The Old and The New

I was a little apprehensive coming to Tokyo this time. It was, after all, a place that C. and I had discovered together. I figured that I would bring K.L. to all the places that we would go together, like Takashimaya Times Square and Oshman's in Shinjuku, Harajuku/Shibuya, Kichijoji and Daikanyama, and the sheen of all these places would be gone just because it wasn't him that was with me. And so it wouldn't be as fun anymore for me.

Boy was I wrong. Coming to Tokyo with K.L. was the best way I could have learnt to see this amazing city in a different light. In the end, we went to very few of the places that C. and I used to hang out in -- not because I wanted to avoid them but simply because there wasn't enough time. Cooing and fussing over the fabulous boutique buildings in Omotesando and Aoyoma, being blown away by the massive sculpture garden perched on the mountainside in scenic Hakone, covering the ancient and modern in Yanaka and Odaiba and marvelling at the awesome display of glass and steel at the Glass Lobby of the Tokyo International Forum... these are experiences that define the kind of friendship I have with K.L. and would undoubtedly have been different if I had done them with someone else. So now, I have another bunch of good memories to associate with the place -- together with, of course, dozens of pictures of "alien vistas" and the "juxtaposition of the old and the new".

The trip also made me realise once again that I hadn't worked hard enough to make my relationship work with C. On our last trip together, we spent so much time going over old ground in Tokyo and getting bored and irritable with each other. Like so many other aspects of our relationship, I had taken things for granted and simply assumed that he would be with me no matter how routine, familar or boring life had become.

I would have liked to finish this post all clever and wistful like. But tea in Ginza beckons, and also I think I see a cute J-bear here at the Apple store. Must go over and see what he's doing :)