Just a Few Random Comments


I have been able to contact a few gaijin-house managers in Japan, it looks like I will be renting a room with bed/futon and shared kitchen in Tokyo, so that means I won't have to bring my camping mats, stove and cook set etc. I will still bring my bivy though.

I spend about two hours packing this morning, and then suddenly, I felt so lonely it's paralyzing. I still haven't been able to contact my cousins; Fred and Dennis are both really busy, Winnie has been sick and I didn't want to drag her out of bed just for a farewell dinner. So I faked aloofness. Rather, I wasn't faking it until I realize I do care about these people. I have to ask myself, why am I looking at Satellite images of Tokyo and its train maps while I am still in Hong Kong? I probably won't get a chance to talk to my friends for a long long time. for all I know, I might never see them again.

I just can't get myself to pack any more. The act of packing, of cleaning out of my room, is so... final.

So I started calling my friends, my family, my students, and everyone else. Just being to admit to somebody that I am frightened, is a very soothing thing.

On the brighter side, looks like my garmin GPS is still working. Whether or not I can get a reading in Tokyo is another story. Why is it that they don't name their street in Tokyo?? It's ridiculous!

-a damsel in distress

Bahhh, Can you feel nostalgic if you haven't even left your "past?"

I wasted two days going through my old blog entries, reminding myself of the joys and pains of traveling alone. (Why do I need to go to my blog for that? I only have to look at my solo kayak-circumnavigation of HKSAR epic...)

I have to ask myself, what was I thinking? ? There is still so much to do!

Why is it that they say Japan is small, anyway? It's GIGANTIC. I am starting to think it's more or less impossible to circumnavigate it...

I have officially entered the panic-stage of a trip prep, but that's not a problem, I am quite used to it. I haven't worked out the logistics of it yet; I am flying to Tokyo, I am hoping to see Dr. Poulton in Kyoto in for May or June, I will also need to do a visa run in late May or early June. I also want to settle down in Hokkaido...

Now that I look at it this way, Japan really is huge.

Things I need to do in a hurry:
1) See if HSBC can help me setup an account in Japan.
2) Open an account with Citibank. Apparently you can readily use the ATM card there.

That's it for now. No blogger time for the wicked!

Japan at last

0759 21-Feb-08: /I want to leave HK/
0800 21-Feb-08: Looked at ticket availability
1830 21-Feb-08: Bought a one year return ticket to Japan!

Ha, how is that! Just 72 hrs ago, I thought I would finally go sailing again. I even looked up the Pico availability at Stanley and marked Thursday off for a fun day on the water.

Instead, I am now frantically trying to get things ready for Japan. B4 I go, I need to:
1) Change money
2) Get some passport photos in case I need to apply for a visa
3) Get a IYH membership card
4) Buy a looooonely planet guide to Japan.
5) Find my Aikido dogi and obi. Gosh, where is it??
6) Buy some makeups? I managed to survive Canada, Indonesia and HK without them, but I don't think Tokyo would be so kind. Bahh, why can't I just be a simple peasant? Maybe I should just go to a farm in Hokkaido or join a whaling ship ...
7) Buy a down sleeping bag and a 60L backpack.
8) Find my Olympus digicam, and the XD cards...
9) Hopefully have Hilary Sensei's blessing to train in Hombu. But then, I haven't train for 3 years now. I might as well go as a complete shiro.
10) AC plugs adapters for Japan.

Things to take with me:
1) Passport
2) e-Ticket
3) Cash
4) Fujitsu + Charger
5) Matching socks with no holes in them
6) MSR stove + camping cookset
7) Some LKK seasonings
8) Lonely planet
9) universal charger
10) AC plug converter
11) Omiyage

I've stayed in Hong Kong for nearly two years before I hit the road again. I don't think I would miss Hong Kong, but a strange sense of separation anxiety hits me less than 24 hours after I got the ticket.

I tried to e-mail my college buddies in Canada to tell them about my travel plan (or specifically, lack of a plan), only to find that most of them have graduated and their e-mail addresses are no longer active. It makes me feel really... lonely. On the brighter side, I managed to contact Dr. Poulton, Aaron, and Ryan. So at least I found proofs to myself that I really did exist in Canada at some point.

I just gave away most of my kitchen appliances to Fred, it's already 2330, I know he had a long day and so did I, so I explained to him how to operate the oven, and we said good bye. I had wanted to give him a hug, probably not a common gesture of friendship in HK, but what the hell, we have been close friends. But then, the huge oven and coffee maker he held ever so gently stood in the way, so I gave up the idea. I would die before I admit I am actually jealous of the oven. He asked me if I will come back to HK after Japan, I told him yes. He asked if I plan to stay in HK for long after that, I told him no.

I didn't realize the finality of what I have said until after I said it. I wish he would stay a little longer. I wish I would stay in HK a little longer. I want to go to Japan; but I don't really want to leave Fred, and my night shift comrades, and Dennis, and my family. Despite the on going family conflicts, I don't even really want to leave my cousins. I want to see the world, can I do that and still have all my friends? Or are they going to change their e-mail addresses on me too?

It's like dying all over again. I am entering a world where nobody knows or cares that I exist:

1996: First death - erased all my childhood schoolmates and family to go to Canada, alone.
2005: Second death - erased all my surrogated families and friends and dojo-mates in Canada to go to Indonesia, alone.
2008: Third death, or is it? I can almost get used to it -- get used to losing my lifestyle and stability and all the things that I took for granted so easily.

But I still think this is a good move; otherwise there is no way for me to know, that I am capable of loving them so much.

So good bye, Hong Kong.

-Cordelia