I saw this sign at a temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand but its wisdom reaches farther.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Japan Wrapup and Pictures
Digital photography is great because it lets you take lots of pictures without worrying about the scarcity of film.
Digital photography is a pain because it lets you take lots of pictures without worrying about the quality of image.
When I got back to San Francisco, I had something like 2500 images stored on my laptop from the trip. After I caught up on sleep, I began the tedious task of sorting the images (which mostly meant deleting the bad and/or out-of-focus ones). So far I've made it through March 22nd which was my time in Japan and makes a nice break to post.
Why Japan?
Japan became a travel destination because of Spain. More specifically, because of a friend I made in Granada. Ayumi stayed at the same hostel I did and clearly shared a passion for travel (she was in Europe for two weeks and would also head to Australia for the end of her school break).
There are two things that can dramatically enhance a trip abroad. One is speaking the language. The other is knowing someone who lives there. I barely speak traveler's Japanese but had a gut feeling that even half a day with endless questions and Ayumi's companionship I would get a great deal more from the trip.
It didn't hurt that the airfare was cheaper than normal.
Like the trips to Vietnam and Spain I booked my first night at the hostel before I left and cracked the Lonely Planet once I was on the airplane.
Tokyo A-Go-Go
Tokyo is a sprawling metropolis. It was much smaller in the Edo era and over the years has gradually grown and annexed suburbs for miles in each direction. The areas hang on as "wards" and house a smorgasbord of neighborhood niches.
There are several metro rail networks that make it easy to get around. There's Japan Rail (serving destinations inside Tokyo and beyond), the Tokyo Metro and the TOEI Subway. Despite the initial complexity it only takes two trips or so to get rail travel down. You can ride most networks on a single ticket and they have another great feature: Fare Adjustment.
If you can't figure out how much it costs to get somewhere, you can buy the cheapest ticket to get through the gate and then use a Fare Adjustment machine at your destination to bump the ticket up to the correct fare.
Service is frequent, runs until a little after midnight and I think the most expensive trip I took (not counting the train from the airport) might have cost $2.50.
Friends on the Road
The great thing about staying at most hostels while traveling solo is that it's easy to meet other travelers. Nearly every place I stayed had a crop of people I could join up with to explore the city. Because travelers often hit them same cities it makes it possible to meet up with people down the road.
Another great resource was the CouchSurfing project. It's a website that matches travelers with people willing to host them. I've only participated once in that capacity though it yielded two great friends in Austin. On the road, I used the CouchSurfing message forums to track down people who were in the same city (traveling or living) and up for exploring.
To Do: Tokyo
I spent most of my time wandering around the various neighborhoods of Tokyo trying to get a feel for the city. I would say my overall feel is this: Tokyo is the most crowded, yet simultaneously civilized city I've visited.
The city has a population density that would make most cultures kick and punch, but there's no other way to say it: people are extremely considerate of others.
It's a blanket statement, to be sure. And at times, inaccurate. There's still a problem with women getting groped on crowded subway trains, but it's a nice place to be as a traveler.
Provided you're not one of said women getting groped on said trains.
From an overview, the highlights of Tokyo included:
Speaking of food it was generally pretty great. Udon, soba, tempura, sushi, okonomiyaki, yakitori and takoyaki were just a few of the things I ate.
The overwhelming quality I would use to describe the food is: clean. With the exception of the takoyaki which I found to be a little heavy, even the fried food tasted clean.
Prices were reasonable, $5 - $15 for most meals. And between dual-language menus, menus with pictures, and the ubiquitous plastic display food it was pretty easy to get what you wanted if you didn't speak Japanese.
Beyond Tokyo
This blog is getting long, and the captions in the pictures probably tell a better story. But briefly, I went by overnight bus from Tokyo to Nagoya for the Honen Matsuri festival. After that I took a bullet train to see the historical and cultural sights in Kyoto, and then a bullet train back to Tokyo for my flight to Thailand.
At some point I hope to break up the time and experiences in Japan into separate posts. Until then, the pictures:
Digital photography is a pain because it lets you take lots of pictures without worrying about the quality of image.
When I got back to San Francisco, I had something like 2500 images stored on my laptop from the trip. After I caught up on sleep, I began the tedious task of sorting the images (which mostly meant deleting the bad and/or out-of-focus ones). So far I've made it through March 22nd which was my time in Japan and makes a nice break to post.
Why Japan?
Japan became a travel destination because of Spain. More specifically, because of a friend I made in Granada. Ayumi stayed at the same hostel I did and clearly shared a passion for travel (she was in Europe for two weeks and would also head to Australia for the end of her school break).
There are two things that can dramatically enhance a trip abroad. One is speaking the language. The other is knowing someone who lives there. I barely speak traveler's Japanese but had a gut feeling that even half a day with endless questions and Ayumi's companionship I would get a great deal more from the trip.
It didn't hurt that the airfare was cheaper than normal.
Like the trips to Vietnam and Spain I booked my first night at the hostel before I left and cracked the Lonely Planet once I was on the airplane.
Tokyo A-Go-Go
Tokyo is a sprawling metropolis. It was much smaller in the Edo era and over the years has gradually grown and annexed suburbs for miles in each direction. The areas hang on as "wards" and house a smorgasbord of neighborhood niches.
There are several metro rail networks that make it easy to get around. There's Japan Rail (serving destinations inside Tokyo and beyond), the Tokyo Metro and the TOEI Subway. Despite the initial complexity it only takes two trips or so to get rail travel down. You can ride most networks on a single ticket and they have another great feature: Fare Adjustment.
If you can't figure out how much it costs to get somewhere, you can buy the cheapest ticket to get through the gate and then use a Fare Adjustment machine at your destination to bump the ticket up to the correct fare.
Service is frequent, runs until a little after midnight and I think the most expensive trip I took (not counting the train from the airport) might have cost $2.50.
Friends on the Road
The great thing about staying at most hostels while traveling solo is that it's easy to meet other travelers. Nearly every place I stayed had a crop of people I could join up with to explore the city. Because travelers often hit them same cities it makes it possible to meet up with people down the road.
Another great resource was the CouchSurfing project. It's a website that matches travelers with people willing to host them. I've only participated once in that capacity though it yielded two great friends in Austin. On the road, I used the CouchSurfing message forums to track down people who were in the same city (traveling or living) and up for exploring.
To Do: Tokyo
I spent most of my time wandering around the various neighborhoods of Tokyo trying to get a feel for the city. I would say my overall feel is this: Tokyo is the most crowded, yet simultaneously civilized city I've visited.
The city has a population density that would make most cultures kick and punch, but there's no other way to say it: people are extremely considerate of others.
It's a blanket statement, to be sure. And at times, inaccurate. There's still a problem with women getting groped on crowded subway trains, but it's a nice place to be as a traveler.
Provided you're not one of said women getting groped on said trains.
From an overview, the highlights of Tokyo included:
- Spending a day bumming around Harajuku and Shibuya with Ayumi
- Renting a karaoke room with Ayumi, some of her friends and a few kids from the hostel at 11pm and not leaving until 6 the next morning
- Meeting some awesome traveling couchsurfers for a shabu-shabu (Japanese hotpot) dinner
- Meeting the same couchsufers later in the trip for an eel Kaiseki (beautifully presented traditional) meal and drinks at a random izakaya
- A $15 sashimi breakfast the day I flew home at the Metro Tokyo Fish Market (I suppose tuna is fresher if you are on the boat).
Speaking of food it was generally pretty great. Udon, soba, tempura, sushi, okonomiyaki, yakitori and takoyaki were just a few of the things I ate.
The overwhelming quality I would use to describe the food is: clean. With the exception of the takoyaki which I found to be a little heavy, even the fried food tasted clean.
Prices were reasonable, $5 - $15 for most meals. And between dual-language menus, menus with pictures, and the ubiquitous plastic display food it was pretty easy to get what you wanted if you didn't speak Japanese.
Beyond Tokyo
This blog is getting long, and the captions in the pictures probably tell a better story. But briefly, I went by overnight bus from Tokyo to Nagoya for the Honen Matsuri festival. After that I took a bullet train to see the historical and cultural sights in Kyoto, and then a bullet train back to Tokyo for my flight to Thailand.
At some point I hope to break up the time and experiences in Japan into separate posts. Until then, the pictures:
- Tokyo
- Nagoya / Komaki
- Kyoto / Nara
- Signs (from all of Asia)
- Food (from all of Asia)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
It's Expensive Not To Obey The Law In Singapore
Nevermind that they cane jackass American kids and give the death penalty out somewhat liberally, Singapore has high fines for the following infractions on the metro system:
A US dollar is about 70% of the Sing dollar (0.70USD:1.00SGD), which means lighting up on the MRT will cost you about a $700 fine.
It's just as well since a pack of cigarettes would set you back $10 here.
This is also the first official prohibition I've seen for durian fruit.
A US dollar is about 70% of the Sing dollar (0.70USD:1.00SGD), which means lighting up on the MRT will cost you about a $700 fine.
It's just as well since a pack of cigarettes would set you back $10 here.
This is also the first official prohibition I've seen for durian fruit.
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