NeoPatrick in Asia -- a report as it happens (sort of)
Aug 22nd, 2010, 05:36 AM
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NeoPatrick in Asia -- a report as it happens (sort of)
First the basics. I’m traveling alone and am using 130,000 American FF miles for One World Pass that allows 130,000 miles and 16 segments. So off I go to Asia in Business Class, getting First Class when there is no business class. I left on July 30 flying Ft. Lauderdale to Chicago for three nights there before boarding the non stop American flight from Chicago to Shanghai on Aug. 2.
I’m spent a lot of time on line, and have some internet acquaintances or “recommended friends of friends” in most of the cities I’m headed to, so that should be nice. Otherwise I’m on my own for 2 and a half months (I get home Oct. 13) except for a 16 day trip with OAT in Vietnam that starts and ends in Bangkok.
PART ONE: Shanghai
So: Arrival in Shanghai August 3. Internet friend Anthony was to meet me on arrival. He is a Chinese structural engineer and “appraiser” or “cost analysist” born in Chongqing and living in Shanghai. He was doing consultant work for various construction companies with Expo, but presently is without specific assignments, so was free for the week to show me around. The flight was wonderful (departed 10:40 AM from Chicago and lands in Shanghai at 2:05 PM the next day). The flight arrived about a half hour early, there was no line at all in immigration, and my bag was the third one off the carousel. So when I got to the arrivals hall, I was not spotting Anthony. Panic. I went to a customer service desk and they actually called his cell phone for me and handed the phone to me – he was just getting off a bus right outside the terminal – shocked that I was already waiting when my flight wasn’t even supposed to have landed yet! So while waiting the 5 minutes or so for him to arrive, I got a couple thousand RMB out of the ATM. We took the subway into town, which I already “knew” was a direct line, but was surprised that we still had to switch trains at one point. We took it toe Nanjing Road East and then walked the approx. 3 blocks to my hotel – The Salvo. Loved the hotel. Very elegant traditional décor, really friendly staff, a large suite with free internet (in fact there was a computer provided in the room), and I was on the “business level” with executive check-in, huge breakfast buffet in the top floor dining room, and various “perks”.
I was surprisingly not very tired, and we took a long walk along the busy Bund, just a couple blocks from the hotel. We circled around and came down the bustling Nanjing Road – a huge pedestrian shopping street, ending up at the upstairs Xingwan Tea Restaurant where we had dinner – dishes of snow peas with smoky ham slices, red peppers, and oyster mushrooms; fish in a spicy broth; and a huge pot filled with I think half a chicken and noodles, bamboo shoots, and lots of spices. Delicious food – 157 RMB total – including my beer – about $23. I think it was about 9 PM, but my eyelids were really droopy, so Anthony departed and I headed back to the hotel, inviting him to join me for breakfast buffet. (I mistakenly thought I had two breakfasts included, but ended up having to pay for his each morning – at 90 (about $14), a small price to pay for his hospitality and ‘guide” service.
Wed. morning after breakfast (this is when I learned this guy could really eat!) we headed to Expo. Anthony had prebought my senior tickets (3 days for 300 RMB).
We took the subway there and during the course of the day hit 18 pavillions. We purposely avoided the ones that had really long waits (he’s been there quite a few times and knew the ins and outs. We had a rather odd lunch at the US Pavillion – US Diner of chili dogs, French fries, and soft drinks. Anthony had never had a chili dog with onions before and he was more excited about that than I was at the various Chinese dishes I was trying on the trip. We had tickets for a huge cultural show in the giant exhibition arena which was interesting and fun, then left about 9 PM, taking the subway back to Nanjing Road where we found a late night restaurant still open on the way back to The Salvo. Good fried rice with shrimp, noodles with beef, and vegetables in fish broth with clams and mussels.
Thurs. morning – after breakfast, we did Anthony’s version of a walking tour. It started with his taking books back to the huge city library near the French Concession and walking that area, then heading to the Old City and having lunch at the famous upstairs Steamed Bun Restaurant (NanXiang) – I must apologize, as Anthony would often write the names of places into my journal and now I find I can’t necessarily read his writing). There I learned to gently lift the bun with my chopsticks and bite out a tiny hole and suck out the broth, before popping the whole thing into my mouth. I got a high rating from Anthony for my novice abilities. We walked Yu Garden. We both returned to the hotel. I was having a power failure and it was near 100 degrees F. I took a nap and I think Anthony did as well on the sofa! I wanted to go to the Hyatt in Pudong – back in 2003, Lee and I had planned to go to China and we were planning on staying at that Hyatt – then the tallest or highest hotel in the world – but we canceled that trip to SARS. So I really wanted to go there. We went for drinks on Cloud 9 – the 89th Floor. Anthony had only shorts with him and when we got to the elevators up, a hostess started to tell him in Chinese that he couldn’t wear shorts there – but when I pulled out my Hyatt Platinum card and she realized he was with me – suddenly it was no problem. So up we went. Anthony doesn’t drink so he had some sort of non alcoholic strawberry milkshake, I’d call it, and I had a huge, perfectly made Dewars Dry Robroy – MY DRINK. The bill for the two drinks (plus a bottle of Voss Water) was 264.50 ($ 39) and worth every penny. The view was spectacular. We did a lot of walking in Pudong, then crossed back over the Bund, made a trip to the train station to buy train tickets for the next day, and somehow ended up at a fast food place for dinner about 10 PM (Anthony was still aghast at how much I had spent on two drinks!) where we had fried noodles and some sort of noodle soup. Dirt cheap but frankly not very good.
Fri. morning we met early for breakfast, then took the train to Hangzhou. It was HOT and HUMID beyond belief. When we arrived, we went to buy return tickets for the evening (they wouldn’t sell them to us the night before because the windows were about to close when we got there), but now all trains were sold out for the day and evening. Anthony said not to worry, we’d just take a bus back to Shanghai when we wanted to go.
Then he talked me into renting bicycles and we rode around West Lake (or around most of the lake and across the long causeway and the rest of the way around. We stopped a lot to see things, buy and drink gallons of water, and I discovered my new addiction, frozen peach “popsicles”! We had a very late lunch on the lake eating “Dong Po Pork”, and a whole lake fish cooked in vinegar sauce, water chestnuts, and garlic, and having soup noodles (Anthony never eats a meal without ending with soup noodles of some sort).
So at about 5:30 or so we turned in our bicylcles and took a local bus to the long distance North Bus Station – which in bumper to bumper traffic took nearly an hour. Once there, we were in trouble. The last bus of the day was just leaving and it was sold out. But they told us there was another Shanghai bus from the other station leaving in an hour and it still had 20 tickets – but she couldn’t sell them to us there. So we got a taxi and raced to get there just before it left, only to find out those 20 tickets were now all gone. What to do? Back to the train stations where Anthony tried pleading for tickets on one of the two remaining sold out trains, but no luck. As we headed out of the train stations, there was someone selling bus tickets – an “illegal” bus which somehow mysteriously appears when the trains are full. They charged us more than the train costs, but we got the last two seats and we were off, to arrive back in Shanghai about 1 AM. Anthony claims he goes to Hangzhou all the time and has never prebought tickets, but EXPO has brought massive crowds to the entire area. Dinner was a couple granola/fruit bars on the bus.
Sat. morning after breakfast – we arranged a little later one than usual – we were off for another day of exploring, including Jing’an Temple and then took the subway to the end of a line and then a bus for about an hour to the water town of Zhujiajiao. This was an easier option that the major ones without spending all day going and coming – especially without preplanning and buying tickets in advance. I found the town perfectly delightful, as many “crafts” as “junk” for sale, and probably less touristy than the major water towns supposedly are. We did a boat ride on the canals (Anthony and a Chinese couple negotiating a good price for a boat the four us shared). Then we ate at a tiny place along the canal – it only had three tables sitting by the canal and about 4 or 5 more inside. No English and no picture menu, but Anthony by now had figured what I liked and didn’t, so he went inside to look at the fish tanks and to order. We had five dishes – two wonderful vegetable dishes, and eggs scrambled with “silver” fish, a whole plate of about 6 inch long catfish cooked in soy, sugar, garlic sauce, and the one thing I didn’t care for – a whole “puffer fish” which was sort of like eating rubber) cooked in a big pot of broth.
This meal (along with my beer) was about $17.
Sunday morning, we met early for breakfast so we could go back to Expo arriving at 8:15 before they open. I thought our goal was to get China Pavilion tickets (you have to get there early and get your timed tickets for late in the day as they are gone by about 9:30 or 10). But after the gates opened at 9 and then we raced to get in line where we stood in the heat for 45 minutes, I discovered (Anthony knew) we were in line for the Taiwan Pavilion tickets. Sure enough our tickets were for 6:30 PM and they closed the line by 9:30 with all tickets gone for the day. Anthony insisted the Taiwan Pavilion is one of the best – in certainly is the most limited admission one of the Expo – as they take only 30 people every 10 minutes, I think it is, all day long. So my hopes of not spending all day at Expo were already dashed since we’d definitely be there till at least 6:30. Spent the day visiting more pavilions – and trying to survive the heat – 39.5 C today – that’s 103!
Had a surprisingly good lunch at a chain restaurant there – Bi Feng Tang, with several Chinese dishes, but the plate of braised enoki mushrooms was the BEST. So after the Taiwan Pavilion – which was great, by the way, with a sort of tea ceremony where you keep the tea cups, and you electronically launch a wish by hot air lantern – we took the boat back up the river to downtown. Breathtaking views at night. Shanghai sure does impress with its architecture. Once on land, we taxied to Xintiandi, the trendy dining and bar area and had a nice dinner at DiTaiFung, steamed morning glories with garlic and red pepper, buns with shrimp and pork, spicy filled wontons, and noodle soup with shrimp and bamboo shoots. Nice. I bid Anthony farewell – he was a great friend now who looked after me perfectly the whole time in Shanghai, although he couldn’t stop apologizing for “screwing up” the trip to Hangzhou, which upset him far more than it did me.
The next morning, it was a leisure breakfast then the subway and the super Maglev train to the airport for my flight to Osaka departing at 1:25. I guess the Maglev cuts off about 15 or 18 minutes of time, but frankly it seems just as easy to stick with the subway (at least for my route) than making the switch.
(More to come)
I’m spent a lot of time on line, and have some internet acquaintances or “recommended friends of friends” in most of the cities I’m headed to, so that should be nice. Otherwise I’m on my own for 2 and a half months (I get home Oct. 13) except for a 16 day trip with OAT in Vietnam that starts and ends in Bangkok.
PART ONE: Shanghai
So: Arrival in Shanghai August 3. Internet friend Anthony was to meet me on arrival. He is a Chinese structural engineer and “appraiser” or “cost analysist” born in Chongqing and living in Shanghai. He was doing consultant work for various construction companies with Expo, but presently is without specific assignments, so was free for the week to show me around. The flight was wonderful (departed 10:40 AM from Chicago and lands in Shanghai at 2:05 PM the next day). The flight arrived about a half hour early, there was no line at all in immigration, and my bag was the third one off the carousel. So when I got to the arrivals hall, I was not spotting Anthony. Panic. I went to a customer service desk and they actually called his cell phone for me and handed the phone to me – he was just getting off a bus right outside the terminal – shocked that I was already waiting when my flight wasn’t even supposed to have landed yet! So while waiting the 5 minutes or so for him to arrive, I got a couple thousand RMB out of the ATM. We took the subway into town, which I already “knew” was a direct line, but was surprised that we still had to switch trains at one point. We took it toe Nanjing Road East and then walked the approx. 3 blocks to my hotel – The Salvo. Loved the hotel. Very elegant traditional décor, really friendly staff, a large suite with free internet (in fact there was a computer provided in the room), and I was on the “business level” with executive check-in, huge breakfast buffet in the top floor dining room, and various “perks”.
I was surprisingly not very tired, and we took a long walk along the busy Bund, just a couple blocks from the hotel. We circled around and came down the bustling Nanjing Road – a huge pedestrian shopping street, ending up at the upstairs Xingwan Tea Restaurant where we had dinner – dishes of snow peas with smoky ham slices, red peppers, and oyster mushrooms; fish in a spicy broth; and a huge pot filled with I think half a chicken and noodles, bamboo shoots, and lots of spices. Delicious food – 157 RMB total – including my beer – about $23. I think it was about 9 PM, but my eyelids were really droopy, so Anthony departed and I headed back to the hotel, inviting him to join me for breakfast buffet. (I mistakenly thought I had two breakfasts included, but ended up having to pay for his each morning – at 90 (about $14), a small price to pay for his hospitality and ‘guide” service.
Wed. morning after breakfast (this is when I learned this guy could really eat!) we headed to Expo. Anthony had prebought my senior tickets (3 days for 300 RMB).
We took the subway there and during the course of the day hit 18 pavillions. We purposely avoided the ones that had really long waits (he’s been there quite a few times and knew the ins and outs. We had a rather odd lunch at the US Pavillion – US Diner of chili dogs, French fries, and soft drinks. Anthony had never had a chili dog with onions before and he was more excited about that than I was at the various Chinese dishes I was trying on the trip. We had tickets for a huge cultural show in the giant exhibition arena which was interesting and fun, then left about 9 PM, taking the subway back to Nanjing Road where we found a late night restaurant still open on the way back to The Salvo. Good fried rice with shrimp, noodles with beef, and vegetables in fish broth with clams and mussels.
Thurs. morning – after breakfast, we did Anthony’s version of a walking tour. It started with his taking books back to the huge city library near the French Concession and walking that area, then heading to the Old City and having lunch at the famous upstairs Steamed Bun Restaurant (NanXiang) – I must apologize, as Anthony would often write the names of places into my journal and now I find I can’t necessarily read his writing). There I learned to gently lift the bun with my chopsticks and bite out a tiny hole and suck out the broth, before popping the whole thing into my mouth. I got a high rating from Anthony for my novice abilities. We walked Yu Garden. We both returned to the hotel. I was having a power failure and it was near 100 degrees F. I took a nap and I think Anthony did as well on the sofa! I wanted to go to the Hyatt in Pudong – back in 2003, Lee and I had planned to go to China and we were planning on staying at that Hyatt – then the tallest or highest hotel in the world – but we canceled that trip to SARS. So I really wanted to go there. We went for drinks on Cloud 9 – the 89th Floor. Anthony had only shorts with him and when we got to the elevators up, a hostess started to tell him in Chinese that he couldn’t wear shorts there – but when I pulled out my Hyatt Platinum card and she realized he was with me – suddenly it was no problem. So up we went. Anthony doesn’t drink so he had some sort of non alcoholic strawberry milkshake, I’d call it, and I had a huge, perfectly made Dewars Dry Robroy – MY DRINK. The bill for the two drinks (plus a bottle of Voss Water) was 264.50 ($ 39) and worth every penny. The view was spectacular. We did a lot of walking in Pudong, then crossed back over the Bund, made a trip to the train station to buy train tickets for the next day, and somehow ended up at a fast food place for dinner about 10 PM (Anthony was still aghast at how much I had spent on two drinks!) where we had fried noodles and some sort of noodle soup. Dirt cheap but frankly not very good.
Fri. morning we met early for breakfast, then took the train to Hangzhou. It was HOT and HUMID beyond belief. When we arrived, we went to buy return tickets for the evening (they wouldn’t sell them to us the night before because the windows were about to close when we got there), but now all trains were sold out for the day and evening. Anthony said not to worry, we’d just take a bus back to Shanghai when we wanted to go.
Then he talked me into renting bicycles and we rode around West Lake (or around most of the lake and across the long causeway and the rest of the way around. We stopped a lot to see things, buy and drink gallons of water, and I discovered my new addiction, frozen peach “popsicles”! We had a very late lunch on the lake eating “Dong Po Pork”, and a whole lake fish cooked in vinegar sauce, water chestnuts, and garlic, and having soup noodles (Anthony never eats a meal without ending with soup noodles of some sort).
So at about 5:30 or so we turned in our bicylcles and took a local bus to the long distance North Bus Station – which in bumper to bumper traffic took nearly an hour. Once there, we were in trouble. The last bus of the day was just leaving and it was sold out. But they told us there was another Shanghai bus from the other station leaving in an hour and it still had 20 tickets – but she couldn’t sell them to us there. So we got a taxi and raced to get there just before it left, only to find out those 20 tickets were now all gone. What to do? Back to the train stations where Anthony tried pleading for tickets on one of the two remaining sold out trains, but no luck. As we headed out of the train stations, there was someone selling bus tickets – an “illegal” bus which somehow mysteriously appears when the trains are full. They charged us more than the train costs, but we got the last two seats and we were off, to arrive back in Shanghai about 1 AM. Anthony claims he goes to Hangzhou all the time and has never prebought tickets, but EXPO has brought massive crowds to the entire area. Dinner was a couple granola/fruit bars on the bus.
Sat. morning after breakfast – we arranged a little later one than usual – we were off for another day of exploring, including Jing’an Temple and then took the subway to the end of a line and then a bus for about an hour to the water town of Zhujiajiao. This was an easier option that the major ones without spending all day going and coming – especially without preplanning and buying tickets in advance. I found the town perfectly delightful, as many “crafts” as “junk” for sale, and probably less touristy than the major water towns supposedly are. We did a boat ride on the canals (Anthony and a Chinese couple negotiating a good price for a boat the four us shared). Then we ate at a tiny place along the canal – it only had three tables sitting by the canal and about 4 or 5 more inside. No English and no picture menu, but Anthony by now had figured what I liked and didn’t, so he went inside to look at the fish tanks and to order. We had five dishes – two wonderful vegetable dishes, and eggs scrambled with “silver” fish, a whole plate of about 6 inch long catfish cooked in soy, sugar, garlic sauce, and the one thing I didn’t care for – a whole “puffer fish” which was sort of like eating rubber) cooked in a big pot of broth.
This meal (along with my beer) was about $17.
Sunday morning, we met early for breakfast so we could go back to Expo arriving at 8:15 before they open. I thought our goal was to get China Pavilion tickets (you have to get there early and get your timed tickets for late in the day as they are gone by about 9:30 or 10). But after the gates opened at 9 and then we raced to get in line where we stood in the heat for 45 minutes, I discovered (Anthony knew) we were in line for the Taiwan Pavilion tickets. Sure enough our tickets were for 6:30 PM and they closed the line by 9:30 with all tickets gone for the day. Anthony insisted the Taiwan Pavilion is one of the best – in certainly is the most limited admission one of the Expo – as they take only 30 people every 10 minutes, I think it is, all day long. So my hopes of not spending all day at Expo were already dashed since we’d definitely be there till at least 6:30. Spent the day visiting more pavilions – and trying to survive the heat – 39.5 C today – that’s 103!
Had a surprisingly good lunch at a chain restaurant there – Bi Feng Tang, with several Chinese dishes, but the plate of braised enoki mushrooms was the BEST. So after the Taiwan Pavilion – which was great, by the way, with a sort of tea ceremony where you keep the tea cups, and you electronically launch a wish by hot air lantern – we took the boat back up the river to downtown. Breathtaking views at night. Shanghai sure does impress with its architecture. Once on land, we taxied to Xintiandi, the trendy dining and bar area and had a nice dinner at DiTaiFung, steamed morning glories with garlic and red pepper, buns with shrimp and pork, spicy filled wontons, and noodle soup with shrimp and bamboo shoots. Nice. I bid Anthony farewell – he was a great friend now who looked after me perfectly the whole time in Shanghai, although he couldn’t stop apologizing for “screwing up” the trip to Hangzhou, which upset him far more than it did me.
The next morning, it was a leisure breakfast then the subway and the super Maglev train to the airport for my flight to Osaka departing at 1:25. I guess the Maglev cuts off about 15 or 18 minutes of time, but frankly it seems just as easy to stick with the subway (at least for my route) than making the switch.
(More to come)
Aug 22nd, 2010, 06:38 AM
#4
Good to see this! Anthony certainly did a fabulous job for you.
BTW - did you really mean 150,000 actual flying miles on your award? Mine also cost 150,000 FF miles, but "only" gives me 25,000 flying miles.
BTW - did you really mean 150,000 actual flying miles on your award? Mine also cost 150,000 FF miles, but "only" gives me 25,000 flying miles.
Aug 22nd, 2010, 01:54 PM
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i'll be in Shanghai in a week and you've answered so many questions, plus given me the names of some restaurant and the prices of meals. Thank you! One question: Do you think it's worth going to the Expo?
Aug 22nd, 2010, 03:14 PM
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Ooops. That was a typo. Yes, my award cost 150,000 FF miles for 30,000 flying miles. I think my trip ends up being something 29,982 -- because I added in a trip from Ft. Myers to Toronto and back to Miami in May on the same ticket for free. That's why I flew out of Ft. Lauderdale (considered the same airport as Miami) as I was really just in a 2 month "layover" in the Miami area on this "one" trip -- couldn't return to my home base of Ft. Myers. Otherwise I was just doing Asia, but discovered it was shorter from Bangkok to Florida going home by going through London than it was via California, so I am going around the world, ending with a week in London.
janjohnston, I'm glad I went to Expo -- I think I enjoyed the architecture of the pavilions more than what was in them for the most part, but it certainly wouldn't have been a tragedy if I had missed the whole thing. I've been to other World's Fairs or Expos before, and frankly they don't do a lot for me. I really wasn't anxious to go spend a second whole day, but got talked into that one by Anthony.
janjohnston, I'm glad I went to Expo -- I think I enjoyed the architecture of the pavilions more than what was in them for the most part, but it certainly wouldn't have been a tragedy if I had missed the whole thing. I've been to other World's Fairs or Expos before, and frankly they don't do a lot for me. I really wasn't anxious to go spend a second whole day, but got talked into that one by Anthony.
Aug 22nd, 2010, 06:53 PM
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Speaking of food -- and yes, I think I do travel to eat -- it's amazing how healthy my eating has been. I'm diabetic, and my glucose readings have consistently been the best they've been in years. There must be something to having lots of green vegetables for breakfast and my earlier worries about too many carbs with all the noodles have certainly gone unfounded. Of course, walking about a hundred miles a day (OK, so I exaggerate a little) doesn't hurt either!
Aug 23rd, 2010, 01:25 AM
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PART II: Kyoto, Japan
OK, so if I'm in China, what am I doing going to Japan all of a sudden? Well, on my One World pass, there were only two ways to fly (free) between Shanghai and Beijing. One was business class on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong (but I couldn't do a stopover there since I was already planning one there later on) and the other was First Class on Japan Airlines via Osaka. But that one I could do a stopover, and since Kyoto has been high on my "bucket" list -- why not? So I included it as a stop for four nights between Shanghai and Beijing. The flights were great and quite deluxe plus of course the added use of the First Class lounge and having my luggage be first on the carousels.
I arrived in Osaka at around 5:30 -- the plane was delayed about an hour. So by the time I took the train to Kyoto, then a taxi to my hotel -- The Palaceside -- it was about 7:30. The hotel was adequate -- nothing great, small room and bath -- although it was very close to a subway stop -- direct line from the train station, the hotel had warned me that there were 55 steps up -- quite a lot with my luggage -- which is why I opted for the taxi. But that stop was great for the rest of my stay and I got a two day, then a one day bus and subway pass which I used quite a bit.
I headed out and found a small downstairs yakatori -- called Tsujiya -- just a block or so from the hotel. It was delightful, and I ordered a number of skewers --mushrooms, small peppers, chicken livers, chicken, and "filet" which ended up meaning chicken also. That's when I realized there was a picture of a chicken on their logo and ALL their meats seemed to be chicken. Duh. But it was all deliciously grilled. A stop for a frozen peach juice bar at 7-11 on my way back to the hotel and I was happy.
I got a good night's sleep and the next day did Toji Temple (oops, and two others I didn't write down the name of but already they were looking alike) and went to the top of Kyoto Tower. I also just did a lot of walking and then walked through the Palace Gardens a bit when I got back to the hotel in the afternoon. That evening I met a friend who is Japanese but lives and works in Amsterdam but was "home" in Kyoto to visit his father -- although when he arrived in Kyoto he found his father had gone to visit his new girlfriend in China -- too funny. Takashi took me to Kappa Zushi (I've already been raked over the coals for my lack of sushi knowledge on another thread here -- something I was not afraid to admit openly). This is his favorite budget sushi place and you always have to wait to get a seat. There are conveyor belts, but you can also order on a touch screen and then your order is delivered right to your spot on a miniature bullet train that runs on a track above the conveyor belt. We gorged on sushi and the total bill was about $13. He treated. Then we stopped at Haagen Dasz for green tea ice cream -- my treat -- and the bill was about the same as dinner. LOL
We took a long walk along the river and the little streets of night clubs, bars, and restaurants, and he reminisced about how much Kyoto has changed since he grew up there.
He armed me with a map and directions for the next day -- what he called the "golden route".
So next morning, I hit a little coffee place near me and also had some ham toast -- the breakfast looked kind of dismal at the hotel -- and I was off to Nijo Castle. Oops. I got there at least a half hour before it opened, so had more coffee in a tiny coffee shop across the street. After Nijo, I headed to the Golden Pavilion and Rokuon-Ji Temple. Then took the bus and subway to Karasuma-Oike and went to Owariya, a restaurant I read about in the NY Times -- a huge rabbit warren of rooms that is supposedly a 600 year old restaurant. I had a tempura shrimp and vegetable plate followed by a bowl of cold soba noodles with Daikon and mushrooms. Great place with tons of atmosphere. Next I headed to Kiyomizu Temple and the other spots all around it. I got to the right area, then wandered aimlessly through mazes of little tourist streets, up hills, and through parks and cemeteries. By the time I finished I was exhausted. Did I mention that Kyoto was nearly as hot and as humid as Shanghai?
I went back to the hotel, showered, rested and then went to the hotel recommended restaurant called Kushiman. Again I had a lot of skewers of grilled things and a bowl of sukiyaki beef. Good meal and really friendly rather formal service.
My final full day there I got up and good barely walk. I sometimes have problems with my ankle I broke a hundred years ago -- and yesterday I had really overdone it. Besides it was pouring rain -- a typhoon was currently passing us by to the north between South Korea and Japan. It was to rain pretty much all day. I took the subway to the huge indoor food markets and walked, having breakfast at a little place in the market. But I was surprised that at 9 AM things weren't open yet. I'm used to food markets being early morning affairs, but people were just starting to set up. In the subway I had been seeing posters for the Broadway musical Crazy for You and I could figure out that it was at the Kyoto Theatre which is in or attached to the train station, so I went to see about getting a ticket for that night. Surprisingly the show plays in the afternoons at 1:30, except two nights only at 5:30 -- seemed like odd times to me. Since it was raining I bought a ticket for the afternoon -- about $114 -- geez, just like Broadway. Of course the show was in Japanese, but I know the show and the songs backwards and forwards so that was no issue. The production was fantastic -- an official Japanese tour of the more recent Broadway version with original sets and costumes and the original Susan Strohman choreography. The cast was simply amazing, great voices, and fantastic dancers.
Before the show I head to the top floor of the big department store also adjacent to the train station and wandered the restaurants picking a great little noodle place for lunch. And that evening -- I had to return to Kappa Zushi on my own where I ate almost as much sushi alone as the two of us had done the other night!
I had to get up early on Friday morning, to get a taxi to the station, then the train to Osaka airport, and catch my 9:50 plane to Beijing.
Impressions of Kyoto? I guess I wasn't prepared for it. Somehow I had the impression it was going to be a much smaller city than it is and all quite quaint and picturesque. But it really is just another big city -- and after Shanghai, generally a pretty ugly one architecturally.
But I enjoyed the sights I saw, and as I've always said "I get templed out easily". And yes there is quite a lot to do there. I had planned to go to the area (starting with A) on my last day and take a scenic train and boat ride, but in the pouring rain, that just wasn't to be. Doing the market and then seeing the show was probably more fun for me in the long run.
Next: Beijing
OK, so if I'm in China, what am I doing going to Japan all of a sudden? Well, on my One World pass, there were only two ways to fly (free) between Shanghai and Beijing. One was business class on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong (but I couldn't do a stopover there since I was already planning one there later on) and the other was First Class on Japan Airlines via Osaka. But that one I could do a stopover, and since Kyoto has been high on my "bucket" list -- why not? So I included it as a stop for four nights between Shanghai and Beijing. The flights were great and quite deluxe plus of course the added use of the First Class lounge and having my luggage be first on the carousels.
I arrived in Osaka at around 5:30 -- the plane was delayed about an hour. So by the time I took the train to Kyoto, then a taxi to my hotel -- The Palaceside -- it was about 7:30. The hotel was adequate -- nothing great, small room and bath -- although it was very close to a subway stop -- direct line from the train station, the hotel had warned me that there were 55 steps up -- quite a lot with my luggage -- which is why I opted for the taxi. But that stop was great for the rest of my stay and I got a two day, then a one day bus and subway pass which I used quite a bit.
I headed out and found a small downstairs yakatori -- called Tsujiya -- just a block or so from the hotel. It was delightful, and I ordered a number of skewers --mushrooms, small peppers, chicken livers, chicken, and "filet" which ended up meaning chicken also. That's when I realized there was a picture of a chicken on their logo and ALL their meats seemed to be chicken. Duh. But it was all deliciously grilled. A stop for a frozen peach juice bar at 7-11 on my way back to the hotel and I was happy.
I got a good night's sleep and the next day did Toji Temple (oops, and two others I didn't write down the name of but already they were looking alike) and went to the top of Kyoto Tower. I also just did a lot of walking and then walked through the Palace Gardens a bit when I got back to the hotel in the afternoon. That evening I met a friend who is Japanese but lives and works in Amsterdam but was "home" in Kyoto to visit his father -- although when he arrived in Kyoto he found his father had gone to visit his new girlfriend in China -- too funny. Takashi took me to Kappa Zushi (I've already been raked over the coals for my lack of sushi knowledge on another thread here -- something I was not afraid to admit openly). This is his favorite budget sushi place and you always have to wait to get a seat. There are conveyor belts, but you can also order on a touch screen and then your order is delivered right to your spot on a miniature bullet train that runs on a track above the conveyor belt. We gorged on sushi and the total bill was about $13. He treated. Then we stopped at Haagen Dasz for green tea ice cream -- my treat -- and the bill was about the same as dinner. LOL
We took a long walk along the river and the little streets of night clubs, bars, and restaurants, and he reminisced about how much Kyoto has changed since he grew up there.
He armed me with a map and directions for the next day -- what he called the "golden route".
So next morning, I hit a little coffee place near me and also had some ham toast -- the breakfast looked kind of dismal at the hotel -- and I was off to Nijo Castle. Oops. I got there at least a half hour before it opened, so had more coffee in a tiny coffee shop across the street. After Nijo, I headed to the Golden Pavilion and Rokuon-Ji Temple. Then took the bus and subway to Karasuma-Oike and went to Owariya, a restaurant I read about in the NY Times -- a huge rabbit warren of rooms that is supposedly a 600 year old restaurant. I had a tempura shrimp and vegetable plate followed by a bowl of cold soba noodles with Daikon and mushrooms. Great place with tons of atmosphere. Next I headed to Kiyomizu Temple and the other spots all around it. I got to the right area, then wandered aimlessly through mazes of little tourist streets, up hills, and through parks and cemeteries. By the time I finished I was exhausted. Did I mention that Kyoto was nearly as hot and as humid as Shanghai?
I went back to the hotel, showered, rested and then went to the hotel recommended restaurant called Kushiman. Again I had a lot of skewers of grilled things and a bowl of sukiyaki beef. Good meal and really friendly rather formal service.
My final full day there I got up and good barely walk. I sometimes have problems with my ankle I broke a hundred years ago -- and yesterday I had really overdone it. Besides it was pouring rain -- a typhoon was currently passing us by to the north between South Korea and Japan. It was to rain pretty much all day. I took the subway to the huge indoor food markets and walked, having breakfast at a little place in the market. But I was surprised that at 9 AM things weren't open yet. I'm used to food markets being early morning affairs, but people were just starting to set up. In the subway I had been seeing posters for the Broadway musical Crazy for You and I could figure out that it was at the Kyoto Theatre which is in or attached to the train station, so I went to see about getting a ticket for that night. Surprisingly the show plays in the afternoons at 1:30, except two nights only at 5:30 -- seemed like odd times to me. Since it was raining I bought a ticket for the afternoon -- about $114 -- geez, just like Broadway. Of course the show was in Japanese, but I know the show and the songs backwards and forwards so that was no issue. The production was fantastic -- an official Japanese tour of the more recent Broadway version with original sets and costumes and the original Susan Strohman choreography. The cast was simply amazing, great voices, and fantastic dancers.
Before the show I head to the top floor of the big department store also adjacent to the train station and wandered the restaurants picking a great little noodle place for lunch. And that evening -- I had to return to Kappa Zushi on my own where I ate almost as much sushi alone as the two of us had done the other night!
I had to get up early on Friday morning, to get a taxi to the station, then the train to Osaka airport, and catch my 9:50 plane to Beijing.
Impressions of Kyoto? I guess I wasn't prepared for it. Somehow I had the impression it was going to be a much smaller city than it is and all quite quaint and picturesque. But it really is just another big city -- and after Shanghai, generally a pretty ugly one architecturally.
But I enjoyed the sights I saw, and as I've always said "I get templed out easily". And yes there is quite a lot to do there. I had planned to go to the area (starting with A) on my last day and take a scenic train and boat ride, but in the pouring rain, that just wasn't to be. Doing the market and then seeing the show was probably more fun for me in the long run.
Next: Beijing
