Japan diary. Kyoto leaving time.

This post is probably mostly meant for our friend Ricky in Edinburgh, as I think he would like to join me for some oysters.

Time has passed since breakfast. Chores has been done, gifts and food stuff has been bought and then  again there was time for a visit at busy oyster bar.

Beer and oysters just fits like dunno what else. And then the surprise item; grilled mackerel on salt. Stunning.

This bar is at the food market in Kyoto centre. And it is very busy. I asked the waiter how many oysters they sold every day. The number is between 500 - 700 pieces. With a unit price of 480¥, that makes it a turnover of 320160¥ a day, and that is only the oysters. Then comes the beers and all the other food. If any one drinks one beer with an oyster, that makes it the same amount as the price is the same. Good business I recon.

Japan tour 2014. Last day.

Supermarket breakfast.

What do you do when you have checked out of your hotel and didn't have breakfast? Go to the nearest supermarket and buy your bento boxes. Pay and go sit at wee tables just outside the cashier desks and start eating it. This seems to be a normal procedure, at least no-one took notice or made us aware this was odd or unheard of.

Good, cheap and healthy. Only minus; all the plastic wrapping. The supermarket does provide disposal boxes for all the waste though.

Japan Diary #5. Night over Tokyo.

Tokyo is always busy, at least it seems like it. in the evening and night it gets even more, or again it seems like it. At the immensely busy crossing at Shibuya Station all the lights and the crowds makes you feel dizzy as you try to navigate over the crossing in between the other thousands that are set to do the same.

From Tokyo tower it feels like looking down at a futuristic landscape like from the film Blade Runner.

From the observation platform there was a 360 degrees view down onto e city! and it made Hong Kong look rather provincional.

Japan diary 2014. Tracks 2 Tokyo.

After some quiet days in the mountains and Karuizawa, we have entered the last two stages of this summer trip. This morning it was out of the wee country inn and onto the Shinkansen.

 Now it is Tokyo. A city that makes even Hong Kong look provincial. Next two something days will be spent here. First stop; Shibuya and the amazing Hachikō. 

Don't know the story then have a look here:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikō

And here to find out more about Shibuya:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya,_Tokyo

This picture from Shibuya Station gives an impression of the size of Tokyo. These train lines is only in the metropolitan area of the city.

Japan Tour 2014. On the tracks photo diary.

Some images from the last couple of days. Description has to wait a bit as I am out of inspiration for writing or just lazy.

Japan tour 2014. On the tracks dairy # 2 or 3

Sushi Shinkansen!

A shinkansen is a japanese bullit train. It is a very fast train and it hits its destination, that's why it is called like it is; a bullit train. A local or regional train is slow as it has to stop at all stations to serve people who travel local or regional. 

A sushi train is that conveyer belt that transports the sushi pieces out from the kitchen area to the customers in a sushi restaurantor diner. A Sushi train is also slow. It has to be coz how else should the customers be able to pick what they want from it.

In many ways the sushi train bear resemblance to the real worlds local or regional trains and the way these serve the local community and transports people around there to every single stop, only the sushi train transports the sushi pieces to hungry mouths. well at least where I come from it is like that, there is one sushi train that goes slow around all tables and the pieces can be picked up by anyone. Like the train system (MTR) we use in Hong Kong. 

Now we are in Japan. here things are a bit more complicated and efficient. Here a train is not just a train. Here there is local, regional, rapid, express and high speed bullit trains; shinkansen. Japan has a big population living together in a relative small space so things has to be fast and efficient, if you have to get fast from A to F without stopping at B, C, D and E, you take the bullit train from A that hit F directly.

So now we are at a sushi diner in Japan. There is a sushi train going round like normal, but what if you want to order something that is not there right away? You can order from the waiter, right? At least we do that in little Hong kong (ha ha). 

But this is high tech efficient Japan, things has to be fast likewise efficient and not least at low cost, so things are run with technology and machines instead of man power. Here every booth are equipped with an iPad for ordering and then there is the sushi shinkansen. That is an extra conveyer belt but running seperatly from the main belt or sushi train as you like. This belt however just goes straight to your booth with the ordered pieces. Like a bullit train. Highly efficient. 

Who’s Who on a Movie Crew | FilmmakerIQ.com

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Japan tour 2014. On the track diary#1

Saturday lunch noodles from Kyoto. 

Planning a Japan trip? Eating the Soba, Udon or Ramen noodles is a must. They are cheap, tasty and freshly cooked and you can get them nearly at all times of the day from small cozy independent shops. And always they have good cold beer.

Transportation has arrived. With the fabulous Japan Rail Pass in our pockets we started our tour from Kyoto today. First stop is going to be a town in the so called Japanese Alps; Takayama. In fact we have been before 3 years ago, but it left an everlasting impression, so we will return for a couple of days.

Japan tour 2014. Kyoto diary#1

Plane from Hong Kong to Osaka got delayed due to bad weather over Hong Kong. We were sitting in the plane on the tarmac for about an hour before we got cleared for take of.

Arrived in Kyoto after a two and a half hour train ride with two changes, in Tennōji and Osaka Station. Met up with friend Kimiko and had late supper in wee skewer kitchen.

Great article about the night that shocked Brazil.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/sports/world-cup-2014-five-german-kicks-felt-in-brazilian-guts-everywhere.html

Can only say that it was a very odd night.

Good bye post from Ulaan Baatar international airport.

This is only a good bye for this time as I am certain we will return some time in a not so distant future, as here is so much more to see and do.

Highlights? There was so many and it is hard to pinpoint one before another. But above all was to see our good friends again and to see how their life is in Mongolia.

Another highlight was to be in the countryside and to stay in a ger and ride on horseback over the wast steps in the fresh clean air, something that we Hong Kongers are not too used to try.

Fresh air and time to kill.

This post is again motivated by the Oflow app, that urges me to be creative. Today the app told me that I should set my self a goal to achive for the next hour, and also set a reward for goofing up on that specific goal.

So my goal for the next hour will be to beat the hell out of some of my opponents in the flick kick soccer game and then - if I really make an effort maybe - write some blog post about the day today and the arrival in the ger camp and certainly the highlight; me driving the huge Russian heavy goods vehicle, or truck if you want it characterized like that.

Now it is an hour later and my first of my goals accomplished, I bet the heck out of the opposing teams I met in the league, then in the international cup as in the infinity cup. Now my team (FC Traktor) lacks stamina and they have to rest. So do I. 

Before I can do so I need to finish the other goal of mine and write a post about the day today: up very early to pack an overnight bag, then eat some breakfast before we started the trip to the ger camp. Once again the breakfast at the Stearns was salubrious - yes it is a word, and it means something like that things brings good health!

At breakfast there was some differentiated thinking about leaving times and lunch at the camp or not, and as we got on our way shortly after 9:45ish, Mr Stearns realized that the traffic wasn't that bad at all and we were an hour early to be picked up.

To kill time we went for a wee drive through one of the many ger districts at the outskirts of Ulaan Baatar before we met the truck that should take us up over the mountain pass and down into the next valley and the ger camp, where we would stay over night.

The trip over the hill was quite a challenge for all the humans in the truck as for the dogs and material. Good thing was that the material was old fashioned mechanical russian handcraft in the form of an older russian army vehicle with huge wheels and the very much needed four wheel drive capability.

On that bumpy drive we did not only have to conquer the steap hill towards the pass. Down in the valley at the other side of the pass there was a huge muddy swamp and a floating river to cross before we finally arrived at the ger camp. But wauw, was it worth the struggle, as we got peace, silence and a stuning view at the landscape and the sky.

Time at a ger camp isn't quite the same as time in the city. In fact time didn't count at all. there was no other sound than our own voices and the river not so far away. There was nothing we had to manage before the sun set, only scheduled thing was the amazing meals provided in the dining ger.

 The weather was fine and warmish, so what else to do than relax, read a or try out the very traditional Mongolian sport of archery.

And then it came to the highlight; a drive in the old Russian cargo truck at the camp. I saw it as we arrived earlier as it was parked just outside the camp.

I tried my luck and asked the camp manager if I could try to drive it, he said yes and that I should wait for the driver to be finished some job he was doing. He came out later and we went for a spin in that amazing truck. The ride went out on the dirt roads and through mud holes and the river. It was fantastic and rather bumpy.

 Arriving back after the little ride, a very happy man behind the wheel.

Who is this?

Met these ladies at the Denghis Kaan monument, who is that?

Open sky and Mongolian wild onion soup.

Second full day in Mongolia brought us out in the country side and to the place where Genghis Kaan apparently found the golden arrow. It is about an hour and a half east of Ulaan Baatar.



 
At this for Mongolians very holy place, an incredible monument is build in stainless steel.
Not only is the statue amazing from the afar, you can also enter it and get up into the head of the horse to enjoy the view, and what a view, the scenery and the sky is as magnificent and just leaves you breathless, at least when you like we do, normally live in a cramped place like Hong Kong.

At this place there are plans to construct a new theme park, like a "Genghis Kaan Land" with a variety of typical mongol activities and features, like ger camps, artery, camel- and horse-riding. Along the road not far from this monument, some families had already got the idea and had sat up their gers along the road and was offering typical mongol normad specialities, so here we had the first taste of fermented horse milk and fresh made noodles with vegetables and chunks of mutton.




These are wild onions we bought from two boys at the side of the road on the country side.
As we got back in the house we made an onion soup of them, and that was delicious.

Unfortunately we didn't think of taking a picture with the two boys with their arms full of wild onions at the road side, nor can I possible share the aroma that spread in the car as these two bunches of onions came in the cabin -though our driver was smart enough to put them in the trunk. Here they are in the kitchen after we got home.

Some post links from Traktor-Weltweit.

Sorry, I wanted to post these posts here but was using one of those IOS device blog apps and wasn't aware to which of my blogs I was posting. 
Found out it was the wrong one and now I don't know how to re post them here, so now you just get the links.

http://traktor-weltweit.blogspot.com/2014/07/north-east-asia-tour-2014.html

http://traktor-weltweit.blogspot.com/2014/07/capitol-of-mongolia-ulaan-baatar.html