public nudity

after a big fiesta last sunday, a friend and i decided to go to the onsen. well, we actually planned this ahead but i was never sure if it would push through. but yeah it did. lucky! i never planned to invite male colleagues and i strived very hard to get them out of the plan. i am not in my perfect shape to be seen naked just yet. oops... i guess i should have mentioned first that people get naked once inside the onsen. it is not a rare practice: getting naked that is. japanese people get naked even in the dressing rooms, how much more inside a public huge hot bathroom. there goes my queue for what an onsen is (^o^)

after getting lost for about 3 minutes, we found the place. i wasn't expecting it to be on the 3rd and 4th floor of a mall though. who would have thought this is possible? my first onsen was near a waterfall, my second was on a spacious almost desserted part of the city. and now, on a mall? how convenient! and how varied these places are in.

1500 for the onsen and another 700 for the rock bed sauna, not bad for high priced tokyo living. men and women have separate rooms for the onsen. though there are others which have mixed bathing, people usually don't get naked in these cases. so that means that i'll be seeing lots of dangling objects for this one.

it was my first in this place so my friend and i decided to meet back outside (with full clothes on) after 15 minutes. deal! when i went in the men's, first thing that came to view was the dressing area with all the lockers for the clothes. along with the lockers were the naked men. i was expecting this much. it really has something to do with the custom i suppose, i was carefully slowly getting off my clothes while people around me are rushing to get them off. peeling off my clothes but my undies, i inspected the towels received from the front desk. one big, for drying self after getting wet. and another small, the only piece of cloth allowed inside the wet area. i can still remember the first time i went in in an all naked onsen; my japanese colleagues told me that the small towel is usually soaked in cold water and placed on top of your head to keep your head cool, at least. they even said that those who walk in covering themselves with the towel usually gets stared at. knowing this, i took off everything and walked in proud. in all naked glory... not before a little panic attack earlier when i couldn't lock my closet. ;)

small quakes 6.9

it was a normal day for normal employees like me. i came to office a little past 8:30. late from my everyday morning dose of nihongo lessons. once again, we breathed in and out. and went on with the class. but just before noon came, something out of the ordinary happened. EARTHQUAKE!!!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... the building was still shaking. we went out of the room to meet our other colleagues also wondering what on earth is happening. my first instinct told me to find somewhere safe. and i saw the building pillar. i went near it and dragged a colleague with me only to find out that an a/c unit is directly above us. this place is surely not safe. and then the ground stopped shaking.

we quickly ran down the emergency exit. in no time from the 7th floor we reached the bottom only to find out that the door leading outside the building is locked. wow! this is the best feeling of my life. the threads of sanity i strongly held on slowly broke. why on earth is the emergency exit door locked? i didn't panic from the actual quake but a little claustrophobia got into me this time. we immediately alighted 2 floors back up and took another exit.

slowly, people got out of the building and stories of shock filled the air. everyone had a story to tell. and the worst part, phone lines broke. it only came back around 15 minutes later. i normally skip lunch but i took one this time thinking that a much needed energy would be helpful should there be an aftershock.

i was a little disappointed to hear no company official statement. other companies in that same building went home early than the usual. it was business as usual for ours. the earthquake was 6.9 with kilometers offshore negros as it's epicenter.

our japanese teacher then shared that during earthquakes, the first thing to do is to hide under the table and stay under until the quake stops. i immediately replied, there is only one table in our training room. surely, five people won't fit under it. and besides, cebu is not tokyo. in tokyo everything, buildings and people included, are earthquake proof. in cebu, we have no proof that buildings will remain standing after withstanding quakes. now we know it will but we didn't know before.

hours later, news of an impending tsunami came. the water in downtown area rose, they said. and this caused panic. just search for videos in youtube to find more. it must have been a carnival out there. but thinking back now, no one can blame these people. first, others haven't heard of the news of where the epicenter was. if they did, then mostly likely they would know that a tsunami in the city is impossible. second, this is the first big quake in cebu. most people don't even know what epicenter means. not knowing anything is scary and that makes one vulnerable to believe what others say. third, it was already a mob out there. when a huge number of people run towards you, won't you run with them as well? lastly, news of japan and new zealand is still quite fresh in the people's minds. you just can't blame them for acting that way. these made me conclude that cebu is not ready for earthquakes yet.

later around 6, as we were having a video conference with our japan counterparts, came a big aftershock. but i didn't even realize it until our boss himself alerted about it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... our boss finally stopped the conference and told everyone to get out of the building. what a day it was. i went home with stories to share.

aftershocks still came days after but the trauma of the first is incomparable. i can't be more thankful that we were safe.

nostalgia

nostalgic.

at this very moment last year, i was preparing for departure back home.
had a big echo karaoke session till a little past midnight.
spent my last remaining days in the company of friends.
so nostalgic...

japan has been good to me.
it gave me lots.

tomorrow is my anniversary.
anniversary for my return to the philippines.

somehow, i wonder.
will i ever be back in the land of the rising sun?
and if i will be, what new wall shall i break?
japan allowed me to break some shell i hid myself in.
it is easier to do that when you are away from the prying eyes of most people you know.

somehow, i think.
are the bonds i shared with friends left back there strong enough to withstand time?
i really hope they are.
for if not for them, i couldn't imagine what misery i could have experienced.

i couldn't be thankful enough for the whole package.
for the whole 2 years and 3 months stay, i would still opt for the same ride when asked now.
that chapter of my life has closed and a new chapter has been written.
but chapters can be revisited and even relived.
and revisiting memories is what i am doing now.

happy 1 year stay back home!

below are the recollections of a past that will never be forgotten.

first time in onsen (hot spring bath)

first time watching live baseball

first ski experience

first time seeing japanese emperor live

enjoyed the beach and realized those at home were better

and was it love?!? i don't know

first fishing trip ever. caught lots of fish including seastars

first major trip (aquarium-strawberry-boat)

first hanami

first time away far away on our own (hachijoujima)

climbed mt fuji (first mountain climbed)

in a huge philippine crowd

went hanabi in a yukata

first day road trip (nanadaro)

and first night bus

first in a sunflower field

and first time to a bbq party

how high can they jump

and how good the nights can be

how great colleagues i got

and how great scarfs i have :P

even tried ice skating

or rather ice walking

with the golden leaves of fall

and the magic of izu

went down south to kyoto

and nara, osaka and kobe

even tried betting on a horse

and overnight drills to boot

saw big things

and jdrama landmark of ebisu

and buddha himself in kamakura

first hanabi in tachikawa

even frequented ginza though never for shopping

frequented aquariums

and dolphins

lady liberty in odaiba

and the great imperial palace

the ever lovely sakura

and the fast subways

and even faster rides

reached the tokyo tower

and these neon lights

the nonstop karaoke sessions

and the surprise of snow

will always keep me wanting for more, more of my exciting, powerful future