Knee significantly better, I had another stop in Bangkok on my return to Bhutan. On this trip, I’d arranged to see an old colleague from Japan. She and her husband were now living in Bangkok and he gave me some advice on how to spend the day. Since I was interested in cheap electronics and… Continue reading The Return
Category: Asia
All countries I’ve visited in Asia
Heading South
If you’ll excuse the euphemism, I’m referring to the fact that this page catalogues my first trip to Thailand, a stopover on my way to Australia from Bhutan. The airport was like any other in South-East Asia, large, worn and crowded with the braying of taxi drivers. I avoided them, knowing that taxi is the… Continue reading Heading South
Still Learning
My life here has been rich, but the country seemed determined to make me regret leaving. I was drafting a letter – which would form the basis for this chapter – in my head one afternoon on the way into Sannomiya when, on boarding the train, I found that the driver had left the blind… Continue reading Still Learning
Discipline
Towards the end of my stay, I came home to find a tent set up in the empty block next door. “It’s Takeshi’s punishment,” I was told, though not what the crime was. “He has to sleep outside for three nights.” ‘Cool,’ I thought. ‘Not much worry about curfews if you’re sleeping in a tent.’… Continue reading Discipline
It’s Not Wrong
“It’s not wrong – it’s different.” Three years ago I sat on a plane to Japan repeating that mantra. I was on my way to start a new life in a foreign world – an expatriate Australian in the confused traditional / modern world I’d come to love – and knew that the phrase was… Continue reading It’s Not Wrong
Driving
I pulled up at a set of traffic lights – red, yellow and blue lights laid horizontally – and waited until they turned blue, then began to pull out. Another car screamed across our path, horn tooting, and I remembered that traffic rules in Japan are considered more as guidelines than obligations. Nagoya is famed… Continue reading Driving
Unemployed
“It’s so unfair,” said Kayo, breaking the silence. “It’s not my fault that the economy is bad at the moment.” “You’ve been with the same company for seven years. Maybe it was time to move on, anyway.” “That’s not the way it works in Japan. We’ve been brought up to be loyal to the company.… Continue reading Unemployed
Environment
The rock walls rose steeply on either side of us, and the river gently pushed us towards the rapids ahead. There was time enough to get back to the raft and prepare for those when we got closer. For now, the members of the hiking club were free to float in the clear, blue water,… Continue reading Environment
Cycling
I had little patience for cyclists. Most people have mamachari – the ladies bikes with baskets on the front – just for getting to the station or shops and back. So cyclists have all the rights of pedestrians as well as the rights of vehicles, but most people stick to the footpaths. I’d been hit… Continue reading Cycling
Chauvanism
Chauvinism is only the visible surface in the Japanese culture. Outwardly, it’s a very male dominated society where men work and women look after the home. In a traditional relationship, the women walk behind the men. My father had seen an example of this at the station where he watched a man, seemingly oblivious of… Continue reading Chauvanism