Sunday, July 24, 2005
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SEOUL - Vagabonds II
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 10
A few hundred yards from the Dove promotion we struck entertainment gold - Photo Booths! T was the instigator, again. L quickly agreed. Actually, I was a bit hesitant to go in. I think I made some comment that I was neither "young & in-love" nor a 13 year-old girl. However, the whisps of airconditioning spilling into the alley way got the better of my primordial machismo and I agreed to a session.
There where probably a dozen booths in this narrow rectangle of a closet possing as a store. The place was PACKED with young teen-age Korean girls, and a few straggling boyfriends. Competition for booths was fierce so I took the lead, lowered a shoulder and plowed through this mass of pubescent picture seekers. Ok, I didn't do that, there was no violence (like I said before, my masculinity was wee bit threatend). We easily got a booth. The closest we came to confrentation was taking too long for the three girls who were in line behind us. But I might be imagining things. They only spoke in Korean, we don't understand Korean. They may have been discussing gum-drops and lolly-pops for all I knew. I doubt it though.
We split the fee three ways and selected an 12-shot package. From there, we imitated idiots. Actually, T & L imiated idiots. I was mearly being myself.
It took us too long to figure out how to get our pictures. It wasn't like a strip of three photos spit into a cavety in the side of the booth. No, that's too 20th century. Here and now is the 21st century. Techonological sophistication and media savvy abounds in the hearts and minds of the bubbly flower of Korean youth - Yeah, I felt old. These "kids" understood this stuff far better than I. L salvaged our collective pride and spotted the multi-media station where are pictures were patiently waiting for us.
Yes, I do mean "multimedia station". You could do all manner of things to these digital images. From this station you could make movies, edit the images and do all manner of unmentionable things. T & L took to this like ducks to water. Our pictures soon bore the mark of digital editing that would appeal to an average teenage girl. That's to say, lots of pink, spirls, and the like.
From here the 12 pictures printed out on one page. We were about to walk out. Actually, T had already made it to the street, when the proprietor said something to L. Obviously, she didn't know what he said. She, and I, were afraid that we might owe him more money. So I stepped out and grabbed T. He can't speak Korean, but he can read it. That made him more useful than I in what seemed like impending negotiations.
And negotiations did commence, but in an unexpected way. It turns out the owner was trying to upsell us on more services (gotta admire his pluck). T bought in, hook line and sinker. T's got good shopper's instincts. He was right-on! We had our sheet of photos cut up and then made into three key chains! Righteous! These things are so damded ridiculous. That just makes them all the more funny to me. They make a great momento.
This was the highlight of our time in Myeong-dong. We didn't really see anything else from then on and left faily soon after. That doesn't mean we ended our exploration of Seoul. It was only about 2 in the afternoon and we had much more to see. But this post is already quite long, I will continue the story later.
Ciao!
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 10
A few hundred yards from the Dove promotion we struck entertainment gold - Photo Booths! T was the instigator, again. L quickly agreed. Actually, I was a bit hesitant to go in. I think I made some comment that I was neither "young & in-love" nor a 13 year-old girl. However, the whisps of airconditioning spilling into the alley way got the better of my primordial machismo and I agreed to a session.
There where probably a dozen booths in this narrow rectangle of a closet possing as a store. The place was PACKED with young teen-age Korean girls, and a few straggling boyfriends. Competition for booths was fierce so I took the lead, lowered a shoulder and plowed through this mass of pubescent picture seekers. Ok, I didn't do that, there was no violence (like I said before, my masculinity was wee bit threatend). We easily got a booth. The closest we came to confrentation was taking too long for the three girls who were in line behind us. But I might be imagining things. They only spoke in Korean, we don't understand Korean. They may have been discussing gum-drops and lolly-pops for all I knew. I doubt it though.
We split the fee three ways and selected an 12-shot package. From there, we imitated idiots. Actually, T & L imiated idiots. I was mearly being myself.
It took us too long to figure out how to get our pictures. It wasn't like a strip of three photos spit into a cavety in the side of the booth. No, that's too 20th century. Here and now is the 21st century. Techonological sophistication and media savvy abounds in the hearts and minds of the bubbly flower of Korean youth - Yeah, I felt old. These "kids" understood this stuff far better than I. L salvaged our collective pride and spotted the multi-media station where are pictures were patiently waiting for us.
Yes, I do mean "multimedia station". You could do all manner of things to these digital images. From this station you could make movies, edit the images and do all manner of unmentionable things. T & L took to this like ducks to water. Our pictures soon bore the mark of digital editing that would appeal to an average teenage girl. That's to say, lots of pink, spirls, and the like.
From here the 12 pictures printed out on one page. We were about to walk out. Actually, T had already made it to the street, when the proprietor said something to L. Obviously, she didn't know what he said. She, and I, were afraid that we might owe him more money. So I stepped out and grabbed T. He can't speak Korean, but he can read it. That made him more useful than I in what seemed like impending negotiations.
And negotiations did commence, but in an unexpected way. It turns out the owner was trying to upsell us on more services (gotta admire his pluck). T bought in, hook line and sinker. T's got good shopper's instincts. He was right-on! We had our sheet of photos cut up and then made into three key chains! Righteous! These things are so damded ridiculous. That just makes them all the more funny to me. They make a great momento.
This was the highlight of our time in Myeong-dong. We didn't really see anything else from then on and left faily soon after. That doesn't mean we ended our exploration of Seoul. It was only about 2 in the afternoon and we had much more to see. But this post is already quite long, I will continue the story later.
Ciao!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
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SEOUL - Vagabonds
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 9
After we finish our lunch on Saturday (7/16) afternoon, L was in the mood for desert. She had seen a Coffee Bean coffee shope in our wanderings through the warrens of Myeong-dong. So off we went, she loved their cheesecake. Me, I could use some caffiene - it really wasn't like I would be motivated by the cheesecake - Really! Ok, not really, cheesecake sounded great.
We ordered 2 slices of cheesecake and some drinks - 2 caffe lattes and 1 iced coffee. Mmmmmm, iced coffeee. And the cheese cake was alright as well. This place was HUGE, and air conditioned. It felt like being in a good sized coffee shop back home. It was a nice to sit there, I could almost feel like I wasn't in Asia anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying (most) of the trip. But I had been gone for two weeks, and had two more weeks before the trip was over. I was beginning to get a touch homesick.
As we left the Coffee Bean, we ran into a crowd that had gathered in the small square between the building and the street. There was a display set up and a line of people waiting to participate in the promotion for Dove Shower Wash. T grabbed L's hand, motioned to me, and dashed for the back of the line. I declined - it was hot. And plus, I'm not too keen on standing in line for the chance to win some free soap.
I don't think T knew what the line was for. After waiting about 5 minutes, he and L abandoned the line. Why? Because at the front of the line each person had a chance at trying to grab a ping pong ball. These ping pong balls were in a large, clear plastic bubble where they bounced arround thanks to an oversized blow dryer pumping air in through the bottom. There were two colors of balls, unevenly mixed. Thus, if you grabbed a purple one - of which there were relatively few - you won free shower gel. However if you grabbed an overly numberous white ball, you only received some coupons. Uninspirering, no? The kind of thing you wouldn't stand in line for, right?
Actually, no. The paultry nature of the prizes is not why T abandoned the line. He wouldn't say why. My guess is that he noticed that participants were interviewed by two young, vibrant, and attractive Korean sales girls. You had to survive their verbal abuse before you could try your hand at the ping pong balls. This is a problem for a shy Japanese man who doesn't speak Korean. It boils down to, "don't want to be embarrased in front of pretty girls." That's my theory at least.
We wandered on. It didn't take long for us to find something else to capture our attention.
Up next - I played at being a teen-age Korean girl....Actually, no, I don't. But, it's a funny thought, no?
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 9
After we finish our lunch on Saturday (7/16) afternoon, L was in the mood for desert. She had seen a Coffee Bean coffee shope in our wanderings through the warrens of Myeong-dong. So off we went, she loved their cheesecake. Me, I could use some caffiene - it really wasn't like I would be motivated by the cheesecake - Really! Ok, not really, cheesecake sounded great.
We ordered 2 slices of cheesecake and some drinks - 2 caffe lattes and 1 iced coffee. Mmmmmm, iced coffeee. And the cheese cake was alright as well. This place was HUGE, and air conditioned. It felt like being in a good sized coffee shop back home. It was a nice to sit there, I could almost feel like I wasn't in Asia anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying (most) of the trip. But I had been gone for two weeks, and had two more weeks before the trip was over. I was beginning to get a touch homesick.
As we left the Coffee Bean, we ran into a crowd that had gathered in the small square between the building and the street. There was a display set up and a line of people waiting to participate in the promotion for Dove Shower Wash. T grabbed L's hand, motioned to me, and dashed for the back of the line. I declined - it was hot. And plus, I'm not too keen on standing in line for the chance to win some free soap.
I don't think T knew what the line was for. After waiting about 5 minutes, he and L abandoned the line. Why? Because at the front of the line each person had a chance at trying to grab a ping pong ball. These ping pong balls were in a large, clear plastic bubble where they bounced arround thanks to an oversized blow dryer pumping air in through the bottom. There were two colors of balls, unevenly mixed. Thus, if you grabbed a purple one - of which there were relatively few - you won free shower gel. However if you grabbed an overly numberous white ball, you only received some coupons. Uninspirering, no? The kind of thing you wouldn't stand in line for, right?
Actually, no. The paultry nature of the prizes is not why T abandoned the line. He wouldn't say why. My guess is that he noticed that participants were interviewed by two young, vibrant, and attractive Korean sales girls. You had to survive their verbal abuse before you could try your hand at the ping pong balls. This is a problem for a shy Japanese man who doesn't speak Korean. It boils down to, "don't want to be embarrased in front of pretty girls." That's my theory at least.
We wandered on. It didn't take long for us to find something else to capture our attention.
Up next - I played at being a teen-age Korean girl....Actually, no, I don't. But, it's a funny thought, no?
Monday, July 18, 2005
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SEOUL - Vibrations
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 8
I slept comfortably and got up in time to work out before meeting T & L for breakfast at 9:00 AM. We met in the lobby of the Novotel Doksan and ventured into the breakfast buffet. The buffet was impressive.
We ate in silence. Once we had finished and moved to our respective coffees, discussion began. I'd done the most research (during yesterday's Japanese languaged meeting) on Seoul and what it had to offer. I outlined what I wanted to do, and it was panned. I apparently had more "high-brow" notions of what it means to explore one of the world's great cities. No museums, no Insa-dong (the cultural district) - rather, SHOPPING! After all T is Japanese, and Korea is much cheaper than Japan.
That left one area - Myeong-dong, Seoul's fashion center. And for my fashion forward Japanese friend, the twin powers of cutting edge fashion and cheap(er) prices was a siren's song to powerful to be denied.
With the help of the Novotel Doksan concierge, we hopped a bus to the city center. Our first goal was to see what we'd find. In that process, our wanderings lead us to Gyeongbokgung, the largest of Seoul's many palaces. It was an impressive complex. To my surprise, though, I felt I had seen these before. This palace was a virtual carbon copy of some of the palaces I'd seen in China a year earlier. I guess I'd always known that China was the cultural epicenter of East Asian, but I'd underestimated Chinese Cultural pervasiveness. This tour was a very graphic demonstration of that cultural power.
My favorite part of the palace was the National Folk Museum. We didn't stay long - as I mentioned before, no museums for my colleagues. But the stone carvings in the outside court yard were most impressive.
I don't believe I mentioned how hot it was - 30C (or about 90F) plus humidity. L pointed out that Taipei (she's Taiwanese) is much hotter in the summer - 35C - and more humid. As I told her, that did little to help me in Seoul. Hot is hot, and for this American...Asian summers are borderline insufferable. Needless to say we cabbed to Myeong-dong.
First stop - Migliore, a mall that T absolutely HAD to visit before leaving Seoul. It didn't take me long to see two things: 1) These fashions were geared towards a younger audience than I & 2) The sizes were for Asian men, a burly Caucasian like me has very little chance of finding a good fit. After wondering through all seven floors, headed out to the street to kill time before rendezvous with me colleagues.
From Migliore we strolled into Myeong-dong proper. The streets are closed to traffic, so it's a warren of pedestrian streets teeming with shops, from haute couture to faux couture. Just about every price range could be found. I particularly liked the imitation Louis Vitton mouse pads.
Myeong-dong is very youth centered. The streets were packed with teens and early twenty somethings. Clearly this was a den of hedonism, Korean style. At least that is what the Korean Christian evangelists must have thought. I saw three of them scattered about the area. They all wore sashes with crosses and Korean writing, had a podium with an open bible, and amplified their sermons via portable PA systems. Hell, they even had podiums! This was saving souls, Korean style!
By that time we were getting hungry, so we went in search of food. Since we wanted to save Korean BBQ for dinner, we thought we'd try something else. Our search took us to a 3rd floor restaurant with a good view that looked out over one of Myeong-dong's streets (or, as I call them, alleyways). Trying to order was interesting, none of us spoke Korean and no one in the restaurant spoke English, or Chinese, or Japanese. Hell, I even tried Spanish - no dice. We were left with gestures. From these gestures it became apparent that, since this was lunch, most of there menu was unavailable. Our only really choice was Korean BBQ - Ironic, no?
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 8
I slept comfortably and got up in time to work out before meeting T & L for breakfast at 9:00 AM. We met in the lobby of the Novotel Doksan and ventured into the breakfast buffet. The buffet was impressive.
We ate in silence. Once we had finished and moved to our respective coffees, discussion began. I'd done the most research (during yesterday's Japanese languaged meeting) on Seoul and what it had to offer. I outlined what I wanted to do, and it was panned. I apparently had more "high-brow" notions of what it means to explore one of the world's great cities. No museums, no Insa-dong (the cultural district) - rather, SHOPPING! After all T is Japanese, and Korea is much cheaper than Japan.
That left one area - Myeong-dong, Seoul's fashion center. And for my fashion forward Japanese friend, the twin powers of cutting edge fashion and cheap(er) prices was a siren's song to powerful to be denied.
With the help of the Novotel Doksan concierge, we hopped a bus to the city center. Our first goal was to see what we'd find. In that process, our wanderings lead us to Gyeongbokgung, the largest of Seoul's many palaces. It was an impressive complex. To my surprise, though, I felt I had seen these before. This palace was a virtual carbon copy of some of the palaces I'd seen in China a year earlier. I guess I'd always known that China was the cultural epicenter of East Asian, but I'd underestimated Chinese Cultural pervasiveness. This tour was a very graphic demonstration of that cultural power.
My favorite part of the palace was the National Folk Museum. We didn't stay long - as I mentioned before, no museums for my colleagues. But the stone carvings in the outside court yard were most impressive.
I don't believe I mentioned how hot it was - 30C (or about 90F) plus humidity. L pointed out that Taipei (she's Taiwanese) is much hotter in the summer - 35C - and more humid. As I told her, that did little to help me in Seoul. Hot is hot, and for this American...Asian summers are borderline insufferable. Needless to say we cabbed to Myeong-dong.
First stop - Migliore, a mall that T absolutely HAD to visit before leaving Seoul. It didn't take me long to see two things: 1) These fashions were geared towards a younger audience than I & 2) The sizes were for Asian men, a burly Caucasian like me has very little chance of finding a good fit. After wondering through all seven floors, headed out to the street to kill time before rendezvous with me colleagues.
From Migliore we strolled into Myeong-dong proper. The streets are closed to traffic, so it's a warren of pedestrian streets teeming with shops, from haute couture to faux couture. Just about every price range could be found. I particularly liked the imitation Louis Vitton mouse pads.
Myeong-dong is very youth centered. The streets were packed with teens and early twenty somethings. Clearly this was a den of hedonism, Korean style. At least that is what the Korean Christian evangelists must have thought. I saw three of them scattered about the area. They all wore sashes with crosses and Korean writing, had a podium with an open bible, and amplified their sermons via portable PA systems. Hell, they even had podiums! This was saving souls, Korean style!
By that time we were getting hungry, so we went in search of food. Since we wanted to save Korean BBQ for dinner, we thought we'd try something else. Our search took us to a 3rd floor restaurant with a good view that looked out over one of Myeong-dong's streets (or, as I call them, alleyways). Trying to order was interesting, none of us spoke Korean and no one in the restaurant spoke English, or Chinese, or Japanese. Hell, I even tried Spanish - no dice. We were left with gestures. From these gestures it became apparent that, since this was lunch, most of there menu was unavailable. Our only really choice was Korean BBQ - Ironic, no?
DISTORTIONS OF SLAVERY
(aka: The Illusions of Our America Racial Dialog)
I've found a some down time here in Korea and stumbled across an article I think every American should read. Hell, why stop there, Humanity as a whole should face the problems of slavery. Slavery is still happening today. Not in the Western world, of course. READ IT!
I'd like to highlight one point. Of the approximately 11 million Africans shipped across the Atlantic as slaves, approximately 5% arrived in America. You read that right, 95% of all slaves shipped to the Americas wound up outside the US. Surprising, no? I suspect the barely visible national dialog on reperations would be strongly influenced by the following two facts: 1) Slavery is not a unique African American experience & 2) People are currently living as slaves! Which is something no African American proponent of reperations can say.
Let me be clear - slavery is evil. There are no situations where it is acceptable. Do not take my comments to mean I believe slavery is morally permissible or that one race is superior to another.
I stumbled onto this article thanks to the following blogs:
Winds of Change & Power and Control
(aka: The Illusions of Our America Racial Dialog)
I've found a some down time here in Korea and stumbled across an article I think every American should read. Hell, why stop there, Humanity as a whole should face the problems of slavery. Slavery is still happening today. Not in the Western world, of course. READ IT!
I'd like to highlight one point. Of the approximately 11 million Africans shipped across the Atlantic as slaves, approximately 5% arrived in America. You read that right, 95% of all slaves shipped to the Americas wound up outside the US. Surprising, no? I suspect the barely visible national dialog on reperations would be strongly influenced by the following two facts: 1) Slavery is not a unique African American experience & 2) People are currently living as slaves! Which is something no African American proponent of reperations can say.
Let me be clear - slavery is evil. There are no situations where it is acceptable. Do not take my comments to mean I believe slavery is morally permissible or that one race is superior to another.
I stumbled onto this article thanks to the following blogs:
Winds of Change & Power and Control
Sunday, July 17, 2005
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YOKOHAMA - Mama
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 7
That title really has nothing to do with what I'm about to write. The only shread of truth is that Yokohama was where I woke up on Friday (7/15).
I woke up in time to get a work out in, clean up and meet my colleagues in the lobby. As T was familiar with Yokohama, he took the lead in determining our all too brief itinerary. After all, our flight for Seoul left at 5:00 PM that day - from the Tokyo Narita Airport. Our Friendly Limousine Bus left the Intercontinental Grand at 12:40. That only gave us about 3.5 hours to explore Yokohama; not nearly enough time.
Off we went via a cab. First stop, the marina. Yokohama has a very nice park on the ocean. It is near the commercial marina - not the industrial sea port. That made for a nice walk - and some nice pictures.
From there we went to the Yokohama China town. There really wasn't much to see. It was a Friday morning. However, I was hoping to get an answer to something that has bothered me for a long time. I figured I've got two Asians with me, they might know - Why does every China town have one of the ornate gates? Nope, they didn't know. L is from Taiwan and the only thing she could contribute is the Chinese script on the gate merely read, "Chinese Street".
We decided to catch a cab back toward the hotel to have an early lunch. Much to our surprise, we had the same cabbie who picked us up earlier! Yokohama is Japan's 3rd biggest city. What are the chances? The cabbie didn't know, but he did say this type of thing happens pretty often. Darn, that seemed like such a unique, unlikely thing. Nope.
We wound up spending a little more than an hour in the Queen Square Mall (check out a map of where we were in Yokohama). I was able to do some shopping. But it was very uninspiring. Shopping in a Department store mall in Japan is not so different than the US. It was hardly the cultural experience I was hoping for. However, we really didn't have much time and I got a chance to eat some Japan style Raman noodle with pork, egg, veggies, and broth. I didn't like it, but at least it was something new.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel to wait for the bus. We didn't wait long, for the bus that is. The ride to Narita was long. Over 2.5 hours. Unfortunately I wasn't able to read, I was getting car sick. It made for a very long trip.
Our check in and security check went smoothly. Even though I messed up my Japan immigration paper work, things went well as my error was minor. Either that, or the clerk just didn't care. I'm not sure which, he didn't say anything and I don't speak Japanese. Regardless, we were to our gate without any trouble.
Our flight to Seoul was uneventful. At 2 hours and 25 minutes, it went surprisingly fast. I really like the Inchon Airport. It's the second time I've been there, and it is a very user friendly airport. However, trying to get a bus outside the airport is not.
Our bus ride from the airport to the hotel was cheap - 6,000 Won (approx $6). That was a far better deal than a cab, while much less expensive than Japan, would still have been upwards of $30. The ride was about an hour and a half. So by the time we made it to the Novotel Amabasador Doksan in southwest Seoul is after 10 PM. My first night in Seoul ended quickly. I was exhaust and in bed before 11.
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 7
That title really has nothing to do with what I'm about to write. The only shread of truth is that Yokohama was where I woke up on Friday (7/15).
I woke up in time to get a work out in, clean up and meet my colleagues in the lobby. As T was familiar with Yokohama, he took the lead in determining our all too brief itinerary. After all, our flight for Seoul left at 5:00 PM that day - from the Tokyo Narita Airport. Our Friendly Limousine Bus left the Intercontinental Grand at 12:40. That only gave us about 3.5 hours to explore Yokohama; not nearly enough time.
Off we went via a cab. First stop, the marina. Yokohama has a very nice park on the ocean. It is near the commercial marina - not the industrial sea port. That made for a nice walk - and some nice pictures.
From there we went to the Yokohama China town. There really wasn't much to see. It was a Friday morning. However, I was hoping to get an answer to something that has bothered me for a long time. I figured I've got two Asians with me, they might know - Why does every China town have one of the ornate gates? Nope, they didn't know. L is from Taiwan and the only thing she could contribute is the Chinese script on the gate merely read, "Chinese Street".
We decided to catch a cab back toward the hotel to have an early lunch. Much to our surprise, we had the same cabbie who picked us up earlier! Yokohama is Japan's 3rd biggest city. What are the chances? The cabbie didn't know, but he did say this type of thing happens pretty often. Darn, that seemed like such a unique, unlikely thing. Nope.
We wound up spending a little more than an hour in the Queen Square Mall (check out a map of where we were in Yokohama). I was able to do some shopping. But it was very uninspiring. Shopping in a Department store mall in Japan is not so different than the US. It was hardly the cultural experience I was hoping for. However, we really didn't have much time and I got a chance to eat some Japan style Raman noodle with pork, egg, veggies, and broth. I didn't like it, but at least it was something new.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel to wait for the bus. We didn't wait long, for the bus that is. The ride to Narita was long. Over 2.5 hours. Unfortunately I wasn't able to read, I was getting car sick. It made for a very long trip.
Our check in and security check went smoothly. Even though I messed up my Japan immigration paper work, things went well as my error was minor. Either that, or the clerk just didn't care. I'm not sure which, he didn't say anything and I don't speak Japanese. Regardless, we were to our gate without any trouble.
Our flight to Seoul was uneventful. At 2 hours and 25 minutes, it went surprisingly fast. I really like the Inchon Airport. It's the second time I've been there, and it is a very user friendly airport. However, trying to get a bus outside the airport is not.
Our bus ride from the airport to the hotel was cheap - 6,000 Won (approx $6). That was a far better deal than a cab, while much less expensive than Japan, would still have been upwards of $30. The ride was about an hour and a half. So by the time we made it to the Novotel Amabasador Doksan in southwest Seoul is after 10 PM. My first night in Seoul ended quickly. I was exhaust and in bed before 11.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
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HAMAMATSU - Ho!
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 6
While the Asahi was really good Wednesday night, I drank very little. I knew I'd have a very busy day on Thursday. Also, I needed to pack before bed. We needed to be at the plant by 7:30 AM on Thursday morning. That meant getting up at 5:00 AM so we'd have time to check-out eat, take the train, and cab. Doing all of that hung over didn't strike me as a good idea.
We returned to the hotel after dinner. During the walk home, I spotted a couple of pretty decent engrish signs - and duly took some pictures. This prompted a conversation with T & L about what "engrish" was. Not surprisingly, it really helps to be a native English speaker to understand the whole notion of engrish (hey, check out Engrish.com). Once I pointed out how the incorrect usage of words leads to alternative definitions, they certainly understood. But it was more of an, "Oh, I see what you mean" rather than, "That's funny!"
I packed and snuggled into my not-so-comfortable bed for a restless few hours of sleep. We met in the lobby way too bloody early for me, 5:45 AM. We checked out, checked our bags with the concierge, and headed for Mr. Doughnut for breakfast. That is where I got my first exposure doughnuts, Japan-style. Sure there were typical doughnuts. But, as G. noted in her comment, there were shrimp danishes as well. But my favorite for odd was the curry filled pastry - WTF!?! That so isn't breakfast food - for me. It is for T.
Our day flew by, as I mentioned before, this place was in rough shape. My only consolation was that since no one spoke English at the plant, T would conduct the meeting in Japanese. Thus I could zone out during the meeting - which lasted 2.5 hours!!!! God that was way too long. The upside is I got a chance to look up city guides on Yokohama (our next stop) and Seoul. I've been so busy with work and travel that I haven't had a chance to do that before.
The real bummer about such a long closing meeting was that we didn't leave the plant until 6:30 PM. Which meant we didn't get to the hotel to pick up our bags until after 7:00, which meant our train to Yokohama wouldn't leave until almost 8:45. That would put us in Yokohama between 10 & 10:30. Fortunately we had 40 minutes to grab dinner. Which took us back to Mr. Doughnut.
Sure, there where other locations to get food. But I wasn't in the mood for McDonalds or Bento boxes. And, plus, I was curious what Mr. Doughnut could offer for dinner; they do doughnuts! Ok, I was wrong, they do more that doughnuts. I wound up with Iced Coffee, a Creme Filled, and some god-awful noodle dish. I didn't eat much. T loved it.
We caught our bullet train after our quick, and awful, dinner. I found it interesting that all the bullet-trains had a logo that said, "Ambitious Japan" on them. What does that mean? Damned if I know.
Our train was a local, so we had more than 6 stops from Hamamatsu to Yokohama. It wasn't too bad, I had plenty of time to read. Strangely, I wasn't tired. I'd been up since 5:00 AM but I enjoyed the train ride, so it was peachy.
Our arrival into Yokohama was uneventful. Happily we were staying at the Interncontinental Grand. Yippee!!! After the cramped Hamamatsu Meitetsu, a 5-star western-style hotel sounded grand.
Let me back up, just a bit. Our arrival at the Yokohama train station went fine. I was amazed at the taxi stand, there were literally a fleet of taxis! Quite easily, there were more then 50 taxi's sitting there. The way they were lined up under the elevated express way made for an interesting site.
Additionally, I didn't know the area around Yokohama was so hilly. The cab ride involved many switchbacks as we drove down to sea level - which is where downtown was.
Other than the exorbitant cost of the cab ride, approx. 20,000 Yen (slightly more than $200), it was uneventful. After taking a few unsuccessful pictures of the Yokohama sky line, I went to bed. Wow! It was nice to sleep in a comfortable bed after the rock hard, flat pillowed thing that passed for a bed a the last hotel. I woke up refreshed.
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 6
While the Asahi was really good Wednesday night, I drank very little. I knew I'd have a very busy day on Thursday. Also, I needed to pack before bed. We needed to be at the plant by 7:30 AM on Thursday morning. That meant getting up at 5:00 AM so we'd have time to check-out eat, take the train, and cab. Doing all of that hung over didn't strike me as a good idea.
We returned to the hotel after dinner. During the walk home, I spotted a couple of pretty decent engrish signs - and duly took some pictures. This prompted a conversation with T & L about what "engrish" was. Not surprisingly, it really helps to be a native English speaker to understand the whole notion of engrish (hey, check out Engrish.com). Once I pointed out how the incorrect usage of words leads to alternative definitions, they certainly understood. But it was more of an, "Oh, I see what you mean" rather than, "That's funny!"
I packed and snuggled into my not-so-comfortable bed for a restless few hours of sleep. We met in the lobby way too bloody early for me, 5:45 AM. We checked out, checked our bags with the concierge, and headed for Mr. Doughnut for breakfast. That is where I got my first exposure doughnuts, Japan-style. Sure there were typical doughnuts. But, as G. noted in her comment, there were shrimp danishes as well. But my favorite for odd was the curry filled pastry - WTF!?! That so isn't breakfast food - for me. It is for T.
Our day flew by, as I mentioned before, this place was in rough shape. My only consolation was that since no one spoke English at the plant, T would conduct the meeting in Japanese. Thus I could zone out during the meeting - which lasted 2.5 hours!!!! God that was way too long. The upside is I got a chance to look up city guides on Yokohama (our next stop) and Seoul. I've been so busy with work and travel that I haven't had a chance to do that before.
The real bummer about such a long closing meeting was that we didn't leave the plant until 6:30 PM. Which meant we didn't get to the hotel to pick up our bags until after 7:00, which meant our train to Yokohama wouldn't leave until almost 8:45. That would put us in Yokohama between 10 & 10:30. Fortunately we had 40 minutes to grab dinner. Which took us back to Mr. Doughnut.
Sure, there where other locations to get food. But I wasn't in the mood for McDonalds or Bento boxes. And, plus, I was curious what Mr. Doughnut could offer for dinner; they do doughnuts! Ok, I was wrong, they do more that doughnuts. I wound up with Iced Coffee, a Creme Filled, and some god-awful noodle dish. I didn't eat much. T loved it.
We caught our bullet train after our quick, and awful, dinner. I found it interesting that all the bullet-trains had a logo that said, "Ambitious Japan" on them. What does that mean? Damned if I know.
Our train was a local, so we had more than 6 stops from Hamamatsu to Yokohama. It wasn't too bad, I had plenty of time to read. Strangely, I wasn't tired. I'd been up since 5:00 AM but I enjoyed the train ride, so it was peachy.
Our arrival into Yokohama was uneventful. Happily we were staying at the Interncontinental Grand. Yippee!!! After the cramped Hamamatsu Meitetsu, a 5-star western-style hotel sounded grand.
Let me back up, just a bit. Our arrival at the Yokohama train station went fine. I was amazed at the taxi stand, there were literally a fleet of taxis! Quite easily, there were more then 50 taxi's sitting there. The way they were lined up under the elevated express way made for an interesting site.
Additionally, I didn't know the area around Yokohama was so hilly. The cab ride involved many switchbacks as we drove down to sea level - which is where downtown was.
Other than the exorbitant cost of the cab ride, approx. 20,000 Yen (slightly more than $200), it was uneventful. After taking a few unsuccessful pictures of the Yokohama sky line, I went to bed. Wow! It was nice to sleep in a comfortable bed after the rock hard, flat pillowed thing that passed for a bed a the last hotel. I woke up refreshed.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
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TOKYO - Bye, Bye
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 5
We checked out of the Tokyo Dome Hotel on Monday (7/11) morning. It was amusing to watch the bellhops struggle with T & L's luggage. Because of our luggage, we needed two cabs for the three of us. It was a very good thing T is Japanese, it would have been very hard to explain to the Japanese-only speaking cabbies how to get to the office (and that cab 2 should follow cab 1). I took a video of the cab ride from the back seat. I intend to do that in every town, it should be interesting to see how they compare.
Our trip to the office was uneventful. Our day was very busy and our lugage was with us in the conference room, it was cramped. We had a 3:00 meeting so it was a hectic rush to wrap up and be prepared to present our work. We managed just fine, after all we three are all highly paid professionals. Wait, scratch that "highly paid" part, it's not true. But we are professionals, really. No, really!
Our presentation went smoothly and our lugage was hauled down to the street level. After flagging two more cabs, we were bound for Tokyo Station. T arranged our tickest for the Shin-Kansen bullet train line. We were off to Hamamatsu, in the Shizuoka Prefecture. Our next stop was a plant in the Japanese hinterland south of Tokyo. It was very cool to get a chance to ride the bullet train.
I was surprise at how large Hamamatsu was. I had been lead to believe it was a hick town. To this American, a hick town is (at best) a one stop-light place with more bars than chruchs where your best meal is Subway. Hamamatsu was so very not this.
Our hotel,the Hamamatsu Meitetsu Hotel, was nice. It was very Japanese. Small rooms, hard-futon like beds, slippers, Japan style robes....and NO INTERNET CONNECTIVITY. That last part was a bummer. Fortunately we were only staying three nights. That wound up being three nights of bad sleep. Between the uncommonly hard beds and flat pillows, I was not a snug snoozer.
The plant we were reviewing was in really rough shape. Call it culture diversity. The plant people were competant and contientious. But they were using very Japanese methods which were quite far from the interenational best practices expected of such a facility. It made for a very long, busy and stressfull three days. Top that off with the fact that our hotel was a 20 minute train plus 15 minute cab from the plant, and our days started at 5:30AM and ended after 9:00PM. With that schedule, it was a very quick three days.
However, we did get a chance to do some very limited exploring. It resulted in an interesting dinner in a Japanized italian restaurant. My noodles looked like spagettie gone Asian. From the way the beef was prepared to the type of mushrooms use to the technique used to spice up the dish - it was a "spaghetti" unlike any I've had before. The second night was a yakitori-fest. T order an enormous amount of food. It wasn't bad. And quite surprisingly, the Asahi beer I had was uncommonly good. I've had Asahi many times before, and for some reason, this time is was crisp, nuanced, and delicious. Very much unlike what I've had before. However, I was also really stressed and preoccupied with work...so, that may be why I enjoyed it so much :)
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 5
We checked out of the Tokyo Dome Hotel on Monday (7/11) morning. It was amusing to watch the bellhops struggle with T & L's luggage. Because of our luggage, we needed two cabs for the three of us. It was a very good thing T is Japanese, it would have been very hard to explain to the Japanese-only speaking cabbies how to get to the office (and that cab 2 should follow cab 1). I took a video of the cab ride from the back seat. I intend to do that in every town, it should be interesting to see how they compare.
Our trip to the office was uneventful. Our day was very busy and our lugage was with us in the conference room, it was cramped. We had a 3:00 meeting so it was a hectic rush to wrap up and be prepared to present our work. We managed just fine, after all we three are all highly paid professionals. Wait, scratch that "highly paid" part, it's not true. But we are professionals, really. No, really!
Our presentation went smoothly and our lugage was hauled down to the street level. After flagging two more cabs, we were bound for Tokyo Station. T arranged our tickest for the Shin-Kansen bullet train line. We were off to Hamamatsu, in the Shizuoka Prefecture. Our next stop was a plant in the Japanese hinterland south of Tokyo. It was very cool to get a chance to ride the bullet train.
I was surprise at how large Hamamatsu was. I had been lead to believe it was a hick town. To this American, a hick town is (at best) a one stop-light place with more bars than chruchs where your best meal is Subway. Hamamatsu was so very not this.
Our hotel,the Hamamatsu Meitetsu Hotel, was nice. It was very Japanese. Small rooms, hard-futon like beds, slippers, Japan style robes....and NO INTERNET CONNECTIVITY. That last part was a bummer. Fortunately we were only staying three nights. That wound up being three nights of bad sleep. Between the uncommonly hard beds and flat pillows, I was not a snug snoozer.
The plant we were reviewing was in really rough shape. Call it culture diversity. The plant people were competant and contientious. But they were using very Japanese methods which were quite far from the interenational best practices expected of such a facility. It made for a very long, busy and stressfull three days. Top that off with the fact that our hotel was a 20 minute train plus 15 minute cab from the plant, and our days started at 5:30AM and ended after 9:00PM. With that schedule, it was a very quick three days.
However, we did get a chance to do some very limited exploring. It resulted in an interesting dinner in a Japanized italian restaurant. My noodles looked like spagettie gone Asian. From the way the beef was prepared to the type of mushrooms use to the technique used to spice up the dish - it was a "spaghetti" unlike any I've had before. The second night was a yakitori-fest. T order an enormous amount of food. It wasn't bad. And quite surprisingly, the Asahi beer I had was uncommonly good. I've had Asahi many times before, and for some reason, this time is was crisp, nuanced, and delicious. Very much unlike what I've had before. However, I was also really stressed and preoccupied with work...so, that may be why I enjoyed it so much :)
Monday, July 11, 2005
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TOKYO - The Recovery
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 4
Wow, that's the second post in a row that I've been misleading in my heading. It must be Japan, it's a...you know...um...very conformity driven. Apparently my sense of humor is feeling that pull towards sameness. Yikes! Fortunately I leave the country soon...for South Korea! Ugh! Another blend-in culture...I'm screwed.
Ok, I'm not. I must be in a pissy mood. A hang over will do that to you.
Yup, I was a little hung over on Sunday morning. It has been a very long time since I was out as late as I was on Saturday. I think that messed me up more than the alcohol. I wound up sleeping until 10:30 AM. I could have slept much longer, I but I couldn't justify staying in bed while I was in Tokyo. I mean, really, how could I forgive myself if I spent 50% of my limited free time sleeping?!? I'd regret it, even though it meant going through the day groggily.
I had a late breakfast and then took a 2.5 hour walk around the Tokyo Dome area. I deliberately wondered away from the commercial district. I was in search of a residential area to get a glimpse of what "normal" life was in Tokyo. It was interesting. All in all, despite the cramped quarters, I could see myself living there. The street had a vibrance, without being overwhelming, that was appealing. I was not as hard edged as New York. As dirty as Mexico City. Or as crowed and feature-less as Beijing. All in all, not bad. And this was just some random Tokyo neighborhood (and that's the point, it felt like a neighborhood - not a collection of buildings).
It was wicked humid out, so my walk was cut short by my desire to change into dry clothes. I am very comfortable in cold weather, this extra wet style of heat really gets to me quickly. So I swung by an AM/PM quicky mart for some rehydration. On a whim I picked up a couple 500 ml cans of Yebisu Dark Beer. I could almost taste them through the frigde. To me, that meant, "Buy ME!!!".
I returned to the hotel to cooling down, freshen up, and do some research. After all, my intention was to spend the rest of the afternoon in the Akihabara district, Tokyo's famed Electric City. Plus I needed to figure out how to use the JR line of the Tokyo rail system to get there. I was on my own, so I figured a little research was in order.
I'm glad I did. The Tokyo rail system is complex. With a little research, planning, and patience, it worked out just fine. Of course it helped that Akihabara was just two stops from the hotel. That was just peachy with me. I didn't want my first (and only) solo fore to be that daunting.
What can I say about Electric City? I was interesting, and no, I didn't buy anything. It wasn't from lack of trying. I look in a large number of stores. But nothing really appealed - Sadly. Here I was in an iconic district of Tokyo, and I failed to find one material thing that said, "Take Me Home!". On the upside, I did take lots of pictures.
I cabbed back to hotel and had a quiet evening. I had to be up very early on Monday morning, so after my Saturday night, early and quiet was a good combination. Room service, web surfing, packing, good beer, and reading. It was nice.
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 4
Wow, that's the second post in a row that I've been misleading in my heading. It must be Japan, it's a...you know...um...very conformity driven. Apparently my sense of humor is feeling that pull towards sameness. Yikes! Fortunately I leave the country soon...for South Korea! Ugh! Another blend-in culture...I'm screwed.
Ok, I'm not. I must be in a pissy mood. A hang over will do that to you.
Yup, I was a little hung over on Sunday morning. It has been a very long time since I was out as late as I was on Saturday. I think that messed me up more than the alcohol. I wound up sleeping until 10:30 AM. I could have slept much longer, I but I couldn't justify staying in bed while I was in Tokyo. I mean, really, how could I forgive myself if I spent 50% of my limited free time sleeping?!? I'd regret it, even though it meant going through the day groggily.
I had a late breakfast and then took a 2.5 hour walk around the Tokyo Dome area. I deliberately wondered away from the commercial district. I was in search of a residential area to get a glimpse of what "normal" life was in Tokyo. It was interesting. All in all, despite the cramped quarters, I could see myself living there. The street had a vibrance, without being overwhelming, that was appealing. I was not as hard edged as New York. As dirty as Mexico City. Or as crowed and feature-less as Beijing. All in all, not bad. And this was just some random Tokyo neighborhood (and that's the point, it felt like a neighborhood - not a collection of buildings).
It was wicked humid out, so my walk was cut short by my desire to change into dry clothes. I am very comfortable in cold weather, this extra wet style of heat really gets to me quickly. So I swung by an AM/PM quicky mart for some rehydration. On a whim I picked up a couple 500 ml cans of Yebisu Dark Beer. I could almost taste them through the frigde. To me, that meant, "Buy ME!!!".
I returned to the hotel to cooling down, freshen up, and do some research. After all, my intention was to spend the rest of the afternoon in the Akihabara district, Tokyo's famed Electric City. Plus I needed to figure out how to use the JR line of the Tokyo rail system to get there. I was on my own, so I figured a little research was in order.
I'm glad I did. The Tokyo rail system is complex. With a little research, planning, and patience, it worked out just fine. Of course it helped that Akihabara was just two stops from the hotel. That was just peachy with me. I didn't want my first (and only) solo fore to be that daunting.
What can I say about Electric City? I was interesting, and no, I didn't buy anything. It wasn't from lack of trying. I look in a large number of stores. But nothing really appealed - Sadly. Here I was in an iconic district of Tokyo, and I failed to find one material thing that said, "Take Me Home!". On the upside, I did take lots of pictures.
I cabbed back to hotel and had a quiet evening. I had to be up very early on Monday morning, so after my Saturday night, early and quiet was a good combination. Room service, web surfing, packing, good beer, and reading. It was nice.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
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TOKYO - My Wild Weekend
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 3
Ok, I lied, my weekend wasn't wild. I just liked the sound of the heading, it sounded dangerous. Danger (as the weekend attests to) is a rare commodity when you're an "accountant from the suburbs".
Saturday, day time, was uneventful. I didn't even leave my hotel room. I had too much work to do. I spent a good six hours trying to catch up with the work load. This didn't keep me from going our with T & L.
We met at 6:30 in the lobby. From there we were off to the Odaiba district of Tokyo. T is from Osaka and he wanted to take me to restaurant that served his favorite dish of Osaka cuisine. We went to the Fugestu restaurant in the Aqua City mall. This was my first exposure to okonomiyaki, a Japanese cabbage pancake. For T, this passes for Osakan comfort food. It just goes to show that location matters. For me, comfort food has an entirely different meaning.
Our trip up the Great Big Ferris Wheel sucked. It was raining so, despite our height, we could see very little. Oddly, there are a number of large ferris wheels in Tokyo. When I say ferris wheel, please understand these are huge. The one we road peaked at 150 meters (492 feet).
No trip to Tokyo would be complete without a stop in the Roppongi district. (check out both these links...they're entertaining and point to why my weekend was "dangerous"). T took us to Vanilla, a dance club (read the Cyberjapan review). The door charge was 3K yen, or about $28, per person. Yup, Tokyo's expensive. There were four floors, with different music per floor. To my mind, Vanilla is a stereo-typical "super club" for those of us who are somewhere far from being A-listers (would that make me a X? or Y? Certainly not Z.). In short, I whole-heartedly agree with Mitomi Tokoto's review at Cyerjapan.
T lead us to the top floor, which was a room straight out of the turn of the century trance craze, or so I thought when we entered. In stead, shortly after we arrive, a new DJ started spinning. She moved beyond trance into Progressive House. We had managed to move to 2001's music, I smugly said to myself. That was a hasty judgment. Her first two songs stole pages straight out of John Digweed's 2001 playbook (think his Global Underground: Los Angeles set). But then, she threw me for a loop and switched gears. She took the dark beats of Prog House added some New York style House ontop. It worked so well the crowd really got into it. The crowd started chanting, seeming at random. But they were all together, so it couldn't have been all that random.
As I said, her shit had a serious groove. I over came my reluctance and ventured out on the dance floor. Now, I had good reason to be reluctant. I gave up regular clubbing about four years ago and I haven't gone dancing in close to two years. Add in that I seemed quite a bit older than most people on the dance floor, I wasn't in a hurry to see if I could still move. Apparently I still got it. At least the small crowd that gathered around me seemed to think so. A mixed gender group of about eight Japanese kids thought I was novel. I had found myself some friends. I'm not sure that's a good thing, they may very well have been mocking me. I prefer to not consider that possibility. Denial ain't just a river in Africa.
The evening was capped with some time in the bottom floor where the DJ's were spinning some syrupy sweet Deep House. I was in heaven. I have a serious soft spot (calling it a guilty pleasure is an understatement) for Deep House. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I must admit, my colleagues compliments on my dancing were appreciated. To quote T, I was "seriously impressive". (consider this evidence that I'm not delusional...which is, of course, a delusion in itself)
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 3
Ok, I lied, my weekend wasn't wild. I just liked the sound of the heading, it sounded dangerous. Danger (as the weekend attests to) is a rare commodity when you're an "accountant from the suburbs".
Saturday, day time, was uneventful. I didn't even leave my hotel room. I had too much work to do. I spent a good six hours trying to catch up with the work load. This didn't keep me from going our with T & L.
We met at 6:30 in the lobby. From there we were off to the Odaiba district of Tokyo. T is from Osaka and he wanted to take me to restaurant that served his favorite dish of Osaka cuisine. We went to the Fugestu restaurant in the Aqua City mall. This was my first exposure to okonomiyaki, a Japanese cabbage pancake. For T, this passes for Osakan comfort food. It just goes to show that location matters. For me, comfort food has an entirely different meaning.
Our trip up the Great Big Ferris Wheel sucked. It was raining so, despite our height, we could see very little. Oddly, there are a number of large ferris wheels in Tokyo. When I say ferris wheel, please understand these are huge. The one we road peaked at 150 meters (492 feet).
No trip to Tokyo would be complete without a stop in the Roppongi district. (check out both these links...they're entertaining and point to why my weekend was "dangerous"). T took us to Vanilla, a dance club (read the Cyberjapan review). The door charge was 3K yen, or about $28, per person. Yup, Tokyo's expensive. There were four floors, with different music per floor. To my mind, Vanilla is a stereo-typical "super club" for those of us who are somewhere far from being A-listers (would that make me a X? or Y? Certainly not Z.). In short, I whole-heartedly agree with Mitomi Tokoto's review at Cyerjapan.
T lead us to the top floor, which was a room straight out of the turn of the century trance craze, or so I thought when we entered. In stead, shortly after we arrive, a new DJ started spinning. She moved beyond trance into Progressive House. We had managed to move to 2001's music, I smugly said to myself. That was a hasty judgment. Her first two songs stole pages straight out of John Digweed's 2001 playbook (think his Global Underground: Los Angeles set). But then, she threw me for a loop and switched gears. She took the dark beats of Prog House added some New York style House ontop. It worked so well the crowd really got into it. The crowd started chanting, seeming at random. But they were all together, so it couldn't have been all that random.
As I said, her shit had a serious groove. I over came my reluctance and ventured out on the dance floor. Now, I had good reason to be reluctant. I gave up regular clubbing about four years ago and I haven't gone dancing in close to two years. Add in that I seemed quite a bit older than most people on the dance floor, I wasn't in a hurry to see if I could still move. Apparently I still got it. At least the small crowd that gathered around me seemed to think so. A mixed gender group of about eight Japanese kids thought I was novel. I had found myself some friends. I'm not sure that's a good thing, they may very well have been mocking me. I prefer to not consider that possibility. Denial ain't just a river in Africa.
The evening was capped with some time in the bottom floor where the DJ's were spinning some syrupy sweet Deep House. I was in heaven. I have a serious soft spot (calling it a guilty pleasure is an understatement) for Deep House. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I must admit, my colleagues compliments on my dancing were appreciated. To quote T, I was "seriously impressive". (consider this evidence that I'm not delusional...which is, of course, a delusion in itself)
TOKYO - Life as a Salaryman
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 2
Lacking clothes, I spent my first day in Tokyo in my hotel room. It was a blessing in disguise. I was able to rest, do some yoga, read, rest somemore - it help reduce my jetlag.
My bag was delivered by a very courteous bellhop at 6:15 PM on Wednesday. While I was very annoyed that my luggage was delayed that wasn't why I didn't tip the bellhop. Tipping isn't customary in Japan. Fortunately my bag's arrival was good timing, I was to meet my colleagues in the lobby at 6:30. Neadless to say I rushed through getting ready.
I met T & L, my colleagues, in the very spacious lobby of our hotel, the Tokyo Dome Hotel. This lead to my first experience with the Tokyo rail service. It is HUGE! And, seemingly convenient. However, I don't know Tokyo, so I have no idea how far it was from our hotel to the Beer Station at the Yebisu Garden Place. We met three people for dinner; T's friend, Sonny (a fellow employee of our benevolent multi-national employer), and her friend. Dinner was interesting. There were about five courses that were served communally. I started my meal with raw fish.
For those of you readers that know me, that's one hell of a thing to do. I don't like fish. Well, more correctly, as a child I couldn't stand fish. I wouldn't eat it. You couldn't bribe me to do so, I did not consider it food. That has been slowly changing in my adulthood. Many people - both Japanese and others - have told me that the fish in Japan is better. Fish is an integral ingrediant in the Japanese diet. As such, Japanese chefs know how to keep fish at it's best. That generally means it fresher. You know what? At the Beer Station at least, that was true. The texture wasn't really my speed, but it wasn't bad.
Dinner was pleasant. It was all you could drink, and Yebisu is good (not great) beer. So, it took a fair amount of self-control, but I restricted myself to something less than 3 pints. Guessing, I'd say, my four glasses added up to about a litre, or about 2 pints. God I love good beer! It was hard.
Thursday and Friday were uneventful. We were working too much for anything exciting. The closest thing to "excitement" I had was eating true japanese food. Not surprisingly, the "Japanese" food I'm used to back home is Americanized. There was lots of fish, miso paste, egg, and funky veggies. I was pushing my food boundaries. It fair to call it, "educational".
To underscore how much we were working, I was at the office until 9:30 PM on Friday night. Not surprisingly, I cabbed back to the hotel and ordered room service. I was exhausted, so the post-food coma was an invitation to call it night.
That was not an exciting way to kick off my only weekend in Tokyo.
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 2
Lacking clothes, I spent my first day in Tokyo in my hotel room. It was a blessing in disguise. I was able to rest, do some yoga, read, rest somemore - it help reduce my jetlag.
My bag was delivered by a very courteous bellhop at 6:15 PM on Wednesday. While I was very annoyed that my luggage was delayed that wasn't why I didn't tip the bellhop. Tipping isn't customary in Japan. Fortunately my bag's arrival was good timing, I was to meet my colleagues in the lobby at 6:30. Neadless to say I rushed through getting ready.
I met T & L, my colleagues, in the very spacious lobby of our hotel, the Tokyo Dome Hotel. This lead to my first experience with the Tokyo rail service. It is HUGE! And, seemingly convenient. However, I don't know Tokyo, so I have no idea how far it was from our hotel to the Beer Station at the Yebisu Garden Place. We met three people for dinner; T's friend, Sonny (a fellow employee of our benevolent multi-national employer), and her friend. Dinner was interesting. There were about five courses that were served communally. I started my meal with raw fish.
For those of you readers that know me, that's one hell of a thing to do. I don't like fish. Well, more correctly, as a child I couldn't stand fish. I wouldn't eat it. You couldn't bribe me to do so, I did not consider it food. That has been slowly changing in my adulthood. Many people - both Japanese and others - have told me that the fish in Japan is better. Fish is an integral ingrediant in the Japanese diet. As such, Japanese chefs know how to keep fish at it's best. That generally means it fresher. You know what? At the Beer Station at least, that was true. The texture wasn't really my speed, but it wasn't bad.
Dinner was pleasant. It was all you could drink, and Yebisu is good (not great) beer. So, it took a fair amount of self-control, but I restricted myself to something less than 3 pints. Guessing, I'd say, my four glasses added up to about a litre, or about 2 pints. God I love good beer! It was hard.
Thursday and Friday were uneventful. We were working too much for anything exciting. The closest thing to "excitement" I had was eating true japanese food. Not surprisingly, the "Japanese" food I'm used to back home is Americanized. There was lots of fish, miso paste, egg, and funky veggies. I was pushing my food boundaries. It fair to call it, "educational".
To underscore how much we were working, I was at the office until 9:30 PM on Friday night. Not surprisingly, I cabbed back to the hotel and ordered room service. I was exhausted, so the post-food coma was an invitation to call it night.
That was not an exciting way to kick off my only weekend in Tokyo.
Friday, July 08, 2005
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TOKYO - The Beginning
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 1
I arrived at the Tokyo Narita Airport at 5:10 PM on Tuesday (7/5/05), which was one hour later than I should have arrived. Thanks to some thunder storms in Chicago the flight was delayed for nearly 1.5 hours. Amazingly the fight crew made up 30 minutes of our delay. That, however, was a very small consolation for sitting on the runway in our Boeing 777 for 1.5 hours. To top it off, United screwed up my baggage transfer - my bag didn't join me on the flight. I was informed, very politely mind you, that I had taken the last United Chicago-Tokyo flight of the day. Thus, my bag would be on the next available flight TOMORROW. Which means I could expect my bag delivered to me sometime Wednesday evening. To top it off, the crotch seam of my pants split somewhere over the Pacific. Fortunately it was relatively subtle - it was only super obvious when I was sitting. Net result, unpon arriving in Tokyo I had neither pants nor a suitcase: Hardly an auspicious beginning.
2005 ASIA TRAVELOG - Part 1
I arrived at the Tokyo Narita Airport at 5:10 PM on Tuesday (7/5/05), which was one hour later than I should have arrived. Thanks to some thunder storms in Chicago the flight was delayed for nearly 1.5 hours. Amazingly the fight crew made up 30 minutes of our delay. That, however, was a very small consolation for sitting on the runway in our Boeing 777 for 1.5 hours. To top it off, United screwed up my baggage transfer - my bag didn't join me on the flight. I was informed, very politely mind you, that I had taken the last United Chicago-Tokyo flight of the day. Thus, my bag would be on the next available flight TOMORROW. Which means I could expect my bag delivered to me sometime Wednesday evening. To top it off, the crotch seam of my pants split somewhere over the Pacific. Fortunately it was relatively subtle - it was only super obvious when I was sitting. Net result, unpon arriving in Tokyo I had neither pants nor a suitcase: Hardly an auspicious beginning.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
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KONNICHIWA FROM TOKYO!
It has taken my far to long to get to this post. I made it to Tokyo on Tuesday (7/5) evening, but between jet-lag and working too much, I've not had much chance to do anything. Here's a run down of my July 2005 Asia work trip:
July 5 to July 11 - Tokyo
July 12 to July 14 - Hamamatsu, Japan
July 14 to July 15 - Yokohama (staying overnight only)
July 15 to July 20 - Seoul, South Korea (should arrive by late afternoon)
July 21 to July 22 - Dangjin, South Korea
July 23 to July 24 - Seoul (for the weekend, travel to Dangjin Sunday evening)
July 24 to July 25 - Dangjin
July 26 to July 28 - Asan, South Korea
July 28 to July 29 - Seoul
July 29 - Travel home.
As you might guess, this is a hectic schedule.
Here are my first impressions of Japan - about 48 hours in country. The culture shock really isn't that bad. The biggest adjustment is the food. Other than that, since I'm only visiting, it's not too bad of a transition.
I'll try to keep a travel log of this trip, but I can't promise anything. The work load at each different location will vary from too busy to insanely busy. So I don't know how much time I'll have.
Sayonara for now.
It has taken my far to long to get to this post. I made it to Tokyo on Tuesday (7/5) evening, but between jet-lag and working too much, I've not had much chance to do anything. Here's a run down of my July 2005 Asia work trip:
July 5 to July 11 - Tokyo
July 12 to July 14 - Hamamatsu, Japan
July 14 to July 15 - Yokohama (staying overnight only)
July 15 to July 20 - Seoul, South Korea (should arrive by late afternoon)
July 21 to July 22 - Dangjin, South Korea
July 23 to July 24 - Seoul (for the weekend, travel to Dangjin Sunday evening)
July 24 to July 25 - Dangjin
July 26 to July 28 - Asan, South Korea
July 28 to July 29 - Seoul
July 29 - Travel home.
As you might guess, this is a hectic schedule.
Here are my first impressions of Japan - about 48 hours in country. The culture shock really isn't that bad. The biggest adjustment is the food. Other than that, since I'm only visiting, it's not too bad of a transition.
I'll try to keep a travel log of this trip, but I can't promise anything. The work load at each different location will vary from too busy to insanely busy. So I don't know how much time I'll have.
Sayonara for now.
