Reliving the Magnificent Memories 03.06

There are trips.......
And then there are journeys of a lifetime.

There are times when we return merely satisfied......
And then there are those truly special passages that leave us completely satiated through and through.

I don’t think it would be necessary to point out which category my trip fell into.

What an unbelievable, glorious voyage I’ve had.

Indeed if there is such a thing called the “Complete BYJ Immersion Tour,” then what I went on was exactly that. And it was much more than I had ever dared to hope for......

The beautiful memories all started…..in Japan!

What? Yes, Japan.
Why? Because until the last minute, my trip was touch and go, due to a sudden medical emergency of my father, due to a lot of sisters echoing concerns about our going to Jeju for naught, due to fears that us foolish, non-Korean speaking gals would be completely lost over there and lastly, due to acute cancellation from the trip by one of our dear sisters and acting tourguide. Suddenly without concrete plans nor itinerary, we wavered a dozen times. And we hesitated two dozen times more. By the time we decided to go and have a blast anyway, with or without BYJ, the best fares were on JAL. Despite the inconvenience of a stop-over requirement, the whopping $550 discount per person made the decision simple. Tickets in my hands only 2 days before departure. So, off to Japan it was!

And, this…….marks the beginning of the continued paradox that this low-expectation trip ended up becoming.

Hey……..we weren’t supposed to be in Japan at all!

With a few days to go – we fired a couple of emails to some sisters we knew, and hoped for the best. It was a long shot, but we were desperate, so it was worth a try.

On a beautifully chilly night , we landed in Narita and made it smoothly to our hotel. Our frozen faces and bodies made us simultaneously crave Shabu and without any dispute, both of us came up with exactly the same thing in our minds – yeah, Roponggi, what else! It’s almost cliché, but it had to be done, since I’d never eaten there.

Hey, fellow studly BYJ fans – Quiz A- you can name where this is and when he was here, right?
Sufficiently energized after a great meal, and having had new life breathed into me after seeing his lovely pics, we roamed this lively district a good while, despite no shut-eye for 36hrs now (don't ask), even finding good shopping at some 24hr shop. Hah – who’d thought I’d complete so much of my gift shopping for my family on just day 1? By 2am, we turned in, and despite the nervous energy, we somehow managed to coax those eyes to rest a bit…….

Big day ahead

Up at the crack of dawn, and off running today. Beautiful day….but no cherry blossoms in full bloom yet. That’s 2 years in a row I’ve come to Japan in spring only to miss this annual wonderful display of nature. Seeing this little glimpse was a good preview though, and I guess all that means is that I’ll have an excuse to try again next year!After some subway changes, we made it to The Chanter for a palm meeting.

Humans never fail to disappoint, and at the station, this suited man, with briefcase and all, showered kindness on us by detouring ways away out of his path to walk us lost souls to this place. And for good cause too, coz it’s sandwiched between 2 quiet blocks and not the simplest place to find. We took our time appreciating the golden wonder, shining there amongst the best and the brightest in the business.

Next it was off to IMX for a sneak peak at Café B. We were under the impression that the café was partially in service, but found it completely dark and closed to the public, with the exception of the daily pm So Ji Sub event. It’s amazing to watch the steady stream of visitors there; everyone was content just to snap pictures outside the closed cafe in anticipation of what a great hang-out place it’s bound to become. Spoke to a an exceptional Japanese counterpart of our blogger community – It was kinda cool - how I wish I could read and understand her personal blog! Whoa -- she boasts over 400 hits to her site a day! AJA!Our first lucky star then appeared before us here. Somehow we ran into this super kind gentleman and IMX employee. Must have been the fatigued lines on my face for he took pity on us and took the time to p-a-t-i-e-n-t-l-y explain the some details about this place. The predominant offereing of the café is the wide assortment of specialty teas from all around Asia. Other drinks like coffees, side meal dishes, mostly noodles, as well as small tea cakes will also be served. (think bb posted about the menu a little while ago; the entire menu was also posted in local women’s weekly while we were there). It must also have been my withered, starving look, for one of the café managers passed by and gave us these. (Someone ask me if I’ve eaten this yet? ^^ It’s really testing my will power here! haha) Caught a small glimpse as people exited and entered – it’s really smaller than I expected but quite warmly decorated and very, very cozy. Just the place to steal a few moments of peace out of an otherwise hectic day in our lives. Hope one day, I’ll be able to sit there and sip some citrus tea with good friends……^^

Did anyone notice that the white on green blocks of words on the walls represent romanization of Chinese phrases? “Haochi, etc..” Actually, many Asian languages are represented on different signs throughout the space. No special meaning, just decoration – he said.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I ain’t that used to people being nice to me, if you know what I mean. So, at this point, this random gesture of kindness overshadowed any excitement of seeing the café.

Speaking of which....isn't Cafe B staging their grand opening, like today? Hey, didn't one of our bloggers say she was going that way? :) Really hope he makes an appearance!!!

Anyway, true to Pavlovian principles, the sight of the teacakes made our mouths watery – Conditioned response? Ah yes, lunch! Had plans to meet up with our thoughful sister H who lifted all concerns from our worried minds and had the rest of the exciting day already all mapped out for us .

Here’s where we had lunch: Quiz B - re: BYJ - Can you guess "when and where"?

Eating took 20 minutes. Pictures, conversing, laughing, sharing special times? …. 2 hours! Or maybe it was more…….???

Couldn’t believe our eyes when sis W & then J showed up to join us! We were so touched, esp considering the fact the J lives one hour away by plane! We’re soooooo not worthy of this….I remember thinking.

Lunch was easily digested off with sightseeing walks all around town. Recognize Harajuku?

Of course, we congregated at these places…..
Now, why don’t we have these shops where I live? Guess it’s a good thing, for I’d blow my salary uncontrollably on these lovely goods… And to Korean town where our defenses broke down further and accumulated more goods. Recharged at a nice K-drama book/music store with a very pleasant back café…the store mgr even decided to play his WLS selection for us while we sipped our tea. Very thoughtful of him, indeed...

When the feet tingles wore off, we sprung back into action and prowled the streets some more. There was this interesting book/gift store in the far corner of the district which carried this coat -one of the real costumes from WLS.

And the picture - apparently hand-written and signed by BYJ and sent to the owner's ailing friend or relative(?) when he was in the hospital. Warms the heart to see the caring things that YJ does for others, doesn't it?

Around the other corner, we screeched to a halt at this sight of this:

OK – Quiz C – anyone know what this place could be?

Man, according to the other sisters, the sheer number of BYJ goods here outnumber Korea by far. Yeah, I believe it, alright. Especially when my wallet weighed less and less at every stop!

How quickly time flies when you’re having fun…soon it was dark, and we popped into this nifty restaurant for our dinner. Ah! More sisters! How lovely… No quiz here, for our YJ has never been here. But if you go to Japan, do seek out this experience. It’s a Korean eatery run by a committee member of one of the fan clubs in Japan. But then again, did I even have to tell you that?
Just look at the place….. The dining room we were in had a few one-of-a-kind photos, so no photography was allowed, unfortunately.

Errrrr……..excuse me….how’s one supposed to scarf down the yummies when he’s observing you at every corner? Geez, gotta behave and sit like a lady? and chew properly? Uhhhhh….YJ-ssi – you kill me! Hahahahaha

Anyway, there’s even a huge wide screen TV in our dinner room – this owner/sister decided to play YJ’s latest CF on it for us, and I swear it repeated so many times we had his lines memorized by the end of the evening! By midway through dinner, my head was spinning and nearly plopped down - clunk! Almost passed out! No, no worries – not a Soju experience…..just the sleep deprivation finally consuming my body. So embarrassing, but our sweet sisters really took care of me, and flagged down the next taxi to usher me back to bed safely!

Can it be?
It had been only a little over 24 hours after I’ve left home, and this detour colored my trip in such a positive way, I already knew that regardless of what happened from here, this will be one to remember always! Thanks to all you lovely ladies for being such great hosts – especially. H, J, W, Y!!! ( I know some of you visit the blog sometimes - please know I'll treasure this meeting always. Hope I’ll be able to return the favor sometime in my life!)