4/6/2009 Japan Trip Day 1 (Blue Note Tokyo)

Located right next to Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel, the hotel I stayed (which name I have already forgotten) at was built last year. It had a comfortable lobby with a very smart metal stand for you to put your bag on while you do your check in and check out at the reception.


First meal in Tokyo was a combination of sashimi combo and Shabu Shabu. There were altogether 5 hungry adults, so I could not take the risk of leisurely taking photos of the beef.

Blue Note Tokyo, it originated in Harlem, New York. However, this is a much cleaner, smoke free, less mystified and reserved Japanese version of the jazz club. Being a total outsider with regards to serious jazz. I only know that the main act was a famous jazz drummer who was turning 84. And he sure blew our minds off with his energy and creativity.


People talk about cultural shock in Japan, what comes to mind is the lack of English skills and different customs.Used to being in places where I cannot speak the local dialect, language difference did not pose a big threat to my system. My first feeling of culture shock struck me when I walked into the shower of my hotel room. What better (or worse) culture shock can there be when the most intimate and private act of the day had to be altered from a standing position in shower into a sitting position in showering. It actually makes sense to sit down when one showers, but it took some time to adjust to this culture.


And the all too famous toilet seat that washes your bottom after you finish your business.

My second culture shock hit me when I had to change into the Yukata (Japanese sleeping gown / summer dress). Again, culture shock infiltrating into the most intimate part of a person's daily habits.


Pseudo Zen garden outside Imperial Hotel. Do we have time to think about thinking within the setting of a metropolis?