Take your digicam out for a walk

Today was my first and only full day in Seoul. Besides breakfast, the one thing I wanted to do was to tour the DMZ.

The DMZ, despite being the most fortified border on Earth, where the nuclear tripwire is still in effect, is a tourist attraction.

There are tour groups that highlight Panmunjom, the village that straddles the border and where there is a line that dissects a building in half. That's where they held the armistice talks. The two big tunnels that were dug by the North that can move thousands of fully armed troops from North to South without detection. Etc, etc.

Except that you need 24 hours notice to join a tour group, so that the US Army can do background checks and all that stuff.

So instead I saw the Changdeokgung Palace instead. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the few examples of "culture" on this trip.





Also went to a very nice kaiseki (I think) dinner. This was just the beginning of the meal. I think the table has a Kill Bill feel, dun you think?



These were appetizers. Then they were empty.



We all also drank a huge amount of sake, shochu and some Korean (ginseng?) wine. Wound up taking subway back. For 45 minutes.

Also, I was told that no visit to Seoul isn't complete without running into these guys.



They were assembling at their staging area to return to barracks after a demonstration. Interesting...check out the face of the guy above as I snapped that pic.

IHN is a new airport, built 2 years ago. Very new, clean and nice.

Just wish that they built a rail link while they building the airport because you have to take a bus to town on a road that seems to go on and on and on.

No rail. Just a really long road that seems to go to nowhere. Then you hit Seoul and you know you've hit it because there's a lot of traffic out.

We are staying in the Myung-Dong district. Kinda like the ROK version of Shibuya. I've already found the Citibank.

I flew with Yumi to Seoul tonight.

We flew out on UA in Business Class. She said it was almost like when we first met except the seats are bigger and it's a shorter flight.

The food was atrocious. Bad. Sushi plate looked like 2 day old maki from local 7-11.

The entertainment on the flight was non-existent. Three channels, one being the map, one being a special on the turkey and one with BBC America.

I think SQ really spoiled me...

This is all you need for a smooth trip...



Your JR ticket, an iPod and a brewski...

Kenzo Tange is a Japanese architect that has designed many buildings including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Complex in Shinjuku.

He also designed the Yoyogi Stadium and Metropolitan Gym in Shibuya next door to NHK's studios.



What he DIDN'T design was that big pink dot that's the mascot of the World Cup volleyball tournament that was being hosted there.



Dun get that dot confused with this pink dot...

Ramen is practically a religion in Japan. And I think I'm a convert. Here's a good explanation from another site. Here's a directory of ramen shops all over the world.

I understand the obsession about finding the best ramen shop (while sampling many along the way). It's truly a quest for the best.

This is a picture of my favorite ramen shop in Shinjuku. I can't tell you what street it's on but I can point it out on a map or tell you where it is.

It's across the street from a Citibank. How appropriate!



This was lunch today, from a famous ramen shop, Men-Ya Musashi on the other side of Shinjuku JR Station.



mmmmmmmm. And worth the 55 minute wait!

The first time I went to Japan, I wanted to visit the Ghibli Museum but didn't have the time or tickets. You need to buy them in advance from JTB travel agencies in the states before you arrive in Japan.

Ghibli is a museum devoted to the works of Miyazaki Hayao. They don't allow photos inside but they do allow pictures outside. This is the outside of the building. What's that on the roof?



I mean, what IS that on the roof?



It even has its own buses to bring you there from the Mitaka JR Station. Cute.

The last train of the night arrives at Shinagawa station.

And I'm there to catch it back to Minami-Senju.

Funny thing though, all the other lines that start from a Yamanote stop will wait for the last Yamanote to arrive before it leaves.

It's funny only because I live in San Francisco and MUNI dun do this, ever.

I'm on the Shinkansen heading back to Tokyo. Yea!
And to the New Koyo. No comment.

The train is about two hours into the journey. Suddenly around the bend looking out the left side of the train,

"Fuji-San! Fuji-San desu"!



Fuji is a notoriously shy mountain; it's usually hidden behind cloud cover. But not today. Everyone in my car rushed to the windows, whipped open their phones and started taking pictures.



I felt absolutely ancient taking pictures with my camera...

Needed a long sleeve shirt to fight off the cold. Went to Den Den town to Muji. Great store, BTW.

Wanted to putter and see Gilco Man. Off to Dotenbori.



Got hungry. Ate at Ramen Stand. They had these platforms with tatami and little tables. You sat on the tatami but you were off the ground. Slurp.



Got thirsty. Went to Kirin Beer Restaurant. Drank a sampler. Like I need instructions on how to drink beer...



Went back to Kyoto on the limited train. Sleepy time...

After the Palace, we took a bus to the Nishiki market. It's a big flea market that's held on the grounds of the temple monthly. There was a LOT of cool stuff there that I could never bring back to the US. But if I move over there, I know where I will be getting a lot of furnishings from...

Then we decide to take a bus to Kyoto Station. It took forever to get there but it got us there in an hour. Kyoto Station is a really neat building that has a performance stage, two malls, restaurants, theatres and oh yeah, a big JR station.

On a whim, since we both have JR passes, we decide to go to Osaka. I mean, since we were in a train station, we should take the train, ne?

At least it made sense then...

After waking from my shochu & sento enhanced slumber, the rain stopped and I made it out to the Imperial Palace. I ran into a fellow traveller from the New Koyo in line to enter. We tried to contact each other when we got to Kyoto, but was difficult since we were staying in different places.

Kyoto was the capital until the late 1800s when the seat of government was moved to Tokyo. The palace is still here and it's still used for official functions.







It was impressive. Especially the gardens. Like my backyard could look like this!

Today (Monday) is Japan's Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday.

Everything official was closed but everyone was out to enjoy the scenery that Kyoto is famous for.

I went to a famous soba restaurant that has been around for about 300 years in the same location. Yummy but pricey...





After lunch, I took a stroll in the Eastern part of Kyoto in the big park and toured some temples.









And as soon as I left the temple, the skies opened up. Rain and rain and rain.

When I got back to J-Hoppers, there wasn't a lot to do because it was raining. Myself and two others wound up going to a Sento (public bath), grabbing dinner and ending the evening with shochu and beer at 0300.

That's not good because I have to get up early on Tuesday to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Getting up early....brrrrrr.

I've arrived in Kyoto for the first of two "trips within trip" of this Japan trip. Sanyo shinkansen, 2 hours, 43 minutes exactly.

Even though Kyoto City is just over 1 million people, I don't find it as overwhelming as Tokyo. It feels more comfortable and the people seem more relaxed.

I'm staying at a guesthouse called J-Hoppers. It was founded by a motorcyclist who did one of those "Around the World" motorcycle trips. He was so inspired by the hospitality he received that he decided to open up a guesthouse to return the good graces he received on the road in his home town of Kyoto.

This is the nicest guesthouse I have ever been in.

The facilities are clean and new, the staff isn't surly and there's free food in the fridge!

Even though I'm in a dormitory (for $25/night!), it's still nicer than my last place.



And the bathrooms here are more like someone's home as opposed to a subway's. They even have the heated bidet butt dryer toilet seat on all of the toilets! Wah!

Today marks 7 days until I gotta go back to SF so I decided to do something absolutely silly.

I went to the Gundam Museum where I saw stuff like this:



Well, it's supposed to look like this.



Zakus usually fall to this guy



These people were also there for an event. Nice!

I left the Jazz Bar at just the right time (23:55) because as soon as I got downstairs, there were people running toward the gates.

The last train was about to pull in.

Soooo many drunk people so early, including me! Ha Ha.

On the way to the platform, there were men in green police style uniforms (actually subway personnel) shooing people to their respective platforms so they wouldn't miss their ride home and be stuck taking a taxi (which is a rip-off as opposed to the rest of Asia where it's a relative bargain).

Men in green making sure you don't get ripped off. Nice.

Under the weather

As documented earlier, I'm dealing with the aftermath of food poisoning from KL. I'm convinced it's the roadfood that did me in because I had oysters last night and didn't get worse.

I met up with Yumi-Chan last night and she took me to her hangout bar where we met up with some of her other friends.



We drank a lot.

1 Bottle: Nouveau Beaujoulais
1 Bottle: some unidentified French White wine
1 Bottle: Sake from Kyoto, the 2 liter size.

We ate a lot.




A lot of sashimi and soup.

And then a nightcap in Roppongi. Another glass of a different Nouveau.

Not a bad way to end the short evening...

So I flew the red-eye from Singapore Changi to Tokyo Narita. Arrived this morning to cold and rain and darkness at 1600. We're north now so it gets dark sooner.

It's chilly, like NYC is right now.

And despite the proximity to the city, it takes over an hour to get into town from Narita. I've heard it takes longer by road.

The flight wasn't without glitches tho.

My "space seat" broke (stuck in the bed position) so I was moved. I didn't sleep well and the bloke I was moved next to was not happy he now had a neighbor.

Nothing was SQ's fault, except for the broken space seat. Stewardesses were lovely and hospitable as usual.

In fact, she was the last person I saw before I passed out into fitful slumber on the plane.

Where I dreamt about another...

One of the many joys of Singapore are its Hawker Centres.

Basically big stand alone food courts with many many small stalls of incredible variety. Good safe food because these places are frequently inspected and tourists as well as locals eat here.

Although the most infamous hawker centre is Newton Circus because they stay open late to sate the bar and club crowd, Maxwell's has been around longer and is preferred by most of the people I know here.



Think about it, two beers and three dishes to fill up two people plus lime juice afterwards for about S$14.00. That's about US$8.00. Whattabargain!

So after the KL trip, the four of us, Hugo, Sun, myself & Truc come down with food poisoning...According to what I've been told, it's the classic symptoms.

Can't crap, feeling bloated and kinda flu-ey. The really bad thing is that it attacks your immune system while it's going through your body.

We figure it's either the roadfood in a Malaysian hawker stand/rest stop or the oysters at the Pan Pacific seafood buffet.



In either case, I'm feeling like shite. First I'm too hot. Then I've got the chills. This is annoying.

If this had to happen, it should happen while I'm at work so I can use some of my many sick hours...

The first thing I noticed out here is that the sun stays up until 1900 or so. Thought it was kinda weird until I was told that Singapore is practically on the equator (knew that, that's why the crappy weather) and this affects daylight (which I had to think about for a minute before it made sense).

If there are parts way north that have 6 months of darkness and light, geography plays a role, right?

Soooo I landed in Singapore last night and hightailed it to my friend's place. I wound up being a ringer in a vicious Scrabble game...and cleaning house!

This AM, I woke up (big effort in a 25 degree house) and made it out to Tanjong Pagar, assigned meeting place for those of use driving out to KL and location to a pretty good creperie next door to a Thai deep tissue massage place I went to last visit.

A 4 hour trip to KL via freeway going 180 k/ph. Yes, that fast. And I wasn't even driving!

Any kind of road trip out of Singapore requires your passport. And you can't leave without 3/4 of a tank of gas. It's not the Singapore Gov't being concerned you'll be stuck in Malaysia without gas, it's that you're cheating them out of revenue!

Gas is hella cheeper outside of SG. Kinda like cheep gas in Daly City...

As many of my friends know (otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this), I make regular visits to Asia and try to make the effort to come here at least once a year. There are various reasons why I do this which I will explain if you post a question in the comments section.

My only regret is that this HK visit will be only 10 hours because it's a stopover on the way to Singapore. Despite it's problems (corrupt government, indifferent civil servants, Harbourfest, mainland pollution of all kinds), it's still an exciting, dynamic place to visit. Kick-ass food too!

This is my first time back since last November on the eve of the SARS scare. Even though my flight landed at 0645, the airport seems strangely empty. Maybe because the bulk of the flights land later in the day? Or maybe they feel as I do, that it's just too early...

However, take the A'Ex to Central and see a busy city going to work. These people dun feel that it's too early.

"Money never Sleeps!"

Two weeks ago, I was in LA for my college roommate's wedding. Being the frugal (ha ha) chap I am, I decided to purchase tickets on Southwest, leaving OAK to LAX on Saturday AM and returning Monday AM in time for work. I saw the sunrise both on the drive to OAK and to LAX.

It's kinda depressing to be up THAT early to see the sun come up on your way to the airport...and on the 405 no less!

I saw the sunrise again this AM, this time flying over China on the great circle route to Hong Kong.

Strangely, I didn't feel depressed. Instead, a feeling of liberation and optimism flowed over me, as if to say "good things are possible".

Perhaps it's freedom that I felt because I was traveling and unshackled from the chains that bind me to work and my desk.

In either case, I didn't mind that I watched the sunrise today.