Monday, January 14, 2008
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Tokyo Pictures
Still working on the Chinese Pictures, but here is Tokyo:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaNnDdi5ZsmLvA
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaNnDdi5ZsmLvA
Friday, June 1, 2007
Epilogue
We got back last night.
We were sick the last couple of days in Japan, which slowed us down a little, but we still managed to visit Tokyo Bay, where we saw a mini Statue of Liberty and the Toyota design museum (they have a working version of electric cars that drive them selves). They're doing a lot of cool things with usability.
I've been reading Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Modern Japan, which sort of colored my visit, but which explained a lot too. The book is really amazing, but a little dated (~2002).
It was raining the last day we were there, so I got THE MOST AMAZING HAIRCUT of my life, then we hung out in contemporary art museums, as Sarah was feeling under-arted by the entire trip. I tried to console here by claiming that the art in Shanghai would not have been that great, a claim I cannot really support, and a claim which she did not believe.
The DVDs Yong ripped of the pictures I took in China aren't working, so I'll have to figure that out with him. I'll post the Japan pics today.
My cold seems to be clearing up rapidly. Maybe it was exhaustion.
We were sick the last couple of days in Japan, which slowed us down a little, but we still managed to visit Tokyo Bay, where we saw a mini Statue of Liberty and the Toyota design museum (they have a working version of electric cars that drive them selves). They're doing a lot of cool things with usability.
I've been reading Dogs and Demons: Tales from the Dark Side of Modern Japan, which sort of colored my visit, but which explained a lot too. The book is really amazing, but a little dated (~2002).
It was raining the last day we were there, so I got THE MOST AMAZING HAIRCUT of my life, then we hung out in contemporary art museums, as Sarah was feeling under-arted by the entire trip. I tried to console here by claiming that the art in Shanghai would not have been that great, a claim I cannot really support, and a claim which she did not believe.
The DVDs Yong ripped of the pictures I took in China aren't working, so I'll have to figure that out with him. I'll post the Japan pics today.
My cold seems to be clearing up rapidly. Maybe it was exhaustion.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Why is everyone here so nice?
People are nicer in China and Japan than in any other place I have ever been.
In China, well, I cannot exaggerate the generosity of our hosts, the Lius. They put us up, they fed us every day, Yong kept the itenerary full and HE WOULD NOT LET ME PAY FOR ANYTHING. Seriously, it was crazy. I owe him like $600 bucks or something. When we needed to get downtown, the whole family would chip in. Yongs cousin Alex did some key driving. When we were on the buss tour, the other customers looked out for Sarah and I while Yong and Kay were busy making out behind the Buddah statues.
Now we have been in Japan 24 hours, and I have received more random acts of kindness that i can remember over the past two years in the states. The old guy that helped us find our hostel, the girl that helped us figure out the metro fare machine. The metro cop that dealt with our damaged fare card. The waitresses and barristas and everyone else that puts up with our not knowing Japanese (Brendan-syle traveling = learn as little as possible about a country and its culture before the plan lands, thus maximizing the Experienc). The niceness here is off the charts.
Is it Christianity that makes us and Europe so shitty? Before I got to Japan, I thought it might be Capitalism. Also, its hard not to call China capitalist. What is it?
We conquered the metro today and took pictures of buildings. This city is nuts. It reminds me a lot like Berlin, meaning everything is incredibly well designed and thought out. The whole city is a pleasing aesthetic experience.
Sarahs sleeping, and Im supposed to be buying snacks.
Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. We are winding down. Have I mentioned that our room is a shoe box with a bunk bed in it?
In China, well, I cannot exaggerate the generosity of our hosts, the Lius. They put us up, they fed us every day, Yong kept the itenerary full and HE WOULD NOT LET ME PAY FOR ANYTHING. Seriously, it was crazy. I owe him like $600 bucks or something. When we needed to get downtown, the whole family would chip in. Yongs cousin Alex did some key driving. When we were on the buss tour, the other customers looked out for Sarah and I while Yong and Kay were busy making out behind the Buddah statues.
Now we have been in Japan 24 hours, and I have received more random acts of kindness that i can remember over the past two years in the states. The old guy that helped us find our hostel, the girl that helped us figure out the metro fare machine. The metro cop that dealt with our damaged fare card. The waitresses and barristas and everyone else that puts up with our not knowing Japanese (Brendan-syle traveling = learn as little as possible about a country and its culture before the plan lands, thus maximizing the Experienc). The niceness here is off the charts.
Is it Christianity that makes us and Europe so shitty? Before I got to Japan, I thought it might be Capitalism. Also, its hard not to call China capitalist. What is it?
We conquered the metro today and took pictures of buildings. This city is nuts. It reminds me a lot like Berlin, meaning everything is incredibly well designed and thought out. The whole city is a pleasing aesthetic experience.
Sarahs sleeping, and Im supposed to be buying snacks.
Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. We are winding down. Have I mentioned that our room is a shoe box with a bunk bed in it?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
In Tokyo
Just got in Tokyo.
So far, the buildings look great and it seems quiet.
We are homesick for the cats.
The people here are really nice. An old guy saw me reading the subway map on the train and walked us to our hostel.
Found a Denny`s on the second floor of a 6 story building.
More later.
So far, the buildings look great and it seems quiet.
We are homesick for the cats.
The people here are really nice. An old guy saw me reading the subway map on the train and walked us to our hostel.
Found a Denny`s on the second floor of a 6 story building.
More later.
Chinese Driving
Take your normal rush hour.
Multiply the number of cars by 10.
Add the same number of people on scooters and bikes.
Take 10 percent of the bikes, and put construction equipment, 10-foot pieces of rebar, 5-gallon water bottles and coolers on them.
Take 50 percent of the scooters, and add a person to each scooter.
Take 5 percent of the bikes and scooters, and put an entire family on them.
Speed everything up, a lot.
Ignore lights or anything painted on the street.
Now, and this is important, remove the concept of right of way. That is, whenever two vehicles are headed toward the same location, there are no rules governing which vehicle has rights to that location. The way it works here is that whichever vehicle gets there first, gets the spot, and the other vehicle has to slam on the breaks or change lanes without looking, preferrably the latter.
It is terrifying.
Twoard the end of the trip, we started counting the number of car rides we had left to take. No kidding.
Oh yeah. Yong loves Yanni. So add Yanni, yes Yanni, not sure what Yanni is? Look it up. Yeah, that Yanni. Add a whole lot of Yanni to the hellrides.
Ahhh.
Multiply the number of cars by 10.
Add the same number of people on scooters and bikes.
Take 10 percent of the bikes, and put construction equipment, 10-foot pieces of rebar, 5-gallon water bottles and coolers on them.
Take 50 percent of the scooters, and add a person to each scooter.
Take 5 percent of the bikes and scooters, and put an entire family on them.
Speed everything up, a lot.
Ignore lights or anything painted on the street.
Now, and this is important, remove the concept of right of way. That is, whenever two vehicles are headed toward the same location, there are no rules governing which vehicle has rights to that location. The way it works here is that whichever vehicle gets there first, gets the spot, and the other vehicle has to slam on the breaks or change lanes without looking, preferrably the latter.
It is terrifying.
Twoard the end of the trip, we started counting the number of car rides we had left to take. No kidding.
Oh yeah. Yong loves Yanni. So add Yanni, yes Yanni, not sure what Yanni is? Look it up. Yeah, that Yanni. Add a whole lot of Yanni to the hellrides.
Ahhh.
Our trip to the villages
Did I mention that we were going to spend the last few days renting a van with Yong and his friends, going around to small villages outside of Shanghai? I imagined taking pictures of farmers and sleeping in chicken coops.
We took a train out to Hangzhou. An incredibly, crowded, loud train. Yong and fay were staring at each other and giggling in Chinese. The city, which was the capital of a couple of dynasties, sits next to a lake, in the middle of which are islands on which monestaries have been built. Sounds quiant. In fact, Hangzhou has a population of 3.75 million, a couple of Farrari dealerships, and at least one restaurant that seats more than 1000 people at a time. On May 1, the national holiday, more than 6,000,000 descend on this sleepy little hamlet, which is more than 10 times the size of St. Louis, and a good majority of those that missed the Mayday celbration decided to go for it last Friday.
We were on a guided tour. So a little chick with a megaphone yelled at us in Chinese for two days. Nuff said. On the upside, we visited a monestary, climbed a mountain, saw a bunch of carvings, visited a tea farm, visited a silk factory, went into a mountain that has crystal stallagtites and got yelled at by another chick with a megaphone.
Ahh.
We took a train out to Hangzhou. An incredibly, crowded, loud train. Yong and fay were staring at each other and giggling in Chinese. The city, which was the capital of a couple of dynasties, sits next to a lake, in the middle of which are islands on which monestaries have been built. Sounds quiant. In fact, Hangzhou has a population of 3.75 million, a couple of Farrari dealerships, and at least one restaurant that seats more than 1000 people at a time. On May 1, the national holiday, more than 6,000,000 descend on this sleepy little hamlet, which is more than 10 times the size of St. Louis, and a good majority of those that missed the Mayday celbration decided to go for it last Friday.
We were on a guided tour. So a little chick with a megaphone yelled at us in Chinese for two days. Nuff said. On the upside, we visited a monestary, climbed a mountain, saw a bunch of carvings, visited a tea farm, visited a silk factory, went into a mountain that has crystal stallagtites and got yelled at by another chick with a megaphone.
Ahh.
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