My Trip to the Philippines
January 21, 2010
Leave it to good ol’ Jerry to be nine months late in posting a blog entry about his trip to the Philippines in April 2009. I’ve been really meaning to make the switch from Flickr to a self-hosted photo gallery and that has really made me reluctant to post any pictures. Since I didn’t want to post pictures, blogging about my trips was more difficult because now you would have to rely on my mediocre writing ability instead of viewing my mediocre photographs. I have photographs on my Facebook profile so please check them out there for now.
I don’t foresee any change to my photo gallery in the upcoming while with all that’s going on so I’ll just go ahead and put this really really long write-up about my trip. One warning though – I haven’t really proofread this so there are most likely dozens and dozens of errors. Here we go:
April 7-14, 2009
My latest trip lasted for just seven days and six nights but it proved to be one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I don’t remember who said it but I absolutely agree that it’s the people and the company that make the trip, not the places, the food, the weather, or anything cultural that you can see. Luckily for me, I experienced wonderful company and excellent places, food, weather, and culture. I am hoping that I’ll be back soon and continue exploring the Philippines.
Manila
The only blotch on my trip was visiting the city of Manila. It was unavoidable since we had to land there. Manila is a big giant city filled with the usual nuisances of noise, traffic, and pollution. The people here were similar to other big cities: a bit standoffish, somewhat rude, and very skilled at blatantly staring at the foreigners walking by. This is something my more visually foreign friends face all the time in Japan but as an Asian person (and you know how all Asians look alike), I fit right in Japan and forget about that feeling of “looking different”. I totally forgot about that feeling until we landed in Manila.
My general impression of Manila is that it’s like Bangkok without the cool temples. I think most people aren’t fans of Bangkok to begin with. I am not looking forward to landing in Manila again next time.
Here are a couple of places we visited in Manila:
Chinatown
We didn’t spend much time in Manila thankfully, except for the second day when we toured Chinatown and then Fort Santiago. Chinatown is scary. I’ve been to my share of Chinatowns (thanks to my very Chinese parents – I personally don’t care about Chinatowns), and I can say without exaggeration this was the most dangerous-feeling Chinatown I’ve ever been to. People just seemed shady. Sifus Bennie and Steve also fueled the fear by telling us to hold on to our bags and keep our heads up. I got the feeling we were being sized up constantly. We stood out in many different ways: we were clearly foreign, we were wearing Kung Fu shirts, we were a lot taller than the locals, and towards the end, we were carrying rattan poles about 6 feet long through the streets.
The one thing I will give credit for is the food. We stopped and had lunch at some random restaurant and the food reminded me very much of fine Chinese restaurants in Vancouver and Mom’s cooking. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of Chinese cooking styles that I love can be found in Filipino cuisines. I would be having some good eating this trip.
As one can expect in Chinatowns around the world, most stores sold the same cheap crap that only tourists buy. I saw mahjong tiles with English written on them, Buddhist statues alongside Catholic statues, all sorts of kitchenware that will probably break in a week or get you sick first. I’ve always wondered how so many stores in Chinatowns over the world compete over the same cheap slippers that sell for what, twenty pairs for a dollar?
Fort Santiago
I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to any of the history lessons given by Sifu Bennie’s intelligent wife. My thinking is, if I were truly interested in the history, I would pick up a good history book before or after the trip. I won’t ache my limited cognitive abilities by stuffing random historical facts while I’m already overloading the senses with the sights and sounds of a new environment. Half the time I’m not even that interested in local history but as far as I can tell, this fort was built hundreds of years ago by foreigners and then taken over by other foreigners. This was also a place where Japanese soldiers used to torture and kill Filipinos during WW2. It was quite disturbing to see the many bullet holes along the walls – a shadow of the executions, and the dungeons that flooded when the tide came in, drowning prisoners inside.
The thing that brought the cheerfulness back was the cardboard figures with the faces cut out. We all took turns sticking our faces in and taking silly pictures. That helped me put a smile back after walking through the very negative mood in the area.
Nagcarlan and Liliw, Laguna
Once we left Manila, we spent most of our time in the area around Nagarlan and Liliw, two small areas in the province of Laguna. I’m not really sure if these areas can be classified as towns or cities because they don’t seem very large and there is no clear divide between them. They’re both in the mountains and as such, much cooler than the humid and stinky Manila. Our accommodations were in Nagcarlan and Sifu Bennie resides in Liliw. We made our way to Liliw through the use of jeepnies and “tricycles” every morning at the cost of about 9 peso ~ less than 20 cents one-way.
People in the area are much friendlier and just more laid back than the city folk. I could easily see myself spending extended amounts of time working on my garden or backyard in this area. There were no malls, no McDonalds, no fancy restaurants but instead, there were many small stalls, shops, and family-run businesses instead. It’s definitely not for those who like shopping.
What you get in return for the lack of “amenities” is the lovely weather. While it does get pretty hot during the day, it cools down a lot in the evening and the mountain breeze is a blessing. The fresh air and the starlit sky at night was sorely missed in Osaka. Waking up to the call of many roosters can be annoying at first but I got really used to it by the third day or so. In general, everyone got up pretty early to start their days.
Accommodations
When I think of the word, “hotel”, I immediately get images of nice places like the Hilton, or the Marriot, the Sheraton, and to a lesser extent Holiday Inns and other places. I see breakfast buffets, nicely made beds, a snazzy bar and maybe even a casino or shopping mall. These are the shortcomings of a western traveler I suppose.
We stayed at a place called the Hotel Villa Gregoria and all things considered, it was a very nice place. It cannot compare to the aforementioned establishments in terms of sheer comfort and facilities. It was very cheap though – each of us paid about 5000 yen ($50) for the whole week!
Given what we paid, we got a great deal. The three students: Hamish, Ian, and I shared a room while Sifu Steve got his own private room. It’s good to be the sifu. Our room could easily be a summer camp cabin with a cheap bunk bed, a couple of chairs, and a bathroom. It was painted a lovely lime green color for some reason and it really matched Ian’s shirt on the day we arrived.
The resort itself has several swimming pools. They spared no expense in making a half-sized Olympic pool and a few kiddy pools complete with water slides. The resort was protected by a 12 foot tall tyrannosaur as well. Also, guards stood next to a fake Hummer and the gates were always manned by someone. There was a very small convenience store that provided us with nightly cold drinks and chocolates and chips. I always got the impression that the lady who ran the store didn’t really want our money… she seemed grouchy whenever we came knocking.
Lastly, the “videoke” machines were used once or twice during our stay. “Videoke” is your typical karaoke except they were built into video arcade game boxes and much like the arcades, you put in a couple of coins before you choose your song. During our stay, we heard a lot of videoke and a lot of very off-key singers too. From the very small sample of Filipino singers I heard at various places with these videoke machines, I’ve concluded that very few Filipinos can sing in tune. I heard some pretty awful singing. I’ll give kudos to the people who had to sit through the singing and smile and clap after the songs.
Marketplace
Visiting the marketplace in Nagcarlan was great fun. It reminded me in a way of a very gritty Granville Island Market in Vancouver. The marketplace itself was poorly lit but the morning sun helped a lot. There were just mountains of fruit for sale at incredibly low prices. I remember picking up about 3Kg of mangos for I think less than $5. Compare this with the roughly $4 per mango that I sometimes see in cheap fruit stands in Osaka. There were a few people working with coconuts that I found interesting. The coconut plant is such a useful and versatile plant and the people working with them all did different things. One man was just taking off the husk to be used for other purposes. Another only sold young coconut.
The meat section was just as interesting. Compared to Canada and Japan, the meat here was very fresh – the pork was probably slaughtered that very morning. You can imagine the amount of blood and the smell that was in the air. I’m used to that “butcher shop” smell and honestly, I rather like it. We didn’t pick up any meat so I’m not sure how the prices were.
Aside from meat and produce, there were many different stands and stores that sold daily items. We met and took pictures with a young fellow who worked at a tools stand. He was quite well-built and showed us different blades and swords used for farming but could very well be used in combat. The people here were very friendly and several asked for their picture to be taken!
We had breakfast here a couple of times at a small café on a corner of the market. The coffee was nothing more than instant coffee but the food… forgot the name, but it was basically congee was great. Just like mom used to make. If I had more time I would have visited more cafes and restaurants in the area to sample more of the local specialties.
The School
I was glad to finally see the kung fu school at last and I was very jealous too! The Philippines school is at least twice as big as the Japan school and better equipped with a workout machine, a very solid wooden dummy, and shelves! We would love shelves in our school but probably lack the room for them. Soon enough we’ll be moving across the hall to the big room I hope.
The school was painted black with yellow strategically placed. I have to give credit to the sifus for making the school look great. Even the Chinese characters painted on the walls were done well. The full length mirrors on one of the walls made the school look even bigger.
The school is situated above a grocery store and a small internet café is also in the same building. I think I paid… 20 peso an hour, or maybe 10, whichever the case, it equaled to 40 or 20 cents an hour to use internet there. Ridiculous! It costs me that much to visit a webpage on my stupid Docomo mobile I’m sure.
Training
This was the main purpose of coming here with Sifu Steve. Of the seven days we stayed in the Philippines, we trained for about 5 days. I helped teach Sensei Fidel, a Tae Kwan Do teacher with a fantastic attitude and impressive physical performance to boot. I also got a chance to train with Hamish and Ian on a more detailed level – while we have trained together for a very long time; we have never really focused on the minute aspects. Because of this week of continuous training, I felt the three of us improved vastly. I was able to identify a lot of my own weak areas during my stay in the P.I. It’s amazing what you can pick up by watching others and then taking a look at yourself.
The three of us made a solemn vow to continue our training and when the time comes when we’ll all meet up again, we will be a lot stronger and faster. I know we’ve already made a few solid steps there.
What did suck was I injured my pinky finger around the last day or so of the trip. It’s been well over a month now and it still hurts. I keep spraining it over and over again. I haven’t punched with my right hand in over six weeks. I have though, focused on the left and further refining my techniques.
The Casas Family
I usually avoid speaking about specific people because most of the time, people don’t really interest me and maybe also because I like to keep things private. I will break my own rule this time because I must talk about our host family to the Philippines, the Casas family.
I don’t envy very much in my life but I do envy this family. The Casas family is the model family. Two parents with strong morals, infinite wisdom and patience, and a love for life that shines, and four kids, each by their own right is an amazing story on their own – this family makes every other family I know look dysfunctional.
I’ve never met kids who do chores so routinely and without complaint before but these kids go beyond this and volunteer to do things. As guests, we got to eat first while everyone else talked or watched TV and waited for us to finish. I felt pretty bad eating before the kids. They vehemently refused when I offered them first dibs too.
We were treated like family from day one. All our meals were prepared for us – literally: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We had some fantastic food too – we were shown a great sample of Filipino cuisine. My personal favorite was a barbecued pork – it was tender and had just the right amount of seasoning so that the pork flavor still remained strong. I was really surprised by how similar the soups were to Chinese soups that Mom made back home.
I would love nothing more than to repay the Casas for their hospitality and friendship. Having met them and just knowing that there are people as kind as they are in the world makes up for all the crappy people I have met. All it takes is just one person and I had the honor of meeting a whole family of such wonderful people.
Food
Most of the Filipino food I sampled had a striking resemblance to Chinese food! The tastes and textures were very similar as was most of the seasoning used. Meals mostly included rice, a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and soup, all served on a dinner plate with a fork and spoon. Most meals were fairly simple but very nutritious and tasty.
I had the opportunity to sample some homemade desserts – I don’t remember the Tagalog name for it but the Japanese equivalent would be “pudding”. It’s a rich, creamy pudding with a caramel sauce. The difference was that duck eggs are used instead of chicken eggs. This gave it a slightly different smell but a much thicker, creamier consistency. It was great.
We also had some very nice buko pie – coconut pie. Surprisingly, it was very much like apple pie. It was not too sweet but hits the spot perfectly. Even McDonald’s had something different to offer. Instead of apple pies, they have pineapple pies! I tried some and it is much better than the apple pie. I wish they sold these in Japan.
The food adventure for us (the students Hamish, Ian, and I) was attempting to eat balut – duck eggs. I think many people have seen balut – once you crack the egg open you see a tiny little duck fetus. We were all wary of trying this – my friends of the white persuasion more so than me. I have eaten my share of strange food so I figured balut wouldn’t be that bad. It certainly wasn’t! We all managed to eat the balut without hurling.
Sifus Steve and Bennie made it easy on us though, they got us 3-day old balut. It only contains a very undeveloped fetus. For me, I tasted three separate textures: a hardboiled egg yolk, a small piece of duck meat, and something that reminded me of snail. There’s also a piece of very hard, stone-like thing left over as well. The ultimate challenge would be a 15-day old balut. This would contain a very well-developed fetus, with feathers, tiny duck head, eyes and all. We would “chicken” out of this challenge this time around.
It is my duty to mention how good the produce was. I already had a good inkling that most produce would be very fresh since we were smack in the middle of some farms. The selection at the marketplace in Nagcarlan was great and the prices were just jaw-dropping compared to what I would pay in Osaka. A kilo of mangos (roughly 6 mangos) cost about 200 yen. I would be hard pressed to find a single mango for sale at 200 yen in Japan. The bananas were a lot smaller than the ones sold in Japan and the weird thing was the bananas were sweet. I mean, literally, they were tangy and sweet. I’d never eaten a banana with so much taste before! I swallowed probably a half dozen and could eat a few dozen more. There were also many fruits and things that were practically free because they grew everywhere.
In Liliw, there weren’t many restaurants and they certainly won’t be winning any prestigious awards for their culinary art either. The one “fine” restaurant was called Arabela’s and it was probably the nicest looking restaurant in town. It was built in an old Spanish building and the ceiling was about 5 or 6 inches too short for me. Ian, the resident giant, and even I, at a modest 5’10”, had to stoop inside or have our heads and shoulders go crashing through to the second floor. I had a steak there and it wasn’t the best steak ever but it was good to have something more meaty and substantial.
I forgot which day it was but we had lunch at the Filipino answer to McDonalds: Jollibee. I would say it was as good as McDonalds. We all had “Champ” burgers: a 1/3lb patty similar to a quarter pounder. They were something like 120 peso, about 1/5th of the price of a quarter pounder combo.
Children’s Feeding Program
We were invited to a children’s feeding program run by the church on Easter Weekend. I’ve seen pictures of this event in Osaka but I didn’t really have much idea on what happens here. I’m really glad I went and I was quite touched by the love people shared with these children.
As far as I could tell and from the information I was told, most of the children live around the mountain and belong to very poor families. It seemed there were quite a number of single mothers too. Some kids looked quite malnourished. Children are children however and each one had that bright gleam in his or her eye and several had huge smiles! One group in particular was not shy at all and posed for our cameras at every chance.
The morning started with some warm-up exercise – the exact routine that we do in Wing Chun class. I think we have Steve to thank for that. Then the volunteers run Sunday School (hold Sunday School? I don’t know the proper verb to go with Sunday School). The kids listened to a bible story and did some quick activities coloring things in, answering questions, etc.
Sifu Bennie and several other people prepared food and watching these kids eat was definitely my highlight of this program. It doesn’t cost very much to feed these kids but you can imagine that funding is limited. We did the best we could and donated some money and I was surprised that what little I did donate would help extend the program way more than I could imagine. I will definitely be giving more to help these wee ones in the future.
Trial by Water and The Baptism
We were also invited to attend a baptism in a mountain resort by the same church. I can’t say I’m a religious person so this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. We all went anyway and while the baptism itself was interesting, we had an unexpected side trek that proved this day’s worth.
First, we got to the mountain on jeepnies, only this time, we climbed onto the roof and hung on for our lives! It was quite exciting. There were no straps or seats, just the metal bars on the top to hang on to. Trees and power lines became deadly obstacles for us to duck and weave around. At times the jeepney must have been going pretty fast but the notion of speed was a bit lost to me since I was too busy not letting go and falling to my death. In a word: FUN!
On the way to Lucban, we were pelted with water balloons by groups of people waiting on the side of the road. Many people were waiting… this was no coincidence. In fact, we were in the midst of some kind of water festival that this town holds. We snuck out of the baptism event and walked around the town.
Waiting for us were crowds of people with buckets and pools of water (literally). They dowsed us, cheered, laughed, clapped, and then offered shots of lambanut (coconut wine). I turned down the drinks but Ian had one. We all got drenched pretty good but in the heat, we dried up quickly. It was, buckets, of fun!
Annoyances
It was at first interesting but after the second or third time, it just became plain annoying. When entering most larger stores, you have to submit your backpack to a ridiculous search for bombs or other terrorist materials. The worst part is that no one really takes the search seriously anyway so it was just a big hassle to take off my heavy backpack, open it up and hope that the contents don’t spill out, and have the person just wave their fingers around and tell me to go through.
You also don’t have to drive around very long near the bigger towns before you spot army “crime watch” teams. How can I describe this? Take half a dozen to a dozen soldiers in full camo outfits, have half of them sitting on plastic lawn chairs looking half asleep, and have the other half walking around toting automatic rifles pretending to be protecting the peace
At some check points, you have to stop your car and let the “inspector” open the driver’s door and have a quick look around the driver’s feet for bombs. Steve, sitting in the back, joked, “The bomb’s in the back.” Once again, another inspection based on appearances. Supposedly this is just some stupid ploy by the government to make the people think they’re protecting the country.
Hong Kong Trip – part 2
January 14, 2010
Dec 29, 2009 to Jan 4, 2010
Here’s part 2 of my HK trip write-up. I found myself with very little time so I mainly jotted down notes of my thoughts before I went to bed each night. Here is the summary.
Family
So even though I didn’t happen to do much during my week in Hong Kong, I realize now that I didn’t have much time to do anything. I spent each day with my family and most importantly, spent time with grandma and other relatives. On weekdays, we mostly had a meal together and that was it. On the weekend, I spent the entire day with them. An entire day with family, even my very own, can be very tiring.
My grandmother’s health was not as bad as we were led to believe. She was physically quite weak and her body is unable to produce blood anymore. This means she is constantly getting blood transfusions. She seems to tire easily and she always looked very pale. Also, she is not very mobile anymore and she was hesitant to travel to far to meet people. Luckily one of my uncles has a car and graciously drove her.
Mentally, my grandmother is as sharp as a knife. She was yelling at my father, aunts, and uncles as if they were children. I was surprised to discover that my grandmother’s way of thinking is so similar to my own. I was even more surprised to hear her say the exact same thing to my father as I did just hours ago about him buying a cheap, fake watch. I said it in English but she said the exact same thing in Chinese. I see now that I got my looks from my grandfather and my mind from my grandmother.
I was happy to spend this time with family because during this trip I discovered many things about my family that I had never known. The highlight of my trip was finding a very old picture of my grandma and grandpa in their 20s. My grandfather’s picture immediately caught my eye because I saw so many of my own facial features in his face. It was like an instant connection to a man I met when I was only about a year old and whose face I don’t even know.
We found the picture in a rather strange way. We were at my aunt’s house when she was fumbling about with some photo albums and she dropped one. It split apart and all the photo pages came spilling out. In the process of going through these, I saw the picture on the second or third page. I don’t think it was mere coincidence that she happened to drop this photo album. Maybe my grandfather wanted me to find this picture.
I spent a lot of time at our hotel asking my dad about the family and speaking with my sister too. I find it fascinating that when I see the family together, everyone seems to make sense – everyone has a distinct role and the family would not be complete without each one. I’m glad I just have one sibling because it makes roles much easier to separate.
Food
Dining is probably my favorite part about visiting HK. I had dim sum almost every day and not only is the food ridiculously awesome tasting but it was much cheaper than Japan too. A full course dim sum meal for four cost about 1,500 yen – a tiny fraction of what it would cost for one person in Japan.
For my sister’s birthday, we went to the Shangra-La for their lunch buffet. The food is fantastic and it was very reasonably priced too. It’s never a real vacation unless there’s a buffet somewhere.
Shopping
I didn’t get much shopping done but I did manage to buy a lot of tea for giving away and for my own consumption. Tea is my drink of choice in the evening. Tea is my addiction. I brought a few kinds of leaves and a couple of very convenient tea pots that separates the tea from the leaves with a push of a button.
Aside from tea, I bought a few things here and there – some stuff for myself, a gift for the wife, and a Yip Man DVD! We visited “Lady’s Street” and I always regret going to places like these because all they ever sell is cheap crap that no one really wants. The worst part is the bargaining. My sister bought some useless trinket for $50 when the woman wanted about $100 for it. No matter how much you haggle, I always can’t help but wonder how low the price really is. Anyway, it’s all useless junk that no one should want anyway.
WiFi
People always seem to think Japan is so technologically advanced. While this is true in that Japan produces a lot of cutting edge technology, in reality, technology is adopted at a much slower clip. For one thing, free WiFi is very rare. I have to pay a nominal fee to use Yahoo’s WiFi service at McDonald’s and other places. Most people seem to subscribe to a mobile internet service instead of trying to find free Wifi.
Not so in HK. I found free Wifi everywhere in HK. This was very useful and I was able to check email on my Blackberry and use the internet on my laptop a lot more than I had anticipated.
Traveling
We didn’t go to many places but I got to spend a bit of time on Nathan Road and around the harbor at Tsim Sha Tsui – these two places are my favorite places in HK. They’re both much cleaner and more modern than the rest of the city. The rest of the city seems to be just filled with shopping malls anyway and dirty restaurants anyway.
Summary
So all in all, I had a great time with my family and meeting all my relatives in HK. Because of my grandma’s age and condition, it was good to see her while she was relatively healthy. I’m hoping to visit again soon, perhaps again this year, if my family goes and, well, frankly, if my grandma is still kicking.
I even felt people in HK were more polite this time around! I mean, they weren’t “polite”, but they were less rude compared to the previous experiences I’ve had.
Next time around I would like to have more time to myself so that I can visit some Wing Chun schools and see what they’re doing. I’d also like to have the wifey there so we can spend some time together too.
Hong Kong Trip – part 1
January 07, 2010
I’m going to put up two posts about my recent trip to HK. The first part is about my first day and the second part is about the rest of the trip. I had a lot more time on my first day to write.
Dec 28, 2009
I had stopped posting every single word I wrote about my few trips because it became a really boring long post about minute details. I thought, I would summarize everything into one clean(er) post at the end and post pictures. My track record for this is terrible though. I just realized that I haven’t posted anything about my Philippines trip in April this year. So, just to have this all done, I will recommence the posting of every minute detail of the first day of my trip! Enjoy, all two or three of my readers!
Why did I choose the early flight? My 10:00 flight automatically means check-in at 8:00 which means I have to be on the airport shuttle bus at Namba by 7:00. Give my standard hour and a half to leisurely prepare, I woke up at 5:30. Somehow I managed to sleep on the bus and the airplane. Any sleep will let me go that much more today.
I’ll have to admit. I was a bad traveler today. I had my third bout of some cold since Wednesday and I decided to go through with traveling anyway. I don’t have a fever or anything but today marked the “coughing” phase. I had two coughing fits and I think I scared the Japanese lady next to me. She kept leaning away from me. Although, my cold may not be related to that at all, it might just be my natural charm.
The flight was great and Cathay pilots have always landed so smoothly. So here I am at Hong Kong International Airport at 14:00. My family will arrive at 19:00 which probably means they’ll get their bags and go through immigration at around 20:00. That’s just a 6 hour wait. Me being me, I’d rather wait for them for six hours instead of them waiting for me for a few hours. Thankfully, there is awesome free Wifi here.
One of the things that’s always so neat about HK is the international, multicultural flavor. I ordered a gigantic coffee (relative to Japanese sizes) from a Filipina who speaks at the very least English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. I heard her use these languages while waiting in line. Amazing. Also amazing: I forgot to tip. Oops.
While enjoying my coffee, some really strange Aussie bloke grabbed a magazine and sat down. He started making a lot of noise – a big sigh here, some self-mumbling there, then, he addresses me and some dude behind me directly, “Have you guys heard of Doctor Lighting?” No buddy. No. He also stank too. I was just about to get my gear together and move tables when he took off, and I mean took off. He just dropped the magazine and jogged away. I’m thinking his imaginary friends were out to get him perhaps.
If you’ve read so far, then you’re a much stronger person than me. I think I’ll use this to talk about why I’m in Hong Kong suddenly. This was definitely not a carefully planned trip. My sister texts me less than two weeks ago, “When can u go (sic) hk”? I tell her that I probably can’t go until May or late summer during Obon. She replies about my grandmother’s health condition and how it’s recently been. They wanted to fly over to HK as soon as possible to see her. So, for the next week, I was running at hyper tension mode because my parents couldn’t decide when to go – now, next week, a month from now, and I was worried that every day they hesitate meant less chances that I can go and that I can even get tickets. I start a full-time position in March and I really don’t want to be taking time off then. I don’t even want to take time off before that.
In the end, it all worked out like clockwork. We all got airplane tickets for the same day and I don’t have to miss any lessons but I had to sacrifice a lot of my winter holiday and time to spend with The Woman (who couldn’t come). Anyway, that’s why I’m in HK – I’m here to visit my grandmother while she’s in good spirits and alert. This sounds terrible but this will likely be the last time I meet her. It also gave a very fortunate chance to meet my family again so quickly too.
Trip to Vancouver
October 15, 2009
I thought I would write on my blog a bit everyday about my recent trip back home but I guess I got a little lazy. Two weeks just flew by so quickly. The best part was that I didn’t even do much in these two weeks. It seems like all we did was eat and go shopping. Instead, here are some random thoughts about a variety of topics – all kind of Vancouver-related.
Food
It’s strange that the food I most craved were the simplest of things. I got to eat all the foods I wanted: lots of dim sum and Chinese food, poutine, a White Spot hamburger, some candy bars, steak, and salmon. I also ate a lot of junk food at night with the sister and drank way too much coffee. People seem to drink so much coffee these days and there are Starbucks and other coffee shops everywhere!
Friends & Family
I got to meet a few of my only remaining friends in Vancouver during this short trip. Dennis took me to this neat little restaurant by False Creek followed by Yuk Yuk’s. The old school ELI crew met me at Hell’s Kitchen.
I met my relatives twice for dinner. I haven’t really had much of a relationship with them for a long time now so the conversation was non-existent. Call it being cold but I don’t care to initiate conversation much anymore. The way I see it, if we haven’t kept in touch during the seven years I’ve been away in Japan, why start now? There wouldn’t be much in common anyway. Perhaps one day in the future I’ll come to know my cousins better.
The person I spent the most time with during this trip was my sister! We managed to watch the last three seasons of The Office together, a show I managed to addict her to. She took us to the Ghost Train at Stanley Park and while the line for the train took an hour, it was a fun thing to do.
Wing Chun
I visited and met two Wing Chun teachers in Vancouver and saw some differences in teaching and interpretation. One teacher was extremely patient and even gave me some pointers. I will definitely meet him again when I have the chance. The other teacher was a bit less polite. He assumed a lot of things about my Wing Chun without even trying out some chi sao with me. He showed me a lot of his style and explained many concepts which he felt was lacking in Hong Kong Wing Chun. I beg to differ on these points because I feel he doesn’t fully understand how HKWC is. Perhaps he met some inexperienced HK practitioners. Regardless, it was an interesting and educating chance for me to meet these two teachers.
Shopping
I hate shopping but I still managed to buy a lot of random stuff. I bought new shoes on impulse. I bought two old video games. I bought I think about 5 Rifts books and a couple other random books. I bought new sunglasses. I am a shopping whore.
Driving
The one thing I most thoroughly enjoyed doing was driving again. It took ten minutes to get used to my old Honda Civic and I was shocked at how badly my family had treated the poor car. Am I being crazy in saying that one can have a bond with a car? I know everything about that car and this bond helped me get used to driving very quickly. I drove almost everyday even if it was only to get coffee or to go to Safeway.
I did notice that people did not wave to say thank you anymore and there were a lot more asses on the road. That was not fun. I still hate driving downtown and during rush hour. Driving in Richmond is still a lesson in self-loathing.
Still The Same And Yet
In the end, I think Vancouver has changed a lot and yet it hasn’t. Esthetically, sure, there are new train stations and the Olympics seem to be the talk of town. There seemed to be a lot more gang violence and there were at least two shootings during the time I was there. Still, after the initial reverse culture shock had subsided, I felt right at home. The roads were basically the same, the weather, the food, the atmosphere. I even woke up in my old bedroom with strong urges to get ready for school.
I really hope to come back more often because there is a certain amount of guilt I carry for not being with my family. It’s like I should be there to help carry heavy boxes, shovel snow, take my parents out for dim sum, and all the traditional Chinese son things one needs to do. With that in mind, see you soon again Vancouver!
Vancouver is the same
October 05, 2009
I’ve been back in Vancouver for about a week now and it’s been great. As many changes as there have been, Vancouver is still basically the way I remember it. Navigating is still the same and drivers are still mostly asses. The new train lines are very convenient but since I’m using the car everyday, I haven’t rode it much.
It rained the first few days but then again it wouldn’t be Vancouver without rain. The Woman is coming in a couple of days and the weather is supposed to be sunny all week. She often brings about nice weather.
I’ve met most of my relatives and spent a little time with them. I still don’t have much to say to anyone. Yet another thing that has not changed.
I’ve spent most nights watching The Office with my sister. I’ve recently addicted her to this fabulous show and watching on her big screen is a great experience.
Getting an international driving permit in Osaka
September 25, 2009
I couldn’t find anything on Google about getting an international drivers license in Japan. All the websites I saw were about getting one before coming to Japan. So, I’ll give some general information about what to do. First, I’m in Osaka so I’ll be referring to the Kadoma Driver’s License Test Center near Furukawabashi Station on the Keihan line.
What you need to bring
- Your passport
- Your Japanese drivers license
- A photograph of yourself taken within the last 6 months. It must show the top third of your body, you must be facing straight forward, and you can’t be wearing a hat. Also, they were pretty strict on dimensions: it has to be at least 5×4cm. I couldn’t use the pictures I brought because they were 3mm too short. Just use the machine in the Kadoma Driver’s License Test Center – you don’t even have to cut the photos out. 700 yen for two photos.
- a blue or black pen (to save time)
- 2,650 yen
Note: if you have another international driving permit that’s still valid, bring it along or else they can’t give you a new one. This will save you a trip.
What to do
Once you arrive at the Test Center, head towards counter #6. You want to pick up the application form for the “Kokusai Unten Menkyou Shou”. Ask around. The form is in Japanese and I didn’t think to bring one home so study up on your kanji or bring a j-friend. Fill in the form at the counter.
Before submitting the form, go back to the front of the center to pay. The 2,650 yen gives you stamps that you place on the form to prove that you paid.
Now, go back to counter #6 and give them the form, your passport, your drivers license, and your photo. They’ll give you a slip of paper with the current time and ask you to write your name in the box at the bottom. Thank the poor, overworked staff and come back in 30 minutes. When you come back, give that slip of paper back and they’ll have your international driving permit ready along with a useful piece of paper about which countries it’s valid in and a helpful reminder that you must bring your Japanese drivers licence with you.
Map
More Louvre
September 22, 2009
Taking advantage of Silver Week, a five-day long weekend that hasn’t happened in a long time, we hit yet another art museum today. This is my third artsy place this month. Today we went to the National Museum of Art, Osaka, located next to the science museum in Nakanoshima.
The line was a breezy 20 minutes, compared to the 55 minute wait at the Kyoto exhibit. We did encounter an Osaka baba, an old lady hailing from Osaka known for her impatience and line-budging-in skills. Her skills were impeccable. Unfortunately I have not been blessed with the ability to punch old ladies in the face. Yet.
The theme of this Louvre exhibit was, “Children from the Louvre collections” and there were pieces from Egypt, Rome, Greece, and a few Middle Eastern countries as well. There were paintings as well as statues and other gadgets and gizmos. I think the piece with the most impact was the child mummy in the sarcophagus.
Alongside the Louvre exhibit was a very interesting and strange Po-po Nyang-nyang exhibit by Miwa Yanagi. She took a couple dozen models and took pictures of them “in which female models dress up as the person they would ideally like to become in 50 years”. The pictures were quite surreal but I thought they were an interesting take on modern society and what we think of beauty and tradition.
The strangest of all were these four giant pictures of a women with her breasts baring and legs showing. In each picture, she had different body parts: old woman breasts, fat woman legs, and the combinations you can create with it. I’m not really sure what the message was but it sure was strange to be standing in front of a picture more than two times my height of a women with giantic breasts flopping about. You can see this picture at the Miwa Yanagi Po-po Nyangnyang exhibit website. It’s too creepy to download and paste here.
Louvre, Kyoto, and Dinner on the Porch
September 21, 2009
The Woman and I had a very rare weekday off together last week and we decided to spend the day out. It’s been awhile since our last date.
Louvre Exhibit
I mentioned in a previous entry that there was a Louvre Museum exhibit at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. While neither of us are big art buffs, it was something to do.
Although it was a Tuesday afternoon, the place was packed. We had to wait in a huge line outside of the museum for about an hour. To pass the time I decided to just make fun of random people. Seeing people with purple hair in Japan is not the rarest of things but seeing two of them at the same location is! Typically, only old women with no fashion sense dye their hair blue or purple and so it was that one old woman had purple hair and then a tall, older salaryman-type dude had purple hair. He also had a much younger girlfriend. I’m sure she loves him because he’s a family guy or he’s filled with love and passion.
Also, I was a blind old man lining up for the museum. This struck me as weird. I didn’t quite understand how one who is visually impaired might enjoy the museum. As it turns out, they didn’t even spring for the audio guide. I saw a younger women dictate the signs beside each painting to him. Weeyod.
The exhibit was quite interesting. There were a lot of Vermeer paintings. He’s one of the more interesting artists I know (and I know very few).
Around Kyoto
It was still quite early and we spent some time walking around Heian Jingu, Kamogawa around Sanjo and Shijo, and a quick stroll through Gion.
Dinner on the Porch
It was getting late by the time we finished walking and enjoying the sights and the weather. We both had never had dinner on the terraces beside Kamogawa, so, what the hell.
We walked through looking at the different menus at each restaurant and decided on a place that serves traditional Kyoto cuisine. The food was great even though the portions were quite tiny. The view was nice and the weather cooperated.
On the terrace, you have to sit on floor cushions and eat off a low table. My legs fell asleep almost immediately and I had to shift around quite often. The coincidence of the night – I saw my kung fu si hings Patrick, Pascal, and si je Mari walking along Kamogawa from the terrace. Pascal’s shining head gave him away.
In the end we paid about 10,000 yen for dinner – rather pricey. There was a 1,500 yen terrace charge per person. Not cheap!
Real sushi
September 18, 2009
We recently celebrated our nine-year anniversary. It’s hard to believe that I’ve known The Woman for a third of my life! To celebrate, we went to a very nice sushi restaurant in our neighborhood because I have never been to a traditional sushi joint before. I’ve been to plenty of revolving sushi places and a couple of “normal” sushi restaurants but I’ve always wanted to try a really traditional place.
For one thing, prices were not listed in the restaurant. This was a great sign! This meant the prices changed depending on season and fish stocks. I take this as a sign that the chef needs to carefully choose his stock.
Another thing, the restaurant was tiny. It had two small tatami rooms with kotatsu-like tables and a counter that could seat 6. We were the only ones there so we got counter seats, front row and center, right in front of the chef.
We decided to go for “o-makase” style ordering. Basically, you let the chef decide what to serve you. Literally, “o-makase” means “I entrust you”. Of course, there is some conflict of interest – I figured the chef would go for the most expensive items to maximize his income. Surprisingly he did not. He chose a lot of items that were in season, some expensive, some not so much. My favorites of the night included the matsutake mushroom sushi, the super-flaky unagi, the hamo which tasted so fluffly, and of course the tuna.
The maguro, the darker red cut of the blue-eyed tuna, tasted as soft and delicious as the fine cuts of tuna at lesser restaurants. It was fantastic. I was very curious – if the cheaper cut here was better than the expensive cuts at other restaurants, what about the expensive cut here? I had to try it.
We ordered the jou toro, the “top” cut of fatty tuna. It is much lighter in color and kind of resembles the soft fat around a nice steak. I was not disappointed. Placing the piece of toro in my mouth and chewing softly, I felt the oils just spread and the flavors were overwhelmed my tastebuds. It practically melted on my tongue. I immediately thought about wa-gyuu, or Japanese beef (like the famed Kobe beef, the Saga beef, and Matsuzaka beef) – it was a very similar texture; both tuna and Japanese beef melted on my tongue.
In the end we paid about 13,000 yen. It was totally worth it. I loved the experience and can’t wait to go back there, but probably not for a little while. $130 for fish is a luxury I can’t afford too regularly. I highly recommend this for any prospective tourists though!
Hyogo Art Museum
September 11, 2009
I had a rare Friday off so I made my way to see the Visual Deception exhibit. I had never been to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art before and it turned out to be a bit of a trip from my place. I’m glad I went because the museum is really cool and reminds me of the Dream Stage on Awaji Island.
The Visual Deception exhibit was fairly interesting. Most of the pieces were paintings made to resemble things in real life. I think what impressed me the most were the paintings made to look like something fastened to wood. The wood was painted very realistically. The Arcimboldo painting of the man made from vegetables was the center piece and probably the most deceptive of all. There were several pieces of art that can be viewed from different angles and you see different images at each angle.
There was a new permanent exhibit called Shadows. It was rather strange. First, it was the only exhibit where you can touch the art pieces. Some very friendly staff greeted you at the entrance and explained that you need to take off rings and watches, check your bags, and even wipe your hands clean before entering. Basically the room had several statues painted black with an LED light hanging above. This created some very interesting visual effects. I didn’t really touch anything.
One nice feature at the museum is the E-mail corner. The “E” in E-mail stood for the Japanese kanji for paintings. I’d write the kanji but Wordpress has a tendency to screw it up later anyway. But anyway, you can email someone from some laptops set up with MS Outlook and attach different jpegs of paintings found in the museum. You may have guessed that these pictures I’ve slapped on this entry are the ones I emailed myself.
I spent about two hours in the musem going through each exhibit carefully. The area around the museum was worth walking around too. It’s close to a disaster research center that looked interesting. There are a couple of big giant shopping areas: a Sports Authority, Yamada Denki, a movie theater, and similar fare.
The Visual Deception exhibit runs until November 3rd. To get there, take the Special Rapid express train from Osaka station to Ashiya. Get off and take the local train to Nada (five stops away). Admission to the Visual Deception exhibit was 1300 yen, there’s a discount at the museum right now for the regular collections. I paid 1450 for everything to get in.
Harvest Hill
August 26, 2009
We had a pleasant day out with good friends last Sunday at a quaint little place called Harvest Hill, located in Sakai City, Osaka. I think it’s what’s called a “farm park”, or a farm-themed theme park. It’s quite a big park with a lot of greenery, a lot more than what I can usually see in the city so it was quite a welcome change.
There are a lot of things to do in the park like experience different farm activities like milking cows, making your own sausages, leatherworking, and even glassblowing. There were many county fair-style booths with games too but unfortunately they were so old and crappy that it really wasn’t any fun. We had a nice little yakiniku bbq and then walked around the park. There were a few farm animals but they were in pretty sad shape.
Compared to any real farm, or to a real theme park, this place would be pretty sad but it was definitely nice to leave the city and walk around trees and grass for a change.
Lantern Road
January 02, 2009
A couple weeks ago, I visited Arashiyama again with You-san after the last day of Japanese school. I wanted to visit the hanatouro, or flower lantern road. It’s an annual event where thousands of lanterns are placed in a different location everywhere and lit up at night.
The city of Kyoto started this event in 2003 to promote tourism in March when Kyoto had much less visitors than the city expected. “Hanatouro” or “Hanatoro” literally means “Flower and light road”. They place thousands of lanterns along selected paths in Higashiyama from Sanjo to Gojo. They also exhibit flower arrangements in Maruyama-koen park. Temples and a shrine in this area illuminates their buildings and trees. The period of the event may vary each year, but it was from 12th to 21st, March in 2004.
[My Kind of Kyoto]
I didn’t know that this event changes venue every year – on the official hanatouro website, the next venue for 2009 is up: Higashiyama, from March 13 to 22.
Thankfully there weren’t too many people when we went. It was nice to take a stroll through the crisp winter air of Kyoto but the lanterns weren’t all that spectacular. For one thing, they’re all electric lights – while safer, they really don’t have the appeal of real lanterns. The lantern lit path was a much shorter than I had thought. Walking through the bamboo grove by lantern light was great but walking past coffee shops and souvenir stores wasn’t.
Still, it was something to do. After living here for several years – one must find things to do!
1011
November 03, 2008
We arrived at Honolulu on 10/11.
Our hotel room in Waikiki was 1011.
Our flight number from Honolulu to Kona was 1011.
I was almost afraid to get on the airplane.
Hawai’i Island
October 31, 2008
Part two of our trip! Hawai’i Island was fantastic. It was one of the most beautiful and relaxing places I’ve ever been to and was a nice change to the touristy areas of Waikiki. All the pictures are here.
Transportation
It’s pretty tough to get around without a car on the big island. I would strongly suggest renting a car straight out of the national rental places at the airport because it will make returns easier. You can also rent at smaller places in Kona or Hilo but they will charge more for a drop-off at a different location. A taxi from the airport to Kona cost about $25.
We made some frustrating calls from our hotel to the national car rentals because I have the license but no credit card and The Woman has the credit car but no license. They simply wouldn’t rent to us. We totally lucked out with Affordable Rent A Car, a small company in Kona. Ken, the guy who runs the place, was accommodating and set us up with a small Chevy Cavalier for a good price. Thanks Ken! He literally saved our trip. The car was a bit old but handled very much like the old Civic I used to drive.
Driving is very easy on the island as traffic is light. The one problem is that the highway is generally one-lane most of the time so if you’re stuck behind a slower driver – be patient. There are a few areas where rented cars are forbidden due to previous accidents. Examples, you cannot drive on Saddle Road ‘the main road leading up to Mauna Kea and the observatories, and the road down to South beach. Driving up Mauna Kea is pretty tough as well as the slope is pretty steep at times ‘4×4s are recommended.
People
People are noticeably friendlier on this island than on Oahu. Everywhere you go, people say “aloha” and are more likely to smile. Service in stores and restaurants is also much better ‘I actually felt like I was wanted in their establishments compared to the icy cold reception on Oahu.
Since we couldn’t go up Mauna Kea by ourselves, we joined a Japanese tour group. Our tour guide, “Yama-chan”, was one of the most interesting Japanese people I’ve ever met. Having toured around performing Wadaiko, he decided to run across America. Yes, run ‘like Forrest Gump. He spent three years running across the continent. Then he lived in Kelowna for awhile doing Wadaiko again. He’s also lived in Shanghai and Hong Kong and has finally settled here on Hawai’i on a small patch of land he calls his own. I am very envious of his choices.
Mauna Kea
On our 6th day, we joined a Japanese tour to climb the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest peak in Hawaii. This is where Nasa and several countries and universities have observatories. Our tour guide Yama-chan (see above), came early in a big giant 4×4 van and we started the journey with about 10 other Japanese tourists. It’s quite a drive up the summit and we stopped a few times to acclimatize to the altitude and lower oxygen levels. At around 9000 feet I started feeling a bit dizzy ‘a very bad sign. Taking the risk though, I decided to just ignore it and breathe more deeply.
We made a stop around 5pm at the visitor center, altitude 9000ft and had a bento dinner and some hot drinks. The weather was not promising and the staff at the center said that visibility was “poor”. Considering they have clear skies 90% of the year, we were very very lucky! From what I gathered, the extra activity at Kilauea crater was causing the cloudy weather for the past few months.
Right before sunset we made our way up to the summit, altitude 14000ft. By this time I was fine with the oxygen and having a great time. Being a Canadian and therefore having a natural resistance to cold weather really helped considering I was wearing t-shirts. Eventually I caved and took one of the coats the tour guide provided.
After the cloudy sunset we made our way down to about 10-12000ft and stopped an open lot. The sky cleared up a bit for the tour guides to set up two telescopes and we had a private star gazing. Laser pointers are amazing in the night sky! I got to learn a lot of Japanese names for stars. I just wished they knew the English names because I actually know a lot about astronomy. Cassiopeia was very clear, as was the Southern Cross. Venus made intermittent appearances. Jupiter was our guiding “star” all night and we even saw one of its moons through the telescope. We saw about two shooting stars here.
On our way back home the other van in our group stopped along the highway. Yama-chan instantly knew what was happening ‘it had started raining near the end of our star show and the moon was fairly low on the horizon (because of the altitude). We saw our first moonbow ‘a rainbow formed by moonlight. It was very faint but you could see a white colored arc in the sky. If conditions were better, we were told you could see the different colors. What a great way to end the night.
Volcano National Park
On our 8th and final full day in Hawaii, we went to Volcano National Park. The drive to the park from Kona was a fun two and a half hour drive. The speed limit changes very often from 30-55 mph so be careful. I was warned by a waitress that sometimes police catch people on stretches where the speed changes. Along the way to Kona, we stopped at some beach with black sand and saw sea turtles basking in the sun. What a treat. We also stopped at a cove and saw some very high waves coming in .
The volcano park itself is quite huge. Crater Rim Drive, as the name implies, is a road that wraps around the main crater. Unfortunately, Kilauea was emitting a lot more gas than usual and about half of the road was closed.
We were still able to get to Jaggar Museum for a fairly close look at the vent, the Steam Vents to watch steam mysteriously come out of the ground, and Thurston Lava Tube where we walked through a tunnel carved out by lava. We then drove down the Chain of Craters and stopped at one crater, followed by a drive all the way down to the very end of the road.
In 1984, lava erupted and covered the eastern part of the park and destroying the road. Even now lava is still flowing into the ocean forming a huge steam cloud. We were unable to see the lava because the road stops a fair distance away and because it’s difficult to spot in daylight. We didn’t have time to stay until dark nor the piles of money to take a helicopter tour which looked really cool.
I would definitely come back to the park because there was a lot we didn’t get to see. There are also many good hiking trails but unfortunately The Woman is not exactly the best hiker. I will conquer you next time, volcano land!
Food & Shopping
Food was a bit better here than Waikiki because again, most places were small and bought more locally. Hawai’i produces a lot more of its own produce ‘the Farmer’s Market was awesome for fruit. I bought a big bag of longan for $1.50! We visited a few places in Kona and had some food dishes. Who could forget Kona coffee as well ‘even non-coffee drinkers like it.
My favorite place was probably the Kona Brewing Company. The Lava Man Red Ale was one of the smoothest drinks I’ve ever had. Their pizza was pretty good too.
Shopping in Kona was a great contrast to the brand name stores in Waikiki. Most stores in Kona were small boutiques that sold different things. We bought most of our souvenirs and gifts at a small shop near Kona Brewing Company for a lot cheaper than what we were planning to spend!
A bit away from Kona were the big giant shopping places like Wal-Mart, Borders, Office Max, and the Sports Authority that opened that very day we visited. Nothing too interesting here.
Relaxing & Weather
The volcanic activity from Kilauea crater left most of the eastern side of the island cloudy but Kona, on the western part, was almost always sunny. We relaxed on Hanupa Beach on our 7th day and did some shopping as well.
We saw the most beautiful sunset ever at Anaeho Beach and then parked in the empty parking lot at night and saw so many stars. I definitely miss stargazing. We saw way more stars here than we did on our cloudy tour to Mauna Kea. Jupiter was the most visible light again but Venus was also visible toward the horizon. It was warm enough to stay in t-shirts.
Bad
The one bad thing I have to say about Kona was the people trying to sell timeshares. There were many places that did this, offering big discounts on tours and gifts to anyone who signed up. I don’t know much about timeshares but it sounds like such a scam. Don’t be fooled by the discounts on signboards or people who say things like, “I can get you that helicopter tour for half price, you know.”
Good
The whole atmosphere on the island was just positive. I felt so relaxed and at home. People had the laid back approach to life and the natural sites were so enticing. I am definitely coming back here.
Oahu
October 25, 2008
Our much needed trip to Hawaii this time was a journey of contrast. Over the 8 day 10 night trip we went from one extreme to another. We visited Oahu island, our second visit after our wedding at Waikiki and then we explored Hawaii island to just do something new on this trip.
I can’t believe how much I wrote already about this trip. It was much too long for one update so I’ll split it up. First off, Oahu!
Oahu
We spent the first four days in Honolulu and in retrospect we probably should’ve explored other parts of Oahu island. The north shore has always been reported to be more beautiful and we were unable to visit Hanauma Bay on the eastern part of the island.
Our first day was just for relaxing and some light shopping because getting from Japan to Hawaii is more like time traveling without sleep. We left Saturday evening at around 10pm and we arrive Saturday morning at around 10am. Go figure that one out. I have a terrible time sleeping on airplanes so I essentially went two days without sleep. The sunny and warm weather helped keep my mind awake and the sheer excitement of traveling also helped as well.
Food
I really missed good old fashioned western food. The grease, the volume, the instant spike in calories ‘it’s all good. We visited this wicked place called the Rainbow Drive-In and had Hawaiian food at its best: fried meat on rice and macaroni salad. I barely finished my gravy drenched fried chicken. The Woman stood no chance with her mixed grill platter. Take out is a lot more accepted here than it is in Japan so I was munching on her leftovers later that night.
Although far away from Philadelphia, I had about three Philly cheesesteaks here. This is definitely one food item I would request for for my last meal.
We were disappointed with the Cheesecake Factory. I remember having a nice meal with friends here when I got married and the food was alright even though the waiter sucked ass. This time was even worse. We waited about 40 minutes and during our wait, a lot of smoke came pouring out of the kitchen after some guy opened the door. I heard people talking about the vents being busted. When we were finally seated we were told that the only food they could serve were soups, salads, and sandwiches. Couldn’t they have told the 80 people waiting outside this BEFORE they waited? Ass.
As a substitute, we went to PF Chang’s. It was my first time to one of these places. It was really good! Lemon Chicken and Mongolian Beef were soothing.
The Wedding
Dan and Aya’s wedding took place the next day and it was fantastic. The ceremony took place without any hitches and the reception was just awesome. We met Dan and Aya’s families and friends and everyone was really friendly and fun, an indication of Dan and Aya themselves. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my own wedding a little under three years ago.
They put in a lot of time and planning, much more than we had done for the reception. They had a live band and a hula girl that really pinned “Hawaii” on everything. They even had M&Ms with their names printed on! How awesome is that?
Shopping and Touristy Areas
We divided up the next two days on Oahu with shopping and enjoying the outdoors. The Ala Moana shopping center is the biggest mall in Hawaii and had the kind of stores one would expect. Being in Japan for so long, I truly enjoy each “real” shopping mall experience because malls in Japan are uncommon and quite different. My favorites: Borders and the food court. I really miss big giant bookstores and crappy, but varied fast food. I also went to The Game Shop to try to pick up a video game. The store was 90% console and I only managed to snag Age of Mythology, a game I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. Unfortunately the 30 minute wait in line really ruined the store for me. When there are more than a dozen people in line, the two store clerks should not be making general chit chat with people. It’s just idiotic. The Woman enjoyed clothing shopping and my bored face in clothing stores.
It wasn’t very busy this time of year in Oahu but there were still a lot of tourists. This time around, we noticed the gaudy and overdone tourist areas a lot more than our first visit. We just didn’t have enough time last time to notice I guess. But anyway, we got rather sick of the tourist areas. Also, service everywhere sucked a lot more too. I always expect places like Burger King to have crap service but even department stores now were losing any sort of customer service. People were rude, cold, and often ignored customers. Taxi drivers were the worst. Most didn’t speak English enough to be able to have a conversation. One guy was just rude when we made him wait a little while. The ONLY taxi driver that was nice was a guy from Chicago who had started driving a taxi three weeks earlier. He was a gentleman and gave us good advice on what to do on the Big Island.
While kind of on the topic of asses, we saw a fight break up between some poser guy who thought he was a gangster and some waiter, still in his uniform. Not sure what the gangster poser did but the waiter was quite steamed up and started pushing and shoving this guy around. He gave him a really good shove that sent the poser flying. The poser got up and started, well, posing ‘as if he were going to hit him back but the waiter was about twice his size and twice as pissed off. Anyway, seeing this kind of ruined the mood for us. It’s funny watching people who don’t know how to fight fight. The waiter guy did a headlock around poser guy and walked him off somewhere, presumably to the police station or to a back alley for more beats. If anyone head locks you and walks you by the side, they’ve exposed basically everything on their torso to you. A few good elbows to the ribs should break them and turn them into balloons with holes.
Chinatown
I wanted to visit the two martial arts stores here to buy stuff I can’t get in Japan or to get stuff cheaper. One store was gone. The other had a sign that said they moved next door, to the second floor. When we went to the new location, the door was locked. Thanks for nothing. And, why is it that Chinatowns always attract the dirtiest, nastiest sort of riff raff? We passed by this Korean café just as the door was opening and we heard a blood curdling, bone chilling scream from some man inside. Either he just lost a sports bet or he just got his fingers smashed in. Who knows. A lot of poser guys in really busted up clothes kept staring at us in a menacing sort of way.
I remember the shit service in one of the restaurants when I visited with my family here so we avoided eating here as well. The food wasn’t very good anyway.
Almost Hanauma Bay / Diamond Head Crater
We had originally planned to visit Hanauma Bay, a very beautiful coral preserve on our last full day in Oahu. As luck would have it, we planned this visit for Tuesday and they close on Tuesdays, of all days. We called up Dan and Aya and quickly rearranged a hike up to Diamond Head Crater instead. It turned out great ‘it’s a short hike up the side of a crater and gives a great view of Waikiki beach and the crater itself. It was a good break from the stores and touristy places.
Even the girls managed to get up the crater without difficulty. We bumped into two of Dan’s friends at the top and descended together. At the foot of the crater, I realized shaved ice can be godsend, especially after sweating enough to fill the crater.
Summary
All in all, Oahu was not as fun as it was the first time. We spent some time poolside at our hotel and didn’t even visit a beach here. It was just too touristy. I think we’re both done with Waikiki and Honolulu and would choose other destinations instead in the future.
Bad
People were just not very friendly and service was shit. Prices were practically on par with Japan for many items. There were too many tourist traps that sold nothing but crap. 5 t-shirts for $10? You know you’re buying crap. There was too much pretense on this island.
As I said, people are rude here.
Good
The beaches are very beautiful when there aren’t a billion people there. The hike up Diamond Head Crater is a nice stroll and quite relaxing. Food that clogs the arteries is sometimes great. The rare friendly person who helps you out or has a conversation with you really stands out and becomes memorable. That’s about it.
Turtles
October 21, 2008
What a treat! We saw some sea turtles basking on the black sands beach along the Kona coast. Hawaii, the Big Island, is amazing. It was such a wonderful place with friendly people and the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Much much more to come soon. We have a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do.
She was like… wow
October 14, 2008
Daniel and Aya had a hula show at the reception. Wicked food and a cute girl with undulating hips. You guys rock. She moved a lot during the show so most pictures came out blurry. This one was the clearest one sadly.
Canal By Night
October 13, 2008
The Return To Honolulu
October 12, 2008
AÂ 7-hour flight next to a sick man and in front of two devil spawn kids is no fun I tell you. Throw in The Incredible Hulk, a movie that emphasizes violent lashing out and you get one unhappy pappy. Thankfully they kept feeding us with food and snacks and drenching us with drinks. The flight didn’t end in utter violence as The Hulk seemed to indicate.
Honolulu is still so relaxing and beautiful compared to the concrete and seizure-inducing lights of Osaka. The woman bought shoes, two pairs in fact, after much much deliberation that only a wife can pull off. I enjoyed tunes on my Ipod and I think I ran through the entire playlist before the woman eventually decided. I also witnessed some mammals evolve into a higher lifeform while waiting for her to choose too.
Well, we’re at the hotel and I just popped online to check my very busy inbox: "You have 0 messages." Thanks a lot everyone who was supposed to email me. Thanks. Now, we shall hit the pool. Since I hate swimming due to a past-life drowning I must have had, I will try to catch up on some reading. On the booklist: Loose Ends by Don Easton, a friend’s dad. This “fiction” is very interesting when you hear bits and pieces of actual things that have occurred in Don’s life. I hate leaving it at that but I will.
No pictures. I didn’t even take out the camera yet.
We’re going to Hawaii!
October 11, 2008
We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii! We’re going to Hawaii!
In less than 24 hours. I’ll post from Oahu soon with pictures from Daniel’s wedding.
Fushimi-Inari Taisha
October 06, 2008
I’ve written about Fushimi-Inari before so I won’t repeat myself. This year’s annual visit to the coolest place in Japan has reaffirmed its position as my favorite place in Japan as well. I absolutely love the place and each visit has always left me feeling very refreshed and grounded with the world.
I’ve taken dozens of pictures here over the years but enjoy these new ones anyway.
I went alone as I almost usually do and it was as I remembered it from last year. I had some refreshments at one of the shops and spoke with the shopkeep a lot more fluently than I remember. Also I noticed a lot more cats roaming around and I have a feeling Thomas’ ghost was no more than a cat than ran across the path while he was trying to take a picture. I also remember having a lot more difficulty walking up the gentle slops before but the constant exercise and the tobacco abstinence seems to have paid off – I was almost hopping up the steps with ease.
Thanks again Fushimi-Inari, see you next year!
Sanjusangen-do Temple
May 31, 2008
Yamanobe no michi
May 06, 2008
I haven’t been on a good hike in a long while and this, my very first Golden Week holiday, seemed like the perfect occasion. I was eyeing the very scenic 山之辺ã?®é?“ Yamanobe no michi, or “The road alongside mountains” and was planning out the 16km hike when the woman said she wanted to go too. This changes everything. Frankly I wasn’t sure if I could pull through with the 16km and she being the weakling that she is, would not stand a chance. So, we decided to make it a cycling tour!
We got up early and took a few trains out to Tenri, in Nara. From Tenri station, we rented a couple of bicycles from a very nice old man. He gave us maps, umbrellas, and tips because we were first timers here. The map he gave us was fairly good but like all the maps we saw of the area, it was lacking in details. And much to my surprise, renting bicycles in Japan is unlike back home – you don’t get a mountain bike, nor street bike, but a regular shopping bike with a basket and bell.
I am now going to look for a mountain bike because climbing uphill in a shopping bike is nasty. Gears! Gears! People, gears are a good thing! Gears are your friend when climbing uphill, or going downhill for that matter.
Anyway, since we were on bikes we couldn’t follow the foot path but detoured around some major sites. We stopped at many temples and historical sites. My favorite sites were the kofun, ancient Japanese burial mounds shaped like keyholes, or other shapes. From a distance, they appear like a hill but most of the bigger ones were surrounded by a moat.
The temples were nothing special -typical fare. The one temple I was really looking forward to was the “ruined temple at Nakayama”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so much “ruined” as it was “dilapidated”. There were a couple of small wooden buildings in a rather dark wooded area.
The road itself is not a road per se. It’s more of a marked trail through a few cities and lots of farmland. It’s not well-marked and we did a few u-turns to find the way. We ended the tour at Sakurai city and stayed the night at a very quaint guest house run by a guy who writes books about the area and of Japanese history.
I thoroughly enjoyed biking through fields and farms and getting much needed fresh air. People were very friendly and greeted you as you biked by. Although it sporadically showered, the rain helped cool us off and it was a much better alternative to sunlight beating down on us.
We went through the entire course in about 6 hours with many stops for pictures and rest. I will most definitely be coming back here and going on foot – there were many sites that we missed including some waterfalls near the mountains.
Goodbye backpack
February 15, 2008
Today I formally say goodbye to my most loyal backpack. I discovered a hole about the size of a bottle cap at the bottom. Given time that hole would grow and grow until all my posessions would come crashing out in a panicked escape.
I bought this Firefly backpack with an orange top and black and gray body in my third year of university in preparation for my trip to Japan. That was in 2000, a whole 8 years ago. Since then, my lovely backpack has been to many places including Canada, America, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Saipan, and many many adventures within these countries.
I had only recently found new ways to make the backpack more useful, using various carabiners (the kind that you can’t use for rock climbing), chains, and clips. The main point of this was to attach my camera to my bag and have it within easy access so that I could whip it out at the first sight of something interesting to shoot. It worked great in Kumamoto a couple weeks ago when I was consistently switching between my camera, an umbrella, and the city map.
Well, today I bought a new backpack – North Face Recon bag – a similar sized backpack with many pockets and dividers and clips. It’s in a nice gray color and I can only imagine the journeys it will be taking me on. It came at a stiff 8500 yen though. My Firefly backpack was a very modest $20 when I bought it. In a commemorative way, I removed clips that were fastened inside the Firefly and plan to stitch them into the Recon.
Goodbye Firefly, I shall be laying you to rest tomorrow by sending you on your last journey beginning from the trash can and ending God only knows where. Very soon I shall be saying goodbye to my pair of very trusty shoes, not as old, but just as worn out and experienced as my backpack.
Kyushu weekend
February 04, 2008
I can finally cross Kyushu island off my list of places to go! A simple invitation from Kyle was all it took for us to spend a short and sweet 2 and a half day weekend in western Japan. I’ve always wanted to visit Kyushu and wished we only had more time to explore more places. We only had enough time to see Kumamoto City, Fukuoka City (Hakata), and Mojiko in Kitakyushu.
The lady took this opportunity to visit some work-related places and thus I had a couple hours on my own on Saturday and Monday.
Kumamoto
I found Kumamoto to be a snug and small little city with its own pace of life. Compared to Osaka, everything seemed much more relaxed. We had our first bowl of Kyushu ramen in a place called Kokutei é»’äº. We waited about 20 minutes before the noodles came – something unheard of in Osaka. In 20 minutes, you would have finished eating, paid, and be a few meters away from the restaurant already.
The lady left me after lunch and I had a nice trek from Kumamoto Station to Kumamoto Castle. It’s not as far as it seems on the map. Along the way I stopped by at a couple of tiny temples. I strolled by a park that look really nice but unfortunately it was being renovated so I couldn’t enter to explore.
The main attraction of the city is definitely Kumamoto Castle. It sits in a beautiful park that is packed with gardens and historic buildings. I also remember the Traditional Arts Museum in very close proximity to the castle. Unfortunately for us, it was a very rainy day and trudging through wet grass and rocks is not fun. Also, the castle is being renovated and access to the highest levels was denied. Admission was lowered from 500 to 300 yen though. The castle is not as enthralling as Himeji-jo but I think it’s worth a visit. The interior, unfortunately, has been gutted and converted into a museum, much like Osaka Castle. The turrets have remained as they are – very cold and worth the trouble of taking off your shoes and walking up the structure.
The only other area we to was the Shimotori Arcade Street, a huge covered shopping area. We had bubble tea there and that was about it.
The ELI people including Kyle and Nate! Raw horse meat was had by all!
Hakata
Hakata, in Fukuoka City, was a much bigger and more metropolitan city than Kumamoto. We didn’t do much here neither except visit the Fukuoka City Museum, Hawks Town, and the Tenjin Underground Arcade.
The museum is quite interesting but my feet were too tired for my brain to effectively absorb the information. The lady seemed quite immersed in it and really took the time to read every little thing. I, on the other hand, just sat back and caught up with a couple of Coast to Coast shows downloaded from the night before. Hawks Town is more for kids, the Dessert Forest is interesting but there were too many kids running around and not enough tables (and too much sugar being dispensed as well). The Tenjin Underground Arcade is quite huge! Lots of people, 99.99% of the stores are women’s clothing.
I did have one gripe with the ramen place called Ichiran 一è˜. First off the line outside the restaurant was split into two lines, one against the wall of the restaurant, and the other, on the opposite wall. So, it looked like one line for the ramen store and another line for some other restaurant or shop. They had to have one staff come out every few minutes and make sure that people weren’t accidentally budging. What a waste of labor.
Next, instead of normal tables and counter seats, they had a really restarted booth system where everyone had their own very tiny cubicle to eat the noodles. In each cubicle was your own personal water faucet to pour your own water, a “curtain” so that you wouldn’t have to see the server, and a small metallic plate on which you can place additional orders. The cubicles were too small for me to really enjoy lunch. I couldn’t seen see my wife who sat next to me because of the divider.
Honestly, in the end, this was JUST a ramen restaurant! They went to all this trouble to make their store unique that they’ve placed this retarded hindrance on their customers. For me, it was one confusing new fad to the next. I couldn’t rely on conventional restaurant practices and had to rely on the staff that was placed in guiding customers from line to cubicle. I don’t think this system even saves on labor as I heard or saw at least 6 people working this tiny place anyway.
So in the end, I didn’t have such a great time in Hakata. I didn’t do enough planning to find interesting places to visit. Plus my feet were really killing me!
Mojiko
This morning we got up early to visit the small port of Mojiko. The lady met another work-related person and went on her way leaving me about an hour in this very beautiful place. I most unexpectedly fell in love and had a great time here. This tiny port town used to be a trade center for many European traders. As such many buildings here are European in style and many of them still stand today. It almost felt like being in a different country and I just wished I had more time here.
Mojiko Station is one of the oldest stations in Japan and probably one of the more interesting ones.
I walked past the Kyushu Railway History Museum and decided not to pay the 300 yen to enter. As far as I could tell, there were a couple of old steam engines and that was about it. I’m not a big train person anyway.
The harbor is beautiful and offers a few shops, restaurants, and cafes. There was a boat restaurant that I really wanted to visit but couldn’t due to the lack of time. You get a great view of a bridge that connects Kyushu to Honshu island as well.
We rode the elevator up to the Mojiko Observation Deck and had a nice time until two dozen grandmothers in a tour came up and made it grandma day. They were quite chatty and ruined the picturesque view, for me anyway.
And that was our nice weekend. We hopped on the bullet train and back into the Osaka grind!
Hong Kong – a Leung affair
November 16, 2007
My parents and sister came over to Japan for a brief stint and after exhausting them on walking tours around Kansai, we all headed over the Hong Kong to meet family we haven’t seen in over a decade. Hong Kong continues to clean up its streets and image and customer service remains sketchy at best.
This time however I met so many relatives on my dad’s side and they all exhibited the kind of kindness and hospitality that could not be beat. They made our trip wonderful and I am glad I got a chance to meet so many of them. I got a chance to meet some younger cousins as well.
With the brilliant site called Facebook, I can now keep in touch with them.
Pictures:
Hong Kong
The big family banquet
I’ll write a more detailed update later… feeling a bit lazy at the moment.
Kiyomizu-dera
October 05, 2007
I went with my new buddy Gerard to see Kiyomizu-dera; one of the more beautiful and famous places in Kyoto. That temple sits on the side of a mountain and some of the structures are over 1200 years old!
The lack of updates is intentional. I have been going through a tough time at work. I’ll keep it brief but last month my salary came two weeks late and the company always seems to be on the brink of bankrupcy with staff salaries having been late for months now, teachers being evicted from their apartments because the company has not paid the rent, advertisers not having been paid, and branches being closed.
This has led to a mass exodus of teachers all over the country and floods of rumors coming in every day. The company has not exactly been forthcoming with any news. This is the worst part – being kept in the dark when motivation and confidence is at an all time low.
I am not having a fun time at work. It’s like climbing a mountain everyday just to get there and climbing it again to stay. I have some plans but basically I’m going to ride it out and try to get on the dole.
Travel Tips
August 19, 2007
To not make my travel logs even longer, I took out the travel ideas and tips from our Thailand and Cambodia trip. Enjoy!
Get some good travel guides on these places. I used the Lonely Planet series for both Thailand and Cambodia. The Thailand book is excellent while I found the Cambodia book to be not as useful. The layout for the different sites in Angkor was a bit confusing – I actually relied on the lady’s shitty Japanese travel guide because it had better maps and more details on each site within the Angkor Thom walls. Look around for a better guide.
Begging / Tourist traps
Not that you’ll be doing any. I honestly did not see any beggars in Bangkok. The ones in Siem Reap were often victims of the land mines. Also, I noticed some kids put on really good sad, puppy dog faces only to giggle and laugh with their friends the second we walk off. I gave out $1 like candy because… well, it’s $1. More commonly though, you’ll meet people selling trinkets and crap to dumbass tourists.
In Siem Reap, they were strategically placed at every attraction in the Angkor area. It did get quite annoying because you hear “You wan cold drink?” / “Postcard $2.” / “OK You come back later. My name is Tiger.” very often. Best not to get mad at anyone because they’re just trying to make a living. I am a dumbass and I politely turned each person down while the lady adapted much quickly and just ignored people.
The guidebooks suggest to give food to the kids. The lady gave some Japanese gum to a really tiny kid and when she tasted it, she reeled in disgust. Perhaps it was too sour or sweet. Another little girl called the lady a liar, “嘘ã?¤ã??” after she turned down whatever crap she was trying to sell. The lady is not so popular with children.
In the old market, the remorque-moto drivers ask you if you need a ride… constantly. It gets old, very fast. Massage parlors also hound people too.
As a professional English monkey I found very interesting language aspects in Siem Reap. People often dropped syllables or letter sounds. Sohkong, our taxi driver, had trouble with ‘S’ sounds. I heard, “Are you Japanee?” from many locals and in my head I added the final “ese”. Other things: “ehcuse me” / “do you wan massa lady/sir?” (massage).
Books
Not so sure about Bangkok but in Siem Reap there were a couple used bookstores in the old market with a fairly good selection. I finally gave in to the resistance and picked up the Dan Brown books for cheap there. Everywhere else, you had kids selling really good replications of travel guides. I picked up a Lonely Planet Vietnam for $5… and I still overpaid. Most kids around the temples were pawning these off for $1 or $2. I neither condone or condemn the use of photocopied books. The quality is rather good for photocopies though.
Currency
Thailand has a well established economy and uses the Baht. Cambodia, on the other hand, runs mostly on US dollars but change less than a dollar is given in riel (roughly 4000 riel to 1 USD). There is a 5% value added tax in Cambodia and I forgot if there was a sales tax or not in Thailand. There are currency exchanges everywhere in the places we went to and the rates were much better than in Japan. Our hotel gave the worst rates – go to the market places and smaller counters for better deals.
Faux Pas
The feet! The feet are considered the lowest part of the body, both literally and culturally. Pointing your feet at people, at Buddhist statues, or at monks seems to be frowned upon. The head is regarded as the higest part of the body (both literally and culturally again) so touching people there is bad. It seemed like people shook hands as much as we did but we mostly met locals who were used to foreigners. The locals in Siem Reap often did the “wai“. I guess it was best to return it.
In Thailand, there are many pictures and paintings of the king. Stepping off the airplane, one of the first signs I noticed read, “Long live the king!” As described in most travel guides, one must show respect and reverence when speaking of the king. Joking about the royal family is not funny. I kind of noticed this when I asked our guides some questions about the king. Their answers always put the king in good light. Hold off on political opinions until later I guess.
My books kept going on and on about “losing face” in Asia and to avoid becoming angry in public because it demonstrates a sign of weakness. I found that to be crap. Feel whatever you want to feel. Certainly haggling for prices was much easier when you had a big smile on though.
Food and dining
Bangkok has all kinds of restaurants and fine cuisines. At times it was like walking around Hong Kong with all the hustle and bustle on the streets. Siem Reap, on the other hand, is a much smaller place but there are many restaurants still. Most in the old market offered service in English while other restaurants had at least menus in English. There are cafes and western cuisines but don’t expect any McDonalds in Siem Reap – something I very much appreciated.
Getting around
We had a friend take us around Bangkok but taxis and tuk tuks were everywhere. From what I can gather, it’s best to establish a price beforehand and stick to it. The guidebooks are packed with warnings about shams. Siem Reap was much the same but I found the drivers were much more enthusiastic about taking you around – everywhere you went you had people in the remorque-motos hounding you for rides. We met our taxi driver, Sohkong, on the first day and for about $25 a day he took us around everywhere and waited for us. He also gave us brief descriptions of each place.
Visas
Most people can get a 30 day travel visa to Thailand without filling out extra paperwork. Cambodia sells travel visas for $20 a pop. You need to bring a passport photo there or else they’ll charge you more to take a picture. The paper work for the visa can be found in the Siem Reap airport but we got ours early in the airport in Bangkok (S-something airport).
Voltage
In both Thailand and Cambodia it’s supposedly 220V but there are some quirks. In our hotel in Cambodia though, they had both plugs available – a very handy and intelligent option. Best to bring an adapter just in case.
Weather
HOT. Luckily (relatively speaking) we went during the rainy season so the bouts of 30-35 degree, full hellfire sunny days were broken up with quick and powerful showers. The rain really cooled the streets down but did nothing to lessen the humidity (up to 80% I hear). My shirts were literally drenched after walking around for an hour. Dress accordingly but be warned – it is frowned upon to visit temples in shorts, skirts, basically anything other than long pants. Some temples were much stricter but usually they had clothes to lend out. Best to bring your own I fathom.
Cambodia: Part 2
Note: click on the thumbnails for a bigger and clearer picture. You can also skip my commentary and head directly to the pictures too.
This one’s a long one so here’s a convenient link for you.
Cambodia: Part 1
August 04, 2007
Note: click on the thumbnails for a bigger and clearer picture. You can also skip my commentary and head directly to the pictures too.
We spent three fully packed days in Cambodia and because I don’t have the energy or memory to write about all of it at once, here is the first part.
July 16
When we last left, I had just mentioned that we got on a very small airplane from Bangkok and flew to Siem Reap. The flight only took about an hour and a half but the turbulence was rather strong. During the flight I got to witness a conversation from the dumbest sounding girl I have ever seen. To stereotype her as a Valley High girl would increase her intelligence too much. Even the guy she was talking to was doubting himself… “Is this worth getting into her pants… is this worth it.”
I digress. Dumbasses aside.
Cambodia is without a doubt the most amazing country I have ever been to. It is also the poorest country I have ever been to. I will most certainly not get into Cambodian history here but the years of Khmer Rouge rule, then French, and now corrupt governments and corporations has definitely taken its toll. The infrastructure for the average person is unbelievably limited. For the average tourist though, there’s everything you need and more.
As undeveloped as Siem Reap was, I was most pleasantly surprised by how happy and how warm the people were. The few people I had a chance to speak with were welcoming and helpful and more than happy to share stories about the city, the country, and the history. I am in their debt.
From the airport, we got a taxi and met our driver, Sohkong. Sohkong is a very short man in his early thirties who only recently became a taxi driver. He used to work in a hotel but for reasons he didn’t get into, he left the job and now makes a living as a driver/tour guide/history teacher (to tourists). Sohkong’s English is at best at a lower intermediate level and the poor guy can’t say certain syllables – “s” sounds that were not the first syllable were often dropped, eg. “Japanee”. It took awhile before I could understand him while the woman never quite understood anything he said (nor could he understand her). We paid $5 to get from the airport to our hotel; the Sokha Angkor Hotel.
What a beauty. I guess it’s one of the higher end hotels but really, even though it’s more expensive than most hotels around, it is still financially cheap compared to anything in Japan. The staff all spoke very good English and were all very polite. They catered to every need.
Right before he left, Sohkong asked us if we needed a taxi driver during our stay in Siem Reap. For $10 a day we would basically charter the taxi for all of the Angkor area and if we wanted to go further, we’d pay a little more. I think some people negotiate prices but it’s $10 people! We gladly accepted his offer and collapsed in our hotel room.
In the afternoon we walked around the area around the hotel and found nothing but a few crappy souvenir shops. It’s weird but there are very distinct souvenir shops for different Asian cultures. The Korean shop we went to sold clothes and trinkets and the two Korean girls there tailgated us and explained to us what we were looking at. We quickly left because if they got any closer we’d have to swat them off our backs. The Chinese shop had a big floor filled with jewely showcases, that were in turn filled with very cheesey gold and jade jewelry. I can see old Chinese women flourishing with the tacky jewelry but not us, we are hip and trendy twenty somethings. (I like silver and platinum myself).
We got sick of those crappy stores pretty quickly so we returned to the hotel and got ourselves a remorque-moto. I have no idea what that means but I guess it’s from the country’s French influence back in the day. Just think of a small covered carriage for 2-4 drawn by a motorcycle. It’s Cambodia’s version of the tuk tuk. Our driver, Bun Thorn, reminded us of Daniel, so we secretly called him Daniel because when Bun Thorn first told us his name, I heard “Putin” but wasn’t sure.
We first asked Daniel to take us to the landmine museum. He muttered that it had moved away – and I guess far enough that he didn’t want to go in a remorque-moto. We eventually did go to the landmine two days later and it was quite far actually. We then decided to go to the war museum. That really sucked ass. For $3 we got to see some local commander’s collection of old military junk thrown around a backyard. I would avoid that place.
While driving there though I noticed how crappy the people have it compared to the tourists. The main street where the hotels are were paved and nice but the streets leading up to the museum were not paved, had huge potholes, and no street lamps. The houses on the side were made from literally anything people could fine. With the 500% humidity and the 30-38 degree temperatures, I am sure it wasn’t comfortable.
Things were looking grim as we just wasted time in a junkyard. We then decided to head to the Old Market – the foreigner hang out. Things suddenly got much better! The Old Market is a small part of town with many trendier stores. The market itself is a covered area where people sit around and try to sell you anything – fake jewelry, fake Angkor Wat relics, photocopied books (I kid you not), crappy toys, whatever you don’t want! One clothing store even sold mp3 songs directly to your Ipod – they had a huge catalog of hundreds of music albums for download. I’m sure the recording industry would have a field day there. It was fun to walk around though. I bought a fake Lonely Planet Vietnam book for a friend and admired the quality for the $5 book (I still overpaid). I stocked up on some other used books and went my merry way. The other stores around town sold pretty nice arts and crafts – stuff I would buy and decorate my apartment with. The bars and restaurants were nice as well.
The annoying thing about the Old Market is the endless stream of solicitation from the remorque-moto drivers and the massage parlor workers. The drivers all park by the sidewalk and anyone who looks anything like a traveler is asked if they need a ride. There are dozens of them parked on the main street. The massage parlor workers, although not as many as the drivers, are annoying in their own way too. “Massaaa, lady? Massaaa sir?” Here people dropped “ge” syllables. The lady learned to ignore everyone very quickly while I was too polite, I had to politely decline each and every time. Aargh.
After that we had dinner in a really shady restaurant near the hotel and dropped into a coma at the hotel.
On the next instalment: a birthday boy climbs a tall tower.
Thailand
July 27, 2007
Note: click on the thumbnails for a bigger and clearer picture. You can also skip my commentary and head directly to the pictures too.
July 14
Bangkok was to be our stepping stone onto Siem Reap. The lady’s company has a branch in Bangkok and she has been corresponding with people there for years. She’s also known Japanese nationals who have been sent there for five year stints as well. While she’s been communicating with them via phone and email, this would be her first time meeting most of them face to face.
Bangkok is about 6 hours away from Osaka but Bangkok Airways made it much easier to bare. They have personal entertainment units in each seat. The remote control doubles as a phone and video game controller. You can choose when to start any of the dozen or so movies available. Also you can even customize playlists from the different music tracks but as always, the music selection was sketchy, at best.
When we got there, the heat and humidity really hit. It was at least 30 degrees when we arrived around 6:30pm and the humidity was around 80% supposedly. The lady’s friends jokingly told us that in Thailand, there are three kinds of weather: hot, hotter, and hottest. They weren’t kidding.
Her friend Parinya picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel. It was an awesome hotel with a great lounge with live Thai music. The service was excellent and it was located in a very interesting part of town – Siam Square. Right away you can notice the different bars and clubs and the presence of foreigners. Some of the rather shady looking clubs had scantily-clad girls sitting outside in rather… provocative ways. They all called out to guys… in Japanese. Unfortunately I now know what Japanese travelers do in Bangkok.
Afterwards, about half a dozen people from the company and some family members came out and met us for dinner. We went to a nice Thai restaurant near the hotel and having that beer after a long flight really hit the spot. Unfortunately my stomach wasn’t in the best of shape and I couldn’t enjoy all the awesome Thai food that was placed before me. The spices were making my stomach scream for toilet. We thanked them for their most gracious visit and dinner and we parted ways.
Later that night the lady and I walked around the area. I noticed a lot of people hanging out on the streets. Some of them sat in make-shift food stands and ate and drank. Others just sat on the street speaking, or trying to pawn off crappy goods. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed. To our surprise, I saw a guy walk by with a baby elephant in tow! Unfortunately I couldn’t set up my shot right so it came out too blurry and dark. After that we were too tired to do anything else and the scantily clad ladies were calling out so we headed back to the hotel and got some good rest.
July 15
We got up early and had breakfast at the hotel. I must say I am beginning to fall in love with these hotel buffet breakfasts. They serve a bit of every kind of breakfast I can think of and offer limitless portions. More importantly a hot cup of coffee is just soothing to a wary traveler, especially one with stomach issues already.
Parinya met us with the company car and he took us around town. We drove past many neat looking places – the current palace grounds, the city spire, many gold-colored buildings, and many huge pictures and paintings of the King. Of course the roads were full of cars, motorcycles, and the infamous tuk tuk – imagine a motorcycle and a horse drawn carriage had an extramarital affair: a tuk tuk would be its illegitimate lovechild.
Eventually we survived Thai traffic and ended up at Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. I think Phra Kaew means golden mountain if I remember what Parinya said. The main attraction is the big golden spire in the middle of the area. There are several pavilions in the complex and reconstruction continues in several parts of the temple. The Grand Palace is no longer inhabited by the royal family but I guess they move around every few years.
Thai temples really differ from Japanese temples in a few big ways. Thai temples tend to be much more colorful than the humbling colors of Japanese temples. The carvings and decor seem to be more outspoken and bold, with statues in man kinds of positions, whereas the Japanese counterparts seem to be more reserved. It was also interesting to see influences from different cultures. Noteably Guan Yu statues protect a few buildings.
When we finished it was only noon but the sun and the humidity was beating down hard. We had a nice lunch and Burin joined us along with a couple of other very friendly and smiley people and then visited the National Museum. Unfortunately most of the buildings in this complex were not air conditioned. This made for a very uncomfortable stroll through stuffy buildings. I was too exhausted to even take pictures here. The artwork and historical pieces were very nice to look at but the only thing on my mind was, “get out of this heat”. We put up the white flag and asked Parinya if we could move on.
We had one last request before heading back to the hotel. There is a huge reclined buddha statue in Wat Pho – made famous by Streetfigher 2 (remember Sagat’s level?) and the many Japanese travel shows to Thailand. We just had to see this very comfortable-looking buddha.
Even though it was so hot it was well worth the visit. The statue is huge. You can see its toes just tower over me. There was also a ritual where you pick up a pot of copper coin-looking pieces and slowly but methodically throw a few of them into these pots lined against the wall. Your goal was to have enough
After that we were done. Parinya and Burin dropped us off at our hotel and we exchanged very fond farewells. I honestly felt my experience in Thailand was so fantastic because of these guys. Thank yous!
July 16
Waking up early again and enjoying another great hotel buffet breakfast, we make our way to the airport and get on a a tiny airplane, the smallest I’ve ever been in, with propellers instead of those big barrel shaped engines. The ride itself wasn’t too bad but turbulence really hit the plane. There were no cool personal entertainment units in each seat and I think there was only one washroom too. No matter! We were about to embark on the next leg of our trip: onward to Cambodia and onward to Siem Reap!
Thailand and Cambodia: Introduction
July 21, 2007
Back in my living room now with all the creature comforts I take for granted and expect daily now, I’m trying to collect all my thoughts from this nearly one week trip. The lack of sleep yesterday-today, slight diarrhea, and a general sense of malaise after being in an airplane is not making it any easier.
I think this trip really opened our eyes to a part of the world that we’ve only ever heard about or seen in pictures or on TV. For me I think the way I see life and people will never be the same and I mean that in a very positive way.
Wat Phra Kaew
Some folks in Thailand showed us a level of hospitality that I would almost never expect from people in Canada or Japan, without having them expect something back. Cambodia was definitely the poorest country I have ever been to. Even so, we visited Siem Reap, a fast growing city and I know people there probably have it better than people in the rural areas. There too, people seemed to treat each other, and treat tourists with a much higher level of respect than we would to them, I think.
Ad on a remorque-moto
Unfortunately we only had the chance to visit Bangkok and Siem Reap. Had we had more time and had the woman been more adventurous (and less reliant on her crappy Japanese guidebook), I would’ve loved to visit other areas that people keep touting about. In a way though, the two cities were opposite extremes and seeing the contrast made for a very interesting trip.
I’ll post more details on Thailand and Cambodia individually. I’m still sorting through all the pictures I took and looking for gems. The hardest part is trying to match the names of places with the pictures and remembering tidbits that happened there.
We’re back!
July 20, 2007
Ta Prohm
Wow. What an intense trip. More to come.
Thailand and Cambodia
July 13, 2007
Off to Thailand tomorrow and then Cambodia on Monday. Be back on Friday! Woohoo! 11 days of not working. Pictures and updates to follow.
The Beach
April 09, 2007
Totally forgot about this place until I started playing with my camera. The woman and I went to Suma near Kobe last year to get the last rays of sun in September. The aquarium there was lame but the dolphins were… lame.
Important notice for Canadians living or traveling in the Kansai and the Kyushu areas
March 29, 2007
From Mainichi News
Important notice for Canadians living or traveling in the Kansai and the Kyushu areas
As publicly announced in January, all consular services currently performed by Canadian consulates in Osaka and Fukuoka will be transferred to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo as of April 2.
Canadian citizens living or travelling in the Kansai and the Kyushu areas can reach the Consular Section by using the following coordinates:
You can reach the Consular section by:
Telephone at (03) 5412-6200;
Fax at (03) 5412-6289;
E-mail at tokyo-consul@international.gc.ca;
Mail at Attn. Consular Section, Canadian Embassy, 7-3-38 Akasaka Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-8503
Canadian Embassy Announcement
LinkMarch 29, 2007
Suma with the tsuma
September 11, 2006
It has been a year already and what a fast year it has been. In this one year span, I proposed, planned it, got hitched, moved, got promoted, and did more studying in Japanese than my last two years combined. I am tenacious at remembering milestones and dates in our relationship but the most important one is our ‘we began dating’ anniversary – it’s our Thanksgiving Holiday in our relationship calendar.
This year we had a short getaway in Suma, a very minor place in Hyogo next to a beach. The wife found a cheap ryokan in front of the beach and off we went. Unfortunately on Sunday, it began raining on the way there so we fast forwarded our plans and went to the Suma Aquarium.
In a nutshell, don’t bother going. Visit the more expensive, but infinitely better Osaka Aquarium instead. At 1,300 yen, the main attraction at Suma Aquarium was probably the dolphin show. It’s always nice to see a dolphin show but this one was rather plain. The fish exhibits were plain. It was just something to do.
We stayed at the Sea Pal Suma hotel. This place must have been so five-star at one point. Now, it just reeks of the 70s in a bad, musty way. The carpets, lighting, and ceiling designs were straight out of Scarface. The staff were super friendly though and the dinner was great. It’s your standard Japanese food dinner (small portions of a few different dishes). Our traditional Japanese room was massive with a very nice view of the beach. That night we bought some drinks and snacks and snuggled. What better way to celebrate six years of knowing and loving each other than by “utilizing the rotating heart-shaped bed to fullest extent“?
This morning we woke up and had a crappy breakfast consisting of a confusing mix of traditional Japanese breakfast food and instant continental style breakfast. I wasn’t sure whether to mix the powder scrambled eggs with my steamed rice or my boiled sausages with the tsukemono. The weather finally cooperated and we spent the morning just sitting on sand and relaxing. Even the morning sun was enough to slightly singe my skin but it was worth it.
Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea
July 02, 2006
The lady and I, along with another couple, embarked on a three day Disney weekend. The magic I felt as a kid when I went to Anaheim is definitely gone but I still enjoyed the busy sites and amazing planning at Disneyland and the beautifully constructed sets at Disneysea. I favor Disneysea over Land because a lot of care was made in the design of the sets. It really felt like I was walking through a European city or into an Arabian complex at times. Disneyland had parades every 5 minutes and characters and bubble text all over the place. All told, a very tiring but satisfying weekend away from work and the bustle of real life.
Possibly the most exciting ride at Land
Somehow I seemed to remember the rides in Anaheim were exciting and scary. Not anymore. Every ride we went on ended too quickly and offered more yawning opportunities than thrills. Even the coasters were a bit weak. At the coolest-looking ride, Journey To The Center Of The Earth in Disneysea, you can see the car drop from outside. During the ride we went down a quick fall and the lady turned and asked, “Was that the big drop (that was seen from outside)?” I replied, “No, that was just a warm-up drop. The big one is coming soon.” Right after that, the car pulls in and we have to get off. From outside the ride seemed a lot more exciting.
They built a volcano!
The weather was as agreeable as it could be given it was late June. We had a nice cloudy day, a sunny day, and then a cloudy/sunny/rainy day to finish. On Friday, I think the average wait for every ride was about 30mins, on Sunday, that shot up to about 100mins. I can’t believe Japan’s population is going to shrink. The number of kids at Disneyland on Sunday was just mind boggling.
Surprisingly concession prices were not bad. I didn’t feel any more ripped off than I normally do. Be prepared to buy extra drinks – standing in a line for an hour in the humidity really takes it out of you. I would also suggest a smoked turkey leg (400yen) at Disneyland. They were good eating.
Journey To The Center Of The Earth – [download]
Open-air Museum of Old Japanese Houses
May 01, 2006
In keeping with my wish of trying to go somewhere new at least once every two weekends, the lady and I went to the Open-air Museum of Old Japanese Houses. As boring as that sounds it was something to do. When you spend three years in Osaka, every little thing that even remotely sounds interesting becomes interesting.
Fortunately, it turned out to be quite interesting and it offered a stroll through Ryukuchi-koen, a gem of a park in the middle of Osaka. The park was big enough to hold a lot of people enjoying 花見 parties. The museum is really a park in itself with old farm houses brought over from all over the country. These houses were often over a hundred years old. A lot of the houses were built to house a big family – up to and over 20 people living in the same complex.
Most of the bigger structures had huge thatched roofs. Sometimes the thatching was quite thick and waterproof. It didn’t stop a lot of wasps from making homes inside though.
Details
The museum was a nice quiet get-away from the bustle of downtown Osaka and at 500 yen admission, it beats a McDonalds lunch. Ryokuchi-koen Station on the Midosuji Line – follow the signs inside the park.
The Wedding: Behind The Scenes (3)
March 14, 2006
The third day in Hawaii was with my family. Daddy rented a car and Victor was the pilot. For some reason he thought it would be a good idea to make me the navigator. Well I wasn’t going to tell him how dead wrong he was but oh well. We did some exploring around Waikiki and Honolulu but mainly did a few touristy things.
Chinatown
If two streets slapped together counts as a Chinatown, then yes, this was a Chinatown. If selling the same crappy ‘Chinese’ wares like fake jade statues, two dollar paintings and plastic slippers count as a Chinatown, then yes, this was a Chinatown. If reconstituting frozen food with equal amounts of MSG counts as a Chinatown, then yes, this was a Chinatown. I’ve seen better.
This sign made up 5% of Chinatown
Pearl Harbor
For some reason I thought it would be a giant “They surprised attacked us so we don’t like them” place but luckily I was wrong. It was an educating experience for many. For me, I’ve read history books already. Really, standing on the memorial doesn’t give you any extra feeling as only chunks of the Arizona are visible. The movie (Tora! x3, not the one with Ben Assface) and the gallery were much more informative.
On the boat ride there
Diamondhead Crater
A fairly minor hike that even my parents could do it was a nice escape from the touristy streets of Waikiki. I spoke with a nice lady from Johannesburg who was there for some research conference. At the top I snapped some nice shots of a rainbow shining into a valley.
The people of whom I have genetic ties to (Victor excluded)
The perpetual rainbow
Our hotel is the building next to the pink glob in the middle
The rest of the day was spent driving around, eating, shopping at the big mall (I need my books and video games damnit), and listening to my family bicker amongst themselves. It was good to be with them after so long again and good to catch up. I should really get on this Skype thing that everyone’s been talking about.
Our Wedding: Behind The Scenes (2)
March 09, 2006
Sunday, January 22
Eri’s makeup lady came fairly early in the morning and morphed her into wedding mode in only about an hour. For me it took ten minutes to change and get ready. After getting ready we got into our limousine to take some pictures by the beach. The photographer spoke a strange combination of English and Japanese. Regardless of his language ability though the pictures we got look damn good. Just being around a pro let me pick up a few tips for my own picture-taking ability.
A quick shot in front of our hotel
The lady on the beach
Finally it was off to the chapel. We got there earlier than everyone else and were quickly rushed into the minister’s office. There we got a crash course on the ceremony. Screw rehearsals, we watched yet another video and were told to basically relax as there would be people there giving us hints and stuff along the way. The minister came in and had a quick chat with us. He was a really nice fellow who radiated kindness.
The ceremony itself went without a hitch. Kenny the ceremony photographer was damn good as well and also let loose a rather annoying, but entertaining personality during the picture session. It was a rather tiring process being led around and being told where to go, when to stand, when to sit, when to smile, when to take the lady’s hand, when to look up up down down left right left right (B A select start) and while I would never forget it, I was glad when it was over. I bet that sounds horrible to some of you but I don’t need some two hour procession to prove to anyone how I feel for my lady. I just hate formalities when really they mean nothing compared to the big picture.
It was pretty cool to be in a limousine. I had never been in one before save for the small cadillacs that take people from airports to hotels. This was a stretch limo and let me say, I can get used to it. Our driver was an old Japanese man who kept talking to us. I was so tempted to close that window that separates the driver from the passengers, you know, like in the movies. I just didn’t want him to stop the limo and make us walk in retaliation.
We had our lunch banquet at a nearby reception hall. Food was actually pretty good. I couldn’t help but feel rushed as the waitresses and the lady in charge kept dropping us hints like, “Yes the food is finished now” or “Yes the taxis are waiting for your guests”. OK OK lady. Let me enjoy a few more moments with my friends!
Later on that day I got to spend a fleeting moment with Dennis at the bar with my other chums. Not realizing it at the time but Dennis is probably the longest running friend I have. What is it now, 12 years?
People I barely know
That night for the first time ever, both our families got together for a nice dinner at the Top Of Waikiki revolving restaurant. Service was dismally slow but surprisingly the prices were rather reasonable
Anyway, still later on that day I spent the evening with the lady and we’ll just leave the details out. (We had sex.)
The Wedding: Behind The Scenes (1)
February 12, 2006
I was going to write a huge update and then put it up all at once but it’s taking me forever to find the time and writing juices to do it. I’m splitting it up instead into more manageable chunks. Here’s day one of a play by play recap of the emotional rollercoaster that we will forever call our wedding day! I’m writing this purely from my point of view, maybe one day when the woman realizes how much fun blogging can be, she can write her side. Included are pictures I took during my trip. The professionally done wedding photos will be put up in a different album.
Himeji Castle: The White Heron
January 03, 2006
One of the few remaining historical structures that wasn’t firebombed in WW2, Himeji Castle was built in 1346 and was consequently upgraded by the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Shogunate as a defensive fort against local Daimyo uprising. Today it is regarded as Japan’s most spectacular and well-preserved castle. The castle is also known as the White Heron due to the white plaster used on the walls and because it’s supposed to look like a heron in flight. Those guys were smoking something good when they thought of that. It is also another UNESCO world heritage site.
Uji… bless you
December 28, 2005
Uji is a sleepy town in Kyoto that is rather boring. The main attraction for us 1-day excursion warriors is Byodoin (Phoenix Hall), a UNESCO World Heritage site, built by the once powerful Fujiwara clan in the early 11th century. Byodoin was a Fujiwara residential hall was converted into a place of worship after Fujiwara no Minamoto passed away.
Today the Phoenix Hall sits in a small quiet park as an example of architecture withstanding the sands of time. For a structure that is supposedly over a 1000 years old, it looks remarkably well preserved. Admission into the park is 600yen and includes admission into the museum which holds examples of the 52 bodhisatvas worshipping the Amida buddha. To get into the Phoenix Hall itself will cost an additional 300 yen and you must join guided tours. Tours start every 15 minutes.
Byodoin
This was a nice place to visit but aside from Byodoin and a couple of other shrines (Ujigami Shrine is another UNESCO site but was not at all spectacular to behold), Uji is a rather boring city. If you can’t see yourself making the 40 minute trek from Osaka to Uji, just flip over a 10yen coin and you’ll see Byodoin. As suggested by Mike, you can definitely fit in Fushimi Inari Taisha and make it a more interesting trip.
Ujigami Shrine
Directions
From Kyobashi station, take the K-Limited Express Train on the Keihan line to Chushojima station (390 yen / 27 mins). From Chushojima, take the Keihan-Uji line to Uji station (14 mins). You can also reach Uji using the JR Nara line as well.
Minoh
October 30, 2005
Minoh Park proved to be a nice afternoon getaway from the city. Located about 30 minutes away from Umeda, the park has a nice waterfall and a few other points of interest. Admission is completely free.
Aichi 2005: Expo
September 25, 2005
The theme of this year’s expo was the environment and was located in Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city. Our trip started with a night in Nagoya as we enjoyed some local Nagoya delights.
The start
Early in the morning, we got there about two hours before the gate opened and there were about two hundred people already lining up at the North Gate. The reason people wanted (and needed) to push every minute was because they used a really stupid system to get into the more popular exhibits. You line up for a ticket that gives you the right to line up for the exhibit at a certain time. Those pre-tickets were given at certain times and always ran out really early. This only encouraged people to run and trample over everyone. There were online bookings but these closed way in advance.
Once the gates opened people slowly filtered through the gates. Each person had their bags searched but I’m pretty sure I could’ve snuck in a barrel of plutonium as the gate attendant didn’t quite seem awake. We were stuck for a few minutes because this 80+ year old man decided it was a good idea to bring a suitcase. From here we had a full day of exploration ahead and here are some of the highlights of our day.
The expo mascots
Canadian pavilion webcam
June 26, 2005
It’s us on webcam from the Canadian pavilion at the Expo. Look for us on the 5-6pm link, second picture. A full write up of the Expo to come.
EDIT – 2005/09/21
Because they’re going to the photos off when the expo ends, here’s a copy I saved.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
May 10, 2005
It’s been awhile since my last day trip alone and seeing how on my lovely 4 day weekend I had no plans, well, yeah.
Yesterday I went to Fushimi Inari taisha in Kyoto for a nice stroll through countless torii gates and the chances to see countless statues of foxes. Inari is the god of harvests (or something like that) and is worshipped in hopes of bringing bountiful rice harvests and what not. Foxes, as crafty and cunning as they are believed to be, are the messengers of Inari and are thus honored with the statues. I always thought the torii gates symbolized the entrance into a sacred ground (ie. a temple) but I’m not too sure what a walkway with so many torii is supposed to mean.
Hong Kong
February 27, 2005
It’s been nearly 10 years since my last trip to Hong Kong and I have a very different perception of the city now. One reason is the different company this time: I traveled with my more adventurous girlfriend instead of my shopaholic mother and sister. Another reason might be that HK is now a PRC SAR instead of being a British colony. Or maybe I have just changed so much in the last decade and have gotten used to many things in Japan that make HK seem so distant and different. Regardless of what the reason is, I’m still at a loss on how I felt the trip went. There were certainly many excellent moments but there were many very frustrating times as well.
Our flight
We were on Cathay flights and for the first time ever, I got to enjoy movies on those individual television screens for each seat. Service on our flight there was bismal, at best. Flight attendants kept hitting me on the shoulder as they walked down the aisle. I wasn’t leaning out of my seat, it’s just those seats are so narrow that my muscular shoulder stuck out. I got hit about three times, each time letting out an, “Ow” to let them know they had hit me. No apologies. I should’ve figured this was a preview of things to come.
Our hotel
We stayed at the Langham Place Hotel in the middle of Mong Kok. It was the best hotel I’ve ever been in. It was luxury beyond imagination. For what we paid, this hotel was the best thing about our trip. Our room was an “Executive” – a beautiful 5-star with a king-sized bed, plasma TV, IP phone system hooked up with the hotel, and a huge marble floor bathroom, plus free DVD rentals downstairs. If the hotel were in a better location (ie. closer to the bay), it’d have been perfect. As it is, it’s connected a mall and a subway station is minutes away.
Differences
I have to say, HK was definitely different. There were way more police and security guards everywhere. Sometimes they travelled in pairs and sometimes alone but in nearly all major buildings and places, there was someone keeping an eye on the place. HK seems to have wanted to clean itself up too, literally. The streets were much cleaner and there was a noted amount of garbage cans. There were some places with garbages cans every 5 meters!
Also, the weather was fairly nice. Although it was very smoggy and cloudy for the first two days, it was a very comfortable 18 degrees. It was rather humid for early February as well. Osaka, in comparison, was a freezing 5 degrees. The last day was perfect – sunny and clear.
International
Maybe it was the fact that it was a British colony for over a century. Maybe it’s an important port to many countries. Whatever the reason is, HK is definitely very internationalized. There were English signs everywhere. My favorite was this cardboard sign put up by construction workers with black markers – it had English on it before Chinese: “Road closed. Turn right Nathenial Road”. They spelled Nathaniel wrong but it was quite impressive regardless.
Many of the people spoke Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese – that’s 4 distinct languages. Usually they worked in businesses where they relied on travelers.
Shopping
For some reason, everything thinks of HK as some sort of shopping haven. I beg to differ. It’s a well known fact that there is so much pirated crap that it’s impossible to shut it all down. I didn’t buy any pirated stuff. Come to think of it, I didn’t buy much except for an Old Master Q comic (which I’ve since misplaced) and souvenir okashi for friends and coworkers. I didn’t want to go through fake dvds and shit.
As for brand name things, it’s true that some of it is much cheaper. Eri found a Tiffany ring that was about 300 bucks cheaper than Osaka. She didn’t buy it.
Our friendly tour guy did take us to this very shady shop that his “friend” owned. This guy only sells fake shit and only sells to friends and friends of friends. The door opened inwards and was locked by some switch on the wall – we were stuck in there. The both of us had this empathic bond that told us we ‘had’ to buy something from this guy. Eri relented and bought this fake Vuitton key holder. It was shady. I was all ready for fight or flight in that ’shop’.
We went through “Ladies’ Street’ in Wanchai as well. Imagine those night markets open in Vancouver summers. Imagine a thousand more people. Imagine each stall sells the same crap. Imagine all this crap is useless and ugly (but very cheap) – this was shopping. I saw this thing, I can only describe it as a rubber doll sitting on a plastic toilet that dances when you turn it on. I think humanity would’ve benefitted more if that product was not made.
I’ve reaffirmed my disdain towards shopping in Chinese establishments.
People
Oh boy, this wasn’t my favorite part of my trip. First, there was a huge difference on how people treated us – first, when they saw me as a Japanese traveler (we were in a Japanese group of 10 others), they were extremely rude. The restaurants we went to on this tour was seriously out to rip us off. The dishes they served were shit and they charged so much for drinks. Then, when I spoke Cantonese, thus letting them know I understand all the remarks they make, boy, service 180. They treated much better and even smiled. Restaurant service is definitely shit in HK. There was one dimsum place we went to where the servers glared at you just because you’re looking at them in hopes they come refill the tea. It was also here where they put Eri and I in a table way near the back but none of the dimsum carts ever made it over. In fact, most of the clumped near the middle and just chatted. The one bitch in charge of the white radish cake cart was a super bitch. I went over to her and ordered a plate. She, without even looking at me, just nodded and waved me away. SHE WAVED ME AWAY!?!?!?! In the end, she never gave us our damn dish of white radish cake. We left that restaurant eating maybe 5 things – I was thoroughly pissed.
On the subway, there was this old guy who kept gawking at my girlfriend. That really ticks me off. I don’t mind people looking a little, then looking away but some people just gawk. It’s rude and dangerous (I may flip and bulldoze through them). When we got off, this guy got off as well and walked a little ahead of us. Then he grabs the ass of some old woman in front. Fucking hell. Unfortunately he was too far up and it was too crowded. There were MANY gawkers on the streets which really pissed me off. I am proud that my girlfriend is attractive enough to be gawked at but it makes me so steamed sometimes.
Then, here’s my favorite story about people… on the bus to Lantau to see the big buddha, we were scared that we might not make it back in time for a reservation. I remember this bus takes awhile because I took this bus a long time ago. I asked this teenage girl in front of me how long this bus took. She replied, “I don’t know” – that’s fine, she wasn’t rude or anything, I would’ve just asked another person. THEN her mother leans over and mutters, “Don’t tell him, don’t tell him!” I was speechless. I have no idea why she would not want me to know. It’s not like I seemed like a foreigner – my Chinese sounds perfect. I was flabbergasted on why someone would have such strong negative feelings for helping others… I was asking a simple question!
That’s not to say all people in HK were like this. We had some excellent service in our hotel. We also had dinner at the Chinese restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel – the service was exquisite. Unfortunately, both these places were very expensive places and much like many Chinese establishments in Vancouver, there’s a direct correlation with price and quality of service.
I think I’m too used to the service in Japan. Even mom and pop stores are super nice to customers. To be perfectly honest, I left Hong Kong feeling quite ashamed of being Chinese – I don’t want “my people” to be a bunch of selfish, money grubbing assholes. I think I lean way more towards just being Canadian now than ever.
Summary
I definitely dislike HK people more. I do like HK overall – it’s a lively, international city which made me miss home a lot. I wish I had more time to go to better restaurants than the one this tour went to. I wish I could go shopping for real and buy things which have a purpose for a bargain. I think one day I’d like to live in HK for a longer time so that I can understand it more. All the things I disliked on this trip were fairly superficial – I want to see what makes this place work inside.
Suggestions
Definitely visit the Hong Kong Science Museum. The section about the 3+ years of Japanese occupation during the war was very interesting, seeing how I’ve been living in Japan. The museum is huge and only costed a few bucks to get in.
Avoid the subway during rush hour or you’ll be pissed off like me. Although I have to say, people did wait for others to get off the train before rushing in – something which Japanese people don’t follow that rigidly.
Tip! I forgot about tipping and had to be reminded. Although the service definitely doesn’t warrant a tip sometimes.
If punks stare you down, just stare them back down. You’re a lot bigger and badder than them anyway. Be careful that some of those punk ass guys may actually be girls; fashion in HK is definitely an area people can work on and this is coming from a guy who lives in Japan. Oh yeah, compared to Japan, people are much uglier on average. Seriously! I’m no Tom Cruise but… gyah!
Don’t visit the peak if the day’s cloudy – you seriously cannot see shit. In the building at the peak, avoid everything that costs money. They’re all shitty stores selling shitty souvenirs. If you must buy shitty souvenirs, go to Stanley instead – it’s cheaper.
Awaji-shima & Tokushima: Bridges
January 17, 2005
On the last two days of the year, the woman and I went on a little road trip. It was our first getaway in a few months and the first time we took the car out for more than a run to a restaurant or her house. Due to time limitations and end of year closures, my earlier idea to drive to Hiroshima was scrapped and we had to settle on a much closer, Awaji island.
Arashiyama
November 13, 2004
I triumphed! I survived a whole excursion by myself – train ride and all. Here it goes. Again, I’m going to be quite descriptive for other travelers or myself (in case I want to go back). Here goes:
Start
So I started fairly early this morning to beat the crowds. After a nice train ride, I was at Arashiyama with a cool crisp morning at my beckoning. I really hadn’t planned what to do here. There are so many temples and interesting looking things in the area.
The first landmark you’ll see is the Togetsu-kyo bridge. Supposedly this is a nice looking bridge but I found it to be ugly. The Hozu-gawa river on one side is beautiful while the other is blocked and fairly dry – lots of ugly weeds and crap growing there. Before the bridge, there was an interesting looking thing: the Iwatayama Monkey park. I was going to come back here on my way back but I was too tired. I’ll save that for next time.
Heading straight after the bridge, I saw a street filled on both sides with restaurants and stores selling souvenirs and sweets. I think the specialty in the area is matcha – green tea. Green tea tastes like green tea to me but some of the sweets looked really tempting. It was fine in the morning but be careful at around noon till 4pm – it gets really crowded. I’d probably go through the small streets the next time around.
There are literally more than a dozen temples around the area. I’d pick up a map of the area before starting. I grabbed a drawn map from the Hankyu station and it suited me fine but it’s not the best.
I basically did the Tokai Shizen walk (Eastern Ocean Natural walk). It’s the same walking tour described in the Lonely Planet. Before that though, I made a trip straight north and a detour to the east. Here’s what I saw:
Tenryuu-ji
I didn’t pay to get in here but it’s listed as a UN heritage site. 500 yen admission by the way. Tenryuu-ji (Sky Dragon or Heavenly Dragon temple) is apparently some important zen temple or some spiritual stuff.
Seiryou-ji
The big giant gate drew me in. At 400 yen, the main temple building is boring – old paintings, a buddha statue, old people. In the back though, there’s a beautiful garden with a wooden, covered walkway that was quite relaxing.
Daikaku-ji
About a 10 minute walk from Seiryou-ji (head east and follow the turn) resides a former palace turned temple. I don’t know what’s inside because the admission is a whopping 800 yen. Instead, I went to a little lake right beside it called Osawa-no-ike. I had to pay 200 yen for some reason. I’m wondering if those old ladies just set up tables there to collect for their own wicked purposes. Anyway, this lake was supposed to have been used by some emperor for boating. It was a nice stroll. There was also a big bamboo grove that was very beautiful.
After this, I made it back to the bridge and found a place for lunch. Be careful about prices – expect to pay 200-300 yen extra for lunch sets. This is a touristy place. The place I went to had shit service too; a first for me in Japan.
Kameyama-koen
“Turtle Mountain Park” was definitely worth it. It’s tucked away in the corner of the map right beside the river. Along the river, you’ll see people eating bento box lunches, rowing rented boats, and some trying to skip stones. In the park, be sure to get to the lookout towards the western end – it offered a nice view of the river from a high vantage point. Apparently you should be careful of monkeys here, says some signs, but I didn’t see a single one. Too bad! There were some old people painting though. That was quite exciting.
Skipped Temples
After the park, I headed north along some nice streets. A stroll through Ookouchi Sansou offered another bamboo grove. This place was packed with tourists and stupid drivers who wanted to squeeze through the already crowded road. Come here when it’s quiet! After that, the streets offered stores selling more souvenirs, crafts, and food.
I stopped at but did not pay to get into the following places: Joujakkou-ji, Nison-in, Takiguchi-dera, and Giou-ji. My guidebook had little to say about these places except they offered some nice scenery. Each place costed about 400 yen each. Nison-in had this long stone stairway that looked interesting.
One thing that did looked fun was the Sagano-Ningyou-no-Ie (Sagano Dollhouse). It was closed today but from what I can tell, it’s either a place that makes dolls or a museum for dolls. Either way, I’d love to go back to see it.
Adashino-Nembutsu-ji
My last stop of the day. This place is really interesting. From my understanding, my guidebook, and the English sign, a long time ago, a bunch of people without families died. Their bodies were collected and dumped here probably. To commemorate this, they made small stone figures here and each yeah, they light a thousand candles. Well, no candles today but the stone figures were quite interesting. It’s 500 yen to get in and you’re not allowed to take pictures here. (Didn’t stop me).
After seeing this place, some sights I saw today suddenly made sense. I saw these creepy altars with stones wrapped in cloth placed on them. Some even had faces painted on them and names written on the front. It was so creepy. I’m guessing now that people around here use these stones to honor the dead.
After seeing this place, I headed up north slightly and saw a bit torii gate. The signs showed Atago-Torii and Kiyotaki at 2km and 1.3km respectively. At this point, my legs were feeling numb so I turned back.
That’s it! I got on the train, picked up some KFC, and enjoying the evening, triumphant over never traveling alone. See my pictures!
Suggestions:
Don’t make my mistake: don’t visit on weekends. The morning was fine but by afternoon, there were lots of people. Avoid the main street that runs from the Hankyu station to Seiryou-ji temple – it was packed and I couldn’t find a restaurant without a line at noon. The pristine views just weren’t the same with so many tour groups and old people bumping around.
I’d pick and choose which temples you want to pay to get in. If you plan to visit many, you’ll be surprised how fast the cost will mount up. Expect to pay between 300-800 yen for admission for adults.
Renting a bike might make a lot of the traveling easier. I saw prices ranging between 800-1200 yen for the day. Be warned that some of the streets are fairly sloped – those basketed street bikes won’t make it without quads of mega steel.
Directions:
From Umeda, take a limited express train on the Hankyu-Kyoto line (platform 1 / 390 yen) to Katsura. It’ll take about 30 minutes. At Katsura, take a local train on the Hankyu-Arashiyama line, don’t worry about fare adjustment; the 390 covers your way to Arashiyama. This last part will take about 5 minutes.
Buna Ga Take Goten-san Hike
November 07, 2004
We met at a crispy 6:30am on Saturday at Yodoyabashi and took the 6:40 limited express train on the Keihan line heading towards Demachi-yanagi (450). Laura literally made it in the nick of time. She’s always late for everything everytime, always. We got off at Sanjo in Kyoto about an hour later and took the #10 Kyoto at 7:45am bus to Bonmura (990yen), which was about another hour later. Be forewarned that this busride is rather bumpy and does sway a fair bit – take your car sickness pills beforehand if you’re easily nauseated.
Our purpose? We were going to hike up Buna Ga Take mountain (1200m) and take another path down in a big loop. It would’ve taken 6-7 hours.
From the title and from the many dead giveaways already, you’ll have realized that the hike didn’t go exactly as planned. First, it was listed as a “medium” in Mike’s Lonely Planet Hiking book and I guess this book was written for people who are more athletically conditioned than I am in my present state.
Basically we got up the peak of the first mountain (Goten-san) in about 3 hours. I gotta say, Mike’s endurance impressed me. He barely broke a sweat and was waiting for us many many times. I did alright I guess but I had to stop fairly frequently to let my poor quads rest. When we got up to the top, we were treated to a fairly nice view. It was great to get out of the city and breathe clean air and not see concrete for miles and miles.
At the top, Mike decided to go reach the peak of the second mountain (Buna Ga Take). I think I would’ve gone with him but I don’t think Poora (stands for Poor Laura), was up for it. I decided to stay with her and go back down. As chivalrous as this sounds, I also didn’t go because I know the extra mountain would’ve limited the power left in me to go back down.
It’s been roughly 2.5 years since my last hike but I still remembered that although going down is a lot faster, it’s just as dangerous (if not more) as going up. We got back down in 2 hours after a nice lunch at the peak. The saddest part? Mike reached the second peak and came back down and caught up with us right as we got to the foot of the mountain.
I’m glad we didn’t get stuck up there as the skies really darkened quickly. I didn’t want to have news crews and company staff waiting for me at the bottom… I think the saddest thing though was the dozen or so other hikers who warped by me. Actually the saddest thing is that the average age of those hikers who warped by me was probably 50. Mike made a good point that it’s retired folks who have the time to frequently go hiking and therefore be in better shape than lazy lards like me.
I’m slightly ashamed at my fitness level after seeing my performance today. Still, it was a good wake up call and I had a great time and worked my legs harder than any time before in Japan. The ride back was rather long but I got home and enjoyed a good long sleep. I’m hoping to go again.
See my pictures.
Southern Honshu
September 27, 2004
It’s been a glorious 4 years with the woman and this year we decided to take a short three day getaway to the southern tip of Wakayama prefecture to relax. The area is reknown for its rugged coastal areas, nice beaches, and hot springs. Hopefully this will be more of a mini travel guide for the things we saw with some details of the trip sprinkled in for my own memories.
It was very pleasant to escape the busy atmosphere of a giant city like Osaka and escape into the quiet, serene surroundings of Wakayama. While the temperature seemed a bit hotter, there was always a nice ocean breeze that went far in cooling us off. It may have been the relaxation but I noticed people there seemed more polite and laid back than the big city folk.
Additional Resources:
- Pictures from my trip
- JNTO information about the region
- A list of sites to see
- A nice page to help you plan your travel route
Day 1 [Osaka - Shirahama - Kushimoto]
We started early Friday morning with a quick breakfast and then boarded the “Ocean Arrow” express train from Tennoji station and about 2.5 hours later, we arrived at Shirahama station. Shirahama (literally, “white beach” – we’ll get back to this) is a cozy little town of 20,000 on the south western tip of Wakayama. At the station, it’s quite apparent this is a tourist town. There were immediately omiyage (souvenir) stores lined up with older women who “irrashaimase” you to death. There were people greeting us and suggesting we get on the bus. We eventually bought day passes for this bus – we paid 1250 yen for a 2 day unlimited pass (highly recommended if you’re going to stick around in Shirahama). You can also rent Nissan compacts for 5000 yen a day, bikes at the station, or just plain walk around. We had lunch in one of the few random restaurants.
Shirahama was going to be our transit station although we were going to come back tomorrow. But for now, we boarded the Kisei train to get to Kushimoto. This time, the train took about an hour and offered a lot of scenic views of the forests, hills, and seaside. The ride is rather bumpy so caution to those who get sick easily.
The reason we went to Kushimoto was because the woman booked us a small cottage at a hot springy place. We were picked up at the station by a man who walks like a chimpanzee. He was really friendly and seemed funny (as far as my Japanese can tell). He took us and another couple to his establishment. His place was really just about 10 wooden cottages probably built by him out of old wooden containers and a lot of blue and pink paint. In each of these cottages was an open-air bath tub. The place also faced the Pacific and was so out of the way that you couldn’t even spend money if you wanted to.
We immediately stripped naked and had a nice hot bath. The monkey dude did a pretty good job with the cottages which included a nice bed with a mosquito net, a sofa bed, coffee table, washroom, and a nice TV. The woman and I quite enjoyed the place. After a quick nap and a walk on the beach, we had a BBQ dinner in front of the sea. The dinner would’ve been perfect had only the stray cats not sat around begging for food. I gave some scrap meats to a black cat I named “Kuro” only because he seemed to have sustained some sort of injury. (Kuro means “black” – how imaginative huh?) Pitiful Kuro got a few mouthfuls of beef while the other cats got burnt vegetables.
This was about when four vans pulled in with sweaty, tired, TV crewmen from a neighboring establishment. They were filming at a better hotspring location but that location couldn’t accommodate so many sweaty, tired men. The monkey dude’s place could. Anyway, they were loud and parked RIGHT in front of us, blocking the ocean view. I hope their show flops.
After dinner, the monkey dude let us soak ourselves in the public pool privately. I got to go in the woman’s bath! A rare privilege I’m sure. After an hour long soak, we headed back and fell asleep watching Babe 2.
Day 2 [Kushimoto - Shirahama]
Getting up bright and early, we had breakfast in front of the ocean. Monkey dude (and family) made sandwiches and served us iced drinks. It wasn’t extravagant but he’s really nice. I saw monkey dude run here and he even runs like a monkey with his arms swaying by his side.
After breakfast, monkey dude drove us somewhere and dropped us off. Here we were at the most southern point on Honshu island. There was a tower with a 360 degree view on the top of the surrounding area. Admission 300 yen. Not worth it because the rest of the tower was filled with really weird carnival stuff like funny mirrors, OLD arcade games, weird paintings and yet another souvenir store. The cool thing though was that with admission, you get a certificate saying you’ve visited the most southern point on Honshu island. However, looking at a map of Japan, this point doesn’t mean shit. It’s like driving 50 clicks and saying, “I’ve driven the fastest speed possible… without breaking the law”. Anyway, scratch this place off from my list of things to do before I die.
From there, we took a bus back to the station and a train back to Shirahama. We got there around noon and this is where we started visiting interesting sights.
1. Sandanbeki
I’m not exactly sure what the name means but this rock cliff was pretty cool. There’s a cave system underneath where supposed pirates stashed their loot.
2. Senjojiki
More rock formations but this time in the shape of a “thousand tatami mats”. This place reminded me of the Grand Canyon for some reason. Too bad so many dipshits wrote their stupid name into the rocks, thus destroying the natural beauty of the place.
3. Shirarahama Beach
Here’s where the city name of Shirahama comes into play. The beach is filled with white sand and is quite nice to relax in. According to the Lonely Planet, this white sand was imported from Australia because the original stuff washed away. Regardless, it would’ve been nice to come here for swimming or jetskiing.
4. Engetsudo
This is a small rock “island” probably about a 100 meters away from shore. It has a strange shape – it somewhat looks like the Chinese character for yen – hence the name I suppose. In the winter, you’re able to see the sun set right in that little hole thing on the bottom. That would’ve made for a fantastic picture. We actually just drove by on the bus while I snapped half a dozen pictures here.
By late afternoon, we got to our hotel. It was aptly named “Seaside Hotel”. While it has regular hotel rooms (ie. Western rooms), we stayed in the Japanese rooms. This place was a hybrid normal hotel and ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). Our room was a big 8-tatami mat sized room with a big table and two low chairs. There was no bed.
Here’s the procedure. From the front desk, a lady comes and takes you into your room. While you sit down and take a breather, she prepares green tea for you. You have the tea, she rambles on a bit and then leaves you alone. Around dinner time, you’re supposed to put on the robe in the closet and go to the dining area. While you’re eating, someone will go back into your room and prepare the futon so that when you return, you can go right to sleep.
Well dinner was quite nice. We were served a tiny portion of many kinds of food including sashimi, nabe, pickled stuff, rice, soup, tempura, and a slice of pineapple for dessert. While eating, some idiot drank too much or wasn’t used to drinking and I guess passed out. The woman beside him went into a frantic calling of his name and an ambulance was called. Idiot. Curtains for Day 2.
Day 3 [Shirahama - Osaka]
Sleeping in a good futon can be a very comfortable experience. Note to self: buy a good futon. It took the combined mystic strength of me, the sun, the moon, and all magical creatures on the western plane of existence to wake the woman up and make her get ready. We had a very traditional breakfast at the ryokan – you know the stuff; rice, miso soup, fried fish, eggs, bits of meat, pickled stuff, and tea.
Day 3 was to be a big difference from yesterday’s sight hopping. We explored the wonderful placed called Adventure World! Admission 3500 yen. Rides and some attractions cost extra.
The place is quite huge but once you’re walking around through the exhibits, you realize that it’s just made up of a few big areas filled with little actual stuff. In the first two hours, we managed to watch the dolphin show, the whale show, gawk at the very cute pandas and have lunch and walk around a bit.
We spent a lot of the time in Safari World – first a free train ride around the area that put many people to sleep. Then we rented a golf cart looking thingy and drove through the herbivore area and took pics of animals up close. We finished the day with a ride called Safari Jeep Rescue, 2000 yen / person. This was pretty cool. At 4pm, the animals are to be herded back into the shelters and this was a ride where you could go along and see the lions, tigers, bears, cheetahs, and such up close. I got some pretty good pictures of animals that could’ve torn me to shreds all in the safety of an SUV with magic glass windows.
A word to the wise – these extra jeep rides and what not at Safari World area really limited in seating numbers. Go to the counter right when you get there (opening time’s 10AM) and sign up. When we got there at 12′ish, everything else was booked already.
Phew. That’s it. After that we got on buses and trains and got ourselves back in Osaka. What a weekend.
Picture time
August 14, 2004
Some pictures from yesterday.
Saipan: Japan 2
June 14, 2004
My short visit to Saipan opened my eyes to a part of the world where I never even dreamed of visiting. Some of the most striking things about this small island of 70,000 people were:
- There were as many signs in Japanese as there were in English
- Many people on the island spoke Japanese
- Although prices were listed in American dollars (Saipan is part of America), the actual prices were on par with Japanese prices – ie. $3.50 USD for a can of soda
- This whole culture seems to exist to bilk Japanese tourists of their money
- The most beautiful buildings on the island were hotels
- The rest of the island looks like any small city in America: 20 years ago
the airport in Saipan at around 1AM Saturday morning and after waiting forever for people to board the bus, we were on our way. We arrived and checked into the hotel at around 3AM. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see anything from the balcony. That’s the extent of Friday night.
Saturday
We had to wake up really early to catch this free tour. Stepping onto the same balcony, I was greeted by a very beautiful view of the ocean and the morning sky. Although the weather was rather humid, the temperature wasn’t too bad. It was a very beautiful sight. For breakfast, I had the most expensive breakfast buffet ever at the hotel – $18 per person and the food wasn’t very good. I don’t think they were really out to rip us off because Hotel Nikko, where we were staying in, was rather expensive in general. I guess you can’t put a Denny’s into the Waldorf-Astoria huh?
Our tour was guided by an older Japanese lady and with her was a young Saipan fellow who was filming the entire tour. The goal of this filming was so that the tourists can purchase this video as a souvenir. The kicker – the video cost a whopping $160. On this tour, we visited Banzai Cliff, The Last Command Post, a beach, and to end, the Duty-Free shop. I concluded that this whole tour was to trap people in the Duty-Free store as the bus left after dropping us off. Luckily, Saipan offers free shuttle buses running the length of the island all day.
Our next thing was a submarine tour. It was my first time in a submarine so it was rather exciting. The submarine was quite small. Looking back now, I guess it was no longer than 8-10 meters. It took us around the reef and we got to see some WW2 ruins and items lost at sea. We also saw a lot of fish with the height of it being the Beetle Ray.
We sat around the beach after that watching the sun set which was sort of neat.
For dinner, we went to a teppan-yaki restaurant (it wasn’t my decision to visit a Japanese restaurant). They had great food and the chef was quite friendly. The waitress seemed like a bitch and she would snap back answers before we finished our requests. Example: “Excuse me can I get a glass of…” “Yes sir, water”. Oh. Tipping: it’s common knowledge that Japanese people do not tip. It’s just not in their culture. Anything and everything is included in the prices. This is something I agree because tipping inherently has its own problems. But anyway, knowing this, restaurants all over the island include a 10% service charge. While it’s fine for great service, sadly, most people who work on the island who don’t work in tourist/hospitality positions offer really piss poor and rude service. The hotel staff, tour guides, and most bus drivers were super cool. The store sales people and non-hotel waiters and waitresses deserved herpes.
Sunday
Again, we went back to that expensive, shitty breakfast buffet in the hotel. We woke up late and had to catch the 8AM bus so we couldn’t get out to a better breakfast place. We were catching the bus to go to Managaha Island. This island is a puny little place about… I would guess 3-5 kilometers away from Saipan. This island is a protected area as it is surrounded by coral and all sorts of neat shit. The island also offers tonnes of water sports, including para-sailing, scuba diving, and banana boat rides. We did some swimming first off and then the woman and I went on this thing called Aquanauts. Basically, you put over your head a heavy helmet that is constantly being pumped with compressed air. This creates a nice air bubble inside to keep you alive while you walk around on the ocean floor. While down there, we saw some cool fish and got to feed them with some sausages that the guides gave us. To prove the point about this being island being made to bilk people of their money, the tour guide couldn’t give me instructions in English. He was in fact Japanese and was only accustomed to having Japanese people join his tours. I mean… what the hell? It just proved how much this island depended on Japanese tourists. Anyway, it was a nice activity and I met a dude named Terry who seemed like a diving expert. We shot the breeze a bit about sharks (there are Tiger sharks around Saipan… in the deeper waters fortunately).
After that, I did some snorkelling (my first time) while the woman floated around on a lifesaver. We had yet another shitty lunch and eventually made our way back to the main island. I was sunburnt bad. Back in the hotel, we hung around the pool and the beach. For dinner this night, we went to this BBQ at the hotel and had lobster. It was awesome.
Nothing much done the rest of the night. The woman and her mother had a massage and spa deal while I stayed in the room in pain from the sunburns watching shitty television.
Monday
We had to meet in the lobby at 3AM for the bus that took us to the airport. Customs in this airport was a bitch as it was small and the people who worked there were all assholes. Also, two older tourist dudes from another Asian country were extremely rude to me. One tried to cut in line while the other blatantly pushed me out of his way to get his bag. Coupled with the pain from the sunburns, I was ready to send them to their graves a couple years earlier. It just seems there are so many old people who are so selfish and rude nowadays.
This was where we bought the $3.50 sodas. The woman who worked the cash register here was such a bitch. I wanted to say something sarcastic to her but I realized that even though this was “America”, most people spoke English no better than immigrant factory workers and stowaways.
At this point, I was ready and willing to go back to Japan.
Summary
I loved the sea, I loved the view, I loved the sunsets. I’m grateful and thankful for the kindness that some islanders showed. I’m sick of the rude attitudes that some of the islanders and some of the other travellers showed. I’m appalled by the extremely high prices which just seems like they’re out to get Japanese people’s money. I’m saddened that people seem to live in sub-standard conditions while they work for a richer, more developed country. I’m also saddened that everything on this island seemed to be built for Japanese people – I felt that the island had lost its own beautiful culture all in the attempt to make money. I saw some beautifully tanned girls and some very muscular, fit men. I saw many WW2 relics that made me feel like this whole island is dwelling on history and using it as more tourist traps. I saw frogs and geckos running on the walls too.
You’ve read through the entire rant? Well, here are some pictures to go along with my words.
PS. In case you were interested, some more information about Saipan: located 15 degrees latitude (closest to the equator I’ve ever been), Languages: English, Chamorro, Carolinian with 86% of people speaking another language (probably Japanese is my guess), GDP per capita $12,000 USD.
Saipan Bound
May 24, 2004
Out of the blue, the woman’s mother decided to treat us to a trip to Saipan! For you geographically challenged, Saipan is part of a chain of islands located in the western Pacific Ocean. On a map, it’s directly north of New Guinea (or Australia, if you’re really geographically challenged… you do know where Oz is right?).
I’ve never really had a yearning to visit tropical islands featuring beautiful beaches, luxurious hotels, and water as clear as a morning dew on a summer morning (where the hell did that simile come from?), but if the trip’s free, count me in! The three of us will be leaving June 11th and be coming back on the 14th. A quickie trip it’s true but given the size of Saipan; “The island is about 20 km long and 9 km wide” (source); 3 days is plenty.
For this, my first holiday outside of Japan, I’m planning to tote my precious camera, swimming trunks, sandals, sunglasses, and my pale, oily skin to the exotic looking beaches. The woman wants to go diving but I hate swimming for some reason. I’m reluctant to even enter baths.
A rather interesting place in Saipan is Suicide Cliff. “This is the infamous cliff where many Japanese civilians jumped to their deaths as the American forces advanced” (source). I don’t know if we’ll be heading there but judging from the size of the island, I bet I can just stroll over from our hotel and snap a few pictures of Japanese soldier ghosts.
Speaking of the hotel – Hotel Nikko Saipan - it’s a 5 star beauty. From the picture, it may possibly the most beautiful hotel I’ll have ever stayed in. I’m also rather dazzled by the pictures offered at this site about the island.
Hokkaido Trip Breakdown
September 14, 2003
Day 1
Well our flight was uneventful. I threatened Eri that I would make kissy faces to the flight attendant (and thus embarass Eri). We got the best cheap seats available – the ones near the emergency exit that have lots more leg room.
We arrived in Hakodate around 2:30 and after checking in at the hotel, we went and had some shio ramen. Not bad. After that we went to this place that had some red-bricked warehouses. They must be old or had some big significance because they were touted as a big deal. There were some cool shops in them and we had some great food. Scallops were mega-huge.
Around dusk, we headed up Hakodate Mountain. The lift wasn’t very exciting as Grouse Mountain’s lift was 4 times higher and longer. The view of the city though was beautiful. This city is surrounded by water on two sides and you can see all of it on the mountain. The night view was breath-taking. Also, we caught the sun setting among some clouds and I’ve never seen a redder sky. The clouds glowed and some of the water was evaporating so the mist was an eerie red sight too. This was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. You can bet I took many pictures.
After some more seafood for dinner we returned to the hotel. I spotted a monitor and automatically darted for it as I was only able to read the first part of Dennis’ update on my phone. It wasn’t an internet kiosk. Instead it was a very cool, very techy digital picture printing and formatting booth. Seeing this was the first time I’ve seen one of these and seeing I had just taken some very beautiful pictures on the mountain I decided to try it out. Fatal mistake.
We were able to see our pictures but about 10 seconds in, an error occurred. This error fucked my 21 pictures so that I couldn’t view them on my camera anymore. I know the data is still there because the number of shots remaining was the same (if they were deleted, I would’ve seen “27″ left instead of “6″). I was terribly disappointed.
My only hope lies at home – I hope my computer will allow me to keep these pictures. If not, I’ll try a photo recovery place.
The weather way up here is so much better than in Osaka. It was a cool 25 degrees.
Day 2
We got up relatively early and walked around the fish market area. The thing with Hokkaido is that there doesn’t seem to be much but seafood. EVERYONE was selling crab, cantaloupe, sea urchin, big clams, and squid. I say everyone because EVERYONE was selling the same thing. It was ridiculous – imagine going to the next booth and having the guy try to offer you a sample and then harass you into buying the same stuff that the last guy just tried. I shook my head at the poor business model offered here. If anything, I’d set up a booth and sell bricks of cheese just to offer some alternative.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the things being sold here were fucking expensive. The crab was about fifty bucks for I would guess a 15 pound crab. The cantaloupe was sold in boxes of 4 or 5 for up to one hundred dollars. Yes – that’s 20-30 dollars for a cantaloupe. I have to admit though, the cantaloupe I sampled was really sweet and good.
After lunch we didn’t do much because Hakodate is a pretty small place. We bought some books and had some coffee and got on a train to Sapporo. Three hours later, there we were.
Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido and it has all you expect in a big city. Having lived in a mega city for the past 11 months, I knew all there was to know in Sapporo so I think we were pretty bored here. We saw the same old shit everywhere. Only redeeming thing? The weather was bliss compared to Osaka. We were pretty tired after that long train ride so we walked briskly around downtown to see what there was to do.
We went to this Clock Tower house that was suggested in our guide book. Not only was it closed but it was just an old western style house that had some historical significance a long time ago. In English, this all meant, BORING.
After having some more coffee and this time, a donut, we went to a place called Otaru. It’s north of Sapporo and I suppose you can consider it to be like the New Westminster of Sapporo. It has this stupid river that was surrounded by lights. The place used to be some sort of warehouse area (again). Actually the buildings were pretty cool. Some were built like 1800 western style, some were asian style, and some even looked like medieval castles.
One shop was called, “Nani kore” which translates to, “What Is This?” It was a really cool antique shop that sold old American junk. There was a rack of really old comics where I quickly searched for keywords such as, “Issue 1″ and “Spiderman”. Sadly, this modest, old collection had a lot of junk. There was a really old X-Men comic where Archangel still had those white feathery wings.
For dinner we walked and walked and walked because each place we wanted to go to was either closed or all reserved up (put up a sign if you’re all reserved). We ended up going to a seafood restaurant that was very understaffed. We waited about thirty minutes and when we finally got our table, we noticed other empty tables were still not cleaned up. I think I saw 2 waitresses running around mad while the soccer team of chefs looked at them idly. Idiots.
The food proved to be very expensive and good. We had a seafood thing again but this time over a barbeque thing. They gave us pretty much 1 piece of all the fish and junk they had. I have to say, the clams in Hokkaido are deliciously awesome. They’re massive suckers too. We discovered one cool thing tonight though. If you heat salmon roe, they will explode! Ikura, as they’re called in Japanese, are those red, translucent eggs about the size of a pea. I’m not talking about the really small eggs you sprinkle on top of shit but the bigger ones that are squishy and liquidy. Well, on a whim, Eri threw one into the barbeque and about 5 seconds later, we heard a small Pop and up blew some ash. Cool! I excitedly exclaimed. I took another one and threw it in. Mine didn’t land on the coal, it landed on the wood that sat above it. Mine took longer to heat but mine went Boom. We were laughing our heads off as the other customers turned and looked at what we were doing. We blew up a few more but the best one was not in the coat nor on the wood but rather, on the metal grill. That sucker was loud! Now, an opportunist would see some sort of weapon to be had here. No one will ever question you if you bring a sack of salmon eggs onto an airplane and find some way to heat them up.
Day 3
Our last day in Sapporo, we wanted to do some touristy things but as we found our yesterday, this city kind of sucks. It’s like Osaka but smaller and less hot so whatever we want to do, it would be to a smaller scale here anyway.
We went and had really good ramen – Sapporo’s specialty is ramen. Then we went and bought some souvenirs for her family and coworkers. I bought a couple things but I’m weighing whether to give to friends or keep them all to myself. I bought some cantaloupe pocky (only available in Hokkaido), some chocolate covered strawberries, some sort of buttery cookie. All things had something Hokkaido about them, go figure.
We hit another book store and bought some more books. Looking at the pile now back home, we bought 2 English books for me, 5 manga for Eri, 2 English manga for me, and 1 English magazine. I also nabbed a couple free magazines from the hotel. I have never bought so much reading material in a span of 3 days before and that goes even for school.
Strangely enough, there was a typhoon heading up to Hokkaido today. It was the first typhoon that would hit Hokkaido in five years and it had to come on THIS day. I was a bit scared it would delay our flight and we would be forced to stay another day but at the airport our fears were alleviated. It only delayed a bunch of incoming flights.
So, we got home around 10pm on Saturday and the heat back here sucks. That’s all I have to say about that now.
Mega Illustrated Update
August 17, 2003
Oh what a great weekend.
Firstly, Eri had Friday off so we got to start our weekend together one night earlier. On Friday, we woke up a bit late but had a good lunch at this place a couple blocks away. The owner there heard Eri talking in English and was rather curious. He started talking to her and almost completely ignoring me because, well, I’m a crazy foreigner and there was no way I could understand (I understood a bit). He has a son working in San Francisco and thought speaking in English is cool. LikeIgiveadamn. Well, at least if I go to the place on my own next time, he’ll not give me a blank surprised stare when I say in broken Japanese that I can’t speak Japanese. During lunch, I gave this crazy suggestion that we go somewhere far away for a day trip. We got all excited and crap but then realized it was 3pm and the place we wanted to go to would be closed in two hours. So, we went to this butterfly exhibit in a department store. I took a whole bunch of pictures and I’ll put those up later. It was cool. Then we went home and watched Ice Age – it was alright but it’s no Pixar flick.
On Saturday, we again slept in late but it was ok because by the time we ate lunch, it was only 1pm. We headed over to Kyoto and roamed around, are you ready for the romaji… “Toei Uzumasa Eiga Mura”. Toei is a Japanese film company, Uzumasa is the place, and Eiga Mura means “Movie Village”. An English equivalent would be Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park. It was awesome! There were lots of old style Japanese buildings and many have been used in old samurai movies. There was a haunted house featuring old samurai style victims and live actors that play dead until you walk past them. Eri was freaked but I found it as frightening as the last Scream movie. The best part for me was a live fight scene from some samurai drama series. The hero and the cute damsel in distress fought off about 5 evil warriors and 1 funny evil warlord (with funky green hair). I took tonnes of pictures. The hot and humid weather even subsided a lot today for us to enjoy walking around in the sun.
We left the place at about 5pm and spent the next hour and a half looking for good spot to see the Daimonji Festival. This translates as, “Big Word Festival”. Essentially, they cut out paths on the side of some small mountains in the shape of 4 chinese characters and 2 symbol thingies. Then, they light these paths on fire. The result is you get these beautiful characters glowing really brightly in the dark. It was really awesome. The place we went to consisted of two bridges, a river, and some grassy areas. We managed to squeeze ourselves onto the grass. There were so many people there so we were lucky to be even sitting down. From our spot, we only saw one of the characters – Dai (Big). Actually, there are two Dai’s but we saw the bigger of the two. I took pictures here too but the combination of my camera being shitty and it being night – they didn’t come out too well. Here is a pretty good writeup of what Daimonji is and the pictures here are much better than mine.
The trek home was not fun – on the train back, an old lady was rubbing up against my ass and then when she left, an old man stumbled and slapped his hand on my ass, and then after he apologized, he touched my ass again. It was rather funny. I now appreciate the sexiness and appeal of my ass much more.
It was a great weekend and although we’re both tired beyond sleep, I just had to put this up before I forget any details.
And here’s what you’ve been waiting for – the pics!
- A cicada flew onto my balcony and died. Since I’ve been bitching about them for awhile, here’s to show you guys what the hell I’m afraid of. Keep in mind this sucker has been dead awhile and has shrivelled up a bit. I placed a one-yen coin beside it so you guys can get an idea of how big it is. (A one-yen coin is about the size of a Canadian penny). Too bad I can’t show you guys how noisy these fuckers are.
- The Eiga Mura – the cool, old looking buildings.
- I challenged a samurai and because I, a Canadian, am not used to the hot weather, grudgingly gave in after a strenuous 524 rounds of intense steel clashing action.
- The sword fight scene – the hero (in white) fends off two goons. The damsel will soon be threatened by the goon behind the hero but the goon will be sliced apart. (By the way, she was sort of cute.)
- A ninja travels building to building via a thin rope. This guy’s awesome! Actually, it was a mechanical mockup similar to those teddy bears that ride unicycles across a string in some toy stores.
- Daimonji – BIG. Sorry these are bad pictures.
- Daimonji – BIG 2. Visit here for some more pictures.
Strong SAD
May 19, 2003
I got back from Tokyo yesterday morning. The 4.5 day trip was absolutely fantastic. It might just be the best short trip I have ever taken. I saw a whole bunch of people I haven’t seen in ages and had barrels of blasts. That’s right! I didn’t just have a blast, I had a barrel of them. I won’t go into the details but here were some of the highlights:
I bumped into two students I met 3 years ago. They let me and my friend stay at their house and they totally took us around town. Thanks Tatsuya and Akiko!
I met almost all of the students from a program I worked on last summer. Some of them took us around and one of them organized this whole gianto drinking dinner deal with UNLIMITED alcohol (for a time limit). I honestly haven’t drank that much since Doug’s birthday last year. Thanks Masa!
I met a couple of old coworkers that I haven’t seen inawhile.
I bought Master of Orion 3 in English for relatively cheap.
I got to practice Japanese everyday and noticed that I knew more than the 11 words I previously thought was my vocabulary.
I unravelled the mystery of bullet trains. They’re not that impressive.
I stayed at a capsule hotel! If you don’t know what they are, well, they’re like a coffin with a blanket and a small tv (WITH FREE PORNO!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I was tempted by the highest beautiful women per capita in all the lands that I have roamed. Dude… seriously… dude.
Edit – 2005/09/22
Here are some pictures from that trip.
