USA South West Trip - Tue 30 June

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

I was a little hungover when I went here. Billunta and Yujin needed to get some stuff done, so I went here by myself. I must say that this place rocks, and I imagine much better than Disneyland, unless you're a kid of course.



I went on the studio tour, which involved being driven around in a long cart, with the tour guide making jokes and showing movie clips on the screens in front of us, relating what we saw outside such as some set, to what was used in the movies flashing before us. We saw some cool special effects such as the flooding of a small town, an earthquake in an underground train station, a trail of destruction left by a boeing 747 from War of the Worlds, and so on. I was excited to see the Back to the Future car, the Psycho motel, and other things. If you're a movie buff it's definitely worth checking out.







The rest of the day there was spent going on the rides which were pretty cool - the Mummy rollercoaster which goes forwards and backwards in pitch darkness; the Terminator 2 3D ride which combines live action with visual special effects - lots of fun; the Waterworld stunt show combining stunts with water and fire effects... I could tell the effects technologies used in the studio tour were taken from all the other rides around the studio, which kinda dampened (slightly) the excitment and novelty of it all. But it would be silly to expect more than that.


DOWNTOWN DISNEY

That night, we went to downtown Disney, which is a shopping/entertainment/food area just outside of Disneyland. We decided not to go in Disneyland because it was more for kids and i'm not really a big fan of people dressed up in animal suits taking photos with you. Anyway, it was fun going through the Disney and Lego stores. Because Billunta had trouble walking, we found a nice fancy hotel generous enough to let us borrow a wheelchair for a few hours.





There was heaps of restaurants around, and we were looking forward to trying some traditional gumbo from the Lousiana restaurant - Billunta's childhood food - after walking around, but it closed for the night by the time we got there. We were a little disappointed, as Billunta told me it's not easy to find food like that unless you are in Lousiana itself. We consoled ourselves with the biggest burrito I've ever seen,.

USA South West Trip - Mon 29 June

CHINATOWN

I decided that I should probably check out Chinatown, as i think it's used in alot of movies. Anyway, arriving there, it was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, and more kitsch and not authentic at all. The yum cha there was good though.

We also tried to seek out Tokyotown, which turned out to be a few japanese shops in a small block that was hard to get to. Not sure why they bothered calling it that.



HOLLYWOOD HILLS

We went to seek out the famous Hollywood sign. Billunta said we could see it from many places, but wasn't sure how to get up close to it. So we drove up and down windy hilly roads trying to get as close to it as possible, but always losing sight of it just when we thought we were on the right track. It seemed hopeless, until we saw a tourist bus drive past us. We thought, maybe if we just follow the tourist bus, it might lead us to the closest point we can look at it. Sure enough, we were rewarded - we noticed the bus stopping at some point, tourists getting out and taking photos, getting back on and turning around. So we did the same. :)



KOREATOWN

That evening we went out to Koreatown, which is huge compared to the touristy chinatown and non-existant Tokyotown. I suppose LA has a massive korean population, driving down the big streets and boulevards, you can see pretty much all the signs are in Korean. If it weren't for the big clean roads you would think you were actually in Korea! Anyway, we ate dinner at an awesome korean bbq place, but it's a little different from when we were in Korea. For example, asking for a small side dish of mushrooms resulted in a huge platter of mushrooms and less money in the wallet. Also, a bottle of soju, which costs around $2 in Korea, was $12. A small fact we forgot while drinking about 5 bottles of the stuff. That was an expensive meal..

USA South West Trip - Sun 28 June

SCHOONER OR LATER @ LONG BEACH

Schooner or Later's is a relaxed, lovely brunch area in Long Beach, a nice area in the southern part of LA. The rich and famous sometimes dine here, as well as own the hundreds of boats and yachts floating in the piers in front of the restaurant.



We met up with Billunta's sister, Dana, and another of Billunta's friends, Connor. Because the restaurant is so popular, there was a waiting area overlooking the boats where one can order drinks and chill out before being seated, which is quite nice. 45 minutes later, we were seated and slightly inebriated on Mimosas - a delicious champagne/orange juice concoction.

As aways, I like to order whatever is considered popular or famous or stereotypically American. The result was a beer served in a Schooner - which isn't the little tiny things we get in Australia, but a massive (around 1.5L) goblet. With that i had something called "The Mess" - a famous omelette with "a tasty blend of chopped ham, onion, and bell pepper grilled with hash browns and eggs. Topped with melted Cheddar cheese. Served with sourdough toast". Yummy! Did I mention I gained a lot of weight here?



VENICE BEACH

That evening we went down to the infamous Venice Beach, where the spectacle of human life can be enjoyed in all it's myriad forms - tourist walking down the street taking photographs; buskers getting people to pay before doing their performances; people from the ghettos taking all kinds of drugs; crazy people and exhibitionists, such as the famed bodybuilder walking around in speedos posing in front of people and carrying a crystal ball. Shops advertising doctors selling Medical Marijuana abound, as it's legal in California to possess it if it's for medical purposes. Muscle Beach is full of bodybuilders and fitness fanatics who spend all day working out on the outdoor work out circuits. At around sunset everyday, large groups of people from everywhere would go to the beach and play drums and dance in a massive free-for-all drum circle, playing until the police come to break it up after sunset. Definitely a place to check out.







PROHIBITION STILL HAS IT'S EFFECT

It's interesting to note how strict America is over alcohol consumption, probably stemming back from the days where alcohol prohibition was in effect by the puritans. These days, at the age of 18, it's ok to have sex, get married, vote, drive, and take medical marijuana, but not drink until you are 21. At any establishment that serves alcohol, you must present proof of age before they will serve you. I had to bring my passport everywhere I went.

This law was a problem to us, as Yujin was 20, turning 21 in the following month. Even though she could drink and go to bars in pretty much every other country in the world, in the US she couldn't, which meant we were also restricted in where we could go at times.

USA South West Trip - Sat 27 June

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF LAX

I arrived hot, tired, dishevelled and rather disorientated at LAX airport. For some reason, the airline neglected to provide any indication of what time it was - no announcements, no clocks in immigration/customs. I only managed to work out the time after asking the information desk. "Must be because the US think they are the center of the world that they don't need to tell us the time, we should just know it, like English" i thought cynically to myself, not paying attention to how half the people in the airport were speaking languages other than English. Of course, LA, like most US countries, are cultural melting pots of various civilisations, creeds and nations, so clearly my cynicism is misguided.

I did notice how authoritive and downright mean the immigration officers sounded; in fact any LAPD officer i encounted in my trip here. I don't know if that is their intention - they could be very nice for all i know - but their aggressive loud commanding voice and manners make sure you don't even try to joke around with them. Imagine dealing with a police force where they all seem to have had a really bad day and you'll get how I felt.

At least the weather was warm and welcoming, a nice reprieve from the cold winter i escaped from. I took off my layers of clothing worn to insulate me from the ice cold blast of the airplanes air conditioning (what's with that anyway, they have Harry Potter's "dementers" running the thing?), and sat down on the floor (lack of seating) hugging my baggage, looking warily around at the shifty seemingly shifty looking characters around me. For some reason, maybe due to too much television, maybe due to the fact that any of them cold be carrying legal guns, i felt a little unsafe.

Of course I had no right to feel that way, seemed like strangers were quite comfortable chatting to the people next to them. One old asian man even offered me his seat while his wife asked me if i was waiting for someone. The cheerful friendliness of the locals was an experience that would replicate itself over and over again throughout the rest of my trip. Americans are really friendly people.

Anyway, I was waiting for my American friend, Billunta, who coincidentally was arriving an hour later from a trip to Peru. Being good friends since we met teaching English in Korea a few years ago, it was decided that we, along with his Korean girlfriend Yujin, another American, Colin, and his british girlfriend Alexis (all friends met in Korea), would try to do a roadtrip around the southwest of America. Being here was the result of nearly a years worth of planning, of making sure we could all make it to the same city at the same time.

I have to say that LAX is not one of the best airports in the world - it's rather confusing and badly designed. It took me half an hour beforehand to find out exactly which gate Billunta would be arriving from, and from that gate it seemed like 3 different places they could come from, 1 from the first floor, 1 around the corner, and 1 from the main door. I was worried I would miss him.

After a tense 20 minute wait, Billunta arrived, appearing in good health after a long trek up Macchu Picchu. Only his knee seemed to struggle, which he dismissed as a little pain that hopefully will go away, since we planned to do alot of hiking on our trip.

Later on, we would find out that his knee was sprained that that he would not be able to do much hiking, let alone walking, for the next 6 weeks! Bit of bad luck and bad timing.


THATS NOT A LARGE, THIS IS A LARGE!

We caught a taxi to Billunta's apartment in Santa Monica, where we unloaded our baggage, set up my floor space to sleep in, woke up Yujin, then went to get some food.

First impressions of LA is that the roads are big, traffic moves fast, and traffic jams like to appear for no reason at random. Forget rush hour; Billunta tells me that even at 3 in the morning, you'll might see traffic backed up on the highway in one direction, for no reason at all. Where are these people going?!!

Anyway, we stop for lunch at some famous pizza joint nearby. As food is always a major attraction for me in foreign places, I order a large Peperoni pizza, because it's a typical american stereotypical food. I'm glad i shared it with Billunta, because a large in the US means something different to everywhere else in the world i've been. I mean it was huge!! I can't even imagine what XXlarge size would look like.



Turns out that American food is usually of large portion sizes, and all soft drinks, water, tea and coffee is refillable and plenty. This explains why in two weeks i still gained 3kg, despite the hiking and exercise i got.

As for the taste, well, pizza is pizza. It was so big though that the best way to eat a slice is to fold it first.


HOLLYWOOD IS A SEEDY PLACE AT NIGHT

We had a few days in LA before Colin and Alexis arrived, so we went to check out Hollywood at night. The main Hollywood strip is just that - a strip spanning a few blocks, with the pavement lined with stars and actors names. As this was just after the death of Michael Jackson, it was an interesting time to be there. A huge line of people were there, aiming to walk past Michael Jackson's star, to throw flowers and pay tribute to him. Security guards were there, continually shouting at people to "keep moving", "take your photos and leave", which was practical but rather insensitive also. Unsurprisingly,in the area were lots of MJ imitators, some good, some bad; and people selling MJ tshirts in all poses and styles.



We also saw some familiar sights but didn't go in any, such as Madame Tussads, Ripley's Believe it or not, and things we didn't expect, such as an open shopping mall with massive elephants on giant pillars and an arch with hieoglyphs on it. Cool. We had a late dinner in a strange burger place which had computer screens on the table, allowing you to order food and play games with other tables.






Hollywood at night is a scary place. Lots of crazy people come out at night on the streets; the smell of marijuna everywhere. Overheard near a club was a man telling the security guard how he just got out of jail for murder. We just kept walking and avoided eye contact with everyone else.

Not the Hollywood experience i was expecting, that's for sure.

Japan part 2

Maido!

OK, so after a helluva weekend partying it up in Tokyo, in need of
rest and reprieve, I head for Kyoto, Japans cultural capital.



Kyoto: This city is what you think when you think "Japan"; temples and
pagodas and ancient wooden buildings,
as well as geishas and maikos (apprentice geishas) hobbling down the
streets somehow looking demure and
elegant despite the humidity and heat. Their makeup must make a good
sunblock. There are great shopping areas
and restaurants along picturesque canals, stone bridges and rivers,
where couples would walk or sit with at night.





One thing that is annoying about Japan is "Table Charges" which could
be $3 to $6 upwards. This means they will provide you with some sort
of small side dish, and water, which isn't really much. So it sucks
when you're looking for a meal thats around that price range alone.

They say its not that easy to see geishas walking around as they tend
to come out in the evening around small alleyways walking to their
homes or in fancy restaurants behind the scenes in private functions
for the excessively rich. However I was lucky enough to get lost
wandering the city at night to see one walk past me. Was tempted to
ask for a photo but thought that would be disrespectful. On the other
hand, continuing the walk home I had two mischevious looking maiko's
giggling past me, and then one of them blew me a kiss! Too stunned and
embarrassed to respond, I walked quickly away. Not sure if that was
unusual or they are trained to play with men's minds. Oh well.



A few days in Kyoto, then I head off to Hiroshima.


Hiroshima: I think that if I was to compile a list of cities that
people must visit in the world, Hiroshima would be one of them. It's
amazing to visit a city that was destroyed only over 60 years ago by
the first Atom bomb used in war (out of two) and changed the world
forever. It was so sad when you think it was unneccesary (Japan was
pretty much defeated anyway, especially with the Soviets planning a
secret pact with the Allies against them to take place a few months
later anyway. But the US wanted to win the war without the Soviets to
have some advantage over them. They choose Hiroshima out of several
other cities (including Kyoto and Tokyo), because of its military
function and because there were no Americian POW held there compared
with the other choices. And also because it would be easier to measure
the power of their new weapon there. In the end, mostly civilians died
as well as many Koreans and Chinese who were forced labour. Seeing
photos of the aftermath, stories and exhibits of people burning, skin
melting, people jumping in the river and drowning, is truely
horrifying and moving to see. A perfect example of the horrors of war
and how evil we can be.

Peace Park has the iconic A-Dome building, which is the only building
left in the ruined condition it was after the bombing (others were
destroyed and cleared). It is a clear testament to what occured in the
city, which is now a fairly modern city, set out in grid format (since
they could plan the whole city from scratch), with the usual shops,
malls and drinking places. It's hard to imagine anything so horrific
happened there as life goes on as normal here. So it's good they kept
this to remind people.




The children's memorial is also quite moving. Many of you know the
story of the girl who was diagnosed with leukemia 10 years after the
bombing, and believing that folding 1000 paper cranes will grant her
the wish to get better, set off on that task. She completed it but
still died soon after. Today, children all over Japan who visit come
to pay respects to her and others who suffered like her, bringing with
them thousands of colorful paper cranes, some chained, some arranged
as a mosaic poster about peace.




I was a little surprised how little attention was paid to the
epicentre, the exact place where the A-bomb detonated 600m above.
Looking up, it was a perfectly clear sunny day, the exact same
conditions that the bombing took place. Today, what was once a place
for the hospital is now an ordinary car park building; the only sign
is a small plaque mentioning it as the epicenter. Perhaps the people
don't want to really remember it?



Anyway, I head back to Kyoto for one more day before heading to Osaka
for my last night before flying home. It has been an awesome
allrounded trip, from the vibrant life, fashion and energy in Osaka
and Tokyo, to the historic ancient temples, shrines and traditions of
Kyoto and Nara, and the horrors of how it could all be destroyed in
Hiroshima.

Japan part 1

Konnichiwa,

Here lies the tale of my first week in my two week trip in Japan..

Osaka:
I arrive in Osaka after a long flight on Jetstar (budget flight) late
at night. The culture shock wasnt that great because alot of Japan
reminds me of Korea but with few differences. Anyway as usual, my
first few hours in a new country always goes awry and I find myself
lost running around dark alleyways filled with bikes (Japanese seem to
use them alot here) until eventually a convenience store worker left
his post and walked me to the hostel I was looking for. Not before he
got lost himself though.

Anyway, Osaka is a nice place to go shopping (they have the longest
street mall in the world, at 2.5km long). Theres a nice castle and
several department stores, and a famous riverside area of shops and
restaurants called dotonbori, which is extravagently lit up with neon
lights, massive advertising and models of all manner of sea creatures,
some mechanical, stuck above restaurants serving the live real version
of it below. And some famous mechanical clown banging a drum. (but
they dont serve him).

What I liked the most about Osaka is the food, particulary the street
food (budget traveller that I am). Osaka is famous for takoyaki
(octopus pieces in a batter ball, covered with sauce and fishy flakes
from some animal), and okonomiyaki (which i:ve only just been able to
pronounce, its a type of flour pancake mixed with vegetables and
seafood, egg and or pork, cooked on a hotplate in front of you, and
good with beer).

Nara:
I caught a train to Nara, former traditional capital of Japan, only an
hour away. Nara is mostly a parkland filled with temples, trees and
lots and lots of tame deer that would come up to you if you had food
and sleep around all day. The grandest thing here is the Todaiji
temple, which is apparently the largest wooden building in the world
(and its reconstructed form is currently 2/3rds of its original size
after the original burnt down in a fire). In any case it is still
massive, and a massive bronze buddha inside to match.

Tokyo:
I took the express (shinkansen) train to Tokyo. It took 3 hours and
would have cost a fortune if I didn:t have my 7 day Japan Rail pass
(which also cost a fortune, but allows unlimited travel on Japan Rail
lines for 1 week). Anyway, I go to the Asakusa area, which is the old
area north east of Tokyo, to find the hostel and to check out the
largest temple in the city there and walk around the stores still
selling traditional wares as they did for centuries.

I met some people at the hostel and we went for sushi (and saw a large
cockcroach on the wall after finishing, yummy!), then visited Tokyo
tower at night which is exactly like the Eiffel tower. We then walked
down the Roppongi area, south west of Tokyo, which is a expat and
westerner hotspot for drinking and clubbing and being foreign.

Wanting something less westernised, we head to Ginza, in central
Tokyo, and find a bar selling cheap drinks and filled with Japanese
people. The Japanese people were quite happy to drink with us - at
one point we started a spontaneous arm wrestling match (we won in the
end). We ended up back in Asakusa where we joined another group of
Japanese for Karoake until 7am.

A few hours later (12pm), I wake up and, not wanting to waste my time
here, head for Akihabara, other wise known as Electric town, just
north of central Tokyo. Its a good place to play with new gadgets and
computers, and also check out the girls dressed as french maids
handing out brochures to their `maid cafes` where you get served
coffee and food from them, play games or conversation for a price, and
nothing more than that.

After taking some photos of them in a way that could be considered
stalker-ish, I head of to the youth culture area of Shibuya!

Shibuya (west of central Tokyo) is where young people come to see and
be seen. The latest trends and fashions begin and end here; the
streets are like a series of catwalks where girls parade their stuff.
It also happens to be the setting for a game on my Nintendo DS, so I
had to excitedly compare the real with the virtual. Yes im such a
nerd. Anyway, after taking more photos of shibuya and the fashion
trends that happened to be worn by very attractive girls, (cause
clearly i:m so into fashion, right?), I delve deeper into their
subconcious and find myself in Harajuku, north of Shibuya, a famous
area where youths disillusioned with life and filled with teenage
angst flock to dressed up in what can be described as mangaesque
gothic lolita style costumes, a way to escape reality and live a
fantasy life, and be photographed and admired, before heading back
home to the humdrums of normal teenage life.

Content with my camera full of photos of girls - i mean examples of
japanese youth and pop culture - i head back to the hostel, where i am
dragged out again for another night of mayhem - back to shibuya - into
one of the famous clubs in Tokyo. Unfortunetly named `womb`, this club
was 4 floors of awesome drum and bass, electronic trance, and oddly
enough, latin style rock.

Again, I got back to the hostel at 7:30am, and slept until 12pm. We
all went back to Harajuku to see the harajuku youths dressed in
costumes again, and into yoyogi park nearby to check out the
rockabilly boys - men of all ages dressed in leather with greased
slick hair and rebellious attitudes, dancing to Elvis style rock and
roll. They were kinda fearsome and yet also hilarious to watch.

Further in the park, was a multitude of rock and ballad bands and
buskers all playing within a few feet of each other - amazingly no one
drowned out or clashed with the other bands - it worked seamlessly.

I then dashed off to meet with an Aussie friend I met in Korea, who is
now teaching English in Tokyo. He met me in Shinjuku, north of
harajuku, and is an area known for business, entertainment, and
sleaze. He took me to a Japanese style bar and got me drunk enough to
try raw horse meat sashimi - which actually tastes pretty good, and
skewered organs, which doesnt.


To be continued...

Hong Kong and Macau

So after Singapore with it's food and shops, I went up to Hong Kong...
with all it's food and shops... hmm..

Anyway, my first impression of Hong Kong was "Ah what a dump!" Which
is not really fair for Hong Kong seeing I decided to stay for 5 nights
at a place in the Kowloon side called ChungKing Mansions.


THE INFAMOUS CHUNG KING MANSIONS

ChungKing Mansions is a big seedy building wedged between nicer hotels
and affluent buildings. It is a kind of sore spot in the famous Golden
Mile Road (a long road full of neon signs and department stores and
expensive hotels). Although I hated staying there, I kinda liked it's
raw unique in-your-face character. In this place you'd find all sorts
of strange and unusual characters and vagrants, hear stories about
dead bodies, bloodstains on walls, ghosts and disappearances, and
other kinds of oddities. Indeed, my room featured torn wallpaper, and
strange switches that seemingly had no purpose (or a random
combination of which would turn on the hot water). We had a cable TV
which I fidgeted with until it worked (I'm sure we're not supposed to
use it), and for some reason, two outdoor floodlights connected to the
wall (but didn't work. But why are they there?!!) We also had the
tiniest shower/toilet in the hallway seperated from everyone by a
see-through glass door - which meant that anyone who showered there
would not only be pressed against the door, but can be seen by people
who walk past. I still have bad images burned in my brain of distorted
anatomy from what I saw walking past.

Anyway, a little depressed about my first impression of Hong Kong,
thank god I was able to meet up with Marie (who I was with in
Singapore), who also came to Hong Kong for a day on route back to
Korea. Even though she was sick, she still helped me find the hostel
(it was in a different building block from the reception - and the
reception didn't even have a sign!), showed me cool places to eat
(street dim sum yay!), and introduced me to the largest light and
sound show in the world, known as the "Symphony of Lights". This
involves laser beams dancing from buildings from the Hong Kong Island
side over the river to the sound of cheesy classical music every night
for 30 minutes. The view of the Hong Kong skyline in lights is one of
the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Afterwards, we walked along the Avenue of the stars, which is similar
to Hollywoods hand prints in ground by famous actors place, except
here it was just Asian celebrities such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li,
Stephen Chow, and others i'm not Asian enough to have heard of.


HONG KONG ORIENTATION
Hong Kong consists of 3 parts, the rich businessy hilly Hong Kong
Island which has a very british feel and design, the rough asian
Kowloon mainland side which I was staying in, and the peaceful Lantau
Island.

I prefered the Kowloon side of Hong Kong, as it was full of street
food vendors (I lived on dim sum for $1.50 a dish), night markets
selling pretty much everything, from gold fish to adult toys, and
department stores (which were my source of public toilets, seeing that
in Hong Kong, decent public toilets are so hard to find!)

I actually went and bought myself two tailored suits, as Hong Kong is
one of the cheapest and best places to have one made. I got them quite
cheaply too and was impressed with their quality. If anyone wants a
tailored suit I can surely recommend a place. :)

In Hong Kong Island, they have some affluent stylish drinking areas,
an old temple, and the longest outdoor escalator in the world (800m
long, heading uphill as most of Hong Kong Island is on a steep slope.
Thats about it. Well there was a tram going to the peak of Hong Kong
Island to witness amazing views, but I never went due to the poor
visibility of the cloudy misty weather.

Lantau Island is a cool place to relax, because of its giant bronze
buddha on mountain top thang, and if you are willing to walk into the
wilderness a bit, a peaceful quiet area called Wisdom path, which
features a series of tall sticks in the middle of nowhere in a figure
8 stating something called the heart sutra. There was also a monastery
where you could eat vegetarian food prepared by the monks. The
portions were huge but nothing spectacular (they're monks, not
cooks!).

I wasn't alone in my travels, as I was fortunete enough to meet a cool
Swiss girl named Leila, who was seemingly the only other normal person
in the whole hostel. Together we went to Macau, which is a 1hr ferry
ride away.


MACAU, WHERE EAST MEETS PORTUGAL
Macau is a place more well known for its over the top kitsch casinos
(over 20 i think on a small area), but I was more interested in its
Portugese history (as it was formally a Portugese colony - and
Portugal is one of my favorite countries). Macau failed to dissapoint
- you can tell the influence of the Portugese by its beautiful tiled
pavements, aculejo tiles, stylish colorful buildings and the food
(custard tarts). I also noticed the large divide of rich vs poor, with
old decayed buildings with clothes being hung outside on barbed wire
on one side of the road, and expensive boudoirs, fancy cars and
department stores on the other side of the road. Somehow it all works.
:)

Anyway, after 5 days in Hong Kong it was time to head home (via
singapore and laksa at an exclusive club my sister belongs to).

So thats about it for now. In July I'm headed for Japan, so until
then, keep in touch y'all!