Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 4 -- Architecture)

What truly amazed me and definitely gained a lot of shoot from my camera was the architecture, especially that of Harajuku (原宿).

JR Harajuku Station

from Locky's English Playground

Harajuku, an area where tradition meets modernisation, crossing over Japanese pop culture. Youngsters dress in variety of styles such as the gothic lolita are easily seen there, but the first thing that caught my attention was how stunning the buildings were.

They have an entire building just with glass walls just for soccer fans to worship.

Soccer Shop KAMO

from Locky's English Playground

 Boutiques and small shops can have their own external designs, chic at its extreme!

DIVA SALON

from Locky's English Playground

Some shops truly love nature and allow greens to blend into their architecture.

Harajuku Mochi Chocolat

from Locky's English Playground

from Locky's English Playground

Big brands have their own buildings and allow their beliefs and visions to stand out from the surroundings, yet allowing the surroundings to facilitate their daily operations (eg. use of sunlight, trees shades, glass reflections of the greens)

FOREVER 21

from Locky's English Playground

H & M

from Locky's English Playground

GAP

from Locky's English Playground

ZARA

from Locky's English Playground

Godiva even puts its "chocolate" on the shop's wall!

Godiva

from Locky's English Playground

Some shops prefer European style with a touch of modern "glassy-ness".

Bakery Cafe 426 Omotseando

from Locky's English Playground

CA4LA

from Locky's English Playground

  

LOCANDA.F.Q.

from Locky's English Playground

 

Others are simply highly innovative, obviously, creativity is allowed to boom here! 

Patagonia

from Locky's English Playground

Body Wild

from Locky's English Playground

OMOTESANDO HILLS

from Locky's English Playground

Not to forget that simplicity is beauty. 

A Japanese octopus balls store

from Locky's English Playground

Interesting staircases

from Locky's English Playground

Now, what is the message here? Like the case of Dubai, if there is support from the government, any place can have all the creativity you want in the world! Tourists attractions and scenic spots will never be limited! 

Do we have similar buildings in Hong Kong? Yes, of course.

Are there a lot? Nope, not at all.

Otherwise, why would anyone still consider the Golden Bauhinia Square a place to take pictures? We need better city planning here!

Vocabulary:
worship --(vb)[T] to love, respect and admire someone or something very much, often without noticing their bad qualities
chic -- (n)[U] stylish and fashionable
blend into -- phrasal verb to look or seem the same as surrounding people or things and therefore not be easily noticeable
shade -- (n) [U[ slight darkness caused by something blocking the direct light from the sun
reflection -- (n) [C or U] the image of something in a mirror or on any reflective surface
"glassy-ness" -- (n) [U] Locky's created word, intended to refer to the noun of "glassy" -- literary describes a surface which is smooth and shiny, like glass
boom -- (n) [C or U] a period of sudden economic growth, especially one that results in a lot of money being made


Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harajuku
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_lolita
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Bauhinia_Square

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/worship_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/chic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blend-in-blend-into-sth#blend-in-blend-into-sth__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shade_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/reflection_1#reflection_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/glassy_1

Animal & Environment: Save Shark e-card

Just doing my part on the saving the shark movement, as well as taking a break from the Tokyo trip postings.

Free Save Sharks e-card for download.

For why I support this movement, please read, 

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/05/animals-and-environment-do-sharks.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/animal-save-bluefin-tuna.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-news-save-bluefin-tuna-now_19.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-news-save-sharks-now.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-environment-humboldt-squid.html

Resources:
http://wwf.org.hk/en/reslib/wallpaper/#sharkecard

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/05/animals-and-environment-do-sharks.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/animal-save-bluefin-tuna.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-news-save-bluefin-tuna-now_19.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-news-save-sharks-now.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-environment-humboldt-squid.html

Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 3 -- Trains)

Before I left for Tokyo, friends reminded me that the underground system of Tokyo is one of the most difficult to comprehend in the world. That freaked me out, well, a little.

Then I saw a map similar to this Rail and Subway Map, and I totally understand that this is not just a rumour.

Tokyo Railway Map

from Mappery

Making life even tougher, there are zillions of rules that one must memorise before taking the trains. To name a few -- 3 railway systems make up the Tokyo Subway, , the Toei and the JR East Yamanote Line.

buying the Suica card (equivalent to HK's Octopus, except no personal details are sold),

Suica Card

from Locky's English Playground

finding the right entrance to the right platform,

At the platform

from Locky's English Playground

and finding the fastest train in the right direction,

Searching for the right train

from Locky's English Playground

To do that, I had to continually flip over the map, matching the names of the train lines and the stations at which the trains could reach. Was it really that terrible? Well, no, it is actually really hard to get on the wrong train, but to get on the right one, it was REALLY time-consuming! But after taking a few rides, I found it rather simple in fact, because the tip is, I just needed to ...

1. pick the train lines that get me to my destinations (probably several), then 
2. choose the one with the least number of station, 
3. follow the colours on of the lines (see green for Yamanote line?), know the number (see 5?) of platform, and
4. ZOOM!!!! I get there at speed of light!!!

After I had understood the rules, I began to appreciate, once again, how detail-minded that the Japanese people are.

You see, there are AT LEAST 6 trains that pass through each station at the same time, big stations can go up to 12 or more, yet the Japanese can guarantee that their trains will arrive at exactly that time, accuracy up to the exact minute!!!!! If a train is considered "late", the train needs to miss that exact minute! And if trains are late, you get a free rail journey, and you get a pass to explain to your employer why you are late!!!!

You don't believe me? Watch from 4:20 to 4:48 of this Topgear video in Japan! (You are welcomed to watch the entire program too, it is really funny!)

Race Across Japan: Nissan GT-R vs Bullet Train (Part 1/3)

Can the MTR do that? Delays, delays, delays are what you hear from the MTR ALL THE TIME!!!! Man, how many trains are you managing?

I didn't take the Shinkansen by the JR East, but it is incredible how accurate their arrival time can be. How accurate, watch the next video from 1:37.

Race Across Japan: Nissan GT-R vs Bullet Train (Part 2/3)

What may not be correct from the above video, is the part that Japanese people not able to speak English, or that the ticket machines do not have English panel (10:00).

Other rules are great and I wished they had similar ones in Hong Kong. One of which if you continue to watch the above video (5:33 to 6:06), you would know -- people always talk with the minimal voice while on the train and never speak on the mobile on the train as it is considered impolite. The day I returned to Hong Kong I took the Airport Express, and this spastic, self-centred, arrogant, selfish business jerk just kept gloating loudly about his success over the phone with his long-missed local friend and wouldn't put a sock in it until the moment he left the train at Hong Kong Station!!!

I also thought that the MTR in Hong Kong really is nothing as compared to the ones in Tokyo. Look at this,

from Locky's English Playground

They have LCD screens showing the routes and another screen to play advertisements and weather reports!

from Locky's English Playground

That's why I am in love with Tokyo!!!

Okay, here's the last part of the Topgear if you want to finish the show.

Race Across Japan: Nissan GT-R vs Bullet Train (Part 3/3)

Vocabulary:
zillion -- (n) [C] informal an extremely large, but not a stated, number
spastic -- (adj) informal an offensive way of saying 'stupid', used especially by children
self-centred -- (adj) disapproving only interested in yourself and your own activities
arrogant -- (adj) unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people
jerk -- (n) [C] slang a stupid person, usually a man
gloat -- (vb) [I] to feel or express great pleasure or satisfaction because of your own success or good luck, or someone else's failure or bad luck
put a sock in it informal humorous used to tell someone to be quiet or stop making so much noise



Resources:
http://www.informa-v.com/EN/onlinemap2.htm
http://mappery.com/map-of/Tokyo-Public-Transportation-Map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Japan_Railway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Bureau_of_Transportation#Toei_Subway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_transit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metro

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/08/tv-topgear-with-fast-cars-and-british.html
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/zillion
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/spastic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/self-centred
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/arrogant
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/jerk_3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gloat_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/put-a-sock-in-it#put-a-sock-in-it__1

Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 2 -- Ladies' Fashion)

Japanese people are famous for their incredibly polite manner, and when you visit Japan, the services you receive make you feel like kings and queens. No objections? I think not, which is why so many Hong Kong people love Japan.

What surprised me was that, I supposed the Japanese female casual fashion to lead the trend, but the truth is far from reality.

 Harajuku 原宿 Fashion 

from Locky's English Playground

In fact, most younger Japanese ladies wore pretty much the same clothes -- the same blouses and skirts or dresses, and very different from my expectations, they were pretty conservative in terms of dressing up.

Okay, how were they the same or conservative?

Well, if you look at the picture above, they wore at least 3 pieces of clothes (excluding undergarments) despite 34 degree Celsius of temperature. (I wonder how they handle this heat?)

It could be

1. a thin inner blouse with an outer top and then a small denim jacket / a cardigan, or 
2. a thin inner blouse with a one-piece dress and a jacket. 

What is definitely obvious to me was their fondness of skirts-looking shorts. The shorts looked like a skirt from the first sight, but when the ladies walked, they looked like a pair of pyjamas pants cut short. ( See the girl in the middle of the photo above) That was definitely conservative.

And so it was very very hard to find a girl who dressed less than a girl does in Hong Kong (sorry to disappoint the guys), but this actually suggests that the Japanese girls are generally very well-trained by families, well-nurtured with their cultural values and thus they are decent ladies. (I guess the AV industry has just too much spread.)

Harajuku Fashion 

from Locky's English Playground

But then of course, "conservativity" also has its pros, especially during festivals with fireworks display, the elegant side of the Japanese traditional fashion unleashes to the fullest.

Japanese Lady in Yukata

from Locky's English Playground

Yukata 浴衣, a casual + summer version of kimono 着物, is definitely the highlight of my trip to Japan as it was almost the only way for me to distinguish Japanese ladies from the rest. I had always thought that kimono is one that has a huge obi sash 帯 and Yukata has simply a belt, but after a little research, I know I was wrong. It is the materials used (cotton for Yukata, silk for Kimono) and the design.

Obi Sash around the waists

from Locky's English Playground

Simply looking at the different patterns of the Yukata was enjoyable and worthy enough. I wanted to go to Japan to see Japan as Japan. Had I seen Japan more or less the same as Hong Kong, I would have regretted it.

Yukata of lovely flowery pattens

from Locky's English Playground

from Locky's English Playground

Once I left the pop streets and back to the common places, everything was, sadly, rather similar to Hong Kong (except that all Chinese characters are replaced by Japanese ones, and the streets are 100 times cleaner). People dress pretty much the same as we do in Hong Kong, look pretty much the same as we do (which made it impossible for me to tell whether they were tourists from Hong Kong until they started speaking) ...

Ueno 上野

from Locky's English Playground

... they are as busy as people in Hong Kong (except much more polite and friendly)...

Tokyo 東京 JR Station

from Locky's English Playground

...and they take trains to go everywhere, just like us (except that they get to choose to take the faster trains with less stops but we don't)...

Ikebukuro  池袋 JR Station

from Locky's English Playground

So, what are you trying to say, Locky? Isn't that already very "different"?

Oh yeah! It is! So, I'm glad.


Vocabulary:
blouse -- (n)[C] a shirt for a woman or girl
conservative -- (adj) If you are conservative in your appearance, you usually do not like fashionable or modern clothes or hairstyles
nurture -- (vb)[T] Formal to take care of, feed and protect someone or something, especially young children or plants, and help them to develop
decent -- (adj) socially acceptable or good
"conservativity" -- (n) a word created by Locky, the noun of "conservative"
Yukata 
Kimono 
Obi sash


Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanote_Line
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi_(sash)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blouse
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/conservative_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/nurture_1#nurture_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/decent

Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 1 -- Greens)

Image from Locky's English Playground

Although this was my second time to Japan and the first time to Tokyo (last time was to Hokkaido), I am already really impressed with the minds of the Japanese. From the moment I laid my eyes on slopes besides the road, I was admiring the environmental-friendliness that the Japanese offer to Mother Nature. They really do care a lot about their home country, their greens -- forest, trees, plants, farms, etc.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Although they still have to build their roads and buildings, they have never forgotten to place some greens back to nature -- slopes are green, Jersey barriers are green, crash barriers are green, even noise-barriers are green. It makes me think of only one thing,

"What on Earth have the high-earning officials in the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department been doing? Surfing porn sites again???!!!"

Image from Locky's English Playground

Moving through the highways, passing the fields and through the forests was simply enjoyable! Your eyes get the maximum relaxations, the sky was blue, clouds were white, trees were green, I already felt like I was having vacation already (even before I had even reached the hotel!)

You have to care and respect, to create so much green. And I think we lack this care and respect for our natural treasures.

 I recalled that some years ago the Hong Kong officials went onto a "Journey to the East" to obtain the Nippon Sūtra on environmental protection, now I bet they only went their to enjoy the sushi!

What our government is doing, is not even close!!!

Vocabulary:
clap/lay/set eyes on sb/sth -- to see someone or something for the first time

Mother Nature -- (n) [U] often humorous nature, especially when considered as a force that controls the weather and all living things

porn -- (n)[U] informal for pornography books, magazines, films, etc. with no artistic value which describe or show sexual acts or naked people in a way that is intended to be sexually exciting but would be considered unpleasant or offensive by many people


Resources:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/clap-lay-set-eyes-on-sb-sth#clap-lay-set-eyes-on-sb-sth__1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_barriers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_barrier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_barrier
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/eindex.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_west
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sūtra
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/mother-nature
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/porn_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pornography

Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 0 -- Aerophobia)

Image from Wikipedia

Hello, people! Do you like the movies and shows that I have recommended? Have you been practising your listening skills while I was away? Have you learnt anything cool and useful?

Well, now comes Part 0 of my trip to Tokyo, Japan. I hope this is what most of you have been waiting for. Why Part ZERO? Because I want to share with you what happened before I even got on the aeroplane.

I used to be greatly disturbed by aerophobia, or fear of flying. I wasn't born with it. I remember when I was a little boy around 5 years old, I took the plane to London and I was fine with the experience. It was a long-haul flight! It was until I watched this horror movie called Final Destination (a year 2000 movie) and I was stupid enough to act professional that I immersed myself completely into the protagonist's role. What happened then? The guy dreamt about a plane explosion and so he got off the plane, and the plane did explode, and the death scene was so real and so detailed that I was then haunted by this aerophobia ever since.

(If you would like to suffer from this, you may also get the movie on Blu-ray and a HDTV to try out. I suggest you don't try at all.)

So, it had been ten years, even though I still travel by the aeroplane, I started feeling depressed and anxious 2 days before departure, shuddered before I got onto the plane, and had to hold onto the arm-rests of the seat every time the plane shook a little, which means, throughout the flight. I struggled to keep calm, my heart beat really fast, my whole body sweated, like almost having a panic attack, and I might explode when my family members failed to understand my pain.

They never understand any of this phobia because they are not afraid of it. They still don't understand. I guess it is logical, since I don't understand why some of them are afraid of cockroaches (Entomophobia) and some are afraid of spiders (Arachnophobia). But the thing is, I never laugh at their phobias, because I know how it feels like to be afraid of something that others might not understand. Thinking about this, my family has been kind of cruel to me!!!!

Anyway, aerophobia is one of the most difficult phobias to treat. Why? Because you cannot avoid it. You can stay away from spiders, cockroaches, ask someone to kill it and you'll be better in a short time, but flying on a plane takes hours, and you can't really avoid it.

Quoting from Wikipedia,
"The fear receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid—especially in professional contexts—and because the fear is widespread, affecting a significant minority of the population. A fear of flying may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends, and it can cripple the career of a businessperson by preventing them from traveling on work-related business.
Commercial air travel continues to cause a significant proportion of the public and some members of the aircrew to feel anxiety. When this anxiety reaches a level that significantly interferes with a person's ability to travel by air, it becomes a fear of flying."

So my suggestion is, if you have family members who are afraid of something, respect them and give them support and understanding. PLEASE don't try to laugh it up, it does really really hurt their feelings!!!

Okay, so now, back to where I started.

So the day before my flight, I started to feel anxious, but I knew I had to stop this, because I had had this for 10 years and it was time I fight against this phobia, and like the last time I went to Bangkok, I went online for cures. I felt better the last time round, but still I was not completely cured, in fact, I had a feeling that I was coming back, so I needed something stronger that could help me, and so, I went to Youtube to look for videos that might help.

But they were mainly too commercial......

Watching other victims who have much more severe cases than mine didn't help much either......

Educating myself about how aeroplane flies do comfort myself a little, but still not persistent enough......

This is really comforting, but I have watched this the last time round......

And this time, I found what I have always been looking for ... an expert who can help me using hypnosis.

And so I visited Jospeh Clough's website and I found other even more useful videos, and there I found this video that I used for self-hypnosis to cure my aerophobia.

And just like that, I was 99% cured!! That last 1% was the sweating on my palms. So if you are afraid of something and you really want to cure it, I suggest you also try the same, but try not to randomly use hypnosis for all purposes, you never know how far it can get.


After 4 hours, I landed my feet on Narita Airport, Tokyo, fear free...

Vocabulary:
aerophobia / aviatophobia / aviophobia / pteromechanophobia -- (n) [U] fear of flying
long/short-haul flight -- (n) [C] a long/short journey by air
panic attack -- (n) [C] a sudden period of severe anxiety in which your heart beats fast, you have trouble breathing and you feel as if something very bad is going to happen
-- (n) [C]
entomophobia -- (n) [C] fear of insects
arachnophonia -- (n) [C] fear of spiders
persistent -- (adj) lasting for a long time or difficult to get rid of
hypnosis -- (n) [U] a mental state like sleep, in which a person's thoughts can be easily influenced by someone else






Resources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195714/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_flying
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_phobias
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophobia_(orchid)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnophobia_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnotherapy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-hypnosis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZzbiYfDoxQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M249eFKVL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAfuI2iaJbc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttrQDHpQpcE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62CWpNkPzcw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0-u8bDtWG8

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/haul_4#haul_4__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/panic-attack
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/persistent
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/hypnosis