A Cut Below

Chinese Haircuts Stink. I've come to the conclusion that, for various reasons, Chinese barbers/hairdressers/men scissors cannot cut my hair well. I've now had perhaps 5 haircuts here, and a grand total of 1 was half decent. Did I write months ago extolling the virtues of cheap and wonderful haircuts in China? I was mistaken and take it all back - they are a disaster.

My hair is, superficially, rather similar to that of an average Chinese person. Though mine is brown to their black, both are perfectly straight and straw-like. The difference is that my hair is finer than double parking, where as Chinese people have big, thick strands on their heads. Anyone who quickly looked, or even ran a finger through would likely not notice any difference, but start cutting it and, lo the difference appears. Barbers, thinning my hair as they would for a local with similar hair, leave my scalp exposed, my head cold, and my pride wounded. It's not their fault, per say, because they've likely never cut westerners hair before, but that's not consolation when I'm half-bald and shivering in the cold November air.

Tragic as this may seem, I shall soldier on. I plan to enlist the help of a local Chinese teacher to escribe instructions on a paper for me to pass to my next barber. If they follow the instructions I may leave unscathed. If they don't... it'll grow back and I'll be out all of a buck and a half... plus every hair cut comes with a free massage, so I'll have that going for me.

A City of Cities

A visit to Tokyo is like a visit to a gazillion destinations in one; Tokyo is that diverse. There are the parts of the city where the bright lights shine over the highest of high end fashion (or a few miles away where they shine equally bright over sleazy bars). There are peaceful temples inside luscious parks surrounded by towering sky scrappers. Tokyo has diversity.

I took a day trip up into the mountains north of Tokyo to a town called Nikko (not Mt. Fuji, but 1500 feet above the sea leveled city). This sleepy hamlet is home to magnificent fall scenery as well as a 17th century temple with elaborate decorations. My trip was a joy and an ordeal all at once. It was a joy because, unlike monotonously grey Shanghai, the fall colors were in full bloom worthy to stand beside Walden Pond on Columbus Day. It was an ordeal because suddenly in the mountains, I hadn't prepared for the cold fall air and was shivering for most of the day. Yet I didn't seem to mind, as the stunning temples off-set by the even more stunning natural beauty of the place made the 2 hour train ride worth it (its amazing to stare at some of the finest artistic work man has produced, only to be more struck by the simple change in color of the tree behind it). Tokyo has seasons.

At night I would choose a shopping district and simply wander around, gawking at the billboards, the shops, the people (mostly because they were walking in an orderly fashion and not shoving). The most impressive city sight I saw, indeed one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen, was a place called Shibuya Crossing. This traffic intersection, made famous by Lost in Translation, if it isn't the most crowded pedestrian intersection in the world, it must be darn close. Pictures don't do it justice, I shall have to load a video for you. Tokyo has people.

Matched by few cities in this world, Tokyo is one of the worlds most amazing. Feeling almost like a conglomerate of smaller cities (which indeed, geographically it actually is), Tokyo has more faces than anyone can ever know. And I don't mean that in that there are levels of detritus a fixed to a beautiful core, but that there are a multitude of living viable cultures oozing from Tokyo's heart. I had wanted to go to Tokyo because within the next year I hope to have visited many of Asia's most famous cities and I didn't want to leave it shining emerald, its rising sun if you will, out.

Somewhere.. across the sea.... of Japan!

... and that was Tokyo! I'm fresh back from a 6 day schlomp to (depending on which list you look at), the most populous city in the world. My word it was nice to be back in civilization! The streets were clean (eerily clean actually), the public transit civilized and the prices fixed (so there was no need to put the bargaining skills I've learned to the test). Yes, it was a glorious 6 days spent shivering in the cold, cloudy Japanese metropolis that 20 years ago we thought was about to rule the world. I [heart] Tokyo.

Getting off the plane there were some things that were instantly evident.

1) It was clean. Like, you could eat off the dirt in the city parks clean. I spent my time wondering if all western countries were this clean, or that simply being anywhere outside of China resulted in such a shock to the system that everything LOOKED super clean. I've confided with others and have come to the conclusion that Japan may be the cleanest country I've ever heard of. In the Starbucks (which I frequented... they don't serve Chi Tea Lattes in China, but they do in Japan!), after you finish your drink they ask you to put your plastic lid in one receptacle and the paper cup in another so that they can recycle both. It's best to utilize this waste bin too, because there aren't any on the streets. Seriously, I walked for kilometers on end at times and never came across a single public bin. Yet the city is immaculately clean...

2) The Japanese love bathrooms. Never have I felt as spoiled for clean, free, public bathrooms in my life. They were everywhere; in the subway stations, in the malls, on the side of the road, anywhere! The thought merely had to cross your mind before you could see your urinary salvation. And what bathrooms they were!!! The Japanese have taken the toilet and turned it into an art form. From the moment I stood dumbfounded at the airport bathroom door, I knew they were special there. The seats are not only heated (oh so nice after walking in the brisk, wet, autumn air), but you have the option for water-spray cleaning and air-burst drying (which was too much for me to handle and I quickly stopped my one experiment with the contraption). The attention to detail on these machines, and no where else would I label toilets a machine, clearly demonstrated in what high regard the Japanese hold 'going'.

3) People cared about how they looked; fashion matters. Even in Shanghai, the 'fashionable city' of China, people don't look so good. 90%+ of the men are wearing business suits. It's remarkable, because after a while I began to look closer at these men, the samurai of the 21st century, realizing that although they didn't all have good fashion know how, their shoes wouldn't match their pants, and their tie had no business with the shirt they were wearing, because they were in a suit - they still looked good. This may explain why in my two days back in Shanghai I've worn a suit to the office by choice each day... The women meanwhile utilize all the shopping venues the city has at their disposal, which is many. Everyone looks stylish. I was wearing jeans and a grey top and felt very, very under dressed walking down the street in many parts of town. It's something I feel every city might consider aspiring to... good looking citizens.

4) The food is good. Japanese food is really, really good. Between the sushi, ramen noodles, tepanakki and squid balls (which are delicious, trust me), Japan is an eaters paradise. True you can't get a meal for less than 6 bucks, which when your a poor traveler coming from China is a lot of money, but that doesn't diminish the quality. I raise my chi latte (my drink of choice in Japan) to your cooking, Iron Chef.

Without question there is nowhere like Tokyo. It doesn't feel fair to compare it to my current home, Shanghai, in a face off of eastern cultures, because Tokyo wins so easily, its like if the Brazilian National Soccer team squared off against the Greater Boston All Scholastic team. Tokyo is great in so many places and so many ways, but in the end I found one word sums up the city better than any other: Livable.