Pan Pacific Journey

*check back again soon, I'm still uploading the vids that accompany this post* Paige and I accompanied Al to Japan and China for a week. It was the longest short week ever. Huh? Well, we left on Sunday night but arrived in the wee hours Tuesday morning, spent one day in Tokyo and then another flight took us to China for two days. Woke up this morning - Friday in Beijing - packed up, and now we are flying back across the international dateline to relive Friday when we land in California. Arriving before we left. Weird! So really, since Sunday night, we have only lived three days on the ground, the rest has been up in the air! Here up in the air as we turn back time and fly back across the dateline, I have discovered that my memory card is damaged. Many of my images are lost. I'm depressed about it, because, well, you know that is one of my big joys in life. But luckily, they are not all gone, and I do tend to snap several of each image, so it's not a total loss...still it is hard to take. I will fill in with words, and Paige has offered to draw some of the images for me. Now if that doesn't stop me from moping, what will?







Tokyo:

We arrived and went to bed. Except in our heads it wasn't bedtime at all. So we napped and then Paige and I set out for adventure. Lucky for the unsleepy traveler, the tuna auctions at Tsukiji happen before the sun rises. A short cab ride dropped us off at the INFORMATION room. As we walked up, the militant worker shut the door and motioned for us to form a single file line with the two other people who walked up. Apparently, we just missed the cut-off for the first tour. They only hand out 140 slips per day, so at least we were still able to see the tour, it just meant standing in the dark, in the cold for another 30 minutes to be in the second group. Australian teens, a German couple, a family, more students, both Asian and Caucasian, joined the growing line. The door opened. We entered a room where we were told to don green vests and stand in the partitioned queuing lanes. We were treated to a documentary video in English on the inner workings of the fish market. 45 minutes later, the other door opened and we were led through the busy street into the auction halls.Clanging bells signal the beginning of a lot auction. Just like any trading floor it is noisy and energetic. I took a video of the action.

Very abruptly after 3 auctions, we were told our time was up, take off the vests, and head out. They ushered us along the alley inside the innards of the market stalls but then left us there to fend for ourselves without saying what to do next or telling us they were done giving instruction. So we dashed across the wet lane, narrowly skirting motorized carts, cyclists, and other busy workers, and viewed the intermediate wholesalers booths. This is the spectacle you'd dream up if you imagined "Tokyo fish market" Every sort of crustaceon, fish, seaweed, dried crill, and other edible delight from the depths was on display in white styrofoam boxes atop crushed ice. Stall after stall after stall of it. The market takes up an entire city block.
We could not find our way out (with a map!) for a while, but then we saw the opening through the vegetable market. As we exited, we spontaneously decided to pop into a little sushi bar along the alley within the market for a taste of the goods. There were 4 Asians inside and a friendly sushi chef pointed to the four combo options available. It was not the best sushi of our lives (apparently that is what Al and his exec friends were experiencing as they had lunch at Kyubei) but we were happy for a stool to sit upon, warm green tea to defrost our hands around, and a little taste of something fresh.

We were back at the hotel well before 8 a.m. We met our driver and headed out again - this time in the much-welcomed luxury of a sedan - to see the sights. We first went to a picturesque garden called Shinjuku.. We walked through the gates just as they opened. The cherry blossoms within were just starting to bud out, and many workers were on ladders trimming up the sculpted fir trees. Although most of the cafes within were closed, we did find one, so we went in to defrost a bit and successfully ordered two teas from the machine. These machines are all over in Tokyo: You put in your money, like a vending machine, then select what you want to order by pressing the corresponding button with it's picture and description, then it generates a slip which you hand to the worker. You sit and she delivers your food/drink when it's ready. Our view from the cafe was of freshly blooming daffodils (the tiny kind) and dormant fields of grass under budding trees. Stark and pretty combined.

Next we took a ride up the Tokyo Tower. Weeeeeee! You can see all of Tokyo from up there.

Our plans called for a little shopping, which we did with flair in the Ginza neighborhood. Paige enjoyed a whole floor of Hello Kitty goods at the Sanrioland in Ginza. I found a lovely Leica shop to replace my battery recharger.

We decided to try lunch at the Shibuya station, just under Shibuya Crossing (famous because traffic stops in all directions and pedestrians flood the intersection like ants) in the food halls called Tokyo Food Show. Imagine a Japanese Harrod's food halls and you won't be far off. In the basement of the subway station you can find the finest examples of Japanese fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, sweets, pastries and more. Many of the vendors sold both raw goods and prepared meals. We found a very full ricebowl restaurant at the back and decided it must be popular with the locals for a reason. Again we tackled ordering using the machine, and we chose a sashimi atop rice selection as well as a fried seafood one. Each comes with as much rice, broth and tea as you'd like, sides of picked veg, bean curd, and a few fresh crunchy veggie things to add to your bowl. It was fun and a beautiful woman sat at our table across from Paige. She took a picture of us.

We were revived enough to tackle the Oriental Bazaar at Ometesando St. This is where we found gifts for family back home. We walked along the side streets there, too, to get the flavor of the real Harajuku girls and where they shop.

Big dinner out? Nah. We were so tired from all that walking. So we grabbed some good bubble bath, lotion and ordered up room service. Lights out Tokyo.






















BEIJING:
The next day we packed up all our goodies and flew to Beijing. The sky in Beijing is the first thing I noticed. It is so thick with pollution and haze that the sun appears an obsured orange ball in a whitish smoggy field. We were met by employees who would assist us and usher us through our every step the entire time we were in China. Being a generous and helpful host seems to be one of the tenets of their culture. After we cleared customs and immigration, we went straight to a business lunch. The meal was long and abundant. I tried pickled chicken feet. Yes, I did! Paige sat dutifully through the many courses like a little sweet zombie. We were given a brief stop at the hotel before being met by one expat wife, a lady from the office and her daughter, a tour guide and a driver. We all piled into a minivan and headed to the Forbidden City. We walked the entire city, and were treated to vast amounts of information from our guide. The city seemed so ornate and yet so lonely. I imagined what it was like for the concubine, the unic, and even the emperor to live in such bleak opulence. The vanilla sky added to the illusion of it all. We walked through it backwards from the way most people do it, ending up exiting the entrance with Mao's portrait and spilling out onto Tien'an men Square. It was bitterly cold and the wind was gaining strength. Dinner wasn't for another hour or so, but we could no longer handle the elements. So we waited in the Mongolian restaurant lobby until we could rendezvous with the driver. He drove us around the city in circles until it was time for dinner. The Mongolian hot pot dinner was just what the doctor ordered! A huge copper vessel with burning coals in the center shaft warmed simmering broth until it boiled. We ordered all the ingredients separately, and they included spinach, sprouts, potato slices, lotus root, little mushrooms, and wafer thin slices of lamb and meat.
After dinner we headed to the acrobats show. This was so exciting so we tried hard to keep our eyes open to see the show. It was just as you'd imagine it would be, too, with bendy little girls and death-defying men doing flips, climbing on cages and flying through the air. The pinnacle of the show is when all the young ladies pile on a bicycle and form a peacock shape. It is phenomenal. Paige was sacked out on my lap.

The next day we awoke to a city blanketed in still-falling snow. Not the floating fat flakes Graham saw in London, but sweeping dry crystals of silver iodide induced precipitation dropping quickly from the sky. We bundled up in extra layers and drove out to the Great Wall. Along the way we saw entire villages out in the street en masse, shoveling sweeping and scraping their main thoroughfares. Their homes were humble, and almost all had a water tank beside a solar panel for heated showers.

There were not many visitors at the Mutianyu Great Wall when we saw it. This is a great patch of the wall to see since it is well-preserved from the Ming Dynasty. The gondola took us up a steep bank and we exited right out in front of the Wall. Up a steep little staircase and we were walking along the Wall! Some of my images are not ruined. The cute ones of Paige and me having a snowball fight are not retrievable. :(

Back to the hotel for a lovely lunch at the Tamarind restaurant. Very nice Indian food! We rested and then were met by another expat wife and another lady from the office for our shopping excursion. We had fun at the Pearl Market, and we were so grateful for our hosts' help at finding the best shops and negotiating for the best prices. We ran into the gents from our group buying Valentine's gifts for their sweethearts, too. I watched as they tied knots between each pearl with lightning speed and tied on the clasps I selected. What an experience. I think Nana will like her gift for watching Evelyn and Graham!

The final dinner of our trip was at Da Dong restaurant, renowned for their Peking Duck. When you walk in the front door, you can see through the glass partition to the kitchen where vast domed brick ovens roast the birds, with their curved, crispy browned heads still attached. The dinner was elegant and abundant. We exchanged gifts. I gave Velveeta, Rotel and Tostitos to very eager ex pats. We received such lovely tokens as an elaborate wooden fan for me and a Rabbit to celebrate the New Year for Paige. It was a very elegant finishing touch to our time in Beijing. Fireworks popped sporatically throughout the evening in the ongoing two week celebration of the Chinese New Year.

The morning sky was so clear that we could see, for the first time, the mountains that surround Beijing.