Once Upon a Tokyo

Diving in Okinawa

One of the things I really wanted to do in Okinawa was scuba dive. It:s been a year since my diving in Thailand, and there:s not a lot of opportunity in Tokyo (or in Prague, my last major vacation destination the previous summer.) Unfortunately, the time we had in Okinawa was a pretty small window, and most of the time we spent on the American bases there.The time we did try to find an English-speaking guide, he was completely booked. As if a little think like language would stop me? Using my best broken Japanese, I was able to sign up with a local dive shop just off the sea wall.

It was one of the best times I had down there. The diving wasn:t that spectacular, being slightly off-season with the rainy season and after a few days of rain made for somewhat average visibility. But interacting with the locals was a blast! This was one of the marked differences between me and the other teachers. They really seemed to prefer the American lifestyle on the island. Granted, it *IS* pretty cool. I ain:t going to deny it. But I think that one of the things that made me want to live overseas was the fact that you HAD to immerse yourself in the local culture. If you really don:t want to risk some security and "safety," then maybe you don:t really want to live abroad.

Along Sea Wall

In Okinawa, which is as different from Tokyo as Hawaii is from New York. A great vibe and some great people. Since everyone we:re visiting is from the DODs schools (Dept of Defense) we get to go on base (of which there are like a dozen or something) and it feels like Simi Valley.

Our friend:s house that is our crash pad is along the sea wall, and I had a spare moment to just walk along by myself, musing and people watching. That:s the good part. It was raining a strange kind of non-rain-kind-of-mist with winds and fast-moving clouds. That:s the bad part. It made for a solitary walk but a satisfying one. For the first time it feels like summer break, free time-wise but not weather-wise.

The sea wall stretched hundreds of meters in either direction, a tall, stepped cement blockade against the low-level breakwater and those giant jacks-like cement structures, toppled on one another. The waves rolled regularly, breaking into small 2-foot curls, with the wind so powerful it made identical undulations flowing away from the shore. The wall itself was covered section by section with graffiti art and murals, and their colors, too, were like those of the six to seven-story buildings that lined the opposite side of the street-- once-brightly pastel colors now faded by sun and weather. The clouds overhead were whisked along with great speed by winds  barely felt below, alternating between covering the sun and allowing its rays to add to the humidity:s heat. The grayness of the day was felt by the nearly perpetual not-quite-rain not-quite-mist that eventually soaked your clothes but kept us cool. Kind of quiet, kind of ominous, but just a moment of it before it:s time to return to friends and food and fellowship. (And great hand-pressed coffee at a small privately owned shop on the corner!)

Okinawa

While I usually avoid hopping on a plane first thing after school:s out for the summer, that seems to be exactly what I:ll be doing. Some friends have contacts who are teachers at the American school in Okinawa (a Dept. of Defense school) and we are going to crash on Okinawa island for several days. (well, hopefully not literally crash, of course.)

Since Okinawa is at the very tip of Japan:s archipelagos, it actually enters into sub-tropical climate, perfect to start a summer holiday. I:m looking forward to swimming and beaching and maybe even some scuba diving-- for what is pretty much like the first time in a year!

I:m sure I:ll have internet access while I:m gone, but in case you don:t hear from me for a week, it:s either because I:m too relaxed or too busy.

Here's a famous band called The BOOM that is influenced with traditional Okinawan music and a bit of ska:

Prague Spokesmen

Looking through my cell phone for pictures to share, and I forgot to share this one, snapped up while walking a random street in Prague this summer.

It features two unlikely spokespeople-- One is the head of the world's largest organized religion, the other is the head of the leading national superpower. Together, they fight crime! I mean, together they endorse green tea!

The funny thing was, I REALLY wanted green tea while in Germany (especially when I was feeling ill) and I couldn't ever find it. So, in "old Europe" Czech, green tea's no problem. In modern-day big-city Munich? Not so much. Maybe the Pope and the President need to reach out more...

Thinking of Vacations Already(?)

Just got the calendar for the 2009 - 2010 school year. In case you were thinking of vacations already (and who isn't?) here's the following no-school days for me:

October 29 - 30
November 23
December 21 - January 5
February 18 - 19
March 22 - 26
April 2
May 5
May 10
and I'm done on June 4

I say this just in case you want to plan a trip to Japan, and then I can join you for a couple of days! (Keep in mind that just because *I* am working, doesn't mean I can't host and/or join you when appropriate!) As of right now, I am 85% sure I will be in the Philippines on spring break (March 22 - 26) and I'm 100% sure I will return to LA for Christmas, but other than that, let's talk! (Keep in mind winter is cold here!)

And not to put pressure on you or anything, but I'm 75% sure that this is my last year in Japan. So if you want a free place to crash while you visit, you'd better hurry over here.

Plus, if you have other questions about where/when to go, etc....

Last Days in Hong Kong

I have a couple of days left in Hong Kong, but there was still much to do.
First up, exploring the city. I spend breakfast with my roommate, Bert, which helps get me my bearings, because he was more prepared than I with ideas, guidebooks, and so on. I really had NO idea about where or what to do while I was there. It's the travel junkie in me, I guess-- just plop me down in the middle of Somewhere and see what I do. So with his help and the internet café, I orientate myself pretty quickly.

I'm in walking distance to Mong Kok, so I start there-- Kowloon's busy shopping/market district. It's more fun for people watching than actual shopping. From there, I walk to the Flower Market (pretty much like any flower district in a downtown area) and then to the Bird Garden. That's just a small strip of a park where old men gather to talk about, share, and buy pet birds. Probably the best people watching of all.

This takes about half a day, and the other half is spent in Stanley, on the other side of Hong Kong. It's like the Malibu of Hong Kong-- which reminds me that I really really miss the beach. I should have just spent the day beach-hopping around Stanley!

The real adventure was trying to get there. In order to hop on the bus, I needed exact change, which was nowhere to be found. I needed some specific denominations that even the fast food places across the street didn't have. I had to resort to asking everyone passing me for change-- and no, I'm not a panhandler. Yes, I have the cash I'm just asking for ever-smaller change. This little side-adventure took nearly an hour in itself! Sheesh! It's just small change, people! As it was, I ended up just throwing slightly more money than I needed. The bus driver didn't worry that I had too MUCH money.

After spending the next half of the day in Stanley, I walk through the central mall in Hong Kong-- appreciating the air conditioning most of all. Then, I make my way to the Peninsula Hotel, meeting with a few of my travel buddies who are left. Instead of high tea at the Peninsula, we go to the docks across the street to watch the Symphony of Lights-- a daily night show featuring a dazzling display of lights playing across the skyscrapers of Hong Kong. Impressive. One more farewell drink in the trendy district, and it's time to turn in.

Hong Kong-- Day 13!

I slept less than anyone, but no time to worry about that-- we have to go through customs/ immigration and several commutes to get into the city proper. Already, everything around us is different than anything we've seen-- the vibe of a modern, ultra-urban, Big City.

Settling in, then farewell-lunching with our guide for the last time, we take off for downtown Hong Kong  (from Kowloon, where we are staying). We take a ferry and go through the "world's largest people mover"-- a series of escalators that seem to take us through nearly half the city! Then a park, a little zoo, and a shuttle, and we arrive at The Peak. (Hm. Kind of funny-- Even without a guide, we STILL end up hiking for half a day.)

The trolley-shuttle for The Peak was our first real experience with lining up, HK-style. In other words, don't queue up, just mob the door AS QUICKLY AND VIOLENTLY AS POSSIBLE. Pretend the passengers are really teenage fan-girls and the inside of the trolley was their favorite boy band. Then you get the idea.

Despite the mob mentality, we actually happened to time our trip extremely well. It was just starting to become dusk, and the lights of the city below were just starting to turn on. It was one of the best cityscapes I've ever seen.

We try to avoid the post-dusk rush with a drink to toast our adventures (and for the ladies, a bit more shopping). We head back to the hotel, stopping briefly at the Night Market, where, nightly, several streets are blocked off for stalls and stalls of cheap, bootleg, merchandise. Unfortunately, there's a reason things are so cheap, because the wares are, well, cheap. The Night Markets aren't just for shopping, as there are quite a few restaurants catering to the night owls, but before it gets insanely late, we wind our way back to the hotel. For most of the group, this is the last night, as we all have wildly different departure times. Farewell to some, and see you later for others!

Day 12-- Yangshuo

One more night train today, but before that, we get to spend the rest of the day in Yangshuo. I choose a few of the less intensive excursions, taking painting and calligraphy courses. Very zen. The painting was a little rough, and I'm disappointed that although I made my living in art for a while, I had some problems with the Chinese watercolor techniques. The calligraphy teacher was great, tho. So friendly and chatty.

Lunch was on our own, and we get our guide to teach us some local card games, like "Screw the Landlord," although I don't think that's the exact translation. We have our "final" farewell dinner, and it's onto the night train. Maybe because it's going to Hong Kong, but we had the best train so far-- as if only the newer, more modern ones get to go to Hong Kong. All of life is a popularity contest, isn't it? And we always meet great people on the trains. Our new friend was a traveller from Australia who was making is way through Asia for about four/five months now.

Still, it's hard to get to sleep, and the little kids playing rock/paper/scissors at the crack of dawn don't help matters much.

Day 11-- Yangshuo

We get three days in this city, which is a great destination for adventure-seekers. Wikipedia calls it a "backpacker paradise," and I guess that's right. I've likened it to a sleepy ski town in Colorado that suddenly became popular once everyone else "discovered" it-- with all the good and all the bad that that metaphor implies. In any event, this is our 'adventure' day in China.

It started with a hot air balloon ride, which I declined. I'm definitely not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of getting up at 5:00 in the morning. So I enjoy my sleeping while everyone else enjoys their soaring.

What I DID do was rock climbing-- and it was serious stuff! The limestone carst formations (i.e.-- the stubby mountains, and a first for me) pretty much THE reason that Yangshuo became such the tourist trap it is. And it was serious stuff! Perhaps more difficult than the climb was surviving the weather-- the humidity was pretty much unbearable.

No time for lunch, the second excursion is waiting! (Well, maybe time for some quick snacks at the market) We visit the "Water Cave," with some amazing rock formations inside and, more famously, a giant pit of mud. Yes, we got to wade around and play in it. I think I was more excited about this than the other group members.

Some random rest time/dinner, then it's off to the Light Show. I wasn't keen on seeing it, but if the girls put up with the mud pit, I could put up with the light show. Designed by Zhang Jigang, the same choreographer that directed the 2008 opening ceremonies, it featured lights on the river with dozens of boatmen helping long scrolls of red cloth simulate waves, a giant illuminated half-moon with a dancer see-sawing on it, and dozens of dozens of ancient warriors with costumes lined with lights. Not too bad, but I couldn't help but think how they could improve the sound mixing and SOP.

That night, everyone stays up late to experience the night life in Yangshuo, complete with local beer and dice games. (No one liked the local beer, so guess what the penalty in the dice game was?)

Day 10-- Yangshuo

Good morning, what a view! How did we miss being surrounding by tall, lumpy-narrow mountains with greenery spilling down their sides? They're everywhere! Oh, yeah, it was completely dark when we arrived.

Breakfast (and billiards) then... biking! We biked for the majority of the day, weaving in and around the outskirts of Yangshuo, a town that no one's really heard of but has quietly became a backpaker haven. Within seconds of getting out of the tourist-friendly town, you're in rice paddies and farms.

We stop to raft. I knew it wasn't going to be white-water, but I was looking forward to it since the tour I was on was called "hike bike and raft," but there's a little false advertising there. The bamboo raft just went up the river a few hundred meters and then back. The most exciting thing was a 2-foot drop. Whee. the most funniest thing was that after this 'drop', there was a set-up for 'official' pictures in the MIDDLE of the river, like those souvenir photos off a Disneyland ride. The computer, printer, laminator, everything under the cover of big blue tarps and powered by an extension cord that dangled near the bamboo raft floor.

Cycling to the Moon Cave, we hike a bit (after literally running to avoid more 'shadowy' vendors) and are met with an inspiring view. Yes, the scenery but also the rock climbers! This is what is making Yangshuo famous-- it's plethora of limestone mountain-things make it ideal for climbing! I make up a story of to explain the Moon Cave's origins, since it seems to be the only place in China that doesn't have a secondary meaning or story behind it, and we have lunch before we bike back to the hotel.

Everyone splits up, and I peruse the bazaar-markets. Kids in yellow shirts periodically swarm about the tourists, saying hello for homework. We all meet up for dinner, deciding on pizza (a testament to how much 'tourists' are taking over the town.) Those same yellow-clad students invite us to a party at the local English school! Apparently, it's a regular Wednesday-night thing, so that the students can practice learning English. A 14 year-old comes over to say hi. His name's Zhang (I forget his English name, how funny is that?) and his English is surprisingly good! He talks about everything from the local town to popular movies to Japan-China relations to gay rights. Some of the others in the group weren't so 'lucky'-- they got a steady stream of kids asking repeated questions like "what is your favorite color?"

Everyone heads to bed 'early' (of course!) so I hang around the town, although I admit it's more people-watching than participating. It's quite a party town, I guess, and there seemed to be new market stalls and better deals than the daytime.