tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49621422708033283742024-03-05T02:52:00.421-08:00Living in Asia 2000-01California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-60825227936637293932001-10-28T13:31:00.000-08:002015-09-25T13:35:35.093-07:00Asia Update #42 - Sumo and People's Liberation Army<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I was in China on September 11.<span> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Came home from a business dinner and turned on CNN shortly after they went live.<span> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Saw the second plane crash and the Tower's collapse.<span> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>Shocking, depressing, maddening, and many other words just won't cover the feelings I went through.</div>
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The following weekend, I flew to Tokyo. This was the first flight United was making to Tokyo, and thankfully that was as far as I wanted to go, as that was as far as they were flying. Still no flights back to the US at that time.</div>
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On Sunday, I got to go to see a sumo match. I had seen it on TV before, but this was my first chance to see it live. Interesting stuff. A lot of history to it, and also a lot of procedures and dramatics for what is often a very short match.</div>
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The match starts with the wrestlers entering the ring. They go to their corner and do this stomping act, followed by throwing some salt into the ring (supposed to ward off evil). Then they go and face off. But wait, this is still just show, as they have to go back to their corners again to do some more stomping and salt throwing. Then they are back to the face off and now they are really ready to go.</div>
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The match ends when one of the participants is knocked over (any part other than their foot hitting the ground) or is knocked out of the ring (any part of their body touching anything outside of the ring). Some matches are very short (seconds), where others may last a minute or two. The whole time, there is this guy in a kimono who is yelling something in Japanese (something equivalent to "still good! still good! still good!").</div>
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Definitely an interesting process and sport, though I don't think I would start following it regularly.</div>
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It is a month later now and I am back in China right now. Went to the Great Wall again. This is a different area than where I had visited the last time, and the wall does look a little different. I've heard that many areas have much different styles and were built at much different times.</div>
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Had an interesting experience. There are a lot of People's Liberation Army soldiers on the wall sightseeing. Saw one PLA guy taking a picture of his friends, so I offered to take the picture for him so he could get in the photo. Guess he didn't understand this, so next thing I know he still has the camera and I am in with his friends for the picture. Then it switched around and some other PLA members were with me. A few more versions of PLA soldiers, and then even a non-soldier stood next to me to have his picture taken. Had about a dozen pictures taken of me. Felt like I was a movie star or something.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkJjcHgo-q8CLWIoqkoc1a19qrjTeM5u8KiNySPjnF3bJQ1dW6hYCkhUTUdaYIRHB9kTDLaCpO0tymwXEOeMU7vyK_3-RlPUDDg5Yl28El90kr6K7C3xTZ_XH-fu69DvI4WhU-hKlIZyo/s1600/greatwall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYkJjcHgo-q8CLWIoqkoc1a19qrjTeM5u8KiNySPjnF3bJQ1dW6hYCkhUTUdaYIRHB9kTDLaCpO0tymwXEOeMU7vyK_3-RlPUDDg5Yl28El90kr6K7C3xTZ_XH-fu69DvI4WhU-hKlIZyo/s320/greatwall2.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Note - This is the last update! Fun while it lasted, but I left this position, so nothing more to write here... But there is more stuff like this in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://singlespeed.org/?page_id=21" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">my other Blogs</a>.</i>California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-58759516469752921292001-08-14T13:29:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:31:38.895-07:00Asia Update #41 - Japanese Public Bath<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Way back in report #8, I reported about a Korean hot tub/spa ritual. Had a chance to try out the Japanese version this past week. I was in Nagano Prefecture of Japan (near where the last winter Olympics were at) for business and stayed at a resort while there. Seems the resort was mostly based around a natural hot spring in the area (not even any hiking trails in the area). On the list of facilities, they showed a variety of bathing options, such as sauna, hot tub, and public bath. Decided to give the public bath a try.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Public baths were what the Japanese used for bathing before each house had plumbing. So the primary reason for doing it was to get clean, but as inside plumbing became more common, they seem to often only exist in resorts and have taken on greater meaning such as perceived health benefits. The public baths are sex-segregated, which is god given that you get naked (with only a little towel to preserve modesty). I didn't know much of what to expect, so I asked my coworker and got enough details that I was comfortable that I wouldn't make some faux pas (like walk naked into some place where you shouldn't walk naked...).</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">The start is that you walk down to the public bath area. You can wear a kimono (every hotel room in Japan seems to have kimonos in the room) or can change at the changing room. I wore my clothes down and changed there. Turns out that this spa doesn't provide the little towels there, but you were supposed to bring a wash cloth from your room, so back to the room I went.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Now appropriately equipped with my little towel, I headed back to the public bath. Took off my clothes and walked into the bath area (modestly holding my little towel in front of me). First step is a rinse off... There was a line of little stools in front of a faucet/hand sprayer, so down I sat on one of them. Was told that you should rinse off before hitting the tub, so rinse I did. Turns out that most just use a little bucket and douse themselves with water from the tub, but no one seemed to care that I sat and sprayed away.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Then into the tub. Placed the little towel on my head (they do this so they don't lose it - not to look funny). The water was quite warm, so I could only last in it for a few minutes. Very nice feel. The public bath had a large window overlooking a beautiful forested valley and mountains, which provided a very serene setting. Added benefit is that contemplating the view helped me avoid noticing the naked Japanese guys all around me...</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Out of the water and back to the stool. This time I am supposed to clean myself (soap, shampoo, and all). So, scrub away I did. This is where you use the little towel - you load it with soap and use it to lather yourself up. Got myself nice and clean. Rinsed and then dried off (not with the little towel, obviously) and back to my room.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Thankfully, I got through the whole process without making any big mistakes. And it was rather enjoyable, so I did it again the next morning instead of taking a shower in my room. Even wore the kimono from my room down to the public bath, though I did feel a little self conscious as I walked in the hallway with just a kimono on. Now I normally feel a little self conscious (I was the only white person at the resort, and going by the lack of English skills, I think other foreigners would be few and far between), but this seemed to notch things up a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Got to visit Matsumoto Castle before we headed back to Tokyo. Very interesting, particularly because I had recently finished reading the book </span><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Shogun</u><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">. Gave me an inside feel for much of the setting for the book.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Check out the, um, soda machine I saw in town. I guess underage drinking is not as much of an issue in Japan as it is in the U.S.</div>
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An American guy I rode with in Korea is going to do an epic Bike Around the World for a Cause thing next year. Sounds like one hell of an adventure for he and his friend. Check out their web site at<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.peacepedalers.com/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">http://www.peacepedalers.com</a>.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-13013607779538509422001-07-31T13:27:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:28:51.290-07:00Asia Update #1 - 1 Year<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">One year ago today, I was sitting on a plane starting my move to Korea. Hard to believe that it is a year already. The months seemed to fly by.</span><br />
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It has been one hell of a year. I've been places, seen stuff, and done stuff that I could not have imagined even a few months before heading out. Learned an amazing amount, which will be useful both personally and professionally. Also had some of the most difficult times of my life. Overall, I am very glad that I did this.</div>
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Not likely to be too many more of these updates, given that I move out of the Seoul apartment the next time I am there. But I will still be visiting Asia reasonably often for as long as I have this current position, so it is possible that I will throw an update up from time to time.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-82027799036962755132001-06-16T13:23:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:25:32.708-07:00Asia Update #39 - It's All Relative<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">Went for a hike after work last week. Clearest skies I've seen yet in Korea. It was about as clear as a normal day in the Bay Area. Yes, a clarity which we would be complaining about in California, yet was a treat here. Asia on the whole is very polluted (except for Australia/New Zealand, and maybe Japan). The air is almost always hazy. Have seen it so hazy that I couldn't see the buildings a block away from office. How you feel about the air is all relative.</span><br />
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No photos from this hike. Went to the local mountain to my apartment. This is the one I have talked about before as having military bases on it and signs telling you not to take photos. Part of living in a quasi-military state, I guess.</div>
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On relativity, I was walking home from the subway station on Friday after work. Exited the station where I normally did, walked one block down to the main street and make a right. Walked down this block and only half noticed the riot police buses on the side of the road. And didn't really notice that they were riot police buses, but instead just made a comment to myself about how they were blocking a lane of traffic and the bus stops. After I turned off the main road to go up to my apartment, I was thinking about how this is all normal for me now. Land mines near where I mountain bike, military bases all over the place, and riot police popping up anywhere at any time. I guess I have acclimated to many of the aspects of living in Korea.</div>
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These updates likely won't happen nearly as often from now on. Partly because I am getting acclimated, so things don't seem to stand out as being so different any more. Partly because I will be spending a little less time in Asia now. But I will still upload write ups from time to time.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-31745984567211313072001-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:23:22.613-07:00Asia Update #38 - Land Mines<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Got out for another ride last weekend, but to a different area than the last set of photos. This was Namhan-sanseong, which means Namhan Mountain Fortress. There is a wall, with gates at various intervals, on the mountain ridge surrounding (protecting) a valley. This is much like the Pukansan (see update #35 for a photo of the wall and gate there) and Seoul itself (all the gates in Seoul that I've mentioned before were part of the wall which ringed Seoul).</div>
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Finally got a photo of myself riding. Team Wrong Way will be happy to see that I still wear the uniform, even though I don't race much with them any more.</div>
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While on the ride, I also got some pictures of the mine zone signs. Definitely smart to stay on the marked trails. This area is roughly the same as a national park in the States - hard to imagine anyone allowing the military to bury mines in Yosemite. Of course, Yosemite is a bit further away from its nearest enemy…</div>
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The full set of photos from my mountain bike adventures are on the web. More gory details than most would want to see, so I didn't put them directly into these updates. I do have a couple of animated GIF files (kind of like choppy video) of various people riding (the picture of me above is from one). If you do want to see them, they are at<a href="http://www.singlespeed.org/koreamtb/koreaMTBphotos.htm" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http://www.singlespeed.org/koreamtb/koreaMTBphotos.htm</a>. I'll probably remove the less looked-at ones in a few months to save disk space, but for now they are all there.</div>
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One question I get often is when I am returning to the States permanently. Good question. The answer could be 'now', 'August', or 'who knows', depending on your definition of returning permanently.</div>
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It could be 'Now', because from this point on I plan to be in the Bay Area about 2 weeks out of every month. I guess that means I am living there.</div>
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It could be 'August', because that is when my apartment lease expires in Korea. Whenever I am in Korea after then, I will be staying in hotels. So I guess that means that I won't be living in Korea then (not that I am really living here now, given that I travel so much and never got a resident visa).</div>
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It could be 'Who Knows', because I will be traveling a lot to Asia for the foreseeable future, until I change jobs to something with less travel. No plans to change jobs right now, and with all the international-related marketable skills I've gained, chances are a change (whether inside or outside of my company) would still involve travel.</div>
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So if the question is when I return to that hardcore mountain biker you all loved (or hated), then the answer continues to be who knows. Maybe never?</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-48475557393928633992001-05-15T13:18:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:21:28.437-07:00Asia Update #37 - Bangkok<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Bangkok was awesome. Has so many amazing temples and the intricately decorated Grand Palace.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMbjzo0IAoH9NV5yGa_zvOIMUGH5bQFHSrRYTBJMkaoXweJZMIWHXOhMIQMZDUp0WvrkwcUt5MISMNmsf2QKPSJVtgwFLHOzrUd6D-R2jEfFmhdT1bziQ5jG65f-GE_SeCEEZs7ZOlN6-/s1600/bangkokpalace4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinMbjzo0IAoH9NV5yGa_zvOIMUGH5bQFHSrRYTBJMkaoXweJZMIWHXOhMIQMZDUp0WvrkwcUt5MISMNmsf2QKPSJVtgwFLHOzrUd6D-R2jEfFmhdT1bziQ5jG65f-GE_SeCEEZs7ZOlN6-/s320/bangkokpalace4.jpg" width="243" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJYepUGfoB5NXtYbTxKfKljdv4EHVzS2-d1qd4dxQ0MkwJ5c1snOu_SP30hm8xQDQNMJtUnrQ89apeCBWDMUWTGhCZ-eORqFri6IFl2d1d2cKKkNDjTdzuStfMTNAerngGvxbX65eJvII/s1600/bangkokpalace1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJYepUGfoB5NXtYbTxKfKljdv4EHVzS2-d1qd4dxQ0MkwJ5c1snOu_SP30hm8xQDQNMJtUnrQ89apeCBWDMUWTGhCZ-eORqFri6IFl2d1d2cKKkNDjTdzuStfMTNAerngGvxbX65eJvII/s320/bangkokpalace1.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
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Amazing stuff. Everything is so intricate. Each figure or wall is made up of small gems, jewels, gold leaf, or pieces of metal. Huge buildings appear to be assembled one small fragment at a time. And there are so many buildings. Seemed to be temples on every corner. Lots of Buddhas all over the place. The Emerald Buddha was definitely cool, but I think the reclining Buddha at Wat Po was the most impressive (given that the Emerald Buddha was only a few feet tall, but the reclining Buddha was larger than two buses may have had something to do with it…).</div>
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One of the forms of transport in Thailand is the Tuk Tuk. They are basically 3 wheeled motorcycles. They got there name from the sound of the two cycle engines they often use. Kind of fun to ride in, but we did have some trouble when we rode in them when the driver would try to renegotiate the fare (it is negotiated up front) or to take us to some friend's store where we would be offered overpriced stuff (and the driver would undoubtedly get a kickback). Below is a picture with a couple of them, along with some standard cabs (which interestingly enough, are sometimes cheaper than the Tuk Tuks).</div>
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The locals generally used motorcycles for everything. Family car, taxi, pickup truck, etc. - all were jobs which we saw motorcycles used for in Thailand. Probably the most interesting to see was the family of 4 riding on a standard motorcycle (no sidecar or anything like that). We never did quite get the guts up to take a motorcycle taxi.</div>
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Just like the other areas of Thailand, prices here were very cheap. Food and souvenirs were very cheap, such that an American can eat like a king and still pay less than you would for cheap food in the States. And bargaining is normal, so you often find yourself bargaining for the last penny until you realize that it really doesn't make a difference. And we had a fun time trying to pack all the souvenirs and such which we bought.</div>
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I had heard that Bangkok night scene was the sleaziest of them all, but didn't get the opportunity to check it out (probably thankfully). We instead decided to go to the local Irish Pub/SCUBA center (interesting mix, eh?). We heard about the place on our dive trip in Pattaya - they also had some divers on the boat we were on.</div>
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Vacation's over. Time to go back to work. Bummer, eh? Definitely was a great time.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-68058138366317152862001-05-14T13:15:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:17:49.189-07:00Asia Update #36 - Pattaya<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
After a few days in Korea, we headed south to Thailand. The plan is to spend a few days on the beach at Pattaya and then a few more days checking out the culture of Bangkok.</div>
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On the first full day, we did some souvenir shopping and headed to a crocodile farm. On the way, there was a field with some elephants in it. Quite neat to see them wandering about and eating (though they were probably part of the crocodile farm, but it sure seemed like they were in the wild).</div>
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Along with lots of crocodiles and crocodile shows, the croc farm also had lots of other animals. Various beautiful birds, elephants you could feed, crocodiles you could feed, and even the chance to be photographed with a few animals…</div>
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Next day was my day to complete my SCUBA open water certifications (which I started last fall at Phuket). Conditions (especially visibility) were not quite as good as at Phuket, but it was still fun. An added benefit was that along with my certification dives, I also got to do an extra dive to a wreck of a US warship from the 1920's. Quite cool.</div>
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Last day was sailing day. We rented a 31 foot catamaran (just the two of us, along with a skipper and hostess) to take us around for the whole day. Sailed for a few hours to 'monkey' island, where we stopped and hiked a while and got to see many monkeys. Then headed to a remote beach for some walking on the beach and snorkeling. Below is a picture of the sailboat we had, along with the dingy we used to get to shore.</div>
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Obviously, this was from monkey island and that guy was checking out our dingy for any food we may have left behind (as soon as we landed, one came and tried to steal our backpack from us).</div>
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Pattaya has a sleezy night scene, much like what I saw in Phuket. Bars, bar girls, Thai boxing shows, snake shows, cheap souvenirs, etc. were all available. And the strengthening of the dollar has also made things even cheaper than when I was last in Thailand. We hit the souvenir shops and have loaded up with just a few goodies (enough to require that we use one more bag to leave here than we came with, and we likely will do more shopping in Bangkok).</div>
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California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-17969838118403418702001-05-14T13:11:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:14:53.579-07:00Asia Update #35 - A visitor from the States<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Here is the first of three which I will be uploading at about the same time. Sorry about the delay in publishing updates. My ladyfriend is visiting, and we both took a two week vacation. Split the time between Korea and Thailand. Well needed vacation for both of us - we had a great time.</div>
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The day after she arrived, we entered what we were told was a half marathon. She's a runner and has done a couple of full marathons, so we figured that she could handle this half-marathon, even with jet lag. Well, it wasn't quite what we expected.</div>
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To start with, the English words on the sign said nothing about marathon. Or even about a running race. They called it a 'climbathon', which turned out to be quite appropriate. It was on hiking trails that were quite steep. Not quite rock climbing, but it seemed close. There were many areas where you had to use your hands to help you climb up. The descents were no better. Very steep. We took it relatively easy on them, but the Koreans didn't. They seem to have this no fear attitude about descending. Saw a few knee injuries. To add to this, the race was pretty much unsupported. No food or drink given out on the course, even though most took 3 or more hours to finish. And the course wasn't closed to outsiders, so we were often running around groups of hikers. The picture below was from Pukansan (where the race was) and is an example of some of the less severe areas of the course.</div>
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Spent the next few days sightseeing and shopping. We must have looked pretty sad as we were constantly limping and had trouble climbing stairs due to having strained our quads and calves in the race.</div>
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Tuesday (May 1) was the celebration of Buddha's birthday. May Day is also considered labor day in many countries, including Korea. Daewoo Motor workers took this is an opportunity to protest recent layoffs and the potential sale to General Motors. Our first indication that this was going on was when we exited out from the subway at my local train station to find scores of riot police waiting all lined up on the sides.</div>
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Returned to the area later to meet some friends for dinner, and found the police were out in even greater force. We crossed the street using the subway underpass, and when returning to our side, had the police move from being lined up at the side to blocking the entire entrance. They did let us through, but did stop a group of what looked like college students. In the end, they did let these folks through and nothing happened, but it was still surprising. Below is a picture of the underpass we came through and the police blocking the passage.</div>
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The papers the next day reported that there were some 25,000 protesters and some 15,000 police. The protests were still close to a half mile away, so I can't confirm their numbers. But based on the hundreds (maybe more than a thousand) of police officers I saw where we were at, I think the police head count is quite likely to be true.</div>
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With so many police around, there were plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the police. After a little hesitancy because of all the signs in other areas of the country saying that you can't take pictures, I finally figured out that there wouldn't be any problems taking pictures of the police, or even with the police…</div>
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Didn't quite get up the guts to ask one to let me wear his helmet and hold his shield…</div>
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Ok, you've heard me mention about my 'lady friend' a few times, yet I've never shown a picture. Well, here is the first one for you… She is reading the sign at one of the gates to the Pukansan Mountain Fortress. The race took us through a few of these gates, but their significance and history was lost on us as we were just trying to survive the event.</div>
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I know - the photo is not the best in regards to seeing what she looks like. Maybe I'll show you more of her in a later update…</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-38185906073935976492001-04-16T13:07:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:10:35.459-07:00Asia Update #34 - Mountain Biking in Korea<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Finally brought my camera on some mountain bike rides. I reported in my first message about a web site on biking in Korea (address is<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/ga/achamtb/#Korean%20Mountain%20Biking" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http://www.angelfire.com/ga/achamtb/</a>). I have ridden with the author of the web site a few times and definitely agree that there are some fun trails.</div>
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They don't have any of the trail access issues we have in the States. Biking in Korea is in a much earlier stage. In my half dozen or so rides here, we have only seen 2 or 3 other people mountain biking. But you will see hundreds or thousands of hikers (as I reported in some of my write-ups on hiking). The hikers are generally amazed to see a bicycle out on the trail, and have nothing against you being there. On the contrary - Koreans like athletic endeavors, so are excited to see bikers on the trails. You can almost run a hiker off the trail, and they will still cheer you on. I guess it comes from the general lack of consideration towards pedestrians in Korea (such as the motorcycles driving on the sidewalk, cars parked blocking walkways, etc.). Why should it be any different on the trail? The hiker in the picture below thought nothing of waiting for the four of us to go screaming by - definitely not something we could do in the states.</div>
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Of course, there are some trail access issues here. Just different than what I am used to. One example is when the Korean army bulldozed some singletrack into roads (had to get their tanks up there, I guess). And you definitely want to stay on the trail, as the land mine signs you often see remind you (I need to get a photo of them). Upside is that where else in the world can you bike down a military trench…</div>
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There seems to be three general types of trails that I've seen in Korea - loose rocky stuff, feral trails in the trees, and some slickrock. Most of the stuff is pretty steep - any land that isn't steep they've stuck a building on (we are in a city, after all). The picture below shows Steve (the achamtb wed site author) riding over a rocky stretch, with Seoul in the background…</div>
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Below is one of the feral trails. That's Jakub. This was his second try - he biffed on his first run through. Just like when I was taking shots of the motorcycle courier in the snow, I once again didn't take any crash photos…</div>
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There is some good riding in and around Seoul. Does take me an hour to hour and a half to get to the dirt from my apartment. Not all that safe to ride among the cars, so thankfully much of the ride to the dirt can be done on the Han River bike trail.</div>
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Team Wrong Way folks will be glad to hear that I wear the colors when I ride. But you don't get to see it in these photos because I generally stand on the wrong side of the camera.</div>
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Off of mountain biking, but still on photos - I have placed a variety of the better photos on a web service called Shutterfly. This service lets you view and print the pictures. Check it out at<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/my/os.jsp?i=67b0de21b316c22a6534" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http://www.shutterfly.com/my/os.jsp?i=67b0de21b316c22a6534</a>. If you sign up as a member (which is a bit of a hassle, but doesn't cost anything), they will give you free prints of any pictures you want (plus I think they give me free prints also...). And let me know if there are other pictures you'd want me to put on here - I chose the ones I thought were best, but others may prefer different ones.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-53254728113242589002001-04-11T13:04:00.000-07:002015-09-25T13:07:27.339-07:00Asia Update #33 - Engrish?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Asia is generally good for laughs in how they try to use the English language. Have hit a few very interesting mistakes in my time here - ones which translate into something much different than what they meant it to. There are some web sites on this, including<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.engrish.com/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http//www.engrish.com</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(about funny Japanese mistakes) and<a href="http://www.feer.com/indexes/talesindex.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http://www.feer.com/indexes/talesindex.html</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(covers misc. mistakes every week found throughout Asia).</div>
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One big mistake is that Rs and Ls are often mixed up by many Asians. Their languages do not have these sounds. Most westerners here have hit the stereotypical mistake. And I got it from a Japanese coworker when he sent me an email and wished me to "Have a good fright back to Korea".</div>
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The agriculture museum in Korea had a few good ones. Here are some pictures that show the best of the mistakes...</div>
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The one above was at a model of a farmer's guard stand for their melon patch. It was a small platform with a roof. Used for guarding the crop, and also as an escape from the "sultry summer nights". Why would someone want to escape from a sultry summer night?</div>
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This one was easy to miss. It is in the line where they talk about the King of Fruits. Crap apples sure don't sound like a type of apple I'd want to eat…</div>
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One common question I get from people in the States is when am I going to return. Well, I now have an answer. I return to the States in June. Well, sort of return. I will be keeping the same job, but will be based out of the States. The rough plan is that I will spend 2 weeks a month in the Bay Area and the other 2 weeks on the road (mostly to Asia). As if I don't have enough frequent flier miles…</div>
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The experience in Asia has been great for me - I definitely have learned a lot. This includes all the stuff you would expect, such as little of some of the languages and about the culture. But it has also changed me in many ways which I didn't expect. For example, I am now much more comfortable with not being in full control of my surroundings. Most of the time, I would sit down at a restaurant and not be clear on what I had ordered. Generally, this works out just great, because most of the food is very good. But you must be willing to accept that what you want may not be what you get, and their really isn't anything you can do about it.</div>
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I have a couple of pieces of advice to anyone who is considering doing a similar type of long trip. First advice is to eat yogurt. What you eat will contain bugs that won't agree with you - yogurt helps replenish your supply of good bugs to fight these nasties off. Next piece of advice is to smile a lot. When you are unsuccessfully trying to communicate with someone, it goes much better if you are friendly. Another piece of advice is to carry a little packet of tissues - seems many bathrooms in some countries expect you to wash your nether regions with water or just aren't stocked with paper. The last piece of advice or anyone who gets an opportunity like this is to go for it. Yes there are lots of risks and will be some bad times, but overall it will be a great experience.</div>
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Looks like I will be in Korea for the next few weeks. May enter a mountain bike race this upcoming weekend. Another couple of weeks of work, and then I take two weeks of vacation at the beginning of May when my lady-friend comes out to visit (the same one who I got together with in Hawaii). Hopefully, we will be spending a week in Thailand as part of this to get some diving in, catching some sun, and seeing if we can get another set of wallets stolen.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-25532911879471693432001-03-25T13:00:00.000-08:002015-09-25T13:04:13.891-07:00Asia Update #32 - New Zealand<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I spent a week on holiday in New Zealand. Figured I was already in Australia, so it would just be a short 3 hour flight (as compared to the 11 hours from Korea) to New Zealand from there…</div>
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The main goal of the week was to relax and drink lots of Guinness. Everything is cheap by American standards in New Zealand, and Guinness was no exception. A pint ran between $2.25 and $2.50 US, which is about half of what I pay in the States and a quarter of what they cost in Korea. And drink Guinness I did - I arrived on St. Patty's day, so worked my way down to an Irish Pub. 2 days later, I went to Palmerston North and hit another Irish Pub (this one had a pickup band playing Celtic music). Down to Wellington for a few days, and hit 2 different Irish Pubs (both with bands playing at them). Lots of Guinness drinking opportunities, which I availed myself to.</div>
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Between beers, I did also get some sightseeing in. This is a shot from the Auckland tower. At the viewing deck, they have these glass floors which you can walk on and look straight down from. Kind of freaky to stand there above so much open air.</div>
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This is from Mt. Eden, which is a volcanic crater in Auckland. Very cool. I even got to walk down to the bottom and poke around the volcanic rocks there. New Zealand is much like California - it has lots earthquake faults running straight through it. On the whole, though, New Zealand seems to have more volcanoes than California does.</div>
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Here is a shot of a kiwi bird and a kiwi egg. Funny looking critters. This one is actually a stuffed one, not a live one. I did see a live one at the zoo, but they are nocturnal and kind of shy, so I didn't get any good pictures of it. But the zoo seemed to know that this would happen, so left this one for us tourists to photograph.</div>
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This is a picture of Wellington, where I finished out the week. Neat town. And it seems to have lots of open space around, complete with trails. The ones I saw were all open to bikes. I stopped at a bike shop, and they said that there were lots of trails and most were open to bikes. Cool.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-14879893724287963782001-03-16T12:57:00.000-08:002015-09-25T13:00:39.046-07:00Asia Update #31 - Gladstone, Queensland, Australia<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Gladstone? Where the hell is that?</div>
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Turns out it is in Queensland, which is the state of Australia which covers the whole north-east of the country. Gladstone is on the coast at the edge of the great barrier reef. Has a few different industries mostly related to processing mining materials, such as an aluminum smelter, coal port, and magnesium processing plant. Basically, it is a blue collar town.</div>
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Getting to Gladstone involves getting on a puddle hopper for a flight to the local airport. The airplane was small, loud, and didn't handle turbulence well. Below is a picture of the plane we flew on. The airport at Gladstone did have a paved runway, so at least that was a step up from what it could have been. And the airport's terminal did have room for two of these airplanes, just in case both planes that flew here decided to fly up at the same time…</div>
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Stretched my culinary experience while here. Had some more kangaroo, some emu (a big bird, but the meat tasted more like beef), some ostrich (an even bigger bird), and some crocodile (tasted like chewy chicken).</div>
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Actually got to see some native Australia critters here (besides what we ate). Was told that there are lots of wallabees (small kangaroos) once you got outside of town, but that they were only out at evening or morning and slept during the day. Didn't see any during the day, which matched what we were told. But I did get out for a run on Friday morning. Chose to run to an area where I was told I might see some wallabees (and the sign above would support that they'd be there). Got there, and saw some bouncing away and got some photos from a distance. Quite cool.</div>
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After the run, I talked with the Aussie who was with us. He had said that Wallabees where the small ones. These guys I saw were large to me - almost as tall as I was. I told him that if these were the small guys, I sure didn't want to see the full sized ones. He asked me for a description and it turned out that I actually saw kangaroos, not wallabees. Grey kangaroos, to be specific. They can be as tall as a person. Not the largest in Australia - those are the red kangaroos - but they sure seemed very large to me.</div>
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Gladstone is on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. An hours boat ride from here would get you to some great diving areas. If I had known this before coming here, I would have allowed some more time here to get a few dives in. I guess I will have to finagle a trip back in the future. Until then, I am of to New Zealand tomorrow…</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-75660968141225730592001-03-14T12:56:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:57:38.687-07:00Asia Update #30 - Sydney<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I flew up from Melbourne on Friday and spent the weekend in Sydney. My company put me up in the Darling Harbour area for the weekend, before moving me to the burbs during the workweek (closer to our office). Darling Harbour is definitely a happening place - always a buzz of activity. Lots of restaurants, bars, tourist stores, museums, and other places made to remove money from people's pockets. Thankfully, the money here is only worth half as much as the US dollar, so they really weren't taking too much from me…</div>
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I added to my list of interesting foods. Had Kangaroo steaks. Tasted just like beef. The next morning, my stride on my run felt a little springier. I wonder if the 'roo had anything to do with that? Maybe that's the secret behind all of the medals that the Aussies won at the last Olympics?</div>
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Had to visit the photos spot called Mrs. Macquaries Chair, where you get a good view of both the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Here's the required photo from there:</div>
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Did go to Manly Beach, which is a well known place for tourists. What are the tourists doing there? They are enjoying the view. In particular, they are there to enjoy the topless bathing suits which many Aussies are known to choose. I think I could like it here.</div>
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Haven't seen any koalas, kangaroos, or wallabies yet (well, besides the 'roo on my plate). Did go to the Sydney Aquarium and got to see a platypus, among other animals. And also did see a road sign saying koala crossing, but none decided to cross the road as we drove by.</div>
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Off to Gladstone tomorrow. It is in Queensland, which is in the north east. It is a smaller town and on the edge of the Outback. Perhaps we will see some interesting stuff there.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-13789931051705661742001-03-07T12:52:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:55:43.112-07:00Asia Update #29 - Snipe Hunt?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
On Saturday I was snowboarding with John McBirnie. It is Wednesday, and I just got back from a run where I was wearing shorts and a tank top, and still sweated up a storm. No, the weather in Seoul hasn't taken a turn towards summer (actually, it was supposed to snow some more last night). But instead I got myself out of Dodge and headed South. Way south. I am currently in Melbourne, Australia.</div>
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Australia feels like California, except they speak funny and drive on the wrong side of the road. Melbourne is in the midst of a multi-year drought, so many of the plants have a golden brown tinge to them, much like California in the summer. Even the prices seem the same, until you realize that it is in funny money Australia dollars, not real money (divide the Aussie price in half and you have the rough US price). Means everything is cheap to those paying in real dollars. Nice to hear English and see English signs and all that. Also good to see people out exercising (lots of cyclists and runners around).</div>
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This trip is a week and a half in Australia and then a week in New Zealand. Melbourne, Sydney, Gladstone, Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Four of the Australian cities are common places for visitors to go to. Gladstone has a plant which we are trying to sell to, so off I go. Most maps of Australia don't even show it, so that means I get to fly puddle hoppers to get there (2 of them each way - it is small enough that there are not even direct flights from Sydney). No industrial plants in Palmerston North, just agriculture plants (and probably lots of sheep). But going there for a holiday to visit a Kiwi friend (who, surprise-surprise, works for the New Zealand Government in dairy-related research).</div>
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On my run, I saw various birds of interest. One that stood out is the purple swamphen. Beautiful bird with shimmering purple-blue breast, about the size of a crow. Here's a picture of one:</div>
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I bet they taste like chicken. I sure hope for the swamphen's sake they don't migrate to China.</div>
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Saw the picture below on a sign describing the local flora and fauna. Surprised me - I always thoughts that snipes were a made up animal for boy scouts to use to trick younger scouts to go on 'snipe hunts'. Up there with sending a scout out to find a 'left handed smoke shifter' or to go cow tipping. Maybe they are real animals? Then again, I didn't see any on my hike. Maybe they are fake and this is the Aussie park service having a good laugh on us tourists?</div>
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California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-12157240575467319742001-02-20T12:49:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:51:57.051-07:00Asia Update #28 - Back in Seoul<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
In the last message, I ended by talking about Korea being in a cold spell. Well, we got some tropical moisture to add to that cold, and that means another dump of snow. This is the third 'record' snowfall for the year (I was away for one of them). Seems that Korea is colder and wetter this winter than it has been in many years. Perfect time for me to come to Korea for a year, eh?</div>
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In the last snow update, I talked about how the motorcycle couriers run around with their feet out for support when driving on snow. Made an effort to get some shots of these guys in this snow. The one above was interesting - after I took this shot, I turned around to see if I could get a better picture of him as he was driving away. I ended up not taken a second picture because it turns out the feet out to the side method doesn't really work - he fell. He was Ok and got back up and drove away. I was going to help him lift the bike up, but the rest of the traffic barely swerved to get around him, making it decidedly unsafe to be in the road.</div>
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I forgot to mention before - the airlines in Japan have taken a very strict policy on knives on the plane and I got caught. I have carried a multi-tool with me in my computer bag for years. Along with the pliers, screwdrivers, bottle opener (probably the only tool I've used on it), and the other standard tools, there is a small knife blade. Maybe a good inch in length. The scanner at Tokyo detected this knife and they made me check it in as luggage. I head back to Tokyo again next week. Be another shot for the Japanese scanners to try to detect my multi-tool.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-72440678555886284992001-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:49:38.292-07:00Asia Update #27 - Heidelberg<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I visited another castle this week. But it sure doesn't look Asian. Check out the picture below…</div>
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It doesn't look Asian because it is German. My company bought a company in Heidelberg and our company president called a meeting here. So, off I went for a week of bier and brats. Actually, I arrived here from San Francisco, and returned directly from there to Korea. This makes the first time I will have flown around the world. Kind of cool, except when you realize that it is just another 11 hour flight.</div>
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In visiting the castle, I was a little surprised at the shape it is in. I've gotten used to visiting all sorts of restored castles and palaces, yet this one was more in ruins than restored. People say that the shape it is in helps add to its romanticism, but that didn't really do anything for me. Then again, I also think a Victorian house is just an old house.</div>
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I did get some good shots, and there was much amazing architecture and history to both the castle and the town. Above is a shot of one of the main buildings from the castle's courtyard.</div>
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Speaking of the town, here is another picture of Heidelberg (one of those spliced together panorama shots). This one was taken from the castle and shows the valley and town. Cute little town.</div>
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I did get to go out on the Autobahn. One of my counterparts in Germany let me take his 6 series BMW out. I opened it up and got it above 200 kilometers per hour for a while (over 125 mph). Felt nice to know I could do this and not worry about getting a speeding ticket. Just as I am getting into it and thinking that I am going so fast, my coworker calmly asks why I didn't want to go any faster. Sure pulled me down a few notches.</div>
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Being in Germany has made me realize the lack of English in Korea. Getting around in Germany was not a problem at all - ask most anyone on the street something in English and they will be able to answer you. There even was an Irish pub (had to get my Guinness fix) where it seemed the people running it didn't even speak German. In Korea, the norm at restaurants and such (where you'd expect a better chance of finding someone who speaks English) is that you won't find someone who speaks English. A buddy of mine who has been traveling Asia for about 3 years says that Korea has some of the least English proficiency of anywhere in Asia. Now I find out about this…</div>
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Some news. I've been based out of Asia for over 6 months now, so it is time to start considering when I return to the States. Likely be some time early this summer, though with the way business has been for us, you never know. We are changing so fast through acquiring companies that I could be back earlier or later based on company needs - only time will tell.</div>
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Well, that is still a few months off. In the short term, I have to deal with returning to Korea where they are in the midst of a Siberian cold spell. Reports have high temperatures hovering right about freezing. Much lower than both Germany and San Francisco. Just a little bit of weather shock for me.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-90117871740638094572001-02-02T12:43:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:46:59.946-07:00Asia Update #26 - Business Clubs<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Karaoke is definitely a big thing throughout much of Asia. I had never done it in the US but now have done it as part of business entertaining in Japan, Korea, and China. The basics are the same in all three, with some minor differences. Definitely much different than what I expected karaoke to be like in the States. In the US, I figured it was a bar where you could get up on stage and sing your heart out in front of anyone who was there. This style may exist here, but that isn't what businessmen seem to use for their entertaining…</div>
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You (and when I say you, it is generally guys only - sexual equality is a bit further behind in Asia than in Europe or the US) start by walking into the Karaoke bar/business club and then a hostess takes you to your room. Usually the room is private, but sometimes it is semi-private - there may be a few small groups scattered around the room. At this time, the area you will sit in is empty and has much more couch space than you need.</div>
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Your group spreads out on the couch and then some girls join you (generally 1 per guy in your group). How you end up with a particular girl next to you varies some between the different countries I've done it in - China and Korea had a line up of girls where you select one who stays with you the whole time you are there. Japan had girls who joined you and every once in a while the girl there would change (shift changes, or something like that). The girls are generally very pretty, and have the job of keeping your glass full (as the girl in the picture below is doing), making conversation with you (not always easy with me, given that few speak English, except in Tokyo where our customers seem to like to go to clubs with foreign girls), looking pretty, and otherwise keeping you happy. </div>
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No, the girls are not prostitutes (at least most aren't - the one I was with in Beijing made it obvious that she was available after the karaoke session was over should I desire the chance to make some personal music with her). And there are variations in how much physical contact is allowed, from the girl sitting a few centimeters from you to her just about sitting on you.</div>
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Next step is for drinks to be ordered and served. Drinks are ordered by the bottle, and are generally the type that require some sort of mixing (whiskey and water, etc.). If businessmen go to the same club a lot, they will have a bottle marked with their name waiting for them. They order a bottle once and then work from that as they entertain. What is left is put in storage until the next time they come back. That is if they don't finish it - these guys sure are heavy drinkers.</div>
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After drink are served, and often some finger snacks, the singing begins. Books are passed around which list the songs available. You choose a song, it is entered, and then you watch a monitor with the words on it and sing these along with the music. Asians seem to like love songs, and sing enough (whether at karaoke bars or other gatherings) such that they are pretty good. I haven't had another American in the room with me yet at one of these to see if it is just me who is bad at this, or Americans in general.</div>
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In Japan and China, the singing is done right from where you sit at the couch (as above). In Korea, you stood up at a microphone and sang (with your karaoke girl standing next to you arm in arm).</div>
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For all this, you generally pay a charge for the room, pay for the drinks (yours and the girls), and pay a tip for the girls. Japan is the most expensive at about $200 a person for 4 hours in a private room and a karaoke girl for each guest, Korea runs about $125 a person, and China was about $65 a person. Of course, there is much variation to this. It seems you can also go to bars where you pay less, but get less (less girls, less privacy, etc.).</div>
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I haven't figured out what the local women think of all of this. Asians generally get married relatively young (by mid to late 20's), so all of the businessmen I am with are married. I talked with one of the girls in the Korea office and she seemed to think that the men went out for drinks, but nothing more. Another girl knew of the business clubs, but seemed to think only slimy types of people went there (and of course, not her fiance). She called the business clubs the 'second round' and also talked about the 'third round' (what the girl in China was offering). I wasn't going to tell her, but I think that it is more than just the slimy people who go there, considering how many of these business clubs there are (seems to be more of them around than restaurants). Guess I am letting the cat out of the bag if she reads this update...</div>
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Given my American background, this type of entertaining definitely makes me feel a bit guilty. But the cultures here seem to accept it (and I've never seen anyone go for that third round, so they do seem to draw the line). And I am single, so not too much guilt as I enjoy experiencing this.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-7796846099052097572001-01-23T12:40:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:43:17.308-07:00Asia Update #25 - What's behind door #1<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I mentioned in the past update about it being cold in Korea. Just read that we are having 20 year low temperatures in Seoul. Low temps were down near 0 °F. Daily highs are getting up to around 20 °F. Very cold. Any exposed skin starts hurting after a few minutes outside. So I had to get out of Seoul and find some place warmer. Headed to the Island of Hokkaido, which is the northern part of Japan. Changed cold for snow. Plus only got a few degrees warmer.</div>
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Spent three days there with our sales guy visiting customers. Meetings all day, dinners and business clubs on evening. Way too much to eat and (especially) drink.</div>
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Of course, when you drink, it logically leads to having to go to the bathroom. Found this one when I was at a classy Japanese restaurant. Had to ask directions from the waitress to get to here, then had the fun of figuring out which door to go to. Do you know which it is? The kanji characters saying men and women sure make it hard to figure out.</div>
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I know I am a 'henna gaijing' (Japanese for crazy foreign person), but I really didn't want to walk in on someone without warning, so I went back to the waitress and asked again. She pointed me to the correct door. I went up to the door and found the next challenge - how to open it. Pushed first - and that didn't work. Pulled and that also didn't work. A little giggling from the waitress behind me and she signed that I was supposed to slide the door sideways. Finally got in.</div>
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Oh, it is the door on the right…</div>
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Here is a shot from my hotel of the area around Sapporo. Surrounded by hills. Even though we are basically at sea level, they get a huge amount of snow. Supposed to make for some great skiing (the white open areas in the center are ski resorts). I will have to try to get back here and allow some time to hit the slopes.</div>
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Here is an early teaser. I've started writing up a message related to the business club scene in Asia. It is quite interesting. Here's a picture of me trying to sing karaoke… I am quite bad at it… But the business club scene is very different than what happens in the US, so should be quite interesting....California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-88676731674546703512001-01-11T12:36:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:40:30.883-07:00Asia Update #24 - Snow Plows?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
It snowed some more on Tuesday, but most of that melted. It is interesting to see how the city deals with the snow over the long term. On the whole, they seem to try to ignore it. The side roads were never plowed, so the snow was packed down and is now sheets of ice in most places. Sidewalks are often the same. Makes driving and walking a bit precarious. I haven't fell yet, but I've seen many falls. It is funny to watch the deliver motor cycles moving at 20-30 mph with the driver's feet out to each side to give them that extra bit of balance on the ice.</div>
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The above picture was taken Tuesday (while it was snowing) from my office. On the lower right of the picture (where the people with the umbrella are), the sidewalk may look like a sheet of ice. That is because it is. The other side would be better to walk on, because the layer of snow over the ice gives some traction.</div>
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I can understand if you don't think that it is a sidewalk because you see cars parked there. Trust me, it is a sidewalk. And it is normal for cars to park, or even drive on, the sidewalk. Especially normal for delivery motor cycles to just about knock pedestrians over on sidewalks.</div>
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The intersection in the picture is kind of interesting, with all the cars in (or stopped well past) the pedestrian cross walk. At the time of the picture, the turn arrows for the cross street are green, so the 2 buses turning are legal. The people heading away from me who have pushed forward and look like they are almost hitting the bus are just trying to save themselves an extra millisecond by getting that 20 foot head start when the light turns green. Oh, and there are 4 lanes on the road going away from us, but if you look closely you'll see there are 5 cars side by side up at the front of the line. This is all normal for Korea.</div>
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This weather has had some impact on my morning run. Certain areas are too slippery to run, so I avoid. But I now run up the road that heads towards the hill I often hike up. That road is closed to cars due to snow (and lack of plows) so I am able to run up the center of it. Still slippery, and cars still drive on it, so I do have to watch out. But it is better than most of my other possible routes and has fewer people. Sorry to say, I am running through the same military area I've talked about before, so I won't be taking any pictures.</div>
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I am running more now. Both because I think I've gained a coupe of pounds during my stay here, but also because I am now training for a race. I signed up for the Dong-Ah International Marathon. Actually, I am just going to do a half marathon, which is plenty long considering my last running race was about 20 years ago. The race is March 18. Should be interesting to see what a Korean race is like.</div>
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It is often hard to get myself out for a run. It is dark here until about 7:30 am and generally quite cold (highest temperature predicted for the next 5 days is -6°C, or about 22°F). It is a bit cooler than that in the mornings when I am running. I have tried to run in the evening, but I seem to end up working Korean hours (which are longer than US hours), so don't make it home until 6:30 or 7:00 and would rather crash in front of the TV with a beer than exercise. But I have been getting myself motivated (so far) and running in the mornings. Between gifts my 'friend' in CA gave me for Xmas and some stuff I had already for winter sports, I seem to have the right clothes to make running in the cold bearable.</div>
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I had an interesting web site emailed to me. It shows the world map based on NASA images showing the lights at night. Quite interesting to see where people live. Of particular interest is the difference between North and South Korea. North Korea is in the dark not because people don't live there, but due to economic factors. Check it out at<a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/earth_lights_lrg.jpg" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;">http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/earth_lights_lrg.jpg</a>(be prepared if you are on a slow connection - the file is some 600k in size).</div>
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I found a channel on my TV which could best be described as Fashion TV. 24 hours of watching models walking the runway. I am not a fashion hound (as those of you who have seen what I wear can attest to), but this channel has caught my eye. It seems that every few minutes there will be a woman walking down the runway basically topless. Either the designer chose see-through clothes, or chose to only button the model's shirt as high as their belly buttons. Interesting that this nudity is allowed on Korean TV - I can't even seem to find rated-R movies in Korea.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-5895427539969814402001-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:36:16.688-07:00Asia Update #23 - Snow<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
It snowed on Sunday. Started some time during the night and didn't stop until late afternoon. The papers said we got about 8 inches in Seoul, though I would have guessed that it was a bit less. I spent the morning tromping around and taking pictures. Figured I could catch the stillness that snow brings with it, plus find some sanctuary from the hordes of tourists who are normally there. Turned out I was partially right…</div>
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This is the second time I have shown this pagoda on my web site (the first was in my first update). I had to fight my way to get a picture of this. Turned out that many other people had the same idea about the stillness, so the normal tourists were replaced by a horde of amateur photographers. There were literally dozens of people around this place with cameras. Theirs looked much more professional than my little point and shoot digital deal. The best locales were covered with cameras on tripods (plus their owners and gear bags). And it was hard to get a shot without anyone else showing up in the background. But I did get a few shots and this one seemed to be about the best.</div>
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The one above is from the palace located close to my apartment. I thought this one showed great contrast between the colors of the palace and the grays/whites of the snow covered hill. This palace is being restored and definitely has very recent paint on it, making its colors stand out even more than the other palaces. And it isn't as well known, so it is much easier to have the best photo vantage points place to yourself.</div>
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By the way - my standard jogging route takes me all the way around this palace, including on a narrow footpath through the trees on the hillside. Guess I have to wait for the snow to melt some before I use this route again.</div>
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Turned out to be one of the largest snow falls on record. Seoul sure doesn't seem to know how to handle the snow, given that I didn't see a single snow plow while I was out (though I did see a single sanding truck, but it wasn't sanding at the time). Most of the secondary roads are just packed down snow (more like ice now than snow).</div>
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Received a new AM/FM/Cassette/CD player as a gift from my company. Well, I did have to pay $20 for it. And it wasn't something I really wanted. Kind of funny, thinking back on it. Raychem Korea gives gifts to its employees on Foundation Day (the anniversary of the day that the company was formed in Korea). I heard about this, but figured I wasn't getting one because I am really a US employee. The person who ran this gift giving was the Admin Manager. We don't have a similar position in the States, so I still really don’t know for sure what his duties are. But one of them is to find out what the employees want for a gift, and arrange for it. But he doesn't speak English that well or he is afraid of me or something, so he never asked me. Somehow or other he decided that the radio was the one for me. Maybe it was the most expensive option, so was fitting of my position? Maybe the girls in the office felt I need a CD player (I have an AM/FM/Cassette player, but no CD player except my laptop)? For whatever reason, it was chosen as my gift and I was given it. Then I was told that it was over the budget for gifts, so I owed about $20. Oh, the final kicker is that I can't take the radio home with me when I return to the states - it runs off of 220 volts.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-38426242135950536152001-01-05T12:27:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:30:28.932-07:00Asia Update #22 - misc. catching up<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I am back in Korea after 10 days in the States. I was able to return home for the holidays. Spent the time catching up with friends and family, getting to know my bikes again, and enjoying being able to speak English.</div>
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Did get photos developed from an underwater camera we had in Hawaii. Here are some of the better pictures:</div>
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This is one of the 4 or 5 sea turtles we saw roaming about Hanema Bay. Beautiful, graceful creatures. Quite large, also, with a shell that had to be a good 2 feet long.</div>
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A sea snake. It was hard to take his picture because he kept swimming towards me.</div>
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This guy also kept coming too close to get a picture of. Sure wasn't shy. I guess people often feed the fish, causing them to lose their fear of man.</div>
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This one is from my hotel in Japan. I stopped there for a few days on the way to Hawaii. The air was pretty clear, allowing me to get my first look at Mt. Fuji in the distance.</div>
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I will be here for a few weeks before heading to northern Japan, the back to the States, and probably on to Germany from there. I should have some good fodder to write about in all of this.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-73930962151683593012000-12-11T12:19:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:21:32.597-07:00Asia Update #21 - 2 rental cars, 2 backpacks, 0 wallets<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Went to Hawaii for a well needed 5-day vacation. A good friend from the States came and met me there. Actually, she is a bit more than just a good friend, but I'll save details about that for a later message…</div>
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Had many very good times, and one especially bad experience. At the end of day 2 we stopped at Pali Point lookout vista point. Jumped out of the car with the camera to take some pictures. The mountains in Hawaii are relatively young, so they have spectacular angular formations to them, covered with lush, tropical vegetation. The vista point was a hundred yards away, so we walked over. Took some pictures and then returned within 10 minutes. I walked up to the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. I thought to myself "Damn, I forgot to lock it. Good thing nothing happened". Opened the door and found a roll of bagels on the floor of the front seat (I bought bagels to bring back to Asia with me, and had left them in the back seat). That wasn't right. Looked in the back seat and found that the backpack I had bought was gone. In the 10 minutes we were away, someone had picked the door lock, opened the door, grabbed the bag, and drove away. Amazingly fast.</div>
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Turned out we made it real easy for him. We had left most everything we needed in the bag to make it real easy for him to grab and go. Particularly, both of our wallets (complete with credit cards, cash, drivers licenses, etc.), my US cell phone, some suntan lotion (in case he has to sit in the sun while waiting for his next mark), etc. And we had left the bag on the floor of the back seat, in plain site.</div>
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How do I know it was a him? He went for a bit of a spending spree that evening with my credit cards, but not with my friend's.</div>
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I have never been a big fan of American Express cards because of their high costs and all, but now I am quite glad to be a member. We had some cash and traveler's checks back in the hotel, but not a lot. Definitely would have put a crimp on our vacation to have to live off of that. We were able to get a replacement Amex card and cash the next day. This definitely saved the vacation.</div>
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The lock picking broke the lock, so we had to return the car. Hertz didn't have another Mustang Convertible (bummer - sure was nice to drive around with the top down), so we had to settle for a 2001 Explorer with 800 miles on it.</div>
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This type of thing definitely makes you go through a lot of what ifs. What if we had brought the bag with us to the vista point? Things would have been much better. What if my passport was in the bag? Things would have been much worse (I likely could not have returned to Asia for a while, let alone have been able to get a replacement Amex card). But that all doesn't matter - what happened is that some guy got a nice Xmas present off of us and we made the best of a bad situation.</div>
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We definitely put this behind us and moved on to have a great time. Had to waste about a day getting everything sorted out (closing credit cards, getting the Amex card, buying another backpack to carry stuff, etc.) but once that was done we went back to vacationing. We did find time to:</div>
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<li>snorkel at Hanema Bay (picture above), where we saw many amazing fish and a few very large sea turtles. We bought a disposable underwater camera, so will hopefully have some pictures soon</li>
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<li>go to a Luau so that we can eat way too much food and watch Polynesian dancing</li>
<li>drink more than a few tropical drinks (with umbrellas in them, of course)</li>
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<li>see the Arizona Memorial (which was incredibly touching)</li>
<li>lay in the sun at Waikiki Beach and at the hotel's pool</li>
<li>and hike in a rain forest.</li>
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Of course, we did keep the backpack with us at all times…</div>
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Sucked to go back to Seoul. It was 85°F and sunny in Hawaii and I spent 5 days wearing shorts and sandals. Returned to Seoul to find it 22°F. Sure brought me back to reality quickly.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-55348173383219286282000-12-02T12:16:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:17:18.633-07:00Asia Update #20 - Counting<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Counting in Korea seems confusing to me. Koreans have their first birthday on the day they are born, so their age is 1 or 2 years older than we are. They say that they start counting the day they are conceived. How do they know what day they are conceived on? And why is the Korean child's gestation time 52 weeks instead of 40 weeks like in America? I checked and the Japanese and Chinese do not use this method, so this seems to be a Korean thing.</div>
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Went to a cash machine to get money out. I want to take out 100,000 won (about $80). Go through the process - select cash withdrawal, swipe card, enter my PIN, and then it gets to where I choose the amount. Has numbers listed in various increments up to 70. I figure these are in thousands, so my option appears to be 70,000 won max. Not as much as I wanted, but 70,000 will do. Hit that and wait a long time as the machine clunks and creaks. Then the receipt pops out and the door opens and in front of me is this huge wad of bills. Turns out the 70 meant seventy 10,000 won bills. Way more than I wanted. Kind of like a cash machine in the states not asking you how much money you want, but how many $20 bills to give you.</div>
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Americans base our numbers around ,000 increments. Thousand, million, billion, trillion, etc. - each has 3 zeros more than the last. Koreans don't seem to do this. For example, when I watch an English language TV show with Korean subtitles, I will hear they say 6 million, but see printed in the subtitles '60' and then some Korean character which must mean 100,000.</div>
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Koreans (and most Asians at that) count with their hands different than we do. Americans start with a closed fist and point out a finger at a time to count, with the pointer finger first and their thumb last. So a 2 would be pointer finger and middle finger stretched out (the British way of saying 'piss off'). Koreans start with an open hand and pull in a finger to count, starting with their thumb. So a 2 for them is the middle, ring, and pinkie outstretched, and the others curled in (kind of like the OK sign). I asked one of my coworkers to count to 2 with her hand and I did the same with mine and took a picture of this (the Koreans already must think I am nuts, so my request probably didn't surprise them)…</div>
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The Korean method does allow them to count to 20 with their hands. 1 through 5 is as I described. 6 through 10 can either be the other hand in the same manner, or the same hand in the reverse (6 is the pinkie outstretched, 7 would be pinkie and ring finger, etc.). An American would have to pull their shoes off to get past 10 (or more likely just give up).</div>
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There may not be too many updates in December. Have a 5 day vacation coming up and will be back in California for the Holidays, not leaving me much time in Asia to be experiencing things.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-61271996754513075122000-11-25T12:09:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:11:10.427-07:00Asia Update #19 - Hairy Crabs?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
I am back in China and am continuing to expand my culinary repertoire. Hairy crabs, pigs ears, escargot (Chinese style), cow stomach, more snake, etc. The Chinese sure do not seem to waste much when it comes to food - if a part of an animal is edible, they eat it.</div>
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Had the hairy crabs for Thanksgiving (both lunch and dinner), plus for lunch on Friday. They literally are crabs with hair on them. Hearing about them, I pictured a crab which had gone to the hair club for men. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad - the hair is mostly just on their legs, plus a large patch on their claws. These crabs only are available for 2 months out of the year for some reason, and we are in the middle of that period. So just about every restaurant has specials for them. They taste similar to the crabs we have in the states, though perhaps a little more tender meat in them. Cooked by steaming them. The style of eating is just as messy as we are in the states - and perhaps even more so. No shell cracker or little fork to work with, just your chopsticks, fingers, and mouth. I made a bit of a mess.</div>
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Ok, here's some food that will probably gross some of you out. Not so much because it is gross, but because of emotional attachments we sometimes have for the animal. I was surprised when this showed up on the table today - didn't think it was on the Chinese menu (but it is on the Korean menu, though I hadn't seen it yet). The meat tasted a bit lamb. So, what was it? Dog soup.</div>
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Had some Cabernet Sauvignon from a Chinese vineyard. It was pretty obvious that they don't serve wines in China much - it took three waitresses to figure out the bottle opener. And the wine was served in beer glasses. Overall the wine wasn't bad, though not one I'd look for outside of China. Very smooth - kind of like a Beaujolais Neauvous.</div>
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What am I doing in China on Thanksgiving, instead of eating way too much turkey and stuffing and watching Dallas attempt to play Football? Good question. I needed to come here for work and checked my schedule for the next available time. Forgot to cross check against the US holiday schedule (I am still a US employee, so get US holidays) so didn't realize I was supposed to be off until after I had booked the trip. Bummer. I am considering taking a comp day or two to make up for me missing my holiday.</div>
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Interesting, the stereotype of Chinese is that they eat a lot of rice. But for most meals, we haven't had any rice. Have eaten Chinese food each day. Various vegetable and meat dishes, and usually a soup. Just no rice, as we would serve them at Chinese restaurants in the States. Guess having rice is an Americanization of Chinese food.</div>
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Did do some sightseeing to an Ching or Ming dynasty (the guys showing me around where not sure which) emperor's garden. Nice place. Lots of interesting architecture and such. Did also do some shopping and bought some souvenirs and Xmas gifts at great prices. Also bought a painting for my wall in Korea.</div>
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It is amazing how the Chinese use bicycles for basic transportation. Items which we would deliver by truck, they deliver by bicycle. Caught a few on film, but missed some of the best ones. Probably the most loaded I saw was a single speed tricycle loaded with 10 water bottles (similar in size to a US 5 or 6 gallon bottle). That is about 100 kilos/200 lbs. of water. Platform pedals and a heavy, single speed bike. Fred or Bob - let's see you do that on the next Pumpkin Ride. Here's a shot of a guy delivering electronics…</div>
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Flight here sucked. Thinking of it, just about every flying experience I've had to, from, and within China has been pretty bad. Crowded planes, other passengers not following the standard flying etiquette, concern about getting bumped or getting delayed by the bureaucracy, etc. Part of the fun of international travel, I guess. Isn't making me put China on the top of my list of places where I'd want to travel to.</div>
California Kayaker Magazinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01263443398462972771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4962142270803328374.post-39522396584202705062000-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:002015-09-25T12:08:43.478-07:00Asia Update #18 - Japan again<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
Hello from Tokyo, Japan. Spending a week here visiting customers and training our new sales guys.</div>
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I go to Japan and what do we eat for the first few days - western food. Which is too bad, considering that I really like Japanese food. Had dinner at McDonalds on Sunday when I got in (went with one of our sales guys, and his little army of kids - I owed him and his family dinner, and it was the only place he felt comfortable taking them to). Pasta for lunch on Monday. Went to a Tex-Mex pub for dinner that night (and watched a band playing Hawaiian music). Chinese style food for lunch on Tuesday. Finally got out to a sushi bar on Tuesday night. Here's a picture from it… Much like the sushi bars we have in the States (except that you have to order in Japanese…).</div>
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Did get more Japanese food after that. This included a traditional Japanese breakfast, which looked more like something I'd have for dinner than for breakfast - had a bowl of rice, some cooked beef, a soup, etc. Even went to lunch one day at Denny's, where I ordered a rice bowl of unagi (eel) and some udon - not stuff you see at Dennys in the States.</div>
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Most of the nights here involved too much alcohol and not enough sleep. The Asian culture definitely places a premium on entertaining guests from out of town. In the US, when someone comes from out of town, it is hard to find someone to go to dinner with them. People would rather go home and spend time with their family (or in my case, get out for a night ride). In Asia, you automatically assume that you will be spending the evening with the guests and not get home until late. And this is after a 10 hour day (Asians average about 200 more hours of work a year than Americans). Seems like they wouldn't be able to spend much time with their families (maybe that's why they do it?).</div>
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Tuesday night (the sushi night) we went to one of the seedier parts of the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. Lots of prostitutes, pimps, people handing out fliers for various strip shows, etc. In this way it was somewhat similar to what we saw in Thailand, though a bit more conservative than in Thailand. The area had more buildings and neon lights, as opposed to open bars (explained by Tokyo actually having winters, unlike Thailand). Here's a picture from it…</div>
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My mountain biking buddies will probably get a kick out of this - there is a deliver service in Japan called "Endo Express". Saw a truck with this written on the sides. Couldn't get the camera out in time to take a picture. Cool name - just too bad it isn't the name of a bicycle or motorcycle courier company…</div>
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