A Retired Couple’s Holiday in Japan: From “Hanami” Plan to

“Blackberry Sitter” Reality

By A. Hafied A. Gany
gany@hafied.org; www.twitter.com/hafiedgany

A picture of a kind of sakura tree which started to loom earlier at the neighbor’s house
yard but it was not an indication of the usual occurrence of the awaited cherry blossom
time (Gany’s photograph, 10 March 2010)
-------
The Hanami Nostalgia on Silver Jubilee Visit: After retirement from 46 years of
government civil services in a Technical Domain Ministry, the first thing popped up in my
mind was to enjoy a long holiday with my wife abroad. Considering several alternatives,
we eventually decided to have our holiday in Japan since we are happened to have our son
with his wife and his only one daughter staying in this country, working as a journalist in
the national radio broadcasting company. So we could avoid the costly expenses on lodging
and accommodation. We then made a systematic preparation to stay one month at the
beginning of Spring intended to relax while enjoying the “hanami” outing tradition of
Japanese people, which is making a family picnic while relaxing on “tatami” traditional
plaited mat under the shadow of the “sakura” cherry blossom facilitated with series of
meal boxes of Japanese foods and beverages. I recalled my first unforgettable visit to
Japan, enjoyed the hanami outing, despite that the event had already happened more than
25 years ago and ever since became my silver jubilee nostalgia. I and my wife therefore
imagined that our hanami silver jubilee obsession in this occasion would become a most
enjoyable and glamorous post retirement event.
Several months before deciding the visit, I made conformation with my Japanese
colleague whom I met at a conference in New Delhi, about the most plausible time for
sakura cherry blossom occurrence in Japan this year. Based upon the first hand information
from this Tokyo dweller’s colleague of mine, then we decided to travel at the beginning of
March, despite the warning from some of my relatives who stay in Japan that there is a
possibility of having an unusual climate this year due to the impact of climate change or
perhaps other causes, among others they stated the evidence of unusual snow fall in Tokyo,
and the one digit temperature at the end of February. Although we have the last minute
information from our son that the snow was still fallen a couple of days before our
departure, then we can hardly rectify our schedule, since our flight had already confirmed a
month earlier.
Prior to the touch down, of our aircraft at Narita International Airport of Tokyo, my
wife and I was a bit released to hear the pilot announcement that the temperature outside
the aircraft had come up to 15 degrees Centigrade. Given that information, my wife was
seemingly quite confidence to step down from the escalator, having our experience of two
digits sub zero decrees temperature in Winnipeg during our five years stay in this notorious
North American climate. It became a little bit of problem, having the fact that our flight
arrival was several minutes late, then we have to catch up the next hour scheduled
limousine to the city terminal, waiting at the platform. During an hour waiting, we became
slightly discouraged again because we noticed that the temperature was quickly descended
to one digit again, followed by the approaching spots of rainfall. Under such unfriendly
weather condition, we were almost felt a sleep at the convenient limousine bus and only
noticed our arrival to the city terminal about an hour later after the automatic machine
announced our final destination. We were then leaved the bus to catch a taxi to our son’s
apartment with the feeling of exhausted after more than ten hours traveling from Jakarta.
We arrived at our son’s apartment in Meguro District of Tokyo almost noon, where
we found that our daughter in law had already prepared a set of Japanese cuisine for lunch,
which we immediately enjoyed very much under the chilly temperature of the Japanese
stile apartment. I only aware after waking up later at 6 pm that I had been overslept myself
at the tatami Japanese plaited mat at the guest room, immediately after having a heavy
Japanese cuisine lunch. Similar situation experienced by my wife, while my son and my
daughter in law were respectfully reluctant to wake me up but give us pillow and blanket as
they saw our exhausting but relaxing condition to enjoy exceptionally sound sleep while
lying at the Japanese mat of the guest room, without even changing our dress.
Blessing in Disguise while Waiting for Sakura Cherry Blossom: As the time passed by,
we do nor aware that we have already stayed in Tokyo for almost half a month when this
article was written, however our initial itinerary had not come to the sakura cherry
blossom’s hanami matter, as we fully understood, based upon information we obtained
previously, that the mass cherry blossom would normally come into being at the third week
of March, despite that some of the cherry types have already bloomed unusually earlier.
Some trees have yet bloomed but the flowers have been sprouting. Others have already
blooming at the initial stage, as we saw at the neighbors’ house yard on our ways to the
mosque for Friday prayer.
However, the fact that during the days since our arrival have been so unfriendly,
that we could only went out for sight seeing and shopping for two lovely days and two
Friday’s sunny days, which we felt like the most heart felt annoyance. This was considered
so inconvenience as our planned itinerary for the first and the second week stay in Tokyo
were not fully met. The weather condition were so unusual that we could not went out to
spent the time for shopping and sight seeing, but only stay at home to wait the friendly
weather for going out. Surprisingly, that we have an effective time killing activity that had
not been well anticipated before. Our mobile blackberry gadgets which we brought from
Indonesia under the off condition, to avoid over exceeding charge for roaming when we
returned home, were set by my son on the trial and error basis, expecting for internet
connection by using Wi Fi hardware. Thanks God, the trial efforts of my son were
successful, and we are able to make Blackberry internet communication by utilizing the
internet access from our provider in Indonesia without necessary to pay for the highly
affordable roaming charges. Since then we can enjoy the entire waiting time for outer
friendly weather condition in terms of “blackberry-sitter” to access our E-mail, Face-book
and Twitter internet, even browsing and chatting, VoIp communication media. These
activities, in fact, are so absorbing that often make us reluctant to go out even if the weather
condition have already become conducive enough to perform our sight seeing and shopping
itinerary. Indeed, all of sudden, we felt of being absorbed by the blackberry-sitter’s activity,
simultaneously with all members of the household (my son, daughter in law, grand
daughter, my wife and myself), at any time when we are not sleeping.

The picture illustrating the grandpa (left), grand daughter (center) and grandma (right)
are being absorbed by blackberry sitter’s activity, at an early morning of Satuday
(Gany’s Photograph 12th March ’10)
Since the surprised invention of this blessing in disguise enjoyment, we are really
amazing to feel like being at home with all the unlimited communication activities with all
of our friends and relatives back home. Some time we are so absorbing that we do not
aware that we are being at another country with a distance of nine hours flight. We often
startled from our enjoyment, only when our daughter in law asks us to have our routine
meals.
Despite of this absorbing enjoyment, we, of course are still looking forward to
enjoying the Silver Jubilee Nostalgia on the sakura cherry blossom’s hanami occasion. We
highly expect that the fully awaited nostalgia will become materialized within the
remaining two weeks of our time in Japan.
Tokyo, 14 March 2010