Process

Everything in Japan is a perfectly ordered process.  People don’t jaywalk, honk, or rush on to the elevator before you get off.  There’s lots of bowing, thanking, and even a way in which you present your credit card.  The list of cultural norms in Japan can be a little intimidating.  I was waiting for a train in Kyoto when I suddenly realized no one was standing around me.  Amongst the hundreds of people waiting, I was alone.  They were all in perfect lines behind signs on the platform I didn’t see.   There was the foreigner all by himself, not following the rules.

Even the food is a process and display of order.  On my last night in Osaka a coworker took me out to eat sushi.  It was an underground hole in the wall that sat 8 people.  When we first sat down the chef pulled a few small fish from a tank, skewered them, salted them, and placed them on the grill – all while they were still flapping.  They were eaten whole like anchovies.  The chef carefully prepared every bite.  He’d filet one piece at a time, and give a quick brush of soy sauce.   He’d then roll rice between his fingers while grinding some wasabi.  It was such a cool process to watch.  He even had an apprentice/water boy serve him, and wait patiently until he was dismissed.  If you've ever seen Mel Brook's "History of the World, Part 1" it wasn't far off from piss boy.

Everything I had in Japan was good though: kobe beef, tepanyaki and noodles.

 These were swimming just a few minutes prior. 

Well, this may be my last post.  Tomorrow I fly home!  I’ve had fun exploring neighborhoods, meeting people and traveling.  I’m ready to get back though.  I spent the weekend taking care of some last minute shopping, and returning to some of my favorite places here. This was definitely an experience I won’t soon forget.  Thanks for reading!

Choices

Several months ago I overheard a father chastising his overweight and pouting son at the grocery store.  “Life is all about choices” he said.  The kid was upset his dad insinuated all those hot wings and potato wedges might not sync with whatever weight loss conversation they clearly just had.  It was sad and a little bit funny.  I mostly just wanted them to get out of the way of the mac n’cheese.

There were a lot of decisions to make when building my Japan itinerary.  In some ways it felt like a trip I’ve been preparing for twenty years.  Japan was the mecca of all things geek when I was a kid.  They got all the new video games a year in advance.  They had cool cartoons.  Their phones could watch TV when mine just played snake and brick breaker.  I guess like most people, somewhere along the way you grow up a little.  I now wanted to see temples and eat sushi instead of everything I would have sought out as a kid.  In the end, Japan reminded me you can have your cake, hot wings, butterbeer, or sushi and eat it too.

I knew Saturday was going to be all about Kyoto.  It’s their former capital, and one of the few ancient cities that survived WW2.  Early Saturday morning I took the 30 minute train from Osaka to Kyoto.  My first stop was Arashiyama.  It’s is a small town with a few historic sites.  It’s famous for this wooden bridge, and what is supposed to be amazing colors in the fall.

 The bamboo forest evidently has monkeys, but I didn’t see any.

My last stop in Arashiyma was the Tenryuji temple (built in 1339).  Everything about these places scream perfectionist.  Do you remember in English class how teachers would tell you an author deliberately chose some ordinary word, or how a normal expression was actually a deep metaphor for their troubled lives?  Here you’re convinced that kind of meticulous decision making is real.  It feels like everything was done with purpose.  

After a quick subway, walk, bus ride, and another walk I made my way to Kinkaku-ji.  This "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" is covered in pure gold, was built in 1397, and is easily the most jaw-dropping sight of the journey.

There was some more walking, green tea soy bean ice cream, subway, and a bus before I reached Fushimi Inari.  This temple to the goddess of rice is home to 32,000 orange gates that line the path up the mountain.  While not as beautiful as the golden pavilion, I had more fun walking around here.

I felt like Indiana Jones after all that temple hopping Saturday.  Despite Osaka's size (19 million people), it didn't have a ton of tourist things to do.  So on Sunday rather than seek out the recommended museum, I went to Harry Potter!  I found out from signs at the airport Universal Studios opened up in Osaka.  Rachel isn’t a Harry Potter nerd, so this was my chance to see Hogwarts.  The park was packed.  I spent a few hours going through every shop, waiting in line for the main ride, and drinking as much butterbeer as I could.  I know there are more “Japanese things" I could have done, and maybe should have done.  Oh well.  It’s exactly what I needed after all this travel, and I couldn’t be happier about the choice. 

It was an amazing trip, and maybe the highlight of this whole experience.  I can’t recommend Japan enough.  I unfortunately didn’t make it to Tokyo, but it’s a good reason to come back someday.

Next up is food pictures, but this is already too much reading for one post!

Complicated

I still don’t know what to make of things.  You certainly can’t get to know a city in 36 hours, much less 8 hours.  Right now it's just a collection of jumbled thoughts for a hectic, but memorable weekend.  I’ll try to make this short so we can get to the pictures.

I went to Hong Kong and Macau this weekend.  Both are special regions under China that enjoy a “high degree of autonomy”.  What autonomy means is up for debate.  The British and Portuguese influence is still strong more than 15 years after their transition back to China.  They drive on the wrong side of the road, speak perfect English, and both islands are packed with Europeans tourists and expats.

My itinerary:

Friday Night and Saturday in Hong Kong: egg tarts, swindled in to buying two suits, harbor tour, foreigner street, too much food

Sunday: 40 minute ferry to Macau, more egg tarts, old Portuguese town center, ruins of St. Paul’s cathedral from the 1500’s, Wynn casino

General observations:

• Everywhere I walked in Hong Kong seemed to be uphill
• Fook means luck in Cantonese, which leads to fantastic wordplay: “Ho Lee Fook” is the hottest restaurant in HK
• The internet works!, and is uncensored
• The peak observation deck is the most touristy thing to do in Hong Kong, and it’s the best
• I can’t afford Macau – most blackjack table minimums were $125 on a Sunday at 2pm

In all honesty, I really wanted to love both places more than I actually did.  Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun.  They are beautiful islands with so much to offer.  It was probably too much for a short weekend, and not enough relaxation.   Also, Hong Kong feels too big.  Even though Shanghai is more than triple the size, Hong Kong is double the population density.  Hopefully I’ll get to come back, and try this again sometime.

View from the hotel

 One of the many alleys on the foreigner street

 Egg tarts

 View from Kowloon of Hong Kong Island

 View from Victoria's peak

 Church in Macau

 Probably lots of prayers here too

 Ruins of St. Paul's cathedral

 Senado Square

Journey

Like any good curmudgeon I’d planted the seed early.  I don’t do it.  I won’t do it.  I can’t do it.  They started slow, but persistent in chipping away at my armor.  Then it was immediate, an all of a sudden time-sensitive pressure.

Oh no. I’m doing it.

I had my first KTV experience last week.  KTV is karaoke in Shanghai, and you can guess where this is going.  It’s hard to compare the hotel-room style setting that’s popular here to karaoke bars back home slammed with people screaming “don’t stop believing”.  The place we went to, “Pure K”, looked like what you’d expect a high end club in Vegas to be.  Our little room had flashing lights, gold beams, a disco ball, plumes of cigarette smoke, TV’s, a booth that wrapped around the room, and a stage.  

My coworkers were there for one thing only, Chinese heart-break ballads from the 90’s.  They knew every word.  Even duets were coordinated with ease.  They finally tricked me in to singing/rapping “Empire State of Mind”.  As the song started the mic was dropped in my lap.  They claimed no one could read the English lyrics that fast.  Lies.  This was a pre-planned assault, and it was actually a lot of fun.  Everyone was really nice about it.  In their mind it’s more fun, and less embarrassing to sing in front of your friends than a bunch of strangers.  I’d tend to agree, but would still much rather watch.

….a singer in a smoky room, a smell of wine and cheap perfume…..

Silk

She was getting closer – each step felt like a tenfold increase in her anger and volume.  Our pace was quickening now.  Of course we had to be on the second floor of this maze.  If we could just get to the escalators surely she wouldn't follow us.  Would she?

Those were all the thoughts racing through my head as Rachel and I were chased out of the South Bund Fabric Market.  If you haven’t been to a place like this before it’s an experience like no other.  You can’t give the shop owners an ounce of attention.  Not a word.  Even a look might be enough to set the game in motion.  The calculators come out.  Everything is a “good price for you”.  The pressure intensifies.  You cut the price by 75%, and they whine.  It’s over the top anger or sadness.  They beg you to give them even a little more.  I’m sure in time you could get comfortable with this type of transaction, but give me Amazon and the internet please. 

Rachel had found some nice silk scarfs.  She impressively haggled down from 800-something RMB to well under 300.  The price was eventually set, but the shop owner kept complaining.  She was openly acting like we robbed her, and was disgusted with us.  She then started complaining to a coworker.  You didn't have to know the language to figure out what she was saying.  That was the last straw, and we walked away for good.  Then, the most uncomfortable moment of my time in Shanghai, or ever shopping: she started running after us, screaming “why you joke with me lady?!”  We made a bolt for the exit.  It was our first true bargaining experience in China, and I have no interest in ever repeating it (for the record, I did deal with a very nice shop owner, and had a great shirt made).

On the way back from Moganshan my coworkers took me to a small ancient town called Nanxun (pronounced Nan-Shing).  Little canals cut through the entire town, and artisans were everywhere selling jewelry, hand made goods, candy, etc.  (no bartering, thankfully).  Even for the locals this was a spot they really liked.  Nanxun is famous for silks.  They used to be the silk supplier for the emperor, and were responsible for much of the exports in the early 1900’s.  The Japanese trashed the town around WWII, and most of the work moved to large scale factories outside the city.  They had a great museum that showed the whole silk process – live worms and all.  It was a great ending to a really fun weekend.

Translation

Me: “why do we have to keep out of the Five Forest?” assuming China likes you to stay on the trails.

Frank “what?”

Me: “Yeah, the sign says keep out of the Five Forest” as I point at the park entrance sign.

Immediately everyone starts laughing, and more people are called over to join in.  At this point I’m used to hearing conversations I can’t understand, but what’s so funny?!

Frank: “it’s supposed to say, keep fire out of the forest”.

This weekend ten coworkers and I went up to Moganshan (Mogan is the name of the mountain, and shan means mountain).  It’s only a 3 hour (death defying drive) retreat from the city, and one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.  We rented a small hotel/house and hiked, ate, played mahjong in to the early morning (I followed directions), and went to a blacksmith.  Sort of.

The house

 Trail up the mountain

 I normally hate these things, but the overhang wasn't that high

 Terry doing his best old man walk

 Bamboo forest

 View from the top

Lunch halfway up the mountain

 It's hard to call this fish.  It needs some sort of prehistoric named attached to it.  You just eat it whole, bones and all, like a giant.

My attempt at learning Mahjong (I won!)

Frank: “Let’s go to the blacksmith, it’s famous history here.”

Me: “like as in swords?” thinking I’m going to see some tourist trap.

Frank: “Yes, that’s what this mountain is known for.”

Like the “five forest”, we weren't going to see a blacksmith.  Moganshan has a famous King Arthur like fable attached to it.  Supposedly a King “commissioned” a legendary blacksmith to build a sword for him.  The blacksmith knew the King would kill him when it was completed to ensure only he had the best sword.  The blacksmith and his wife built two swords; one for the king, and one for their son to avenge him upon his death.  It gets weird from there.  Like decapitation, ghosts, and heads boiling in stew weird.  Anyways, the hike to the waterfall of the secret sword turned out to be breathtaking.  I've never seen anything like it.  I’m pretty sure I just kept saying “wow”.  Thankfully the hike back up was so grueling we stayed down to soak up the sights as long as possible. 

The blacksmith and his wife

Views from the waterfall 

This weekend was a blast.  It was fun to hang out with everyone outside of work, and it couldn't have been a better location.  

The next blog: silk; on the way back from Moganshan I got to see how it’s made, and the story of how Rachel got chased out of a building over it.