Trip to the library

Kniw coat: made by mama

Shirt: vintage from Tokyo

Pants: H&M

Shoes: Ether

From Frenzy to First Class

 I was feeling good the morning I left for Taipei. Well, as good as a chronic sleep-lover can feel after waking up at 5:00 am for an 8:00 am flight. The city was bathed in faint blue light, and while I rode the bus to Taoyuan International Airport, I watched the sun slowly peek over the mountains of green forest. The journey home had begun.

I arrived in the Taoyuan airport with plenty of time on my hands. I was about to board a flight from Taipei to Tokyo, and then a connecting one to the US at 8:00 am, or so I thought. There appeared to be no 8:00 am flight on the Departures screen, and it seemed the soonest flight to Tokyo on my airline was at 1:00 pm, which had to be a mistake. So I took the third place in line at the check-in counter to see what was going on. The two families in front of me where also checking in for the 8:00 flight, and seemed to be confused as well.

The first customer in line, a middle-aged Chinese woman and her husband, starts speaking to an agent in Chinese. I only catch words and phrases, but suddenly the tone of the conversation changes. Something it terribly wrong. Our flight, it seems, was delay 5 hours.

By the time this message reached me, I had been in line for a half hour, and behind me there were at least one hundred people. After an hour passed I hadn’t moved in inch. There was only one staff behind the counter, and the middle-aged Chinese woman and her husband were still there. In Tokyo they were supposed to catch flight to Washington DC, which they would miss because of the delay, but the staff in Taoyuan insisted that they could not put them on a earlier flight to Tokyo, or change their flight to DC. They could not guarantee that there would be a later flight to DC, or that they would be able to provide accommodation in Tokyo. This meant that we would probably all miss our connecting flights out of Tokyo, would probably not be able to leave until the next day, and would be given no accommodations, meaning that we would spend the night in Tokyo airport.

I was frantic.

My flight was for sure the last one to Seattle that day. If I missed it I would no doubt be spending the night in the airport. After another half hour of no movement, a second staff member got behind the counter, and a 20-something-year-old, on her way to Houston, stepped up. Based on the conversation she had with the staff, or at least what I could overhear in Chinese an English, some disturbing facts emerge:

1. The airport staff and crew knew of the delay as early as last night, but did nothing to inform the passengers, or even consider how they were going to accommodate those with connecting flights.
2. The airport staff said they had no ability to reschedule flights departing from other airports (i.e. Tokyo to the US).
3. The airport staff also insisted that they had no ability to rebook passengers on other flights from Taipei to Tokyo, because all their flights were full.

I stepped up to the counter at this point to intervene. First of all, how could they be so careless to not inform passengers of the delay, prior to that morning? And how the hell did they think it would be ok to just delay everyone 5 hours? I understand that the weather can’t be helped, but if they knew about it so far in advance they should have had something worked out before we even got to the airport that morning. And fine, so they can’t book flights outside of Taoyuan. Makes sense. They can’t help me with my flight from Tokyo to Seattle any more than they can help me with a flight from Mumbai to Auckland. But for the love of god, get me to Tokyo, and get me there before 1:00 pm please.

Arguing turned to shouting, and a multilingual riot broke out. The line dissolved as customers behind me rushed to the counter, frantically trying to resolve their connecting flights. People were pushing, yelling, and shoving. It was total chaos.

At that point I did the only thing I could do. Sat on my suitcase and started crying. It wasn’t a bitter, Hollywood-cinema style crying, more like a I’ve-been-up-since-5:00 am-and-waiting-in-line-for-two-hours-only-to-be-told-that-I’ll-be-spening-the-night-in-the-airport crying. Right there in front of god, the airport staff, and a good number of Taiwanese people.

The airport lady stared at her screen for a few minutes, like waiting for a fortune telling from an oracle, then she stepped out from behind the counter, approached me and said,

“Come with me.”

We zipped through the crown and over to Delta.  The Delta lady took my passport, handed me a boarding pass.

“You can walk fast.” She asked. There wasn’t really a question mark in the tone of her voice, but since I hadn’t displayed for her my fast-walking abilities, I assumed it was a question.

“Your flight leaves in 15 minutes.”

Boarding pass in hand I zip through security, clear immigration, and run down the airport terminal like it’s about to explode behind me. Um, isn’t this was I did on my way from the states to Tokyo?

No matter, when I got on the Delta plane I was last one to board. When the flight attended led me upstairs to the first class area I assumed there had been some kind of mistake. But then she checks my ticket and says, “Red wine, white wine, or champagne?”

So there I was, just minutes after my ordeal, on board a first class double-decker jet, fully reclined in my seat, with some bubbly in hand. The fact that the situation went from chaos to “champagne please” was laughable at best, and seemed entirely absurd.

A double-decker plane, ready to depart with me on it: the sweetest sight of the day.

Sooooo much leg room in first class!

The seat reclining options, notice 180-degrees at the bottom?

My copy of China Post

How I spent most of my time on board.... 

fresh fruit breakfast

The view from the second floor

Why do I love black in the Spring?

Polka dot op: Self-made, Spring 2012 Collection

Striped Dress: from the night market in Taipei

Socks: American Apparel

What do I buy in Japan?

Alright, so everyone gets to have shallow, materialistic moments, and here comes mine.

This post is an ode to a friend and American expatriate in Japan, who, no sooner than an hour after we meet, asks this very question:

"So, what do you buy when you come here?"

Prior to this, I had never given much thought to what I typically buy abroad. The truth of it is, no one has ever asked me, so I figured it wasn't an interesting topic. I also thought it was strange that this question came from a fellow American, for whom Japan is also an  exotic destination.

Come to think of it, I am also curious about what people buy on their vacations. I am personally not into typical touristy crap (like those bags and shirts that have the name of the city in a stylized font printed on them a million times). I certainly don't want a house full of mugs and T-shirts with the flag of every country. I'm also not interested in cheesy souvenirs (like sombreros from Mexico, or wooden clogs from Sweden). 

I would  rather buy functional things, that are 1. stylish, 2. practical, 3. not necessarily available where I live, and 4. don't immediately look like I bought them at a souvenir shop.

Now, to get to the question, what do I buy in Japan?

1. Cellphone Charms

Cellphone charms are ubiquitous in Japan. Every cellphone or cellphone cover is designed to hold at least a dozen of these completely useless trinkets. At one point I had so many charms hanging from my phone that I could barely lift it. I eventually got sick of these charms getting tangled up with everything else in my purse, so I took them all off.

When I traveled around Japan on some notably long trips in 2008 and 2010, I bought charms (or was given charms) in every city.

1. Izumo Taisha 2.Totttori camel  3.Kyoto Inari 4. Hokkaido grapes 5.Hiroshima maple

1. Osaka takoyaki 2. Fukuoka mentaiko 3. Maizuru Kewpie 4. Tokyo Icecream city

2. Clothes from Uniqlo

Every time I got to Japan I have to be sure to stop at Uniqlo. Even the stores in American do nothing to appease me. The Japanese product in Japan way cooler. This time I bought a Lulu Guinness x Uniqlo collaboration T shirt. (See the shirt in action).

3. Vintage Clothes 

Okay, this is kind of weird. It is a known fact that almost 100% of the vintage clothing in Japan comes from the U.S.. So, why would any American fly to Japan to buy used American clothes?
Easy: Japan has all the good stuff. Doesn't that explain why all the vintage clothing in the states sucks? I swear the Japanese buyers clean out the shops and take the good stuff to Japan before any Americans even have a chance to rummage through it.

This trip I found this amazing blouse with cartoon roses. $10!!! (See the top in action).

I also found a beautiful scarf for $2 in the bottom of a sale bin.  

4. Streetwear magazines

I'm kind of addicted to streetwear magazines, and Japan is the only country that can feed my addiction. Japanese photographers have been photographing models and regular people on the streets long before it became the trendy thing to do. I generally like to collect a combination of model books (like the ones below) and Japanese street wear books (like Fruits, Tune, etc). One reason I prefer Japanese fashion magazines is because they actually talk about FASHION, unlike their American counterparts, which are 90% advertisements, celebrity gossip, and articles on weight loss...
 

5. Beauty products

Yes, they really are better in Japan. They work better, they smell better, and the packaging is cuter. What can I say? I am a girl after all. 

From left to right: Make up remover, 2 types of facial moisturizer, make up wash, and body wash. 

6. Kimonos

Alright, so I know this sounds like the cheesy tourist thing to buy, but I am entitled to one vice, right? My only saving grace is that at least I don't buy kimonos from souvenir shops,  I actually buy them from antique stores. I found this lovely gem  at a flea market in Harajuku. It reminds me of the designer Tsumori Chisato, and I am planning on wearing it over a white blouse and denim shorts.

7. Starbucks tumblers

Now THIS is something you don't find in the states: amazing and beautiful Starbucks tumblers. Each prefecture in Japan has a different tumbler, and they tend to change every year. Starbucks also releases seasonal tumblers, like the cherry blossom one below. 

This tumbler I bought in Kyoto a few years ago when I was there for a grand total of two hours.  There's a long and tiresome story that answers the question as to why I was in Kyoto for such a time, and I may address that in another post someday.But for now, behold this awesome tumbler which is a souvenir of my journey!

8. Snacks!

I never leave Japan without buying a few snacks for either myself or others. These mochi are originally from Fukuyama, but they sell them in almost every department store.

Spring 2012 debut...

Finally got around to wearing some of the colorful "spring-lie" clothing I've made.

Top: Self-made, Spring 2012

Skirt: Self-made, Spring 2011

Poutine Paradise: from Montreal to Portland

Long before I actually got the blessed idea to sample McDonald's in every country, I came to Montreal. Not thinking that some place like Canada would have anything interesting to offer in the form of a McDonald's menu item, I made no plans to go. However, upon my last hours in Montreal, I found myself in a bit of a bind: too hungry to go straight to the airport, but not enough time to venture out and find a good place to eat. So I hopped into McDonald's, right beside my hotel. Much to my surprise, there was a menu item I had never before seen: Poutine? Like "routine" with a "p." Thinking my French was less than satisfactory, I was too embarrassed to even say the word aloud, so instead I ordered, "french fries with gravy and cheese curds" which was exactly what I got. What a delicious idea! Whoever thought of it was pure genius.

So I come back to Portland feeling like a connoisseur of French-Canadian delicacies, and I'm raving about poutine like it's caviar straight from the Caspian Sea. And my friend just looks at me and says, "Yeah, I just had poutine last night."
Well, that kind of killed my connoisseur buzz. Apparently Portland is crawling with poutine. It ought to be called Poutineland. So the next thing I know I'm at a food cart, eating Portland's version of Poutine:

Peanut butter and jelly fries with cheese curds...

And just in case you were missing the original, there is straight up cheese curds and gravy as well..

Colorful Drain in Narita

I wanted to take more drain pictures in Tokyo, but there was hardly a time when I could photograph the ground without people walking on it...

At least I got this shot in the city of Narita...

Spring is finally here!

Coat: thrifted from Goodwill

Dress: from the night market in Taipei!

Socks: American Apparel

Necklac:L Chan Luu

Shoes: vintage?

It was so hot I had to take off my jacket!

Location: Pearl District

Photo Diary: the best of Montréal

Montreal in the summer was wonderful. I had gone alone in early July of 2010 for the sole purpose of writing, so it was coffee and cafes every day for me.


A notebook, pen, and (empty) glass of wine. Pretty much sums up my entire time in Montreal.

Stop sign

The flag of Quebec, the flag of Canada, ...and what's that other one? 

Church steeple

Outdoor cafes galore

Not Starbucks Cafe, but Cafe Starbucks

Hot chocolate from Juliette et Chocolat