Another long ride means another blog post. Today, we're taking a 2-hour ride from Tokyo to Sendai (to see the Sendai Mediatheque) on the Shinkansen. The Shinkansen is the Japanese bullet train that goes up to 180 mph. Looking out the window, it's crazy to see things going by this fast without being on an airplane. We have rail passes for this trip that are good until we leave Japan. Some days, we've been taking tours by bus, but on others, we'll take the Japanese rail system (usually the Shinkansen) to another city and start from there. $450 seemed like a steep price for a rail pass but I just found out that today's roundtrip ticket alone is $100, so I guess the pass was worth it.
The Japanese landscape is really nice. It's incredibly green, but the trade-off for that is that it's been raining for a good deal of the trip. It rained consistently during our last few days in Kyoto, then finally stopped yesterday for our journey from Kyoto to Tokyo, and now it's raining again today. However, our schedule is so tight that the rain isn't preventing us from seeing anything; we just bust out our umbrellas and keep going. Luckily, it isn't a cold rain. In fact, the temperature has been consistent and pleasant for the entire trip so far. It's been slightly humid but not too bad, and we all agree that we'll miss this weather once we move south to China, and further still to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
One other thing about the landscape that surprised me is the amount of development. I was expecting large metropolises like Tokyo and Osaka with large amounts of nature and rice fields in between. However, Japan is very developed and many of its cities spread over large areas. Hence, there are few large undeveloped areas. Even in Tokyo, the skyscrapers are not as tall as I had imagined. While the city is obviously incredibly dense, it still covers a very large area and travel times can be great between different points in the city. However, public transportation is relatively good and cheap, and Tokyo's massive subway network is well utilized.
Last night was our first night in Tokyo and we used our free evening to explore Shibuya, an entertainment and shopping district that reminded me of Times Square in New York. Some of the third years have a friend who lives in Tokyo so he met us at our hotel and helped us navigate the overwhelming subway system to get there. He then took us to an awesome all-you-can-eat shabu shabu place, so I got to compare real Japanese shabu shabu to the stuff I get back home in Little Tokyo. The verdict: comparable. Te food was about the same. However, I liked that it was all-you-can-eat here, but at home, it comes with free rice and is a bit cheaper. Anyway, after we finished eating, we explored Shibuya a bit but found that most of the stores were closed or were closing soon. However, I did get a chance to run into the local H&M to buy a cheap belt since I forgot one and my pants keep trying to fall off.
We finally made it back to our hotel around 11:30 and got a chance to sleep in REAL BEDS. This is our third hotel and the first where we haven't slept on mats on the floor. Our hotel also has a shower curtain in the bathroom. The lack of a shower curtain was a particularly annoying aspect of our hotel in Kyoto since it meant that you either had to shower incredibly awkwardly to keep the water in the tub or that the entire bathroom got wet by the time you were done. However, with the exception of the shower curtain, the bathroom is exactly the same. There must be a Japanese company that makes identical capsule bathrooms.
Before we came to Tokyo, we had the opportunity to stay in an authentic Japanese mountain town called Tsumago. The town has been preserved with no visible satellite dishes or power lines allowed. The place where we stayed provided us with an authentic multi-course Japanese meal. Just when we thought it was over, they'd bring something new. By the end, I had eaten a new type of sashimi, some interesting Japanese vegetables, lots of cold noodles, and two different types of soups, among other things. Oh, and wasp larvae. Yep, wasp larvae. It actually tasted fine but it was weird if you thought too much about what you were eating. The next morning, we got another authentic Japanese meal for breakfast before exploring the town and departing by bus, then Shinkansen, for Tokyo.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Kobe Beef...
...was phenomenal!
Also, the works of Tadao Ando were really great too! Check out my second album of pictures here!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2493612&id=3431093&l=bbc6967da6
Also, the works of Tadao Ando were really great too! Check out my second album of pictures here!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2493612&id=3431093&l=bbc6967da6
Temple Hopping
Once again, I'm writing this blog post during the day while we're out. As we've gotten back to the hotel each evening, I've found that I have very little motivation to sit and type up what I've been up to. Right now, we're on a two-hour bus ride from Kyoto to Kobe so this seemed like a good time to write something.
The last few days have been packed, but we've had lots of fun. We spent the first few days visiting temples in the area. One of my favorites was Fushimi Inari Shrine, which consists of thousands of black and orange gates along a path that leads to the top of a mountain. We didn't have enough time to make it all the way up, but we hiked past a small lake and stopped at a place with a nice view of Kyoto. We've also visited temples such as the iconic Golden Pavilion and a temple with 1001 Buddhas called Sanjusangen-do. Most of these places have also had amazing gardens, and we've had opportunities to sit and relax and sketch. Yesterday was spent in Nara where we visited Todai-ji, the largest wooden structure in the world, and Horyu-ji, one of the oldest. At this point, we've visited so many temples that it's hard to keep them all straight. Although I can appreciate all of them, I'm ready to move onto the modern stuff.
Despite slightly higher food costs, we've been eating well while we've been here. Although I've had a few meals from the local McDonald's and local convenience stores, I've also been enjoying lots of good Japanese cuisine. For lunch yesterday in Nara, we had a Japanese meal that consisted of small portions of a number of things including octopus, tuna sashimi, miso soup, and tempura. We've also discovered a place across the street from our hotel where a grandmotherly Japanese woman makes the best fried noodles with pork. She makes them on the grill in front of you and you serve yourself off the grill. The other nice thing about this place was that it was only 600 yen (about $6.00) for the noodles. That's pretty cheap for Japan. In Kobe today, we'll get to have a lunch with real Kobe beef, so I'm excited about that. I'm fully expecting it to be the best meal so far.
In the evenings, I've been going out with different groups of people and we've been exploring Kyoto. Spending all of our time together has made me feel like I've really gotten to know everyone, even those I hadn't met before this trip. One night, we went out and did karaoke with most of the group to celebrate Danielle's birthday. Another night, we went on an excursion to the bank (Japanese ATMs talk to you!) and also to the Camera Store, which is actually a giant 7-story electronics store. I particularly enjoyed the Japanese toilets and the massage chairs, even though I was too tall for them. Last night, a group of us went to explore the Kyoto Station, which is absolutely massive. It includes 4 or 5 different malls and numerous train platforms on different levels. When we first got to Kyoto and passed through the station, I thought it was huge, but I didn't realize that the part of the station I saw that day was only a tiny corner. Last night, we had dinner at a food court there then went up to the roof to enjoy the views of Kyoto. We walked across a skybridge that crosses the giant atrium of the station, then found our way back down to our hotel.
Today, we'll be checking out some works by Tadao Ando in Kobe and tomorrow we'll be taking the bullet train to Nagoya. After that, another day in Kyoto, then onto Tokyo!
And lastly, some pictures so far. I'm linking to the Facebook album so I don't have to upload to this blog as well. I'm trying to upload as fast as I can, but I'm a little behind. Here's the link...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2493044&id=3431093&l=f1dcf3acc4
The last few days have been packed, but we've had lots of fun. We spent the first few days visiting temples in the area. One of my favorites was Fushimi Inari Shrine, which consists of thousands of black and orange gates along a path that leads to the top of a mountain. We didn't have enough time to make it all the way up, but we hiked past a small lake and stopped at a place with a nice view of Kyoto. We've also visited temples such as the iconic Golden Pavilion and a temple with 1001 Buddhas called Sanjusangen-do. Most of these places have also had amazing gardens, and we've had opportunities to sit and relax and sketch. Yesterday was spent in Nara where we visited Todai-ji, the largest wooden structure in the world, and Horyu-ji, one of the oldest. At this point, we've visited so many temples that it's hard to keep them all straight. Although I can appreciate all of them, I'm ready to move onto the modern stuff.
Despite slightly higher food costs, we've been eating well while we've been here. Although I've had a few meals from the local McDonald's and local convenience stores, I've also been enjoying lots of good Japanese cuisine. For lunch yesterday in Nara, we had a Japanese meal that consisted of small portions of a number of things including octopus, tuna sashimi, miso soup, and tempura. We've also discovered a place across the street from our hotel where a grandmotherly Japanese woman makes the best fried noodles with pork. She makes them on the grill in front of you and you serve yourself off the grill. The other nice thing about this place was that it was only 600 yen (about $6.00) for the noodles. That's pretty cheap for Japan. In Kobe today, we'll get to have a lunch with real Kobe beef, so I'm excited about that. I'm fully expecting it to be the best meal so far.
In the evenings, I've been going out with different groups of people and we've been exploring Kyoto. Spending all of our time together has made me feel like I've really gotten to know everyone, even those I hadn't met before this trip. One night, we went out and did karaoke with most of the group to celebrate Danielle's birthday. Another night, we went on an excursion to the bank (Japanese ATMs talk to you!) and also to the Camera Store, which is actually a giant 7-story electronics store. I particularly enjoyed the Japanese toilets and the massage chairs, even though I was too tall for them. Last night, a group of us went to explore the Kyoto Station, which is absolutely massive. It includes 4 or 5 different malls and numerous train platforms on different levels. When we first got to Kyoto and passed through the station, I thought it was huge, but I didn't realize that the part of the station I saw that day was only a tiny corner. Last night, we had dinner at a food court there then went up to the roof to enjoy the views of Kyoto. We walked across a skybridge that crosses the giant atrium of the station, then found our way back down to our hotel.
Today, we'll be checking out some works by Tadao Ando in Kobe and tomorrow we'll be taking the bullet train to Nagoya. After that, another day in Kyoto, then onto Tokyo!
And lastly, some pictures so far. I'm linking to the Facebook album so I don't have to upload to this blog as well. I'm trying to upload as fast as I can, but I'm a little behind. Here's the link...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2493044&id=3431093&l=f1dcf3acc4
Monday, May 17, 2010
What happened to the weekend?
I’m writing this from Kyoto , Japan outside the gates of Katsura Palace Nijo Castle and Ryoanji Temple Katsura Palace , the three of us will be taking public transportation back to the hotel where we’ll meet up with the rest of the class and have the evening free to explore Kyoto
We also had last evening free to explore after we checked into the hotel, so the whole class ended up sticking together and taking the subway to explore Shijo-Dori, a street with lots of lights, shopping, and food. From there, we went down Pontocho-Dori, an alley that’s about 10 feet wide and completely lined with restaurants, bars, and small clubs. At this point, we split up for dinner and five of us ended up finding an awesome place located underground that felt like you were in a cave. Each table was in its own little mini-cave. The food and drinks were good and the waiters screamed at you in Japanese (but in a good way). After dinner, we went back to the hotel and crashed, exhausted after over 24 hours of travel.
Speaking of travel, the flights were long but didn’t really feel too much longer than what I’ve been on before. The 15-hour LAX-Hong Kong flight felt similar to the 10-hour Dallas to Amsterdam Hong Kong but only got through 3 because I actually managed to sleep on the plane, which was a good thing. Hong Kong was a pretty nice airport to transfer through, which is good because I’ll be passing through it 3 more times this summer. After arriving in Osaka at Kansai Airport , which is built on a manmade island in the middle of Osaka Bay , we picked up our Japan Rail passes and took an hour train ride to Kyoto
The hotel room is nice but small. My roommate Emilio and I each sleep on a mat on the floor of our room. Our pillows are more like beanbags than actual fluffy pillows. The bathroom reminded me of a cruise ship bathroom with a small toilet and the sink hanging halfway into the bathtub. Our room is on the 4th floor and the narrow, twisty stairs are just like the narrow, twisty stairs to my 4th floor room in the apartment in LA that I just moved out of. We’ll be staying here for almost a week before checking out and moving onto Tokyo
Thursday, May 13, 2010
T-minus 1 day and counting...
Hello, everyone!
So this here is my first blog post of the first blog I've ever had in my life. The plan is to keep this up to date with everything I'm up to as I travel around Asia this summer. I'll be checking out the architecture in a number of Asian countries for the first month. Then, for the next two months, I'll be based in Kuala Lumpur working with Malaysian architecture students to design a school for a site in rural Malaysia. Anyhow, if I do a good job with this blog, it will be fun to look back on, it will help me remember everything I did, and it will help everyone at home keep track of what I'm up to. No promises about frequent updates though...I've never done this before so we'll see if I actually get into it.
Anyway, it's been a whirlwind getting ready for this trip. I've been so stressed with finals and projects the past few weeks that I've barely had time to stop and realize that I'm leaving so soon. Yesterday, I went home from LA and moved all my stuff out of the apartment. I unpacked, ran lots of last-minute errands, repacked for the trip, and today I'm back in LA again. Tomorrow is commencement and a lot of my friends are graduating, so I can't miss it even though I'll be leaving LAX later that night.
Our first stop on the trip is Osaka, Japan. We'll be leaving from LAX at 1:40 AM and connecting through Hong Kong en route to Japan. It's around 14 hours to Hong Kong and another 5 to Osaka. 14 hours is definitely the longest I'll have ever been on a plane so we'll see how it goes. The plan is to watch lots of movies and maybe sleep a little here and there. Worth noting for a plane nerd like me is that the flight from Hong Kong to Osaka will be my first time on a 747, or anything with 4 engines or 2 decks for that matter! Also worth noting is that we'll be flying on Cathay Pacific, which is supposed to be really nice!
Okay, that's it for now. I'll leave you with the basic itinerary for our program:
May 15 ---> Leave LAX
May 16-May 30 ---> Japan
May 30-June 7 ---> China
June 7-June 13 ---> Vietnam
June 13-June 16 ---> Cambodia
June 16-August 12 ---> Malaysia
August 12 ---> Arrive LAX
Also trying to plan weekend trips to Singapore and Bangkok, both of which are really close to Malaysia, and maybe a trip back to Shanghai to visit the World Expo!
So this here is my first blog post of the first blog I've ever had in my life. The plan is to keep this up to date with everything I'm up to as I travel around Asia this summer. I'll be checking out the architecture in a number of Asian countries for the first month. Then, for the next two months, I'll be based in Kuala Lumpur working with Malaysian architecture students to design a school for a site in rural Malaysia. Anyhow, if I do a good job with this blog, it will be fun to look back on, it will help me remember everything I did, and it will help everyone at home keep track of what I'm up to. No promises about frequent updates though...I've never done this before so we'll see if I actually get into it.
Anyway, it's been a whirlwind getting ready for this trip. I've been so stressed with finals and projects the past few weeks that I've barely had time to stop and realize that I'm leaving so soon. Yesterday, I went home from LA and moved all my stuff out of the apartment. I unpacked, ran lots of last-minute errands, repacked for the trip, and today I'm back in LA again. Tomorrow is commencement and a lot of my friends are graduating, so I can't miss it even though I'll be leaving LAX later that night.
Our first stop on the trip is Osaka, Japan. We'll be leaving from LAX at 1:40 AM and connecting through Hong Kong en route to Japan. It's around 14 hours to Hong Kong and another 5 to Osaka. 14 hours is definitely the longest I'll have ever been on a plane so we'll see how it goes. The plan is to watch lots of movies and maybe sleep a little here and there. Worth noting for a plane nerd like me is that the flight from Hong Kong to Osaka will be my first time on a 747, or anything with 4 engines or 2 decks for that matter! Also worth noting is that we'll be flying on Cathay Pacific, which is supposed to be really nice!
Okay, that's it for now. I'll leave you with the basic itinerary for our program:
May 15 ---> Leave LAX
May 16-May 30 ---> Japan
May 30-June 7 ---> China
June 7-June 13 ---> Vietnam
June 13-June 16 ---> Cambodia
June 16-August 12 ---> Malaysia
August 12 ---> Arrive LAX
Also trying to plan weekend trips to Singapore and Bangkok, both of which are really close to Malaysia, and maybe a trip back to Shanghai to visit the World Expo!
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