It’s funny.
I’ve been in Japan, one of the most technologically advanced nations on the planet.
It’s clean and safe. Their keitai are the most advanced in the world. The food is great. Transport is safe and reliable. Manners matter.
What you can’t count on is getting online where you are staying. Follow.
I normally stay at ryokans booked through the Welcome Inn group. This is an association of small independent lodgings throughout Japan. The catch is they can’t be over Y10000 a night. There’s a LOT of great places to stay around Y4000 so you’d dun have to worry about breaking the bank.
Anyway, for most of the trip, I’ve been staying at Welcome Inns. Chances are that if I write about sleeping on the floor or if you see a tatami mat with a futon on it, that’s a Welcome Inn lodging I’m in.
However, I stayed at a Hyatt on Saturday and a JR Hotel last night. Guess what? No wireless internet at either place and the Hyatt only had broadband if you brought up a modem kit to the room.
Still, that’s better than the JR Hotel that had none!
Now both hotels allegedly cater to business types. Wonder how they connect their laptops.
Tonight, I’m at a Toyoko Inn in Nagoya. It’s a mid price business hotel. Definitely cheeper and more downmarket than the latter two. Guess what? They have wireless internet in the lobby and free wired access in the rooms. All broadband.
Soooo the lesson is: cheeper places have wi-fi and broadband for free and the more expensive places don’t?
Yup. Go figure.
Tsubame
Kyushu has a brand spanking new shinkansen called the Tsubame which started revenue service earlier this year. It has a lot of Kyushu touches such as wood window shades, wood seatbacks and tray tables and rope curtains. Great looking design.
Also very friendly conductors!
They are building the line in stages to replace the current Tsubame which is a tokkyu line or Limited Express. From Hakata, it�s called the Relay Tsubame, covering 150 km in about 90 minutes. Then you switch to the shinkansen about half way down the island. Then you cover 130 km in about 25 minutes. A testimony to speed, eh?
We are heading to Kagoshima , a city that has its own active volcano and on the map, looks like the southernmost city on the Japanese main islands. It�s a neat town, compact and walkable from our Ryokan which took us all of 10 minutes to get to from JR Kagoshima via tram and foot.
The owner of the establishment is also an unofficial cheerleader and tourist bureau chief all in one. He�s proud of his city and its working class roots and it�s place in modern Japanese history.
Since we got in after dark and many of Kagoshima�s sights are best appreciated in the daylight, we puttered around downtown, taking snaps and hunting down ramen shops. We found a good one and ate. They make the speciality tonkotsu broth ramen with pieces of cha siu that is tender and just falls apart when you pick it up with your hashi.
We got back around 2200 so that we could prepare for an early start touring the volcano, Sakurajima tomorrow AM. Also, since doing the wash here is free (but drying is the usual Y100 for 10 minutes), I�m doing laundry.
Fly ANA
The second leg of my trip has begun. 9 days in Japan followed by a weekend on Beijing.
And to all of you that ask “how can I afford this?”
The answer in two words: Frequent Flyer Ticket.
OK, that was three words. Sue me.
Here’s a good reason to use a Star Alliance award instead of a UA award if you have the choice:
She was our Air Hostess and I had the exit row seat across from her jump seat. 1 year on the job and 3 years out of University. Speaks better english than many of the people I know.
And great service too! Beats the UA battleaxes anyday!
Long Flight Cure
Sooo counting all the transit time, I’ve been up for 24 hours and lost a day. Here’s how that works:
Up at 0500 on 9 November.
Flight to LAX at 0730
Flight to ICN (12 hours!)
Flight to HKG (3 hours)
Basi to Taikoo.
In bed at 0200, 11 November. That’s 26 hours of being awake and catnapping!
The flight was OK. Asiana’s 747s feel like UA’s. But the service was wonderful! The food was good too.
Makes me want to cause mischief in Seoul…
Anyway, I woke up with a nasty headache, probably because of all the airline food.
I discovered the best cure for that. Yum Cha along with a pot of tea (that I drank) and all is well. Yay.
Asiana Impressions
Sooo this is Asiana.
I read that their equipment varies. Their 777s and newer planes are kitted out so that it’s heaven (along with their service) for passengers. Nice seats, seatback movies, etc etc.
Unless you get their 747s. In which case it’s UA quality and amenities (no seatback movies on demand, big screen in the front of your seating section, etc etc).
Naturally, both my flights were on 747s. Despite that, the service was still magnificent (I’ll take some pix on the way back home) and the food was pretty good.
For lunchtime you got the choice of Korean or Western Style. Dinner was Western style or Western style.
But the absolute best thing about Asiana (besides the magnificent service!) was this. It’s a tube of sweet spicy sauce that they provide on request. It’s a more managable alternative than Tabasco. Mmmmmm!
Not impressed with LAX
I�m flying out of LAX today. OZ201 to Seoul with a connection to HKG. I’m looking forward to experiencing the “great Asiana service”. But first, I’m cooling my heels in what passes for a lounge.
The Tom Bradley Int�l Terminal is where all the int�l flights depart. It�s an old building and it shows.
The business class/first class lounges are on the 4th and 5th floor of the terminal building. It looks like a depressing office block with small lounges with none of the usual amenities that one would associate with �Business Class Lounges�.
No showers. No food other than snacks and the Silver Kris lounge is a shared lounge with Varig.
LAX had better embark on an improvement scheme.
And the absolute worst thing? No Wi-Fi here!
Addendum: China Airlines has an open network that just reaches here. So that’s why I can post!
Pic of depressing hallway to come later.
It’s Early
It’s early. It’s waaaay too early. I mean, look at the time on this post!
Woke up at 0430 this AM. To catch an oversold 0745 flight.
Somehow, this just doesn’t seem right.
Cuz it’s TOO EARLY! I mean, it’s still dark out!
More from IAD when I land.
What Causes Hangovers?
That question has been skillfully answered here (I hope).
I’ve known about the sports drink cure (Gatorade, Pocari Sweat) and the water cure (hydrate, hydrate!) for a while. I like the sports drink cure better because it tastes good and when it tastes good, you drink more.
Look at the success of Propel water here in the States for proof of that. Gulp. Gulp.
This is a travel tip because if you hang out in Japan, you will be drinking alcohol (A LOT) and you dun need a hangover to spoil your holiday!
Hangover link from Discombobulated Mia
Wardrobe
Eeeech.
I’ve been tinkering with the website. Added some new links and updated things.
Then I started poking through the archives to make sure they worked still.
Saw my entries from 2002. I think I need to get new travel clothes, because I’m still wearing stuff from 2002.
Aiya!
DC Redux
I’m in DC now. It’s hot and humid. To be fair, a day in May in Singapore is far far worse and I survived that.
So I guess I shouldn’t complain TOO much.
I flew into IAD on Thursday evening around 1800. Got in 15 minutes early. Nice. Then it took me over an hour to get out of the damn airport!
Follow: Once we got off the plane, we got onto these shuttles which looked like rooms on wheels. We then cross two runways (stopping inbetween to let a 747 cross the road) and finally get to Terminal 1.
Then it’s an adventure trying to find the bus terminal that takes me to a Metro stop to continue heading into town.
By the time I was able to find the stand that sold tickets, I had to wait 10 minutes for the next bus.
So it took just about an hour to get out of Dulles. Sheesh.
Have any of these people heard about an express train?