Asia - October, 1996

10/6 - First Look at Tokyo

This trip didn't start out on the right foot. As soon as we got to the runway, the captain turned around & headed back to the gate. Said something was loose. So they fixed it & gassed up again, & we were more than an hour late off the ground. At least I didn't have any connections to worry about. Learned a little airline jargon. When the captain came on board he said to the steward something like Code 2 for the last couple hours & said he'd turn on the seat belt light. I found out code 2 means bumpy, but it really wasn't. Was a pretty good flight & I got a lot of work done.

Wasn't too impressed with Tokyo at the start either. To begin with, they make all foreign airlines use the old terminal which is small & crowded & half the flights (including ours) disembark on the tarmac & have to be bussed to the terminal. Only JAL gets to use the new terminal. Then customs was a drag too. Almost an hour to get thru lines so deep that you couldn't see the agent from the end of the line.

But from there on I've been pretty impressed. My contact here, David, met me & got us on the train to Tokyo proper. Very hi-tech train, virtually noiseless, clean & efficient, large comfortable seats, about like first class seats on an airplane. We changed to another train, then to a mono-rail that took us right to the hotel. Stations were crowded, but everything moved like clock work. It helps that David has been here for 7 years & really know the turf; he's also fluent in Japanese.

The hotel is quite nice although the room is small. New & very modern. My room over looks Tokyo bay. You can really tell you're in the middle of on of the world's great megalopolises. High rise buildings dot the horizon in all directions. Two mono-rail lines cross below me & there is a great bridge across the bay with big circular approaches.

We went out to one of the "hot spot" areas to eat last night, but ate in a sort of everyman's eatery that served Japanese food. There is a griddle in the middle of your table & you cook your own dish, kind of like steam boat in Singapore except you fry instead of boil. We had a kind of egg foo yung type dish, pretty good. There were a few roaches crawling on the walls...

Well, I didn't sleep very well last night. Maybe 4 hours total. Kept waking up. Finally gave up at about 6 AM & decided to do some email. I don't meet Dave until 8:30. Guess I'll check CNN & then get ready. More later.

10/10 - Thursday

Got some catching up to do. Was out with my Tokyo host (David) Mon & Tues evening & pretty lagged when I got back to the room. Then last night I didn't get into the hotel in Seoul until about 11 PM, so wasn't motivated to write either. It's been a happening week tho, so...

Not too much else to say about Tokyo. Leaving was as much fun as arriving... 45 minutes in customs again with about 2000 other people. Will be back for the weekend & will do some sight seeing then, so more later about Japan.

David is kind of a student of Japanes culture. Tues night we went to an eatery after work with the other person on his team, Shigeo, a middle-aged guy. We had a few beers & Dave started talking about the Japanese way of putting on a mask of formality at work, but that after work it is ok to let down the mask & be yourself. He and Shigeo did a first class job of demonstrating it, but I'm not sure it was intentional. They got a little looped & we were having a good time, very relaxed, you would have thought they were old drinking buddies. Then Weds Dave was back to his formal office ways, coming down on Shigeo pretty hard. The mask was back on.

It seems I arrived in Seoul in the wake of Michael Jackson. He's in town for a few days & arrived at Kimpo a few hours in front of me. Fortunately the crowds were gone by the time I got in. Seoul is a pretty modern place, but you can see some of its heritage too. It's quite large but not nearly as congested as Tokyo. Much better roads, thanks at least in part to the US military. Drivers are nuts tho. There are mountain ranges pretty much all around the city & some large green park areas scattered around.

My hostess here is Jane Kim. She gave herself a western first name because her Korean name is tough for westerners to say. She's very nice, probably about 30, has a little girl. Pretty good English. Kim in Korea is like Jones in US. There are also many Lee's & Park's.

We had Korean barbeque for lunch today... cooked at the table with a built-in grill. Interesting variety of vegies, etc along with the beef slices that we cooked on the grill. Eat the beef by wrapping a bite in lettuce leaf along with shredded veggie & condiment & popping the whole thing in your mouth. Tonight I ate at Kozy Cozy... kind of a smorgy except they bring out your entree. Was pretty good. Mostly locals, I only saw one other westerner. What was interesting was the building was ala SF cable car, including cable car street names painted on the side. Had a draft beer... The mug said Crown Beer & it had a likeness of Hagar the Horrible on it...

We talked some about the North Koreans; you know there was this spy deal in the news recently & there is still news in the local press about it. I could tell from Jane that South Koreans are very mistrustful of the north. She says she thinks that in maybe 3 years we will see re-unification. She says lots of fortune tellers are predicting it... for what that's worth. Rice throwers, tea readers...

Guess that's all for now. Won't really get much more exposure to Korea, I leave early tomorrow PM.

10/12 - Back in Tokyo

Saturday night & I'm stuck in the hotel. Reluctant to adventure out too far on my own since this is really a huge place & I just don't know my way around. Don't even know what would be a good thing to do. I did manage get from the airport to my hotel on my own last night & walked home today from the train station after our adventure. Got kind of tired of Japanese food, so ate at a Japanese run Italian place tonight. Not bad.

Today I went sightseeing with Dave to Kamakura, which is about an hour train ride south-ish from here. Go thru Yokahama & sort of follow Tokyo Bay all the way down to the end of a peninsula. Kamakura was the capital of Japan briefly during the middle ages (there were lots of clan wars & the capital shifted about 4 times). So anyway, there are a number of Shino temples going back over 1000 years. Was pretty interesting, but I was kind of disappointed that we didn't do more. Not so sure it was a great idea to have Dave as my guide because he didn't seem very ambitious. We never did leave the megalopolis of greater Tokyo. I would have liked to have gone to Mt. Fuji or something too.

We had lunch at a traditional Japanese place, mats on the floor, low tables... Food was good. I had a little trouble getting comfortable sitting on the floor, finally getting into a tolerable lotus position that I could hold thru the meal. But, oh man! I could barely stand up after the meal. Getting old. Also my legs were a bit bound up from working out the other night in Seoul.

On to Taipei tomorrow afternoon. I don't depart till 4, but don't really have time to do venture out very far. I may go to Tokyo tower & check out the view. It is a replica of the Eifel (sp?) tower, but maybe 1/3 as tall. It is a popular sight & is frequently brushed aside by Godzilla in all those cheap Japanese horror flicks. I can see it from my hotel room.

10/16 - Taiwan

It's my last night in Taipei & I've had a great visit here. The people are super friendly & the hospitiality is great. My new friends here are Cindy Chin & Vivian Kao. They have taken me everywhere the last 4 days. Cindy met me Sunday evening right after I checked in & took me to dinner. She & Vivian have taken me out each of the following nights too, as well as lunch each day, picking me up in a taxi at the hotel each morning & dropping me off at night. Cindy had class Monday & Weds after dinner, so Vivian entertained me. Monday we went to their eqivalent of the Top of the Mark & had dessert & coffee, then she took me to the pub street & we had a beer & listened to a local rock band. Funny to see Chinese with long hair singing US rock standards & doing a good job too. She even dragged me on to the dance floor... First time in about 30 years! Tues night we went to a Karaoke club. These are very big all over this part of Asia (including Tokyo, Seoul, HK), but maybe more here than anywhere. It's not just a bar with a mike. More like a hotel where you get private rooms with your own mikes, TV, etc, so you can make a fool of yourself without being a public spectacle. We had dinner in our "suite" & sang up a storm. You should have heard me do "My Way"! (Glad you never will!) The gals did a bunch of Chinese pop tunes too. Sounded better than me for sure. Tonight Vivian & I figured out we both have small white fluffy dogs, so I had her take me up to her place to meet Chu Li (kind of like Shirley). Also met Vivian's sister in law who is from Hong Kong, but married the brother in Australia. Their apartment was smallish, clean, a little crowded, & not expecially Chinese.

The other night I asked them about their English names which are very common in all Chinese communities with a lot of bi-lingual contact (also in Seoul). They each told me how they chose theirs... They said they can change them any time they want. But they sign their checks with their Chinese names using Chinese characters. I told them my daughter had changed her name, including her family name. They were shocked that she would change her family name. How could she do that? How could you let her do that? Chinese would never change their family name! Didn't have a good answer...

Things have gone quite well at the office here. I installed some software for Vivian that will save her some manual entry for a report she does every month. She was very appreciative. Cindy is very sharp... she has a Masters in Computer Science from National U in San Diago.

Taipei is a big place, with features common to many large Asian cities. It's like a Chinese version of Bangkok. Traffic is pretty bad, motor cycles & scooters race from one intersection to the next in hoards & they park in droves on sidewalks so it is sometimes nearly impossible for pedestrians to pass. You find yourself walking in the street dodging the moving scooters to get around the parked ones! There is a strong American presence here, in part due to the computer trade & also the military support the US has provide for the last 40 years.

Cindy's family is primarily of mainland origin from the war with the Commies, but Vivian's is mostly native Taiwanese. But they regard that as pretty much history & they have a very modern outlook. They are quite proud of Taiwan & seemed somewhat insulted when I compared Taipei to Bangkok. Both are single & I think getting a bit desperate. They are both pretty, so don't know why they haven't managed to get hitched.

Tomorrow morning I fly over to HK. We go to mainland China on Saturday. I've had a lot of mixed reviews on what to expect there. The area we are going to is a "special economic zone" which basically means capitalism run rampant from what I gather. Vivian tells me they have torn down everything old & that it is a waste of time to visit. But it will be an adventure... I may never get another chance to visit the big C.

Got to pack... over & out.

10/17 - HK

HK is the most crowded & intense of all the great Asian cities I've been to. I was here for a half day about 6 or 7 years ago, but didn't really get immersed. Today, taking the taxi to work, window shopping at noon & again for a bit this evening, & just getting around, it is just incredible how dense this place is. People everywhere. Narrow streets & sidewalks. Like Manhattan in the sense of concrete canyons, but the 20 & 30 story high rises are mostly kind of seedy except for the newer hotels. The shops are dense too. Merchandise piled high. The average inventory per square footage of shops must be mind boggling. At night the streets are bright as day with all the neon. Brighter than Vegas, but way tackier.

Today I just didn't want to go native any more. Had a grilled chicken at Wendy's for lunch & for dinner had English style fish & chips at the hotel. The British heritage here is pervasive. At least it helps getting arround with street names like Nathan, Granville, Chatham... There is an exhibit of John Lennon's art here at the Hyatt for the next few days. I went thru it this evening & it really brought back the 60s & 70s. I've never seen enough of his art to appreciate it before. Mostly pencil or pen sketches alot like Thurber. Very expressive, but very economical in the sense of pen strokes. Limited edition prints were available for $1000 & up. Even the little exhibit booklet was like $40. But I enjoyed seeing it.

I guess I finally ditched Michael Jackson! He followed me to Taiwan, but is still there & I hear going next to Singapore.

10/22 - China!

Wow! And I thought Bangkok was wild!

Explored Hong Kong Friday afternoon (I had to work in the AM) & Saturday before heading on over the border. It's kind of fun ferry hopping around HK. The Star (commuter) ferry between HK & Kowloon runs every 5 minutes & costs $2 in HK$ (about 25 cents). The Star boats have names like Morning Star, Northern Star, etc. We also took an outer island ferry to Cheung Chow island & walked around looking for temples. Was cool sitting on the fan tail watching all the working boats & the jet foils cruise around too.

Saturday PM we headed for Shenzhen in China. It is just an hour away by train, just over the border from HK territory. We got to Kowloon Station at 6 PM, figuring to be eating at the hotel by about 7:30. Ha! Little did we know that half the population of HK was returning from their jobs to their homes in China because Monday was a holiday in HK. Took an hour just to get a ticket! Then we ran for the train & just missed getting seats. No problem, we'll just wait for someone to get off & grab their seat. Ha! Every stop more people got on. After 4 stops you could barely breathe... At least Chinese are clean! Finally we get to the end of the line and are swept off the train by a river of humanity and along through an endless labyrinth leading finally to the turnstyles to exit the station. It took more than an hour to negotiate and was very frightening at times. It would have been very easy for someone to get trampled. Everytime the guards opened the gate the crowd surged forward, only to stop like a wave on a rock when they closed again. There were many assholes in the crowd too, pushing through to get ahead instead of waiting for the line to move. Turns out this is normal behavior in China, but more on traffic later... Finally we made it through, then had to clear HK immigration, then China immigration. We staggered into the hotel 3 1/2 hours after starting our 1 hour trip. Several people told us it's not usually like that, but I can say it was the worst travel experience of my life.

Sunday we went to a theme park in the vicinity of Shenzhen. It was really cool & we enjoyed the afternoon much. It is a re-creation of more than 20 ethnic Chinese minorities complete with homes & people in traditional costumes. It was very well done & we really learned a lot. Some of the people were playing traditional folk music which we enjoyed a lot. You would probably be surprised at the variety of lifestyles & architectures represented, from carved caves to thached stilt houses to log buildings to masonry.

Last night we went to dinner with my local contact Tee Foon Wong (TF for short). We went to a place that specializes in goose. Was pretty good, but I don't really dig the Chinese serving style for fowl... They take a chunk of cooked bird & then hack it into slices with a cleaver. Makes it kind of hard to pick out the parts you prefer to avoid... skin, fat, sinew... they just pop the whole thing in their mouth & kep chewing until out comes a little piece of bone. I tried to pick it apart with chop sticks, but was only partially successful. After dinner we walked around & I was pretty amazed at the contrasts here. Glitzy hotels & designer shops next to seedy places & street stalls... Mega-Benzes and beggars... We saw a street fight & walked through the all night flea market.

And everywhere the incessant honking of horns. TF says in China you buy a horn that comes with a car! Traffic signals, lane markers and cross walks are "for reference only". Basically it is total chaos... Pedestrians, bicycles, motor bikes, taxis, trucks & buses all competing for space on roads with no regard for courtesy. At some intersections they put a traffic cop to try to get people to follow the signals.

I am in no hurry to return to Shenzhen. I think I described it last week as capitalism run rampant and my expectations have been totally fulfilled. There are glass and steel towers here that rival any in the world. This is not your Father's China! But in nearly every other aspect this place sucks! Few friendly people & few redeeming values. TF says I should come to the other company location that is up near Shanghai. The area looks much more attractive in the tourism book & others have told me that there is much more of the "real" China left there. Hope I get the opportunity.

Looking forward to returning home. This trip hasn't been as exhausting as the last 3 weeek sojourn, fewer stops, but I'm ready...