The long night finally come to an end, while View slept soundly, leaning against me, exhausted from the trip. She fell asleep, but I was the only one who was completely exhausted. I hadn’t slept on the plane, and when I finally lay down on the bed, I found myself even more unable to sleep.
My sister keep hugging me tightly, squeezing herself so tightly that it felt like she is trying to merge with my body. I don’t know when I finally fell asleep, but one thing is for sure: I didn’t get enough rest. On the first day of visiting Japan’s capital, Tokyo, my body felt completely exhausted.
But I still fascinated by the new and different sights of the city. The next day, I forced myself to walk around with my sister, trying to stifle my yawns so she wouldn’t notice, and pretending to be calm as we walked around, admiring the view.
"People here are so organized. There are no cars, but no one is crossing the street either."
View excitedly took out her phone to take pictures of the empty road, amazed at how much people were still following the rules.
“It makes us not dare to cross either."
"When you are in someone else’s country, you have to follow their rules, right? But when we back home, we will go back to our old ways."
"Why do other countries have to be better than ours?"
"Because we are only here for a short period. If we actually lived here, we would feel that our home is much better. It’s like being in a relationship with your current partner…"
I gave an example to illustrate my point.
"We never feel that our partner is good enough. Every new person that comes into our life looks better. But when we leave the old one for someone new, we start to miss the old one because we are familiar with them, they know us inside and out."
"If we have someone new, why would we miss the old one?"
"Because when we argue with the new one, we can’t help but compare it to the old one. If you live here permanently, View, you will miss Thailand every day."
"I doubt it." View replied.
"There’s nothing here that’s worse than our country."
"You’ll miss Pad Thai, Som Tum, and spicy mixed salad."
I said as the light turn green, signaling pedestrians to cross.
"Meanwhile, after 9 p.m., there’s nothing to buy here."
"Okay, I think I get it now. I couldn’t cope without Som Tum or spicy mixed salad. Plus, not being able to buy food at night, except at a convenience store, would be torture."
"And even convenience stores have opening and closing times; they’re not open 24/7."
We started walking slowly, taking our time, while the locals around us seemed to be racing each other. It's easy to tell who is Japanese and who is foreign just by the color of their clothes.
Even the teenagers walking around wear clothes with a black and white theme or something similar. View would often take out her phone to take pictures and make notes, like someone collecting data. Watching my sister, who never forget why she come here, make me feel a little proud.
People who are truly dedicated to something always captivate me. Those who really know what they’re doing are the ones I admire, and they become even more impressive when they exceed expectations.
"You’re really focuses,” I commented.
We are now sitting in a café on the second floor of a shopping mall. Ahead of us was the busy street, separated only by the glass windows of the building. We could see every movement of the people passing by below, but it's look like I am the only one looking at the view...
