struck the whole lot of us. It could be that being a process engineer in the paint manufacturing sector can lead to serious damage of brain cells what with the smell of solvents wafting around and all.

A few things I forgot to mention in the previous posts includes how open minded the Japanese are... coming from a country where everything is censored (this includes the cleavage you see in pictures of actresses - some of our newspapers blur the cleavage - as if people don't know what it is), and I was incredibly intrigued by the so called dirty magazines on display (despite being a woman myself), and wanted to get one, but didn't. But I do think they underestimate women... JC and I had to put up with several rather sexist remarks, which seemed to carry undertones of them not being particularly pleased at the fact that we do not open up the pumps as a leisurely activity. For that, I'm very glad to be Malaysian. Other than a small majority of people who are idiots to begin with (some politicians, unfortunately), women are treated rather well... especially at my workplace.

Mount Fuji was an experience on it's own. We literally walked into clouds.

Another interesting thing of note I noticed was of people smoking. There are tonnes of smokers around, and yet they are not allowed to smoke anywhere they wish to (this includes open areas like the road and such) and are instead forced to stand in melancholic mood along back alleys while they get their fix.

Food was interesting (especially those outside the dorm ;)), but lacked a certain quality which I adore, that is spiciness, but otherwise it's an experience worth having.

The weather was pretty good (except for the typhoon) but that in itself was another new experience... We were too early for fall colours and balding trees, but I got to see some Japanese flora (sunflowers seem to be a favourite) and fruit trees.

Anyway, for easier reference, I have compiled the whole list of posts related to this particular Japan trip. Otherwise, you can refer to the category labelled Japan on the sidebar. Or scroll below

The Journey Begins

Getting Acquainted

The First Week

Yokohama

Kamakura

Week Two

Mt Fuji

Honshu Island

Final Week

Note:  Apologies about the massive quantity of blogging in a day, but I had to do it while I had the opportunity to do so. Blogging has been erratic of late due to various reasons that I may or may not explain on a later date, but I figured that I might as well load the whole thing here while it was still relevant. And I also apologise if I have not been visiting your blogs and commenting as usual... things should be able to get back into their normal groove by mid November. Or so I hope... 

Edit: Stuff I forgot to add...

1. Miso soup, the soup served with almost every meal differs in taste from region to region (or from cook to cook)

2. The younger generation seem to be doing jobs most older people in M'sia do. I wonder where do the older people work?

3. While sitting in a shinkansen (300km/hr), the view outside is almost synonymous with those old movies that seem to move frame by frame when you pass by electric poles

4. The shinkansen apparently shrinks in width when it passes by another shinkansen in the next track. I was unfortunate enough to not be able to experience the shrinking.