Monday, October 24, 2005
Stanford, meet Apple, Apple, Stanford
For anyone interested, looks like Standford University has put some content up on iTunes for free. Lectures, sports games, etc. I'm gonna enjoy listening to some of the lectures during my commute. I think we'll start with sleep disorders. Maybe there's something in there about me. link to ArsTechnica
Chicken Hearts and Japanese commodes
Last night I went with Ana and Damien to have dinner with some Japanese friends of Ana's. We went to an o-konomiyaki restaurant. For less than $30, we got a set course dinner and 2 hours of all-you-can-drink goodness. This kind of restaurant has a large grill in the middle of the table, with a wooden ledge around it for you to put your plates, drinks, etc on. You cook your own food and enjoy.
The first course consisted of two plates, one filled with veggies(pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots and eggplant) and meat(chicken hearts, beef, normal chicken and pork), the other contained seafood(a couple sliced up squid, scallops, and a big prawn for each of us) and a huge mount of bean sprouts. Plop it on the grill and away you go. The chicken hearts were pretty much the only thing I didn't care for, they were a bit fibrous and chewy. But the rest was fun, especially cooking the prawns because they changed color. At least they weren't alive like my last seafood encounter. Course 2 was that wonderful o-konomiyaki in a few different styles, the original Osaka style, the Hiroshima style which adds ramen noodles, and the Tokyo style called monjayaki. Course 3 was yakisoba, grilled noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts. Yum. A salad appeared somewhere in the middle of dinner and vanished just as quickly. So did the roughly 5 bottles of sake that I demolished over the course of the meal. The thing with paying so much for all-you-can-drink is, you feel you have to drink as much as possible in the alloted time. Unfortunately, I had to work the next day.
We planned it early because Ana's friends and I all work on Mondays, and Ana & Damien were headed to Disneyland the next morning, so I got to bed alright. But something, either the overload of meat or the sake got to me as I was on the train going to work.
Here's the thing. Most of Japan is alright when it comes to bathrooms. You can almost always find a Western-style toilet wherever you go. At my previous schools, there were always one Western- and one Japanese-style toilet in the teachers' bathroom. Then I got to this school. This one has only Japanese-style squat toilets. I can understand being in Morocco and all there is is a plastic square with raised footplates for you to stand on and do your business. It's a developing country. But in a junior high school in a big city in Japan, there are only squatters. Try this at home: stand with your feet about 8 inches apart, then squat down as far as you can keeping your feet flat the whole time. Now imagine being in a slightly nauseous state of being and using the toilet. That about sums up my day.
The first course consisted of two plates, one filled with veggies(pumpkin, sweet potatoes, carrots and eggplant) and meat(chicken hearts, beef, normal chicken and pork), the other contained seafood(a couple sliced up squid, scallops, and a big prawn for each of us) and a huge mount of bean sprouts. Plop it on the grill and away you go. The chicken hearts were pretty much the only thing I didn't care for, they were a bit fibrous and chewy. But the rest was fun, especially cooking the prawns because they changed color. At least they weren't alive like my last seafood encounter. Course 2 was that wonderful o-konomiyaki in a few different styles, the original Osaka style, the Hiroshima style which adds ramen noodles, and the Tokyo style called monjayaki. Course 3 was yakisoba, grilled noodles, cabbage and bean sprouts. Yum. A salad appeared somewhere in the middle of dinner and vanished just as quickly. So did the roughly 5 bottles of sake that I demolished over the course of the meal. The thing with paying so much for all-you-can-drink is, you feel you have to drink as much as possible in the alloted time. Unfortunately, I had to work the next day.
We planned it early because Ana's friends and I all work on Mondays, and Ana & Damien were headed to Disneyland the next morning, so I got to bed alright. But something, either the overload of meat or the sake got to me as I was on the train going to work.
Here's the thing. Most of Japan is alright when it comes to bathrooms. You can almost always find a Western-style toilet wherever you go. At my previous schools, there were always one Western- and one Japanese-style toilet in the teachers' bathroom. Then I got to this school. This one has only Japanese-style squat toilets. I can understand being in Morocco and all there is is a plastic square with raised footplates for you to stand on and do your business. It's a developing country. But in a junior high school in a big city in Japan, there are only squatters. Try this at home: stand with your feet about 8 inches apart, then squat down as far as you can keeping your feet flat the whole time. Now imagine being in a slightly nauseous state of being and using the toilet. That about sums up my day.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
WTF is up with me & organizing stuff?
I'm a conflicted person. I have a need for things to be organized, yet I'm too lazy to actually do it. Thus I lead a life of frustration and teeth-grinding that's gonna make my dentist a fortune. I've been working on the roughly 3GB of photos I've taken since I acquired my digital camera back in November 2003. I have photos from 3 continents and roughly 9 countries to organize. And it's a nightmare. I read a roudup of photo album software on ArsTechnica recently, and decided to try out Picasa, mostly because it's free and I'd installed it when I had to upload my profile photo for this blog. It's pretty decent stuff as far as organizing goes, but what I hate is the lack of subfolders in the albums. You have your collections, and inside that you get your choice of albums. So for me, each country I visit is a collection, but Japan's collection is giving me a migraine. How do you organize 2,700 photos using only one level of albums? If I want a subsection for trips and another for people, by golly I should be able to do it. And it's nice and all that Picasa doesn't change the actual location of the photos, but it'd be nice to have the option sometimes.
Anyway, this isn't really a post about much. I'm just whingeing about something because I'm putting off actually doing it. So here goes, hope it works. Btw, should have some photos posted soon from my B'day party back in September and the nightmare of a trip to O-shima. I guess I can take heart in the fact that I wasn't on the island when the typhoon past directly over the islands last week.
Anyway, this isn't really a post about much. I'm just whingeing about something because I'm putting off actually doing it. So here goes, hope it works. Btw, should have some photos posted soon from my B'day party back in September and the nightmare of a trip to O-shima. I guess I can take heart in the fact that I wasn't on the island when the typhoon past directly over the islands last week.
He's baaack!
Since it's gotten a bit cooler and the typhoon season has swept all the haze out to sea, the sky's become much clearer. The past couple days were rather blah, overcast and cool. But today's a bright, sunny day and Mr. Fuji is back with a hint of white snow starting to be visible. I've had the luck of being able to see the mountain from every apartment I've lived in. The best view was from the previous place, it being on the 12th floor and an unobstructed view. Now, I have to lean precariously over the balcony railing, but you can just see it between buildings and behind some power lines. So here it is, the first good view of Fuji this fall.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
New Technology Brings New Problems
If you check this site religiously (hi, mom) then yoy may have seen a few comments pop up only to get deleted. Seems somebody's figured out how to post ads into comments. What bastards. I log in and see that someone's finally posted a comment, only to open it up and see that some bastard wants me to refinance my nonexistent mortgage. Well, I've set comments so you'll have to be registered somewhere (either on the site or with blogger somehow) in order to post. Sorry to do it, but people taking advantage of the system cause problems for everyone.
Oh, and it's still raining. We'll have the 20th typhoon of the year brush by, but shouldn't be much beyond the crappy rain that gets to us.
Oh, and it's still raining. We'll have the 20th typhoon of the year brush by, but shouldn't be much beyond the crappy rain that gets to us.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Ick
Well, it's more than halfway through October, and I was hoping I'd have something fun and interesting to write about. Unfortunately, not so much has happened. I had the first 12 days of the month off, and headed out to O-shima with Julian. The weather was crap, we couldn't see anything, and I spent my last evening there pinning a live lobster to a grill in order to feed myself. Maybe tomorrow at work I'll write a little narrative about that trip.
The weather has been crap lately. I think Wednesday and Thursday we had decent weather, where it was cool and sunny, but besides that it's been raining and miserable. Right now it's pattering against the window, and Tracey just came home from work drenched after riding home. I'd like to go get another beer from the corner store, but there's no way I'm going out in this weather. That's about it, really. I've got no days off until the beginning of November, when we have a national holiday. Luckily, it's the day after a co-worker of Ana's is playing a jazz gig in Yokohama, so I'll finally get a chance to go out on the town there. I haven't gone out enough for living so close to Yokohama and Tokyo, two very large cities with a notable nightlife.
So that's it for now, it's 10pm and time for a shower and bed. I'm pathetic.
The weather has been crap lately. I think Wednesday and Thursday we had decent weather, where it was cool and sunny, but besides that it's been raining and miserable. Right now it's pattering against the window, and Tracey just came home from work drenched after riding home. I'd like to go get another beer from the corner store, but there's no way I'm going out in this weather. That's about it, really. I've got no days off until the beginning of November, when we have a national holiday. Luckily, it's the day after a co-worker of Ana's is playing a jazz gig in Yokohama, so I'll finally get a chance to go out on the town there. I haven't gone out enough for living so close to Yokohama and Tokyo, two very large cities with a notable nightlife.
So that's it for now, it's 10pm and time for a shower and bed. I'm pathetic.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
The vacation continues
So I'm on my still-unexplained vacation. There was a blank on our schedule and they told us not to show up. Go figure. But then they decided to call us and try and persuade us to help out with training for some new people. Julian wasn't fast enough on turning the company down (I said I had plans every day, and they didn't push it; I think my contract actually requires me to be available when I have vacation), so he had to work Monday and Tuesday, helping our gaijin boss in Yokohama (which necessitated getting up really early).
Tomorrow (Wednesday) he and I leave for O-shima, the largest and closest of the 7 islands that start just outside Sagami Bay and stretch quite a ways south. It's an active volcano for an island, I think it erupted 20 years or so ago, hopefully it won't make a repeat performance while we're there. We got a really good deal on a package: roundtrip ferry from Atami (only 45 minutes away by train), 2 nights in a minshuku, or Japanese-style inn, with dinners and breakfasts for roughly $170/person. Well, it's not all that cheap, but considering we'd probably spend that much just boozing it up in Hiratsuka, it makes sense somehow.
Sunday I went to my most recent JHS bunkasai (cultural festival). It was a lot of fun. Various clubs had presentations set up, the health club had a variety of physical ability tests to do. The students made me do it, and were suitably impressed (think juggling-circus-bear impressed, not wow-he's-good impressed), considering I'm twice their age. The only thing I didn't do well at was the flexibility test, which I failed miserably. The special ed class did a tea ceremony presentation, which was fun to see. The kids there are just adorable, they love to wave and say hello, and if I interact with them at all it seems to make their day. Gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
So after it was all said and done, I met the teachers at an izakaya for a drinking party. It was fun watching them all get pissed up, though most of them were light drinkers. The vice principal seemed a bit wobbly but in high spirits. The principal maintained his required level of dignity, ducking out early saying he was feeling under the weather. That left me free to persuade all these 40-something teachers to go do print club. Do you know those photo booths in shopping malls? The ones you always think are for passport photos but when you try it out you end up with a heart-shaped frame around it that says "Best friends forever"? Well, it's a phenomenon here, and while usually it's junior high school girls, foreigners and drunk adults (especially drunk foreigners) get into it too. So we crammed about 8 usually staid Japanese educators into a booth for photos. I've now got some good photo blackmail. After that was some karaoke, where I tortured them with some Billy Joel and the Beatles, and they sang some traditional enka songs. It's always funny to see people who are normally so serious and uptight really cut loose. One of the teachers invited me to his house to meet his college-age daughter and help her with her English. I think he was pretty smashed, doubt he'll extend the offer again sober.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) he and I leave for O-shima, the largest and closest of the 7 islands that start just outside Sagami Bay and stretch quite a ways south. It's an active volcano for an island, I think it erupted 20 years or so ago, hopefully it won't make a repeat performance while we're there. We got a really good deal on a package: roundtrip ferry from Atami (only 45 minutes away by train), 2 nights in a minshuku, or Japanese-style inn, with dinners and breakfasts for roughly $170/person. Well, it's not all that cheap, but considering we'd probably spend that much just boozing it up in Hiratsuka, it makes sense somehow.
Sunday I went to my most recent JHS bunkasai (cultural festival). It was a lot of fun. Various clubs had presentations set up, the health club had a variety of physical ability tests to do. The students made me do it, and were suitably impressed (think juggling-circus-bear impressed, not wow-he's-good impressed), considering I'm twice their age. The only thing I didn't do well at was the flexibility test, which I failed miserably. The special ed class did a tea ceremony presentation, which was fun to see. The kids there are just adorable, they love to wave and say hello, and if I interact with them at all it seems to make their day. Gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
So after it was all said and done, I met the teachers at an izakaya for a drinking party. It was fun watching them all get pissed up, though most of them were light drinkers. The vice principal seemed a bit wobbly but in high spirits. The principal maintained his required level of dignity, ducking out early saying he was feeling under the weather. That left me free to persuade all these 40-something teachers to go do print club. Do you know those photo booths in shopping malls? The ones you always think are for passport photos but when you try it out you end up with a heart-shaped frame around it that says "Best friends forever"? Well, it's a phenomenon here, and while usually it's junior high school girls, foreigners and drunk adults (especially drunk foreigners) get into it too. So we crammed about 8 usually staid Japanese educators into a booth for photos. I've now got some good photo blackmail. After that was some karaoke, where I tortured them with some Billy Joel and the Beatles, and they sang some traditional enka songs. It's always funny to see people who are normally so serious and uptight really cut loose. One of the teachers invited me to his house to meet his college-age daughter and help her with her English. I think he was pretty smashed, doubt he'll extend the offer again sober.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Flying home
I booked my flight home yesterday. I've been worried about getting a decent price on a ticket home. It's impossible to get one for less than $1000, especially flying as close to Xmas as I am. So I'm taking a couple days off beforehand so I can fly back at a reasonable time and price. Getting home the day before Xmas wouldn't be so fun.
I fly out of Narita at 3:45pm on December 21st, and after a short layover in Detroit, I'll touch down in Indy a bit after 4pm the same day. If only it took 30 minutes for the flight. I'm sure I'll be going stir crazy after 14 hours on a plane. Going across the dateline is always weird that way.
Then I'll leave on January 7th in the morning and arrive in Tokyo after 4pm on the 8th. I'll probably get home around 7pm, just in time to go to sleep because I'll be so jet-lagged and then have to get up and go to work on the 9th. ugh
I don't think jet lag will be that bad coming back to Japan this time. Before, I would wake up completely wired and alert at 6am, but by 7:30 or 8pm I'd be crashing. Working for Nova, I wouldn't finish until 9pm, and since it took me almost 2 weeks to get through the jet lag, it was hell. But this time it'll be almost exactly like my normal schedule, so no big deal. I hope.
I fly out of Narita at 3:45pm on December 21st, and after a short layover in Detroit, I'll touch down in Indy a bit after 4pm the same day. If only it took 30 minutes for the flight. I'm sure I'll be going stir crazy after 14 hours on a plane. Going across the dateline is always weird that way.
Then I'll leave on January 7th in the morning and arrive in Tokyo after 4pm on the 8th. I'll probably get home around 7pm, just in time to go to sleep because I'll be so jet-lagged and then have to get up and go to work on the 9th. ugh
I don't think jet lag will be that bad coming back to Japan this time. Before, I would wake up completely wired and alert at 6am, but by 7:30 or 8pm I'd be crashing. Working for Nova, I wouldn't finish until 9pm, and since it took me almost 2 weeks to get through the jet lag, it was hell. But this time it'll be almost exactly like my normal schedule, so no big deal. I hope.
More vacation...already?
So after a 6-week summer break, and a string of 3-day weekends, the board of education has seen fit not to have Julian nor I work next week. So we'll have 11 days straight off. It'd be nice if we'd actually get a decent paycheck before they do this, but I'll survive. I can't complain much if they're gonna pay me anyway.
We're looking at heading down to Hachijojima, the 7th and final in a string of volcanic islands that are directly south of Sagami Bay where I live. I used to be able to see the closest and biggest one, Ooshima, from my apartment on the 12th floor downtown, but only on clear days. Hachijojima will be about 11 hours by overnight ferry from Tokyo. We'll stay a couple of nights in a minshuku, a cheap Japanese inn. The inn will probably be an experience, considering they don't get many foreigners out there. I hear tell there's an Aussie who moved out there recently and opened up a bar, but I'll believe it when I see it. I can tell you how it'll go: the innkeeper will only speak a dialect of Japanese we can't understand, I'll smack my head more than a few times on ridiculously low doorframes, and they'll serve us pan-fried whole fish with fermented soy beans and some sort of seaweed paste for breakfast.
All in all, I'm quite looking forward to it. Julian says the island is famous for a type of flying fish that is fermented in soy beans for months on end and comes out so foul-smelling that even mainland Japanese gag at the stench. Can't wait to try it!
We're looking at heading down to Hachijojima, the 7th and final in a string of volcanic islands that are directly south of Sagami Bay where I live. I used to be able to see the closest and biggest one, Ooshima, from my apartment on the 12th floor downtown, but only on clear days. Hachijojima will be about 11 hours by overnight ferry from Tokyo. We'll stay a couple of nights in a minshuku, a cheap Japanese inn. The inn will probably be an experience, considering they don't get many foreigners out there. I hear tell there's an Aussie who moved out there recently and opened up a bar, but I'll believe it when I see it. I can tell you how it'll go: the innkeeper will only speak a dialect of Japanese we can't understand, I'll smack my head more than a few times on ridiculously low doorframes, and they'll serve us pan-fried whole fish with fermented soy beans and some sort of seaweed paste for breakfast.
All in all, I'm quite looking forward to it. Julian says the island is famous for a type of flying fish that is fermented in soy beans for months on end and comes out so foul-smelling that even mainland Japanese gag at the stench. Can't wait to try it!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Travel galore
So, after coming back from a 6 week summer vacation, I've had 3 3-day weekends in a row. Next week will be my second 5-day workweek since sometime in July. Because I didn't work in August, I only get paid 60% of my full-time salary. Somehow a hole managed to work its way into my schedule, and I now end up with time off from Oct. 1st through the 11th. So the question is, what the heck am I going to do with myself. There are so many places I want to visit, but they all require money. Coincidentally, my crap paycheck arrives the day before I start my surprise vacation. Any suggestions? I'm thinking Thailand. I never thought I'd bitch about getting a vacation.
Monday, September 19, 2005
One Other Thing
Tonight I downloaded Google Earth. It's the coolest program I've seen in a while. I found my home back in Zionsville, the resolution was good enough that I could see the speck that is my derelict car sitting in my parents' driveway. (Btw, if anyone wants a used BMW, I got one for ya cheap) I also found my current apartment in Hiratsuka, Ana's apartment, and the radio antenna on top of the nearby mountain Shonandaira. I was able to spot my old apartments in Madrid, although these were more rough guesstimations since it's more difficult to assess exactly which part of the block it's in. All in all, really cool stuff and I highly recommend checking it out, if for nothing more than to see your house. Also, if you ask, I can try and send you the position of my apartment in Japan if anybody wants to see where I live.
OK, that's enough, I'm really going to bed now. I can't believe I have to go to bed at 10pm. I feel like a little kid.
OK, that's enough, I'm really going to bed now. I can't believe I have to go to bed at 10pm. I feel like a little kid.
Notes on Nothing
Well, a week without posting isn't so bad. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Work seems odd now after so many weeks away. It's not helped by the fact that I have only had one full workweek since I returned. Three of my weekends in September are 3 day weekends. It would be great if I had the money to go anywhere. Basically I'm left to sit around and try not to spend too much.
Like I posted before, this month is the birthday month. Mine was the 7th, Ana's roommate Erin had hers on the 15th. Damien is this Friday and Amanda's is next Sunday. My roommate Tracey celebrates hers on the 1st of October, which for proximity's sake, we can add here. So that's a lot of birthdays to prepare for. And since they all got me nice things, I'm gonna have to scrounge up some sort of knickknack to give them. Giving presents always makes me nervous. I don't enjoy getting presents I can't use or consume. The worst are things that serve no real purpose, not even decorative, but will sit in the back of your closet or sit on display only when that person comes over. Since that's how I feel, I'd hate to give someone a present like that. Much better a good experience or something consumable. That's why I like giving bottles of wine so much. It's more enjoyable. Oh well, I'm sure something will come up. I just haven't decided yet.
And that's my note on nothing for today. Maybe I'll tap something up tomorrow. It's steak night, so I'm gonna plug myself full of steak.
Like I posted before, this month is the birthday month. Mine was the 7th, Ana's roommate Erin had hers on the 15th. Damien is this Friday and Amanda's is next Sunday. My roommate Tracey celebrates hers on the 1st of October, which for proximity's sake, we can add here. So that's a lot of birthdays to prepare for. And since they all got me nice things, I'm gonna have to scrounge up some sort of knickknack to give them. Giving presents always makes me nervous. I don't enjoy getting presents I can't use or consume. The worst are things that serve no real purpose, not even decorative, but will sit in the back of your closet or sit on display only when that person comes over. Since that's how I feel, I'd hate to give someone a present like that. Much better a good experience or something consumable. That's why I like giving bottles of wine so much. It's more enjoyable. Oh well, I'm sure something will come up. I just haven't decided yet.
And that's my note on nothing for today. Maybe I'll tap something up tomorrow. It's steak night, so I'm gonna plug myself full of steak.
Monday, September 12, 2005
A Brief Update
So I've been diving back into work and having my birthday, so I've been a little busy, and there just hasn't ever been time to write. Although I guess that happens a lot. So here are some highlights of my time.
I had my birthday on the 7th. Ana and Julian tried to organize a surprise party for me, inviting lots of friends along. It was good, though not really a surprise after Julian let it slip when they were still organizing it. I got some great presents, a box from home that my mom filled with microwave popcorn and a 1 gig memory card for my camera. Ana and Damien got me a recipe book and a bunch of kitchen utensils. I think it's a hint since I always go to Ana's for dinner but haven't had them up that often to my place. I got a photo book of Tokyo from my roommate Tracey, and Miwa gave me a book to help me study Japanese. I've applied to take the Japanese Proficiency Test in December - at the lowest level, of course - so I need to study more.
Work's been alright. There were four ALTs: myself, Julian, and this Canadian couple from Fujisawa's sister city. One of the couple finished his contract in August, so they both took off to Calgary and called from there to say they wouldn't hang around. The head people changed everything around and gave me completely different schools to go to. So I have to spend this month saying goodbye to all the students and teachers at the schools. Fortunately, Julian gets all of mine, including one that takes forever to get to, and I'm sure I'll hear about them all from him.
That's about it, except I haven't slept well this weekend (too much going out) and it's late here so I need my beauty sleep. I'll try to write more later.
I had my birthday on the 7th. Ana and Julian tried to organize a surprise party for me, inviting lots of friends along. It was good, though not really a surprise after Julian let it slip when they were still organizing it. I got some great presents, a box from home that my mom filled with microwave popcorn and a 1 gig memory card for my camera. Ana and Damien got me a recipe book and a bunch of kitchen utensils. I think it's a hint since I always go to Ana's for dinner but haven't had them up that often to my place. I got a photo book of Tokyo from my roommate Tracey, and Miwa gave me a book to help me study Japanese. I've applied to take the Japanese Proficiency Test in December - at the lowest level, of course - so I need to study more.
Work's been alright. There were four ALTs: myself, Julian, and this Canadian couple from Fujisawa's sister city. One of the couple finished his contract in August, so they both took off to Calgary and called from there to say they wouldn't hang around. The head people changed everything around and gave me completely different schools to go to. So I have to spend this month saying goodbye to all the students and teachers at the schools. Fortunately, Julian gets all of mine, including one that takes forever to get to, and I'm sure I'll hear about them all from him.
That's about it, except I haven't slept well this weekend (too much going out) and it's late here so I need my beauty sleep. I'll try to write more later.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Vietnam Photos Now Up
Just what the title says, though there's been a bit of a change. Because Yahoo Photos doesn't allow me to create subfolders, and I've posted around 250 photos, I'm using an alternate account to display them. So, please go here. The folders are in chronological order, starting from the first album, Saigon, through to Ha Noi. The photos should be almost entirely in chronological order within the folders, barring a few exceptions.
Now, I haven't had the time to put comments on all these photos nor linkified from my blog entries. The comments will get done eventually, but not sure about the link. So enjoy, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments here and I'll do my best to answer them, if you can't wait until I write more.
Now, I haven't had the time to put comments on all these photos nor linkified from my blog entries. The comments will get done eventually, but not sure about the link. So enjoy, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments here and I'll do my best to answer them, if you can't wait until I write more.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Back Home Again in Japan
I arrived back in Japan on the morning of the 23rd. I spent the day in Narita visiting my friend Yumi, then caught a late train back to Hiratsuka. I stayed at Ana's since the buses had stopped running and got to spend time with her and her roommates, as well as Damien. I've still got another week til I start work again, so I'm going to attempt a climb of Mt. Fuji and see all the people I haven't been able to see yet. Unfortunately, the typhoon that's blowing through today isn't helping, so I'm stuck inside unpacking and trying to organize all my photos. I'll hopefully post a bunch of them over the next few days and maybe write some more about Vietnam and my impressions after taking it all in.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Leaving
I've finally arrived in Hanoi. I don't know what anyone else knows about it, but all I'd ever heard conjured up visions of American POWs and a city practically flattened by bombing during the war. Actually, Hanoi is a very European city, having been the capital of French Indochina. Within an hour of arriving I wandered down one street and ended in a plaza with a giant French cathedral at one end. I could've been in Marseilles or Nice were it not for the zipping motorbikes and conical hats. They also have baguettes here, I've bought three to savor during my flight back.
One thing that I definitely notice between here and the south is that the military fashion is still in. Olive drab is very popular, and you see almost all the men wearing the green hard helmets. The people are also a little bit cooler towards foreigners, and fewer people speak English. Another thing I noticed is that nobody here wants to haggle for anything, and if you don't like their (relatively) high prices, you can just fuck right off. A 1.5 liter bottle of water costs 4,000 VND (roughly 25 cents) in Saigon. In Hanoi, you're lucky to find one for 6,000. It's only about 12 cents difference, but it is a 50% increase. Maybe I'm just being stingy.
I didn't feel like doing much sightseeing, so I've been buying last-minute souvenirs and searching for the Thai/Indian fisherman's pants that are so popular with the backpacking crowds. I finally found a place, but the can only make 2 pairs for me. I've also spent my afternoons savoring the coffee seated next to the lake, watching the world pass by.
On the hellish overnight train from Hue, I met a girl going with her mom to visit her college-age sister. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her when I arrived in Hanoi. The three of us plus her sister's friend went to a village outside Hanoi to see how traditional ceramics were made, and I got to enjoy a motorbike ride in the finally cooler air. It'd been sweltering up until late last night when a tremendous storm blew in. I could hear the rain and thunder from deep inside the building. It finally quit right as we left town and it's been cooler ever since, though still rather humid.
Anyway, I'm off to pick up my pants and then head to the airport. I hate having to leave here at 6, my flight isn't until 11:30pm, but that's the last $2 minibus and I don't want to pay 5 times that to get a taxi, not for a couple hours sitting around the hotel instead of the airport. Funny to think in less than 24 hours I'll be back in Japan, which will feel like home compared to here. To tell the truth, I'm ready to go back to a safe place where you don't have to guard your wallet and the vendors don't charge you 400% the local price. It just costs that much for everyone.
One thing that I definitely notice between here and the south is that the military fashion is still in. Olive drab is very popular, and you see almost all the men wearing the green hard helmets. The people are also a little bit cooler towards foreigners, and fewer people speak English. Another thing I noticed is that nobody here wants to haggle for anything, and if you don't like their (relatively) high prices, you can just fuck right off. A 1.5 liter bottle of water costs 4,000 VND (roughly 25 cents) in Saigon. In Hanoi, you're lucky to find one for 6,000. It's only about 12 cents difference, but it is a 50% increase. Maybe I'm just being stingy.
I didn't feel like doing much sightseeing, so I've been buying last-minute souvenirs and searching for the Thai/Indian fisherman's pants that are so popular with the backpacking crowds. I finally found a place, but the can only make 2 pairs for me. I've also spent my afternoons savoring the coffee seated next to the lake, watching the world pass by.
On the hellish overnight train from Hue, I met a girl going with her mom to visit her college-age sister. She gave me her phone number and told me to call her when I arrived in Hanoi. The three of us plus her sister's friend went to a village outside Hanoi to see how traditional ceramics were made, and I got to enjoy a motorbike ride in the finally cooler air. It'd been sweltering up until late last night when a tremendous storm blew in. I could hear the rain and thunder from deep inside the building. It finally quit right as we left town and it's been cooler ever since, though still rather humid.
Anyway, I'm off to pick up my pants and then head to the airport. I hate having to leave here at 6, my flight isn't until 11:30pm, but that's the last $2 minibus and I don't want to pay 5 times that to get a taxi, not for a couple hours sitting around the hotel instead of the airport. Funny to think in less than 24 hours I'll be back in Japan, which will feel like home compared to here. To tell the truth, I'm ready to go back to a safe place where you don't have to guard your wallet and the vendors don't charge you 400% the local price. It just costs that much for everyone.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Hello Hanoi!
Eventually I made it to Cat Ba island. Cat Ba is the largest island in the Halong area. Halong Bay is dotted with small, rocky mountains that jut up out of the water. Technically speaking, Halong Bay is only the open area of water by Halong City, but for our purposes it includes the surrounding karsks and formations. More than half the island is a National Park, with some small villages and one town that caters to tourists. Of course, I ended up in the touristy area. Everything there is expensive, at least by Vietnamese standards, and as such everyone is loath to pay for anything not absolutely necessary. I ended up taking a tour my first full day. I really wanted to go kayaking around the formations, and this guy promised it, albeit after a morning walk to see a hilltribe village. Sounds good. Well, the pleasant walk turned out to be a hellish hike. From the village we could either sit around and do nothing for 2 hours, or go on this hike. It was sprinkling a bit as we headed out, not that it mattered after a while - we were all soaking wet with sweat anyways. The so-called trail ended up being a stream at various points, then as it turned upward it became a mudbath due to the heavy rains the previous couple of days. After about 30 minutes hiking up the slick mud we hit the rocks, sharp and pointy with just enough slick, wet spots to make it very dangerous. I'd been told we'd go kayaking, so I was wearing my swim trunks and sandals. One poor German guy, Christian, was only wearing flip-flops as he had no idea what would be happening.
The view up was fantastic, though. We were able to see all the way to Halong City, and take in the view from extremely high up. Then came the best part, going down. Down is always more difficult, this path particularly so. A few Brits and I took the lead, not really waiting for anybody. We just wanted to get down and get cleaned up. I don't think anybody got back without slipping and getting either a bruise or cut someplace. I lost a couple layers of skin on my palm when I slipped and grabbed a rock. One girl managed to fall and land sitting on a sharp jut of a rock. Ouch! The nice part was stuffing ourselves with food back at the village and after a pleasant walk back to the boats we took a swim in one of the grottos. I met some really interesting people on the tour, particularly a couple of nice Austrian girls and Christian, the German. We ended up spending that evening hanging out, sharing stories, and going to the beach together the next day. I also rented a motorbike and drove to the far side of the island to see the beautiful scenery. It was great until I got caught in a downpour that made driving impossible. The beach near Cat Ba town had been damaged a few weeks before by the typhoon and debris was washed up all along the shore. But the waves were big and fun to swim in. We also got to witness a landslide that partly ruined the new landscaping of a hotel resort and reminded me that the Vietnamese aren't known for either their environmental awareness nor their capacity for landscaping. I caught an early morning ferry to Hanoi after my third night (yesterday) and have beeng wandering the Old Quarter looking for souvenirs to bring back to my schools. I fly out tomorrow, so I'll also have to stock up on baguettes and strong coffee that'll strip the enamel off your teeth.
The view up was fantastic, though. We were able to see all the way to Halong City, and take in the view from extremely high up. Then came the best part, going down. Down is always more difficult, this path particularly so. A few Brits and I took the lead, not really waiting for anybody. We just wanted to get down and get cleaned up. I don't think anybody got back without slipping and getting either a bruise or cut someplace. I lost a couple layers of skin on my palm when I slipped and grabbed a rock. One girl managed to fall and land sitting on a sharp jut of a rock. Ouch! The nice part was stuffing ourselves with food back at the village and after a pleasant walk back to the boats we took a swim in one of the grottos. I met some really interesting people on the tour, particularly a couple of nice Austrian girls and Christian, the German. We ended up spending that evening hanging out, sharing stories, and going to the beach together the next day. I also rented a motorbike and drove to the far side of the island to see the beautiful scenery. It was great until I got caught in a downpour that made driving impossible. The beach near Cat Ba town had been damaged a few weeks before by the typhoon and debris was washed up all along the shore. But the waves were big and fun to swim in. We also got to witness a landslide that partly ruined the new landscaping of a hotel resort and reminded me that the Vietnamese aren't known for either their environmental awareness nor their capacity for landscaping. I caught an early morning ferry to Hanoi after my third night (yesterday) and have beeng wandering the Old Quarter looking for souvenirs to bring back to my schools. I fly out tomorrow, so I'll also have to stock up on baguettes and strong coffee that'll strip the enamel off your teeth.
On the Road
I've just finished a (for me) rather whirlwind series of hops, skips and jumps through various places. I wound up on Cat Ba island, just south of the famous Halong Bay, where internet is 3 times as expensive and works like crap, which precluded me from posting then. So I arrived in Hanoi yesterday afternoon, and I've steadily been trying to find all the crap that I wanted to buy for people before I go back. But as to how I got here...
Hue is a nice city, around 60 km north of Danang, which itself is about 30 km north of Hoi An. I wish I'd stayed in Hue longer, but it couldn't be helped. I stayed one night in a little hotel. Across the street was a place called "Cafe on The Wheels," unbeknownst to me a very popular hangout with the backpacker crowd and a good place to arrange a motorbike tour. My guide was quite friendly and drove me around to all the major sites, so I got to see the big things, but I didn't have the chance to enjoy Hue's main claim to fame, its cuisine. Ah well, there's always next year.
I'd tried to book an overnight train after my one night in Hue, but I wasn't able to get a sleeper car. Which meant I had to take an upright seat in a normal car overnight. This was my worst nightmare. I don't think I've ever spent a worse night, not since I got locked out of a hostel in Madrid and had to wander the streets until it opened in the morning. The guy sitting next to me was young Vietnamese soldier who spoke no english, but thought it'd be fun to try and jabber at me periodically and managed to buy the absolute loudest snack possible and eat it once the lights had gone out. I couldn't sleep squashed up against him and because the old lady behind me kicked my seat every time I tried to lean back, I spent about 3 hours trying to sleep sideways with that loud crunching sound in my ear.
Eventually I wandered back a couple cars and came across a couple of university students, neither of whom could speak English. We pantomimed at each other for a bit, then one lent me his foldout chair to set up in the corridor so I could get a couple hours of sleep. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got out at Ninh Binh, only to be assaulted by touts for hotels at the station exit. They wouldn't leave me alone, even following me when I sat down at a cafe to have some coffee and think. Eventually I gave up and rented a motorbike from one to head out to Tam Coc.
Tam Coc is similar to Halong Bay, except that instead of the dramatic rocks jutting up out of the water, they are surrounded by rice paddies and lakes. The drive out there was breathtaking, since the morning mist still hung around and obscured the tops of the karsks. At the park, you can take a boat ride past, between, and even under, via caves, the limestone. It was really amazing, breathtaking, until we got about 3km, at which point you turn around and come back. But before that, another boat will paddle up and then begins the hassling, in the midst of all this natural beauty, for you to buy something. Can of coke? How about some bananas or dragon fruit? It goes on and they're relentless. After little to no sleep and an aggravating morning, this didn't go down well with me. I ended up shelling out for a drink and told the guide to take me back. On the way back he tried to get me to buy embroidered crap, and when I flat out refused, he tried to drop me off 1km from the start and make me walk. All in all, not pleasant. Fortunately, there was a pretty Buddhist temple built in one of the mountains to take my mind off it.
Going through the caves behind the temple, or rather, the caves that house part of the temple, I came across this really strange guy. He refused to speak at all, just showing me particular formations that resembled an old man, and another that looked like an elephant. Then he led me up a small path I would've never found myself to a smaller shrine with a great view of the paddies and karsks from up high. He kept pointing at my Lonely Planet guide to show me that it was there that one of the photos was taken. Suddenly, he put his fingers to his lips and ran quietly and quickly into the brush, disappearing completely. Behind me some guy started yelling at me in Vietnamese. A cop or Party official was up there angrily gesturing for me to get down from there. I quickly followed his directions and went down, while he remained up there slowly looking around. I don't know who my mute guide was or what it was all about, but it was just another bizarre thing to happen to me that day.
Back at the hotel, I returned the motorbike and grabbed my stuff. The guy had told me he'd take me to Haiphong, but I guess what he really meant was that he'd take me to a street corner where I'd stand and hope a bus would come by and take me. A crazy local bus screeched to a halt and a guy jumped out, threw all my bags onboard and dragged me up. When I was halfway on, the bus took off and I had to pull myself up to avoid being trapped in the doors. He charged me about $2 to go the 90 km to Haiphong, and I sat down to enjoy the trip. The only memorable thing was watching a full-sized white horse eating garbage in a gutter in the middle of Haiphone city. Not soon afterwards, they stopped, threw my bags out and told me I was here and left. I had absolutely no idea where I was, if I was even in Haiphong, nor what to do now that I was here. I wanted to head to Cat Ba island, so I got some guy on a motorbike who'd been hassling me since I was crapped out the side of the bus, and he took me to the ferry station where I learned all the ferries had left for the day. A woman there told me she knew of a ferry leaving, but it was 3 km away. She charged me a quarter of a million dong (roughly $16) and told me that if I didn't like it I was welcome to pay $25 to stay a night in a hotel and then pay more for a ferry the next morning. Can't argue with that. So after handing over the money and not even getting a receipt, this kid (really, he couldnt've been more than 16) pulls up on a motorbike and she tells me to load all my bags up and get on. Now, vietnamese people tend to have trouble with numbers, especially, it seems, saying the difference between 3, 13 and 30. What she meant to say was that I would have to go 30km at high velocity precariously balanced on the back of a motorbike holding all of my bags (I picked up all my souvenirs in Hoi An). What she said was, "It very close, only 3 km. Thank y' for money. Bye-bye!" Next up, I'll write about Cat Ba.
Hue is a nice city, around 60 km north of Danang, which itself is about 30 km north of Hoi An. I wish I'd stayed in Hue longer, but it couldn't be helped. I stayed one night in a little hotel. Across the street was a place called "Cafe on The Wheels," unbeknownst to me a very popular hangout with the backpacker crowd and a good place to arrange a motorbike tour. My guide was quite friendly and drove me around to all the major sites, so I got to see the big things, but I didn't have the chance to enjoy Hue's main claim to fame, its cuisine. Ah well, there's always next year.
I'd tried to book an overnight train after my one night in Hue, but I wasn't able to get a sleeper car. Which meant I had to take an upright seat in a normal car overnight. This was my worst nightmare. I don't think I've ever spent a worse night, not since I got locked out of a hostel in Madrid and had to wander the streets until it opened in the morning. The guy sitting next to me was young Vietnamese soldier who spoke no english, but thought it'd be fun to try and jabber at me periodically and managed to buy the absolute loudest snack possible and eat it once the lights had gone out. I couldn't sleep squashed up against him and because the old lady behind me kicked my seat every time I tried to lean back, I spent about 3 hours trying to sleep sideways with that loud crunching sound in my ear.
Eventually I wandered back a couple cars and came across a couple of university students, neither of whom could speak English. We pantomimed at each other for a bit, then one lent me his foldout chair to set up in the corridor so I could get a couple hours of sleep. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got out at Ninh Binh, only to be assaulted by touts for hotels at the station exit. They wouldn't leave me alone, even following me when I sat down at a cafe to have some coffee and think. Eventually I gave up and rented a motorbike from one to head out to Tam Coc.
Tam Coc is similar to Halong Bay, except that instead of the dramatic rocks jutting up out of the water, they are surrounded by rice paddies and lakes. The drive out there was breathtaking, since the morning mist still hung around and obscured the tops of the karsks. At the park, you can take a boat ride past, between, and even under, via caves, the limestone. It was really amazing, breathtaking, until we got about 3km, at which point you turn around and come back. But before that, another boat will paddle up and then begins the hassling, in the midst of all this natural beauty, for you to buy something. Can of coke? How about some bananas or dragon fruit? It goes on and they're relentless. After little to no sleep and an aggravating morning, this didn't go down well with me. I ended up shelling out for a drink and told the guide to take me back. On the way back he tried to get me to buy embroidered crap, and when I flat out refused, he tried to drop me off 1km from the start and make me walk. All in all, not pleasant. Fortunately, there was a pretty Buddhist temple built in one of the mountains to take my mind off it.
Going through the caves behind the temple, or rather, the caves that house part of the temple, I came across this really strange guy. He refused to speak at all, just showing me particular formations that resembled an old man, and another that looked like an elephant. Then he led me up a small path I would've never found myself to a smaller shrine with a great view of the paddies and karsks from up high. He kept pointing at my Lonely Planet guide to show me that it was there that one of the photos was taken. Suddenly, he put his fingers to his lips and ran quietly and quickly into the brush, disappearing completely. Behind me some guy started yelling at me in Vietnamese. A cop or Party official was up there angrily gesturing for me to get down from there. I quickly followed his directions and went down, while he remained up there slowly looking around. I don't know who my mute guide was or what it was all about, but it was just another bizarre thing to happen to me that day.
Back at the hotel, I returned the motorbike and grabbed my stuff. The guy had told me he'd take me to Haiphong, but I guess what he really meant was that he'd take me to a street corner where I'd stand and hope a bus would come by and take me. A crazy local bus screeched to a halt and a guy jumped out, threw all my bags onboard and dragged me up. When I was halfway on, the bus took off and I had to pull myself up to avoid being trapped in the doors. He charged me about $2 to go the 90 km to Haiphong, and I sat down to enjoy the trip. The only memorable thing was watching a full-sized white horse eating garbage in a gutter in the middle of Haiphone city. Not soon afterwards, they stopped, threw my bags out and told me I was here and left. I had absolutely no idea where I was, if I was even in Haiphong, nor what to do now that I was here. I wanted to head to Cat Ba island, so I got some guy on a motorbike who'd been hassling me since I was crapped out the side of the bus, and he took me to the ferry station where I learned all the ferries had left for the day. A woman there told me she knew of a ferry leaving, but it was 3 km away. She charged me a quarter of a million dong (roughly $16) and told me that if I didn't like it I was welcome to pay $25 to stay a night in a hotel and then pay more for a ferry the next morning. Can't argue with that. So after handing over the money and not even getting a receipt, this kid (really, he couldnt've been more than 16) pulls up on a motorbike and she tells me to load all my bags up and get on. Now, vietnamese people tend to have trouble with numbers, especially, it seems, saying the difference between 3, 13 and 30. What she meant to say was that I would have to go 30km at high velocity precariously balanced on the back of a motorbike holding all of my bags (I picked up all my souvenirs in Hoi An). What she said was, "It very close, only 3 km. Thank y' for money. Bye-bye!" Next up, I'll write about Cat Ba.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
The Frustration Sets In
I've been here for going on 6 days or so now, and I'll be leaving for Hue tomorrow. I really like Hoi An. It has a tiny Old Quarter filled with tailor shops and artist-owned art galleries. I've managed to meet people here, too. The receptionist at my hotel in Dalat is from here and she was coming home to visit her family, so we made plans for her to show me around her hometown and hopefully see things the average tourist doesn't see. I got to visit her grandmother's house, a brand-new construction in a quiet neighborhood. It gave me a nice opportunity to learn more about the people here and for her to practice her English.
The town is lovely. But my biggest complaint is about all the people who want to sell you something and are annoyingly persistent in it. I can rationalize their reasons, economy and all that, and I realize that it's a touristy town, but you think I could walk out of my hotel in the morning without 3 people up and down the street calling out for a motorbike. Then, wherever I go, each street corner has either two or three guys laying on their scooters pestering me to take a ride or a small vendor's cart with old ladies constantly saying, "you buy something!" I don't think even in Saigon there's such a high concentration of touts and solicitors.
So enough whingeing(sp?). I've had almost an entirely new work wardrobe made, definitely a good thing since I've been alternating between two pairs of pants for over a year now and Japanese business shirts never quite seem to reach my wrists. I also got a couple traditional Chinese shirts made, which I was hoping would be cooler, but the one I'm wearing now is soaked through with sweat sitting as I am in a sweltering cafe, but I hope it looks decent.
I moved out of my hotel today and into a beautiful one that for one night costs almost as much as I paid for five in the previous one. But it's gorgeous and I can take some time to hang out and see it properly, and feel like I actually have a lot of money to sit around and sip coffee and eat delicious fruit. The previous hotel is a room with a passable bed and a bathroom that's not too dirty. That's usually enough for me. But every now and then it's nice to splurge a little. My problem is that I've been splurging a little too much, actually I've been splurging all over the city. I don't know if that last phrase came out as intended, but I'm late for lunch so it'll have to stay. Last night walking down the street, I ran into one Ricardo and Laura, the Spanish couple I'd met in Dalat. So I'm showing them a fantastic restaurant here and then heading off for the beach.
The town is lovely. But my biggest complaint is about all the people who want to sell you something and are annoyingly persistent in it. I can rationalize their reasons, economy and all that, and I realize that it's a touristy town, but you think I could walk out of my hotel in the morning without 3 people up and down the street calling out for a motorbike. Then, wherever I go, each street corner has either two or three guys laying on their scooters pestering me to take a ride or a small vendor's cart with old ladies constantly saying, "you buy something!" I don't think even in Saigon there's such a high concentration of touts and solicitors.
So enough whingeing(sp?). I've had almost an entirely new work wardrobe made, definitely a good thing since I've been alternating between two pairs of pants for over a year now and Japanese business shirts never quite seem to reach my wrists. I also got a couple traditional Chinese shirts made, which I was hoping would be cooler, but the one I'm wearing now is soaked through with sweat sitting as I am in a sweltering cafe, but I hope it looks decent.
I moved out of my hotel today and into a beautiful one that for one night costs almost as much as I paid for five in the previous one. But it's gorgeous and I can take some time to hang out and see it properly, and feel like I actually have a lot of money to sit around and sip coffee and eat delicious fruit. The previous hotel is a room with a passable bed and a bathroom that's not too dirty. That's usually enough for me. But every now and then it's nice to splurge a little. My problem is that I've been splurging a little too much, actually I've been splurging all over the city. I don't know if that last phrase came out as intended, but I'm late for lunch so it'll have to stay. Last night walking down the street, I ran into one Ricardo and Laura, the Spanish couple I'd met in Dalat. So I'm showing them a fantastic restaurant here and then heading off for the beach.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Important Things for Travel Update
I guess it behooves me to actually check the comments sections. I had no idea people actually wrote anything there. So for those of you still in total suspense as to whether I'd get things together to continue on, I did get my passport back the next morning, the hotel in Saigon sent it on the next tour bus. Guess that's my insurance bit from the $20 open bus ticket I paid for and will only use once. And Tracey, bless her, transferred my paycheck to my other account. For those of you not in on my absurd drama, I had to get a new bank account along with my new job. The problem is that I have an international ATM card only with my old account, and all attempts to get one for my new account (the one that had my paycheck deposited on the 1st) failed miserably. So my very kind flatmate (she's Scottish and roommate sounds weird to her) had to go and transfer money. What a headache!
But everything's all good now, and I'm set to blow this month's pay on cheap tailored clothes.
PS - thanks for the encouragement, Nancy! I wish I'd kept a better diary in Europe and Japan to compile stories better. Oh, well, guess I'll have to go back and do it again, darn!
But everything's all good now, and I'm set to blow this month's pay on cheap tailored clothes.
PS - thanks for the encouragement, Nancy! I wish I'd kept a better diary in Europe and Japan to compile stories better. Oh, well, guess I'll have to go back and do it again, darn!
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