The Journey to Japan

We had heard a lot about Japan, but knew nothing of it. Priscilla attempted to learn Japanese while in college, and growing up in Asia meant consuming a good amount of Japanese TV shows that were popular in the 90s. Besides that, she would say she did not know much about the culture. Tom, as always, loved the adventure and a chance to take a five-day long break before the next flight to Singapore (Japan was our long layover).

Japan wasted no time to show us how efficient and orderly they were. Courteous immigration officers stamped our passports with precision and high speed. At the Japan Rail office, we got our train passes within minutes despite the 20 plus people ahead of us. In the next two minutes, we were on the train platform, where the train was about to depart in five seconds. Told to stick to our seat assignments, we giggled and thought, “These Japanese take their rules too seriously.” But lo and behold, the train would split in half at some point, in which one half would go south, the other west. Once we knew, we scrambled with our clumsy suitcases, dragging them from car 16 to car 3. Thankfully, these trains were nothing like the Chicago L, where each car was separate and connected by a clunky cable. Going across these cars was more like walking down a really long hallway, all seamlessly connected like a tunnel, where glass doors separating each car whizzed open as you approached. We managed to make it to the right section and survived our first train ride.

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