JAPAN

My first travel abroad is at Fukuoka, Japan. I remember taking that first overseas trip last February 29, 2000 (leap year pa mandin) and there were several stop-overs before we were able to arrive at Fukuoka prefecture where Kitakyushu is. Neneng-nene pa ako that time. And I was with a group of veteran exporters/manufacturers, yung iba tanders na. A few weeks prior to my business trip, pinagshopping ako ni Mama ng maleta, business dresses, make-up, bag, etc. I think mas excited pa sya kesa sa kin that time. Naunahan ko pa kasi sya makapag-abroad, hehe. The business trip was free because I am part of a delegation that will promote processed food coming from the Philippines. If I am not mistaken, I stayed for about 1 week at Japan. It was a first time for me to travel abroad and boy, my eyes were really opened with the possibilities. I will try to look for pictures on that trip pero di pa kasi uso ang digital pictures nun...

 

The next time I visited Japan was with another company na when I joined FOODEX Japan, a food exhibit at Chiba. It was in year 2006. Nalungkot ako on that fair because though I received a lot of inquiries, I really felt that we are not ready to export to Japan. Pang-Pinoy market lang muna talaga. We stayed at the hotel very near the exhibition area and then went to Tokyo the day prior to our flight back to Manila. I remember we are together with several food companies and that there was a hotel room at our group with more than 5 people staying there as they are saving their per diem. Hindi naman nga mapapansin ng hotel because of the volume of people coming in and out. Astig ung mga nasa kwarto na un.

After that, my next visit was during the summer month of August 2012 na. My gulay, it was so hot. May aircons sa train but sa train station, wala. Kaya pamaypay ang kaibigan ko that time. I was with my former boss and even though we went to Akihabara, hindi naman kami nakapag-shopping as it took us more than 3 hours to shop at Uniqlo Ginza alone. It took me a while to return as exports to Japan is really a very, very tough business.

 

Last December 2013, I visited Japan again and finally I got a multiple-entry visa pero good for 1-year lang. It was a super quick trip and it was already cold that time. No choice but to buy new boots. We stayed at a hotel with a very good location, Prince Shinagawa Hotel. As in it was very near a major train station so you can go to different places. I was joined by my associate handling Japan and it was her first travel abroad. I wish we had more time to roam around as Japan really boasts of a lot of places to visit. Ewan ko ba pero when I travel abroad for work, it is not in my heart to roam around and take pictures. Parang kulang.

 

Promise – this year when I visit Japan I will just not take product pictures pero I will visit more places and shop more! Hahanapin ko ang pinagmulan ng sylvanian family na yan, hahaha!