Monday, even though it was a holiday, we were up and at 'em early for a morning trip to Zushi. We were tagging along with our Aussie friends, Alex and Linda, to their favorite spot, Bill's, owned and operated by Sydney celebrity chef/cooking show host/cookbook author, Bill Granger. As they explained to us, in Sydney, much to the credit of Bill Granger's restaurants, Sunday breakfast is the new "Saturday dinner" where friends meet for very long meals to catch up and socialize. Alex and Linda are both members of the Royal Australian miltary (Alex is Navy, Linda is Army) doing an 'exchange' program with the US Navy - and just "good blokes."
Zushi is a beach/resort town about 20 miles away (on the "ocean side" of our little inlet of land - we live on the "Tokyo Bay side" for those interested in Japanese geography...), Zushi is home to surfers, scuba divers and summer homes - including an Imperial Family summer home not far away. Obviously, this time of year, it is quiet on the beach with the exception of a handful of surfers who were enjoying the good waves. For some reason, surfing has been a theme of the weekend... hmmm...
Our breakfast was delicious - ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter and bananas with maple syrup and outstanding fruit drinks. Tasty! Bill's has a great view of the surf and was a great way to start the day.
After fighting the crush of Tokyo rush hour commuters, eating on the fly and getting lost because someone (that would be me) forgot to bring the map to the club, J. and I made it to Shibuya O-East in plenty of time for the Donovan Frankenreiter show. It was awesome!
If you aren't familiar with him, Donovan Frankenreiter is NOT a Munich symphony conductor - despite that name. In fact, quite the opposite - he is a Hawaiian surfer-musician who plays funky, upbeat music that is the cure for any winter blues. Special thanks to our friend, Kerry, a former resident of the Islands, for insisting we catch this show. It was a fun time and without sounding overly corny, you can't help but be in a good mood after seeing him. And we all have to be a little envious of a guy whose found a way to make a very solid living through surfing and music. I expect him to live until he's 180 years old because he seems to have mastered the "good life"...
Here's a video clip from his prior visit to Shibuya/Tokyo/Japan performing "It Don't Matter"...
Sunday night, J. and I along with a horde of friends, hit Tokyo for the evening. We had a great dinner at Fujimamas near Harajuku station. The chef is a Lubbock, TX, native and the food is described as "East-West Fusion" - very, very tasty and a very cool place. The restaurant is in an old tatami mat factory. http://www.fujimamas.com/tokyo.html
Finally getting around to posting our photos from Hong Kong. J. and I met in HK last week (Thanksgiving Week) - she arrived by ship and I by air. We're such jet-setters...
We had a great week exploring such a unique city that is totally vertical in every way. Tall, modern skyscrapers as far as the eye can see, Victoria's Peak rising behind the downtown core, a 2.5 km public 'up' escalator to get you where you need to go - and the ole "walking up hill, both ways" or at least it seems that way.
To me, HK feels like a chunk of London broke away in some seismic accident, floated around before landing in Asia (obviously that has a lot to do with its colonial past). The Soho area is more like a London neighborhood than some areas of London! Except more hills...
An old friend from DC, Chip, happened to be in HK for work last week while we were there so it was great to see him. He lived in the city as a kid so he was our unofficial navigator, tour guide and general answer man for much of the week - even when he just made things up as he went. I arrived late Monday night and J. pulled in Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday morning, my phone rings early and its Chip. He says, "Meet me at the escalator at 10AM and we'll hike up to top of Victoria's Peak." I oblige thinking this won't be too taxing. Well, I was wrong. To say the trails and roads to the top are steep is an understatement. There were times I think my kneecaps were touching the tips of my toes I was leaning so far forward going up the road. And I thought my cardio training had prepared me - not. But the views from the top were well worth it - as you'll see from the photos.
After Jill arrived, we spent the rest of the week eating great food at the many restaurants - Italian, Chinese, Egyptian, Spanish and a few ice cream stops too - in Soho, shopping a bit (and then some), being hosted for a great dinner by J.'s generous friends (and HK residents), Geoff and Lana, exploring the city, another trip up Victoria's Peak - this time on the funicular/tram - and venturing across the harbor to Kowloon which is "colorful" to say the least. Oh, and spending about 2 days looking for postcards which must be against the law because they are IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere in the city.
Great week, great city and definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Asia.
Hiroshima... I think, for any American, a visit there comes with a certain amount of unease - whether realized or not. Is it proper to even visit such a place with the history left from WWII and the Bomb? How will the local citizens view us? Am I overreacting altogether???
I don't think I was anxious beforehand, but as soon as stepping from the train, I felt it - ableit mildly. Were people staring? Were they going to be friendly? However, these feelings passed quickly as people smiled and welcomed us at the hotel, restaurants and museums without so much as a second glance. Yep, I was overreacting.
No matter how many museums I visited or monuments I saw, its still hard to get my head around the devastation that happened there. To see that city now and think that just over 60 years ago, 150,000 - 200,000 people, the majority of its population, died suddenly or within weeks after the Atomic Bomb - while the city infrastructure was leveled in one morning - defies all imagination.
My take-away from the visit was that the city now is a credit to everyone, both inside and outside of Japan, who played a role in its rebuilding.
Today, it is a beautiful city full of activity, commerce and warm people. There are urban parks and open spaces (a rarity in many Japanese cities), beautiful river fronts full of cafes, bike paths and high-end residences and a downtown full of everything from a Gucci store next to a mom-and-pop yakitori stand to a modern baseball stadium and the International Peace Park.
Hiroshima is a keeper. Great city and worth another visit someday!
Our other day there led us to Miyajima Island, a beautiful natural wonder about 1/2 mile off the coast of Hiroshima (and a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The island is known as the "resting place of the gods" due to its natural beauty and peacefulness. It felt like we'd left the 21st century and entered an old Japanese village - with deer and monkeys raoming freely on the streets. There are ancient shrines, pagodas, the famous Otorii Gate and village merchant shops along the shoreline, while at the top, Mt. Misen is home to ancient Buddhist temples surrounded by medevial forests and fantastic views of the Seto Inland Sea. We explored the island for hours and I now know why the Buddhist monks liked to retreat here for meditation and enlightenment. You'd have to be downright evil not to feel the peace and tranquility as you climb its trails and take long views of the sea and mountains in the distance.
Last night (Saturday), J. and I took off - along with trusty traveling companion, Deb - for a bit of an odyssey. We were in search of a unique restaurant that had been recommended to us. We were told it was deep in the woods of Mt. Tokao, about an hour west of Tokyo. Well, we departed a little past 1PM thinking that would give us plenty of time to arrive in the area, do some exploring and make our dinner reservation of 7PM. We made it by 7PM, but without too much time to spare. Did I mention getting there is an odyssey??? There were 4 different train transfers, including one delayed train, and a bus ride before we ever saw the restaurant. Literally, if you were to look for this town on the Tokyo subway/train map, just go to the very LAST stop and you'll find it.
Was it worth it, you ask? Absolutely! Easily one of the most beautiful and unique dining experience I've ever had.
The restaurant - not sure I would even call it a "restaurant" since its more like a small mountain village - is a collection of 39 preserved and renovated Japanese thatched-roof tea houses, farm sheds and other small buildings. Some are for private groups and some are large enough to acomodate multiple tables/parties.
Apparently, the owner of the restaurant buys/collects old buildings, moves them to the site and renovates them for use. They are immaculate - as are the grounds. The gardens surrounding the place are 5 acres of beautiful mountain streams, ponds, Zen gardens and so forth. The wait staff is composed of Japanese ladies in kimono who provide great service and the food is grilled at your table. Just a great dining experience.
Couple of weeks ago, I took off to Shibuya and Harajuku, prominent areas in Tokyo, to roam the streets for the afternoon. As always when in Tokyo, they are fascinating, alive with people and sprinkled with history amongst the modern city life.
Harajuku is famous for the "Harajuku Girls" because of their unique fashion sense. This area has influenced the style-de-jour of college-aged girls with dyed hair, wild clothing and a hipster sort of attitude. Singer Gwen Stefani has popularized this style in a line of clothing and a song about them.
Shibuya is home to that monkey who ran through the train station as well as the "busiest pedestrian crosswalk in the world"... Great area for shopping and people watching.
A few photos from the day below. I checked out the Meji Shrine. Emperor Meji ruled in the early 20th century and was credited with opening Japan to Western ideals and customs. He was the first Emperor to cut off his top-knot and start to dress in Western-style business suits, a very big deal at the time. His shrine memoralizes his life and was rebuilt after WWII.
