PostBlog: Taking in Tokyo

The biggest metropolitan area in the world at 40 million people is amazing and exhausting. I can't write anything coherent today, so I'm resorting to some random observations in no particular order.

• Tokyo is huge. Huge. No kidding. This is a big city.
• There is no "Tokyo skyline." There are several of them. They are scattered all over the endless 360 degree horizon. Tokyo is sprawling.
• This is an old city. It was not built on a grid. There is no logic to the way the streets are organized. If you were given an address, I don't know how you'd find it.
• Subways: there are at least two separate but overlapping subway systems and never do the two meet. When I tried to use a ticket for one on the other one, I was quickly corrected by a very helpful transit official.
• I was nervous about the language barrier. Unlike other places I've visited, I can't even sound out the words on signs. I needn't have worried. Without understanding a word, a lady who saw us undecided which train to take pointed out the nearby tourist information center. Without saying anything but the place we wanted to go, a police officer showed us on a map how to get there. The officious subway official smiled as he took the correct amount of money out of my hand when I struggled with a mess of unfamiliar currency. An older woman on a crowded subway car pointed with concern at my foot. I looked down and my shoestring was untied. A younger woman traded seats with me so I could sit by Clyde on the crowded train. What language barrier?
• You think Londoners like lining up? They have nothing on the Japanese. Everywhere else in the world, boarding a subway is a free for all. In Tokyo, hundreds of people line up single file, even at rush hour, and wait their turn.
• No one jaywalks here. It doesn't matter if there is any traffic. You do not cross the street until the signal indicates that you may do so. 
• There are very few fat people in Tokyo. 
• Most people talk quietly here. For a huge city, it's a very quiet place. The loudest people in Tokyo are either American or Australian. You can tell the second they open their stupid mouths. 
• Back to the subway - we spent a lot of time on the subway. No one talks on the subway, and if they do, they do it quietly. It is considered very rude to talk on your phone in public, especially on the subway. Everyone, however, is using their phones for other things like texting or playing games. Quietly.
• Lest you think I'm idealizing Tokyo, let me share another observation. I watched a "salary man" eat his lunch today. We were also eating lunch so it wasn't too weird. He looked like he was in his 20s, wore a business suit like millions of others, and he looked absolutely exhausted. There are hundreds and hundreds of these men. They are everywhere. They all wear the same suit. I like the quiet, but I'm a little uncomfortable with the conformity. I hear that these men often work from 8:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night, miss the last train home, and start all over the next day.  How many of those guys are miserable their whole lives? And yes, it's men. Japanese women have other problems. 

Tomorrow we leave the city to see another part of Japan. Tune in next time for another PostBlog from Asia.

On Pushy Mainlanders and Other Random Notes from Hong Kong

• I love the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong. We could stay in the hotel and have a perfectly lovely vacation without ever going out. Just be careful to follow the rules. We got in trouble once for not taking our shoes off before putting our feet up on the folding recliners by the pool.
• The passion fruit tea at Starbucks tastes the same here, but instead of an iced tea, it's more of a crushed ice smoothie. I'm going to suggest it to the Starbucks at home.
• We've eaten at two French restaurants on this trip to Hong Kong. 
• Food figures prominently in these bullet points.
• There are a lot of "pointers" in Hong Kong that we didn't notice before. These are people who, no matter where you are, politely point where you should go. The museum was full of them. Though the next exhibit was clearly marked, a person in a uniform would be standing there pointing to it. When we bought our octopus cards in the subway station (the card that allows you to use transit), we encountered an official pointer. As we came to the front of the line, she pointed to the counter so we'd know when and where to go though it couldn't have been more obvious. Clyde and I theorized that this may be a response to all the mainlanders. Which brings me to the next bullet.
• Chinese mainlanders have a reputation for being pushy and rude. Hong Kongers are especially annoyed at their bad manners. Clyde and I have noticed it in other places as well, such as in Yellowstone National Park and at the Louvre museum in  Paris. Busloads of Chinese descend en mass. They talk loudly no matter where they are. They sometimes cut in line. Occasionally they're just clueless. I'll never forget the Chinese lady who took a picture of a picture of the Mona Lisa. Though it was in the next room, she took a photo of the directions to the real thing. Perhaps a pointer would have been helpful. I've heard one theory by way of explanation. It might be that the Chinese were so isolated and broken down by the cultural revolution, that the entire population never traveled or saw the rest of the world. A couple of generations went by where survival was the only goal. No one visited museums or national parks. Now they have the money and freedom to go to places, but having money doesn't automatically mean you know social etiquette. 
• The best thing about the J.W. Marriott in Hong Kong is the breakfast buffet. They're usually good at Marriotts, but this one is over the top. Everything from traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings (see photo below) to fresh pastries, salmon, fruit, French toast, omelettes to order, and everything else you could possibly want. Yes, I even found the "frosties flakes."





• Clyde is very good at spotting the difference between local Hong Kongers and mainlanders. Of course, he can hear the difference between Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, and Mandarin, what most mainlanders speak. My husband is very smart. (In case you haven't noticed, I didn't bother to put these in any particular order.)
• The coffee at the J.W. Marriott is the best in the world. I don't know why. It just is. Last time we were here we asked what they use and they told us it was Starbucks Pikes blend. So we started using it at home. But it's not the same. I don't know what they do to it here, but it's so smooth, rich, dark, and non-bitter at the same time. It's almost worth the entire visit. 
• This blog is brought to you by J.W. Marriott (just kidding - I wish). 
• Hotel sex is always better. I don't know why. It just is.
• There are some large shopping malls here in Hong Kong. You'd think a vertical city with no extra room wouldn't have malls, which we Americans associate with vast parking lots and suburban sprawl. There are, however, large, multi-level malls with giant atriums in Hong Kong, complete with nice restaurants and gigantic Christmas  decorations hanging from the ceiling. They are underground. They often connect one subway line to another. We're talking high end stuff too, like Versace and  Yves Saint Laurent - not a Walmart or Sears in sight.
• Speaking of Christmas, they advertise for it here, complete with snow scenes and reindeer. It's odd to see kids throwing snowballs and sledding on a billboard in a place where I'm sure most people never see snow.
• The subway is great: clean, modern, fast ... I love a good subway.
• Tomorrow we are off to Japan for a quick visit. Stay tuned.