October 02, 2008
Off to California
Well, I am on my way to the airport...I will go and see my sisters for a week. We are all meeting in San Diego, so that should be fun. And, I will be close to the beach. I think it is supposed to be a bit warmer so I should get some beach time in. Yeah! Although, having said that, it is absolutely gorgeous here in Zushi now. After a week or so of rain and clouds, the skies are clear and the sun is shining. Not quite enough for me to cancel my trip, but the thought did cross my mind.
Anyway, I won't take the laptop, so no updates. Well, unless I buy a new one, which I have been thinking of!
Posted by Kirk at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)November 29, 2007
Foggy Imperial Beach
It has been a month since I got back from California. Tonight, having nothing better to do, I was looking at some of the pictures and thought I would post one.
At first, I expected to find a nice sunny day picture to put up, but as you can see it can get foggy in the mornings sometimes. I used to like that weather, actually, so this is the one you get to see today.
October 27, 2007
The Good San Diego holiday
What better time to review the lovely part of my holiday last week than in the middle of a typhoon. Really, this whole weather/fire thing is a bit frustrating. I just want to have a nice sunny day...is it too much too ask for? Actually, tomorrow is supposed to be better and I have tickets to the football (Urawa Reds), so I am looking forward to that.
Anyway, here is some lovely sunny weather from San Diego last week. My sister and I stayed in Imperial Beach, which is south of San Diego and known as the most South-Westerly city in the continental US. I know you are impressed. In any case, this is the entrance to the IB pier...
I lived there until I was 9 years old and we moved to Chula Vista. In some ways, it has not changed much. I think my sister was tired of my running commentary as we drove: "Oh, that store/sign/building has been there FOREVER!" Multiply that by 200 times and you get the idea.
On the other hand, it HAS changed but not having lived there for 30 years, it is really hard to remember how it used to be. Anyway, we stayed at the Imperial Beach Club, which is a bunch of condos on the beach. The location was excellent! The condo was not. By the way, we used sandiegovacation.com and unless you like having all your appliances broken, you should try somewhere else. But..it looks good, right? I wouldn't even mention it except that when we told them this as we dropped the keys off at the end of the trip, the woman in the office seemed to not believe us, which is probably why everything is broken.
Here are some surfers in the water. Also, a cruise ship coming into port with the IB pier in the foreground. You know...what you expect to see if you are in San Diego.
I did not get any pictures of the the beaches on either side of IB. To the south is the Tijuana River and Border Field State Park. We walked over there but I was camera-less. Later, we walked north towards Coronado. There is a campground called Camp Surf...but it is surrounded by chain-link fences like the ones used on the military bases. It seemed kind of scary to me.
Posted by Kirk at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)October 25, 2007
My timing is still good!
Well, I got back to Tokyo yesterday. It is good to be home, especially as San Diego is on fire. You may have noticed, at least if you read English language news.
We were in Imperial Beach so there was never any danger and we did not need to evacuate. But, the giant ash plumes did put a damper on the whole holiday thing. It was very surreal.
Here are a couple pictures...I have more from the good part of the holiday, which I will post later. I am feeling a bit jet laggy and want to go get a coffee.
This is in Imperial Beach at around 4pm on Sunday...that is the pier in the background.
And this is from the plaza in front of the pier looking west on Monday morning. You can see the edge of the plume from the Harris fire. When we went farther north later in the day, it cleared up a bit. Apparently, it is much worse now than it was, so it is probably a good thing that we left on Tuesday.
For the sake of comparison, this is what the sky looked like the day before the fires.
October 17, 2007
California Here I Come
A little bit later today, I am off to Narita to catch a flight to San Diego. Well, flights...no direct service, you see. Woo hoo!
I am not taking my laptop, so no new posts for at least a week. Then again, I have not been prolific recently, so I do not know why I am telling you that. It does also mean I will be e-mail free for a week, so if you are trying to get a hold of me that way, I imagine it will be difficult.
I am going to meet my sister Terri. We plan to relax and also to look at houses for sale. The property market seems to be imploding, so it may be a good time to put some feelers out. If that is a bust, we will have to console ourselves at the beachside condo we rented.
Anyway, I will take my camera and I hope to have some pictures to post when I get back. Enjoy the lovely fall weather...
Posted by Kirk at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)July 02, 2007
More pubs
I met Maurice last night in South Chelsea. Of course, we went to a few pubs. We actually met just off King's Road at the Cooper Arms on Flood Street. It's a nice pub, although it was kind of empty. They have a nice garden in back, which is useful now that there is a smoking ban.
Anyway, after a drink there we went to "really" South Chelsea, also known as Battersea. We stopped at the Prince Albert for a pint and after that we ended up at the Duke of Cambridge. Here are some more pub pictures.
July 01, 2007
Happy Canada Day
So, apparently today is Canada Day! I am in London, but there are lots of Canadians here and the one place they all go on a day like today is the Maple Leaf in Covent Garden.
This shows the line to get in at 1pm...what you cannot see is the eight-ten police officers standing around to make sure there is no trouble. There were signs up a few days ago that said the Canada Day Block Party would not happen and that open container rules would be enforced. I also did not show how long the line is, which went down the block and around the corner. Anyway, I happened to be walking by so I took a picture.
This is also the first day of the smoking ban in England...which means no more cigarettes in bars and restaurants. I went with Stuart last night to enjoy the last evening of smoking in a pub...we ended up at some really crap place near Baker Street Tube stop. It was kind of anti-climatic!
Posted by Kirk at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)June 30, 2007
Mini pub crawl
I met up with Stuart and Sam last night for a stroll down memory lane. Well, more like drinking in a lot of pubs that I used to go to when I spent more time in London.
We decided on four-five places beforehand and said we would have a pint in each. Or two, if that is how it worked out.
Anyway, Stuart and I kicked off at the Ship just off Eastcheap near Monument Station. This is where we used to go after work every day. I mean EVERY day. Somehow, I forgot to take pictures.
When Sam arrived, we headed off to the West End. The first stop was the Ship and Shovell near Embankment Station. It is actually two pubs with a walkway in between. Here are pictures of both...
After that, we popped over to the Sherlock Holmes for a few drinks. We were lucky enough to get a table out front, so we stayed for a few. This picture is actually of the side entrance.
A few pints later, we went over to The Harp near St. Martin's, mostly because we remembered they could be convinced to make sausage sandwiches and we were in dire need of food. But...they do not do that on Friday, so we had to settle for crisps instead. Here is the Harp as we walked up to it. I muist have dropped my camera or something because the picture quality really started to suffer. I am positive it had nothing to do with the number of beers I drank.
So, we met a guy who used to work as a police officer at the station across the street. Somehow, it came up that his parent's were engaged at our next stop, The Coal Hole, so he went there with us. And here it is - this is the best of the three pictures I took. After that, we went to the Charles Dickens Coffee House and had a latte to fortify ourselves for the trip home. It was a really good night.
Today is the last day to smoke in bars and restaurants before the smoking ban starts on July 1st. So, I guess I will be out again! I hope my camera recovers.
Posted by Kirk at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)June 29, 2007
Something always happens
I was out drinking with the guys I used to work with last night - it was good fun. Finding a taxi in the City at 11pm is pretty difficult, however, so I took the tube back to the hotel. Well, sort of...I went to Embankment, which is about a 30 min walk away...that probably gives you a fairly good idea how much I drank. I walked over to Trafalgar Square and somehow found a taxi there. So, that was good.
Imagine my surprise today, when I am walking over towards Picadilly and see this:
The whole area around Haymarket was closed off. There were police everywhere and lots of TV vans, reporters etc. Apparently, someone left a car bomb in front of the Tiger Tiger nightclub. Fortunately, the staff noticed the car, called the police and it was deactivated. That is pretty scary!
Anyway, you may have guessed I got a USB cable, so I can post some pictures. And, here are some more. The one on the left is the Dover Castle on Weymouth Mews. It is a Samuel Smith pub. I really like it and it is close to my hotel. The other one is the Hand and Racquet pub near Leicester Square...surprisingly relaxing place.
I am meeting Stuart tonight for drinks. Not sure where we are going yet, but I have a list!
Posted by Kirk at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)June 28, 2007
Back to London
Hmmm...when I was working, coming to London used to be a common experience and I probably used this title a lot! Having said that, it has been almost a year and a half since the last time I came here. Wow!
And I realise that I have missed it a lot. And that is despite flying into Heathrow to start the trip. As you probably know, there is always something going wrong when you do that! This time, there was a gas leak somewhere near the airport and they closed the sirport to inbound traffic. Fortunately, I was on the last plane to land before that happened! Who knows where I would have ended up otherwise. My cab driver from the train station said that a lot of flights had been diverted to Gatwick, Stansted etc. Lucky me?!
Anyway, it is much cooler here than Tokyo. When I left yesterday morning it was already 29 degrees and humid. But it is probably 10 degrees here. It really rained hard for about 15 minutes last night. I know that because I was going from one pub to another at the time and I did not have an umbrella. I was absolutely soaked. Nothing a few pints couldn't cure.
So, I will spend the rest of the time here meeting people. It is a lot like Tokyo in that everyone is working except me. I should remind myself to bring that up in conversation a lot.
I have my camera with me, but no USB cable, so I have to get one of those before I start uploading pictures.
Posted by Kirk at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)April 03, 2007
Someone explain this to me
I came back to Tokyo today. Why is it 9 degrees (43F)?
Unbelievable. It is April and this goes beyond the whole "I was at a tropical beach where it was 90 degrees" thing.
Anyway, it is mostly good to be back, even if the flight back drove me crazy. The in-flight movie was Charlotte's Web and I was surrounded by people with children that they could not/would not control. The flight attendants were crap. I was seeing red.
Here are a few more pictures from Koh Samui. On the left, that cat picture I mentioned before. On the right, "Three Monkeys" coasters sitting out to dry. I do like monkeys.
April 02, 2007
The dream is over
Well, this will be a short entry. I wrote a very long clever entry, but somehow I lost it as I got close to finishing. Really, that is so annoying.
In any case, I am in Bangkok now, but only at the airport Novotel, which is a bit too business-inspired for my tastes. I have a 730am flight, however, and this is ten minutes from the check-in desk, so there you go.
I had a good last day on the beach. I took a tour of the island, followed by lunch, coffee and a foot reflexology thing. A MANLY foot reflexology thing.
Here is one last beach picture, taken from Chaweng Noi looking north. That beach in the distance is where I spent all of my time.
Anyway, my three-hour island tour (by car, not boat, for any of you getting attacks of the Gilligan's Island theme) also included grandfather rock and an elephant park. By the way Glenn, when they say grandfather, i think they mean 'todger'. What do you think? The guide asked if he could take a picture of me next to it, but I said hell no.
Anyway, we also drove through the other towns on the island and finished near Big Buddha Beach, which I had always known as the place I wanted to go watch the sun set, but apparently it is famous for this, well, Big Buddha. That's below, along with this many-armed thing. I am not up on my Buddhist stuff, so I cannot tell you what it is. To be fair, ny guide did explain a lot of this to me, but that was hours ago and I have forgot most of it.
I thought I would finish with some pictures of Chaweng Loop Road. On the left, you can see McDonald's (the guide says he won't eat there, but KFC is OK because they have chicken...he also says it is also too pricey for most people). On the right is Tropical Murphy's, which I mentioned in a previous post. Although I may have skipped describing the whole process of finding a suitable beer to drink by sampling every kind they had. It was a lot of work. As for today, I went there for a coffee and read my book.
I took a ton of pictures and I will try and post a few more over the next few days...once I am back home. I have a really cute one of a cat at the buddhist temple, but after my spa admission, I think I better save that one for next time.
Posted by Kirk at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)March 31, 2007
Samui - Day 3
I had lots to do yesterday. Really, I do not know where the time goes.
Here is a picture from the afternoon beach chair. Those of you who are paying attention may realise that I had to sit approximately three meters to the right of where I was the day before. To be honest, it did not seem so different to me.
I did take more than one picture...here are the non-beach shots from yesterday. The picture on the left is a boat in the surf. On the right is the main road as it is going into Chaweng Beach...that is about a mile from my hotel and I walked the whole way and back.
One thing that really surprises me is how easy it is to forget that Chaweng Beach alone is three and a half miles long. This is a problem because I will think to myself "hey, I'll head over to that dodgy mightclub around the corner" and its a 2 mile walk (remember its over 30 degrees and I am lazy). So, I end up having a coffee instead. Oh, maybe that is a good thing.
Later today, I am going to a bar in the next village to watch the sun set. Appropriately, it is called The Sunset Bar. I was feeling pretty stupid when I forgot the name and had to look it up. There is also a place called the BBC restaurant, in case the first one is crap. And of course this all assumes I won't forget, or fall asleep.
Anyway, looking ahead even farther: I am going to take a tour around the island tomorrow (by car). I think I need to give the beach a rest. Or my skin.
Posted by Kirk at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)March 30, 2007
From strength to strength
It's really not fair. To you I mean. After all, you are probably reading this while at the office, while I am here at the beach having a laugh. That picture above is the view from my beach chair this afternoon.
I did not do much today...a bit of sunbathing and walking around. I took a few photos of course, so you would have a better idea of what its like.
I had been thinking this morning how life here has everything I need. Well, almost everything...there is no comfortable couch in my room - and that is really hard to replace. But less than 10 hours later, I find out the bar next door to my hotel has these amazing chairs on the beach.
And when I say amazing, I mean I could lay on them like the couch at home. I could have sat (lain) there all night, but I wanted to have dinner and go the Tropical Murphy's 6-yr anniversary party. I skipped the last part as I was feeling bloated from the beers on the beach and the untasty dinner I had. Oh well - there is always tomorrow. and the day after. and the day after...I am sure you get the idea.
Here is a look at the Three Monkey's Pub...and also another view of the beach:
March 29, 2007
Koh Samui!
Well, I made it to the beach. Actually, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, thanks to my own poor planning (?). On Tuesday night, I met Glenn for a few drinks at Mermaid Pub. Unfortunately, it was more than a few. I blame Delon, who showed up soon after and insisted on ordering round after round. Ha ha, I might be a bit fuzzy on the details (on who was ordering).
Anyway, it was past midnight and I had to be at Tokyo Station at 7:15am for my flight. I was absolutely not worried about this because all of my bags were packed and I knew I could make up any lost sleep on the plane.
Well, I woke up at 6:55am. Somehow, I managed to get out of bed, changed, and down to Tokyo Station in 21 minutes. Unfortunately, that was one minute late. No worries - I took the next train.
Flights were nice - I had a whole row to myself on the Thai Airways flight, so I could stretch out a little. There was an absolutely awful Ben Affleck movie on, however, which made the flight time seem twice as long.
And I saw the new airport in Bangkok. Woo.
I made it to Koh Samui in time for a drink at sunset, although I was on the wrong side of the island to actually see it. This is the view I had from the hotel bar...
After my welcome drink, I ran my errands for the week, namely buying sunscreen and finding the bookstore and Irish pub. I ate dinner at the Three Monkeys Bar and Restaurant. I mean, really, I almost HAD TO, considering the whole theme of this website. Thankfully, it was good.
And now I am off to breakfast! Here is the sunrise over Chaweng Beach...
March 24, 2007
Hiroshima/Miyajima again (も一度広島と宮島へ行きました)
I took a few days to head off to Hiroshima and Miyajima - a repeat of a trip I took last year at the same time. I really like it down there - it is super relaxing compared to Tokyo and Miyajima is one of the three best sights in Japan, so how can you go wrong.
Here is O-torii gate in front of Itsukushima Shrine at sunset...
This time I stayed at Ryoso Kawaguchi, which is just off the Omotesando Shotengai and close to the Five-Story pagoda. It is a small place, but the people are very nice and the food was absolutely incredible. Really! They also have the bath with the HOTTEST water, which means Japanese people should especially love it. I felt like a lobster, but I could ease myself in without embarassment, because the baths are all private.
As one does, I spent a lot of time walking around the main part of town taking pictures...here are a few more of the torii and also a wedding party that was at the shrine when I entered. There was also a documentary crew doing some filming...that was strange - even more strange was to see them two hours later in front of my hotel in Hiroshima. They may have been doing a documentary about me?
The highest point on Miyajima is Mt. Misen at 550m...more importantly, there is a monkey park at the top. I really need to catalogue all these monkey places someday. In any case, they have some new warning signs that are worthy of being shown - so cool! - and I saw a prayer/plaque that was so sad, I have to post it. The last picture is a monkey trying to escape from me - he does not know there is no where to go.
From Miyajima, I took a high-speed boat directly to the A-bomb dome (原爆ドーム）, that is a picture I took as we were arriving. I did not really spend much time sightseeing in Hiroshima - I walked over to the castle, but it was late in the afternoon and I decided I would save going in for some other time. One place I do have to mention is the Choco-cro/St. Mark's Cafe at the end of Hondori...because really this is the coolest branch they have. I went there last year also, but did not realise that there is a second floor that you reach by escalator or that there is a woman playing a grand piano when you get up there. I love that place.
Again, I stayed at the Hiroshima Aioi Ryokan. It is super convenient to everything and very quiet. Well, except for the company puting on the floor below mine and the whole "saying good night after drinking loads of sake" seemed to go on forever.
Posted by Kirk at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)March 11, 2007
My sister comes to Japan and we visit Kyoto
My sister Terri came to Japan for a week of holiday. Naturally, one of the things we did was visit Kyoto. Actually, we had a pretty full schedule while she was here and I wanted to write a lot about it and post some of the pictures, but I was off doing other things as soon as she left so I am late getting an entry up on the blog. And the more time goes by, the more I forgot what I wanted to write.
So, this will be quick, even though it was also my first visit to Kyoto despite being in Japan for over six years. All you need to know is that I really liked it and I hope to go back soon.
Pictures of kinkakuji and kiyomizu temple...
January 12, 2007
Snowy Durango
I spent Christmas at my sister's place in Durango. I took this from her front yard. It is really a winter wonderland isn't it? I just missed the first big storm of the season. The second arrived shortly after I left and now I hear the FOURTH big storm is on the way.
That is a lot of snow to shovel.
So, I had not been to Durango in maybe eight years...it is not as convenient to get to, especially when yoy are flying halfway around the world. Usually, we go to Pennsylvania to my other sister's place. This was a nice change. A bit cold, however.
It was great to see my sister and my niece. We watched a lot of videos, my sister cooked a fantastic turkey dinner, and I sat around a lot. Good holiday.
Posted by Kirk at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)January 09, 2007
Phoenix, Arizona
This is a picture of the Phoeniz/Scottsdale area from the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs. I did not stay there very long, one night on each side of my drive to Durango, but I would have stayed longer if I could - there was a nice little Mexican restaurant with an outside bar that I quite liked. (and it was much warmer than Tokyo or Durango!)
I did not eat at the locally famous restaurant in the hills above the hotel, but I did walk up there to get this picture. It was recommended by the man at the rental car desk when I asked for directions to the hotel. He told me he goes there every year on his birthday. Nice view.
January 05, 2007
Shiprock, New Mexico
I went to the US for Christmas, but left my laptop at home. It was a last minute decision and not very clever as I piled up a bunch of pictures and experiences that is too daunting to do all at once. So...I will drop a picture in every now and then for variety. This is Shiprock, New Mexico, which is about 70 miles from where my sister lives. It is pretty impressive. WHen you are driving, you can see it from 20, 30 miles away. It is that big. The town next to it is really not worth writing about. I stopped there and got a takeout coffee.
December 18, 2006
Off to America for the holiday
I am off to my sister's place in Colorado for a week or so. I am taking the laptop, but no guarantees that I will find an Internet connection. Will try to post a few entries if I can.
I just checked the weather forecast... -7 degrees and sporadic snow throughout the week. Cool.
Posted by Kirk at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)July 01, 2006
Lovely Los Cabos
This is the entry I have been meaning to write all day, if only because the pictures are so amazing.
To celebrate my brother-in-law Roger's final trip as a pilot for Continental Airlines, we flew with him to Los Cabos, Mexico. There were 14 people altogether: family (Sandy, Roger, Terri, Kaitlyn and Diane), flight crew (Adrianne, Marcie, Gary, Coleman) and friends (Michael, Marcus, Craig and Theresa). It was awesome.
We spent 24 hours at the Grand Baja Resort in Los Cabos. The views from the room were excellent, as was the beach:
It is off-season because it tends to get very hot (37C/100F), but it is a dry heat and there was plenty of water to swim in and plenty of drinks. I was drinking Coronas and I could not believe how fast they went down!
The margaritas deserve a special mention. They were very VERY strong and two or three of those were enough to knock you out. Quite a few people were on the margarita plan, which is why they are not too many more pictures published here - not sure I would ever get invited back if I published the family sleeping off their afternoon drinks in the convenient deck chairs surrounding the pool and restaurant!
Here are a few that are worthy. That is me and one of my Coronas on the left. That is my sister Terri and niece Kaitlyn on the right.
Other things that come to mind:
* The Mega Mart - this is one of the coolest supermarkets I have ever been to (in every sense of the word). In addition to being fully air conditioned, it was HUGE and it seemed like there was everything you would need.
We went on the morning that we were leaving, which was too bad as we could have used another few beers when all the restaurants at the hotel closed at 11pm. Ooops. There was also a nice man that offered me $200 to sit through a 90-minute meeting on time shares. Ha ha - no way.
* The official photographer! That was Craig, mentioned above, who took some great pictures of the entire trip including flights back and forth. He also lived in Japan a while back and it was fun to compare notes on what we know of Tokyo. His wife Theresa took over official photography duties for awhile (someone was asleep), although we had a hard time figuring out the camera.
* The flight crew - All those stories about airline employees knowing how to party??? True. They were good fun and so easy to hang out with. And good sports the next day when they had to take care of us on the flight back, while we slept everything off. I felt so lazy. Ha!
* Marcus - He came with Gary and it turns out he is a maitre'd at Plataforma, a really good Brazilian restaurant in New York City. By some sort of karmic coincidence, that is where the family went for dinner the last time we were all in New York (two-three years ago). He also smoked, so we had some leverage against the non-smokers in the group. Well, until they all passed out, heh heh.
I would write more, but we basically drank a lot and spent the next day laying around until we had to fly back. I love that sort of holiday. Now that I am not longer employed (are you still reading this far? More on that later!), I should be doing things like that more often.
We are back in Easton, PA now and I will spend the weekend here before flying back to Japan. So, if you are in Tokyo - see you soon. It is time to explore the beaches there!
Posted by Kirk at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)Easton flood zone
It has been a few days since I updated this, mostly because everything has been moving so fast (or I have been very slow?) since I finally got to my sister's place in Easton.
There has been a tremendous amount of rain over the last week and there were worries that the rivers would spill over their banks and flood parts of the town. On Tuesday, my sister Sandy and I went to investigate. As you can see, the water was running pretty high and some places that should not have been underwater actually were.
That was pretty exciting, but it got much worse. We were in Mexico, so we missed most of it. When we got back last night, however, we walked around and checked it out. This was the fourth-worst flood for Easton ever, and more ominously, the third time in two years that the rivers (Delaware, Lehigh and Bushkill) had jumped their banks.
The waters receded today, but a lot of people are busy cleaning up. Terrible.
Posted by Kirk at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)June 26, 2006
Honolulu - dodgy wireless
This will be short entry, thanks to the dodgy wireless connection here. Argghhh - ten minutes of writing up in smoke.
I am over halfway through the trip now. I left my apartment 24 hours ago and I have about 13-14 hours to go.
I am in Honolulu now - I love Hawaii, I wish I could stay longer. But I do not love flying from Guam to Hawaii. Everyone sitting around me was huge. Except for the baby that kept crying. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep!
Two more hours until my flight and then nine hours in the air and another two hours to mys sister's place in PA.
Anyway, I will upload some lame photos later.
Posted by Kirk at 02:42 PM | Comments (1)A tour of the Pacific...
I am on my way to the US. Does that seem strange? You would expect me to write “I am going to the US” or “I came to the US”…there is not really much opportunity to update the blog en-route, right?
If you are flying to Newark via Guam and Honolulu, however, there is plenty of time. I could go into to the whole long story (I will later). For now, it is enough to say that I am traveling on a free ticket and sometimes you have to compromise. So, here I am at 3am at the airport in Guam, the surprisingly busy airport in Guam, updating you on my travels.
TOKYO-NAGOYA
I left home at 3pm (Sunday) and headed over to Tokyo Station. After a quick stop at Maruzen (the best bookstore in Tokyo), I caught the 4pm train to Nagoya. Total trip time from my house to Nagoya Airport was just over three hours, including the bookstore. Considering it can take two hours to get to Narita sometimes, this is really not bad at all. And the airport is SO MUCH NICER than Narita. It helps that it is newer. And empty. It would have been nice to have some options for dinner, but then again I could probably do without an extra meal every now and then. In any case, here are some pictures that I took by the gate…8pm on Sunday night and no one around at all.
An extra bonus: complementary upgrade to first class. My sister said that would happen. She is brilliant. She is also the one that sent me on this mad trek across the Pacific, so it balances out.
GUAM
The flight landed at 1230am and the airport was empty. I think the people in passport control and customs were actually happy to see me as it gave them something to do. I wandered around the public areas for awhile, searching in vain for a newsstand or coffee shop, but there was nothing open. Considering my connecting flight leaves at 6am, this was not a good development. But one of the workers assured me that the shops on the other side of security were open. And they were (are). There are flights leaving all night, so the food court and duty free are all open.
And there are lots of tourists groups moving in and out of the airport. At 1am it was absolutely quiet, but some flights have come in and others are leaving so the place is picking up. As far as I can tell, you can buy a drink anytime (usually bars close at 1-2am in the US and this is a US territory), which is a pleasant surprise. Well, almost pleasant as I told myself I would not have any drinks. It is nice to know I could, however.
I bought a few t-shirts in duty free, more to kill time than anything else. Talk about a captive audience! Here are a couple of pictures from where I have parked myself in the food court. The restaurant I am sitting in front of us is called “Big Nama”, referring to draft beer and kind of a kitschy take off on Japanese drinking bars. Lovely.
April 08, 2006
Miyajima (宮島) and Hiroshima (広島)
Here is some more on the my holiday getaway. Like I mentioned before, I travelled down to the Hiroshima area. I spent the first day in Miyajima, about 30 minutes from Hiroshima by train and ferry, and the next day in the city itself.
Miyajima
I covered the high points in my last post. Miyajima is known for being very beautiful. There are also deer everywhere, which I cover below. Many people make a day trip out of it, so it is super busy during the day, but after 5pm it is almost deserted and all the shops and restaurants close down. It was SO QUIET! Also, spending more time there gives you a chance to walk around and see more of the island than you would otherwise do.
On the first day, I walked around the main street and then headed up the mountain by cable car to the Mt. Misen monkey park and some amazing views.
I stayed at the Miyajima Hotel Kinsuiken (Annex), which is conveniently located across the street from the ferry landing, although Miyajima is so small that nothing is really far away.
On the second day, I roamed the hills above town, which is where the really good views are located. It is also where many of the cherry trees are, which undoubtedly made it nicer. Around mid-morning, I chanced upon the restaurant that I mentioned in the last post. It was awesome - you could see everything in town from there. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, and one of the three beautiful Japan views was laid out on front of me. And there was no one else there...just me and the owner. I could have stayed all day, but I will settle for going back again someday. This is the view...
My next stop after that was the Daisho-in Temple. It is named after Kobo Daishi, who appears to be some sort of super Buddhist in Japan...I am sure someone else could so a much better job of describing him, so I will leave it to you to find out more on your own. As for the temple...it was very nice. Here are a few pictures:
Don't feed the deer
Miyajima has a reputation for its deer population. Everywhere you go, they are walking around (in the way). And you are supposed to be careful that you do not let them get a hold of any papers that you have out because they will eat them – there are signs warning visitors to be careful. And with good reason…every deer that looked at me seemed to be sizing me up (yeah, he looks weak…if I get hungry enough, I can take him). Here are the deer getting ready to attack some poor tourists (left) and what they looked like after feeding (right).
Anyway, the “do not feed the deer your important documents” campaign has obviously worked. I did not see anyone lose their passport, guidebook or cash. But I did see a deer go after a sign in front of one of the shops. Not only did it knock the signboard over, it tore the paper that was on it off and ate it. And whilst I thought that would be the deer highlight of the day, I was wrong. Later that night at the (empty) ferry station, there were two deer having a go at the garbage cans. They would get up on the hind legs and stick their snout through the lid and see what they could find. After checking all the cans in front of the station with nothing to show for their efforts, one of them walked into the station, went over to the phone booth and ripped the phone book off its cord. As I left them, they were merrily chomping away. I wonder how many times they have to replace that phone book…
Some last pictures of Miyajima
On the left...this could be the world's largest rice spoon. It is about 10 meters long. There was no corresponding rice cooker, although it may have been SO big, I missed it. And on the right, this is a stairway off the main plaza leading to some of the trails in the hills behind town. Not easy to spot unless someone takes a picture of it so you know what to look for (you can thank me later).
And, finally...one more picture of O-Torii Gate. I think this is my best one, so you get the extra large size...
Hiroshima
I have much fewer pictures from Hiroshima, I am not sure whether this is because I took so many in Miyajima or because I slept a lot more, but it is too bad because it really is a beautiful city.
In any case, I arrived from Miyajima in the afternoon and spent a few hours orienting myself, i.e. having coffee, finding the hotel and walking around. I stayed at the Hiroshima Aioi Inn, which is possibly the closest structure to the Peace Dome (原爆ドーム), as you will see below. I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which was a bit sobering, but the cherry blossoms were blooming in the Peace Park and the festive atmosphere added some cheer to offset that.
The ryokan was fantastic and I could not recommend it more. The staff were very friendly and the food was excellent. I had the full Japanese dinner and I was so full when I finished I could not do anything. I mean it! I had planned to go for a walk on Hondori (see below) or, at the very least, go to the 7th-floor vending machines and buy a beer. Instead, I went to sleep sometime after 9pm. I think I was still full in the morning. This is my room...and the view from the room.
Fortunately, the breakfast was smaller and I was able to get up afterwards and walk around. I wandered around Hiroshima for awhile. It is very relaxing. I stopped in a few scenic places and read for awhile. It is not a very frantic city, and it seemed OK to just stop what you were doing and hang out. I could get used to that. The pictures below include a row of cafes on one of the riverbanks...unfortunately closed (!) when I walked by, and a view from one of the places I stopped to read.
Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention one of the major shopping areas called Hondori (本道), which was absolutely charming and so much fun to walk around. From 12-8pm it is a pedestrian street and the whole area is covered. It ends at the peace park only 100m from my hotel and one of the shops at that end is a Choco Cro (St Marks Cafe), which only adds to the appeal. It seems like a lot of people in Hiroshima commute by bicycle and many of them use this street. It was very busy.
Posted by Kirk at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)April 07, 2006
A quiet, relaxing break
I tried to get an Internet connection in Hiroshima, but there was not one available when I turned my computer on so I gave up. I have tons of pictures and lots to talk about, but I will stick to the highlights for now and take care of the detail work later.
Miyajima is really, really cool. I stayed on Wednesday night and spent that afternoon and Thursday morning sight-seeing. Among the highlights...The monkey park at Mt. Misen, including this happy monkey and some good advice for monkey watchers.
And more photos of the islands' attractions, including the five-story pagoda and another pagoda, cherry blossoms and O-Torii Gate.
I also need to show two of my favourite places in Miyajima...first, my single room at the ryokan (more on that later) and a small restaurant in the hills above town (yep...more on that later).
I better go edit some photos...
March 19, 2006
Sleepy Yudanaka (湯田中）
I went to Yudanaka on Thursday afternoon - it was a quick trip, only twenty four hours. Because it takes three hours to get back and forth, it may sound short...but I like the train, so I did not mind at all.
Yudanaka is an onsen resort in the mountains near Nagano - it is the gateway to the Shiga Kogen ski area (home of the 1998 winter olympics!) and there is also a monkey hot springs (Jigokudani Yaenkoen - 地獄谷野猿公苑), which is why I went. To get there, you can take the Nagano Shinkansen to Nagano and transfer to the Nagaden Line for Yudanaka.
I stayed at Shimaya Ryokan, which I found through an Internet search. It is a nice place and you cannot beat the price (Y5,500/person). The owner speaks some English and was super helpful...he even gave me a ride to the monkey park on Friday morning (more on that later).
Here is a picture of the Ryokan sign (I took it from the window of my room) and the room itself (for the gossiping women in my office - notice there is only one futon).
I was the ONLY GUEST that night, so I got a lot of attention from the owner. I tried to slip out and grab a bite to eat, but he pulled out all these brochures of where to eat. After letting me look at them for awhile, he told me to go around the corner to Yamaguchiya. In fact, he seemed to be insisting that I go there. So, I did.
It was a very old place - if you are looking for the traditional Japan, this is where you want to be. There were four old guys in the corner getting absolutely hammered, an old woman who apparently did all the cooking and serving, and me (reading a book).
I had breakfast the next morning at the inn...it was kind of creepy walking to the bath and the dining room and not seeing anyone...and headed off to the monkey park. Overnight it had started raining/snowing, so I was wondering whether to wait it out or not, but the inn's owner insisted I should go up then because it would be beautiful and the monkeys would be in the hot spring.
So, off we went. He could only give me a ride to the monkey onsen and not back as he would be driving to Tokyo later for his daugheer's college graduation, but he showed me where to catch the bus back to Yudanaka Station, so that was OK.
What he did not tell me at first was that there was a 1.6km walk up the mountain to get to the actual place. This is what I saw when he dropped me off. That was a bit disturbing because the snow was coming down harder now and it was much windier than it had been in town.
In fact, I had serious doubts about wanting to see the monkeys once I started walking. Of course, by that time it was too late to turn around. And, of course it was worth it. This is a sign directing me to the park...I am not sure what the buildings are in the picture on the right and I did not see anyone up and about when I walked past.
And here are some pictures of the monkeys! Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating and I was so cold that I could not get very many steady pictures. It did not help that the monkeys seemed to sense when I would take a picture and move as soon as I shot the picture. I think I took 30 pictures...these two are the best. (there is a live webcam here that can give you an idea of what is like now...much nicer!)
And then it was back down the mountain...I think there must be an easier way because there were three-four people at the park when i was there, but no one had been using the trail I was on and I saw some of the same people at the train station an hour later even though they had never passed me. I might have to have another chat with the owner of the inn!
I got to the bus stop just in time to see the bus heading off towards the station...not good as it only runs once an hour. I figured I could get a coffee somewhere and wait, but as I looked around there did not seem to be anything open. I walked farther down the hill as the snow turned into sleet and saw a museum/restaurant, which would do the trick for me. But somehow...at 10am in the middle of nowhere...the restaurant was "reserved" and no seats were available.
Eventually, I asked the museum staff to call me a taxi and I went back to Yudanaka to catch my train. I had the best cup of coffee ever in this coffee shop, while I waited an hour for the next train.
That was Yudanaka. I was completely soaked so I did not stop anywhere on the way back to Tokyo. Good trip.
Posted by Kirk at 10:17 AM | Comments (3)March 17, 2006
A day of two halves?
I am back from a quick (overnight) trip to Yudanaka. I will write about it in detail and post more pics, but thought I could tease you a bit first. The picture on the left was taken in the mountains above Yudanaka at 945am...on the right is the view from my balcony at 3pm. Snowstorm in the morning - spring in the afternoon...amazing where a three-hour train ride will take you.
March 10, 2006
Yuzawa Kogen Ski Resort
I am back in Tokyo now...whew. It only took 66 minutes on the train and I slept most of the way. What a shock: I left cold weather and snow on the ground and returned to...cold weather and rain.
Anyway, yesterday I went up to Yuzawa Kogen Ski Resort. It is amazing how easy it is to get around that town, probably because there is nothing else there. I walked about 0.5km, bought a ticket on the gondola and off I went.
It was beautiful as you can see...here are some pictures. Looking at them now, I cannot believe I was just there 90 minutes ago!
This last picture is taken from the gondola station at the top, looking down on Echigo Yuzawa and the rest of the valley. The buildings towards the bottom are the town itself - there are other ski resorts as you move down the valley.
It was not very crowded on Wednesday and Thursday, but this morning was crazy. I could not believe how many people got off the train between 7-8am...that was by far the busiest time of the whole trip. I am not sure I was ready to come back...then again with a 140 minute round trip, there is no reason I can't get back there soon.
Posted by Kirk at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)March 09, 2006
Hatago Isen - Echigo Yuzawa
This is where I am staying during my few days in Echigo Yuzawa. It is called Hatago Isen and it is a fantastically good ryokan (Japanese inn). They renovated the place in October and it is really impressive.
You can see the entrance in the picture below along with a shot of my room.
The baths are on the top floor of the building and look out at the mountains across the valley. The only possible downside to the place is that the train station is right across the street (then again, it makes it easy to find!), which you see when you stand up in the bath.
There is also a very good kissaten in the lobby - the coffee is excellent. When I got here yesterday, I walked around trying to find a coffee place before I checked in...I felt slightly ridiculous when I finally entered the ryokan and realised the best coffee in town was at the place I was staying. Ooops.
I should thank the people at We Love Snow, who have put together a website that makes travel to Echigo Yuzawa very easy for foreigners that do not speak Japanese. Hmmm - wonder what their neighbours think about that. In any case, that is how I found this place and why I decided to spend a few days here. (if you ever see this...thanks!)
I took some pictures from the mountain - will post those later.
Posted by Kirk at 05:50 PM | Comments (1)Sunny Yuzawa
I woke up early and had a bath already. I did not set my keitai alarm right, but I went to sleep so early that it did not matter.
As you can see it is beautiful outside this morning. It was cloudy when I got here yesterday, but the sun is shining now...looks great. Actually, I had to do a bit of work to get rid of the rental car company sign and the parking lot before I posted this - selective perception, but you get the idea.
I will go take some pictures before I have my breakfast. Then we will see what the day brings.
Posted by Kirk at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)March 08, 2006
Echigo Yuzawa
How is this for a change? I am in Echigo Yuzawa for a few days. I arrived this afternoon, escaping the warm weather in Tokyo just in time.
It must have been 16 degrees when I left there - So, I suffered through a miserable week in London and ten days of terrible weather in Tokyo, only to run off to the mountains at the first sign of any decent weather? Well, I booked in advance and bad timing is the story of my life.
In any case, it is nice up here...cold, but it is supposed to be. And very relaxing. I checked into the hotel around 4pm, took a bath, and sat in the coffee shop downstairs and read my book. It is very quiet and calm. In fact, I am torn between reading some more or watching a DVD now...exciting life, right?
But it is very good to get away from Tokyo for a few days so I can get my head on straight. I am here until Friday - let's hope I can do it by then.
Here are a few pictures of Echigo Yuzawa that I took when I got off the train. The first one shows the mountains behind the town - these are bunny slopes for kids to practice skiing on. The second is a giant snowman...and, no, I did not make it. That big concrete thing in the background is the tracks for the bullet train (shinkansen). Did you know it only takes 77 minutes to get here from Tokyo? Amazing!
I will put some pictures of the ryokan I am staying at along with an Internet link tomorrow. This is a fantastic place and I want you to be jealous.
Posted by Kirk at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)February 26, 2006
Two great London pubs
I told you I would write about this! I went out with Glenn for my last night out in London. We met up at De Hems on Macclesfield Street, a Dutch pub snuggled in between Soho and Chinatown. Probably, this is a great pub if you are Dutch - it is simply excellent otherwise with good beer like Oranjeboom and Grolsch on tap. In the summer, the front windows are open and there is lots of room out front, but even in winter it was a good place to start the evening.
Despite a good bar menu, after a few (3?) pints, we popped into a casual Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown for a bite to eat. The menu looked suspiciously Chinese, but the waiter assured us the cook was Vietnamese and that the food, therefore, was Vietnamese. It is hard to argue with logic like that. In any case, it was filling, which is all we needed.
We finished the night at Dover Castle, which is on Weymouth Mews in between Marylebone High Street and Oxford Circus. As should be expected, the beer was very good (I guess you should assume if I write about it, this is likely the case) and very cozy. It felt more like a country pub, although I am not sure whether that is because it was tucked away on a mews with little outside traffic, that there was not a truly level surface in the place, or that there was an odd mix of people.
The worst part about the last pub is that it was a three-minute walk to my hotel, which is good...but why did I have to find it on my LAST night in town?
By the way, the picture and the links are from www.fancyapint.com, which is a highly recommended starting point if you are at a loss on where to do your London drinking.
Posted by Kirk at 05:51 PM | Comments (0)February 25, 2006
Back in Tokyo now
Can I start this year all over again? It has been a horrible two months to start off 2006 - starting to wonder what else could possibly go wrong. But life usually has a way of reminding you, so I am not wondering too much. The good news is that I am back in Tokyo after a four days in Barcelona and ten days in London. Whew...it is nice to be home.
I was told it could be snowing in Tokyo when I got here, but it was at least 10 degrees and very sunny. What was that all about.
Hit two great pubs last night in London...will write more about that later. No, really, I mean it this time.
Posted by Kirk at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)February 09, 2006
Off to London now
I am leaving for London this morning. I will spend the next few days there before traveling down to Barcelona for four days. Unfortunately, that is work-related, but it could be worse, right?
Posted by Kirk at 06:35 AM | Comments (0)January 27, 2006
Shelter Island boat launch
This picture has been sitting my camera since I returned and I finally got around to putting it on the laptop...and from there onto this site. I also had a few pictures from Saturday's travel nightmare, but there is probably no need for you to see a lot of disgruntled half-asleep travelers moping around Narita airport.
This is a view of downtown San Diego from Shelter Island. We stayed at the Humphrey's Half Moon Inn for a few days before leaving, which is a quality hotel that is surprisingly affordable. You should consider it if you ever take a San Diego holiday.
There are also a few good restaurants around, including Boll Weevil which serves up some of the best hamburgers I have ever had anywhere, and Fiddler's Green - which seems to be the boat industry (yacht builders/sailors) local and has good clam chowder and steaks.
Posted by Kirk at 08:10 AM | Comments (2)January 24, 2006
Imperial Beach sunset
This is Imperial Beach (IB), California at sunset. This is where I grew up - I did not realise at the time how lucky I was to live where I did. Cool, isn't it? That big wooden thing is the IB pier - it used to be bigger, but one of the winter storms knocked it down and they rebuilt this more compact version.
IB is a sleepy town despite being its location and has managed to avoid all the massive buildup that other beach communities have seen over the last twenty-thirty years. The only tourist event of note is an annual sand castle building competition - it was not such a big thing when I lived there. Anyway, it is a cool place and I was happy to be back, even if it was for a short time.
I went there with my brother and sister - we had a coffee at one of the restaurants just off the beach and walked around for awhile talking about how things had changed etc. It was good fun.
Here is another picture of the pier from earlier in the day. It is amazing how few people there are...
January 22, 2006
Narita nightmare
Sorry - I have been off-line for awhile. I will update this with the reasons why soon, but in the meantime I have to go through my experiences getting back to Japan. It is surreal.
I have been in San Diego for the last week. I left Friday...total flight time is 14 hours, so I was not looking forward to it. If only it was that easy.
My flight left at 730am from San Diego. That was uneventful - great weather, no delays etc. I made it to San Francisco by 9am. This is where things get crazy. The first thing I noticed was that my 1050am flight had been delayed until 2pm. Not a good sign. And when I got to the check in counter, it was even worse because they were saying the actual delay could be closer to eight hours.
I briefly thought it would be nice to spend some time in San Francisco, but arriving at Narita at 11pm did not appeal to me, so I took the option of switching to a different airline. They put me on a Northwest flight that left at 12pm - I would only be an hour late (430pm) getting into Tokyo. It sounded good to me.
My colleagues back in Tokyo warned that there would be snow on Saturday afternoon, but I did not think much of it. That would prove to be a big mistake.
The flight was uneventful...I slept a little, watched a few movies and read my book. Sort of like the quiet before the storm.
HMMM...IS THIS NORMAL?
We were put into a holding pattern as we arrived in Tokyo. Circling around in stormy weather is not my idea of a good time, but it only lasted 30 minutes so that was not so bad. And, eventually, we were cleared to land. It was snowing pretty heavily and we did not break through the cloud cover until we had almost landed.
I was quite happy when we were on the ground.
Unfortunately, our gate was still being used by an outbound plane so we were directed to park out on the tarmac. Because of the weather they need to de-ice the planes before take-off and it was taking longer than they thought.
What they didn't tell us is that they did not have enough de-icing equipment and that no flights were taking off. Eventually we found that out. In fact, we had a lot of time to think about it.
We landed at 430pm - we exited the plane at 1045pm. That is right - more than SIX HOURS on the tarmac. How can you explain that? The flight crew were excellent and everyone remained fairly calm, but you had to wonder why no one would come and take us in. (I found out later that it could have been worse...one flight actually got to the gate, but there was no one to move the jetway up to the plane. They waited eight hours...)
Needless to say, it did not get any better - passport control and immigration were packed with late arrivals and people from cancelled flights. It took 45 minutes to get through.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
And it was still not over. Because the trains and busses had stopped running. the only option for leaving Narita Airport (70km from Tokyo) was by taxi. I assumed the Y25,000 fare to central Tokyo would put people off. But there were 200 people in line. I waited 90 minutes and saw three taxis arrive. Meanwhile, empty buses were parked all over the place.
I popped back into the terminal to warm up and bought a few beers from the only place that was open. There were hundreds of people in the arrivals lobby and someone had passed out a few blankets. I had resigned myself to sleeping on the floor and getting an early train.
Sometime around 3am I managed to jump onto a charter bus taking a group of people to Makuhari/Tokyo Disneyland, which is more than halfway to Tokyo. Most of those had been given rooms by the airline (not available for me as I was not connecting to another flight) and we were told that only people going to the hotel could catch that bus. Which was not much of a problem.
"I'm sorry, you can only take this bus if you have a reservation..."
"I do!"
"OK..."
Once we got to the hotel, I shared a taxi to Shinjuku Station and then took another from there to Akasaka, somehow managing to find the only taxi driver in Tokyo who did not know where Akasaka was. So, I got to see Omotesando and Roppongi on the way. I arrived home at 5am. Madness.
WE HAD A PLAN, BUT IT WAS THE WRONG ONE
Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world, but a simple snowstorm closed the airport and left thousands of people stranded. There were solutions, but the people in charge were incapable of acting on their own initiative when contingency plans proved inadequate. This is the same week that the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed because it could not handle heavy trading volumes. Draw your own conclusions.
January 13, 2006
I have arrived in Seoul
OK...I am in Seoul. I was telling everyone that the weather would be better than expected - and it is if you look at the temperature (2 degrees). But it is rainy and foggy, which is not exactly holiday weather. Anyway - I will hang out at the hotel for now, but I am meeting a friend later for dinner and drinks.
On my way from the airport to the hotel, I took this picture of a park from the taxi. It has no historical or personal significance...it was just there and I had my camera out.
As for the taxi ride, I am probably lucky to be alive considering the driver. He seemed to have an aversion to stopping, which is not good when there is heavy traffic. And he also took me to the wrong hotel - surprisingly, I knew where I was in relation to the right hotel and could point which way to go. HE kept pointing at his head and saying something in Korean. I probably do not want to know.
Anyway - it is nice to be on holiday. And I have three days to find out if there is anything worth doing in Seoul. I will explain why that is important later.
Posted by Kirk at 01:01 PM | Comments (2)Weekend getaway
Ha! it is Friday and I am not working...I like that!
I am off to Korea to hang out for the weekend. I know it seems like a strange place to go. More on that later, including pictures (hopefully!)
Posted by Kirk at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)December 17, 2005
Blustery Germany
I finished the work week in Germany with meetings in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf before flying back to London. I am glad to have that behind me and can now look forward to a weekend of Christmas shopping...wait, can I work some more?
Anyway, I do not have too much to say about today. It was cold and drizzly in Germany and the icy rain was supposed to turn into snow at some point, so I am glad to gave got away. But my increasing aversion to flying is not helped by inclement weather at all.
These pictures are from Frankfurt. On the left is the opera house, which was very close to my hotel and a nice walk to start the morning. On the right is a sign from a coffee place - seems there are some Liverpool fans in Germany as I cannot think of any reason why this would help them sell coffee!
Just to recap the week:
Monday - London
Tuesday - Oslo
Wednesday - Amsterdam, Rotterdam
Thursday - Brussels
Friday - Frankfurt, Dusseldorf
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
Posted by Kirk at 06:58 AM | Comments (0)December 15, 2005
Amsterdam to start, and arrival in Brussels
We spent the day driving around the Netherlands. I put Amsterdam in the title, but we actually shuffled back and forth between Den Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. One of the pictures below is taken in Amsterdam Port and will always be memorable to me for being very cold. And for having lots of shoe stores (long story). The other is taken on the road from Den Hague to Brussels, which is where I am now.
The latter took about three and a half hours - this another part of the world where there are too many cars and too few roads, or both. Throw in a few accidents and Christmas celebrations in the center of Brussels and a barely tolerable drive turns into a marathon of monotony.
But it is good to be here. The aforementioned celebrations are excellent. The main square is chock full of old buildings with plenty of restaurants and bars. And there are some impressive Christmas tree displays and they lit up the old cathedral with a light show that was fun to watch. As always, my photography skills were not up to the task, so you have to take my word for it. But, I wouldn't mind having a day off to spend here (that is a subtle hint that this is indeed a working trip). In fact, we have a full slate of meetings before I head off to Germany tomorrow to finish the week.
Suprisingly, one of my colleagues Yoko is in holiday in Germany now, but it looks like we will miss each other. (Yoko, if you are reading this...it is all poor planning on your part).
Posted by Kirk at 06:59 AM | Comments (0)December 14, 2005
Oslo...for now
I spent the day in Oslo, well at least part of it. Actually, I had to fly out at 7am from London, which meant leaving the hotel at 530am. Normally that would be a problem, but jet lag is working in my favor, so I was up at 415am after going to bed at 8pm the night before. That is pretty scary...
Even worse, I am on my way to Amsterdam now, which means I will have spent more time at airports and on airplanes that in Oslo itself. That is not really the ideal situation.
But it was quality time. The weather is not too bad (-4C...everyone keeps saying that is warm!) and there is some snow on the ground, so it is all very pretty. Here are a few pictures of the main shopping street - with only five hours on the ground here, there was not time for much else.
December 12, 2005
Have my priorities mixed up
It is a balmy 2C in London this morning and the forecast is for drizzle, including some of the soot from that fuel depot fire that started yesterday.
This reminded me that I was in Singapore last weekend, where it was 30C+ and I could look at this:
Probably this will be a long week.
And now in London
I am back in London now. It is a bit cold, but more to the point there was a huge explosion at a fuel depot here and the sky to the north of the city is filled with black smoke. We got a good look at it coming in on the flight...it is massive.
Other than that, everything seems normal for this time of year - lots of shoppers out taking care of their Christmas business and the like.
I will meet Glenn for a few drinks and dinner later and get the scoop on how life in London is treating him. That pretty much wraps up the weekend.
Posted by Kirk at 02:01 AM | Comments (0)December 11, 2005
Oh no...Narita again.
I am back in Narita Airport, barely 48 hours after my last visit.
I am omy my way to Europe (again!). It is a busy week ahead: I will start in London on Monday, but travel on to Oslo, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf the rest of the week. Whew...
I had a reminder of why it is important to check through your travel documents. Nothing too scary, but I arrived at Tokyo Station at 745am for my 8am train. Um, er, my 830am train, I mean. I tried to change my ticket for the earlier train but it was sold out. Yes...the 8am train on Sunday. I did not mind too much, because I had overslept and had to rush out of the apartment without a coffee or breakfast or anything, and I figured I could use the extra time to take care of that.
Anyone been to Tokyo Station on Sunday morning at 8am?
There is nothing open except convenience stores...no coffee shops, no chocolate croissant stands...nothing. It was a very long 45 minutes!
Posted by Kirk at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)December 10, 2005
Paradoxical Beijing
We spent Thursday in Beijing. I would have liked to update the blog while I was there, but there is not full Internet connectivity there. Sometimes it connected, but most of the time it did not (seemingly whenever I considered creating a new blog entry).
In any case, it was below freezing the whole time we were there, which was not usually a problem as we were in meetings and not hiking through the city. But it certainly contrasted with Singapore earlier in the week.
I did not get out to see any of the city this time around, although I did notice that there has been a lot of construction over the last twelve months - Beijing rivals Tokyo for the number of buildings that are going up. They have the Olympics in 2008 and the government seems committed to making the city a showcase before then. I did take this picture from our car as we passed Tiananmen Square - it is the entrance to the Forbidden City and Mao is prominently displayed.
Despite all the modernisation, one of the primary methods of transport is bicycle (although not nearly as predominant as it used to be). And this is where bicyclists go if they need tires, air, or whatever else it takes to keep your two-wheeled transport on the go. I do not think there will be too many of these left in 2008!
By the way, one of the coolest restaurants in the world is in Beijing and we went there. It is the Red Capital Club, and never mind the teasingly irreverant attitude. It is the site and the food that are important. It is tucked away down an alleyway and impossible to find unless you have directions. There is not any walk-in traffic. As we went at night and I am useless with the camera then, there are no pictures.
We had a good dinner and tucked ourselves away in the bar for a few bottles of Chinese wine. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I had one of the all-time worst hangovers when I woke up the next morning (after four hours sleep, so maybe it is my fault). I was on my way to the airport and it was one of the longest taxi rides I had.
Posted by Kirk at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)December 07, 2005
Hong Kong...it is cold!
We made it to Hong Kong today. I was very surprised to see the temperature was only 13C (56F)! That is quite a change from Singapore and (I think) unseasonably cold for HK. Of course, it is only going to get worse as the forecast for Beijing is -10C to 0C (18-32F). I suppose it is winter, so I should not be too shocked.
Anyway, we had a few meetings during the day (work stuff - boring) before heading off to the Felix restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel. Now this is an amazing restaurant and well worth a visit when you are in Hong Kong. It is a bit pretentious, but it reminded me of New York, so I was happy to be there. It was good enough that we returned to the hotel afterwards and did not even make it up the hill to Lan Kwai Fong for a nightcap.
We are staying at the Mandarin Oriental, which is one of my favourite hotels in the world. It is closing at the end of this month for a $140m refurbishment and will not open again until September 2006 (if that!), so I am glad we had a chance to stop by. This is the view from my super cool room on the 21st floor...on the left, Victoria Harbor...on the right, Central Hong Kong. Lovely.
I tried to get some pictures from the Star Ferry of HK at night, but my camera is useless for night pictures. Or I am useless with my camera at night. Something like that.
Posted by Kirk at 12:29 AM | Comments (0)December 04, 2005
A sunny day in Singapore
It was a really nice day today, so I spent the morning walking around to take pictures (the result is below). In the evening, we went to the Raffles Hotel for drinks and dinner. The Long Bar at Raffles is where the Singapore Sling was first made...we did not go there, but we did spend time in the courtyard bar before heading off to dinner at one of the restaurants. I have to say that I love that hotel, even though I am wondering where they could find space to put any rooms as there are so many shops there.
Anyway, here are some pictures...on the left is the Merlion, which is a Singapore landmark. It was looking very impressive today, as you can see. On the right is Cavanagh Bridge...it is only used for pedestrian traffic now - I thought the sign was cool so I took a picture.
Singapore highlights
We have been recuperating from a week of meetings in Singapore. With 30 degree (86F) weather, it is not a bad place to spend the weekend.
On Friday night, we went out to dinner on Boat Quay at the Indochine restaurant at the Asian Civilisations Museum...this is a fantastic place and you should try it if you make it over here. Afterwards, we went to an Irish pub for a few drinks and then to their "sister nightclub" for a few more.
The photo on the left is the famous Singapore Sling...it tastes much better than Denki Bran. On the right is a girl dancing on the bar at the nightclub. She kind of flopped down soon afterwards, breaking a few glasses in the process. There seemed to be a lot of that...in the bar next to the restaurant, there was a kid that fell over at least twice...his friend did not seem to mind and we were enjoying the spectacle and wondering what he would do next. It was a strange night.
On Saturday, we did the Singapore tourist thing: Sentosa Island and its beaches during the day and the Night Safari in the evening. At the latter, you were not supposed to use the flash on your camera, so you will have to take my word for it. It was better than I thought it would be, so I wish I had something to show you. Instead I have posted a picture with a view from our hotel. I want to say that was taken from my room, but actually it is taken from a window next to the elevators.
Being in Singapore has been surreal at best, and surprising at least. The government executed a drug courier (Australian) on Friday morning that has generated a lot of press. I will leave the commentary to the Singapore blog community, but it has been in the background all weekend. As for suprising, I have not been in Singapore in four years and it is amazing how the restaurants and nightlife have improved.
Today is a free day and I will go to the pool soon, and later to Orchard Road for shopping (or browsing, maybe, as I do not really have enough room to buy anything). Then it is back to work...we have a week to finish up with Singapore and tour Hong Kong and Beijing before I get back home.
Posted by Kirk at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)December 02, 2005
Singapore Airlines - why can't they all be like this?
We were up early today (530am!) to fly from Seoul to Singapore. We went from crowded roads and zero degrees to easy driving and 32 degrees - what a difference seven hours makes! More important, however, is the brilliant time we had coming down.
I love Singapore Airlines. The service was terrific, the food was good and the plane was comfortable. And all provided by the lovely Singapore girls flight crew. It was glorious. I may have to fly through Singapore to London from now on!
And compare this to your airline: the entertainment system was not working on our flight today. To start, they made sure to tell us before we boarded the plane. And for compensation, they gave everyone a US$200 voucher to use for duty-free shopping or upgrades. Yes, you read that right...$200. I was not even going to watch the movies anyway and I spent more time looking at the shopping guide than I would have watching movies.
I bought a watch and a few odds and ends. And the girl gave me a nice mobile phone strap too. Probably I will never use any of it, but there were so good about the whole thing, you had to be happy about it.
Posted by Kirk at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)December 01, 2005
Seoul - cold and trafficy (is that a word?)
Seoul is a big crowded city. I have been here five or six times, but I can never figure out quite where I am. Also, there seems to be traffic jams no matter where you go...too many cars, too few roads, or something like that. I still like it, although I like it better when I am not in a car.
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the last couple of days. On the left, is the entrance to Gimpo Airport, which is actually the smaller (and older airport)...it benefits from being closer to the city. And it also has a kick-ass sign. On the right, is a picture taken in one of the business districts (looks cold, right?). I would have to look up the actual name of the location, but I am too lazy. This is in front of the Seoul Financial Centre. We had lunch there...it was good. There was also a Dunkin Donuts and I love donuts.
Anyway - we are off to Singapore tomorrow and will be there for the weekend. It will be much warmer than Korea. Woo hoo.
Posted by Kirk at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)November 30, 2005
Fujisan (富士山） and off to Korea
We flew to Seoul this morning...had to wake up terribly early to get to the airport and catch the flight, but it was worth it to catch this shot of Mt. Fuji from the airplane as we headed off to Korea.
We left from Haneda Airport instead of making the long trek out to Narita, which was good in terms of saving time traveling to the airport, but it is pretty clear that renovation is a low priority at the International terminal!
Anyway, this is the sunrise from my balcony this morning. This picture does not do it justice...it was very nice. And that is Mt. Fuji on the right, with considerably fewer clouds than usual.
It is colder here than in Tokyo...the low tonight will be below freezing. I went for a walk just after sunset and it seemed like you could feel the temperature falling! It's a good thing I like cold weather!
Posted by Kirk at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)October 18, 2005
Pictures of France in the album
You can find some of the pictures I took in France by clicking the button to the left or the one on the sidebar to the right. I did not add all of them - why do something today, if you can put it off for tomorrow (not promising anything about more pictures then, by the way). Hmmm, do you think the overcast, rainy weather in Tokyo has got me down?
October 15, 2005
Hokkaido - some of the pictures posted
I have posted some of the Hokkaido pictures...click this button here on the one on the sidebar to the right. It was really nice to take a look at these pictures again...made me remember what a good time it was.
Maybe you will also notice that I have made the page more exciting to look at by replacing the text links with actual pictures! I wish I could take credit for the monkey picture, but actually Aiko sent that to me. She took it in Nikko. Thanks Aiko.
I will add some more links to other galleries as I start to fill the albums up with pictures. You should go have a look!
UPDATE: I think I have all of them loaded now. There are 49 of them in the album...and I tried to leave some comments for each. Considering how long it has been and how bad my memory is, I did not do too bad. Good thing it is raining or I never would have got this finished.
Posted by Kirk at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)October 09, 2005
Tokyo here I come!
I am back in BA's Heathrow Terminal One Lounge...at least I am going home now!
Since the last time I was here, a new section of shops has been opened at Terminal One. It is really well done. I spent some time poking around to see where my next meal is coming from as I can only assume the BA/Gate Gourmet dilemma will keep me from eating something on the flight. That is probably a good thing.
I did not buy anything in the shops, but I will have to stop by to get some last minute omiyage for the office. They are getting chocolate, like always. Better to be safe than sorry.
My trip to the airport was the fastest ever, maybe 30 minutes. I thought the driver was late to my hotel and I told him I had considered taking a taxi - not that I was late - but he seemed to need to prove a point. Anyway, as you can see, not much happening today.
I will spend part of my flight thinking about what I want to cook when I get home. Maybe I should eat now...I seem to be focusing too much on food.
Anyway, here is one more picture of London...this is the Lamb and Flag pub, just off Covent Garden. I did not go there this time, but I thought this was a suitable farewell picture.
October 08, 2005
I am a lucky traveller
London has been consistently grey and cloudy over the last three weeks, which is a nice change from the heat and humidity of the summer in Tokyo. But I would not mind seeing a bit of blue sky or sun for a change.
The good news is that the weather forecast calls for sunshine and warm weather on Monday...28 degress in mid-October. The bad news is I will miss that as I am travelling back to Japan. I just checked the weather forecast. Yep, it is raining.
I took this picture in Zurich, where it was 8 degrees. It is all a matter of perspective. And, as you can see, the fog continues to find me wherever I go.
October 07, 2005
I forgot my wallet...
Some of you may remember that last week I mentioned a certain person who went to the airport with his baby's passport. I can report back that he is taking advantage of his reputation as much as he can. We popped out of the office for a quick lunch today. When the bill came, he pats down his pockets, realises they are empty, and says to me "I think I left my wallet back in the office!"
...considering his reputation, how could I not believe him? I wonder if he had his baby's wallet instead?
Anyway, he saved himself £11, which goes a little way towards paying for the £120 in extra cab charges he racked up.
I am back in London, but nothing going on
I got back to London on Tuesday night, but I have been too lazy to update this. The good news is I will return to Tokyo next week...so, the few of you who still read this are in the know. I am hoping I do not waste my entire three-day weekend on a plane (I already missed two in Japan by being here in London), but it looks like Sunday is the only day I can travel.
In any case, do not include me in any of your weekend plans. This weekend, at least.
I am going to make a list of things that I want to do when I get home. It should be obvious, but jet lag makes my already bad memory worse. Often times I get home after a trip and remember I wanted to cook, but I cannot think of what exactly I wanted. So, I make chicken stir fry and am vaguely unsatisfied. Bad example - I love chicken.
Anyway, I will try and get a few spectacular pictures of London to post on here before I leave. Depends on whether the weather cooperates (get it? weather, whether! I am so funny). It is cold and cloudy here and there is no indication that will change.
Posted by Kirk at 01:13 AM | Comments (0)October 03, 2005
Off to Zurich now
I am off to Zurich this morning - quick trip, leaving Monday morning and coming back Tuesday night. But, in the interest of travelling lightly...I am not taking my laptop, so it is unlikely I will be updating this!
Posted by Kirk at 02:21 PM | Comments (0)October 01, 2005
Lazy Saturday morning
Carrying on from my earlier post...after killing as much time as possible on the Internet, having a morning coffee and finishing the book I was reading, I went out for a walk. I do this to give the hotel's housekeepers an opportunity to clean my room, but it is mostly wishful thinking on my part as they know to only stop by when I am here. They seem to have an innate sense of who is absent, which allows them to skip that room and continue on to harass the guests that remain behind.
Anyway, I walked through Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square with my camera ready in case I came across something interesting. I didn't, but I took 20 pictures despite that, and this is the one I like the best. At least you are not getting another picture of an old building and a red double-decker bus (I will save those for next time).
Who can't travel alone?
I bet most of you are laughing and saying "that must be Kirk!"...but you are wrong. Sure, I have lost my passport once, mis-placed it twice, and lost my wallet too. But I am always traveling and over time the odds of this occurring naturally increase. Or I may be completely useless, but this is my blog, so I do not have to admit it.
What I have never, ever done is show up at the airport to head off with my mates for a stag weekend in Spain (who's the man? I am the man! etc) and try to check in using my baby's passport. Not only does he miss the first night's revelry, he has to pay an extra 120 quid to get back home and back and admit to his wife that he is the biggest monkey she could ever meet (which is why he gets another mention here).
I won't tell you who did that, because it is embarassing enough for him, especially as he has only been back in the UK for a short time after living in Japan for 18 months. You may remember his many sayonara parties.
Posted by Kirk at 12:26 AM | Comments (1)September 29, 2005
An especially good pub
I had a dilemma today. I had arranged to meet a former client for a drink tonight but we had never agreed to the details. Having about a thimble-sized brain - and thus unable to remember anything, I found myself at a loss when he confirmed and said "name the place". I like to think I am pretty good at pubs, restaurants etc., but I thought I should pick someplace close to his office near St. Paul's and I rarely go over that way.
I decided that Bow Lane would be a good destination, but I had only been there once and could not remember the name of the pub. So, I went on to the Internet and found a great site that rated pubs. After 10 seconds, one of the listings jumped out at me, so I copied the link, dropped into the e-mail and wrote "this is the place".
I had never been there, so I had no idea what to expect. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be one of the coolest pubs I had been to in London. I would like to take credit, but the reality is it was a last minute punt (hit and hope, for you football fans) that paid off much better that I could ever hope for.
Anyway, the place is Williamson's Tavern and it is in a small alley just off Bow Lane. The location is great, it was crowded but not uncomfortable, the service was good, and the beer poured well. It helped that the guy I met is great company and I was truly sorry that I had to leave to meet another client. The ironic thing is we had talked about bad behavior like cancelling meetings at the last minute. Sure enough, when I checked my e-mail after leaving, my last meeting had indeed cancelled at the last minute.
Anyway, these are a few pictures. I took the one of the left as I was walking up to Bow Lane...you can see St Paul's Cathedral in the background. The picture on the right is the alley where the pub is located. What an awful picture...guess I will have to go back! Who's coming with?
