Tokyo drift…

My blogger-friend, [SK], was surprised when I said that I had been to Tokyo before. He reckoned that I would only go to those ang moh (western) countries which was definitely untrue. My missus and I went there in December, 1983. Gosh!!! That was 30 years ago…and of course, I looked very young then…

*Tokyo Ginza*

…and was a lot slimmer too!

We went to Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone…

…and even up the slopes of Mount Fuji where there was snow…

It was winter then so of course, the weather was quite cold…and then, we took the bullet train to Tokyo, just to get the experience.

Now, what was the memorable moment during that whole trip? Well, they had a minus-one karaoke machine on the tour bus and our tour guide, a young and sweet Japanese lady, couldn’t really sing. She claimed that Japanese ladies couldn’t sing as well as the men as the guys would go drinking and sing their hearts’ out after work but not the ladies. Anyway, to cut a long story short, she was indeed stunned, so pleasantly surprised, that I could sing this Japanese song. Nope, I did not sing this English cover nor an earlier one by a duo called The Blue Diamonds (My first lonely night alone). It was a hit in the 50’s or 60’s and I knew the words by heart, more or less like how many young people can sing Korean K-pop songs these days but do not know what the lyrics mean. Well, she was so impressed that we were given special VIP treatment for the rest of the tour…and when she sent us off at the airport, she even gave me a goodbye kiss – everyone else in the group was green with envy!

And of course, I can remember very well the day we spent here…

*Tokyo Disneyland*

It was so nice – all the smiles, the happiness all around. We certainly had a tremendously wonderful time there.

And just in case you’re thinking that I can only sing one Japanese song, [SK], I’m afraid you’re wrong there too. I can sing this one too…

LOL!!!