Hong Kong
Flying into Hong Kong is a privilege with the views of the ocean, ships, and small islands. The temperature was around 72 degrees and the skies were sunny. Needless to say, a dramatic improvement from the 50’s and haziness of Shanghai. We hopped on the train to the Hong Kong station and then took a cab to Wang’s auntie Grace’s apartment in the Causeway Bay area of downtown. This is a beautiful area packed with amazing shops and tons of people lining the streets when we got there Sunday evening around 5ish. Auntie Grace met us downstairs on street and showed us up to her 14th floor apartment. My introduction to auntie grace was an interesting one. Please note the formality of her title, Auntie Grace. The first thing she actually said directly to me was “you will call me Auntie Grace”. I had been warned of her love for certain formalities and seniority so I was very happy to honor her request. She was a very blunt woman but she was an exceptional host as long as you were very aware of her rules. The layout of her place had a guest room with a bathroom in the back and that is where we put our things and planned to stay for the nest two nights. Auntie Grace quickly shuffled us out of her apartment and to Peking Garden. We took the metro to the restaurant but not before Auntie Grace gave us both metro cards and filled them up with enough money to get around the entire time we were in Hong Kong. This was an extremely hospitable gesture and way over the top, but as we learned… Auntie Grace was an exceptional host. She was also very adamant about the fact that the food in Hong Kong is better than anywhere in Asia and her first example was Peking Duck. She ordered us a dinner that could have fed 5 people and to her point the duck was actually better in Hong Kong than Beijing but the wrappers were better in Beijing.
After dinner we walked through the park and in Auntie Grace style, she shuffled us to the next thing on the agenda which was The Peak Tram. Before we had a chance to realize where we had followed her, we were standing in line waiting for the next tram. We quickly thanked her and would see her in the morning.
The Peak Tram took us up the Mountain, sometimes at a 45 degree angle, to the mall and observation deck that overlooked the entire city. The city of Hong Kong is beautiful during the day and even better when lit up at night. We spent about an hour taking pictures and just gazing over the city. The weather was amazing and the wind on our faces was just like being on a speedboat. We took the Peak Tram back down and waited in line for a bus. The double-decker bus took us though the city to the ferry docks on the very short waterway separating Hong Kong Island with Kowloon. Once to Kowloon we walked down the “Avenue of Stars” which provided a great view of the city at night across the water and who could forget the always impressive handprint of Jackie Chan.
The next day we work up to Auntie Grace literally banging on the door saying “wake up”. We had told her we usually woke up between 8 and 9 and we had slept till 10. Heaven forbid. So we woke up and the maid had set out various types of fresh fruit for us to eat before lunch. We quickly took showers and it was off to the races again with Auntie Grace. We had to take a bus to the other side of the island where we hopped on a water taxi. I think Auntie Grace had the cell phone number of her preferred water taxi driver because we sent away several before settling on a woman that Auntie Grace was obviously friends with. The driver was instructed by Auntie Grace to take us on a tour of the harbor before doping us off to lunch at the “Jumbo Floating Restaurant” which was to serve us our Dim Sum style lunch. The tour around the harbor had everything from multi-million dollar yachts to the old houseboats that many of the poor in Hong Kong used to live in. it was quite a contrasting sight. After the tour was lunch and Dim sum is generally a wide range of Chinese dishes served alongside tea. The Jumbo Floating Restaurant was delicious and the service was as Aunty Grace expected… Perfect! After lunch we headed to the expo center and walked practically all the way across the city. Hong Kong isn’t really that large so walking across a major part of it only took a few hours. After our walk we headed back to the docks to have a ferry take us back over the river. We spent a couple more hours in Kowloon and then it was time for dinner.
Our plan was dinner around 8:30 with a high school friend of Wang’s in SOHO. Her name was Kalina and she worked in Hong Kong for Morgan Stanley. We met at a restaurant and had a great time and ended up at a bar a few blocks over. We had a beer at one bar that overlook and awesome road packed with small bars and people and the set out to find the very difficult liquor to find in Asia… Crowne Royal. We actually found a bar with it, had our last drink and headed home.
Our last day was started with another table of fresh fruit and this time with the addition of coffee brewed in something that looked like a mad chemistry experiment with a burner included. Breakfast was delicious and after we showered up and packed out bags for our flight later. The maid was busy working on boiled dumplings which were to be for lunch. Once cleaned up and packed we sat down for lunch but ate quickly as to make it in time for the last attraction that Auntie Grace had on our agenda. It was the Hong Kong Noonday Gun which is fired off every day at noon in some symbolic military event.
The trip to Hong Kong was short but long enough to make it to the top of my list of cities we have been to thus far. It had great weather, amazing buildings, beautiful waterways, and the hustle and bustle of a large city that I love so much. It was also formally a British colony so there was a ton of English and having less of a language barrier is always a pleasurable experience for foreign travelers. Next is Bangkok!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Shanghai
Wang and I arrived at the older shanghai airport because our flight was domestic from Beijing. This was great because it was only a short taxi ride to the place we were staying. Wang’s aunt has a cousin that lives in Shanghai and had a place for us to stay. Her name is Lucy and she manages a large office building complex and part of the complex has some guest rooms. We got our things moved in, took a shower and headed for a walk into town. The weather was extremely hazy so we hoped for some more favorable skies in the next two days. We walked around for a couple hours, getting some coffee and picking up a camera bag to replace the one Wang had left in Beijing. We got back around 6:30 so we could meet Lucy for dinner. We hopped in Lucy’s car (a BMW X5 4.8 V10… Awesome!) and she took us on a quick driving tour of the city on our way to dinner. Dinner was in an area called Tai Kang Lu, part of the Luwan District. It is an amazing development which started with a renovated factory and grew into a very artistic, eclectic area full of small restaurants with no more than 10 tables at each, art shops, wine bars, etc. It was extremely cool and a we walked around looking at all of the shops for about 30 minutes. We ended up choosing a restaurant called Miss Ginger which served very good drinks and a menu with “panoramic cuisine with a Japanese attitude”. It was absolutely delicious! On the way home I started to feel very sick. I was light headed and had a sore stomach. We had originally planned to go out for drinks after in the French Concession but instead I ask that we be dropped off at our place so I could hopefully feel better before we went out. That time never came and I walked to the corner convenience store to get a bottle of water and went to bed. Wang and I both forgot to ask specifically for bottled water and I think that’s how I got sick.
The next day we woke up and I was feeling a little better. We headed out to Peoples Square so we could go to the Shanghai Museum. I was feeling extremely tired so we went on a search for coffee. We settled for a Starbucks a couple of blocks over from the square and we ordered our drinks. While waiting I noticed another guy ordering who had a Nielsen badge. I thought that was kinda cool. We got our coffee and headed to the museum. In the museum, which had free admission, we viewed Buddhist sculptures, Chinese paintings, furniture, jade carvings, etc. After, we headed to the MoCa which is the Shanghai Modern art museum which pales in comparison to the MoMa but still had a few interesting pieces. We then headed to Nanjing Dong Lu which is the most famous street in Shanghai filled with shops, food, and don’t forget the ever pesky knock-off vendors. We stopped and grabbed a quick bite at a little stand in peoples square and we both got what I would describe as an Asian pizza which was just round dough with pork meat top. It was very good.
We walked up Nanjing Dong Lu which connected Peoples Square to the Bund. Nanjing Dong Lu was full of stores and was great for people watching. The Bund is the old financial district with old buildings lining the Huangpu River. This is also very touristy but had amazing views of the old and newer parts of the city separated by the river. Walking up and down the Bund we were kind of disappointed in the weather because it was again a very hazy day. After the Bund we walked back to the metro and headed to Xintiandi and went to dinner at Ding Tai Fung.
Xintiandi is a very upscale, trendy area and was also where Ding Tai Fung was, which Wang had wanted to go to since we got to Asia. Ding Tai Fung serves great food but we decided to fill up on their famous Xiao Long Bao which are a mix between a dumpling and a steamed bun. After dinner we had planned to head back and get ready for our Friday night in Shanghai. Lucy had texted Wang to see if we wanted to go to a party with her. It was a “Ferrari” party at a gay bar downtown. We thought it would at least be entertaining so we decided to meet her there around 10:15. We had been misinformed of the cross street so we were about 30 minutes late. The bar was underground and called Shanghai Studio. The music was good the crowd was fun. Lucy’s old friend Amy was hosting the little get together and we all ended up having a hilarious time.
Day 3 started in Old Town which was full of little shops with chopsticks, tea sets, and other traditional Chinese things that make for good souvenirs. We walked around old town and found some lunch in an alley full of little food stands. In Asia I have gotten very used to food stands and walking and eating at the same time. After we finished our lunch we headed to the Yu Yuan Garden which is an old, traditional Chinese Zen garden. It was beautiful and completely enclosed by large walls isolating it from the hustle and bustle of the city around it. We spent a little over an hour walking through different areas of the garden that are supposed to evoke different kinds of feelings like calmness, joyousness, or carelessness, etc. After the garden we walked around old town a little longer and caught a cab to Pudong.
Pudong is a very new area in Shanghai that was developed in the past fifteen years and is occupied by many large buildings on of which is the second tallest in the world. We first went to Jin Mao which has a bar on the 87th floor called Cloud 9. We got a coffee which was about 10 US dollars but the ticket to get to the observation level which is just as high as the bar costs more than 10 dollars so we figured it was a free cup of coffee. Then Wang got an email from Lucy saying if we wanted to, she was in the Shanghai World Financial Center at Century 100 having some tea and if we wanted to join we were more than welcome too. Since SWFC is the second tallest building in the world we jumped at the opportunity. Century 100 was on the 91st floor and we had some more coffee and tea. It was getting very close to dinner time and we left and walked near the Oriental Pearl TV Tower which is also in Pudong and is a very cool building from the outside.
After our visit to Pudong we caught a cab back to Nanjing Dong Lu so we could check out the street at night with all of the lights. It was an impressive scene and well worth the detour to dinner. We decided to head to the French Concession, another area in Shanghai, for dinner. We settled on Simple Thai for dinner and it was great. It was a Saturday night but we both decided to head back to our room and get some sleep for our early morning to Hong Kong.
The next day we woke up and I was feeling a little better. We headed out to Peoples Square so we could go to the Shanghai Museum. I was feeling extremely tired so we went on a search for coffee. We settled for a Starbucks a couple of blocks over from the square and we ordered our drinks. While waiting I noticed another guy ordering who had a Nielsen badge. I thought that was kinda cool. We got our coffee and headed to the museum. In the museum, which had free admission, we viewed Buddhist sculptures, Chinese paintings, furniture, jade carvings, etc. After, we headed to the MoCa which is the Shanghai Modern art museum which pales in comparison to the MoMa but still had a few interesting pieces. We then headed to Nanjing Dong Lu which is the most famous street in Shanghai filled with shops, food, and don’t forget the ever pesky knock-off vendors. We stopped and grabbed a quick bite at a little stand in peoples square and we both got what I would describe as an Asian pizza which was just round dough with pork meat top. It was very good.
We walked up Nanjing Dong Lu which connected Peoples Square to the Bund. Nanjing Dong Lu was full of stores and was great for people watching. The Bund is the old financial district with old buildings lining the Huangpu River. This is also very touristy but had amazing views of the old and newer parts of the city separated by the river. Walking up and down the Bund we were kind of disappointed in the weather because it was again a very hazy day. After the Bund we walked back to the metro and headed to Xintiandi and went to dinner at Ding Tai Fung.
Xintiandi is a very upscale, trendy area and was also where Ding Tai Fung was, which Wang had wanted to go to since we got to Asia. Ding Tai Fung serves great food but we decided to fill up on their famous Xiao Long Bao which are a mix between a dumpling and a steamed bun. After dinner we had planned to head back and get ready for our Friday night in Shanghai. Lucy had texted Wang to see if we wanted to go to a party with her. It was a “Ferrari” party at a gay bar downtown. We thought it would at least be entertaining so we decided to meet her there around 10:15. We had been misinformed of the cross street so we were about 30 minutes late. The bar was underground and called Shanghai Studio. The music was good the crowd was fun. Lucy’s old friend Amy was hosting the little get together and we all ended up having a hilarious time.
Day 3 started in Old Town which was full of little shops with chopsticks, tea sets, and other traditional Chinese things that make for good souvenirs. We walked around old town and found some lunch in an alley full of little food stands. In Asia I have gotten very used to food stands and walking and eating at the same time. After we finished our lunch we headed to the Yu Yuan Garden which is an old, traditional Chinese Zen garden. It was beautiful and completely enclosed by large walls isolating it from the hustle and bustle of the city around it. We spent a little over an hour walking through different areas of the garden that are supposed to evoke different kinds of feelings like calmness, joyousness, or carelessness, etc. After the garden we walked around old town a little longer and caught a cab to Pudong.
Pudong is a very new area in Shanghai that was developed in the past fifteen years and is occupied by many large buildings on of which is the second tallest in the world. We first went to Jin Mao which has a bar on the 87th floor called Cloud 9. We got a coffee which was about 10 US dollars but the ticket to get to the observation level which is just as high as the bar costs more than 10 dollars so we figured it was a free cup of coffee. Then Wang got an email from Lucy saying if we wanted to, she was in the Shanghai World Financial Center at Century 100 having some tea and if we wanted to join we were more than welcome too. Since SWFC is the second tallest building in the world we jumped at the opportunity. Century 100 was on the 91st floor and we had some more coffee and tea. It was getting very close to dinner time and we left and walked near the Oriental Pearl TV Tower which is also in Pudong and is a very cool building from the outside.
After our visit to Pudong we caught a cab back to Nanjing Dong Lu so we could check out the street at night with all of the lights. It was an impressive scene and well worth the detour to dinner. We decided to head to the French Concession, another area in Shanghai, for dinner. We settled on Simple Thai for dinner and it was great. It was a Saturday night but we both decided to head back to our room and get some sleep for our early morning to Hong Kong.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Beijing
The Beijing airport is UNREAL! They must have completely redone the place for the Olympics. Not only is it massive but it is also clean and architecturally interesting. When we got our bags we had to figure out how to get to the hostel. We had two options… one was to take busses from the airport using the instructions we had from the hostel’s website or two, take a cab. We decided to do the latter because China is so cheap and we thought it would be more convenient. Well we quickly realized that the address we had for the hostel was in English and we didn’t know how to convey the location in Chinese to the driver. We knew what district it was in so we asked that he head that direction. This was less than a great situation because not only are Chinese cab drivers known for scamming, and we are both obviously “rich” Americans, but that we also didn’t know exactly where the hell we were going. All I have to say is thank god for blackberrys and googlemaps because without these two amazing resources for use throughout the trip, well who knows where we would end up.
We made it to our hostel which I would describe as a hotel with terrible beds making it a bad hotel but also making it an amazing hostel. To make things even better, our hostel was located in a great area with tons of stores, restaurants, cafes, and parks to walk around and the staff was wonderful. Once we checked in and got cleaned up it was about 4 o’clock so we headed out and checked out the area. We walked to an awesome lake that was frozen over and packed with people ice skating and ice biking? We walked past tons of stores and restaurants noticing that there wasn’t a single chain in sight. Everything in Beijing is mom and pop with the exception of a few McDonalds, KFC’s and a Starbucks here and there. Either way, far less than Japan or Taiwan. We grabbed dinner at a place up the street that served Sichuan food which is a province in western China known for using chilies, peppers, and garlic. After, we grabbed a beer at a pool bar and I had a Chinese beer called Tsingtao. It frankly tasted like Keystone (piss water) but the price was right!
We woke up the next morning and had a free breakfast at the café next door compliments of the hostel. Have I mentioned I love this hostel? It was then off to the Birds Nest or for those who don’t know the sight of the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics. The place is HUGE with music playing everywhere. It was a very cool experience. We took some pictures and asked someone to take a picture of Wang and I together. He was happy to do so but after he took out picture he told Wang that his young son wanted to take a picture with me. It was hilarious too because they didn’t really know how to ask if it was alright with my but I quickly understood their intentions and I took a picture with this little Asian kid.
After we took in the sights at the Birds Nest we headed south to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is huge and surrounded by some very cool buildings including the Chinese National museum, the Great Hall of the People, and the largest monument in China called the Monument of the People’s Heroes.
We were a little hungry after Tiananmen Square so we found a place to eat the served dumplings. We ordered 30 dumplings, fifteen a piece. We each had a drink and ate all of the dumplings and our total bill was 7 US dollars. You have to love the food prices in China.
To call the Forbidden City massive would be a gross understatement. It was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty. It was built in the very early 1400’s and has over 900 buildings with over 8,500 rooms. This place was huge and I really enjoyed walking through but by the end I was ready to go.
On the way back to the Hostel we walked up a near street with tons of shopping, again no chains. In China haggling is a must so in every store someone is there to sell you something and negotiate a “special price” for you. This was very irritating for me who just likes to shop and know the price of an item and whether not it’s worth it to me. This way if you actually want something you need to spend the next 3 minutes debating about how you only want to spend X and they can offer Y and so on a so forth. It just gives me a damn headache. We then caught the train back to the hostel.
I had gotten used to the polite and proper style of the Japanese as compared to the Taiwanese but now in China was like Taiwan again. The people have a complete lack of respect for personal space. It is very interesting to be bumped around all the time and cut in front of in lines when you don’t expect it.
We were heading back to the Hostel so we could be there in time for the Kung fu show we had purchased tickets for. The show was great with stunts, acrobatics and breaking of objects over bodies. After the show we got to bed early so we could get even more in the next day.
Day two came and went very quickly with three things on the agenda; the Beijing Zoo/Aquarium, the Great Wall, and Peking duck dinner, a Beijing specialty! We again grabbed some free breakfast and headed to the zoo via train. We actually had to take a public bus from the train station to the zoo and that was a very interesting experience. There is no English on local bus and apparently not a square inch of free floor space either. We got on the bus and packed in like sardines. It was a little uncomfortable but it was only a very short ride. We got to the zoo and saw the pandas, lions, tigers, elephants, and the aquarium display. The zoo was great and the aquarium was even better. We grabbed a delicious, quick lunch at the zoo and took a cab to the bus stop for the Great Wall buses.
We knew which bus number to take but the whole bus stop was so unorganized and not American friendly with little to no English. Wang did his best to communicate but it was a difficult trying to determine who was actually working there and who was just trying to hassle us for money. We got on the cramped bus and headed 2 hours down the road to the Wall. The bus ride there was less than two US dollars which is not bad for a 2 hour bus ride. The Great Wall is exactly as I expected… long and impressive. We spent a couple of hours hiking up and down the wall taking tons of pictures along the way. There were even two little Asian boys who saw me and said hello in English all excited and so I smiled and greeted them back. His mom then told Wang that they would like to take a picture with me. I of course did and appreciated how they help solidified my theory that young Asian children see me as a zoo animal over here. We grabbed a bus back to Beijing and took a taxi back to the Hostel.
Peking Duck was made famous in Beijing so we decided that we would have to try some out for dinner. We received a recommendation from Apple(the very nice girl at the front desk) at the hostel for the most popular roasted duck place in Beijing. The likes of Fidel Castro and George Bush have had Beijing’s famous roasted duck at this place so we figured why not? The food was UNREAL and being that it’s China, the bill was comparable to an expensive lunch in the states. We were tired after dinner so we headed back to pack our bags for the morning to leave for Shanghai.
We made it to our hostel which I would describe as a hotel with terrible beds making it a bad hotel but also making it an amazing hostel. To make things even better, our hostel was located in a great area with tons of stores, restaurants, cafes, and parks to walk around and the staff was wonderful. Once we checked in and got cleaned up it was about 4 o’clock so we headed out and checked out the area. We walked to an awesome lake that was frozen over and packed with people ice skating and ice biking? We walked past tons of stores and restaurants noticing that there wasn’t a single chain in sight. Everything in Beijing is mom and pop with the exception of a few McDonalds, KFC’s and a Starbucks here and there. Either way, far less than Japan or Taiwan. We grabbed dinner at a place up the street that served Sichuan food which is a province in western China known for using chilies, peppers, and garlic. After, we grabbed a beer at a pool bar and I had a Chinese beer called Tsingtao. It frankly tasted like Keystone (piss water) but the price was right!
We woke up the next morning and had a free breakfast at the café next door compliments of the hostel. Have I mentioned I love this hostel? It was then off to the Birds Nest or for those who don’t know the sight of the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics. The place is HUGE with music playing everywhere. It was a very cool experience. We took some pictures and asked someone to take a picture of Wang and I together. He was happy to do so but after he took out picture he told Wang that his young son wanted to take a picture with me. It was hilarious too because they didn’t really know how to ask if it was alright with my but I quickly understood their intentions and I took a picture with this little Asian kid.
After we took in the sights at the Birds Nest we headed south to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is huge and surrounded by some very cool buildings including the Chinese National museum, the Great Hall of the People, and the largest monument in China called the Monument of the People’s Heroes.
We were a little hungry after Tiananmen Square so we found a place to eat the served dumplings. We ordered 30 dumplings, fifteen a piece. We each had a drink and ate all of the dumplings and our total bill was 7 US dollars. You have to love the food prices in China.
To call the Forbidden City massive would be a gross understatement. It was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty. It was built in the very early 1400’s and has over 900 buildings with over 8,500 rooms. This place was huge and I really enjoyed walking through but by the end I was ready to go.
On the way back to the Hostel we walked up a near street with tons of shopping, again no chains. In China haggling is a must so in every store someone is there to sell you something and negotiate a “special price” for you. This was very irritating for me who just likes to shop and know the price of an item and whether not it’s worth it to me. This way if you actually want something you need to spend the next 3 minutes debating about how you only want to spend X and they can offer Y and so on a so forth. It just gives me a damn headache. We then caught the train back to the hostel.
I had gotten used to the polite and proper style of the Japanese as compared to the Taiwanese but now in China was like Taiwan again. The people have a complete lack of respect for personal space. It is very interesting to be bumped around all the time and cut in front of in lines when you don’t expect it.
We were heading back to the Hostel so we could be there in time for the Kung fu show we had purchased tickets for. The show was great with stunts, acrobatics and breaking of objects over bodies. After the show we got to bed early so we could get even more in the next day.
Day two came and went very quickly with three things on the agenda; the Beijing Zoo/Aquarium, the Great Wall, and Peking duck dinner, a Beijing specialty! We again grabbed some free breakfast and headed to the zoo via train. We actually had to take a public bus from the train station to the zoo and that was a very interesting experience. There is no English on local bus and apparently not a square inch of free floor space either. We got on the bus and packed in like sardines. It was a little uncomfortable but it was only a very short ride. We got to the zoo and saw the pandas, lions, tigers, elephants, and the aquarium display. The zoo was great and the aquarium was even better. We grabbed a delicious, quick lunch at the zoo and took a cab to the bus stop for the Great Wall buses.
We knew which bus number to take but the whole bus stop was so unorganized and not American friendly with little to no English. Wang did his best to communicate but it was a difficult trying to determine who was actually working there and who was just trying to hassle us for money. We got on the cramped bus and headed 2 hours down the road to the Wall. The bus ride there was less than two US dollars which is not bad for a 2 hour bus ride. The Great Wall is exactly as I expected… long and impressive. We spent a couple of hours hiking up and down the wall taking tons of pictures along the way. There were even two little Asian boys who saw me and said hello in English all excited and so I smiled and greeted them back. His mom then told Wang that they would like to take a picture with me. I of course did and appreciated how they help solidified my theory that young Asian children see me as a zoo animal over here. We grabbed a bus back to Beijing and took a taxi back to the Hostel.
Peking Duck was made famous in Beijing so we decided that we would have to try some out for dinner. We received a recommendation from Apple(the very nice girl at the front desk) at the hostel for the most popular roasted duck place in Beijing. The likes of Fidel Castro and George Bush have had Beijing’s famous roasted duck at this place so we figured why not? The food was UNREAL and being that it’s China, the bill was comparable to an expensive lunch in the states. We were tired after dinner so we headed back to pack our bags for the morning to leave for Shanghai.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Tokyo
Wang and I arrived in Tokyo at around 3 and the flight was only about 3 hours but the train ride from Narita airport to the area our hostel was over an hour long. We never knew a third of our traveling to Tokyo would be in a train in the city. Once in the city we checked into our 4 person room at the hostel which resembled a clean Frat room and headed out for the night. Shibuya which is a very popular part of town for restaurants and such so we decided to get dinner there. The original draw was that the area put Times Square to shame at night with lights and excitement and it didn’t fail. The area was PACKED with people and the buildings were lit up like giant advertising light bulbs. Four lane, 4 way intersections were swarming with people at the sign of each green walk light. We grabbed dinner at a sushi bar that had a conveyor belt with sushi running around the seats at the sushi bar. It was pretty good but by no means the best sushi I have ever had. After dinner we wandered around Shibuya for far too long until we settled on a bar called Lad’s bar. It was extremely small with probably about 25 seats but all of them were filled. We sat down and had a pint of Japanese light draft. Another great thing about this particular beer was that it was only 280 Yen or about 3 bucks which would be like a tourist finding a 3 dollar beer in Manhattan. When we sat down and this Asian guy couldn’t stop making eye contact with me and it just so happened that the two seats next him opened up at the bar. The seats were way better so we sat down. This guy and his buddy immediately asked where we were from (in English). It turns out there were from Malaysia, 20 years old, and studying language at a local university in Tokyo. They both spoke 6 languages (Chinese, Cantonese, English, Japanese, Malaysian, and Taiwanese) and smoked like chimneys. It was quite impressive. We hung out with them for a few more beers, talked about places they liked in Tokyo and then headed home. We got back to our hostel and met our two roommates. They were two girls from Australia who were traveling for several months like us during their summer break. Very nice girls but really not that interesting.
The next day we woke up a little later than planned and headed to the Tsukiji fish market. This is the largest fish market in the world and each day brings in over 2250 tons of fish valued at about 1.5 billion US dollars. It was a pretty unreal sight with trucks, motorized carts, and men running around everywhere trying to ship off that mornings catch to the rest of the world. One of the very popular things to do at the fish market is to eat a sushi breakfast so that’s exactly what we did. The place we chose was a hole in the wall place that had pictures and a little bit of English on the menu. When I say a little I mean “salmon” and “tuna”. We liked both so we figured why not? Our meals were similar and started with miso soup and about 8 cuts of sashimi over a bed of sushi rice in a bowl. It may have been the best salmon I have ever had and the whole meal was only about 8 US dollars. A little better than the 16-20 it would cost in the states. After the fish market, the next place on the agenda was the Imperial Palace. It was not as interesting as we had hoped because the actual palace is only open to the public two days out of the year. We didn’t find that out until we got there… awesome!
To get around the city we used the train system which proved to be complicated for two well educated men. The train system in Tokyo is the most elaborate system in the world with way over 15 different lines that are operated by three different companies. This meant that you need to be aware of which types of trains you were taking to get where and what kind of ticket that travel required. To give you an idea… we took 3 different lines to Shibuya and returning we couldn’t take the same three lines even though the fare we paid was the same. This was due to the fact the even though our fair costs were the same and a logical person would think that going back the way you came was an acceptable approach, we in fact had to route through 2 different stations than on the way out there to get home. It was a headache every time we needed to use them which was about 4-5 times a day.
After the Imperial Palace we headed to Roppongi which is an area of town with very cool architecture and tons of shopping, none of which we could afford. We settled for a café where we had a fix of caffeine to help us through the afternoon. We happened to meet a couple from Toronto who also gave us a few ideas on where to go in the city. From Roppongi we were able to take in great views of the Tokyo tower as well.
Wang and I decided to grab dinner in Shinjuku which is supposedly the center of young, trendy culture in Tokyo. From the minute we exited the station the streets were packed with young people looking for places to eat and drink. For the most part everyone was dressed to impress! We grabbed dinner at an Udon noodle place called Noodles & Live, where we waited in a line for about 40 minutes before we were seated. The food was very much worth the wait and at the 12 US dollar price tag, you couldn’t beat it on a Saturday night in the city. After dinner we wandered around Shinjuku impressed by all of the restaurants, bars, clubs and even their red light district where we were literally accosted by people at every turn to enter their “shop”. We again went looking for a chill bar because it had been a very long day. We went to the Hub which is an English bar where we found quite a few English speaking patrons and sat down for a beer. After a couple drinks we headed back to the hostel and anticipated the great weather the next day, a huge contrast to the weather of today that was windy, rainy and grey.
The sun was shining and it was off to the Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa which was the area where we were staying. This temple was built in the 7th century and also has the second highest pagoda in the city. It was a beautiful temple with plenty of worshippers and great souvenir shopping to boot. Akihabara is the technology center of Tokyo and was next on our list of places to see. There was shop after shop of electronics with multiple vendors yelling from each one. Five story Sega buildings and street side gaming was everywhere. It was a dorks heaven… Paul you interested?? Needless to say Wang and I only needed a walkthrough to get our tronics fix for the trip. We then grabbed lunch at a place near the electronics district and had some Sobu noodles at Kanda Yaba Sobu.
Next was my favorite part of the Tokyo trip… Harajuku. Harajuku is the area known for the Harajuku girls that Gwen Stefani made so famous. They are all dressed in crazy clothing, congregated in large numbers on a particular bridge on Sundays. People are everywhere taking pictures of the street performers whose only talent was dressing very oddly. They did however take odd fashion to an interesting new level. The rest of the area was very hipster for a few blocks with shops and such with stores selling exclusively socks or others called ‘Condomania’. Once through the hipster part of the district the streets opened up to very high end shopping and modern architecture. The streets housed stores like Harry Winston, a five story Tods, a 4 story LV with a separate men’s and women’s entrance, YSL, Dunhil, and many other stores of equal or greater status. One thing is for sure… the Japanese LOVE to shop and it is very apparent throughout the city.
A note on fashion in Japan: It felt like everywhere we went, people throughout Tokyo looked like they were all wearing new clothes. Everyone was dressed well. Most Japanese women were put together like a very well dressed American woman but the men took it to a new level. They wore jeans as tight as the women’s (sometimes tighter), extremely long pointy shoes and about half of the time carried a man purse. This wasn’t just a district or two, this style carried throughout the city and only got more extravagant as you went to the more trendy districts.
We then ended up in Ikebukuro where we when to Sunshine City which housed a place that had 23 different steamed dumpling vendors. We grabbed some dinner and decided it had been a very long day and headed back to the Hostel. Once back I walked into the main room and found about 8 hammered Australians none of which I had any interest in meeting. About 30 minutes later a few Americans walked in and we ended up chatting with them. They were all from SF but had ended up moving to NY and Shanghai. The guy who lived in Shanghai, a Harvard graduate, offered to show us a good place to have dinner once we arrived in Shanghai. We ended the night early as the travel time back to the airport was long and our flight was at 10:40 am.
Tokyo was an amazing city with a very proud attitude. Most people understood English but unlike Taiwan and China, everyone always started to talk to me in Japanese and until I told them that I didn’t speak Japanese would they try English. They don’t particularly care for imperfection so I think speaking English embarrassed them slightly. Even with this barrier, everyone was extremely nice and helpful. Also in contrast to Taiwan and China, the Japanese respect ones personal space. There is no bumping into one another with no remorse or packed markets with people pushing one another. I also found their disdain for germs very interesting. I was in a train and could see about 20 people in my immediate view… 7 of them were wearing masks like the ones worn in a doctors office. This is to protect them from germs and illness but I can help but think about how it could affect the entire country and a possible lack of immunity to certain illnesses. Overall, Japan is an extremely respectable, clean country with a great culture. I would go back anytime!
The next day we woke up a little later than planned and headed to the Tsukiji fish market. This is the largest fish market in the world and each day brings in over 2250 tons of fish valued at about 1.5 billion US dollars. It was a pretty unreal sight with trucks, motorized carts, and men running around everywhere trying to ship off that mornings catch to the rest of the world. One of the very popular things to do at the fish market is to eat a sushi breakfast so that’s exactly what we did. The place we chose was a hole in the wall place that had pictures and a little bit of English on the menu. When I say a little I mean “salmon” and “tuna”. We liked both so we figured why not? Our meals were similar and started with miso soup and about 8 cuts of sashimi over a bed of sushi rice in a bowl. It may have been the best salmon I have ever had and the whole meal was only about 8 US dollars. A little better than the 16-20 it would cost in the states. After the fish market, the next place on the agenda was the Imperial Palace. It was not as interesting as we had hoped because the actual palace is only open to the public two days out of the year. We didn’t find that out until we got there… awesome!
To get around the city we used the train system which proved to be complicated for two well educated men. The train system in Tokyo is the most elaborate system in the world with way over 15 different lines that are operated by three different companies. This meant that you need to be aware of which types of trains you were taking to get where and what kind of ticket that travel required. To give you an idea… we took 3 different lines to Shibuya and returning we couldn’t take the same three lines even though the fare we paid was the same. This was due to the fact the even though our fair costs were the same and a logical person would think that going back the way you came was an acceptable approach, we in fact had to route through 2 different stations than on the way out there to get home. It was a headache every time we needed to use them which was about 4-5 times a day.
After the Imperial Palace we headed to Roppongi which is an area of town with very cool architecture and tons of shopping, none of which we could afford. We settled for a café where we had a fix of caffeine to help us through the afternoon. We happened to meet a couple from Toronto who also gave us a few ideas on where to go in the city. From Roppongi we were able to take in great views of the Tokyo tower as well.
Wang and I decided to grab dinner in Shinjuku which is supposedly the center of young, trendy culture in Tokyo. From the minute we exited the station the streets were packed with young people looking for places to eat and drink. For the most part everyone was dressed to impress! We grabbed dinner at an Udon noodle place called Noodles & Live, where we waited in a line for about 40 minutes before we were seated. The food was very much worth the wait and at the 12 US dollar price tag, you couldn’t beat it on a Saturday night in the city. After dinner we wandered around Shinjuku impressed by all of the restaurants, bars, clubs and even their red light district where we were literally accosted by people at every turn to enter their “shop”. We again went looking for a chill bar because it had been a very long day. We went to the Hub which is an English bar where we found quite a few English speaking patrons and sat down for a beer. After a couple drinks we headed back to the hostel and anticipated the great weather the next day, a huge contrast to the weather of today that was windy, rainy and grey.
The sun was shining and it was off to the Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa which was the area where we were staying. This temple was built in the 7th century and also has the second highest pagoda in the city. It was a beautiful temple with plenty of worshippers and great souvenir shopping to boot. Akihabara is the technology center of Tokyo and was next on our list of places to see. There was shop after shop of electronics with multiple vendors yelling from each one. Five story Sega buildings and street side gaming was everywhere. It was a dorks heaven… Paul you interested?? Needless to say Wang and I only needed a walkthrough to get our tronics fix for the trip. We then grabbed lunch at a place near the electronics district and had some Sobu noodles at Kanda Yaba Sobu.
Next was my favorite part of the Tokyo trip… Harajuku. Harajuku is the area known for the Harajuku girls that Gwen Stefani made so famous. They are all dressed in crazy clothing, congregated in large numbers on a particular bridge on Sundays. People are everywhere taking pictures of the street performers whose only talent was dressing very oddly. They did however take odd fashion to an interesting new level. The rest of the area was very hipster for a few blocks with shops and such with stores selling exclusively socks or others called ‘Condomania’. Once through the hipster part of the district the streets opened up to very high end shopping and modern architecture. The streets housed stores like Harry Winston, a five story Tods, a 4 story LV with a separate men’s and women’s entrance, YSL, Dunhil, and many other stores of equal or greater status. One thing is for sure… the Japanese LOVE to shop and it is very apparent throughout the city.
A note on fashion in Japan: It felt like everywhere we went, people throughout Tokyo looked like they were all wearing new clothes. Everyone was dressed well. Most Japanese women were put together like a very well dressed American woman but the men took it to a new level. They wore jeans as tight as the women’s (sometimes tighter), extremely long pointy shoes and about half of the time carried a man purse. This wasn’t just a district or two, this style carried throughout the city and only got more extravagant as you went to the more trendy districts.
We then ended up in Ikebukuro where we when to Sunshine City which housed a place that had 23 different steamed dumpling vendors. We grabbed some dinner and decided it had been a very long day and headed back to the Hostel. Once back I walked into the main room and found about 8 hammered Australians none of which I had any interest in meeting. About 30 minutes later a few Americans walked in and we ended up chatting with them. They were all from SF but had ended up moving to NY and Shanghai. The guy who lived in Shanghai, a Harvard graduate, offered to show us a good place to have dinner once we arrived in Shanghai. We ended the night early as the travel time back to the airport was long and our flight was at 10:40 am.
Tokyo was an amazing city with a very proud attitude. Most people understood English but unlike Taiwan and China, everyone always started to talk to me in Japanese and until I told them that I didn’t speak Japanese would they try English. They don’t particularly care for imperfection so I think speaking English embarrassed them slightly. Even with this barrier, everyone was extremely nice and helpful. Also in contrast to Taiwan and China, the Japanese respect ones personal space. There is no bumping into one another with no remorse or packed markets with people pushing one another. I also found their disdain for germs very interesting. I was in a train and could see about 20 people in my immediate view… 7 of them were wearing masks like the ones worn in a doctors office. This is to protect them from germs and illness but I can help but think about how it could affect the entire country and a possible lack of immunity to certain illnesses. Overall, Japan is an extremely respectable, clean country with a great culture. I would go back anytime!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Taiwan
After a collective 24 hours of travel Wang and I arrived in Taipei around 10 pm on the evening of the 23rd. Wang’s family lives in a town called Chingsuei that is about 2 hours south of Taipei. His mother and uncle came to pick us up at the airport and both of us were so tired that we went straight to be when we arrived. It wasn’t until the next morning, 7 am (jetlags a bitch) that we woke up and I got to look around. Wang’s family lives in a little, old farming town in which they happen to own a lot of the land. Wang’s grandfather started a manufacturing business in the shoe industry and over the years had become a very successful man in his own right. His two sons also help run the business. The family house is actually two homes, the “old house” and the “new house”. They were extremely large homes in comparison to most that surround it with 3 floors and seven bedrooms in each. All the floors were made of marble to keep the home cool during most of the year. There was also a 5 car garage and a tea house on the grounds. As glamorous as this may sound, and by every Taiwanese standard it is, there are many conveniences that a middle class American would have in their home that was not in these. An example of this would be clothes dryer. All laundry is done my one of the three maids which is very customary for wealthier families in Taiwan and consists of scrubbing the clothes in a basin and hanging everything to dry.
The night we arrived was unseasonably cold and windy. The temp was in the lower 50s and since the climate is usually extremely warm and humid, the house had very drafty windows and no heat. Needless to say the house was cold and the floors were even colder. I slept in full sweats under my comforter the first night.
As you would expect with a traditional Chinese/Taiwanese home, shoes were to be removed at the door and indoor sandals were worn whenever inside. This took a little getting used to but by the end of the week it was second nature.
From the first second I met Wang’s family they were warm and welcoming even with the language barrier. Several of them understood English but all preferred to speak in Chinese. As the week progressed I also became better at understanding tones and body language to understand what people were saying. Most everyone from Wang’s mom’s side of the family was in town at some point during the week and to no surprise all were very intelligent. For example, the second day there we learned that Kevin, 12 years old, could complete a Rubik’s cube in just a shade over a minute. Needless to say, a fun and entertaining site!
The first morning Wang’s mom took us to the local market. It was one of my favorite things we did all week. It was packed full of people doing last minute shopping before the Chinese new year. Think your local grocery store the day before thanksgiving with a twist… Vegetables for sale on the ground, whole chickens being butchered at every turn, vendors selling everything from grilled squid to red bean cookies and who could forget the token 7eleven. We walked around for about an hour stopping at local vendors to get breakfast. The first stop was for scallion pancakes which became a quick favorite. Second was a rice ball, and last was dannbing. As this was a small town, I was the ONLY white guy there any day that we went that week. The children looked at me like I was a zoo animal and often times someone who knew a little English would yell out “hello friend” as soon as I was spotted. After the market we checked out the local temple where people pray to specific gods. IT was very interesting and was the most beautiful and elaborate building in the small city.
After we returned from the market, Wang’s cousin Patrick took us to Taichung which is literally translated to “the middle city”. It was a very quick 20-30 minute drive and when we got there we headed for a very popular milk tea bar called Chun Sui Chang. We then walked around the city for a bit and ended up at Tiger City a shopping mall/arcade. Asians take their arcades very seriously and this was very reflective in its size at Tiger City. We then decided a drink was in order and we ended up at a very swanky bar called Wein. Wang, by far, had the coolest drink. It was called a smoke bomb and one round glass was placed in another that had water and dry ice underneath. It created the visual of a bomb shaped glass that was smoking from the edges of the other glass. Very cool! Then we grabbed dinner at a local chain that really has no English translation but they did have unbelievably delicious dumplings for 4 NT which is the equivalent of about 10 cents. Needless to say we had plenty to eat! We ended the night at a Cigar bar where the three of us lit up a Monte Cristo No. 4 and had a drink. The bar had great music but the drinks were average at best. *A note on Taiwanese bars… the local people tend not to drink nearly as much as westerners. What this means for a bar is that they will have very fashionable drinks available like a mojito but will not have what an average bar would have in stock. An example of this was when I ordered an Absolute and tonic with a lime. They didn’t have Absolute and they didn’t have tonic. What kind of bar doesn’t have tonic??? Taiwanese bars need a little help.
The 25th was Chinese new year’s eve and we again grabbed breakfast in the market. We then walked up a hill behind the village to a large temple that overlooked the city all the way to the Taiwanese straight, the body of water separating Taiwan with China. Once back at the house we learned how to make traditional Chinese tea. It was a very elaborate process and helped me come to the conclusion that I could not leave Asia without an authentic tea set to come home with me. After most of the family enjoyed the delicious green tea, we hopped in the car and headed to the fish market in the harbor. The fish market we so interesting that I could not do it justice through words. Check out the pictures online. On the way home we drove to a beach known for bird watching and took some amazing pictures there as well. Once home it was time to celebrate Chinese new year with a very traditional meal and fireworks. Traditional basically means that everything is cooked whole. There was a chicken dish with pieces of chicken with the skin on it and ordinarily I would have no problem eating this but when the chicken head is sitting right next to the piece you intend on eating it adds a whole new variable to the equation. While there was nothing on the table that I wouldn’t ordinarily try, I found it very difficult to get past the presentation of each type of food. After dinner the family exchanges gifts in the form of money. Wang’s family was so generous that all of his relatives gave me gifts too.
On the 26h, New Years Day we again walked to the market for breakfast. Today was a little different though. On new year’s day the locals dress up in their nicest clothing and go for walks around the city. Keep in mind that nicest clothing is not a scene from the financial district in NY at lunch time. It is a slightly different take on Sundays best. After the market we all headed to the oldest and most popular temple in Taiwan. It was PACKED with people but the area around it was very historical with beautiful buildings.
On the 27th Wang and I took a high speed train back into the city of Taipei. We checked into the YMCA and headed out for the day. We started at the day at the Chang Kai Shek memorial which was larger than life. We then moved on to the National Palace Museum which featured art from all of the different Chinese dynasties. Lastly, we went to the night market in Shilin. This is the most popular night market in Taipei and is full of street vendors selling everything from stinky tofu(NASTY NASTY SMELL) to bags and belts. The place was packed and I got a firsthand experience as to how little the Taiwanese regard personal space. It was bumper to bumper in that crowd. For dinner we met up with Wang’s uncle from his dad’s side of the family. He took us to a little place called Tu Hsiao Yueh and had a delicious dinner and then coffee and dessert at a very trendy coffee house called the Green Steps. After dinner Wang and I headed to the Brass Monkey for drinks. It was actually a pretty normal bar and I tried “Taiwan Beer Draft” and it was actually quite good. Good enough to have another large bottle.
The 28th was the last day in Taipei and Wang and I headed for ‘Taipei 101’, the tallest building in the world. We went to the 101st floor and overlooked the entire city. While this building sounds very cool, and it is, there are very few tall buildings around it. Meaning… there is absolutely no reason for something like this in Taipei except to have the bagging rights of the tallest building in the world. I spent the 12 bucks to get up there but is still seems kinda stupid to me. After lunch we headed to Danshuei which is the harbor district in Taipei. The weather was about 70 and sunny so walking up and down the edge of the water was very nice, with the exception of the occasional whiff of stinky tofu or grilled calamari in the air. *A side note on squid… I have seen enough squid on the bbq to live the rest of my life without ever seeing it again. After Danshuei we hopped back on the high speed train to Chingsuei. That night we quickly went to bed.
Thursday the 29th was the last full day in Taiwan and again we headed to the market for breakfast. We just hung out with Wang’s family for the day and headed off to a dinner with all 20 people. Dinner was a sight to be seen with 10 traditional Taiwanese courses, none of which disappointed. The best was a pan with a glass lid. It was placed on the skillet on the table and at first sight looked like shrimp... Well that exactly what they were but I was very shocked and somewhat disturbed at first to see them start jumping! Yes the shrimp were cooked right in front me and after I shelled the shrimp I felt very comfortable knowing they were as fresh as they could be! After our huge meal we went home and we learned how to play mah-jong. It was a very fun game but we all need a little more practice.
It was an early morning on the 30th and true to Wang’s families generosity and hospitality they had a driver and a Mercedes S-class ready to drive us the 2 hours to the airport. We checked in and took off at 11 am local time to head for Tokyo. The Tokyo entry is soon to come!
The night we arrived was unseasonably cold and windy. The temp was in the lower 50s and since the climate is usually extremely warm and humid, the house had very drafty windows and no heat. Needless to say the house was cold and the floors were even colder. I slept in full sweats under my comforter the first night.
As you would expect with a traditional Chinese/Taiwanese home, shoes were to be removed at the door and indoor sandals were worn whenever inside. This took a little getting used to but by the end of the week it was second nature.
From the first second I met Wang’s family they were warm and welcoming even with the language barrier. Several of them understood English but all preferred to speak in Chinese. As the week progressed I also became better at understanding tones and body language to understand what people were saying. Most everyone from Wang’s mom’s side of the family was in town at some point during the week and to no surprise all were very intelligent. For example, the second day there we learned that Kevin, 12 years old, could complete a Rubik’s cube in just a shade over a minute. Needless to say, a fun and entertaining site!
The first morning Wang’s mom took us to the local market. It was one of my favorite things we did all week. It was packed full of people doing last minute shopping before the Chinese new year. Think your local grocery store the day before thanksgiving with a twist… Vegetables for sale on the ground, whole chickens being butchered at every turn, vendors selling everything from grilled squid to red bean cookies and who could forget the token 7eleven. We walked around for about an hour stopping at local vendors to get breakfast. The first stop was for scallion pancakes which became a quick favorite. Second was a rice ball, and last was dannbing. As this was a small town, I was the ONLY white guy there any day that we went that week. The children looked at me like I was a zoo animal and often times someone who knew a little English would yell out “hello friend” as soon as I was spotted. After the market we checked out the local temple where people pray to specific gods. IT was very interesting and was the most beautiful and elaborate building in the small city.
After we returned from the market, Wang’s cousin Patrick took us to Taichung which is literally translated to “the middle city”. It was a very quick 20-30 minute drive and when we got there we headed for a very popular milk tea bar called Chun Sui Chang. We then walked around the city for a bit and ended up at Tiger City a shopping mall/arcade. Asians take their arcades very seriously and this was very reflective in its size at Tiger City. We then decided a drink was in order and we ended up at a very swanky bar called Wein. Wang, by far, had the coolest drink. It was called a smoke bomb and one round glass was placed in another that had water and dry ice underneath. It created the visual of a bomb shaped glass that was smoking from the edges of the other glass. Very cool! Then we grabbed dinner at a local chain that really has no English translation but they did have unbelievably delicious dumplings for 4 NT which is the equivalent of about 10 cents. Needless to say we had plenty to eat! We ended the night at a Cigar bar where the three of us lit up a Monte Cristo No. 4 and had a drink. The bar had great music but the drinks were average at best. *A note on Taiwanese bars… the local people tend not to drink nearly as much as westerners. What this means for a bar is that they will have very fashionable drinks available like a mojito but will not have what an average bar would have in stock. An example of this was when I ordered an Absolute and tonic with a lime. They didn’t have Absolute and they didn’t have tonic. What kind of bar doesn’t have tonic??? Taiwanese bars need a little help.
The 25th was Chinese new year’s eve and we again grabbed breakfast in the market. We then walked up a hill behind the village to a large temple that overlooked the city all the way to the Taiwanese straight, the body of water separating Taiwan with China. Once back at the house we learned how to make traditional Chinese tea. It was a very elaborate process and helped me come to the conclusion that I could not leave Asia without an authentic tea set to come home with me. After most of the family enjoyed the delicious green tea, we hopped in the car and headed to the fish market in the harbor. The fish market we so interesting that I could not do it justice through words. Check out the pictures online. On the way home we drove to a beach known for bird watching and took some amazing pictures there as well. Once home it was time to celebrate Chinese new year with a very traditional meal and fireworks. Traditional basically means that everything is cooked whole. There was a chicken dish with pieces of chicken with the skin on it and ordinarily I would have no problem eating this but when the chicken head is sitting right next to the piece you intend on eating it adds a whole new variable to the equation. While there was nothing on the table that I wouldn’t ordinarily try, I found it very difficult to get past the presentation of each type of food. After dinner the family exchanges gifts in the form of money. Wang’s family was so generous that all of his relatives gave me gifts too.
On the 26h, New Years Day we again walked to the market for breakfast. Today was a little different though. On new year’s day the locals dress up in their nicest clothing and go for walks around the city. Keep in mind that nicest clothing is not a scene from the financial district in NY at lunch time. It is a slightly different take on Sundays best. After the market we all headed to the oldest and most popular temple in Taiwan. It was PACKED with people but the area around it was very historical with beautiful buildings.
On the 27th Wang and I took a high speed train back into the city of Taipei. We checked into the YMCA and headed out for the day. We started at the day at the Chang Kai Shek memorial which was larger than life. We then moved on to the National Palace Museum which featured art from all of the different Chinese dynasties. Lastly, we went to the night market in Shilin. This is the most popular night market in Taipei and is full of street vendors selling everything from stinky tofu(NASTY NASTY SMELL) to bags and belts. The place was packed and I got a firsthand experience as to how little the Taiwanese regard personal space. It was bumper to bumper in that crowd. For dinner we met up with Wang’s uncle from his dad’s side of the family. He took us to a little place called Tu Hsiao Yueh and had a delicious dinner and then coffee and dessert at a very trendy coffee house called the Green Steps. After dinner Wang and I headed to the Brass Monkey for drinks. It was actually a pretty normal bar and I tried “Taiwan Beer Draft” and it was actually quite good. Good enough to have another large bottle.
The 28th was the last day in Taipei and Wang and I headed for ‘Taipei 101’, the tallest building in the world. We went to the 101st floor and overlooked the entire city. While this building sounds very cool, and it is, there are very few tall buildings around it. Meaning… there is absolutely no reason for something like this in Taipei except to have the bagging rights of the tallest building in the world. I spent the 12 bucks to get up there but is still seems kinda stupid to me. After lunch we headed to Danshuei which is the harbor district in Taipei. The weather was about 70 and sunny so walking up and down the edge of the water was very nice, with the exception of the occasional whiff of stinky tofu or grilled calamari in the air. *A side note on squid… I have seen enough squid on the bbq to live the rest of my life without ever seeing it again. After Danshuei we hopped back on the high speed train to Chingsuei. That night we quickly went to bed.
Thursday the 29th was the last full day in Taiwan and again we headed to the market for breakfast. We just hung out with Wang’s family for the day and headed off to a dinner with all 20 people. Dinner was a sight to be seen with 10 traditional Taiwanese courses, none of which disappointed. The best was a pan with a glass lid. It was placed on the skillet on the table and at first sight looked like shrimp... Well that exactly what they were but I was very shocked and somewhat disturbed at first to see them start jumping! Yes the shrimp were cooked right in front me and after I shelled the shrimp I felt very comfortable knowing they were as fresh as they could be! After our huge meal we went home and we learned how to play mah-jong. It was a very fun game but we all need a little more practice.
It was an early morning on the 30th and true to Wang’s families generosity and hospitality they had a driver and a Mercedes S-class ready to drive us the 2 hours to the airport. We checked in and took off at 11 am local time to head for Tokyo. The Tokyo entry is soon to come!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
San Francisco - Jan 16 - 22
Well San Francisco was amazing. T was an amazing hostess and I couldn't have imagined a better time there.
Day 1 :January 16, 2009
Dinner at La Mediterranee on Fillmore and I ate way way too much!
Drinks in the Haight at Moltovos. The Haight kinda reminds me of Detroit.
Day 2: January 17, 2009
The first full day in the city and I was still feeling the effects of the time change. T took me on a City tour:
- Union Square
- Ferry Building
- Pier 39
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- Ghirardelli Square
- Cable Car Ride
- North Beach
- China Town
- Financial District
Dinner at Ten- Ichi on Filmore
Drinks in the Marina with Carolyn and T and T's friends: Christain & Celeste – City Tavern, Matrix. The Marina is my kind of place... Imagine that
Day 3: January 18, 2009
Drove down Lombard Street - the crooked one
We decided to go to Napa Valley on a whim and it was the best idea we had the whole time! We went to two wineries:
- Darioush - Sonoma County
- Duckhorn – Sonoma County
and before leaving we had a very late lunch at Zuzu in downtown Napa. The tapas were out of this world!
Dinner at Orphan Andy’s
Drinks in the Castro - Gay district, if the whole city isn't
- The Bar
- Badlands
Day 4: January 19, 2009
Day 1 :January 16, 2009
Dinner at La Mediterranee on Fillmore and I ate way way too much!
Drinks in the Haight at Moltovos. The Haight kinda reminds me of Detroit.
Day 2: January 17, 2009
The first full day in the city and I was still feeling the effects of the time change. T took me on a City tour:
- Union Square
- Ferry Building
- Pier 39
- Fisherman’s Wharf
- Ghirardelli Square
- Cable Car Ride
- North Beach
- China Town
- Financial District
Dinner at Ten- Ichi on Filmore
Drinks in the Marina with Carolyn and T and T's friends: Christain & Celeste – City Tavern, Matrix. The Marina is my kind of place... Imagine that
Day 3: January 18, 2009
Drove down Lombard Street - the crooked one
We decided to go to Napa Valley on a whim and it was the best idea we had the whole time! We went to two wineries:
- Darioush - Sonoma County
- Duckhorn – Sonoma County
and before leaving we had a very late lunch at Zuzu in downtown Napa. The tapas were out of this world!
Dinner at Orphan Andy’s
Drinks in the Castro - Gay district, if the whole city isn't
- The Bar
- Badlands
Day 4: January 19, 2009
WANG ARRIVES!
Dinner at the Woodhouse Fish Company. Had artichokes stuffed with Dungeness Crab and Shrimp.
Drinks in the mission and we bar hopped to; Casa Nova, Truck, Luck 13.
Day 5: January 20
Wang, T and I decided to head back over the Golden Gate and check out Sausalito in Marin county. The views of the city across the bay are unreal. Wang has a few we will post later.
Lunch at Bridge way Café
After lunch we saw Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen filming for the movie Funny People.
T took us to Coit Tower afterwards, a 21 story tower on the top of one of the many hills of the city for more great views of Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge as well as the city itself.
Met up with Wang's friend Melissa for dinner at Slow Club in the Mission. Great drinks and Wang ordered a Kettle One Gimlet 3:1 shaken very cold, compliments of his favorite author Stuart Woods.
Day 6: January 21
Wang and I had another city tour. This was the first day the weather wasn't 65-70 and perfectly blue skies.
Lunch at the Ferry Building at San Francisco Fish Co.
It was raining a little in the afternoon so we caught a movie on Pac Heights. Slumdog Millionaire is a great movie. Everyone should see it.
Dinner at a little Greek place called Myconos and in true greek style my meal could have fed two large men.
Drinks at Tonic with T, Wang and Wang's HS friend Melissa
Day 7: January 22
T drive Wang and I to the Airport for our flight to Tokyo at 11 am. Since Wang's dad is the man, he upgraded both of us to business class and let me assure you... it is the ONLY way to fly across the ocean.
Wang and I are currently sitting in the lounge at Tokyo's international airport waiting for our connecting flight to Taipei.
More to come when we get to Taipei.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Our tentative Itinerary
City Arrival - Departure
DET/BOS
San Fran 16-Jan - 22-Jan
Taipei 22-Jan - 30-Jan
Tokyo 30-Jan - 2-Feb
Beijing 2-Feb - 5-Feb
Shanghai 5-Feb - 8-Feb
Hong Kong 8-Feb - 10-Feb
Bangkok 10-Feb - 13-Feb
Paris 14-Feb - 18-Feb
Tours 18-Feb - 20-Feb
Madrid 20-Feb - 23-Feb
Barcelona 23-Feb - 26-Feb
Avignon 26-Feb - 28-Feb
Geneva 28-Feb - 1-Mar
Milan 1-Mar - 2-Mar
Rome 2-Mar - 6-Mar
Florence 6-Mar - 7-Mar
Venice 7-Mar - 10-Mar
Munich 10-Mar - 14-Mar
Vienna 14-Mar - 16-Mar
Prague 16-Mar - 19-Mar
Berlin 19-Mar - 22-Mar
Franfurt 22-Mar - 26-Mar
Amsterdam 26-Mar - 29-Mar
Brussels 29-Mar - 1-Apr
London 1-Apr - 5-Apr
DET/BOS
San Fran 16-Jan - 22-Jan
Taipei 22-Jan - 30-Jan
Tokyo 30-Jan - 2-Feb
Beijing 2-Feb - 5-Feb
Shanghai 5-Feb - 8-Feb
Hong Kong 8-Feb - 10-Feb
Bangkok 10-Feb - 13-Feb
Paris 14-Feb - 18-Feb
Tours 18-Feb - 20-Feb
Madrid 20-Feb - 23-Feb
Barcelona 23-Feb - 26-Feb
Avignon 26-Feb - 28-Feb
Geneva 28-Feb - 1-Mar
Milan 1-Mar - 2-Mar
Rome 2-Mar - 6-Mar
Florence 6-Mar - 7-Mar
Venice 7-Mar - 10-Mar
Munich 10-Mar - 14-Mar
Vienna 14-Mar - 16-Mar
Prague 16-Mar - 19-Mar
Berlin 19-Mar - 22-Mar
Franfurt 22-Mar - 26-Mar
Amsterdam 26-Mar - 29-Mar
Brussels 29-Mar - 1-Apr
London 1-Apr - 5-Apr
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