WHY JAPAN?!?!?!

"Why Not?"

THIS has been my regular response when people asked me random questions in an overtly appalled manner. Lately, that has been the number 1 question when they met me and it felt as though I was sitting through a job interview again. When I answered "Why not?", all the initial replies are the same, "Because of radiation... earthquakes..."

*YAAAAAAAAAAAWN*... *takes a sip of water*

There are only 3 things for me: Culture, Food and Service.

CULTURE

When I think about all the countries I've been to except for USA and Middle East, with the exception of Israel, there is an overlap of cultures between each European country and between most Asian countries.

Singapore's multiculturalism is one heavily influenced by the American culture with its American television programmes, movies, theatre, art, music and fashion. English is our native language after Independence on Aug 9, 1965, and I still find it silly we have to pay about SGD$300 to take IELTS to gain admission into a university in Australia or apply for a citizenship just because history states Singapore's first language is Malay.

Then again, if you view from a perspective of an employer when you have to interview Vietnamese and Burmese applicants who also graduate with a GCE "O" Level in English but most are not able to communicate fluently, it somehow shows you the declining standard of the GCE English "O" Level in recent years.

Phuket, Feb 2008

Culturally, Singapore shares huge similarities with USA, UK, China, Malaysia, India and Indonesia. Thailand and Vietnam have its own cultures and interesting festivals, but not countries I can see myself work in, although I do feel Phuket will be a nice and affordable place to retire.

Until now I have no desire to visit USA. I can't think of any convincing reasons on what is so culturally different in USA that will make me wanna sit through a flight of about 24hours to that country. If I had stayed on in the fashion industry, I'm quite sure I'll think differently of U.S.A. because there's a greater purpose to be there - to check out all the fashion houses and their degree of service, and perhaps to watch Cirque du Soleil's OVO.

Cesky Krumlov, May 2011

In my few trips to Europe the past few years and my first visit to Eastern Europe last year, there really wasn't much difference in cultures. Europe and Eastern Europe are rich in history. Google is your friend if you wanna discover the history of a place, but culturally, there really isn't much to experience. The medieval fairs and shows are similar across the board.

Guinness @ St. James Storehouse, Dublin - May / June 2008

Then there's also the topic of meeting the locals but somehow most people in the service industry in these countries are not natives. I was hoping to interact with some Irish when I was in Ireland in 2008 but most of the staff that I've met were Romanians.

View from Sydney Tower, July 2008

Ironically, a month or 2 months later that same year when I went to Sydney and took a Sky Walk round the Sydney Tower, the guide assigned to me was an Irish. It was strange being there because the other guides were a Chinese, a Malay and another Caucasian that I cannot fathom if she's an ozzie.

Moving on to Japan and Korea where there's a strong tradition in preserving their cultures. In terms of tourism, I feel it is the right move of not widely exporting certain cultures. A seemingly simple thing like wanting to experience a Japanese Tea Ceremony is rather exclusive in Singapore. You can easily find Chinese and English tea appreciation courses here. Although Japanese Tea is as popular as it is easily available, but to want to experience the ceremony is another matter.

I've also read somewhere, probably from Japan Subculture Research Center, that Japan is the only country in the world where a new sub-culture is born every few days.

I wanna watch a Takarazuka Revue (women in drag) and a Kabuki too!

Lastly, the whole culture of politeness and consideration for the other is what I really like about Japan and what I feel is lacking over here.

Watami, The Central (Singapore)

FOOD

I'm fortunate to have parents who are not particular with food and has no toilet issues when eating raw food. In fact, I was trained by my dad when I was a kid to drink sake and to eat sashimi. So Japanese food became a part of our regular meals.

Food-wise, I have absolutely no issues. Anyone who knows me well, will know I am only more than happy to survive on Japanese food daily... as long as I get to eat a good piece of steak once in a while.

SERVICE

When I vacationed in Japan in 2005, besides being wow-ed by their ingenious packaging for food products, I was extremely impressed by their service standards in malls, small retail shops, hotels and eateries. When Nat visited the country in 2010 and shared with me what she had experienced, service standards are still just as high, if not, even better now than what I've experienced.

It is pointless for me to describe because you have to experience in order to know what is service... and what really is good service. 

*Pictures my own photo archive of my dining & travels.