Shinkansen in Toyama and perspectives I never had before.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen arrived in Toyama.
3.14.15
Pi Day.

The station exploded with action,  like I never thought was possible.
All the people wearing fancy clothes…So did not look like the Toyama I came to.

So with this high-speed arrival, a lot of other things followed.
Everything’s got a lot more Chic.
We got a foreign foods store called Jupiter which sells NUTELLA and MTR stuff ,
We got a Matsumoto Kiyoshi…
Most importantly, we got FRESH fruit juice (at an exorbitant price).

And I started thinking or realising about stuff I’d never really thought or cared about before.

Time.
Sunrise.
Sunset.
Sunlight.
Geography.
Transportation and travelling.
Diet and availability.
The sky.
Price of everyday goods.
Weather.
Temperature.
Flahwers.

Living with my parents, I never payed for a lot of things.
Living in Singapore meant many things were constant.
I never worried about calculating my travel costs or tried to cycle to shave a couple of dollers off.
The sun rose and set around the same time all year round.
The weather was mostly consistant.
It was sunny or rainy.
I never worried if it would snow on a spring day.
Singapore is so small, I never thought to think about it’s Geography.
Also, I hated flowers (don’t ask. just don’t. i don’t have any reason.)

I lived a very consistant life.
And to a certain degree, I’m growing to appreciate that life which Singapore offers.
I didn’t need to worry about the everyday.

But, I recently met a Japanese lady at the main station, who said she’d lived in Singapore for 5 years. And we were talking about how a person can only gain this type of awareness with living abroad.

Which made me wonder about myself and other Singaporeans.
Sometimes I read about people complaining about the MRT system…but on the day I met the lady, the train was delayed for almost an hour because of strong winds. The train would not move without the winds slowing down. And even after it arrived, it almost CRAWLED to the next stop. Also, I pay a good SGD$2 to reach a station 2 stops away. That’s like paying SGD$2 to go to Bedok from Simei. OAO no joke ok.

In Singapore, I would have cursed the government and all other entities….but after coming here, I’ve just come to see that some things can’t be helped. I reached work about 30 mins late and my fellow teachers congratulated me for braving the strong winds. So surreal.

Also, nobody complained. There’s a strong strong attitude of: it can’t be helped.
Of course, there are pros and cons to this attitude. The con is that it can lead to total APATHY. But sometimes, I think it’s good to balance this with the political awareness that Singaporeans are developing. Like really, it would be nice if I could stop seeing comments by people blaming the GAH-MEN for the lack of rain (really, there are people who do this. I kid not.)

Also Sakuras and flowers…
After living in a kind of grayscale world from December till now….there’s something magical about seeing bursts of colours here and there. I waited with bated breath for the Sakuras to bloom. I’d cycle by the Sakura trees, pause, gaze up and note the changes.

I’m surprised how much I love these flowers. No really, I quite litterally hated flowers when I was back home…with very few exceptions. They were too…colourful for my taste and I remember distinctly NEVER wanting to paint flowers.

But Sakuras….man…I don’t think I’ve ever been in so much awe. Sitting at the riverside, at night, with the Sakuras in full bloom, reflecting off the surface of the river. It’s enchanting. For a while, I could believe that there was another world if i jumped into the river (obviously, I didn’t do that though)

…boy…what a whole new world….