Wow, it`s finally time to go home. 300 days later here we are in Tokyo Narita airport waiting for our flight home. There have been a few times in the last two weeks when frustration just got the better of both of us and fits worthy of a two year old threatened `I just want to go home!` said in a petulant voice usually got us laughing.
Japan has been such a great place to spend our last three weeks. I love so much about this country. The gardens. The bicycle culture. The people and how enthusiastic and friendly they are. And the trains. My god the trains. The Japanese train system is so easy to use and well designed and well run that even a day of three trains is no big deal at all.
When we get back to SF we`ll up load the rest of the photos and I`ll do another Japan post, too many good photos to share.
Now, it`s wait for the plane twitching in anticipation of being home in SF!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
A what what now?
Volcano? As in eruption and flowing lava?
Oh well, at least we got to take the ropeway up and down Mt Ashidake, due to snow and bears on the trail.
Snow and bears. If it had been one or the other we might have walked, but both?
Round trip ticket please.
We are having so much fun in Japan. It is such an amazing county. Clean, beautiful, people are so polite and nice. Tokyo is one of the best run cities we`ve been to, on the list with Vienna and Hong Kong. The subway is a dream, even if it does get a bit crowded. I have my new motto, thanks to a Tokyo subway sign.
Even when crowded the subway is so orderly. Everyone waits for the exiting people to get off the cars before entering, they walk to the left in the corridors, and stand left on the escalators. It makes things run much more smoothly.
Rich was in heaven. It`s an engineers delight.
We were on the 32nd floor of the Tokyo Park Hotel. It was so fun just watching the trains come and go, and wondering when the office workers in the buildings we could see would go home. Built in entertainment.
It`s hard to believe that we go home in less then two weeks. But I gotta get Rich out before he adapts too well and starts hanging out at the arcade all day.
Oh well, at least we got to take the ropeway up and down Mt Ashidake, due to snow and bears on the trail.
Snow and bears. If it had been one or the other we might have walked, but both?
Round trip ticket please.
We are having so much fun in Japan. It is such an amazing county. Clean, beautiful, people are so polite and nice. Tokyo is one of the best run cities we`ve been to, on the list with Vienna and Hong Kong. The subway is a dream, even if it does get a bit crowded. I have my new motto, thanks to a Tokyo subway sign.
Even when crowded the subway is so orderly. Everyone waits for the exiting people to get off the cars before entering, they walk to the left in the corridors, and stand left on the escalators. It makes things run much more smoothly.
Rich was in heaven. It`s an engineers delight.
We were on the 32nd floor of the Tokyo Park Hotel. It was so fun just watching the trains come and go, and wondering when the office workers in the buildings we could see would go home. Built in entertainment.
It`s hard to believe that we go home in less then two weeks. But I gotta get Rich out before he adapts too well and starts hanging out at the arcade all day.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Can you stop progress? Should you?
In every Chinese City we have visited we see the progress.
The big projects in Shanghai where your map says a bit of `old town` should be are now giant construction zones.
In Kunming bits of old town have so far escaped the wrecking ball, although we saw one small house on a dirt track between two projects, one completed and one a huge multi block pit under construction. The house was on the old street grid which had been no grid at all, and through luck or destiny had turned out to be just off the path of both projects.
It makes you sad to see so much history disappearing, and at the Urban Planning musuem in Shanghai they called it refurbishment, the replacing of the old with more modern buildings.
There is no doubt about it, these streets are organic and alive. You see everything from an old lady sewing and watching the street,
to a kitten eating fish guts.
Yeah, that photo is kinda gross. But the streets and alleys of Shanghai offer it all. Kids learning to ride bikes to anything you need to buy.
How, we thought, can they let all of this be lost, replaced, refurbished? But, as with anything, it`s never as black and white as you think. On our last night in Shanghai instead of walking on the bund
or Nanjing street
we headed to some of the alleys left in Shangahi. Those not yet refurbished.
We didn`t even get many photos. It felt too much like an intrusion on peoples lives. The living was close, the smell of human waste was very strong and we saw many slop buckets being emptied into the collection doors on the sides of the public toilet buildings. Many of the homes have no indoor plumbing, and the kitchen at ground level is shared by the entire two or three story building. The rooms at ground floor that we could see into were packed tight. A loft style bed would contain a child or two, a table and chair and tv underneath, laundry hanging everywhere, people brushing their teeth and washing their hair outside on the street.
This was a street where the people would perhaps welcome refurbishment? But can you refurbish and keep the sense of community that obviously exists. And at what point does my tourist desire to see a `real old Shanghai` street collide with the government desire and responsibility to provide clean and safe housing for their people. A fire in these streets would have been catastrophic.
The Urban Planing Musuem had interesting exhibits on the city, and how it will look in the future.
But it will certainly be a shame to lose every old street in the name of progress.
Now we are in Japan, currently loving Tokyo. Three weeks to home.
The big projects in Shanghai where your map says a bit of `old town` should be are now giant construction zones.
In Kunming bits of old town have so far escaped the wrecking ball, although we saw one small house on a dirt track between two projects, one completed and one a huge multi block pit under construction. The house was on the old street grid which had been no grid at all, and through luck or destiny had turned out to be just off the path of both projects.
It makes you sad to see so much history disappearing, and at the Urban Planning musuem in Shanghai they called it refurbishment, the replacing of the old with more modern buildings.
There is no doubt about it, these streets are organic and alive. You see everything from an old lady sewing and watching the street,
to a kitten eating fish guts.
Yeah, that photo is kinda gross. But the streets and alleys of Shanghai offer it all. Kids learning to ride bikes to anything you need to buy.
How, we thought, can they let all of this be lost, replaced, refurbished? But, as with anything, it`s never as black and white as you think. On our last night in Shanghai instead of walking on the bund
or Nanjing street
we headed to some of the alleys left in Shangahi. Those not yet refurbished.
We didn`t even get many photos. It felt too much like an intrusion on peoples lives. The living was close, the smell of human waste was very strong and we saw many slop buckets being emptied into the collection doors on the sides of the public toilet buildings. Many of the homes have no indoor plumbing, and the kitchen at ground level is shared by the entire two or three story building. The rooms at ground floor that we could see into were packed tight. A loft style bed would contain a child or two, a table and chair and tv underneath, laundry hanging everywhere, people brushing their teeth and washing their hair outside on the street.
This was a street where the people would perhaps welcome refurbishment? But can you refurbish and keep the sense of community that obviously exists. And at what point does my tourist desire to see a `real old Shanghai` street collide with the government desire and responsibility to provide clean and safe housing for their people. A fire in these streets would have been catastrophic.
The Urban Planing Musuem had interesting exhibits on the city, and how it will look in the future.
But it will certainly be a shame to lose every old street in the name of progress.
Now we are in Japan, currently loving Tokyo. Three weeks to home.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Bubbling Hot Pot of Death
This is the first time that Rich has ever admitted to being afraid of food. I was terrified, but I have a healthy fear of over spiced dishes in general - although this trip has helped cure me of any spice fear. Now I'm the one reaching for the pepper oil in the restaurants. But this, this looked terrifying. Chengdu hot pot.
It didn't help that of course we went to a hot pot place where not only was no English spoken, but they didn't even do the "not so hot" hot pot that we had the word for in our guide book. So, oh well, give us the regular cauldron of death.
The other must do in Chengdu is a visit to the Panda Breeding Center. No words other then "Awww....how cute" are necessary.
The adults pandas are cute sure, but the baby pandas just about knock you out with their fuzzy antics.
After Chengdu it was on to Xi'an where we had a good time walking around and not going to the major tourist site, the Terra Cotta Warriors. We wandered around the Muslim Quarter and ate street food and chatted with the animals.
And of course we had some more great food. We are now big fans of the Western Chinese cuisine.
After Xi'an it was on to Beijing, where we actually did some touristy things - the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
Is everyone tired of seeing my bike riding outfit yet? Same skirt, same shirt, same hat. I know I am.
We hiked about 12 km of the Wall in the rain. Although it was wet, cold and windy, the rain kept the other tourists away. The wall looked like a dream someone who'd had too much hot pot was having, it kept disappearing into the mist and then dramatically re-appearing.
We're now in Shanghai for two more days before flying on to Japan. Japan is our last stop before heading back to SF. We return to SF on June 28. Oh, I'd be so lying if I denied being pretty anxious to get home again. I miss all my friends and family. I miss knowing my way around where I am - map reading gets really old. Everyone who knows us is saying to themselves - what? When has Cheryl ever read a map? Rich does that. And they are correct, so maybe I should say watching Rich read maps never gets old, but I'm still looking forward to being home and having friends to hang out with.
But first - Japan!
It didn't help that of course we went to a hot pot place where not only was no English spoken, but they didn't even do the "not so hot" hot pot that we had the word for in our guide book. So, oh well, give us the regular cauldron of death.
The other must do in Chengdu is a visit to the Panda Breeding Center. No words other then "Awww....how cute" are necessary.
The adults pandas are cute sure, but the baby pandas just about knock you out with their fuzzy antics.
After Chengdu it was on to Xi'an where we had a good time walking around and not going to the major tourist site, the Terra Cotta Warriors. We wandered around the Muslim Quarter and ate street food and chatted with the animals.
And of course we had some more great food. We are now big fans of the Western Chinese cuisine.
After Xi'an it was on to Beijing, where we actually did some touristy things - the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
Is everyone tired of seeing my bike riding outfit yet? Same skirt, same shirt, same hat. I know I am.
We hiked about 12 km of the Wall in the rain. Although it was wet, cold and windy, the rain kept the other tourists away. The wall looked like a dream someone who'd had too much hot pot was having, it kept disappearing into the mist and then dramatically re-appearing.
We're now in Shanghai for two more days before flying on to Japan. Japan is our last stop before heading back to SF. We return to SF on June 28. Oh, I'd be so lying if I denied being pretty anxious to get home again. I miss all my friends and family. I miss knowing my way around where I am - map reading gets really old. Everyone who knows us is saying to themselves - what? When has Cheryl ever read a map? Rich does that. And they are correct, so maybe I should say watching Rich read maps never gets old, but I'm still looking forward to being home and having friends to hang out with.
But first - Japan!
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