December 30, 2007
[spectacular] The light show is just starting to unfold outside the window of our room on the 50th floor of Midtown Tower -- at 248m/814ft, Tokyo's tallest building -- looking north over the skyscrapers of Shinjuku that are now starting to twinkle as the sun is setting to the south-west of us in the direction of Mount Fuji.
Only one word describes this hotel where we'll be spending the last two nights of 2007 -- Spectacular.
There is a serious WOW factor here at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo that was sorely lacking at the Conrad. First off, the panoramic, wraparound, 360° views of Tokyo are jaw-dropping, jade-clutching, pee-in-your-manties amazing. It is especially so in Tokyo where the air is super-clean and you can see the immense density of this gigapolis crawling its way to the mountains in the distance (which you can also see) like sentinels of concrete buildings marching towards the horizon. The entire city is awashed in so much neon it will be hard to believe if you told someone you saw the stars in the night sky in Tokyo.
Tokyo is simply far more beautiful at night.
Our room here is pretty luxe but not as lovely as our room at the Peninsula. At 52 sq m, it is just shy of the 54 sq m room we had at the Pen but larger than the 48 sq m room at the Conrad. Whereas the room at the Conrad was ultra-contemporary and the Pen was supremely comfortable, the room here oozes understated luxury in a slightly old-fashioned manner, though not in a bad way.
Anyho, gotta run. There is so much to do, see, eat, buy. Only 31 hours left to 2007. Ciao bella. @ 17:05 Tokyo
[lookin' up] The past couple of days in Tokyo have been somewhat low-key and deflating after the three pampering nights at the ryokans in Hakone.
First off, the Conrad is a little cold service-wise compared to the ryokans. The change in service temperature was pretty jarring. I was not prepared for the lack of warmth, smiles, and bend-over-backwards service. Sigh, so spoilt.
The Conrad is located in the Shiodome area which is one of the most futuristic parts of Tokyo -- a steel-and-glass complex, if you will -- but since it's somewhat new, it is also pretty desolate. We are "close" to Ginza and "close" to Shimbashi but nothing is just here, y'know? Literally, once you get to Shimbashi, the masses reappear.
In any case, it's also quite an effort to go places. The Shiodome area is hopelessly confusing what with its multitude of transportation systems stacked one on top of another, a huge elevated pedestrian deck that spans entire square blocks, and a series of underpasses and underground cities that link everything together. It's mind-boggling. It's not like you can walk on the surface streets either -- you must take the deck or the underpass. It's like the complex is either above or beneath ground.
But more than anything else, it has been raining the past few days in Tokyo which is a serious dampener. Tokyo is not a very pretty city in the daytime to begin with -- the neon lights are fascinating at night though -- but when it rains, it's just downright dreary and ugly. We barely did anything besides shop and eat. And even then we were quite unmotivated.
This morning, however, we woke up to the most brilliant blue skies with the sun beating down on Tokyo for the first time since we arrived. It was just awesome. And then we took the Metro to the Akihabara area for breakfast ramen at 9:30am! Super fetch.
We just got done eating an hour ago and we have lunch ressies in an hour. I know, kwazy. After lunch, we are changing hotels -- moving from the desolate Shiodome area to the hip and happenin' Tokyo Midtown area for our two night stay at the Ritz Carlton!
It is also approaching 60 degrees. Things are lookin' up! Sugoi! (Cool!) :-) @ 11:09 Tokyo
December 29, 2007
[christmas-y] The Japanese are way more into the whole Christmas lights thing than we are in the States. I have tons of pics to share from Lightopia in the Marunouchi area on Christmas Eve when Naka-dori (-dori = street) was lit up like a Macy's holiday window. The whole entire street for blocks on end. Fascinating.
Anyho, Check out this picture from last night which I took from our offices in Tokyo:
Awesome, huh? BTW, that Christmas tree thingie is HUGE. Those lights are from Hibiya Koen (Park). The big dark area behind it is the Imperial Palace. Those buildings on the right are the skyscrapers of the Marunouchi district, including the Peninsula which is where we stayed on Christmas Eve.
It feels more Christmas-y here in Tokyo than it does in the States!
p.s. Yes, I went to work for about 3+ hours yesterday after we arrived in Tokyo. Why, you ask? Coz I'm a nice guy ;-p @ 15:19 Tokyo
[plastic pho] OMB, check this out:
Plastic Pho! LOL!
We found this at a Vietnamese restaurant in Shiodome City Center near the hotel we're staying in -- the Conrad.
Isn't that the cutest thing? Like we have no idea what pho is...
p.s. 900 yen is like $8. Kwazy expensive for Pho, no? @ 17:11 Tokyo
December 28, 2007
[starservice] OMB, so cute. I just bought a yuzu-miso pound cake from Starbucks -- um, I thought I'd love everything yuzu but this cake was stank -- and they gave me a wet nap!
Only in Japan...
p.s. We are on our way back to Tokyo from Hakone and waiting for Kodama 570 Shinkansen that will leave in exactly 12 minutes. Not a second earlier and not a second later. @ 12:05 Odawara
[kaiseki #3] Our final 2-hour-long, 12-course (no sushi course, pout) kaiseki meal before New Year's Eve was served last night at exactly 7pm. Oh right, meal times are very rigid at the ryokans -- you tell them when you want to have dinner and breakfast and they bring it to you as punctual as the Shinkansen runs. You are only allowed to sleep between dinner and breakfast so if you want to nap before or after, tough. The bed is hidden away and all you get is a low table, some floor cushions and lots and lots of pretty hard tatami mats. If you don't have your own private indoor/outdoor onsen, the many public onsens are only available to male or female guests at any given time though they are switched around at precise times everyday to let everyone enjoy the the variety of onsens on offer. Some ryokans have curfews but these do not. In short, timing is everything when staying at a Japanese inn.
Anyho, here's the menu:
Appetizer wine
Local Mandarin wine (from the Odawara region)
Appetizer
Grilled conger eel without seasoning
Hors d'oeuvres
Grilled barracuda boiled in soy sauce and sweet sake
Boiled sea cucumber with grated Japanese white radish liken to sleet
Silaginoid wrapped in vinegared kelp
Sponge cake with Lily bulb
Yam and green tea manju, steamed yeast bun
Like yesterday, the first three courses came together in a beautiful table set that is completely different from yesterday's. Very, very impressive. As with all Japanese appetizers, these really get your stomach going for the full meal ahead. Everything was very good and nothing was inedible. Don't you love the menu translation though? "without seasoning", "liken to sleet"... LOL. SO cute.
Soup of the day
Pasted scallop soup with shiitake mushroom shaped in pine needle
The soup was actually a clear broth with yuzu (Japanese lemon). Oishii! (delicious)
Sashimi
Today's fish of the day whole fish Sashimi from Sagami Bay
The presentation was flawless -- sashimi surrounding a whole fish with a skeletal body filled with sashimi. What was weird was the absence of wasabi. Bizarre.
Grilled
Grilled oyster seasoned with miso wrapped in leaf
Very good but the miso was so strong (and oh so very good) that it could've been anything and it would've still tasted like miso. Oyster, yum.
Boiled
Boiled tile fish with starchy sauce flavored with yuzu
The Japanese looooove their yuzu. And so do I. The flavor is very crisp, clean and refreshing. Perfect.
Ishiyaki
Japanese beef grilled on hot stone at the table with vegetables
(served with salt, ponzu and wasabi)
The highly-anticipated cook-it-yourself beef course! Loved it. Not sure if we got Kobe beef, but it was very good beef nonetheless. Hot stone = fun.
Fried
Deep-fried prawn with ginkgo nut in rice paper
Fantastic. The prawn was oh-so-sweet and oh-so-lightly fried the batter was barely perceptible. Not sure if this was tempura or a variation thereof. I was sure I wanted more though.
Vinegared
Hokki-shell pickled in Tosa vinegar
An entire bowl of vinegared stuff. Not bad, just interesting. I, of course, ate the whole thing.
Rice
Hodgepodge of sea bream and pickled vegetables
Hodgepodge? LOL. It was porridge with fish and topped with egg. I thought it was perfect. Tony is not a big fan of porridge. I would've eaten his too if I wasn't so damn full by now.
Dessert
Persimmon sherbet and fruits
The perfect end to the perfect meal.
This was actually the best of the three kaisekis because it was purely Japanese; none of that fusion crap. I enjoyed it immensely and did not feel like a beached whale.
Breakfast is here. This will be our last ryokan meal. The food has been amazing but overly abundant. I am actually looking forward to *not* eating like an empress tonight, LOL. 08:55 Hakone-Ginyu
["welcome to jah-pahn..."] What day is it? I almost had to think about the date -- or even the day -- coz we've been in seclusion for the past three days and it's been heavenly. It also helps that we are extremely pampered by our multi-purpose ryokan lady.
Upon check-in at a ryokan, you are usually assigned a room attendant -- we've only ever had female attendants -- who will then show you to your room, bring you tea, serve you dinner, make the bed, tidy the room, serve you breakfast, check you out and then see you off. Sounds simple, right?
Well, there is a whole ceremonial aspect to these attendants' service that is completely lost on us foreigners but are very important to the Japanese. What is readily apparent to us non-Japanese is the fact that their service level is impeccable and higher than any other culture I've ever experienced.
At Gora Kadan, we had an older lady who was all smiles and all bows. Her English was halting but she tried really, really hard and we both understood each other. She even joked around with us which is highly unusual when the Japanese are dealing with foreigners due to the very high language barrier.
Here at Hakone-Ginyu, our attendant is very young and she does that whole trademark covers-her-mouth-when-she-laughs thing. And she giggles a lot, OMB, does she giggle. She is also very, very apologetic. Every little thing elicits a "gomenasai" from her. I'm like, quit apologizing already. It's only misaligned chopsticks, good God. Her English, though, is a bit lacking and communication is a little tough but we've managed so far. Definitely lost in translation.
Anyho, she has gone above and beyond the usual service we get. I can almost hear her say "Welcome to Jah-pahn, Mr Bond" everytime she bows and greets or brings us food one course at a time. I mean, case in point: While we were leaving our room yesterday morning to go poke around the area, one of the other attendants saw us and quickly summoned our room attendant who then came running out, apologized (again), and escorted us up the elevators. OK, fine. She wanted to find out what time we were returning, I thought. Once we got to the lobby, she ran off, fetched our shoes... Oh back up. Ryokans are shoe-free zones. Imagine an entire hotel with all the guests and staff wearing clogs or socks. How did our attendant know which were our shoes since she didn't see us take 'em off when we checked in? Kwazy. Anyho, she then proceeded to walk us out of the ryokan, then stop traffic for us to cross the street (!), before bowing and waving goodbye to us and telling us to please enjoy our day. I was like, harro? I seriously thought she was gonna tag along and show us the sights!
Though she wasn't waiting for us when we got back, another attendant girl welcomed us back, put our shoes away, and brought green tea to our room together with snacks. Sublime. Then you go soak all your tension, cares and worries away in the onsen. And before long, it's dinner time. Meal service is entirely too elaborate: Every course she brought, she knocked on the door, excused herself, ask if it's OK for her to come in, pitter patter in, get on her knees, slide open the shoji screen doors, bow, get up, bring the food over to the table, get on her knees again, bow again, clear the empty plates off the table, serve the food like the tea service in Memoirs of a Geisha (sleeves and all), wish you good eating, leave the dining area, get on her knees again before leaving, bow again, slide the shoji door close, and then only does she actually leave. Rinse and repeat for 10 plus courses and you get how ridiculous but also how amazing this whole ryokan deal is.
It seems so tedious but I wouldn't mind being pampered like this forever... @ 08:35 Hakone-Ginyu
December 27, 2007
[too much...] I should've learned from our experience last year coz 3 consecutive nights in a ryokan is just overdoing it. The ryokans have been amazing, mind you, and the food has been beyond excellent. We're having a complete blast, but I swear I cannot eat another kaiseki meal (next one starts in 45 mins!). Or another breakfast spread that is enough to feed North Korea. It's shocking.
The good news is it's all veges and seafood. There is almost no meat to speak of, besides teeny tiny slices of beef. I'm loving' it.
The other thing is the Hakone area is not as pretty and interesting as Miyajima. Well, that's not true. There are lots of pretty and interesting things to do here. It's just that everything is spread out whereas everything you wanted to eat, buy, do in Miyajima was in one little area.
And there are only so many pictures of Mount Fuji that one can take, y'know what I'm sayin'? Like, this one:
Awesome. It's no wonder the Japanese revere Mount Fuji and elevate it to almost God-like status. It's just a beautiful mountain, period. The weather has also been spectacular these past two full days we've had in the Hakone area -- very, very cold but glorious sunshine. A great combo that makes for postcard-worthy pictures of the stunning Mount Fuji. Quite happy about that.
Back to Tokyo tomorrow. It doesn't feel like the end of the year out here in the boonies but I'm pretty sure it'll hit me that there are only 4 more days left to 2007 when we get back to Tokyo.
Can't wait for 2008! @ 18:23 Hakone-Ginyu
December 26, 2007
[kaiseki #2] Here it is: the 2-hour-long, 13-course kaiseki dinner for our first night at Hakone-Ginyu. Yes, they had to one-up Gora Kadan. But really, it's only one extra course if you think about it. This is copied from their translated handout. If you're like, "WTF?", well let's just say that English is so not their thang.
Appetizer wine
Vin de table nouveau
Appetizer
'Sayori' (small fish) topped with Botargo
Hors d'oeuvres
Putty of miched Clam, Fried Prawn
Nanban style pickle 'Moroko' (Lake fish), Sesame Tofu
Mashed potatoes rolled 'Yuba' (fried extract of soy bean) and Salmon topped with Caviar
Mix of 'Obake' and Karashi-su-Miso, Burdock pickled Tamari-Miso
OK, so it's kinda cheating but the above three courses came together. Hah, less work for the room attendant lady. The wine was strangely, um, French. Everything else was delish. BTW, Botargo is mullet roe (stop gagging). Who knew.
Soup of the day
Egg soup with Crab and some vegetables
Shinogi
Sushi - Fresh Crab and fish
The soup and the sushi came together. The soup was not "egg soup" but rather miso soup with an egg & crab dumpling in it (der). It was fantastic. The sushi was also awesome. Actually, the fact that there was sushi made this dinner better than yesterday's at Gora Kadan. Raw crab, btw, melts in your mouth. Totarry TDF.
Sashimi
Today's fish of the day Sashimi from Sagami Bay
OMB, this course trashes yesterday's hands-down. Phenomenal.
Entrees
Roast foie gras liver flavor with Chef's special sauce and Fried Duck, Taro
This was hideous simply because I was not expecting Western food in my kaiseki. Stank.
Nabe
Milt, 'Hakusai' (cabbage), 'Enokidake' (mushroom)
We discovered that "Milt" is actually fish guts (again, stop gagging). I must say that this course was actually really, really good, made magnitudes better by the condiments -- some yuzu-pepper paste thingie (yuzu koshou?) that was simply out of this world and is the best thing since crack.
Boiled
This was good but yesterday's "thing in a soup" dish was way better. But what a cool bowl, n'est-ce pas?
Salad
Gross. The mayonnaise-laced beef made this dish taste far too Western. Plus, I cannot stand mayo. Yuck.
Rice dish (Choice menu)
Tony chose 1 and I chose 2 simply because I did not want the tsukemono. Too bad, they both came with the pickled veges (yuck). My rice was yummy tho. Then again, I happen to find all rice to be yummy, der.
Japanese sweets
Raspberry and me go together like foie gras in a Japanese kaiseki.
Dessert
This was super fun. Our waitress lady turned off the lights and brought in two slices of Christmas cake before proceeding to ignite the sparklers. Very festive. Loved it.
Fabulous meal. Overall, I would say it was better than last night's. Can't wait for tomorrow's! I love food! @21:10 Hakone-Ginyu
[coming to an end] The sun is out, the air is just chilly enough to balance out the impossibly hot waters of the onsen. We just got done soaking in a "family bath" (i.e. private onsen) out in the woods -- naked... and naughty *blush* -- after eating my entire body weight in a breakfast spread worthy of an Empress.
Sublime.
It's bright, it's crisp, I'm completely relaxed and my tummy is full. I want for nothing right now.
But dammit, we have to check out in 30 minutes &@?#%.
All good things...
Our next ryokan -- Hakone-Ginyu in Miyanoshita just down the street from this one -- will not have internet access which means you won't hear from me until we get back to Tokyo on Friday. Stop cheering :-p
Hope y'all had a great Christmas! I know we did :-D @ 10:19 Gora Kadan
[the rising sun] Ohayo Gozaimasu/Good morning from Gora Kadan in Hakone, Japan! I have woken up to see the sunrise (6:45 or so) for the past two days in this, the Land of the Rising Sun. If you know me, this is highly unusual for me of course.
The temperature is just below freezing right now, rising to a high of 43° today with clearing skies. We are switching ryokans today anyway so the majority of our sightseeing will be done tomorrow where it'll be sunny and cold. C-c-c-old. Mmm, can't wait.
I just realized that the whole Hakone area is actually the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano. Most of the features we see today -- including the sulfurous fumes, hot springs and hot rivers of Owakudani and the Lake Ashi -- was formed in or around the crater created in the last eruption of Mount Hakone 3000 years ago. I know 3000 years is a long time but these people are officially sure of themselves when they decided to build entire resort towns -- including Gora -- in the *middle* of a volcano.
BTW, we were in the Owakudani area briefly yesterday -- where stinky sulfur and hot steam rises from the crevases in the ground which is why locals call it "Great Boiling Hell" -- and tried some kuro-tamago or black hard-boiled eggs. Apparently they've been boiled in the naturally waters and are said to prolong one's life by seven years if eaten. We fell for the whole tourist trap and paid about $5.30 for 6 (they don't sell them individually i.e. 42 years of longevity!). They tasted like good hard-boiled egg, nothing special. But man, the Japanese have their tourist marketing skills down to a science. Why else would hordes of tourist buy half a dozen hard-boiled eggs from a man-made tourist town in the middle of nowhere. Silly Japanese :-)
I know we are only about 60+ miles from Tokyo but this feels like a world away. @ 07:31 Gora Kadan [christmas kaiseki] It's finally Christmas morning on the East Coast but here in Japan, I am getting ready for bed. And that's easy to do considering that I'm bloated (from a 10-course kaiseki meal) and bright red from soaking in the onsen (Japanese hot spring) post-meal.
There is a beautiful indoor/outdoor hot spring in this resort and the water is scalding to the point of sweating upon immediate contact. It's torture but it feels so good to release all the tension into the ridiculously hot water, especially if you're soaking outside in the frigid temperatures. It's also way more fun for Tony and I to do the onsen together since we can both use the same facilities *mischievous grin*. Anyho, we barely soaked for 30 minutes before jumping out like lobsters in boiling water.
Back to the meal. Here's our menu for tonight -- Christmas Day!:
Appetizer
Sounds delicious? Perhaps I was just starving but this first course was transcending. On to the next...
Side dish
This course was completely overpowered by the Appetizer. But me love Yuzu long, long time. Some of you are probably gagging at the salmon roe (orange balls). Shut it.
Hors d'oeuvre
The salty candy-like Karasumi went really well with the piece of radish underneath it. The salmon radish roll was delish. Ark clam was TDF. Everything else (egg of sea cucumber? WTF?) was meh.
Soup
Best miso soup. Ever. Dumpling -- totally delish. Yuzu! Ruv it.
Sashimi
Completely underwhelming. Raw flounder and lobster are both tasteless.
Grilled dish
What the menu didn't say was the bed of thick overpowering miso sauce under the fish. So unnecessary.
Small pot dish
Small. Beautiful. Simple. Divine.
Steamed dish
I could've sworn we've had this before, and it still is an amazing dish. Soft roe = fish guts. WTF are these Japanese leaves??
Rice dish
Give me rice or give me death! Soup was quite salty. Tsukemono = Yuckymono.
Dessert
Um, totarry not Japanese and I totarry skipped it. Tony, on the other hand, couldn't even wait to take a picture before devouring it.
There ya go. All pigged out and ready for our next meal -- breakfast! I'm so ready for bed. I am particularly glad and surprised that I haven't had any jet lag on this trip. They miraculously transformed our room from a dining area to a bedroom.
Night, night.
p.s. This may be the last you'll hear from me till we get back to Tokyo on Friday. As I feared, the next ryokan -- where we'll be staying for two nights -- does not have internet access *pout*
pp.s. Mewwy Chwistmas! @ 23:05 Gora Kadan
[mount fuji] I had to share this pic before dinner got here:
The magnificent 12,380ft-high Mount Fuji from Owakudani
Very cool, yea? ;-)
I'm sure there'll be a lot more Mount Fuji pics over the next three days; and hopefully ones with sunny days.
OK, OK, I'm starving. Dinner's here. And our very own room attendant/waitress is here to set it all up and serve us our multi-course meal, one course at a time. Painstaking... for her. Me? I love being served :-D
Lates. @ 18:58 Gora Kadan
[gora 強羅] We are very comfortably huddled up in our room in Gora Kadan and surfing the internet with abundance at shockingly high speeds considering where we're at right now.
Gora is about 550m/1800ft above sea level and pretty much a mountain resort in the middle of nowhere. It's definitely surprising to me that there is high-speed internet up here. Then again, this is Japan after all.
And it's freezing up here! It's def at least 10 degrees or more colder -- and pretty close to freezing -- up here than it is in Tokyo right now.
Anyho, we are in Room 304. It even has a name -- Sazanka. All rooms at this highest of high-end ryokans have names attached to them. Very frou-frou. This is a 10 tatami mat room (remember, that's only the bedroom) with a large sitting area facing a beautiful Japanese garden that has a view of the Hakone Mountains and beyond, plus a private Japanese bath/shower facility. It's more like a suite, really. Japanese-style of course i.e. we will be dining cross-legged (or otherwise) on a low table and sleeping on futons on the floor tonight. Super fun. No, really :-)
Tonight, and for the next 3 nights actually, we will be feasting kaiseki-style (Japanese tasting menu). This meal tonight at Gora Kadan will be our Christmas dinner. Completely unconventional and just perfect. The theatrics of dinner will be starting in a few minutes so I'm gonna wrap up here. Plus, I'm starving! I haven't had anything to eat since our sushi breakfast about 10 hours ago.
Good night from Japan! @ 18:39 Gora Kadan
[they do it better] The thing that excited me the most about this trip was the food, of course. Der.
I had planned on taking Tony to a sukiyaki (his favorite) restaurant last night but the Lightopia (Christmas lights) display in Marunouchi was so awesome that by the time we got to the restaurant, it had already closed. Well, it was only 9pm and I thought they closed at 10pm but those bastards refused to serve us foreigners. Hrmph.
We tried our luck in a few more places before finally settling on a lovely lil' izakaya (Japanese pub) called Kanda Shinpachi in the new Shin-Marunouchi Building.
OMB, I just clutched my jade, gasped/squealed and tugged at Tony's sweater because outside my window right now is the perfect entirely snow-covered conical shape of Mount Fuji! It's been 30 minutes since we left Tokyo. Awe-inspiring.
Anyho, where were we. Oh yes, the izakaya. I kinda sorta knew we were in a pickle -- but had no choice coz it was 9:30pm by then and we were starving -- when the restaurant did not have a basic English menu. In my best touristy sign language, I gestured for a set menu, she showed me three prices, I picked the middle one (always) and the rest was history.
Yummalicious. We had some Japanese stew thingie called nabe with catfish and tons of other exotic foodstuff (veges, mushrooms, etc.) in one big claypot. Prior to that, we had tofu laced with some delicious fish part (I have no idea what and I didn't want to ask), sashimi, ankimo (monkfish liver -- my favorite!), Japanese salad, etc. It was quite a spread and the meal wasn't super-expensive at all. The meal ended with mixing udon into the miso-based broth that was TDF. We licked every plate/bowl clean and almost wanted to lick the countertop.
[L] Nabe = Stew everything yummy | [M] SIY = Stew-It-Yourself | [R] Udon noodle soup! Fetch
The izakaya itself was amazingly authentic and atmospheric considering that we were tucked in a corner of the brand new 8-month-old, glass-and-steel, 38-story high, $800mn Shin Marunouchi Building. It was like you were in a lil' Japanese house/inn in one of the narrow alleys of anywhere, Japan. Very cool. I wish we could've read the menu coz there were a bunch of stuff the other peeps got that looked yummy as well. No matter, we were sated by the time we were done.
Then the next morning, I really wanted some ramen for breakfast before heading off to Hakone. The place that I wanted to go to in Ginza was shuttered *pout*, so we hoofed it to the Tsukiji Fish Market and stood in line for some of the freshest sushi on the planet. Now, for the unrefined of you lot (and there are many, trust *evil grin*), Tsukiji -- located in central Tokyo -- is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. On an average day, it handles 2000 tons of seafood everyday worth about $15mn; from tiny sardines to 700lbs tuna, cheap seaweed to the most expensive caviar.
The sushi restaurants and shops here close between 11 to 1 so it was perfect timing when we got there just past 9. Or so we thought. The line outside Sushi Dai and Sushi Daiwa -- two of the most famous sushi breakfast places -- was enormous. We stood in line for Sushi Dai but eventually split our efforts between the two. That paid off coz Daiwa got us in and we were out before the folks standing in line in front of us for Sushi Dai had even gone in.
Anyho, the sushi was incredible. From toro (fatty tuna) to uni (sea urchin), kampachi (amberjack) to anago (salt-water eels), we feasted like raw fish was in short supply. Not content with the set menu, we kept pointing and ordering more of our favs and some unusual varieties and ended up with a bill twice what we had anticipaetd *giggle*. Oh well, it was awesome anyway.
[L] The sushi restaurants are hideously cramp, which explains the crazy waits
OMB, it's only been 40 minutes and we're here already! These inter-city bullet trains don't stop for everything either. Crap, time to go! @ 13:00 Shinkansen
[gaysian on the go] We've been having great luck with transportation on this trip so far. Last Friday, our flight arrival into SFO was delayed so we only had 45 minutes to make our dinner reservation. We made it from getting off the plane at SFO to walking into our hotel room in SoMa in 35 minutes flat. Amazing huh? We rushed at made our dinner ressie at Slanted Door which, if we had known, we would've have not bothered as the meal turned out to be underwhelming and a tad disappointing. I had been waiting so long to dine there -- and was even denied a reservation once -- that I left feeling that the restaurant is just overhyped. In short, too much fusion and not enough Asian. Perfect for Westerners but def not worth the time (or the calories) for discerning gaysians like myself ;-)
Less than 20 minutes after we left Tokyo, we are now in Yokohama -- Tokyo's largest suburb, a monstrous "suburb" of 3+ million people and, by itself, Tokyo's second largest city.
Anyho, where were we. Ahh yes, Narita. Again, our flight was massively delayed into Narita; arriving almost 90 minutes late. We walked off the plane, cleared immigration (which included the new, intrusive but very friendly photo and fingerprinting process), customs, and jumped on the Narita Express to Tokyo in less than 30 minutes. I was shocked. We had to buy our NEX tickets at the ticket office (to take advantage of a NEX + Suica deal which reduced the price of the NEX ticket by half) so that took longer than usual. The lady then refused to sell us tickets on the next train as we only had 3 minutes to make that train and she kept saying it was impossible.
Well, nothing stands in the way of a gaysian in a hurry, so as soon as we got tickets in hand, we ran to the platform and jumped onboard the NEX which was literally closing its doors and pulling away. Half a dozen NEX personnel tried to tell us that we could not get on that train as our tickets were for the next train (30 minutes later) but, guess what? I dragged my bags onboard, refused to leave, stood my gounrd, persisted, told them I would stand if there were no seats available and, voila, we were on our way to Tokyo.
Yay me. I was so not gonna wait another 30 minutes for the next train to come and I never take no for an answer the first time around (or second, third, fourth, giggle).
Yes, I'm the gaysian persuasion ;-p
OK, the train is zooming now. I have no idea where we are but I see mountains in the distance and nothing but a sea of teeny-tiny lil' Japanese suburban houses as far as the eye can see. @ 12:52 Shinkansen
["slow" train] We are on Kodama Shinkanse (bullet train) 573 which left Tokyo Station at exactly 12:23pm bound for Nagoya. We will be getting off at Odawara where we will change trains to head up the mountain to Gora in the Hakone area. The Kodama "super-express" is the slowest of the Shinkansen trains i.e. it stops at all Shinkansen stations. Even then, it will take us less than an hour to get to Odawara. Fierce.
Even fiercer is the fact that we upgraded ourselves to the Green Car (aka First Class). For $5 or so more (total = $38), we were like "why not", right? It is way more comfortable in the Green Car. We crammed ourselves into cattle class last year on the Nozomi (fastest) Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hiroshima and it was kinda like sardines.
It also helps that we are travelling on Christmas Day which is just a normal work day here in Japan. That doesn't mean that there are not that many trains -- every 3-5 minutes, a bullet train zooms by in the opposite direction headed towards Tokyo. Amazing. But it being 12:30pm and all (i.e. not rush hour), there is almost no one on this train. We are seated in Car 8, 12 C&D on the right side headed south and west of Tokyo. We've just made our first stop at Shinagawa. No idea where we're headed to next but I'm pretty sure we won't be spending much time onboard before it's time to get off again.
The Shinkansen is amazing! Hmm, OK this train is really not that fast. The buildings outside are not a blur :-D @ 12:37 Shinkansen
[bad hair] Just had a spectacular Christmas morning sushi breakkie at the Tsukiji Fish Market. Sublime.
Bad hair picture of me having just woken up but choosing to pose with the view of Tokyo and the Imperial Palace in the background anyway... (the Imperial Palace is the green thing between me and Tony).
Gotta check out in 30. Off to Mt Fuji! @ 11:36
[hakone 箱根] In a few hours, we are off to the tourist resort of Hakone, a town of 15,000 ppl in Kanagawa Prefecture roughly 2 hours from Tokyo.
Hakone is home to the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park centered around Lake Ashi which is well known for its onsen hot springs and its views of the world-famous and dormant volcano, Mt Fuji -- at 3776m (12388ft) the tallest mountain in Japan. I can't wait to catch a glimpse from up close of Mt Fuji's perfectly symmetrical cone.
We are headed there for three consecutive nights in a ryokan -- the first one being Gora Kadan in the little hamlet of Gora and the second one will be for two nights at Hakone-Ginyu located a few towns over in Miyanoshita. We thoroughly enjoyed our ryokan experiences last year and we fully expect to be either (a) sick of it by Friday, or (b) want to live in a ryokan forever. I am particularly excited about the food -- kaiseki dinner and breakfast -- and the hot springs, of course.
Ryokans, yay! Totarry hot. Literally. @ 07:54 Tokyo
[merry christmas!] It's Christmas morning here in sprawling Tokyo. Yay. we got here first! You guys on the East Coast have about 7 more hours to go so, nyah :-p
Merry Christmas from Tokyo!
This room is so fetch. We woke up this morning and electronically opened the blinds and curtains from our bedside table controls; which, btw, control everything in this room except for making Tony coffee (or ocha/Japanese tea) and bringing it to bed. We have an awesome view of the Imperial Palace right outside our window. Gorgeous.
You should see this room, OMB. First off, it's HUGE. Larger than an average Japanese apartment in Tokyo I'm sure. The recessed ceiling in the suite area (bedroom and living) is covered in a bamboo weave, the wallpaper is some sort of soothing beige Japanese paper that's very zen, the artwork in the room is remarkable. And then there's the bathroom and changing area; both of which is the same size of the suite. Magnificent.
It seems like every time I come back to Japan, the toilets get more advanced. The toilet here has a motion sensor which lifts the seat cover when you walk into the toilet area. It freaked the pee out of me the first time it did that and now I just expect it to do it, *giggle*. It is also, of course, heated. I can just imagine the poor Japanese coming to the States and sitting on a cold toilet seat in winter for the first time, LOL! Anyho, there are many extra buttons to make the "ass spray" shoot water in different modes. Don't get it? Me neither until I tried it.
"Massage" equals spurts of water to simulate someone/thing poking/massaging on your hole. Yes, they call it massage, I call it pleasure :-D
"Oscillating" is the weirdest. The water squirts out in this roundabout fashion that just pokes and massages all around your hole except for the hole itself. It was kinda weird.
Finally, we have "Deodorizer". That one was pretty self-explanatory and I wish they had it in public restrooms all over the world coz some ppl's shit stink like they've had something crawl up and die in there. Nasssty.
I'm quite used to the gadgets in this room, actually. Having stayed in the Peninsula in Bangkok, Beijing, Beverly Hills, Hong Kong, New York, and now Tokyo, I have seen my fair share of Peninsula tech-niceties -- free wi-fi, bedside electronic controls that control everything and light up upon motion, plasma screen/DVD, indoor/outdoor temp/humidity sensors WITH windchill readings everywhere in the room in case you miss it on your way to the shower, etc. But the Pen in Tokyo comes up with a few more: multi-voltage (110/240V) outlets everywhere, plug-and-pray printer/fax machine, in-mirror clock and LCD TV above the bathtub, and the piece de resistance, a panel under the plasma TV that accepts memory cards, audio and video input so that, presumably, you can pipe your own iPod music across the room or watch the pictures you just took on the giant plasma screen. Wait, did I forget the built-in Internet Radio panel where you can get any radio station in the world? Did I also mention that all these controls are also available by the bathtub where you can spend A-L-L day playing with all the gadgets?
Totarry FETCH!
As far as hotel chains go, I love the Four Seasons, the Mandarin Oriental, my new favorite the Aman Resorts... But beyond all that, the Peninsula will always have a special place in my heart.
It's so sad (or happy for Tony's wallet) that we're only here for one night... @ 07:39 Tokyo
[tokyo 東京] We're here!
Outside our window in Room 1905 of The Peninsula (with jaw-dropping views of the Imperial Palace), Tokyo -- which means Eastern Capital -- spreads out in all directions as the world's largest metropolis and has been since the late 60s -- 35 million inhabitants live within 40 miles of where I am right now. When it comes to Tokyo, the numbers are mind-boggling and the scale and density of this megacity is shocking.
From the WaPo:
TOKYO -- As a megacity, Tokyo has no rival. It has more buying power than Brazil, more people than Canada, more concrete than can be imagined.
With about 35 million people, greater Tokyo is by far the world's most populous metro area, with nearly twice the people of greater New York. There are 80,000 restaurants here -- six times as many as in New York.
Although it is the political, economic and cultural center of Japan, Tokyo itself has no real center. It's a jumble of densely populated districts that are themselves big cities, hubs for the frenetic inbound rush and exhausted homeward retreat of millions upon millions of subway and train commuters. The cyclical crush of humanity approaches chaos but never quite gets there -- the Japanese being sticklers for rules. A unifying thread, if there is one, is movement.
By itself, Tokyo -- with an annual output of close to $1.2tn -- would be the 10th largest economy on the planet and the 35th most populous nation. Even though there are less than 20 metropolitan areas in the world with more than 10 million people, Tokyo towers above them all. Twice the size of distant number two, New York City, Tokyo is unparalleled in terms of population when compared to all other cities in history. It also leads NYC, LA, Chicago, Paris and London in the top 6 largest city economies in the world. With a GDP of $300bn, DC is #10 btw :-)
Anyho, it's late (early?). Off to bed. More tomorrow. @ 01:54 Tokyo [golden gate] I was just about to remark how weird it is to come all the way to SF but not see the Golden Gate Bridge. And we almost didn't.
We are unusually seated on the right-side on the upper deck of this 747-400 (formerly the world's largest aircraft). Our usual seats -- 17 A&B -- were unavailable due to the fact that we got seats on this flight a little more than an hour before it was supposed to depart. Long story short, due to availability of free Business Class seats, we were originally booked on the SF flight to Nagoya. Well, we didn't really want to go to Nagoya and the prospect of taking a bullet train up to Tokyo was kinda cumbersome. So we waitlisted for the two SF flights to Narita instead and delightedly cleared for the 777 which departs two hours after the 747. But we really wanted the 747 and they wouldn't clear us prior to the departure date itself. So we decided to try our luck at the airport. Once we got to SFO (and we made sure to get there real early), we pleaded and got on this 747 flight but had to settle for Row 18 G&H instead.
Which is how we ended up getting a spectacular view of the City and the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of SFO just now, as we hug the California coastline en route to Tokyo.
OK, you've gotta really squint to see the bridge (in red) on the left and the San Fran skyline on the right.
We wanted the 747 because of (a) the quieter upper deck and (b) the 2-hour earlier arrival time. Well, we got (a) taken care of but due to a sick passenger onboard who eventually had to be unloaded together with his luggage -- which took forever to find -- we ended up leaving almost 2 hours late. So much for trying to get a headstart on our 8-night vacation to Japan.
Anyways, the two Chinese FAs are really nice up here in the all-Business Class, 26-seat upper deck. We, of course, secured our first choice for the meal, the fabulous Obento -- our first Japanese meal of this vacation. Trust me, it beats "would you like chicken or beef?". Actually, today's Japanese selection is called "Washoku zen":
Appetizers of barbecued eel in layered eggs, grilled scallop, lime-flavored beef tenderloin, shrimp with vegetable sushi rice, poached tuna with karashi miso, steamed leeks, buckwheat soba noodles with marinated Japanese vegetables.
A main course of salmon teriyaki, braised tofu, simmered shiitake mushroom and daikon, green beans, fresh julienne ginger served with steamed rice and Japanese pickled vegetables.
Served with green tea.
In short, totarry yummy.
The pilot just came on and told us that our flight time today is 10-1/2 hours. That's way shorter than what we're used to. It might screw around with our trans-Pacific routine -- eat/watch a movie for 2+ hours, sleep for 8 (or more), eat again just before landing and freshen up. I fear we may have to cut back on the sleeping time onboard, or not have the pre-landing meal. Dilemma, sigh.
The woes of travelling in a comfortable enough seat that you can fall asleep for 8 hours *giggle*. @ 14:15 PST
[hurry up] I just had to use the restroom and the fact that I couldn't pause the movie was super annoying. I got so attached to the new AVOD system in the new Business Class seats on our last flight that I wish it was on this flight as well. And it will be eventually.
Hurry up, United! @ 13:51 PST
[tokyo calling] I am multi-tasking -- writing and watching The Invasian with Nicole Kidman. In not enough hours' time, we will be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in the land of samurai, sumo and sushi.
We will be in Japan during the shortest days of the year -- the sun will rise at quarter till 7 and set at half past 4 -- where there will be about 9h 45m of daylight. This compares favorably to 9h 26m of daylight on winter solstice (Dec 22nd) in DC which lies about 3°' north. Tokyo, however, does not practise DST so the earliest sunsets in DC (4:46pm) are actually 20 minutes later than in Tokyo.
The weather forecast for Tokyo is in the 40s/50s -- about 10 or so degrees warmer than DC -- so it's not too bad at all. The other bright spot is the US$ has recovered somewhat against the Yen. When I first planned the trip back in the summer, the yen was at 123 to the dollar. It then soared to a 108 before stabilizing now at 114. It's not as great as last Nov when we went (118 then) but still better than the euro or the pound exchange rate.
The exchange rate is pretty important because, since we didn't have to pay for our flight, we decided (OK, I decided :-D) to overspend on accommodations. And I mean *seriously* overspend. Like, $740/night (!). It sounds worse than it is but the price of three of the 8 nights includes dinner and breakfast at a ryokan. We loved staying at the two ryokans we stayed in 13 months ago -- Iwaso in Miyajima and Hiiragiya in Kyoto -- that we decided to come back and check out two more ryokans in the Hakone area, at the foot of Mount Fuji. Most of the expensive ryokans include a kaiseki dinner (ceremonial Japanese tasting menu) and a very elaborate breakfast. The kaiseki alone costs upwards of $150 (usually much more) per person, so the high cost of staying in a ryokan is somewhat justified.
Anyho, super excited. Next stop, Tokyo! @ 13:46 PST
[foodielicious] We are waiting for our delayed flight to Narita at San Francisco's International Airport.
Check this out from last night:
With Tom & Gen at Gary Danko
Tom & Gen are our fabulous foodielicious friends who left the miserable East Coast behind for sunsational California. We miss them long, long time. BTW, the meal at Gary Danko was phenomenal, even though it has only one Michelin star. Every single dish from my 5-course a la carte menu was superb. I would def go back.
Off to Tokyo!
p.s. Gen looks pissed coz she had just found out we went to SF one time and visited Adia instead of Hanora, LOL! @ 11:08 SFO [good morning sf] Good morning from the Bay Area! OK, maybe not morning anymore on the East Coast but it's morning here :-p
Pictures of the new United Business Class truly lie-flat seats:
[L] I love lie-flat seats!
We have a corner room on the 28th floor here at the Westin Market Street, looking south-west towards San Francisco Bay and Oakland/San Jose in the distance; which is the opposite side of the San Francisco skyline. Not ideal but it's still nice to be able to look out towards water. It's a pretty day here in the Bay Area. This is the scenery we woke up to this morning:
[L] My toes pointing towards the Bay
The room is pretty fetch. It comes with the coma-inducing and infinitely comfortable Heavenly Bed, of course. But it also has a huge phat plasma screen and a Starbucks coffee-maker machine thingie i.e. no need to walk across the street for your morning Starbucks fix. Very cool. Now, if it came with in-room, fresh-every-morning pastries I would never stay anywhere else again :-)
Yes, I'm spoilt :-p @ 09:34 SF
[truly flat] We are 32,000 feet in the air and less than an hour away from landing in San Francisco so I'm gonna have to make this quick.
The hideous crowds at Dulles this afternoon was an ominous sign of things to come. Traffic going to and at the airport itself was a bitch, check-in was a sea of humanity with more luggage than Evita on her Rainbow Tour, security wasn't bad but the entire terminal was completely chaotic and zoo-like. Boarding was a nightmare as we endured delay after delay.
And once we got onboard we figured out why. They had swapped our plane out (767) with the only plane in the entire United fleet which has the newly configured lie-flat Business Class seats (also a 767). Like, not flat and tilted (ahem, SpaceBeds), but truly and totally 180° flat and parallel to the floor. Like a bed. In Business Class. On a US airline! I, of course, squealed upon sight of the brand new seats.
The last-minute swap-out caused major headaches during the boarding process coz the ground crew didn't know about the swap and entire rows were missing off of this plane -- the new 767 has 4 less seats in F and 6 less seats in Business -- and so people were running around furious that their seats were non-existent. Luckily for us, we are comfortably seated in row 9 and, OMB, the new lie-flat seats are amazing!
First off, the adjustability of the seat is surprisingly very, very good. There are three main buttons which set the seat into take-off/landing position (i.e. default), comfortable recline and, finally, bed (my favorite!). But more importantly, the entertainment system is a-MA-zing. The LCD screen is HUGE (15"!) and the picture quality is shockingly good. But best of all, the Audio-Video On-Demand (AVOD) system is, well, amazingly available and, better yet, extremely responsive. The controls are super easy to use and the (underlying Red Hat Linux) system is quite fast. I love it! I've watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Ratatouille (awesome cartoon, btw) and the whole being able to pause, fast forward, rewind, etc. just makes me tingle to be flying on this aircraft.
Service has been pretty good as well -- I think our Asian FA has a crush on Tony coz he just gave Tony a bottle of wine to take with, LOL. The food was so-so but all in all, I'm having a blast on this flight. I really didn't think I was gonna get to experience these seats this early -- the new configuration is only available on IAD-FRA for now -- and we weren't sposed to get it on this flight but the last minute swap-out was an awesome and very pleasant surprise. I'm def looking forward to when United rolls out these seats across their entire fleet; and especially the 747s to Asia.
There are a few flaws to these new seats though. First and foremost, there is no storage under the seat in front of you. The magazine compartment between the seats is tiny and non-expandable so you have no place really to put your magazines (like my compulsory in-flight reading of The Economist). The center console area between seats is way too high; like you almost need a booster seat to get to the drinks and snacks placed there. OK, I have to admit... that was *way* whiny. I mean, you bitches in cattle class don't even have a center console *evil laughter*.
Oh, and one other thing, about half the seats face backwards. I have no idea why but they do. It's a little awkward when the people across the aisle from you are looking at you but whatev. I'll take rear-facing lie-flat over the old Business seats any day and twice on Sundays.
Aaanyho, those are all minor flaws of course. I think we are descending now. We're probably gonna arrive about 30 mins late which is not bad considering we took off about an hour late. It's past 11pm EST but it's only 8pm on the West Coast and we have dinner ressies at 9:30pm. Well, yea we had an onboard 3-course meal and, yes, we are pigs on vacation (oink) but I am feeling a tad hungry. Whatev, I'm always hungry *giggle* Anyho, I intend to stay up as late as possible tonight to ease my way into Tokyo time; 17 hours ahead of PST or basically 7 hours behind i.e. when it's midnight in SF, it's 5pm in Tokyo... the next day.
All that said, I only have one word to say about this start to our 11-day vacation -- FABULOUS ;-) @ 20:14 PST
[ho-li-day-ay] It's been less than a month since our last vacation (Oz/NZ) and tonight, we get back on a plane to jet off across the continent to San Francisco for two nights before heading to Tokyo (on Sunday) to spend Christmas at the foot of Mount Fuji and then New Year's Eve in the bright-lights-big-gigapolis called Tokyo! Back to Asia, yay!
The forecast of our weekend in SF will be in the mid-50s -- balmy in comparison to frigid DC. It's been in the 30s and 40s all week here and that's decidedly not fetch. Walking to and back from work is an exercise in balls-shriveling! Totarry tragic.
But what *is* fetch is the fact that work has given all of us Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve off (yay!) AND today is a half day (double yay!). Hot. I love work long, long time. I def need the half day off today coz, well um, I haven't packed! And, OMB, our flight leaves in 6 hours.
I'll probably go to a multi-hour, end-of-the-year lunch and then stagger home from there *giggle*.
As Madonna would say: Ho-li-day-ay! @ 10:38
[old queen] Today, QEII becomes Britain's oldest-ever monarch, beating the record of her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria.
Victoria -- born on May 24, 1819 and died in 1901 -- lived for 81 years and 243 days and Elizabeth -- born on April 21, 1926 -- breaks that record today. QEII was crowned on June 2, 1953 to become the 40th British monarch since William I in 1066, and queen of the UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. If QEII is alive on Sept 9, 2015, she will also break Victoria's record for the longest reign (64 years). She is currently the fourth longest-reigning monarch; after King Henry III and King George III.
QEII is also the world's second-longest serving monarch alive, after Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej. In more than 50 years, she has outlasted 11 prime ministers -- from Sir Winston Churchill to Tony Blair, born during her reign. She also became a grandmother for the eighth time on Monday after Sophie, the wife of her youngest son Prince Edward, gave birth to a baby boy on Monday.
You go, old queen! @ 11:56
[we were there!] A giant magnitude 6.8 quake rocked New Zealand's North Island near Gisborne (popn. 45,000) today (Thu evening in NZ,), pretty close to where we were docked in Napier a month ago. This was the largest quake in the region since 1931; which, at magnitude 7.8, was also the largest earthquake in NZ since instrumental recording began. Gisborne experiences about 10 (!) earthquakes per week but they are tiny ones of magnitude one or two.
It's almost a blessing that NZ is so sparsely populated -- even the beautiful Mediterranean-like east coast of the North Island -- because if this had been Tokyo or SF, the loss of life and property would've been way higher. AS it is, no one was seriously injured in the quake.
NZ in general records about 15,000 earthquakes a year but only about 250 of them big enough to be felt. On average, NZ can expect several magnitude 6 earthquakes every year, one magnitude 7 every 10 years (the last being 2003 in the Fiordlands), and an 8 every century. This is a cool lil' website that tells you everything and anything you want to know about seismically active New Zealand. So far this month, NZ has recorded 27 significant (magnitude 2 or more) earthquakes.
Shocking. @ 10:04
[no respect] We will have had to wait TEN long years but finally, the US Mint is gonna issue their extremely popular "State" Quarter for the District of Columbia in 2009; after all the 50 States have had their coins issued based on the day each state achieved statehood -- from Delaware to Alaska.
The 50 State Quarters Program was supposed to be a celebration of the states which explains why DC was deliberately left out coz, you know, DC is not a state -- and therefore has no representation in Congress -- even though we pay taxes, fight in wars and all that jazz. Unjust? Hell yea. The US is spending trillions fighting for democracy in Baghdad but Bush and his stupid Republican assholes refuse to grant DC full democracy and the right to representation in Congress; even going so far as to filibustering it in the Senate.
Shame.
And to add insult to injury, DC will only get to be on the quarter because Puerto Rico, Guam, the USVI, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands (aka Territories) will be included on there too. I wish we were a Territory so we wouldn't have to pay Federal taxes.
Snubbed. Disrespected. Belittled. Forgotten. Overshadowed. Minimized. Disparaged. Denigrated. Underrated. Calumniated.
But I still can't wait for the DC quarter! @ 09:39 [crime gmaps] Check this out:
This map pretty much covers my home, my workplace and everywhere that I would go on a regular basis in the city. All the yellow pins are incidents of crime for today (Dec 19). Cool huh? Well, not so cool that there are so many of them but it still looks awesome. Better yet, since Monday (two days ago), the DC.gov website has RSS feeds in addition to Google Maps for crime incidents that are updated daily. How eff-ing cool is that??
Who knew DC was so high tech? @ 21:22
[colombian snow] My officemate just told me this:
It used to be that the only snow I'd look forward to was from Colombia.
It took me 5 seconds to figure out what he was saying (what? my bwains are slow today from the fundraiser last night).
He so funny. Me love him long time. Snort. @ 10:59
[i ♥ rice...] ...therefore, I love to share rice -- especially free rice :-)
Play and feed hungry people! Who knows... your alcohol-depleted brain might learn a few new words. @ 10:32
[madonna-licious] We rocked out my company's Christmas Party till almost 2am on Saturday:
And what's wrong with this picture?
Karaoke two nights in a row, LOL! Friday night at DIK Bar for Peter's farewell singing Express Yourself with Rick/Peter, and Saturday night at my company's Christmas Party singing Like A Virgin with Serra.
Madonna-licious. @ 23:06
[799/850] For some inconsequential reason, Equifax decided to settle a lawsuit charging them with blah blah blah yawn. Whatev. I got a 3-month free Score Watch -- some FICO credit score thingie -- and guess what I found out about my credit score?
That makes me "extremely low risk" and puts me in the top 10% of US consumers as far as credit scores are concerned.
I love being special and loved :-D
p.s. Weekend was kwazy. Lots of parties, lots of booze, lots of pics, no time to sleep. Sigh. @ 21:45 [stupid fees] The US is hiking visa fees for foreign travelers from an already exorbitant $100 to an ass-raping $131 come January 1st.
As annoyed as I am about having to apply for a tourist visa to visit Japan -- which I had to do yet again for our trip next week to Tokyo/Hakone -- at least Japan doesn't charge to obtain a visitors' visa. And that is how it's supposed to be for a developed country. Taxing foreigners from poor countries who want to visit this country and spend money here is just plain stupid, in my opinion.
Oh yea, only poor countries are affected by this visa fee. Why? Coz visitors from 27 countries which are on the visa-waiver program are not affected by this fee hike. There are three Asian countries -- Brunei, Japan and Singapore -- on the list; all rich. The rest are rich European (aka Caucasian) countries.
Mmm-hmm. Disgraceful. @ 22:38
[indefinite detention without trial] I rarely put anything on here that speaks ill of Malaysia. I love my home country and will always have a soft spot for it in my heart.
But this, I feel, needs to be made known to as many people as possible. Watch and read on.
Malaysia arrests ethnic Indians
Five ethnic Indian rights activists have been arrested in Malaysia, under a rarely used security law that allows indefinite detention without trial.
The men belong to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which organised a mass rally last month alleging discrimination against ethnic Indians.
The five men are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which human rights groups want to abolish. The act is not thought to have been used against government critics since 2001.
Activists say that many Hindus live in poverty, partly because of policies granting jobs and economic advantages to the ethnic Malay Muslim majority. But the government rejects claims of unfair discrimination.
The five detained activists were involved in a peaceful rally last month - the biggest protest involving ethnic Indians in more than a decade. Police used tear gas and batons to break up the protest.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharom said the five men had been arrested because their actions threatened national security.
"They can be held for two years for sedition and also for carrying out activities that threaten national security," he told the state Bernama news agency.
Earlier this week Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said the government would not tolerate street demonstrations, and warned that if necessary he would resort to using the ISA "without feeling guilty, without feeling sad".
The ISA was enacted in 1960 -- three years after Malaysian independence -- as part of emergency regulations to curb a perceived communist threat. The act allows for the arrest and detention for an indefinite period of a suspect judged as "likely" to commit an act deemed dangerous to national security. Detainees can be held for 60 days without legal counsel, and preventive detention can then be renewed every two years. It has been used in recent years -- since 9/11 -- to lock up dozens of suspected Islamic militants. Most ISA detainees are kept at Kamunting prison in northwest Perak state. The ISA is currently being used to hold more than 100 people, including about 80 alleged Islamic militants.
The Human Rights Watch has said governments have consistently used the ISA for their own political purposes to detain thousands of citizens, including political opposition leaders, academics, trade unionists as well as religious, social, environmental and women's rights activists. Rights groups criticise the ISA as a draconian violation of international human rights standards, and a tool to stifle peaceful political dissent.
I won't say whether I'm for or against the ISA and the detention of these five Hindraf activists. But you know me well enough to know.
Isn't it amazing how the possibility of indefinite detention without trial stifles free speech and dissent? Sounds familiar? Um, two words -- Patriot Act.
Shameful and sad indeed. @ 22:28
[more dwunk pics] Oooh, I found more pics from the JR's Christmas Party two nights ago (from Taylor's camewa!):
[L] Bwett and me!
[L] Wick and me!
Bernie, Chris, Rick, me and Brian!
And there ya have it... @ 17:25 [formal pics] More (and better) formal night pics...
I know, I know. what a corny backdrop. Whatev. Bite me :-p
All in the family -- Tony's stepdad and mom, and my dad/mom!
Fun times... @ 22:20
[six years later] I have no idea why I do this to myself... But if you want evidence of my pudginess from years ago, well, here are the formal night pictures that we took from our [left] Princess Cruise to Alaska 6 years ago (June 2001) and the [right] Royal Caribbean Cruise to Oz/NZ we took last month.
Compare and contrast...
Shocking isn't it?
Gosh, I was *huge*, LOL. @ 22:15
[fwee dwinks] I have been working like a sweatshop worker since last Friday due to a crisis at work... interspersed with holiday parties, of course ;-)
Like last night's Christmas Party at JR's. Fwee dwinks! Der... :-D
[R] The scene at JR's with fab Gladys Kravitz as our hostess
[R] Wow, my eyes are tiny...
[R] Random pic of kwazy dwunk homos at JR's!
[R] Happy Birthday Peter!!!
Hot and sweaty bartenders in suits. Free drinks. Naughty Santa. Free drinks. Brett in a dress. Free drinks. Drag MC (no, not Brett LOL) on the bar. Free drinks. Christmas Carols. Free drinks. Twelve Days of Christmas. Free drinks. Eleven Pipers Piping. Free drinks. Drunk homos. Free drinks. Veuve at Jack's. Noodles. Pass out.
Oh, and free food too. And that 'bout sums it up, doesn't it? @ 15:42 [party on] It has been pretty much at or below freezing the past three days. Yuck. And they are forecasting a wet weekend and rain almost everyday for the next week. Double yuck. I guess that's what you get for December in DC.
Predictably, December has started off with a bang. I have been going out every single night in the past week except for Wed. Insane. But super fun!
It all started with a HUGE party on the first night of December at Rob/Mikko's and Kevin/Dan's (aka Gayrose Place). It was a combo Art Show and charity event for Ganymede Arts. As with all Gayrose parties, this one ended at 3am for me (and 5am for others :-o) after 9 hours of drinking many, many, Many glasses of champagne (I lost count after 9 :-D). The art at the art show was pretty neat but, as usual, Tony and I couldn't agree on pieces that we liked and came home empty-handed which is probably a good thing after our extravagant South Pacific vacation.
The champagne-a-thon spilled over into Sunday when we brunched at Chris/Dave's with Alex and Craig, followed by a bottle of Moet at Jack's with Rick, multiple vodka-crans at JR's (my first trip there in a month!), and then a ginormous and everything-tastes-good-when-you're-trashed fried noodle dinner -- which Tony cooked for me and Rick -- while watching Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. By the end of the weekend, I had drank enough champagne to pee bubbles. I'm such a champagne whore. Fetch.
I paid for the weekend on Monday morning, oy. Then on Monday, gaylebrity Gary stormed into town for a Williams Institute function at the gorgeous Bowen Building. I must've ran into a billion people there that I know/knew. Fierce party. After the function, the 9 of us - Chris/Dave/Alex, Gary, Rick, Barry, Craig, me and Tony - invaded Hank's for some oysters and yummy seafood. Dozens of oysters and multiple bottles of white wine later, we about close the place down and meandered over to JR's for Showtunes. I almost never go to JR's for Showtunes (hello, Monday night?) but somehow, the one night I'm there I managed to get into MW -- go figure, LOL!
I paid for Monday on Tuesday, double oy. But that didn't stop me from heading to Firefly for Rachel's Happy Hour. Stayed home Wed, yay. Oh wait, back up. Chris/Dave, Gary and I went to Blue Duck Tavern for a long lunch on Wednesday. The food was really good but the service was atrocious -- like, it took an hour for our food to come and our waiter didn't even bother or attend to us at all. Plus, the staff's attitude really put me off and when I am a paying customer, thou shall serve and serve me well especially at those prices, Good God. Don't eff-ing give me attitude or talk back to me or make up excuses when I point out something's not right, mmm-kay?. Whatev. I probably won't go back but after bitchin' about the whole experience to the restaurant manager, I do have a bottle of champagne waiting for me the next time I go. So maybe I just might give them another shot :-) Yup, definitely a champagne whore.
Had another long lunch on Thursday for Rob's birthday (43rd!) at Kinkead's with WB Michael. I've been to Kinkead's a few times now and each time it's been kinda hit-or-miss with the food. Yesterday's meal was sensational. Service was blah as usual, but the food... OMB. I'm hungry just writing about it now. Then last night, Rick and I hit half-priced-wine night at Jack's before doing time at JR's again (3 times in a week!). I have no recollection of last night except for coming home, eating up a storm and watched the Season 2 Finale of Heroes on NBC.com (my TiVo broke, don't ask).
Oh, and the funniest thing happened to me at JR's. One of the bartenders hands me a card with this on it:
我想跟你做愛
That means "I want to make love to you", which is really just a nicer way of saying "I wanna do you". After going back and forth with the bartender, I still have no idea who sent that note to me (or if it was from the bartender, lol! *not*). He did say it was NOT from another Asian which I found hard to believe coz the writing was perfect. Oh well, regardless, I thought it was cute.
Anyho, it's Friday (thank God). I'm tired. But the weekend starts in 15 minutes or so. It's time to party (on)!
p.s. I have tons of pictures from the past week... but I'm too lazy, nyah. @ 18:16 [winter's here!] OMB! It literally snowed ALL day yesterday -- from the time I left, right through my two hour lunch at Blue Duck Tavern with Chris/Dave and gaylebrity-Gary, continuing past the end of the workday when I walked home in almost blizzard conditions, and it didn't stop snowing until, like, 10:30pm or so.
Officially, DC got 2.6" of snow yesterday but I can swear that there are 4 inches of snow on my deck this morning. Awesome! Last winter, the first snowflakes fell on Dec 7th (only a trace) but it didn't snow again until mid-Jan. This year, we got it quick and we got it hard.
The first snow of the season is always so pretty -- the way it calms everything down in the city, falling silently from the sky and coating everything with a white so pure you'd think we were in the Arctic. Traffic slows down, the honking dissipates and the cityscape improves dramatically. Perfect. Of course, subsequent snow storms will relegate impressions of beauty to memory as the whole Metro region dreads the icy roads and paralyzing traffic that accompany every snow storm.
Which is what happens when the temps fall to at or below freezing. Apparently the iced-over TR Bridge was closed for about three hours last night. And I had to walk in the freezing temps (and biting winds -- 18°F/-8°C windchill on my walk to work this morning!) to and from work yesterday and will be doing so again today coz Tony is out of town. Stank. Lemme tell ya, icy pavements = not fetch.
Snow on the ground, iced-over bridges, freezing temps... And it's not even winter yet. Christmas is less than 3 weeks away! @ 10:27 [let it snow...] It's snowing, it's snowing! Our first snow storm of the Winter 2007/08 season!
They're saying we're gonna get 1 to 3 inches today by the end of it all, with the heaviest coming in the afternoon. It's snowing at a pretty good clip right now as it is, and the park outside my office window is already completely white.
Wheeeee!
p.s. Note to all DC residents: Do *not* walk on my sidewalk today. Tony's out of town and I *ain't* shoveling or paying for your medical bills if you slip and fall! @ 10:39 [more holidays!] Our offices are closed Dec 24th and Dec 31st *squeal*!!!
That means I only have to take 3 working days off for our year-end trip to Tokyo. Totally fetch.
I had a hunch they were gonna use the 2 remaining floating holidays (we get 3 every year) on the Mondays before Christmas and New Year's, and way back when Tony was still with Opsware, he told me he was gonna get that entire week off anyway so I decided to take the entire week off too. And look how it all worked out, yay! Coz let's face it, no one would show up to work anyway (I definitely wouldn't). We used a floating holiday in October which means we are out and will not get another fabulous allotment of 3 free days until next May, pout.
I love my holidays... long, Long time! @ 11:41
'Managatsuo' (fish), Putty of minced potatoe with 'Fukahire' (Shark fin) sauce
Vegetables rolled Japanese beef
(1) Steamed rice, miso soup, dried small fish and pickled vegetables; or
(2) Steamed rice mixed with 'Tarako' (Cod roe) and Scallop, miso soup
Raspberry 'Youkan' (Sweet jelly made from bean jam)
Buche de noel (Christmas cake)
December 25, 2007 - Merry Christmas! Merii Kurisumasu!
Sesame tofu, Echizen crab, mushroom, topped with jelly and ginger
Steamed, salmon roe with soy sauce and Yuzu citrus
Seasoned Japanese leaves, Egg of sea cucumber, Grilled msuhroom with soy sauce
Karasumi dried mullet roe
Ark clam with egg yolk and ginger sauce
Boiled chestnuts, salmon radish roll, deep fried arrow head vegetable chips
Miso soup with ginkgo nuts dumpling and Yuzu citrus
Flounder, Ise-ebi rock lobster, Tuna served with grated wasabi
Broiled marinated yellowtail served with garnish
Roast beef with vegetables
Steamed radish, mixed with soft roe, lily bulb, and Japanese leaves
Steamed rice mixed with sea bream
Miso soup
Assorted pickled vegetables (aka Tsukemono)
Strawberry tiramisu
[R] It looks fierce, doesn't it? I'm gonna eat you, my pretty...
December 23, 2007
December 22, 2007
[M] HUGE LCD screen
[R] Tony!
[R] The hip SoMa neighborhood is right outside our window
December 21, 2007
December 20, 2007
December 19, 2007
December 17, 2007
December 13, 2007
[R] (grumpy) Chad, me, Brett, Chris, Aaron and, um, some random 'mo *giggle*
[R] Gosh, why can't I be taller...
December 12, 2007
The requisite annual picture with Naughty Santa *giggle*
[L] My hair is so big, not only am I closer to God I also blocked out Chuck
[L] Who is that guy on the right and why is he smiling at the camera??
[L] This is where the tall bitches (Taylor and Chris) have the advantage...
[L] The Return of Brett's Boobies - The Trilogy Ends
December 7, 2007
December 6, 2007
December 5, 2007
December 3, 2007
30 :: spectacular
30 :: lookin' up
29 :: christmas-y
29 :: plastic pho
28 :: starservice
28 :: "welcome to jah-pahn..."
27 :: too much...
26 :: kaiseki #2
26 :: coming to an end
26 :: the rising sun
25 :: christmas kaiseki
25 :: mount fuji
25 :: gora 強羅
25 :: they do it better
25 :: gaysian on the go
25 :: "slow" train
25 :: bad hair
25 :: hakone 箱根
25 :: merry christmas!
25 :: tokyo 東京
23 :: golden gate
23 :: hurry up
23 :: tokyo calling
23 :: foodielicious
22 :: good morning sf
21 :: truly flat
21 :: ho-li-day-ay
20 :: old queen
20 :: we were there!
20 :: no respect
19 :: crime gmaps
19 :: colombian snow
19 :: i ♥ rice
17 :: madonna-licious
17 :: 799/850
13 :: stupid fees
13 :: indefinite detention without trial
13 :: more dwunk pics
12 :: formal pics
12 :: six years later
12 :: fwee dwinks
07 :: party on
06 :: winter's here!
05 :: let it snow...
03 :: more holidays!