China Pa

Instead of the regular spot, Shannon (an Irish pub), Linus and I went to a different place last night called China Pa. One of her friends worked there as a hostess. It was a pretty cool spot. The atmosphere was quite unique. It was setup with a lot of classic chinese furniture, and decor. A classy but also pretty laid back place. They have a different live band every night of the week with different themes. If you are visiting Taiwan and want a place to relax, have a decent dinner and a couple drinks, it's not a bad choice.

Anothny Zimmer

What a cool movie! It's a pity that more international films are not available in the U.S. This is a movie worth seeing if you like Sofie Marceau and movies with a twist. I thought the movie, like most European movies, took a long time to setup. About 90 minutes into the movie, I said to myself, I wonder when this movie is going to end. It's taken 90 minutes to setup, and we are not even close to the main theme of the movie. The last ten minutes of the movie really brought it all together. This one sentence really change the whole movie around, making you rethink the whole plot. It was pretty satisfying.

P.S. Did Sofie Marceau really get old fast? I have seen her in a few movies after the Bond movie she was in, and I don't remember her looking like a 40 year old. Maybe it's just the movie effects.

Japan Part 1

Japan with a Taiwanese tour group cannot be defined as fun, but more as good value the Taiwanese way. Everyday, we left the hotel at 8am, and returned at 5 or 6pm. We stopped at as many tourist attractions as possible. I think it also had something to do with the province we were in. Imagine spending 5 days touring a farming state like West Virginia. There really wasn’t a whole lot to see. We even went to see a tiny little museum of this Japanese politician who had no connection to Taiwan (or the world for that matter) whatsoever.

At any rate, it was good for me to see Japan again, the last time I visited was when I was 6, and I honestly don’t remember much of it. I was amazed at how much influence Japan had and still has on Taiwan. It’s not just how people dress or how similar the building styles are, but more importantly, Taiwanese people have retained a certain amount of cultural influence from the Japanese occupation days. For example, linguistically, Bread, (or “Pan” in French) is prounced as “Pung” in Taiwanese, a very similar pronunciation in Japanese.

Now the more fun part. The hotel rooms in Japan are very small compared to what I am used to in America. The last time I got rooms this small was in the midtown Hilton in New York. I suppose I shouldn't complain since I wasn't sleeping in a drawer in Tokyo.

Although I did get a bigger room later on. It wasn’t much bigger.

To be fair, I did get a much larger room the next night when I got a tatami room. It was kinda neat.

Imagine a 10’x15’ room that is just floor space, except instead of wood or carpet, it’s all tatami. (The bathroom was outside this tatami-floored room, between the door to the hotel room and the tatami room) When I arrived in the afternoon, there was simply a very short table in the middle of the room. The table is less than half the height of a normal table, since you sit cross-legged instead of on a chair. On the table, there was the typical hotel room accommodation: tea kettle, cups, tea, and a little bit of sweets.

After returning from dinner, the room was made up. The table was pushed to one corner, and the “bed” was moved to the center of the room. A very simple mattress pad (don’t be expectin’ pocketed coil springs), a pillow, and a comforter was setup.

I have seen many tatami rooms in my life, growing up in Taipei, but I have never stayed in a hotel room that is all tatami (minus the bathroom).

The best part of staying at these hotels was that they were all had their own hot spring and every night, we would go sit in these steaming pools and relax. I must say, the best pools were those outside. A light breeze and steaming hot spring really did it for me. I was told that although traditionally hot spring pools were co-ed, modern Japan has been influenced by western culture enough that most pools nowadays are no longer co-ed. And no, I didn’t get to go to one that is. One cool thing about these hotels is that they give you this really comfy bathrobe which is really made out of this think cloth, but they also give you a short “jacket” which is much thicker to go over the bathrobe. You can wear this “bathrobe” everywhere in the hotel, to dinner, to breakfast, to the hot spring bath.

On to this one dinner we had. The food was not the best (what do you expect when you are with a tour group), and the dinning room was just a big room with tatami. Everyone had a little miniature table filled with various kinds of Japan cuisine. We all set cross-legged. As you would expect, half an hour into it, blood stopped flowing to my lower legs, and an hour and 15 minutes later I almost couldn’t stand up.

The first night we got there, we were taken to a Geisha show. I would like to say that I really enjoyed it, but I just couldn’t understand the music and the dance. It’s like watching cricket, players look kinda nice in sweaters, but I have no appreciation of the game since I have no idea what is going on (and how on earth a match could go on for days). But Geisha show was an eye opener that was also enjoyable.

A nice, old styled “taxi” that was popular in Asia in the early part of the 20^th century was also on display.




We also went to a couple Japanese Buddhist temples. They were really nicely built.

Here is one noteworthy building. The roof is completely made out of straw. They stack on the straw layer after layer. However, the straw alone isn’t enough to keep the rain out. So, they would use the house part time in the winter, heating it up with firewood inside. Supposedly, the smoke would then fill the holes in between straw. A big roof can take up to 20 years to “fill” before it is ready to use. These roofs also have to be replaced every fee decades. There is a U.N. designated world history site somewhere in Japan consisting of a whole village because all or most of the houses there use this style roof.

I was told that these houses, while really cool in concept and look, are actually pretty cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I am not sure if it’s because the heat wasn’t on or the fire wasn’t burning when we went to visit, it was just as cold inside.

Anyway, there is another typical Japanese building here. For some reason, one temple is usually a collection of buildings. I guess this is not strange, I am just too used to the Chinese and European style religious sites: one cathedral, one temple.

There was also a flower show at one of the temples. The mums on display were truly different, if not outstanding.

I think this one actually won some competition.

You probably can’t tell from the picture, but the leaves are actually not pointy. They are just like regular mums in the U.S., except they are thinner, and curled up from the sides, that is why they look kinda thin.

Japan is next

Looks like I will be going to Japan for 5 days starting this Sunday. I am going with my godfather to visit some hotsprings. Certainly, "seriously good" Japanese food was promised. I will bring a digital camera this time. Finally found it. If you don't see me or hear from me next after that, chances are that I have decided to go directly over to Bali or Palau.

Madrid

Madrid was generally disappointing, although I expected. The museums are the main draw here.

The Thesson (whatever the hell it's called) museum is really spectacular. Make sure you follow the room "numbers". It's like taking a lesson in art history, from past to present. Although the art work is not always top notch, but they are always representative of the period. Highly recommended. Lunch at the museum was excellent. Just get the menu. I think it was like $12.

I would avoide the main museum (again, I forgot what it's call, just get a tour book). It's really dry. Well, I guess if you are interested in anything pre1850, it wouldn't be so bad.

Definitely go to the modern art museum (damn, I can't remember what it's called). It really is good.

Flamengo dancing at this place close to the Palace was really good. The food was decent too. The appetizer were tasty, thought I don't remember what I had. The steak, well, don't expect what you get in the US. Trust me, in Europe, you want your steak cooked medium. I think the cattles are not "mid-western corn fed", so they are a bit chewy. The portions are big, like most touristy restaurants. The desert was really good, mango sorbet with warm chocolate cake. Dinner also came with a bottle of wine, and of course, coffee. Prixe Fix was $100 with the whole shebang (food and show). I guess, don't do this often.

Oh, the Flamendo place definitely requires reservation.

I think you could do Madrid in three days, at the most if you can arrive by the afternoon and leave in the afternoon or evening.

Barcelona

(don't have pictures for this b/c I forgot to bring my camera, duh)
Barcelona is highly recommended. Even though it rain half the days I was there. I would not want to visit Spain in the middle of summer. October was just right, a bit cool, but doable without a jacket.

Certainly, the Spanish routine sounds romantic, but for a visitor, it is pure torture in the beginning. You eat breakfast at the regular time, so it is about 9 or 10 am for me. BUT, lunch doesn't start, at the earliest until 2PM; and dinner, at 8PM. At 8PM, it's senior citizens' special. First of all, I don't like going to bed with a full stomach. Second, good god, I need food! They don't even serve lunch at noon! A couple times, I have had to resort to the roadside sharwma stand because I was so hungry.

Here is what I would do.
1. Visit the La Brambla (or something like it).
There is a great market in the middle of it. You can pick up some pretty cool, fresh sea food there. I wish I had my camera with me in Barcelona. Man, I saw some pretty weird stuff. The whole heads of goat, a giant pot of anchovies, all kinds of Jarmon (or something like it, it's essentially ham, the equivalent of prosciutto), and fresh fruits!

2. Visit all the Gaudi buildings you can find, starting with the famous church, Sagrada Familia. In true medieval fashion, they still haven't finished this thing after 100 years. Then go have some coffee next to the church. Oh, also make sure you do the elevator deal. It's really cool to clime up there. You really get a better feel of how the church was built.

I also went to Casa Batllo.

The style is really quite different (I guess it's not a church). I unfortunately missed the apartment tour. You probably want to go earlier in the day. The building really is unlike anything I have seen.












Casa Mila was also kinda cool. I went to the roof and skipped all the presentations. I was so Gaudi'ed out. But the roof is truly unique.


3. I would do the Picasso gallery, and the Miro foundation. They have a lot of work by the artists since they are organizations started by Picasso and Miro. If you don't find the quality to be top notch, at least, you will get a good feel of the evolution of the artists since there are so many pieces there. Lunch at the restaurant in the textile museum right across from the Picasso museum was pretty decent. I easily spent two hours at the Picasso gallery, then lunch there.

I would actually take a day to go to the Olympic park, walk through stadium, then go to the Miro Foundation (since it is in the same area). The Olympic stadium is really small. I guess I am pretty Americanized. The stadium is like a quarter of the size of the fussball field in Philly. Anyway, after the Miro foundation, you can walk down a bit, and catch the gondola down to Barceloneta. Walk along the beach, and maybe get some seafood. There is a little cafe right at the corner of the beach. I set there for an hour, watching the ocean.

The Miro Foundation was really inspirational to me. After I went through it, I felt maybe I didn't need to go to B school to figure out what I want to do. Maybe I should just pick up an brush and start painting. The freedom to express what and how you feel. Miro was so special. He invented his own language in art, in how to communicate through art. The style, the artistic expression was just so different.

The only thing that kinda sucked was the that Miro Foundation restaurant was really packed. I left the place starving because I didn't want to wait.

Food is generally cheap, or cheaper in Spain. For $10-12 bucks, you can easily have a "menu" that has appetizer, entree, and desert.

Man, adjusting back to the normal feeding schedule was a pain in the ass too. After I went back to Switzerland, it took me four or five days to shift my tummy back to its regular routine. It's like a stomach jetlag.

Never, ever fly Lufthansa

A couple years ago, I was pretty happy with Lufthansa, flying business class. I guess you don't get the same treatment in the meat packing district.

Well, after Mark dropped me off at the Philly airport, I flew out to Switzerland.

First off, Lufthansa complained that my carry-on was too heavy, and I had to check it. Of course along with that, was a charge of $115 for the extra bag. Never, never ever fly Lufthansa. You will see why soon.

The plane was late in arriving into Philly, so the flight out of Philly was late. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I didn't have a connecting flight and my friend was picking me up in Zurich. At the gate, I asked if they could re-route me, or at least tell me which flight I was going to be put on in Frankfurt so I can call my friend to tell him when I was going to arrive. Instead of helping out, the asshole told me that they don't rebook people in Philly, and if I needed to know what flight I will be on, I can look it up in their world-wide flight schedule. He then tossed me a 2 inch book.

When I finally arrived in Zurich, after a 4 hour wait in Frankfurt, them fxxkers LOST, L O S T two of my four bags!!!!!!

How do you lose two out of four bags when they are checked-in together? How do you loose two bags, when there was four hours between flights?

Lufthansa, nah, Lo000osethansa.