Sui Generis

Excuse the melancholic title, I was trying to put together my feelings and what would sound like Japan (land of the rising sun, get it?) Anyway, just three weeks ago, my ultimate dream was realized - I finally went to Japan. It was strange (yet, not really) because when I was in the nearly empty plane heading for Narita, I didn't feel a sense of nervousness, or excitement for that matter. I just felt exhausted, having just returned from nearly two weeks of intense travelling around parts of Europe, then flying off again the next night really worn me out. That said, I tried my best to catch some sleep during the flight of seven hours (it was a night flight). I recall waking up when the sun came up and saw one of the passengers seated in the next row take some pictures of the stunning sunrise glaring through the tiny window. Being jakun , I also did the same thing. well what do you know, it really is land of the rising sun! Landing in Narita at 8 am still didn't tickle ...

It's interesting how we desperately try to cling on to anything that can remind us of the specific past; certain songs, secret notes that we do not want to show anyone, virtual pictures of sweet, memories made, gifts bought - everything seems to suddenly hold a greater significance than anything that we've owned, especially if that certain past event has impacted us in an extremely strong way, say, perhaps emotionally and mentally. We try to recall with as much precision as our faulty memory is able to. It's pathetic, really, how much we try to recreate the past in our head.

I literally stopped before going to the next episode to write this out with tear stains still drying on my cheeks. This episode was amazing, to say the very least. It talks a lot about the human nature of jealousy and the urge to fend for one's self when put in a dire situation. It also talks about gratitude and the sincerity of the heart, and the many ways one could interpret and perceive that. Tokuzo's sincerity lay in providing for his wife and unborn child, and that is what's driving him to do better and better every day. I envy his determination and discipline. This episode was quite emotional for me (as you can observe on your own), not entirely, but from the middle towards the end. Here we see friendships being tested all in the name of jealousy, and forgiveness all in the name of friendship. Not sure if that makes sense, but it sounds pretty deep. Haha! Anyway, In this episode we see the development of Tokuzo's vegetable slicing ability - and I've got t...