Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
Japan’s wheelchair accessibility is a complete joke.
What makes the joke even greater is that they are hosting the Paralympics in 2020. /slowclaps
I have been quiet on this blog, but offline – well let’s just say that my life has been quite a mess this year. Since losing my voice from the beginning of the year, I started learning to dance (always wanted to do so since I was a kid). It started well but didn’t quite end well. I ended up with a severe knee injury that has left me with crutches since July, and then a wheelchair since September. Yep, /slowclap for me as well.
I ended up experiencing 2 different disabilities in a year. More on that in a separate post because I learnt too much.
Unfortunately (or is it fortunately? I can’t quite decide – because I was depressed and a trip would help my mental state), we also had a trip to Tokyo planned in late October for 2 weeks and I hadn’t recovered in time.
It was a mental struggle for me whether or not to take on this trip because;
1. I would just be a burden to all the others in our travel group of 5.
2. Taking on a trip in a wheelchair sounded very daunting to me.
There was plenty to plan.
Like accommodation. One of our hotels in Nikko turned out to be staircase-only (no lift) and we had to rebook. But most hotels were already fully booked (the remaining were ryokans that are not wheelchair accessible and I can’t use futons because of my injury). So we ended up in far-flung Kinugawa.
Our decision to drive in Nikko was also largely motivated by my injury, because not all buses there were wheelchair accessible.
Another hotel in Tokyo had a loft-style bed that was not injury friendly so that prompted another rebooking.
Thankfully, there were sites such as Accessible Japan that reassured me that Japan is wheelchair friendly. (Although this turned out to be false reassurance.)
Now, this blog post is going to supplement whatever material there is out there about wheelchair accessible Japan, and I am going to state this TL;DR upfront.
TL;DR
Unless you have an electric wheelchair, you are not going to experience barrier-free access in Japan. Also, travelling to Japan is not advisable if you have a leg injury of any sort.
I am on a manual wheelchair that is human-powered – or in the case of the Japan trip, boyfriend-powered (seriously, he was pushing my wheelchair 24/7 for 14 days while navigating the intricate maze called “wheelchair-accessible” Japan and until now I still can’t figure out how he did it).
Observations in Canada
After 7 days in Vancouver.
People here seem to be less friendly when I have a face mask on. 😷
I felt it right from the time I landed. After collecting my luggage and getting out of the restricted zone, I approached the lady at the information counter inquiring about where I could rent mobile wifi. She stared at me in my mask, grimaced and told me I’m out of luck, all the while not smiling.
We were watching the solar eclipse this morning and I had my face mask on because of the crowds (it also doubled up as a UV shield). That was when a man asked me point blank.
“Can I ask you a personal question? Why are you wearing a mask?”
I couldn’t be bothered to mention my medical condition. Instead, I muttered something about the UV rays being strong and I didn’t have sunblock on. He didn’t look convinced. Instead, he kind of sneered and walked away.
It’s so easy to find fellow Pokémon Go players to raid a gym with you, especially at Canada Place or the Convention Centre.
Yes guys, I still play Pokémon Go. #sorrynotsorry
And people here will actually approach one another to raid a gym together.
The excitement is apparent. When other Pokémon Go players spy me (and my cousin) lurking nearby while staring at our mobile phones, they will approach us and ask “are you guys here for Articuno/Moltres/(insert legendary pokemon name here)? Let’s raid this gym together!”
So raid the gym we did.
Eventually, the gym boss will be defeated and it’s time to catch it. Without fail, someone will always say, “all right, good luck guys!”
It was a really nice feeling.
In contrast, people in Singapore (and Hong Kong) will spy a crowd at the Pokémon gym and just silently join in, all without saying a word to one another.
The Canadian pride is strong.
I spy the Canadian flag everywhere.
Hanging outside houses, dangling from cars and yachts. Everywhere.
During my first couple of days there, a woman on a bicycle with an attached trailer passed me. Wrapped around the trailer was a large Canadian flag. I couldn’t stop gaping.
There were shops everywhere selling almost anything you can plant the Canadian flag (or the maple leaf emblem) on. Tourist traps? I’m really not sure. Because I spy several local people wearing them.
But the amount of pride Canadians have in their country is amazing.
Public Transport is insanely expensive.
A one-stop away journey from Burrard Street Station to Waterfront Station cost me $2.20.
One stop.
Less than five minutes.
My expression when I tapped out at Waterfront Station. –> 😱
Go figure. I’m never complaining about Singapore’s public transport fares every again.
The salmon here is really, really orange.
As if it’s been injected with dye.
I remember having salmon sashimi with my cousin during my first night there and I was gaping open-mouthed at the salmon in front of me, wondering why did the colour look so vivid.
The cousin, amused, told me that the salmon here is redder because it’s fresh from the sea and doesn’t need to be imported.
I was so unused to the colour that my first few bites were tentative. Then I remembered that I was in Vancouver (where I shouldn’t have to worry about tainted food) and proceeded to wolf everything down.
#onboardpostitproject (Royal Caribbean – Mariner of the Seas)
I was on a short cruise trip with my parents and Dayna last weekend on board Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas.
It was a fantastic trip on the whole – excellent weather (which we totally lapped up by spending more than half our time on board on the top deck), free-flow desserts (ooh-la-la) and excellent company.
More on the trip later in a second blog post. Today, I’d like to share about this little impromptu project I was up to while I was on board, which I call #onboardpostitproject.
After boarding the ship, I suddenly became curious about the livelihood of the crew who worked on board. I had some free time in between and thankfully, 3G connection (was still in Singapore’s waters then) so I managed to read up a little online.
Was pretty disheartened to discover about the cramped living conditions (below the waterline, no less) and the long hours put in by the lower-ranked crew (particularly the housekeeping and dining room crew) and began racking my brains about how I could minimally, add a smile to their day while I was on board.
The post-it project came about randomly as I was walking down the long corridors to our stateroom. Initially, I thought of pasting random post-its on my fellow travellers’ doors to say hello. Then, I decided it’d be too creepy. Then, I remembered what I read earlier that day and realized, hey – why not direct some of those cheerful/funny messages at them instead?
Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur on Day 2 – I began my mission of scouting around for post-it notes and markers. Seached several stationery stores in The Pavilion but to no avail. Daiso eventually came to my rescue when we were at Sungei Wang (another shopping mall).
Back on board the ship later that day, armed with a stack of post-it notes and a packet of markers, I gleefully set about #onboardpostitproject.
Not all the post-its are documented, unfortunately. About 3 of them were left unphotographed because I forgot. And I was “testing the waters” with the first couple of post-its, so I just stuck them on … and scooted off quickly (just in case anyone saw me).
The first target was obviously, our stateroom. I’m pretty sure our housekeeper laughed when he saw this.
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