Back in Japan

I am in Japan for a visit. It is 4 years, almost to the day, since I left after living here for 3 years. I covered a number of my very important to do’s:
– Sushi at Gonpachi
– Ramen
– Onsen (spa baths)
Took a visit to Koyasan (Mount Koya), famous for its temples and shrines. We stayed in a temple with monks, called Fukuchi in, tatami floors, no furniture except for a low table with a heater underneath, and one of those massage chairs. Vegetarian meals or “shojin ryori” were served in the room and included about 20 different dishes (who knew fiddlehead fern could be prepared in so many ways), many the consistency of raw egg white, others cubes of aspic shaped like lego, but most of which delicious. Breakfast was pretty much the same as dinner.

Photos from Tibet

 

Tibet, “Rooftop of the World”, and perhaps one of the most difficult trips I’ve taken. I was overwhelmed, especially by the noises and the smells. In the end, no regrets as the scenery, monasteries, and people were beyond lovely.

All photos taken with a Nikon D80 that my wonderful parents gave me for my birthday.

Don’t go all crazy clicking around, if you start with the first photo, and go in order, it tells the story.

“If you are not in the photo,” my guide said, “how will anyone know you were actually there.”

Jokhang Temple, simply one of the loveliest places on earth. Everywhere the same color palette: bright orange and yellow, the garnet red of the monk’s robes, and rich blues, especially the sky. The first of the Four Nobel Truths in Buddhism is life is suffering. I can assure you I “suffered” on this trip in the form of awful food, shoddy accommodations, and bathrooms that can only be described as “character building.” The concept of clean was completely relative.

On a banquette covered with Tibetan rugs, camera perched on a prayer table, I reclined, set the timer to reduce camera shake and clicked. It would be hard to say I “suffered” for this shot.

Buddha referred to his teachings as the Middle Way. With this hand sign, I have never, so elegantly, been directed the way. On my trip, I didn’t encounter one American. I did, however, meet the following: -The British great grandson of Sir Charles Bell, Tibetan scholar and intimate friend of the 13th Dalai Lama. He’s overviewed in Lonely Planet. -The Australian “challenge designer” of the Survivor series. They just finished filming Survivor China. – A dozen or so Chinese tourists who asked to have their picture taken with me (aren’t they supposed to take photos with the locals?).

The face of poverty? She delicately asked for money, I negotiated for a photo. Her expression seems so pained to me.

Finger puppets seem silly until you see sweetness like this. This little girl got “snowman.” I managed to unload two dozen during the trip.

Apparently, there is a new racket of boys posing as monks trying to get money out of people. My guide warned me. This, however, is a real monk.

I asked my guide to help me find the “best” prayer wheels. They pretty much look the same everywhere, but these were the least blackened by yak butter grease.

Monks at Sera Monastery during “debating,” philosophical issues I suppose, but it gets animated, almost comedy like.

Along the Southern Friendship Highway somewhere between Shigatse and Gyantse. The “cost” of this photo was a dozen or so crayons, markers, and colored pencils, but I got the shot. I wanted to hug and take her home. I’m kidding! About the hug part that is.

At a nomadic camp along the Southern Friendship Highway, the children pose for a picture. Many Tibetans are now wearing western clothes (read Chinese clothes, it is not like anyone is walking around in $200 7 for All Mankind jeans).

At Sera Monastery, the Monks during “debating” become quite intense with yelling and a bunch on hand slapping to make one’s point. Krplack!

I love how colorful their outfits are. Notice the plastics water bottle, it is filled with yak butter used in the monastery lamps.

This sweet nun graciously shows us around the nunnery. She was excited and a bit embarrassed to see the image of herself in my Nikon D80’s display.

A woman in cowboy hat, hawking fake turquoise jewelry, swings her prayer wheel. The women were so beautiful with wide, dark faces and rosy cheeks (that sun is intense!).

 

Starbucks booted from Forbidden City

I flew over Beijing on my way to Tibet and had an afternoon to re-visit the Forbidden City. I planned to take a few more shots to the Starbucks inside, as it seemed so bizarre and out of place. As of mid-July, Starbucks has been booted out or “left” as some of the news articles say. Fortunately, I still have my commemorative Starbucks Forbidden City mug.

Trip to Tibet

Tomorrow I am leaving for Tibet for 2 weeks. In planning the trip I found these beautiful pictures of Tibet on Flickr and reached out to the photographer. He was kind enough to send me a long email worth of tips and suggestions. My gawd, I love the internet sometimes!

In the last email from my tour operator they imparted this advice, “Keep the happy mood and take it easy, the Acute Mountain illness would be happen more or less. It is very common! So you do not worry more about it!”

Thankfully my bohemian aunt suggested I get a prescription for Diamox for altitude sickness.

10 Places to See Before You Die

The new year is a time for lists. Forget the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, here is my list of 10 places you must go to.

1. Luang Prabang, Laos, a World Heritage site, is simply the loveliest place on earth. Trust me. Stay at the Villa Santi Hotel (not the resort), rent bikes for $1 outside the hotel, and get up early one morning to stroll amongst a sea of saffron robed monks.

2. Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Stay at the Grand Hotel d’Angkor. Get a guide and driver, you’ll need an air conditioned car to escape to from the heat and the hawkers. Buy something from one of the kids, but don’t haggle if you don’t plan to buy it. Furthermore, ask your conscience do you really want to haggle for 25 cents?

3. Hoi An, Vietnam, another World Heritage site. Make sure you eat some pho and beware of young girls approaching you with, “my auntie has a dress shop, wanna come see?

4. The Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Beijing, China. Nuff said.

5. The terra-cotta warriors, Xi-an, China. If possible don’t overnight in Xi’an.

6. Harajuku girls, Tokyo, Japan. Even long past Gwen Stephani making them famous, they are still sight to see. I never tire of them. They come out on Sunday’s at Harajuku station at about 11am.

7. Omotesando Dori, Tokyo, Japan. Start at Harajuku station and walk the length of Omotesando to the Nezu museum. Along the way on the right is Louis Vuitton where the Japanese stand in line to buy bags. Past Omotesando crossing/Aoyama Dori, stop at Prada, a must see for the Herzog and de Meuron architecture. Bape Exclusive is behind Prada to the right. Also take a look at the Nezu gardens, but not the museum itself. I lived across from the Nezu when I lived in Japan.

8. The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. Huge and illuminated in blue light, simply the most impressive space I have ever seen. My only non-Asian pick.

9. The Four Seasons Chiang Mai, Thailand, the best hotel experience I’ve ever had. Visit the hill tribes while your at it. I purchased a headdress from an Akha hill tribeswoman, something no one should be without.

10. OPTIONAL: The long necked Karen near Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The women of the Karen hill tribe wear brass rings to elongate their necks. Some say exploitive, others a tourist trap. I found them beautiful and gentle. Use you own moral compass.

Turkey Photo Gallery

This gallery contains 27 photos.

Bali Photo Gallery

Shinjuku at dusk

Photo Gallery from Laos

10 days in Vietnam…

…by the numbers:
motorcycle rides offered: 583
motorcycle rides taken: 0
cyclo rides offered: 58
cyclo rides taken: 1
fender-benders observed: 6
fender-benders observed leading to a fist fight: 1
taxis taken only simply to avoid the hazard of crossing the street: 15
hawkers selling books: 23
books bought: 0
maximum % discount haggled for on souvenirs: 40%
rolls of film taken: 3
children begging for food whilst munching on pickles: 1
begging children munching on pickles given money: 0
handicap/mine victims begging: 4
handicap/mine victims given money: 4
meals eaten in restaurants that can only be referred to “cockroach cafes”: 2
meals eaten in restaurants where the bill amounted to more than the average Vietnamese earns in a month: 3
bowls of pho eaten: 12
cheapest bowl of pho eaten: 12,000 dong (~$.75)
most expensive bowl of pho eaten: 18,000 dong (~$1.15)