Results matching “Japan”

After touring 2/3 of Japan, I'm going to be in Beijing for a weekend.

It's going to be my third time there, BJ being part of my first Asia Trip in 1999 and again in post SARS 2002.

I've seen much of the touristy/historic attractions but not all of them. Like the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and many bars in the Chaoyang district.

Since BJ got the Olympic Games, they've been building. A lot. In fact, they've been building with such zeal that the IOC has asked them to slow down.

One of my peeves about BJ during past visits was that the Beijing Metro (北京地铁) only had two lines and they didn't expand much beyond Chang'an Lu or the 2nd Ring Road. The Olympics have given the BJ authorities the justification to embark on some long delayed capital projects. Like new subway/rail lines for one.

The traffic in BJ is almost as bad as Seoul's traffic jams. Really baaaad! Hopefully the new trains will alleviate some of it.

Pretty serious post, eh? =)

This year's Japan trip is quite ambitious.

It consists of staying in Tokyo for two nights to shop and play.

Then, its off to Kyoto, Beppu, Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Hiroshima for one night in each place.

Yes, I know it's rather rushed. But I've always believed in ordering the sampler plate whenever I try out a new restaurant. And I like to think of this as being a "sampler tour" of the rest of Japan.

And since the JR Pass lasts for a week, gotta get my money's worth!

Although, the areas north of Tokyo (primarily Hokkaido) I've not seen yet. Save that for another trip. Along with the places I wind up liking from this trip.

Gosh, I'm looking forward to this...

I will most likely be sent to New Hampshire during the last weekend of October. Anyone out there know how the weather will be like out there?

(yes, I know I can go to weather. com and look up historicals, but it's always better to get a first hand account, ya know!).

In other news, Beeg Asia Trip 2004 is ready to go. Tickets have been acquired and reservations have been made.

Gee, there's more to Japan than Tokyo, eh?

I found yet another silly shockwave thingy.

It sounds like one of the announcements that you'd hear on the Yamanote. But try to read along and you'll get a headache.

Ouch.

Gotta brush up on mah nihongo though. Only two months left!

Yes, I'm already planning for the next trip.

Thinking...Kyushu.

Southernmost island of the Japanese "mainland".

They have a new Shinkansen, hot sands, onsen and tonkotsu ramen.

Hmmmmm. Wonder how Hakata is in late November?

I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum today.

It's a museum about the decorative arts. Iron works, jewelry, interior design, furniture, statues, body armor, katanas and the like.

It has exhibits covering Chinese, British, Japanese, South Asian, Indian, Italian, various European and even American items.

But the museum is confusing because not all the staircases reach all the floors so you need to follow your map.

They used to have an exhibit on arms and weapons but that's been taken down in favor of expanding the miniatures exhibit.

Political Correctness? Who knows?

dotdotdot

Before the museum, I had a snack at Oriental Canteen, the closest thing I've had to hawker food. Red chopsticks and red spoons? Basic decor? Sounds like Maxwell's to me!

But, �3.5 for wontonmein? That's not Maxwell's prices!

After escaping the V&A (as they like to call it), I went to Cafe Creperie de Hampstead for a Ham & Cheese crepe snack. It was pretty good.

And you'll have no trouble finding it, it's on the road to the Museum from the Tube and they're next door to each other. (!)

So there's a part of London called Convent Garden. It's a big shopping/touristy part of London.

According to the locals, it's usually choked with tourists (usually American) during the high season. So it's best I'm here now because there's not quite so many.

Besides the two open air markets that sell questionable (taste-wise) souvenirs, there's the London Transport Museum with a shop that sells all kinds of books relating to subways and books. They also sell a lot of logo merchandise.

Imagine people liking MUNI so much that they'd by a T-shirt or a door magnet with the MUNI logo on it. That's how it is here except people actually like the Tube, in an odd way. It's also big with tourists.

Remember, voice of God booming from above, "MIND THE GAP". That's the Tube.

I found a little part of Convent Garden called Neil's Yard. It has a couple of cafes and a haircut place and some offices. Cute. But next to it is Neil's Yard Dairy with all kinds of fancy fresh cheeses you can sample. Thanks Duker. You know I can't bring any of this back, right? But I can eat it on the plane...(evil grin on face).

Found a place for black Kenyan coffee called Monmouth Coffee. It was on Monmouth Street. Imagine that! My first strong coffee since I left Paris. Deeeelish!

Found a MUJI here! I needed T-shirts so I got some. The markup here on some of the merchandise is ridicilous. Guess MUJI is trendy here as opposed to just a store to buy stuff from like it is in Japan. More on this later.

Watched the dismount and inspection of the Royal Horse Guards and got lost inside Harrod's for 2 hours. Big store with a kids' section AND a pet store in it. Sheesh.

And did I mention the 60% tobacco tax on cigars AND the 14% VAT? Sheesh. The lady there said that HK is a good place to purchase Habanos cuz of the current lack of tax. Yay! Ahead of the curve again...

The traffic has really gotten bad in LA. Almost as bad as San Francisco, except on a larger scale. How you ask? Well...

The traffic crawls or just doesn't move on major east/west arteries. Ever try to drive on Geary during the PM commute? It's like the 10 except the 10 is much bigger.

The commute begins earlier in the day for both morning and evening (again, why do they call it "rush" hour?). People trying to leave earlier to beat the rush, along with everyone else.

From 1997-2001, I made regular trips to LA to stay with friends and to hang out. I did a LOT of driving. It wasn't THIS bad back then.

Did all of this congestion increase just in the past three years?

On the other hand, my friend in South Pasadena lives three blocks from a Gold Line stop. Very convenient if you destination is also near a Metro station.

Mission Station, South Pasadena on the Gold line

I wanted to take a blurry late night pic like I did with the Yamanote when I was in Japan, but they don't go that fast when they pull in.

Gold Line light rail

They go walking speed. The cars were nice and shiny and clean though.

On my last trip here (November 2003), I stayed at the New Koyo in Taito-Ku. It's a bit out of the way, then nearest JR station being Minami-Senju. That's several stops outside the Yamanote but you can't beat the price.

This trip, I decided to stay somewhere different, albeit a tad pricer. The Annex Katsutaro is in Yanaka, a little bit closer than the New Koyo is. The nearest subway stop is Sendagi on the Chiyoda Line. It's a one block walk (as opposed to the 6 block death march from Minami-Senju to the New Koyo). If you're on JR or jumping off the Skyliner, you get off the train at Nippori Station and walk for about 10 minutes.

There's a big pedestrianized street after you walk past the Yanaka Cemetary with all kinds of markets and shops. That's called the Yanaka Ginza.

Walk to the end and make a left. Walk another block and you'll see the Annex.

It's new and it's modern and it has three times the space that a room at the New Koyo has. And it has free internet via CAT 5 jacks in the walls. Wah!









The room was roomy, clean an it had a microfridge. And its own bathroom. Next time me and the fellas come to Japan, we stay here. No more friggin' business hotels for me!

Best of all, if you dun bring yr Powerbook w/you, there's FREE internet in the hall, a pee cee and a slot loading iMac. An iMac! Cool!

Thumbs up, and this is why I stayed here as opposed to the New Koyo this time, April. =P

Besides visiting questionable icons of bubble-era architecture (see below), today was an eating day.

I had lunch with Yumi which was good. She's off skiing tomorrow. Fun!
Lunchtime is the same over there as it is over here. Short. Only an hour. Bummer.

I had a late supper with Takeshi, a friend I met when he was in San Francisco for a few months rooming with Cesar after graduating college. He works too hard. But he did have the time to hang out after work. We watched the football game between Japan and Oman (Japan won 1-0 with a last minute goal) at the Jazz Cafe London and had some drinks and smokes.



Then dinner with race queens! Well, the food was pretty good actually, but the service was fanstastically beautiful! Couldn't take pix inside tho, so you'll just have to be happy with the link.