After our 1 hour plus domestic flight from Hakodate, we reached Tokyo, where the temperature was slightly warmer, around 5 degrees Celsius. The program for the day was to be a visit to Asakusa, where there’ll be a temple and rows and rows of small shops. It would have been quite interesting I guess, but as both Winnie and I have been there before, we weren’t quite inclined to do it again (plus, I was pretty sure I’ll most probably spend all my remaining money buying all kinds of not-very-useful stuffs from the shops there). Fortunately, our Japanese host Masa arranged for us to go on an excursion to the interior of the Imperial Palace grounds. Oh yes, did I mention before that we had the fortune to stay with Winnie’s Japanese friend Masa while we were in Tokyo? It was such a blessing, cos he drove us all around (so that we didn’t have to take public transport at all!) and staying at his place for 2 nights saved us around S$350! Good hor?

Right, so Masa came and picked us up from the airport. Apparently, he had arranged some sort of an Imperial ground excursion and had also invited his other friends to join in. So when we reached the place, we still had to wait for another 10 plus people to come. Wah….this wait was especially excruciating for me. Cos firstly, we had not lunched yet (and it seemed we wouldn’t be getting any inside the palace grounds), and I had grossly underestimated the weather in Tokyo. Though it was indeed warmer than in Hokkaido, the winds were horribly unbearable! And the worst part, I wasn’t even wearing my pants thermal wear, my big puffy jacket and the ever essential body heat packs! So you get the picture? It’s definitely not an exaggeration to say that I was literally shivering down to my bones. At one point, it was quite scary cos I thought I couldn’t even move liao! Most fortunately, one of Masa’s friends very generously bestowed upon me a precious heat pack (they carry these things with them everywhere all the time!), and somehow, I managed to survive. Anyway, all of Masa’s friends who came for the excursion were extremely nice people, and I missed them so much when I left Japan.

Our guide was an Imperial staff who knew Masa quite well and hence, we were able to visit many off-limits places on the grounds. It was a very refreshing change to the usual tour itinerary, cos when I visited the Imperial grounds in 2000 with a tour group, the areas we were allowed to enter were extremely limited. For Masa’s friends, it was also an honour to be able to visit the Imperial grounds in such depths. We had a view of the many carriages the Imperial family possessed, the stable of horses which pulled these carriages, the many 盆栽 groomed in the palace (they have one which is at a ripe old age of 500 years!), the indoor theatre, etc. Though the guide could only speak Japanese, we had no lack of translators among our group during the tour. Most of them were surprisingly good in English, and there was even this cute Japanese guy translator whom I had a miniature crush on during the excursion. Too bad I forgot to take a photograph to show you his face!

But, nothing beats this one incident which I believe, will remain etched deeply in all of our memories forever. While we were leisurely strolling along, our guide suddenly received a phone message informing him that the EMPEROR AND EMPRESS were about to whiz past us while on their way to their tennis game! You can imagine how elated and astonished we were when we heard this from our guide! It’s like….ITS THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS IN THE FLESH!!! Even the Japanese themselves can only get to see them (from several miles away, at least) on the 1st Jan every year when the Imperial grounds are open to the public. This was indeed our 三生大幸…no, make it 五生吧！So naturally, all of us got extremely excited and couldn’t really concentrate on the instructions our guide was telling us, about us forming a straight line and bowing 90 degrees when the car comes by.

In no time, the car (quite a small inconspicuous one, I frankly would have missed it if no one told me the Emperor was in it) came into our sight. So, like soldiers, we dutifully formed our line and waited patiently. The atmosphere was definitely intense man! I was so afraid I would bow wrongly, cos we don’t do the bowing that often, right? At the command of our guide, we all did our beautiful 90 degrees bow, and waited for the car to come and go. But guess what? We heard (yar lah, can only hear lah, heads bow so low only can see the ground mah) the car approaching, and instead of continuing their way, it actually slowed down and *did I hear wrongly* IT CAME TO A STOP IN FRONT OF US!!! To say we were shocked is a serious understatement. I remembered looking at Sue, the Japanese girl bowing beside me, with panic and alarm, only to realize she felt the same too! I think the top most question in all our heads was ‘WHAT THE HELL SHOULD WE DO NOW????’ I’ve NEVER talked to such a distinguished person in my whole life before, and for the Japanese, I think its even worse. Cos the Emperor and Empress are like ‘THE supreme beings’ to them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them had fainted from the shock!

So the Emperor, Empress and their 贴身保镖 came out of the car and after hearing our guide introduced us, they walked slowly down the line (yes, we were still standing in a line) and talked to each and every one of us. Much to my pleasant surprise, BOTH the Emperor and Empress spoke to Winnie and I in beautiful fluent English, and unlike the rest of our group, we were the only ones who had the chance to shake their hands (the Japanese can only bow as its impolite for them to have any physical contact with such distinguished personalities unless its initiated by the latter). They mentioned the last time they came to Singapore was in 1970 (!!) and that they had even planted a tree here (!!!). They are such soft spoken people, but you can really feel this royal air around them. After what seemed like an eternity, they left in their small car, and we could all finally stand AT EASE! WOW! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE, don’t you think! Though we did not have any photos taken of this historic moment, I don’t think any of us would ever forget it.

And needless to say, I no longer felt cold for the rest of the excursion. All the heat was stirring up within me from the excitement and tension! This incident alone, has already made my entire trip to Japan worth millions and millions!!