Journey to Japan 6

The last entry: Tokyo.

We were so tired by the time we got to Tokyo that we didn’t do anything the first night except eat some sushi (after a 30 minute search) and go to sleep.

The next day we took a tour bus around the city which went until 2. We saw many impressive temples and parks, once again, and our tour guide was very entertaining. Again, exhausted, we returned to our hotel, the New Otani (very fancy), and slept until 6:30 when we got a phone call from Dr. Ishimura, the last of our Japanese guides.

He took us to his favorite restaurant in Tokyo, and wow, it was the best meal we had eaten during the entire trip. Basically, it’s an unlimited course meal: You sit down at the bar and they give you a different fried vegetable or piece of meat every 5 minutes or so… First it was pork, and then zucchini, and then shitake mushroom, and then shrimp, and then squid, and then… you get the idea. Each piece was fried to perfection and melted in your mouth as soon as you bit down. The flavors! oh, the Flavors! Dad and I ate some pretty good food during those 10 days, but that last meal took the honor of most delicious.

And with that, we went home to catch some sleep before our flight the next day. All in all, it was a great week and a half, and a nice sampler of a country I will have to explore further in the future.

Sayonora Japan, and Arrigato.

Journey to Japan 5

We left the Ryokan knowing that we would probably not see her again– at least, not in this life time. So it goes…

On to the next city, Kyoto, my favorite of the 5 cities that we visited. Kyoto is a city I will see again in this lifetime, probably in a couple of years when I go to Japan to teach. It is the perfect city for me: urban life sprinkled with temples , nice parks, and tons of green trees everywhere. Very bike friendly as well, and now that I think about it, Kyoto is like the Austin, Texas of Japan– for me, anyway.

When planning the trip, I had come across a festival that is celebrated every May 15th in Kyoto: the Aoi festival, where tons of people gather to watch a traditional parade, complete with horses, old carriages, shrine ceremonies, and ancient styles of dress. I realized that we would be in Kyoto on that same day, so Dad and I made sure to check out the parade.

We also visited some ancient temples and parks, most notable of which were Kinkakuji, the Golden temple, and Ryoanji, a park that has been preserved for 1500 years! The care that the Japanese people have put into preserving their ancient buildings and parks is simply marvelous, and I was constantly wonder-struck by such a richly historical and cultural place, one that has been around for more than 4000 years! America is just a baby…

Journey to Japan 4

Ahh… Ryokan, the Onsen paradise… Onsen is Japanese for hot spring. That’s right. Natural hot water that pours out of the mountains. There’s only one thing to do: Get naked and jump right in. There’s were 5 onsens. Indoor man and indoor woman, outdoor man and outdoor woman, and outdoor CO-ED…

You’ll be pleased to know that we tried all of them. We got lucky that when we went to the outdoor Co-Ed we were the only ones there. Neither Dad nor I were in the mood to strut our stuff in front of a bunch of elder Japanese husbands and wives, much less actual babes. So we were glad to be the only ones that night…

Ryokan is a resort about an hour away from Kumamoto up near Mt. Aso, the active volcano. That’s why the water is so hot, it comes right out of the hot hot ground… our room was a nice little square room where we ate dinner (delicious, once again) and after dinner, our maid Yamashita-san laid down some mats on the floor for us to sleep on. Paradise, I say, paradise….

Journey to Japan 3

The next day we traveled to Kumamoto and met Mr. Yutaka Naito who was so awesome and unlike other Japanese people (or that’s what he told us many people had said about him.) He had studied in San Antonio, lived there for 4 years, so he and my father had much to talk about. And he was pleased to hear that Dad had a sweet tooth… He bought us both parfaits (very popular in Japan) and at the end of our stay in Kumamoto he showed up at the train station and gave us a bag full of chocolate.

Many of you may wonder where we met these people… but if you know my father, you know he likes to plan. So before he planned our trip to Japan, he met a Japanese woman living in San Antonio who had many contacts. She had planned group trips for doctors before, so she contacted all of her Japanese aquaintances and they were generous enough to show us around for a day or two.

The next day we met Dr. Kimura and his son, Yuichi, who took us to many beautiful sites including the park you see below (the grounds of the park are actually a miniature scaled model of the country of Japan!), a tomb of an ancient samurai where there was an anniversary celebration taking place, and finally to Mt. Aso, an active volcano!

We ate a traditional Japanese lunch, and then headed to Ryokan…. a spa paradise that I’ll talk about next time.

Journey to Japan 2

So, the first day we flew to Fukuoka and then took a mini-bullet train to Nagasaki which was cool because we sat in business class seats and could see out the front of the train. It looked like a sci-fi movie with the conductor silhouetted against the gray ski, with telephone and cable wires zipping past in the background. Unfortunately, I had not yet charged my video camera so I could not get it on tape.

In Nagasaki, we were met by Mr. and Mrs. Tasaki, a very friendly couple who took us to the Atomic Bomb Museum as well as Peace Park, a park created for the memory of those who died in the blast as well as for a nuclear-less future. Something I learned: America is currently in the process of trying to create smaller, more efficient nuclear bombs. Not exactly something you want to be doing if you’re telling other countries to stop their nuclear bomb production.

Mr. and Mrs. Tasaki were lovely as was Nagasaki, which reminded me of a cleaner and more peaceful San Francisco with all the hills and cool museums and houses. The next day we would journey to Kumamoto…

Journey to Japan 1

Boy, have I got some updates for you!

So, I just returned from Japan (a week ago, actually) and I’ve been relaxing and writing and reading and spending time with Yena. And fretting about going back to work in 5 days. I guess we all need to go back to work eventually, but it’s hard after a nice vacation.

Anyway, since my Dad was smart enough to fill his camera up with pictures of Japan, I’m going to give you a day by day breakdown of our journey. And we’ll start with Seoul…

On Tuesday night, Dad came into town after a long and exhausting flight and I took him straight to the building I live in. Chungmoon was kind enough to let my father sleep in the room above mine, and although I had not been in there since my first week in Korea, I had to admit the room was a lot roomier than I remember. Though we had to cover the big glass window with a sheet (otherwise, Dad would be bombarded with flashing neon lights all night long) the room was clean and… nice. Dad went to bed right away.

Wednesday was a full day. We went hiking early up on Dobong Mountain, and randomly met a lone hiker going the same way. I say “randomly” and not “by chance” because by chance indicates some kind of fortunate outcome. UNfortunately, the guy was a bit of a goof and was neither talented when it came to climbing a mountain nor when taking hints that perhaps father and son would like to just stay a two-man party. However, no harm done, and we always had a man to take our picture when we wanted. The climb was surprisingly difficult, but well worth it, and when we got home that night we were so tired that we went to bed at 10 o clock after I made Dad try some Korean jiggae (stew)… All in all, it was a good first day of our trip.

We would journey to Japan early the next morning…

Mr. Write

Sorry for the lack of journal entries as of late, I expect most of you have stopped checking this site as much as I have stopped writing in it.  However, I have been writing quite a bit of my feature script (up to 98 pages now, only 30 more to go!).  So, life has been good if a bit introverted…

 Actually I didn’t go to sleep until 6 A.M. last night because 1) I’m on vacation this month and 2) I’ve got a little mice problem in my apartment.  I actually killed a mouse with a pan last night, which was both disturbing and sad, since it was a very slow and drawn out death.  I can only hope his final minutes were not frightened ones. 

Speaking of vacation, my father is coming up to Korea in a couple of days and we’re both going to Japan to see the sights.  Should be fun, although I always hate preparing for vacation and I almost always leave something behind.  Organization is not my strong suit.

 Once again, I wish I had more pictures of Korea, but I don’t because of my inability to procure a digital camera due to my own laziness.  But here is one of Myself, Avimaan (my college roomie), and his brother Nick as we reach for the sky at Kyongbokong, a beautiful palace.

Adieu, and we’ll talk soon…

60 pages

That’s halfway done with my feature script.  So far it’s rough, but it’s got definite potential.

I’m so excited about this upcoming vacation.  It’s been 6 and a half months here and I desperately need a break.  I’ll take a month off in which time I’ll travel to Japan and hopefully Thailand, and then it’s only 4 more months of work after that.  I can’t believe I’m so far into my year here.  I’m kinda getting sad about leaving.  There’s a lot here that I still have to explore.  But gotta keep movin’, gotta keep movin’.

Weekend

Oh, god, I wish I knew more about computers.  So this format is called “Quentin,” don’t ask me why.  It feels a little more dated than the other, but at least it’s got some color.  What do you think, Bach?

Anyway, it’s the weekend and I’m lazing about, cleaning a bit, but mostly just writing and listening to music.  In three weeks I’ll be heading to Japan with Pops and it’s going to be a marvelous time… I can’t wait.  I think I just realized that making plans for the future keeps me interested in the present.  So, in November, I’ll be moving to New York with my friend Evan and I’m super excited about that, but I’m also enjoying every minute of Korea time because I know it will end in less than 6 months.

Yes, I’m a man who needs change constantly.  Can’t stay in one place too long…. and at the same time, I do miss the 3202 Dancy days.  Here’s to you, Seis de Goon Squad!

Kubrick

Often hailed as one of the best filmmakers of all time…. he’s not one of my all time favorites, but he’s good. I just bought the last 7 of his movies, but the one that was so surprising to me was Barry Lyndon. I think it’s one of his best movie out of those seven, although A Clockwork Orange might take the title… Has anyone seen his early works? Paths of Glory or The Killing or Spartacus? I need to catch up on those…

Here’s a scene from that most glorious of all horror shows