Tokyo: The Quiet Side of This Trip

Through a serendipitous series of events, I found myself landing in Tokyo for a quick three-day trip. The main reason I was there was for the talk I gave at Keio University (which I mentioned in my last post). Luckily, I was also able to squeeze in a pleasant bicycle ride around Tama Lake with a dear friend on our Bromptons and attend the Traveler’s Notebook 20th Anniversary preview event.

In my past life as a stationery and gadget buyer, I used to write extensively about my travels, and many of you engaged with me on my old Typepad blog. Nowadays, I still find so much joy in writing about the journeys I take. Platforms like Instagram or Threads are great for quick snippets, but it's hard to dive into feelings and the finer details of life there. Since Typepad closed its doors, I'm not sure if my old readers have found me at this new home—so if you're still reading my stuff, please drop a comment and let me know!

When a trip is this packed, you spend most of your time rushing between locations or being fully "on" at events. Before you know it, most of the day is gone. Coupled with the offline work I need to do to move projects forward, it can be incredibly difficult to quiet down and empty my mind. Even when the opportunity for rest arises, the brain takes forever to shift from "race mode" into "quiet mode." I find it especially hard to do this without setting a timer—and honestly, man, that's stressful in itself.

Still, I try my best to seek out places that offer the right atmosphere to achieve a sense of inner flow. Sometimes, it’s just carving out an hour in a cafe during a bike ride:

幸右衛門茶舗

幸右衛門茶舗

(Kouemon Chaho)Instagram

Or finding the quiet peace of a one-hour Sunday mass at a church right near my hotel:

Meguro Catholic Church

Meguro Catholic Church

Location Map

It could even be a simple, highly anticipated meal during transit at Narita Airport—a bowl of cold, wild Japanese vegetable udon or soba. Oh man, I could eat this for every single meal in Japan.

Wild Vegetable Cold Soba! Super Loving It, My All-Time Favourite.

What I really want to say is that, particularly on this trip, none of these quiet moments were strictly planned. They lingered at the back of my mind, and when the opportunity arose, they just seemed to slot perfectly into my schedule. I don’t quite know how to explain it—perhaps it's Carl Jung's concept of Synchronicity—but I’ve found that:

the simple desire to be quiet + letting things happen naturally = it somehow just works.

I also ended up having a wonderful conversation with two friends. We didn't know each other on a deeply personal level beforehand, but we ended up having some profound talks over dinner, resting our battered bodies and spirits. That wasn't planned either; it just sprang into existence. I’m definitely going to need more time to digest everything we shared. Man, we really do need time to process everything, don't we?

Anyway, I'm back in Hong Kong now, rushing to fulfil other duties. My next trip is to Malaysia. There’s a lot to prepare, and I'm not entirely sure what I will achieve there yet, but I'll let my heart guide me and just let it flow.

I'm not completely done with this Tokyo trip, though. I'd love to share more stories from it with you soon.