Travels, 3 (Japan)

After taking a break from this series on traveling vicariously by talking about musicals and Glee, it's now time to close the series with a little insight on  how The Land of the Rising Sun, Japan, is on my itinerary.

I suppose it started with IBC-13's airing of Japan Video Topics back in the late 1980s until the early 1990s. The show covered a plethora of well, topics ranging from advances in technology, religious or cultural feasts, traditional sweets, or artisan crafts from small towns.

I remember one of my favorite episodes being about those wax food models that Japanese restaurants use to show diners (foreigners, especially) what they're selling. I

n fact, this episode was what sparked my interest in the whole exercise of making fake food and that's just one reason I want to go to Japan : to learn from the experts. (For those who don't know, they're still showing Japan Video Topics  although I can't rightly say if it's still on IBC-13 or on that religious channel that sometimes has Euromaxx and Arts21 on rotation.)

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Meanwhile, the mid-1990s, I discovered the (accidentally) funny and very engaging Tokyo travelogue, Oh, Tokyo which starred a number of Japan-based Filipinas who went around Tokyo and the neighboring areas visiting tourist destinations.

They were all pretty good hosts although many people who saw the series on WINS (that would be Channel 54 on Skycable back in the day. Right before that channel which had Sister Wendy's show) would agree that the breakout star was Ellen Nishiumi who had a preternatural gift for converting yen to pesos in practically zero seconds, a cheerful disposition, and an honest face. (For instance, when giving her opinion on a traditional fish soup, she went "Aaaa, kakaiba siya" while her face displayed an "ew" look.)

Ellen's job was ridiculously fun, in my opinion. She and her co-hosts went to amusement parks, shopping districts, and restaurants. They basically visited any place that would interest tourists. It was pretty cool too, that she was able to bring in her camera crew into the amusement attractions so you didn't have to rely on mere reportage. You actually saw the ladies shriek in delight, or fear depending on where they were. (One of them, whose name I don't particularly know, went on a dinosaur-themed ride and you could tell she was freaking out. Awesome.)

Ellen on Oh! Tokyo

I wanted to steal their jobs, that's for sure. :)

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Of course there's also Sofia Coppola's 2003 film, Lost in Translation, which starred Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray (known for comedies but turns in a spectacular dramatic performance here as Bob Harris). A fascinating film that inspects the (temporary) lives of two strangers brought together by loneliness set against the backdrop of modern-day Tokyo.

The film looks beautiful, making good use of the location to show how small and alone the two characters are. The shots of Bob and Charlotte wondering about and wandering around Tokyo, and those in the dimly-lit hotel rooms are alluring and heartbreaking. (The soundtrack is amazing, too, featuring Phoenix, The Pretenders, and Jesus and Mary Chain.)

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And then there are the Haruki Murakami books. I actually don't know why the Murakami books I like (Norwegian Wood, Dance Dance Dance, Wild Sheep Chase, and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle) would make me want to go to Japan. In most cases, the lead characters I identify most with are the lonely, jazz-loving (or western music-loving) men who live somewhat unstructured lives (working as either writers or artists) that they can leave easily to chase a dream or nightmare. They could be from any country, I suppose, especially since Murakami doesn't really provide names for most of his lead characters and I can't tell if they really ARE Japanese, but since they're living in Japan, that should be enough.

And it is, I guess.

Besides, I want to see Murakami in person.

Ah, and before I end, the last book that makes me want to go to Japan is Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter. A young-adult title I bought on a whim when I was in highschool and I've loved it ever since, for its lovely descriptions of Japan's changing seasons which are also used literary device to explain parts of Yuki's (the lead character's) life.

If Japan was indeed as gently sad and beautiful as Mori's book says it is, then I don't know why I'm still writing this and not sitting on a JAL flight at this very moment.

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On the whole I'd rather be on the road right now.

Travels 2.

Previously I mentioned some movies, books and whatnots that have somehow influenced my future (far, FAR future) travel plans to Morocco and Italy.


Today, if I still have your attention, is all about why Baguio & Manila, Mexico and New York are my next stops.


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Baguio & Manila
I'm actually cheating here, because while Baguio is always great place for people like myself who melt upon exposure to heat, I really want to go to Baguio and Manila circa 1980s. -You know before the major earthquake that struck the Philippines. 


If you've seen Mike de Leon's Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising, Elwood Perez' Diborsyada, then you might have a pretty good idea of what the old Baguio was like, with the Hyatt Terraces Hotel still standing, the mini-golf course still pretty clean, and the crowds not as suffocating as they are now. I believe I mentioned this in an earlier entry.

I've also spoken about the old Manila, with its uncluttered skylines with accompanying blue skies. And the fun park inside the Greenhills, which the characters in the 1984 movie Tender Age visit. Read more about it here : Pop! Someone's been watching Pinoy Klassiks Rewind again! 

I also give the movie Pare Ko points for capturing the quintessence of the early to mid-1990s Manila for middle class youths. While I was younger than the characters of the film when it came out, I could somehow relate because I had an older brother and cousins who were the same age as Claudine Barretto and Jao Mapa at the time. I'd love to go back to Manila of the 1990s when plaid and Doc Martens were fashionable.


Mexico

Now, If I only had the Speedy Gonzales cartoons to go on, Mexico wouldn't be on my list at all. Mexico, if the cartoons are to believed, is HOT and DUSTY and pretty much just that. Plus, Mexican mice could run faster than the Mach 5. No thanks. I'd rather have my bubonic plague served late and cold.



But, when I discovered Mexican cuisine via an episode of Two Hot Tamales on the iChannel which had the girls cooking a quail with roses, and through the 2001 film Tortilla Soup (incidentally, the Two Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger did the food styling for this film), and Laura Esquivel's fantastic novel Like Water for Chocolate, my mind was changed.


One just cannot go through the show, movie and book without coming out salivating for any of the dishes featured within. It is because of these mouth-watering delicacies from south of the border (the US-Mexico border, of course) that I was obsessed with the idea of going to Mexico to learn how to cook. I would've gone even if I had to go busking. (Which, in hindsight, is totally retarded because I'm maarte.)

While I haven't given up on mastering how to prepare the cuisine and inf fact, I'm still hoping to master the molé soon, I've decided I'm not going to be a street performer where it's hot. (This is beside the fact that I have no performing talent whatsoever.) 


New York

I've been to New York once but, save for the fact that I was able to see Rent playing at the Nederlander Theatre with Mel B (aka Scary Spice) as Mimi, it was a bit of a mess. -The MoMA was closed for repairs and we couldn't, for the life of us, find Isamu Noguchi's garden. 

That said, I still haven't completely given up hope that New York City is one of my spiritual homes. The concept of having all that art, culture, and cuisine within one's reach makes my head spin with excitement.

I'm not daft though, I realize that to be able to properly enjoy that city, I'd probably have to be as rich as the characters in Everyone Says I Love You who lived in a Manhattan penthouse and had the luxury to shuffle back-and-forth from NYC to Paris or Venice. (It would probably be fun to live in THEIR New York, where people just randomly broke into song.)

Or you know, according to Dora Diamond (Mena Suvari) from the 2000 film, Loser, it's quite possible to have fun in the Big Apple without having to spend so much with tricks like sneaking into the second act of Broadway shows when the smokers who step out of the theatre go back in, or getting free coffee in Central Park.


It'd probably also be nice to be a kid in New York, if the city's depiction in Little Manhattan or Home Alone 2 is to be trusted. Okay, maybe the latter is a dream come true, being stuck in FAO Schwarz and having all those toys at my disposal would be awesome (I can easily say so now, too) as would beating up robbers with Rube Goldberg-like contraptions. Little Manhattan's portrayal of a child falling in love for the first time in a city as large as Manhattan is more realistic and precious.


Speaking of falling in love in New York, this is a theme put to good use by tour guide-writer-performance artist Timothy "Speed" Levitch in the documentary film "Live in Shiva's Dancefloor", and in Richard Linklater's animated movie "Waking Life". In both movies, Levitch speaks of his love for the city and life but while Live speaks of New York directly, I only assume that Levitch's scene in Waking Life was filmed on the Brooklyn Bridge. 

It seems apt, anyway, as Speed is a known denizen of the Big Apple. 

In any case, although I may not understand a lot of Speed's philobabble (I say this with all due respect, sir), his enthusiasm excites me and makes me want to make the trip back to his beloved city.  




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To conclude : Japan. (And I'll see if I can come up with something else.)













 

Travels. Part 1

You might not know it to look at me but I have a terrible case of wanderlust. 

Terrible, because I can hardly afford to go anywhere. Haha. More’s the pity because I’m always dreaming of being somewhere else rather than where I actually am in any time of the day. (Except perhaps, when I was with you, because that always felt right.) And being stuck somewhere gets excruciating.

I’m being patient, however, as I feel that I WILL get somewhere someday. I may not have figured out the logistics portion of it but I believe it is my destiny. 

In the meantime I’m here to talk about some songs, books and movies that feature the places I want to go to someday.

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Morocco

Off the top of my mind, there’s Craig Thompson’s book, Carnet de Voyage. Thompson is the creator of the seminal semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Blankets (also one of my favorite books) and Carnet is, exactly what its name means, a travel journal. 

Following the release of Blankets, Craig (yeah, we’re thisclose) went on a publicity tour around Europe(France, Barcelona, Morocco and the Alps) and published the sketch-travelogue as Carnet de Voyage.

This book is another preview of Thompson’s mastery of the brush pen. –A lot of his sketches were done on-site as he watched cats lounge around in Morocco, or while he babysat his French hosts’ children. And, since this is also a journal, it was of particular interest to me to read abuot Craig Thompson’s bouts of illness, missing his ex-lover, seeing the beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) sights from around the continent, and how he felt about meeting his heroes.

Of all the places he visited on his tour, I guess Morocco was the one that struck me the most. I know that he was lonely there and he missed the creature comforts of say, France but the way Craig drew the streets, the buildings, and the people, it seems as though it would be a worthwhile adventure getting lost in Morocco.

I’d have to say that this is one of the more inspirational/ aspirational books I’ve read over the years. Sometimes I wish I were Craig Thompson. -An artist and a storyteller who’s been able to travel through Europe. I’m sure there are many other comic artists who are able to do the same but Mr. Thompson’s always felt the most accessible to me.

That book, and the song “Marrakech” by funk/acid-jazz band, Incognito are two major reasons I’d like to go to Morocco.

Italy

There are three films are responsible for putting the idea of going to Italy in my head. Chronologically (according to when I saw them) they are the following :

• Only You – a 1994 film starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr.  (I saw this on laser disc. )
• Everyone Says I Love You – a musical by Woody Allen. (This one I watched in the Sta. Lucia theatre back when it was the only one with Dolby Digital Surround. –We were the only people in the theatre.)
• The Talented Mr. Ripley – an Anthony Minghella film based on Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller novel of the same name, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, jazz music and the island of Sanremo, Italy.

The first two movies had scenes in Rome and Venice, and of course, both cities are simply breathtaking and romantic with their ruins and canals. (Er, I mean, so it seems. I don’t have a romantic bone in my body.)  However, thanks to The Talented Mr. Ripley and its stunning cinematography (courtesy of John Seale), I’ve decided that if I were going to Italy, the first stop should be Sanremo. I think I’d love to be under that lovely sun and have the calming Mediterranean winds blowing at my face. I probably wouldn't want a brilliant but psychotic leech like Tom Ripley on my trail but with my luck I'd probably have that role.

(Other notable films : A Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn, and Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso)

I must mention that there are three songs that also remind me of Italy. Deano’s version of It’s Amore, O Sole Mio, and, oddly enough, an instrumental version of La Vie En Rose.  Yes, I know it’s French so I can’t particularly explain why I relate it to Italy but I do anyway.

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Up next : Baguio, Mexico, New York.