Everything started in Bangkok 2 days ago. I took
a guide to visit a temple. He promisse me so much
but after a half hour I see that she couldn t answer
all my pertinent question. So what should I do ? Stop
of course. I m feedup to be part of a stupid tourist
trap. We agree together to stop the ridiculous theater
and after she gave me hundred tousend of sorry I decided
to continue the visit on my own. I allready went to
this temple with Alys but without guide. I try a new
technic. Stay at interesting spots and wait the tourist
with they guide. I m lucky, one is still coming. He
explain few things in English and leave....until the
next guide comes. This one speak German and to my
biggest surprise tell different things about the same
artwork ? Is that possible? I wait few more minutes
and the next one is coming....arrrrg and spanish one.
This one is more precise about some mythology facts
but speak about 10 second....grrrrr.
I m feed up. I go out of the temple unsatisfied and
realyse one thing. I have to leave the place, leave
the temple, leave Bangkok, leave Thailand. Yes I m
crazy and spontaneous. Okay what I want is go to Japan.
There is something in Thailand I don t realy like,
it s the flatness of the people. Never realy bombastic
happy and never angry: FLAT. The other thing is to
much tourist everywhere and the vision everywhere
I look of prostitution. So lets come back later here
in few month, years or lifes.
Its now night, I found one open agency (i m lucky),
reserve a plane for the next day. Destination Tokyo
via HongKong. Yes its not more difficult than that
! Then I go to sleep. The next day, a bus catch me,
bring me to the airport. I go inside a plane that
brings me to Hongkong and another that brings me to
Tokyo. I woke up at 6.30 in Bangkok and its now 20.20
in Tokyo.
We are now in Narita Tokyo Airport : Location: Immigration
office: I come with a big big smile to the counter
where a girl is waiting my passport and the imigration
paper I had to fill out in the plane.
There are few words I know in Japanese, lets try the
first one "KONNICHIWA !".
I think I smart with my 3 words of japanese but I
m not...the girl is now speaking like a gunmachine
to me...tousend of Japanese word in few second. To
much for a 2 lecons japanese guy like me.
I begin to laught...realy so loud and use one of the
word I knew I will use:
Wa-ka-ri-ma-sen ( in other words
I don t understand !).
Okay...she look at her supervisor that comes. He ask
me how long time I will stay here. To be honest I
don t know ? How much is allowed ?
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDRING ! (wrong
answer Fred - you lost)
Yes wrong answer...I should know how much I stay.
The authorities don t understand why I don t know
and suspect me to become an illegal imigrant. They
keep me byside into the office. I ask how long time
I can stay but their english is so bad (yes bader
than mine) that they don t understand me. The situation
becomes more complicated than it should be. I just
wanted a stamp that takes 3 second and I m now involved
in a long administrative procedure. The man ask me
to sit down....upsssss. Its gone to be a long night.
He check my passeport ask me to show him the money
I have...Of course I don t have so much, and he say
its not enough to stay in Japan for a long time. Ohoh
that looks bad...I change the tactic and show him
my tousend of stamp in my passport (brazil...perou
etc etc...), I show him the planes ticket to hongkong,
india and europe.... "THE TIME STOP" he
is looking meticously everything..."TIME RUN
AGAIN///)
How long time do I want to stay? ask me the officier
again?
Hmmm 90 days ?!?! I answered
Okay
He take a stamp and give me a visa until the 3 of
january 2005!
Thats it ? Yes he just wanted to have the time I stay
here no more not less. And then with a great smile
he show me the way out, the way to the baggage claim
and wish me a Welcome in Japan.
I take my lugage, go to the next procedure, the declaration
district...they inspect everything of my
bagage, from the guitare case to my tees pasta...
Then the guy officer show me a picture book. First
page, narcotics...he ask me if I took one of this
things in my baggage. No way ! He turn the page. Guns
and explosiv ! Neither ! Now alcool. Then Porno books
....I m smiling but I answer no no NO NO. Okay.
Then he ask me politly if I don t mind to be inspected
by BodyTouch !? What does that mean ? Well no I don
t mind.
Don t dream my friends, I will not put my clothe away,
its just a normal touch procedure....lets say like
an old old friend that didn t saw you since years
and keep his arm arround you...Just that this is an
officier and its not realy a friendly touch !
Okay. Welcome to Japan...says the guy in uniform pointing
the EXIT.
I can t believe it. I leave this guy, take my stuff
(tooth pasta and guitare, non-explosive Backpack and
non pornographic books) and pass the door to the Japanese
territory.
WWWWWOOOOOAOOW. I did it.
Next to happend are my first step into the Japanese
Jungle. The world of the Iragana, Katagana and the
Kanji. In other words the Japanese signs. Just taking
cash in a ATM can be an incredibly experience...but
this time I m saved by the little screen button ENGLISH.
Next step...the subway...My goal is a ryokan (traditional
japanese hotel) close to the Tawaramachi station. Thx to the lonely planet good description
(even if I never found the place on their map) I arrive
to the destination. But not without difficulties.
The subway system here is shared by a multitude of
privat and public compagnies witch means each time
you make a change, you should buy a new ticket in
the machine of the compagnie who s line you will use
(M I clear ?) . So I m in front of this machine, I
feel like a kid in front of his first first book.
This time the problem is: NO ENGLISH SUBTITLE ! I
used my naturaly archeologic talent and my sence of
unlock the hieroglyphs on the wall to find out where
I go and how much I pay (strange sentence but do you
still follow me ?). Its about 21.30 and there are
not so much people here to explain me how this ticket
machine works. But I will find out. Maybie because
I use to decrypt different kind of software...or maybie
because I lucky. or just because its not that complicated
that it looks like ...however. After 2 minute I get
a ticket and after 15 more minutes I arrive at destination.
But but but....its night, its raining, its cold (okay
18 degrees is not that cold) and and and the Ryokan
is closed ! The owner that was sitting on the front
informed me that its full booked since 3 month. For
somebody spontaneous like me its quite incomprehensible
!!!! So what can I do. I m tired from so much travelling.
I didn t eat since one day, and I want to sleep.
And here is the solution: The CAPSULE HOTEL.
The problem for a me to find a capsule hotel will not
be so difficult if I could actualy read CAPSULE HOTEL.
Instead I see everywhere tousend of signs that I realy
don t understand. And I pass maybie 2 times in front
of one of this hotel before somebody who understood
my few japanese (thanks a lot to assimil learning method
and the lesson number 1 : DOKO E for where is ?) DOKO E CAPSULE HOTEL ?
The woman point with her finger the place with the white
signs..I approach, enter and find the best hotel of
my life.
Sooooo so funny !
I m like a kid. First the men don t speak english. Second
I have to buy a tiket in front of the mini reception.
Problem number one ! Every of this tousend of buttons
are written in Japanese again. But the receptionist
help me. Next step, taking the shoes off, put them in
a locker and take the slippers they give to walk inside
(Strange to take the shoes off at the reception?). Pbm
number 2. The slippers. Its not my size ! Whatever,
I look like a elephant walking in high-woman spike heel
shoes.
Next step: go to my room. 4003....great....I enter in
a corridor. My room number is 4023 but I feel like in
a set of "2001" (the film of course - 2001 the space Odyssey from
Standley Kubrick - 1968 - check that if you want a resumehttp://www.kubrick2001.com/2001.htmlFor those who don t know it, its worth to see (The
film and the link)). Arround me a lot of drawer,
but not for books. For mens. For Humans.
I go step by step until I found mine. Number 4 0 2 3.
Its like facing my own grave. But its much more better....it
a room, a cheap room, 2 meter long and 1 meter large.
Its realy funny. I get inside but need to put my backpack
somewhere else (Because its to narrow for us Backpack
1 + backpack 2 + fred + guitare + kermit Jr.). I go
back to the reception to leave my stuff, the guy bring
me to the locker room. Ups Problem. The L-form looking
loocker is very very small. Actualy is just large enought
to put one smoking. Realy not more. And actualy that
s what for ! A business suit looker.
The capsule hotel is for the business mens who couldn
t take the last train home, or simply couldn t afford
to pay a expensive hotel for the business trip. Well,
I leave my guitar to the reception and take my backpacks
to my "room". From the loocker I take the
towel and the green pyjama.
The green pyjama. Thats a chapter for his own. In the
hotel I cross a lot of green mens. It look like a hospital.
Yes you know the sick people allways wear the kind of
Sick-man-operation-suit. And thats what this people
have. So combining the ultra modern minimalist corridors
on the 9 floors + the cameras everywhere + the green
mens....well I feel like beeing in a science fiction
film. Its fantastic to jump inside this universe. I
should be afraid of this aseptic environment but I amused.
I decide to go and take a showel. Showel are of course
at floor number 9. I put my pant off, and walk with
my boxer short into the elevator. Push floor number
9. The elevator goes up. Stop at number 7 where a green-man
comes in and speak few words with me...A monologue cause
I just smile without understanding any of this japanese
words. He has his tower two...ERROR NUMBER XXXX. I should
wear my green-men-costume. Never walk halfnude arround
in Japan. Its not polite.
Okay I will know that later. For the moment I m the
stupid naif tourist. Happy for every new things I experiment.
I try to find the showel, but again the signs speak
against me. I just follow the green men with the towel.
And here I m. In the pre-showel room. Well what happen
in the pre-showel room ? The mens take their clothes
off and go to the showel room. I go to check the showel
room. I m not a big exibisionist, and my body is reserved
for the woman I love so I will take my short off in
the showel. I enter in the Showel room and discover
the showels.
Step back.
A man is right on my right side, two cm of my knees
is taking one showel, he is nude but sitting on a 20
cm chair. What the hell is that ? M I at the wrong place
? On my left a other men in a 2 x 2 m pool, nude also.
Everybody is looking at me. Imagine. Me the blond guy
with the boxer short facing 3 mens, nude, with their
litle penis surrounded by their black hair. What should
I do ?
I can t manage the illarous situation and go back. Back
to my room. I m thinking about all that. A shower is
a unique room with sitting chairs to wash ? A mini pool
? Strange....I will later learn that this are the japanese
bath style. 2 rooms. One to undress, the other the BATH
ROOM with a showel 60 cm from the ground, a seat, a
burst, a soap. The pool is not a common pool. Before
entering you have to wash. That means sitting on the
little chair and use the 60 cm from the floor shower.
AHh I forgot something very important with all that....I
can t hear on my right ear. Yes I m deaf on my ear because
I could decompress in the plane. Did you ever look a
film with no sound...it has something realy out of the
dimension....So me deaf in this crazy place with the
green men and the capsule....waaoooow. Adding the camera
everywhere and finaly the toilet. The toilet where you
have to change your slipers to toilet slipers to go
in. But this are to small to....Is everything small
in japan ?
I realy loved this day, because I totaly change the
universe. Realy totaly. And its like being a kid and
discover everything in a new light. I love it. My trip
in Japan begin in a Capsule ...I will definitly never
forget Japan.
I get in my tomb, turn out the light. The green suit
is close to me folded as it was as I took it from the
looker. I will not wear it. On my feet my two backpacks.
I close my eyes and my left ear (the one who still works).
Its 1 o clock ....good night lovely bizarre japan. |
