Episode #190 - Japan

Welcome to the Mastering Midlife Podcast, where we talk about all the crazy fun things that happen when you are a midlife mama. I'm your host, Heather London. Let's dig in. Hola guapas! Okay, as promised, my goal over the next little while is just to share my experience as I have it. And if not, just to entertain you or inspire you just for my own records so that one day I could look back on this. It's like an audio visual.

diary if you will i just thought it would be fun to share so my first stop on my trip was tokyo and wow tokyo did not disappoint

I showed up there the first day and trying to figure everything out is just a lot of work. But an adventure that I love, that's what it's all about. It feels like you're always like on a... like a trapped adventure you know the the escape room adventure everything is something that needs to be figured out and that's what your goal is and that's what you do every day is like i need to eat i need to get to my hotel i need these things and so

I love this. I love this. Here's why I love this so much. Because I feel like as we get older, I'm just going to speak for myself. Because a lot of people tell me this, but I will only speak for myself. As I get older, I feel like my brain is in slow motion. It's not firing the way it used to. I used to be smart as a whip. I could figure stuff out instantly. And now it's a challenge. And what I've discovered is if I...

If I'm having trouble understanding something, I have to be kind to myself and go, okay, London, you can figure this out instead of like, I don't know what's going on. What the heck? So that's been a really big challenge for me, a big learning lesson. is to be kind to myself and always, always, always just take a moment and take a deep breath and read everything. Because I know what I've learned so far is that the answer is always there right in front of me.

Even when I don't think it's there, it's always there. It's always there. And time and time again, when I come up, bump up against something and I find the solution, it's always right there the whole time. And that's when I want to be kind to myself and go, okay, live and learn. Like now I know for next time, as opposed to beating myself up and going like, well, duh, who, you know, why didn't you know that? So my first stop was Tokyo.

And I arrived and you had to allow for the jet lag and all that. But it's a little easier when you come because I feel like I could just stay up and get myself into that time zone. So the first day was just kind of figuring out.

how to get to your hotel and then how everything works and then the next day i did something called rent in osan and an osan in japanese this is what this is just what they do in japan You rent an old man, like Osana's slang for uncle or old man, and you rent an old man and they'll help you with whatever you want. And I thought, this is the best idea. And I saw this on Instagram. So I thought, I'm going to do this.

because that way as a solo traveler it's nice to have somebody to show you around and to just do something with and get your bearings and all that so I actually went to the website from the youtube or instagram video that i watched and i had seen the person that they had rented i know that sounds really weird like that you rent a person but it's it's a thing for sure like that is what they do and sakura is who was in that video and so i ended up going to the website and

finding him because i had seen him in two other videos as well so i thought hey this guy is trusted he's safe he speaks english and i see all these videos of other people using him so i feel like this is a win-win and I reached out to him via email and he got back to me right away and he's like let's do this so my my first stop what I wanted to do and he's open for anything and so what I wanted to do was I wanted to meet at

a pig cafe i know it doesn't make any sense but my boys were recently in japan a year ago and my one son said santo said like I hope you've got to go to the pig cafe it's like one of the top things that I did and so I booked us a spot in the pig cafe and it did not disappoint it was like pot bins, 10 out of 10. So this is where I met him and it's like, hey, let's go hang out with these pigs for half an hour. So what you do is you book a time slot and then you just sit.

on the ground and they give you a blanket and it's good if you can lean up against a wall and all of a sudden these little pigs little micro pigs just come up and sit on your lap and if one sits on your lap then five sit on your lap and they're all like and they're chewing their cut, and their little tails are wiggling, and it was heaven. I just felt so happy, and they would just all, like, sit one on top of the other on top of the other. And it was a great way to get to know.

have a casual conversation it turns out he's not an old man he's 58 for crying out loud and he is very well traveled and well educated and well spoken and the kindest person ever he was so kind this is how kind he was i had all the cute little pigs come and sit on my lap and it was just so much fun and he had like this one big pig

and they're all little micro pigs mini pigs except for the one uh chick that came and sat on his lap and he was so kind he he just let it sit there and he was petting it but this pig was 50 pounds and when the worker came around he asked him like how much does this pig weigh and he's like yeah this pig is 50 pounds and this pig sat on him the whole time it didn't even move

and the worker said she is so happy right now because usually people push her off because she's so big and heavy but he was so kind he just let her 30 fell asleep his lap and he didn't even complain so anyway that's how my first day in Japan started and then

I just left it up to him. I'm like, let's wander around for a little bit. You can show me some sights. And so he took me into this huge park in the center of Tokyo. And he showed me the shrine and the temple. And he... told me all the things that are happening walk on the side and how you enter by bowing and then how you say a prayer and give offering and just the history of it we saw a traditional Japanese wedding in progress that

they do in the shrine in the temple in the shrine i guess and and then he's like hey let's go to the top of the of the conservatory so from there you can get a free view of 360 of Tokyo and if we're lucky we could see Mount Fuji but unfortunately it was overcast so we did not see Mount Fuji but at the top they have this piano and locals just go there and they put on a show like you can go and play a piece and then next in line and play a piece and so the whole time people were playing

amazing beautiful pieces on the piano while you got to like look at this gorgeous view of tokyo and then after that what did i do trying to think

I don't remember, but I had the, okay. I really feel like if you can figure out how to use. the subway system in tokyo you could do anything i used to think if you could get your driver's license because i know this the road test was so stressful you're a teenager you've only driven for 30 days and then you get tested and i would drive a standard and in a hilly city

That was always my marker. If you could do that, you could do anything. And now my new marker is if you can figure out the metro system in a foreign country. You can do anything. Now, thank God for Google because Google Maps is like rock star status because it tells you everything. And we're talking in Tokyo like there's lines under lines under lines under lines under lines of metros going all over the place.

So thank goodness for colors and numbers, because if you can just find your color, find your number and get yourself in the general area, you're going to be okay. And I... surprisingly managed to get to where i needed to go without too much well i shouldn't even say that because i was doing really well and i was in the busiest intersection in the whole wide world the shibuya scramble which was amazing it was so cool and there i hired a guide and she took me around the area and she showed me like

the coolest secret most secret little spots that i never would have known about had i not gone with her like at the at the roof of this one building there was like a climbing wall and a skate park and

And just these cool little shops and these restaurants that went on forever. And they started on one end of... japan like the south end and each restaurant as you went represented a different area and the food in that area and so in that one row you could get any kind of food throughout japan it was just so cool and then

After I was at the Shibuya Shuffle, I was going to go to the Christmas lights that Sakurai told me about. And all of a sudden, I was trying to find my... bus to get there or my train to get there and google my arrow was just floating in space no matter where i went it just kind of went off to the side or over here and i was like holy crap i don't i have no idea how to get home

if Google Maps isn't working. So I'm a rock star if Google Maps is working. And if not, I'm totally lost. And so I had to call backup. I had to call in the A-team. So luckily my one son, who's like a not who's nocturnal was up and he was walking me through it I like feet I don't know how to get home because I don't know where the bus is to get home I feel like I could

find the bus. It was one bus and I kind of know the area to get off the bus, but we're talking Tokyo, like, like this place is massive and there's so many bus stops and so many. So anyway, my son was like, mom, here's your problem. Your GPS isn't working. So no matter what you do, you can't fix it. You just got to kind of walk around and see if you can find out where you are. And so because the people in Japan are so lovely.

So lovely, so kind, so respectful, so helpful. I just went to the first bus person and showed them because I take a screenshot of where I'm going. I'm looking for this line." And they were so helpful. One guy gets off the bus and points. He's like, over there, over there, because they don't speak English.

And then I kind of go over there and then I ask the next person and they're like, I'm getting closer and closer and closer. And then all of a sudden, boom, there it is. It's zero. Like it's the number again, the number I'm looking for, the color I'm looking for.

and lo and behold i can just get on that bus and it takes me home but holy cow the fear that sets in when you're like i don't even know where i am right now and that's where need to like keep your wits about you and go like okay everything is figureoutable so i had that cool adventure and then the next day i went on a bus tour so

oh no where oh i took the bullet train i took the bullet train to osaka and just getting that whole experience of again trying to find the bullet train get on the bullet train and the hardest part which i didn't know was that when you get off the train a certain train you have to scan to get out otherwise you can't get out so here i am everybody's beeping through like hundreds of people just beeping through beeping through every time i beeped mine it's red red like i can't go through i'm like

What am I doing wrong? Everybody else has figured it out. And I can't figure out how to get out of the goddamn train station. This is ridiculous. And so I asked for help. I feel like to be a good traveler, you have to be able to ask for help. And I'm really good at asking for help. And actually, what I've learned about myself is maybe I ask for help too much. Because I think if I give myself...

an extra five, 10 minutes just to sit and really think about it. I want my brain to figure it out and I can figure it out. So this is like working out my brain. You know, your brain is just like any other muscle. And if you give yourself the. opportunity to figure stuff out you're going to grow your brain you're going to learn and grow and you're going to feel so good about it so nonetheless i had people help me get on the station and i'm

I can't even express like how big these stations are and how many people are flying through the station. And then when it came to exit again, I couldn't exit. So I took my card and scooped it. And the guy's like, I'm like, hey, this isn't working. He's like, no. And again, he didn't speak English. And I don't speak Japanese, so he's like, not Sukiya. And then he said in the name of another ticket.

And I'm like, oh, where do I get this ticket? I don't even know. And if I would have taken a second to think, I would have realized, where did I just come off of? I just came off of a train and I had to buy a separate ticket for that train. And that's what I needed to scan.

and so I walked around I asked a couple people and then I just watched for a little bit and I'm like ah the ticket okay so I put the ticket in and I got out of the station and I don't know how many times like I got left on a platform just wondering is this the right train isn't this the right train is it i don't know and i would just wait for it to go by and i would read all the stuff like whatever sometimes it took me half an hour on a platform to figure it out and the guy

coming back and going, are you still here? What are you still doing here? He's like, this is your train. When the doors open, you get on that train and it's going to take you where you want to go. I'm like, thank you. Have a great day. I appreciate your help. You're so kind. And so then I went to Osaka. And when I was in Osaka, I went on a day, a bus tour. And it was so amazing because I just got to see three separate cities. You literally get on the bus.

and it takes you to the city and so many people but you get to see the countryside you get to see the temples you get to see the bamboo forest you get to go oh we went and saw the deer park and it's literally this park now the deer are not fenced in but they just live at this park and you can buy crackers and you can feed them and they bow to you

and our guide had said it's because the deer were living there and and the japanese people are always bowing to greet them and they would they would greet the the deer and the deer would learn to bow back and so The funniest part of this was that you would watch the people who were afraid of the deer because the males with the horns that had been cut off would be really aggressive and they'd try to get all the food.

and they will try to bite you and they'll try to like knock you over and sometimes they fight each other and so the funniest part and it I know it's horrible to say this because it would be me if I if a deer came after me I would be the same the people just running and

like they're feeding the deer and then the deer gets they get really aggressive and start like feed me feed me and then the people get scared and they run away screaming and then the deer chases them and i couldn't help but laugh because it's so funny and i think i was just grateful that it wasn't me but it was

hilarious it was so so funny anyway that was the last day there and then I took and then I what did I do oh I went to my next destination now the things that I learned about Japan are I love Japan

oh my gosh i could live there in a heartbeat why do i love japan because the people are amazing they are so kind so respectful of one another the city is spotless The bathrooms are spotless. Every toilet seat is heated, even if it's in a public bathroom in the park. It is crazy.

our tour guide said hey don't go don't use the bathroom in the deer park because it's disgusting go to the one at 7-eleven and I went to the one in the deer park because I was there and I had to go and it was spotless it was so nice and the culture is just so peaceful the language is like a song like even when people are talking to each other it just seems so nice and kind and pleasant in the culture the japanese

have preserved their culture so so well and it's just such a lovely place to be. I really enjoyed being there. I loved everything about it. I wish that I could understand what people were saying. I wish I knew the language. But besides that, I would... I would give Tokyo, I would give Japan, Osaka a 10 out of 10. I would like to spend more time, say, on the beaches. I didn't realize that you can surf.

in Japan and so if I was to come again I would probably go to a small surf town and hang out there and discover that a little bit more because I'm not a big city person but I did want to see what Japan was all about because I'm on my tour and it was on the way so Japan really won my heart. The food, the little restaurants, it's just like, you just have like old school Japan and then modern.

big new japan like all intermixed like you go down one alleyway and it's just this these little shops that you don't even know exist it's the same as in spain like the shutters are down and then at night all the shutters roll up and you're like holy cow there's like stuff

happening everywhere you don't know that there's restaurants there and that unless you know unless you investigate unless you're curious so i absolutely love japan and i would highly recommend it japan and osaka and i just really want to take I really love learning about different cultures and I want to take the best from every culture. And for me, from Japan, it was really the respect and kindness. And I saw that.

With everybody that I met. With Sakura, my osan. Or the guide, Tomo, that took me around Shibuya Scramble. Or... the people at the restaurant that were helping me order the guy on the the guys at the bus stop trying to help me find my bus just like and so tolerant of all the people running around like so many tourists so many tourists but that's what i love about the thing i love the most about traveling are the people that you meet 100 it's all about the people that you meet

And so a big thank you to the people of Japan who helped me find my way. Really, I was just getting bumped around. It's like, let's go here, let's go there. And I did learn that If I can be super kind to myself and allow me to just be on this adventure and just take an extra minute to figure stuff out, like literally take an extra minute. And it's just me working out my brain. I know that once I...

The funniest part was when I actually got out of the station from the bullet train because I couldn't get out. I couldn't get out. And then I put my ticket in and I walked through and I must look like an idiot, but I walked through. I did it. I'm free. I'm free. And everybody's like, I don't know what your problem is. Get out of my way. I got to go to work. But Japan, yes. 10 out of 10. You stole my heart. And.

I am grateful. I appreciate all the lessons that you gave me, all the lessons that were learned along the way. And thanks for listening. I'm going to do another episode when I'm... finished at my next destination so i don't know what day or when or how long it's going to be i don't know this is just like this is just a free event free flowing pre-spirit adventure that I'm on and I'm sharing it with you so I hope that you enjoy the adventure thanks for coming on the ride and arigatou gozaimasu

Like, just when Japanese people speak, it sounds so wonderful. Like, arigatou gozaimasu. Just so beautiful. Anyway, thank you for listening. Always, always, always love yourself first and have... an amazing day.