YMCA

I'm staying at the YMCA tonight. I was really jealous of the Indian couple that was catching a connecting flight to LA. I wish I could be on that flight rather than spending an evening in HK. It's not really that fun to see sights by oneself. Anyway, I made it here w/o any problems. I chilled a bit in the airport because I wasn't in a rush to get to my hotel. I tried the airport Lost & Found again to see if they had found my glasses. Honestly, I'm surprised somebody stole my prescription lenses. I can see it now, some short, little Chinese man strolling the streets of Hong Kong in them. Or better yet, selling them on the black market as some knock off designer glasses. Fortunately, they're both ugly and cheap, so he shouldn't get much for them.

The YMCA is conveniently located on Kowloon (across from Hong Kong Island). It has a beautiful view of Victoria Harbour and it situated next to the ultra-luxurious Peninsula Hotel. I'm staying in a four-person dormitory (males only) and there's only one person here besides me. He's snoring at the moment—probably doesn't (nor ever will) know that he made my blog. He's a quiet Singaporean kid that's here for one week. The Salisbury, as this YMCA is called, offers a gym, pool, and Internet access—all for a price... I really hate it when I have to pay for daily usage to such normal amenities. But hey, it's only costing me US$40/night and I'm in a convenient location.

If I were to stay at the Peninsula, I'd be dropping close to US$1,000/night for a superior suite. If I really wanted to splurge, I'd have a new Rolls-Royce Phantom take me around the city. All for a petty HK$1,000/hour (yes, hour—it's really not that bad when you compare it to some other exotic cars). Another fragment…oh well. Seriously, this hotel has a fleet of 14 RR's that any hotel guest can use (for a small fortune, of course). I believe it's the largest fleet in the world. (After all, very few people buy this many RRs.) The Peninsula suite would be nice. Maybe the Garden suite—it has its own private elevator.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that YMCA is a great place to stay. The security is great—my closet has a lock and I have a safe inside the closet. I don't have to worry about losing any valuables (although, I've never felt like these bunkmates would steal from me—just taking precautions). OK, enough for now. I'm no longer making any sense in my head.

Delirious Drivel

I've reach the point where writing blog entries has become a bore. It all started when I stopped reading the travel books (beginning with Hong Kong since Yale was the tour guide). The last few days, I really never knew what we were looking at and I didn't get to know the city as well as I did in previous countries. For these reasons, I feel that my last few entries have been more scattered-brained and "random" than past entries. I've also been lazy about uploading pictures. I'll try and get to that tomorrow morning.

So, after the rainstorm, there was a beautiful double rainbow outside the restaurant. My camera didn't pick it up that well.

Here's a list of random memories that I don't really want to write about:

• Body odor in KL, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok (apparently, deodorant hasn't fully penetrated Asia—the same applies with the fork; "they've seen the fork…")
  
• Vapor rub taxi in Bangkok
  
• Natural Healing lady on the river boat in Bangkok
  
• Chinese macdaddy sporting some *bling* in Singapore
  
• Italian lady on shuttle bus at military jungle camp
  
• Pantless Dutchman in the middle of the night (also my neighbor at said military camp)
  
• Kyoto tourist booth girls
  
• Drunk *lesbians* at said jungle camp (or very affectionate ones late at night—possibly just the booze influencing them)
  
• Pachinko idol worshipping in Kyoto
  

I'll probably add to the list as I remember more things.

I totally forgot what I was about to post...let's see if I can remember. Thinking...thinking...got it! There's this light show that goes on every night at 8:00 pm. It takes place over Victoria Harbour. Here's a pic that stole from the YMCA web site. It's better than what my camera could capture. The music that they created isn't very good, though. I think the light show could use some better music.

Vacation Coming to an End

Well, this morning I left the company of Yale and Mackenzie. I can't believe that three weeks have passed. The first week or so passed by very slowly. However, my time in KL and Singapore went by fairly quickly with Hong Kong being just a blur. By the time I reached Thailand, I was exhausted and ready to come home. It's weird to be sitting here on the airplane by myself. For the last 3 weeks, I have always had a passenger with me. It's going to be a little strange this evening relaxing in the hotel in Hong Kong alone.

The drive to the airport was a bit interesting. I crossed a few lanes of traffic and jumped into a cab just as the light turned green. All I said was "airport." The man said something in Thai and I stared blankly back at him. I had no idea what he was saying. Maybe he was asking me which airport I wanted to go to. Since I'm not Thai, I hoped that the cabbie would assume that I would be going to the new international airport.

To make the drive even more interesting, it was fun to watch him thread the needle through traffic. Once we hit the expressway, the cabbie started driving as if he had to win a Bangkok F1 race. We flew by cars on the right, then on the left, narrowly making some small gaps in traffic. I wasn't sure why this cabbie was in such a rush, but I felt comfortable sitting in the back seat w/o a seatbelt at speeds in excess of 160 kph (96 mph). (Just so you know, there are no seatbelts in the back of any taxi—only the front seat, which Yale sat in most of the time.)

Just so you know, we got hosed on the way into Bangkok. We paid 700 Baht for a ride into the city. That's more than double the cost of the trip. From my downtown hotel, it cost me 255 Baht + 60 Baht in tolls. I only had a 500 Baht bill, so I ended paying 460 Baht for the whole trip. That's how Thai taxi drivers; if you hand them a 500 Baht or 1,000 Baht bill, they won't give you change. I was fortunate enough to get 100 Baht back from the cabbie. However, I still paid 125 Baht (US$4) more than I should have.

Since I got to the airport with over an hour to spare, I decided to go window shopping. After all, the airport only had designer name stores to shop at (e.g., Gucci, Mont Blanc, E. Zegna, Dior, D&G, etc.). I wasn't sure if Cathay Pacific was going to feed me since it was a short flight, so I stopped in at a Thai café and had some ostrich sausage with white rice. It was scrumptious. Turns out that Cathay did provide a meal (fish, potatoes, tropical fruit, and coconut ice cream).

Bangkok: A New Perspective

I'm sorry that the past few posts have had an anti-Thailand point of view. I wasn't in the best mood when I first got to see Bangkok. Had I experienced the same events under different conditions, my outlook would most likely have been different. Anyway, Sunday was wonderful. Having started my recovery period, I woke up refreshed and ready to go. The English ward began at 9:00 am, so we decided to leave at 8:00 am (since we had been late to Church the last two weeks). Fortunately, Yale was able to successfully navigate the way. It was nice to be in an ex-pat ward. It felt very much like a ward in the US (even though its members came from all over the world). Today's program included several youth speakers, some of which were quite hilarious. One boy in particular had us laughing most of the time. Also, a funny thing happened today. I ran into a girl I knew from BYU. She and I were in the same ward 4 years ago. Seriously, only in the Church do such random meetings occur. I wish I had known she was here because she could've shown us around. She spent a few years in Thailand and speaks enough Thai to get around.

After Church, we decided to head back to the hotel and relax for a few hours. We learned (the hard way) that being outside for an entire day (with oppressive heat) is a bad idea. I caught up on my blog and then napped for two hours. It was wonderful. Today, we only planned a few activities: a river cruise, a visit to Wat Arun (some temple), and dinner at an Indian restaurant.

Supposedly, the temple is beautiful to see at sunset, so we took the river boat up to the temple. That was quite the experience. I don't think the man driving the boat stops for more than 20 seconds at each stop. We actually missed our stop because we thought the man was parking the boat. (Do you "park" a boat? I don't know.) So, we got off at the next stop and walked back. On the way back, we strolled through a street market in all its glory: illegal CDs/movies, cheap trinkets, nauseating smells, etc. Sadly, we arrived at the temple and it began to pour. A T-storm rolled in, so we didn't have the chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset. We quickly toured the temple when the rain let up for a few minutes. Nevertheless, we were soaked to the bone.

Having visited the temple, we took the river boat up the river even farther and began to search for our evening establishment. The Tuk Tuk drivers kept trying to get us to ride in their motorized tricycles. I declined. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't too far from the ferry landing, so we quickly found it. As the Fodor's book stated, it was delicious and cheap! I ordered some chicken curry, roti (smaller than naan, but the same thing), samosas, and guava juice. The juice was OK (as were the samosas), but the rest was excellent! Best of all, it only cost me US$3. I love Thailand and its food; great food at a great price.

So, Thailand isn't as bad as I thought and Bangkok is bigger than I expected. Today was a good day.

The Three R’s: Relaxation, Rest, and Recovery

Yesterday, I hit a wall. I could no longer sightsee. I had abused my body all week and it finally caught up with me. After eating a hearty lunch, I went back to the hotel and stayed there all afternoon. As I mentioned, the first thing I did was try and rid myself of the terrible headache that I had. Since a movie was on TV, I couldn't fall asleep. (I have this strange problem—I cannot fall asleep during movies. I have to either watch the movie or turn off the TV.) While I semi-watched the movie, Mackenzie was typing away some blog entries on my laptop. After the movie finished, we went downstairs to join Yale. He was reading the news like normal and I just chilled in a seat. I played tech support for a little bit as I helped Mackenzie figure out my computer and I helped Yale with his blog entries.

After taking care of some blogging, I went back upstairs to sleep. Mackenzie was already resting when I arrived, so we had a nap session. Yale eventually returned at approximately 7:00 pm. The nap session felt so good! I was so happy to do absolutely nothing for a whole afternoon. I'm now going to make sure that my next vacation includes a good amount of down time.

Before taking off for dinner, I did my nightly exercise routine; there was no way that I was going to do it at midnight when I returned from watching Pirates. Dinner was pretty good; I ordered some coconut-marinated steak/chicken on skewers. For dessert, I had a banana/cream/chocolate crepe.

I go back and forth about the whole reservation system in Asia. It's nice that I don't have to show up to the movie theater really early to get good seats. Plus, people can't save seats, so I don't have to worry about that either. However, it's nice to be able to pick up movies the same evening and have a good chance of getting good seats. Sometimes, you might have terrible seats (e.g., right side, front row) and there's nothing you can do about it (other than come back another evening).

For the record, don't bother watching Pirates. It's a terrible movie; more entertaining than the second, but still not very good. I was wishing that I could walk out of the theater. The storyline was absolutely ridiculous and what's the deal with Keira Knightley becoming a pirate king? She is still very cute, though.

Turbulent Times in Thailand

I can't even begin to explain what went on today. Even though I was quite tired this morning, I was pleased by the breakfast offered here at the hotel. The staff has been very helpful and courteous. However, I cannot say the same about the taxi drivers in Bangkok. At the present moment, I wish to dust off my feet on them. Yes, those are harsh words for and you may wonder what provokes me to feel so. We started the day by catching the Sky Train (elevated metro) to the local mall; we planned on seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 3 tonight. We then caught a taxi to the Grand Palace, which was fine. However, once we arrived, some men on the street told us that we could not enter because we needed to wear long pants and that it was closed to tourists until 2:00 pm. Somehow, one of them convinced us to use a small vehicle called a Tuk Tuk.

At first, it was lots of fun. The Tuk Tuk was an oversized go-kart with enough room for the three of us. The man also drove recklessly, which added to the adventure. (He swerved in and out of traffic, made illegal turns, drove head on to oncoming traffic, etc.) We did arrive at the first spot just fine. We saw this golden Buddha and the man waited for us. However, before taking us to our second destination, he said that we had to make a few stops at these shops. We didn't know why, so we agreed. The first shop was a custom tailor store. We sat there for a few minutes before jumping back on the Tuk Tuk. He promised us that he was going to take us to the next tourist spot. However, after the first store, he said that we had to make another stop; this time at a jewelry store. We walked around looking at overpriced jewelry and left. Finally, we made it to the second location on our journey. We climbed up the tower and had a good view of the city. Sadly, there wasn't much to see. Bangkok is full of slums and unimpressive buildings. There isn't much of a skyline and after snapping a few shots, we headed back to find our man. He was nowhere to be found. At first, we thought that we walked out onto a different road. We circled the tourist spot and couldn't find the man anywhere. We walked around again. Still nothing...The man had left! I couldn't believe it.

We grabbed another taxi that promised to take us to the Grand Palace. He said that he'd take us there for 20 Baht, if we made some stops. Again, we agreed...Why, I don't know. This man took us back to the same suit shop! I couldn't believe it. He then told us that he had to take us to some Chinese shop. We were back at the same jewelry shop! The people inside couldn't believe that we were back and neither could we. To top it off, I watched from the window as our taxi driver took off! For the second time in one hour, we had been ditched by the taxi driver! I was so ticked off. This time, we found a taxi that agreed to use the meter. He took us back to the Grand Palace and all was well.

Back at the palace, it was now 2:00 pm and we could enter the gates. The same people tried to stop us and tell us that we should take the Tuk Tuk around town. I was ready to tell them off, but I didn't. As we entered the Grand Palace, we found out that we had to wear long pants because we were immodest with our shorts. Mackenzie persuaded us to go into the Grand Palace and I'm glad she did. The grounds were full of several beautiful buildings, including a replica of this ancient Cambodian city (which Yale and Mackenzie will visit in the near future). We took several shots around the palace and its buildings. Yale and Mackenzie even modified their dress because they were getting too hot. Some guards and local Thais did not like it, though; they thought it was disrespectful. By the end of our time at the Grand Palace, I was ready to go.

It was 36 degrees Celsius (close to 97 degrees Fahrenheit), I was soaked, I had a major headache from lack of sleep, and I was starving. I was seriously in a pessimistic mood. Yale and Mackenzie were good sports and put up with my negative attitude. We caught a taxi back to our hotel. Unfortunately for Mackenzie and me, the air did not reach us in the back seat. We just cooked in the back seat while the sun beat upon us. We had the taxi drop us off at the local mall since it had a food court.

The Food Loft (as it was called) was fantastic! Seriously, it ranks in the top 3 places I've eaten this entire trip. As you enter, you're given a tag with a bar code. You have a wide variety of foods to choose from at various stations. You go to a station, ask for what you want, they scan your bar code and the food is prepared. After you're done eating, you go to the exit and pay at the register. Since I was famished, I started with a sausage pizza roll, followed by a strawberry smoothie and Caesar salad. The meal was delicious. Having eaten now, I was ready for a nap.

As soon as I arrived back at the hotel, I popped several aspirin to help get rid of my headache. I rested on the bed and watched the remaining portion of Dukes of Hazard. Before going to eat (at the Food Loft), I told Yale and Mackenzie that I was done for the day. I planned on doing nothing until the movie later that evening.

After the movie…

We decided to grab a cab back to our hotel because we didn't walk from the station. It turned out to be a terrible decision. What should've been a 3-minute ride turned into a 20-minute nightmare. Our cabbie was a complete idiot. He had absolutely no idea where he was going. All we had to do was follow the Sky Train a few blocks, make a left, and we would be there. The man stopped about four times, trying to figure out where our hotel was. Since we didn't speak Thai, we could do nothing to remedy the situation. I grew quite impatient as I was not in the mood for incompetence. We even thought about jumping out of the taxi and not paying the man. However, fear of the Thai government and its judiciary system kept us in the taxi. Finally, the man found our street and dropped us off. I have never been so happy to be at the hotel as I was today.

Bangkok: A Sleepless Night

After my two hour flight turned into a 5 ½ hour flight, I wasn't too excited about exploring Bangkok. I quickly came to learn that traveling days are long and rest is sorely needed by the end of the day. As I came into Bangkok, there wasn't anything too impressive. It has a small downtown and other than that, it looked like a typical SE Asian city, only smaller. I know this doesn't make sense because Bangkok has 9 million people (compared to Singapore's 4.5M and Kuala Lumpur's 1.5M). It's probably because both the other cities have taller (and larger) skylines.

Having made a quick stop at 7-11 for some bottled water, I was ready to hit the sack at 10:00 pm. Unfortunately, I never received an important email that I was expecting, so I had to make an international phone call at 1:30 am (Bangkok time). I set the alarm clock and went to bed. I was out. Next thing I know, I heard the alarm and got up. I was a bit surprised to not see Yale in the room. (He had been downstairs, presumably reading the news on his laptop, when I went to bed.) While semi-disoriented, I walked downstairs where I saw Yale chilling in the hotel lobby. I greeted him and popped open my laptop. To my dismay, it was only 12:30 am! I hadn't moved Yale's alarm clock back one hour. Realizing that I made a mistake, I decided to go back to bed. I told Yale to come along because I knew I wasn't going to hear him knock. (He already got locked out once when I went to bed early in KL.)

Having spoken with Gloria for a few minutes before she got to work, I decided that I would try again around 12:00 pm PDT (2:00 am Bangkok time). I fixed the time on the clock and I set the alarm for the new wake-up hour. This time, I totally spaced the alarm. I was utterly exhausted. Fortunately, I randomly woke up at 2:48 am. Thinking that I only had 12 minutes to make this phone call before having to make a phone call to New York, I quickly put on a shirt and hustled downstairs. By now, the lobby receptionist must have thought I was crazy. This was the second time in the middle of the night that I came down with my laptop and headset. Besides, who wakes up at 3:00 am to make a phone call? Only a crazy nut like myself.

I tried calling Gloria again because I wanted some advice, but I knew I'd only reach her voicemail (poor cell phone reception in her office building). I called mom to see if she had Gloria's work number, but she did not. I then started looking up my return flight information so mom could pick me on Tuesday. I was definitely moving slowly; it took me a while to get the flight number. I then called Diane to clear up some logistical things.

I apologize to all whom I spoke with and/or left messages. I was very frustrated/annoyed because I could not get the information that I needed. Things were not going according to plan and I wasn't thrilled about being up at 3:00 am.

I hope I didn't offend anybody that I communicated with (via phone, IM, email, etc.), last night. It was about 3:20 am when I made a call to my work travel agency. To my dismay, my name wasn't on the approved list for this summer, so I couldn't book the flight that I needed to. I quickly shot off an email to my work contact (I could have called, but she prefers email—she responds faster to this as she doesn't always pick up the phone). Realizing that it was now 4:30 pm EDT on the Friday before Memorial Weekend, I had no hope of receiving an email. I explained my situation to the travel agent and she assured me that it would be OK if I booked a same-day flight on Tuesday. So, hopefully, my name gets on the list by Tuesday morning. Everything is closed on Monday (which didn't occur to me until I spoke to mom at 2:50 am) and I will be flying from Hong Kong to LAX, so I have no way do anything until I arrive back in the States.

By the time climbed back into bed, it was pushing 4:00 am. I knew that Mackenzie would be awaking in the next two hours and that by 7:00 am all hopes of sleeping would be gone. Next thing I knew, it was 7:00 am...

Trek to Thailand

If this gets posted, it means that I didn't die on my way to Thailand. My plane got sent back to the bay because of some problems with no ETA in sight. We don't have any air conditioning and there are close to 300 people aboard this plane, so we may either die of heat stroke or die somewhere in SE Asia as we fly. I send my love to all my friends and family.

On a happier note, I was able to do a session in the Hong Kong temple this morning. By the time I arrived, I was dripping in sweat. I know that I talk about sweating all the time, but it's the one thing that is constant here. If you exert any small amount of energy, you will be dripping within minutes. My shirt was soaked through. Having had another late night (trying to keep it up for the entire week), I was exhausted, so I listened to most of the video presentation rather than watching it. It's nice that I can travel to almost any part of the world and still attend the same Church: same meetings, same feeling. There's always this instant connection with the people.

Once the session was over, we grabbed some grub (nobody really had a decent breakfast) in a nearby mall. After last night's adventurous meal, we were in the mood for something a little bit more mainstream. I headed over to Yoshinoya (Japan's "Teriyaki Stix") while Mackenzie and Yale ate at McDonald's. It seems like those two will get along great—both don't normally eat breakfast and they both are interested in the same types of restaurants. In fact, out of the last three meals we've had, they've ordered the same thing twice (both had linguine for lunch yesterday and chicken nuggets/fries today for lunch).

[UPDATE: we now have air, so there's only one more possibility of dying—maybe more once we land in Thailand]

Having lost my eyeglasses at the airport on Wednesday, we decided to see if they had made their way to Lost & Found. What's funny is that while trying to find L&F, we nearly became lost. I asked this Chinese janitor where L&F was and she pointed to the exit sign. I told her "No, I know it's on this floor," and she responded that it was "outside." Fortunately, there was a map nearby, so it didn't take long to find it.

Once I arrived at L&F, I asked the gentleman if any eyeglasses had been turned in during the last 48 hours. He furiously typed away at his computer and gave me a resounding "No." It was hilarious because the three of us just sat there and stared back at the man, not knowing what to say/do next. Then I grumbled "Who on earth steals a pair of old prescription eyeglasses?!" One thing to note about my journey to find L&F...It was located on the office floor. However, I walked past a long hallway that had an 8' wall on one side. Lots of noise was coming from the other side. I was very tempted to pop my head over the wall. We joked about how this was where the fluff of Cathay disappeared and turned into a sweat shop. It sounded like they were going through luggage, though. Maybe Rosy can shed some light on the subject.

This little side trip to L&F nearly made me late for the airplane. We were waiting in the customs lines when Yale disappeared. Apparently, they opened up another booth and Yale jumped to the front of the line. Mackenzie and I were totally caught off guard, and by the time we knew what was going on, there were 20 people in front of us. So, we waved goodbye to Yale as he walked through security. It was 5 minutes till 2:00 pm (boarding began at 2:00) and we still had to make our way through customs and security. While waiting in line, Customs opened up another line. Again, Mackenzie and I were unaware until it was too late. It didn't matter too much since I was near the front of the line by that time. After going through security, we ran towards the airport tram. We were gate 67 of 80.

After stepping off the tram, we tried to hurry past people, but the gods were against us. Both escalators were blocked with businessmen oblivious to our plight. I wanted to curse at them, but I held my tongue. We got to the top of the stairs and we looked at the sign for our gate, "Gates 60-80." Yes, only a little ways to go. Well, Gate 67 was still about a quarter mile away. Mackenzie made a breakaway as if she was ready to make the winning goal in her final lacrosse game. I could hardly refrain from laughing as I jogged behind her. I also was wearing my Rainbows and had coins jingling around, so I tried to not look completely ridiculous. People must have thought we were crazy Americans.

I guess that's it. It looks like this plane will be delayed at least another hour (already been on here one hour). Oh, so while walking to the Lost & Found, we came across this digital scale. I came in at a meager 75.5 kg (166.1 lbs.) and Yale weighed in at a hefty 77.5 kg (170.5 lbs.). Maybe the name Fatty Fernando doesn't apply to me after all. For the record, Mackenzie declined the opportunity to weigh herself.

Walking

Today was reminiscent of Japan. We walked all day long. After hitting the semi-early bus (at 9:00 am), we descended from our mountain retreat and decided that Fatty Fernando needed to burn some calories. The first leg of our journey took us to a festival celebrating the gods. We saw a traditional lion dance, which was pretty cool. After spending a few minutes there, we headed over to Victoria Park and Causeway Bay. While VP may be considered a park, there is no grass, just concrete. Here, people gather together to play basketball and soccer. Nearby was Causeway Bay where Times Square is located (which has been duplicated in many other Asian countries—the most famous one and original—is in NYC). There, I snapped a photo of Mackenzie next to a small replica of the Eifel Tower (she served her mission in Paris).

I'm probably getting everything confused because all these Cantonese names (not mentioned b/c I have no idea how to spell them) mean nothing to me. Yale talked about a new 13-story building that the Church building in a ritzy part of town, so we checked it out. It's a beautiful building. I am envious of the area authorities that have two-story penthouses on the top floor (well, I'm not sure if they're really two stories, but they're pretty nice). There were a ton of missionaries hanging out at the building. I guess the Church sold off all of its buildings (other than the temple property) and moved all the chapels into one location. Talk about party central for missionaries. I was lucky to see other missionaries at most once per week.

Afterwards, we took a train across to Kowloon Island, which gives you gorgeous view of the Hong Kong skyline. It's pretty impressive. Lo and behold that today is Buddha's birthday, so we thought we'd say hello. The HK Convention Center was having a major party for him, so we jumped on the ferry and headed across the harbor once again. Sadly, it was standing room only and we didn't even get into the actual room where the festivities were going on. Oh yeah, we were the only non-Chinese people there. I'd say the only white people, but technically speaking, I'm not white. I was happy to buy a mango soft serve (other choice was a tofu flavored soft cone). Check out the sweaty picture...That's pretty much how we looked all day. Not too impressive.

Since the birthday party was a drag, we went back across to the harbor to check out some more shopping districts. There's a street called Ladies Street. We told Mackenzie that it was time for our feet to have a break while she went and shopped. It turns out that Yale and I bought ties and Mackenzie picked up a belt for US$0.25. The picture in my "Adventures in HK" post was taken here.

Oh yeah, at some point we ran into an ice rink and a movie cinemas. We thought about going to see the new Pirates movie, but the only seats left were for the first row (on the side). Yeah, Asia has some fixation with reserved seating at the movies. LAME! The one good thing was that the temple was just a block or two away.

The Hong Kong Temple is beautiful (new fav word, if you haven't noticed); much better than the Tokyo Temple. The grounds are well landscaped and I love the marble on the building. We're thinking of doing a session in the morning before flying to Thailand. I've been looking forward to this, so hopefully we make it on time (Yale and I have a tendency to be late for Church-related events).

We had planned on being out all day, but we couldn't wait around for the 8:00 pm light show. Mackenzie was becoming delusional (jet lag kicked in by late afternoon) and both Yale and I were exhausted. I wanted to eat something local and authentic, so Yale found us some hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint. Boy, did we get more than we bargained for!

I wanted to try something exotic, so I ordered the eel and shrimp rice bowl. Mackenzie was a little more conservative and got the braised pork while Yale stuck to the spicy chicken bowl. It turns out that Mackenzie's pork was disgusting! It was all rubbery (read: fatty and nasty). Yale's chicken didn't look too bad until he noticed a chicken's foot in the bowl! My eel ended up being the most delicious of the three. I can say this because I ate part of the chicken's foot (Diane, is this on the same level as the cow's tongue?) and I ate a piece of the braised pork. We took a video of me chomping on the chicken's foot; Mackenzie tried not to puke a she heard the crushing noise of me biting through the bone.

Mackenzie's asleep, so I'll post pics in the morning. Here's a YouTube video of me eating chicken's feet.

Ode to Ian

Saw this add in Singapore and immediately thought of Ian. Did a 10-minute photoshop on his face.

Untitled Entry

This trip has been full of wonderful experiences—too many to list off. In Japan, there were the geishas (ok, just girls dressed in kimonos); Singapore had the man w/ bling (diamond earrings and a nice watch); Hong Kong had the funny taxi driver (as did Singapore). If only more of you could be here to experience for yourselves the craziness of SE Asia. I can't believe that my adventures are coming to an end in just 5 days. It was good while it lasted, but I'm ready to get back to real life.

Adventures in HK

Hong Kong is crazy. Everywhere you go; there are people...and buildings. This city is addicted to tall buildings; there are countless old, public housing units that are 20-30 stories high. I knew that HK was in desperate need of land, but they weren't kidding. Most of the area is mountainous (which I had no idea—I thought it was flat like most other big cities), so development space is hard to come by. In recent years, Hong Kong had reclaimed land (by dumping lots of earth into the harbor) and expanded its boundaries. Still, the city is bursting at its seams.

The first night, Yale and I had a couple of hours to kill before our friend, Mackenzie landed (she was doing the dreaded trans-Pacific flight from LAX to HK). So, we first stopped by our hostel to get settled. We ended up being there for a few hours because it's located on the top on some freakin' mountain—no joke. You'd never guess that we actually were on Hong Kong Island. It's in BFE. Just imagine some jungle camp located in the mountains and you pretty much have our hostel. It's a bare bones operation here. Our room consists of two bunk beds (with little padding) and a piece of foam (as Mackenzie would call it) for pillows. I laughed when she said that because most of the places we've stayed at have a similar pillow (they try and call it a memory foam pillow, but it's not). To make it even better, the hostel has a shuttle service that runs every two hours. So, if we miss the bus (which we did since it was leaving as our taxi pulled up), you have to hang out at the hostel. I guess you could call a taxi, but it'd be quite expensive since it's in the middle of nowhere.

Well, Yale had a craving for Pizza Hut (which sounded good), so we went on a hunt to find one in HK. Yale remembered one by the old Church (now a museum). He neglected to mention that we had to climb a mountain to get to it. At first, we stumbled across Hollywood Road and the nightclub district. Yale was totally disoriented—he was like "I don't know this part of town. I never spent time here!" Eventually, he brought us to the mid-level escalator, which is exactly that. Since people live up in the hills and work down by the water, HK built an escalator that takes you down the mountain in the morning and brings you back up in the evening. You could always hire a Sherpa and yak to take you up, but that might be expensive and smelly.

By the time we reach Pizza Hut, we were both dripping in sweat (something that has become second nature). I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into a piece of Meat's Lovers (with stuff crust) and it nearly burned my mouth. Yale carried the pizza back down to the station where we feasted while waiting for Mackenzie. Her flight was late, so I took a nap while listening to my iPod. Yale watched The Office on his iPod. I joked about how funny it would be to totally let Mackenzie walk on by w/o us noticing (I couldn't see her because I was laying across a few seats and Yale was looking down at his iPod).

Once Mackenzie arrived with her multi-day backpack, we decided to hike up to the peak. And when I say hike, I mean that we took the electric tram to the top. It was like the San Francisco trolley on steroids. That little tram climbed a 48 degree hillside with no problems. The view from the top was incredible. You had this beautiful view of most of the city. My camera really doesn't do it justice.

To top of the night, when our taxi driver dropped us off at the hostel, he told us we were "f***in crazy" for staying there.

Fatty Fernando

Monday night, I happened to catch The Biggest Loser on TV. It reminded me of my precarious situation. Eating out 2-3 times a day, exercising very little, and getting little sleep (at least this week--but it was worth the couple of late nights). I was on the verge of joining the 300+ lb. club! I've been wondering how many calories I pack in with each meal that I eat (they're definitely not very healthy).

Having been inspired my "healthy" friends, I decided to modify my daily regime. Normally, I do 200 push-ups and 200 crunches/leg lifts (they combined form) a day. I'm yet to run into a real gym. My last resort (Downtown East) had a "Fitness Center" that was reminiscent of the exercise options found around Santa Margarita Lake.

Needless to say, I really don't have any way to work out. So, I think I'm going to add another 100 crunches/leg lifts per day and possibly increase the number of push-ups. I guess I could pick up my luggage and military press that (it weights close to 23 kg). There's always the option of running...Yeah right. Who am I kidding? I don't run in the US, so why would I run in Asia?! Besides, I justify it by walking all day.

Does anybody have some good home workout routines? I still have 8 days to incorporate it into my schedule.

Shopping in Singapore

If there is one thing that I read about Singaporeans, they love shopping and eating—which works out great for me because I love to engage in both of these activities. The first thing we did after leaving Church was eat. As I previously mentioned, we left Malaysia with no money and Yale only got enough money for us to make it to our place on Saturday. We skipped lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Needless to say, I had the tiger in me (inside joke, sorry to those of you who don't get it). We walked from the Church down to Orchard Road, an area of town known for extravagant shopping. We found a Tex-Mex grill, so we stopped in for a delicious and inexpensive meal. For S$20, I ate soup and Antonio (pork) chops, had some strawberry ice cream for dessert, and had a refillable soft drink. I'm glad that refillable means unlimited refills in Singapore. In KL, refillable means one free refill. I had to pay for another soda because I thought it was unlimited (the waiter neglected to mention this to me).

Orchard Road really does live up to its name. It's a street lined with nice malls on both sides of the street. What's so impressive is that the shops continue for about ½ mile. Mall after mall after mall...And there are plenty of restaurants in the area. You can spend a whole day here eating and shopping. All in all, I think I spent about 5 hours on this one street. I picked up a tee at Zara's and I almost bought a pair of shoes at Diesel. They didn't have any socks that I could borrow, so I'm going to go back on Monday or Tuesday. Oh yeah, I also kinda, sorta bought a custom suit.

I had no plans on buying one; Yale even asked me if I wanted to buy one in HK and I told him no. But then the Indian fellow lured me in with a "suits from S$180" sign, so I had to see what he was offering. Of course, the first fabric that I look at costs S$380 (blend of wool and cashmere, or so he says). For that much, I could buy a suit from Banana Republic back in the US, a brand that I love and trust. I eventually caved when he lowered the price to S$300 (about US$200). I also picked up a pair of dress shirts for about US$40 (a shirt). So, we'll see if I like what I bought. It was really hard for me to look at a small piece of fabric and envision a great looking suit or shirt. If anything, it's a learning experience. It would have been easier if I had a girl with me to get some feedback.

I was surprised to learn that you can haggle on Orchard Road (only in the electronics shops). I was looking for a headset that I could use with Skype. The hostels in Japan had ones that I could borrow, but from KL on out, I figured I'd need to have my own pair. It's comes in handy for chatting with the fam and with Diane. I'm halfway across the world, but it's great to be able to get on my laptop and call home for only a few cents per minute.

American Influence in Asia

Even though I've only visited three countries (four, if you count the few hours I've spent in HK airport) since arriving to Asia, the influence of American fast food chains is alarming. Ronald has overrun Japan while the Colonel is conquering Malaysia. The King is starting to make his presence know, particularly in Singapore. 7-11 is Asia's harlot. She's open for business 24/7 and can be found on every street corner. Starbuck's caters to the elitist crowd, thereby earning the title of "preferred escort service." Seriously, though. If you are afraid (or unwilling) to try local cuisine, there are plenty of American fast food chains to feed the need.

Singapore, Singapore

If you want to visit Singapore and have a good first impression, DO NOT travel to Singapore via a Malaysian train. The travel from Malaysia to Singapore was great. I felt like I was transported back to the early 20^th century and I was a British agent keeping tabs on society. The first-class train wasn't bad. I had a wide, far-reclining seat, an electrical outlet and a foot rest. I slept for a few hours in the morning and was awake most of the afternoon. I had plenty of time to read GQ and the Ensign. I also was able to catch up on some blogging/journal writing.

Anyway, back to my first five minutes in Singapore. We pulled up to the immigration office, got off the train and did the usual customs stuff. However, the machine didn't like my passport, so I had to go to the special line; the one where the random checks are process (j/k). I sat in the office and things got taken care of pretty speedily. The whole process felt very cold, though—no smiling faces. The center was old, rundown and the bathrooms were disgusting! Lots of "water" everywhere. I was shocked to see such a filthy restroom. When we finally pulled up to the train station in Singapore, it was rundown, deserted and homeless people lined the fence outside the station. I felt like I was being taken to a WWII Japanese concentration camp. Also, there was no ATM at the station, just a money changer. We left Malaysia with a whopping 1 RM (Ringgit). Fortunately, we had some US money, so Yale exchanged a little bit to pay for the taxi.

Once we left the station and started towards downtown, my perspective totally changed. All of a sudden, I was in a clean and modern city-state. Maybe the Singaporeans don't think that Malaysians have a lot of money, so they don't invest in a nice station. The station is only used by the three trains that go between Malaysia and Singapore.

To make the day even more interesting, we reached the beach resort with S$18, just enough for the both of us to eat dinner and laundry. Oh yeah, there was no ATM at the resort, so we were broke AGAIN (seriously, we were down to S$0.50). Since we had to do laundry, we stuck around the resort for the evening. Eventually, Just Married was playing on TV. I was so excited to see a movie on TV. Since Hiroshima, all I've been able to watch at night is BBC World News and CNN News (only in Kyoto) and foreign language channels. Like any news station, they repeat the same news every 20 minutes or so. You're probably asking me why I care to watch TV while I'm on vacation. Well, after a full day of playing and walking around, I like to relax at night. Anyway, my first evening in Singapore was pretty uneventful. Nothing really happened.

Final Thoughts About KL

Having spent two days in KL, I realize there is much more to see in Malaysia, if I only had the time. I'd like to return to this country and spend about 10 days here. I'd spend a day or two in KL shopping and then head out to the east coast where they have a national forest and some picturesque beaches. A massage on the beach would be perfect. What makes this country great is the low cost of living. You can easily find lunch for 5 Ringgits (US$1.50) and it's quite hearty. Transportation here is okay. It exists and you can get around, but if you're not traveling by plane, expect to lose half a day (sometimes a full day) to traveling via bus or train. They're painfully slow when compared to Japan. Seriously, it takes almost 7 hours to get to the east coast by train or bus, a distance that should be covered in 2-3 hours by train (if they had some high speed ones). When I inquired about the closest beach towns, the hotel receptionist was like, "Oh, it's not very far. Just take a bus 4 hours to Penang, spend a couple of hours there, and come back." I'm sorry, but eight hours of traveling with only two hours of leisure? Not my kind of fun.

The climate here is very tropical and humid. I wonder if that'd get to me after a while. You're continuously wet and sticky. The humidity can make the smell of some KL streets unbearable. Fortunately, I haven't had to spend too much time on those streets. I stick to the nice part of town where the five-star hotels are. Nice hotels, nice malls = good life in Malaysia. If I had to choose between Malaysia and Japan...well, that'd be a tough choice. Cost of living in KL is remarkable. However, the climate might be a little more than I want to bear. Plus, Japan has such a nice transit system; although, I don't like the "crowdedness" of Japan. I like having open space like I have here in KL or back home in the US. I'm also not sure if I'm a fan of the Japanese school system—they study too much. Then again, KL's intercity transit sucks. After all, it took us nearly 7 hours to get to Singapore. All the cities are really far spread apart. Forget. As much as I'm enjoying my travels through SE Asia, nothing beats the United States. It just rocks. I don't think I could ever call SE Asia home. Maybe a short-term residency, but definitely not long term.

For the record, I was able to make it through Malaysia without getting robbed. That was one of my goals. It really was that safe, but I wanted some peace of mind, so I took my precautions. Look at the picture more closely, if you haven't figured out what I'm talking about.

24 Hours of Fun

Having only spent about US$30 between the two of us, Yale and I decided to have a little more fun during our second day in KL. Like the last few days, we had a late morning and left the hotel about 11:00 am. The first stop on our day of fun was Times Square, located in the Southeast corner of KL. I was impressed by the large mall (10 stories) they had there. If I remember correctly, it's one of the largest in the world (supposedly with 900 shops, a cinemas, indoor amusement park, etc.). Knowing that Yale isn't much into shopping, I kinda gazed around and started looking for Cosmo's Adventure Park (the indoor amusement park). Frommer's recommended this park too everybody, even though much of the place was geared towards small children. Like the bike ride, Yale was skeptical of having any fun at the park. The one ride I wanted to go one wasn't open when we arrived (doing routine maintenance/testing), so we decided to kill some time by walking around this part of town.

In the neighborhood, there were a few nice hotels (including the JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, and the Westin Hotel). There appeared to be another shopping district about one street over. We wandered around looking at the shops and for a cheap massage parlor. The massage place that I originally wanted to go to was located about 30 minutes outside of town. They had fabulous rates, but I didn't feel like taking a taxi. We found a couple of places offering one-hour massages for ~US$20. We picked a place and decided to come back later in the afternoon—we wanted to relax after all the fun we were about to have.

Just a small side note...If you don't know, Malaysia is located in a tropical climate. It really does have rainforest (I'm sitting here on a train to Singapore going through the jungle). This time of year, the temperature is in the high 80's/low 90's with high humidity, which makes it feel close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. To cool ourselves off, we stopped by the local 7-11 and grabbed slurpees (unlike the ones in Japan that don't have slurpees).

Yale had to buy a plane ticket to Sri Lanka, so while he did that, I killed some time in a store that supposedly had huge discounts on designer brands. The store was a disappointment; while it did have clothing that claimed to come from FCUK, Zara's, D&G, and more, the styles were so ugly! Needless to say, I didn't buy anything. Just a few minutes away is the city forest.

Since we didn't have time to travel outside KL, we thought this would be a good way to experience the Malaysian rainforest. After climbing a hill through the forest, we ran into the KL Tower—and a paved road—located smack dab in the middle of the forest. Rather than hiking through the whole park, we followed a paved road out of the park. I did find this cool vine that I swung on. We skipped over the bamboo forest and rope bring because it was clear over on the other side of the park.

Even though I may have been bitten by some insect in the park, I don't think I've contracted any exotic disease. We exited the park by some religious school, so I took that to mean that I'd be okay. After walking through some nasty and smelly streets, we got back on the main drag and returned to Times Square. By now, the ride I wanted to go on was open; it turned out to be short, but fun. Yale wanted to try out the bumper cars, so we gave that a shot. It was funny to see Yale giddy like a school boy. By the end of our time on the bumper cars, everybody was afraid of us. (Maybe it was because we were 10 years older than them and we were Westerners.) While the park was exciting, that excitement was short-lived; I was bored after about an hour. So, we took last ride on the roller coaster (this time on the front, so I could videotape it).

Times Square seriously has so much to do. You could spend your whole day there (we literally spent half our day in that building) and not get bored. Next to the amusement park, there was a 45-lane bowling alley. We checked the prices as realized that we could each bowl two games for only US$5! Here's me sporting my manly (rented—yes, a new pair) socks. Normally, I enjoy bowling. Today, I didn't so much because I sucked it up so badly. Honestly, I don't think I've bowled this badly since I was in elementary school. I was even worse than I am on the Wii. Feeling bummed about the bowling game, it was time to go get a massage.

When I think of the massage parlor, "Heaven on Earth" (from Rush Hour 2) comes to mind. Lots of beautiful ladies lined up just waiting to get their hands on you. What am I talking about? That wasn't the massage parlor we went to (although, a Google Search did bring up plenty of escort services). Mine happened to be some Chinese place that was cheap; no frills massage parlor. For all of you who are thinking that Malaysia is the place to get massages, I'd encourage you to think again. At least, don't go to a cheap place. It's not worth it. First, I got stuck with a man that didn't speak any English (so, I couldn't fully relax). Second, he must of that I was some super tough piece of muscle because he gave me the hardest massage of my life. Those Asians aren't joking when they say they give hard massages. By the end of it, he asked if I wanted a foot massage (cost extra), I was like "Heck, no! I don't want you to crush my feet." Yale was more fortunate than me. He had a lady and she wasn't able to give as hard of a massage (even though he said it was a little painful when she dug her elbow into his back—LOL).

Having sufficiently killed time, we headed back to Times Square to catch an evening flick (Next with Nicholas Cage and Jessica Biel). While the movie wasn't the greatest, it was nice to spend an evening out doing something different. To sum up, it was a long, fun day. It's not often that I go window shopping, bowling, get a massage, and go to a movie all in one day.

KL Night Life

Having spent the last 3 days in Kyoto where there isn't much of a night scene, Yale and I decided that we wanted to spend the evening out and about the town. Our travel guidebook suggested that we hit Hard Rock Café (otherwise, I would've gone elsewhere) to hear music from some local/regional bands. To our disappointment, there was no live music, just an empty stage with American music playing in the background. I was happy to eat a side salad because I've been missing out on vegetables. Most of my meals have been high in protein and carbs. Fruits/vegetables are expensive in Japan, so I didn't eat any (unless the mixed fruit in my yogurt counts). My guidebook also suggested that I be cautious when eating fresh fruit here (i.e., I must wash the fruit off with bottled water and then peel off the skin). Too much work, in my opinion. Fortunately, my breakfast included fresh watermelon and honeydew.

Back to HRC...the atmosphere was nice, but it was half-empty (or half-full—however you view the world). Maybe the thunderstorm scared away the people. A lot of the outdoor restaurants seemed to be crowded inside, but empty outside due to the bad weather. There was one hopping spot—some Thai bar/club that I joked about. Yale was like, "if we want Thai, we can do that while in Thailand." Oh yeah, one other thing about HRC. They totally charged me for two drinks! Apparently, you only get one free refill. They conveniently neglected to mention that.

After HRC, I returned to the Twin Towers to get some great night shots. Seriously, these buildings are beautiful. And delicious...they reminded me of the popsicles that I got as a kid: red, white, and blue popsicles. (Yale thinks they're called firecrackers—honestly, I don't remember.) Since we were by the Twin Towers again, I persuaded Yale to go back to the mall (since I love shopping as you all know) and check out Zara's. I found some shoes that I almost bought as well as a couple of nice shirts. As we were leaving the mall, we hit up this massage chair store and got some foot/calf massages. The lady working at the store stood there and stared at us for the whole time. We only got a break when another customer would come in. I got tired of speaking to her (she didn't really speak English), so I asked her about the eye massage, which she gladly put around my eyes. Completely oblivious to the world around me, I relaxed while Yale was forced to continue conversing with the lady. When she stepped away to help another customer, I made my getaway (she tried to get me to buy them machine at least five times in ten minutes).

Tomorrow night (at the time of this posting, tonight), Yale and I are going to hit up the ex-pat district. Apparently, it's pretty lively at night. Maybe we'll find a pair of British girls living here on daddy's ex-pat package.

Funny Pics: Part 1

So, I decided that I’ll just post some of the funny pics from my trip. Tell me what you think.

Whirlwind Tour of KL

KL is a lot smaller than I thought. It's easy to get one from one side of town to the other and in less than time than I imagined. The travel book that Yale bought made it seem like taxis were terrible, getting lost was easy, and that the train system was illogically connected. While this may be true to an extent (transferring b/t train lines require a separate ticket), today's whirlwind tour through KL has been fun. We started by heading to the historic district. Not really knowing what I wanted to see, I strolled through the streets, eventually running into Chinatown. I got there just as it was opening up; it was really exciting. Even though I knew everything was a knock-off, I still wanted to pick up a few pairs of Lacoste and Diesel shoes. However, me being the one who prefers authentic, brand-name goods, I held out. Besides, I wasn't about to haul them around the city all day. Yale suggested that we buy a knock-off piece of luggage and drag it around. Nice try. It was funny to haggle with these people, especially since I'm not one to haggle. By the time I walked away from the Lacoste shirts, I was down to 15 Ringgits (about US$4.00).

Having strolled through Chinatown, I then ventured to an indoor mall to cool off. Fortunately the mall had A/C; I think a lot of what was being sold was still illegal b/c the Diesel shoes I was looking at started at 100 Ringgits (US$35). There were a couple of massage places there, but I held off because I think I can get a better deal from another place. I then wandered over to the Central Market, which happens to contain Little India. There were tons of little things to buy there. If I had a condo to decorate, maybe I would have bought some items. Alas, I have no place to call my own, so I decided against any purchases. Just around the corner was the National Mosque, a modern interpretation of Islam. The building was not Moorish in the least bit (like I was hoping). The volunteers tried to teach me about the fundamental beliefs of Islam. They had some interesting ideas such as whoever controls EurAsia (i.e., where all the Muslims live), controls the world. Um… the US doesn't control any of it and it seems to being doing just fine. I left before the religious debate got heated by the Montenegrin and the Islamic lady.

The National Museum was dirt cheap (2 Ringgits) and provided a good background on the country and the various cultures that make us Malaysia. After touring the historic district, it was time to visit the modern part of town where the famous Petronas Twin Towers are. It was exciting to be in this part of town because it was newer, there were lots of tall buildings, and the twin towers are super cool. I would consider them some of the most beautiful skyscrapers in the world. I was happy to find out that tickets for the sky bridge were free (most tall building charge you a hefty fee to go up). Yale and I got there in the nick of time because the thunderstorm rolled in just as we entered the building. I was looking for a good lightning show, but I didn't get to see much since I was indoors. It worked out just fine because at the base of the two tower is a mall with lots of designer names. Maybe one day I will be able to afford shopping there. I stopped by Mikimoto just to see the average price of their goods. I thought it was hilarious when Yale thought one pearl necklace was priced at 230 Ringgits. I laughed b/c he misread the price—it was 8,230 Ringgits!

I was also very excited to see a Banana Republic sign; however, it turns out that BR is "coming soon," so I was not able to go shopping there. I stopped in at Zara's and found some nice shoes and shirts, but I didn't buy any. While at the mall, I came across this funny sign about a "premium" bathroom. You see, most of the bathrooms here are not free. You have to pay a small fee to use them. I don't know why. They literally have somebody sit at the front of the bathroom and collect money. Needless to say, I was curious to see know how a premium bathroom differs from a normal bathroom.

Since my ticket for the sky bridge wasn't till 6:15 pm, I hailed a cab and went home to take a nap. It seems like I've been taking naps every afternoon. I guess that's because most mornings I wake up by 6:00 am. About half my mornings so far have started before 6:00 am… I never get up at that time when I'm home in Provo. Feeling refreshed from my nap, I returned to the Twin Towers to go up to the sky bridge, which was cool. The thunderstorm had passed for the most part, so it cleared up a bit. It wasn't as clear/sunny as I would have hoped, but it was still nice to be up there. I was surprised to see a lot of high rises. Walking around didn't give me the impression that KL had a lot of high rises; I knew it had small clusters, but up on the 41th floor, I could see at least twice as many as I believed there to be.

KL, Here We Come

Having left Japan, I can officially say that the adventure has begun. Even though I spent one week in Japan, there were many things that prevented from really being an adventure. I served my mission here, so I speak Japanese (even if it's rusty, I can still understand people). Japan is a safe country; you don't have to worry about getting robbed or being taken advantage of. I can say that I was a little anxious traveling to Malaysia. Of all the countries that I've visited/lived in, this is the one that I know the least about.

I'm including this picture because I think the expression on the man's face is hilarious. He seriously stood like this for 10 minutes! I was waiting for the airport express train this morning and I saw this man and had to take a picture.

Back to my day...I was seated in the middle of the Boeing 777, so I didn't get a chance to see Kuala Lumpur (locally known as KL) from the sky. However, the airport is very nice and clean. Once we got our baggage, it was a little like JFK where there was the official airport taxi (comparable to the yellow cab) and then lots of random people asking you if you needed a lift. They were obviously trying to take advantage of the tourists because they charged 120-140 Ringitts (US$1 = 3.5 Ringitts). The official airport taxi charged 60R for a normal cab (30 minute wait, though) and 90R for a premium cab (a mid-90's Mercedes E320). We took the premium cab and were able to pay with a credit card.

The man who drove us was very nice. He spoke some English and we chatted off-an-on during the 45-minute ride. I was impressed by the large and clean highways in the country. I was expecting the country to be less developed and dirtier. However, I found the city to be quite clean and modern. Our cab driver was funny. He tried to set us up with his daughter, whom he kept referring to as naughty. He also asked that we not call him daddy (i.e., don't marry his beautiful daughter—not that we had any intention of doing so).

We pulled up to our hotel, which appeared to have a nice foyer. The actual room is a little dumpy, but not too bad. It has a/c (which you need when it's 80+ degrees at night plus humidity). The street we're on is a little ghetto and kinda smelly, but I don't really feel like my life is in danger. There's plenty of Western influence here thanks to the British. However, it's the American restaurants that continue to penetrate the world: McDonald's, 7-11 (They do have slurpees! Going for a slurpee run tomorrow night!), Burger King, KFC (provided a light dinner for me), Dunkin Donuts, etc. I'll be sure to try more ethnic cuisine tomorrow.

One great thing about this country is that it is cheap. The cab from the airport only cost US$30 (for a 75km drive), a 1^st class train ticket to Singapore only costs US$20, and my KFC meal cost US$1.25. I don't think Yale and I will even spend $100 between the two of us. Oh yeah, we're going to get massages tomorrow or Friday. I'm really looking forward to that.

Overall, I'm excited to see KL. I wish I had more time here b/c I'd like to visit some beach towns (I'm dying to go to the beach) and see the countryside (they have a beautiful national park, I hear). However, I'll have to settle on just KL, which seems to have plenty to offer.

Random Thoughts

Cathay Pacific never ceases to amaze me. On today's flight from Kansai International to Hong Kong, my meal included a Mega ice cream bar (equivalent to a Dove or Haagen-Dazs bar). I swear that my meals on Cathay are better than half the meals I eat during the week (after all, McDonald's isn't the greatest). As I sit here watching The Painted Vail, I am thinking about some funny quirks that I saw in Japan over the past week. In Tokyo, one of the bathrooms had a plastic gas canister full of soap in the bathroom. It was one of those "had to have been there" moments. Then there was the waitress at the Coco Curry House. Her outfit was in need of desperate help. I doubt I'd see such a cheesy work outfit in the US (well, maybe some hick town in the Midwest—even then, it'd be a long shot). Then there was the Pachinko parlor in Kyoto. It had a gigantic pachinko ball on top of it—like a huge, metal idol. I guess Yale is the only one who can appreciate this because he was the only one around to see it.

It was nice to see school children walking home by themselves or in little groups. That's something I don't see back home anymore. People seem to be too afraid to let their children go to school by themselves. Just something of yester year, I guess. I wish people would feel that level of safety back home.

I have to say that I'm so glad I have this opportunity to travel through Japan and SE Asia. It's amazing how easy and inexpensive travel has become.

Final Thoughts on Japan

Today is the last day that I am in Japan. I'll be catching an early morning express train to the airport and heading off to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur). It's been a good week. During the first half of the week, I was able to see a lot of Japan that I didn't get to see as a missionary. The latter half of the week was filled with lots of memories from the mission. My hostels weren't in areas that I proselytized in, but cities next to my old stomping grounds.

Having seen a lot of sites around the country, I decided to make the last day more relaxing. I got up quite late: 8:45 am. There happened to be a matsuri (festival) in Kyoto this morning, so Yale and I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, it wasn't very exciting—quite boring, in fact. It happened to be one of Japan more formal festival w/ ~500 people dressed in traditional dress parading through the Imperial Grounds. Other matusuris that I've attended are much more lively, filled with music and dancing. I think we stayed about 5 minutes before walking back to Kyoto Station. It's funny, I'm sitting here with other people from the hostel and we all agreed that it was not the most exciting festival. The Australians and Israeli all thought it was boring and disappointing.

Fortunately, Nara proved to be a fun place to visit. I've already been there (several times, in fact), but it was a nice place for Yale to see. It also happens to be Japan's first capital; in all, we visited all three capitals: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara. This city was different because its huge park had tons of deer, the world's largest wooden structure (Todaji Temple), and a really large wooden, Buddha statue. On my walk to Todaji, I was stopped multiple times by Japanese students who wanted to interview me. They all asked about the same questions, but it was fun to see them speak English. We also took lots of pictures with them. It was pretty funny when a deer tried to eat the notebook that the student was reading from. Having not seen Todaji recently, I was impressed by the sheer size of the building. It's something that you have to see for yourself. One fun thing that Yale and I did was squeeze through a wooden beam. There's a hole (the same size as one of Buddha's nostrils) that people can crawl through. It's easy for kids to crawl through, but adults have to put their arms above their head and squirm through. Yale had reservations about the hole, but I convinced him that it was possible (having done it as a missionary).

By the end of my time in Nara, I was exhausted (probably dehydrated). I came back to the hostel and took a long nap. It was wonderful! Well, that's it. I'm just gonna hang out here at the hostel and pack. My feet need a rest (and probably a pedicure). I've walked countless miles in the past week.

Kyoto by Bike

This morning was like any other morning: wake up at 6:00 am, wish I had slept for at least one more hour, check to see who's online in the morning (Japan time), write a blog entry, and read up on the news. It was different having lots of people in the same room. I felt like I had to be extra quiet in order to not wake anybody.

Yale and I first set off for the Kiyomizudera Temple, a popular temple/shrine located on the east side of the city up on the mountainside. Today, it was especially crowded. The last time I visited, there weren't so many students around. It's currently on the list for the new 7 Wonders of the World. I'm not sure if I'd vote for it. I guess it does have lots of history behind it (as do most shrines/temples in Kyoto—close to 1,000 years). Within the temple grounds, there are a couple areas to make note of: 1) the love stone; and 2) the hidden forest. As seen in the picture, there is a love stone (actually two). You walk from one stone to the other while closing your eyes. If you successfully make it across, then your wish will come true; otherwise, it may be a long time till you find the one you love. I remember trying it as a missionary (we all did it). I don't recall anybody success across. Divine intervention? This time around, I passed. Too many school children. Besides, I like the way things are right now. The hidden forest was pretty cool too. Off to one side, there's this unpaved road that you can hike up. I hiked up about 1km while Yale waited for me at the bottom. It was nice to get away from the crowds and relax. Oh yeah, we ran into some girls in their kimonos, so we took a picture.

After Kiyomizudera, we decided to walk back to the station (I had no idea how to get to the next place w/o going back to Kyoto Station). That was a long walk. It was nice to walk and listen to my iPod, though; a bit of a change from the usual. Once we reached the station, Yale wanted me to see how much one-day bus passes cost (only 500 yen). However, the city buses weren't the best way to get around. There were a lot of connections to see the different sites. I wanted to rent bikes and cruise around the city. Yale was not so enthused. I could see it on his face—"Fernando, you gotta be kidding me. Riding bikes? 20 km? Are you crazy?" Anyway, I was able to persuade him to humor me in my request (maybe because it reminded me of my time as a missionary) and it was so much fun! I had a blast weaving in and out of traffic and people.

It kind of reminded me of being a missionary. I was the senpai (senior companion) and Yale was the kohai (junior companion). I took off on the bike while Yale was huffing and puffing, trying to keep up. However, we weren't in our missionary attire. Unless that means wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and Rainbow sandals while listening to my iPod (oh yeah, no helmet either). At first, I had problems with my seat. It didn't want to stay at the height I set it to. Also, it would shift left and right, so I avoided sitting on it for the first little while. Eventually, I was able to fix it. Otherwise, that might have made for a long day standing up.

The first adventure on our bikes was about 8 km away. We headed up to the Silver Pavillion (Ginkaku-Ji). It was not quite what I was expecting. I thought that the pavilion would be pretty and silver, but it was a little dumpy. The grounds pretty. I liked the sand art (Yale didn't care much for it) and the moss-like grass. After spending about 30 minutes at the pavilion, we headed west for the Imperial Grounds (about 4 km away). The grounds are huge (~8 million square feet), but there wasn't that much that we could see. The Imperial Palace is closed off from outsiders; there was another palace that was open, but you had to wait for a tour. The best part was riding our bikes on the gravel roads. It was fun to slide around. Afterwards, we took off for the highlight of the day: the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-Ji).

As the name describes, the building is decorated in gold leaf. It's one of a kind. Much prettier than the silver pavilion. By the time we were laving the Golden Pavilion, it was late in the afternoon and time to return the bikes that we had rented. Overall, I think we walked 2-2.5 miles and biked close to 25 km (don't feel like converting that, but probably close to 15 miles). A stop by a good (and inexpensive) curry shop followed by a soft serve cone finished off our day. I just chilled in the hostel watching Japanese TV and chatting with my roommates. Monday was a good day.

Kyoto by Night

Since I've left the clubbing scene many years ago, there's not much to report about the night life in Kyoto. Other than bar hopping and clubbing, I don't know what else there is to do. Even that seems hard to come by in this town. Yale and I don't feel like going out to fancy restaurants and we've haven't done something like bowling (even though I've seen a few lanes while on the train). The first night, we hung out with everybody in the hostel. Most of the people here are from England and Australia. There's a very nice Frenchman and a Danish girl. Anyway, it's typical for Yale and me to be the only Americans. I definitely don't try and have the "America is #1" attitude—I don't think I'd make many friends that way. Given that I share a bedroom with half the people I hang out with, I'd rather have them on my good side.

Speaking of hostel life, it's crazy to think that some people here travel for months at a time. I love to travel, but these people are hard core. One guy says he's traveled for a couple of years (probably in the past five) and he plans to retire in Thailand. He looks like he's in his late 20's. I must say that backpacking is fun, but something that I wouldn't want to do for more than one month. I'm not sure how Yale's going to do it. I think I might get burnt out. So much time on planes and trains (and automobiles)...

Himeji – The White Heron

Even though Yale and I visited the castle in Hiroshima, we didn't go in. I was holding out for Himeji Castle—Japan's most famous and beautiful castle. It is nicknamed the White Heron because of the white plaster that cover the castle walls (used as a fire retardant). I must say, the castle was still like I last saw it a few years ago. I was a little surprised that the huge lawn in front of the castle was a little dry and unkempt. The walk to the castle was a little long—approximately 700m to the front entrance. Inside the castle, who knows how far we walked (probably about the same, if not more). All in all, it felt like we walked a lot. Having spent an hour or two in Himeji, it was time to move on to Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan.

Japanese Mass Transit

Throughout the week, both Yale and I have been impressed by the efficiency found in Japan rail networks. The trains are almost never late (barring accidents) and they come so frequently. In Tokyo, the subway trains run every 2 minutes and in Hiroshima, the Shinkansen runs every 10 minutes. Everything is so orderly even when you think there is chaos. Having passed through Shinjuku and Tokyo stations in Tokyo, it's amazing how many people pass through every day. If only the East Coast or big cities on the West coast had this kind of efficient network. And no, Amtrak definitely does NOT count.

Church in Japan

The Church is amazing. Here I am, half-way around the world attending Church in Hiroshima. Yale and I arrived a little bit late, so we missed the sacrament. However, the program was very similar to one found in the United States. Being Mother's Day, a couple of children got up and bore their testimonies about their mothers. Afterwards, a missionary spoke on the importance of a mother-child relationship and how it had impacted him throughout his life. (Here in Japan, it's common for missionaries to give talks in Church.) Afterwards, a senior couple missionary (the wife) gave a talk in Japanese. She was followed by another gentleman and finally the stake president. Before the adults spoke, all the children (probably close to 20) got up and sang a primary song (I believe it's called Mother, I Love You.) The ward had a surprising number of Americans; this is typical of wards that meet in the building where the mission home is located. And would you know it, I met an Elder (from Edmonton) that knows Amber Baer (Elder Brian Burr, I think is his name—has two siblings, Cameron and ???). So, there you go. I've met up with a friend in Tokyo, met a person that knows me ex in Hiroshima. We'll see what Kyoto brings.

Dating Japanese Girls

I tend to be very tired when writing, so I make grammatical mistakes and sometimes my sentences aren't coherent. Anyway, I was reading over my blog and I noticed that Google AdWords was bringing up ads regarding Japanese girls and dating. I don't know how Google made this connection. Would somebody care to explain?

Adventures on Wide Island

So, like I previously mentioned, we got to Hiroshima early in the morning. Since we only had one day here, we decided to get started a little bit early. However, that really didn't happen since we left the hostel around 10:00 am. Having woken up around 4:00 am (Yale around 4:50 am), we were both hungry and ready for an early lunch. We walked downtown through the Shoutengai (shopping district) for a Mos Burger—we didn't find it, so we ended up having lunch at McDonald's. Yale wanted to have (another) Western meal since we were going to eat authentic Japanese food (tonight). Just north of the Shoutengai is the Hiroshima castle. Even though the castle was rebuilt (it got obliterated in the A-bomb) after WWII, it was still great to be there and learn of the rich history of the area. On the site, there are three "survivor" trees—who knows how, but they survived the bomb. Two of the trees look like they're on their way out, but the third tree seems to be kicking strong. From the castle, we headed back to the Peace Memorial Park; one of my favorite moments was seeing an aerial photo of Hiroshima before and after the bomb was dropped. While it is tremendously sad that the bomb was dropped on a bunch of civilians (nearly 200,000 people died from the bomb and its aftermath), it was incredible to witness its destructive force. Literally, everything was destroyed. Only a few shells of some buildings were left.

Fast-forwarding to this afternoon (I already wrote about the park and memorial), I persuaded Yale to go check out the Itsukushima Shrine on the southern end of Hiroshima. While this picture does not represent what I saw today (we didn't have such a cool sunset today—it was a tad hazy), it was still a cool shrine to check out.

Upon returning to our hostel, we headed out for Yale's first Japanese meal—okonomiyaki. I'll let Yale tell you his opinions about it. I thought it was simply delicious! Hiroshima is known for its unique twist on this Japanese dish. (The chef added an egg to it among other things.) Hopefully, I'll be able to persuade him to eat some more Japanese food in the next few days.

Hiroshima Memorial

So, today Yale and I were able to spend some time visiting different WWII-related memorials in the city of Hiroshima. It was somewhat awe-inspiring to really be in such a historic place. Unfortunately, Hiroshima is known for a catastrophic event that took place at 8:15 am on August 6, 1945. I wonder if Truman and the scientists that developed the bomb really knew what they were creating. In my history class, we watched Atomic Café, a collection of propaganda films from the 1960's discussing what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Anyway, it is amazing what devastation this bombed created—and in such a short period of time. Walking through the museum in the Peace Memorial Park, it was interesting to learn why Hiroshima was chosen. I didn't realize that it was one of the few cities that didn't have any Americans POWs in it. That's how this city was selected. While in the park, we stopped by the Atomic Bomb Dome and took some pictures. There was one picture that we took directly in front where Yale and I didn't feel that it was appropriate for us to smile, so we look like a pair of chumps. It was a good day. I'm glad that I was able to make the trek to Hiroshima, even if it was for just one day.

Murder on the Orient Express

The sleeper train has been quiet. Eerily quiet. Seriously, there are probably 12 people on the entire train. So, as I venture through the different train cars, I'm always wondering if somebody will come murder me. There aren't enough people on the train to "protect" me (i.e., no crowd to prevent the murder from occurring). What if I went head to head with some ninja in one of the trains? I have the sleeping robe suit. Maybe that would give me superhuman powers... Well, the one thing that is strange is that Yale and I are neighbors—through a wall. They didn't put us together, so I might have a stranger as my bunkmate. Hopefully, the guy will be nice enough to switch (whenever he jumps on board). I'll have to speak with the conductor one more time about this.

Early the Next Morning

OK, so the conductor came by and I explained to him the situation and he said he'd take care of it (which he did b/c Yale was sleeping in the next bunk when I woke up). Yale thinks he heard the man come in about 1:30 am, but I was passed out, so I have no idea. For the record, I wasn't murdered on the train, but some drunken guy came to chat with us last night around 10:00 pm. He started speaking in Japanese and then attempted to speak in English—noble attempt, I must say since my Japanese isn't that good. He also popped in about 5:10 am (our train was scheduled to arrive at 5:21 am in Hiroshima). I was a little concerned when 5:21 am rolled around and we were still in the countryside. Our good friend had sobered up a little bit, so he went and spoke with the conductor about the situation. I kept thinking about some horrible situation where we had to switch trains (even though this was a sleeper train) and we missed a connection in the middle of the night. It turns out that there was an accident on one of the lines, so we pulled into Hiroshima about 6:50 am.

J-Hoppers Hostel

Normally, we're supposed to check in to the hostel at 3:00 pm. So, when we showed up about 7:40 am, I was 1) hoping that the front door was not locked and 2) that we could at least drop off our luggage. I was elated to find out that the place was open and not only could we drop off our luggage, but we could actually check in (since the room wasn't used last night). Oh yeah, even though our hostel in Tokyo met our needs, we totally got hooked up here in Hiroshima. This hostel is so freakin' nice!

Final Thoughts on Tokyo

Well, I had to make an international phone call today to speak with a gentleman from Cisco Systems. He was gracious enough to coordinate a convenient time for me to call him in California. Anyway, I miscalculated the time difference and thought that I would have to speak with him at 7:00 am, so I woke up at 6:00 am to get ready. It turns out that I didn't have to call until 9:00 am (Tokyo time), so I spent the morning surfing the Internet, updating them blog, and napping.

I had to check out by 11:00 am, but I was allowed to keep my stuff at the hostel until 7:00 pm. It worked out fine because the sleeper train that was taking Yale and me to Hiroshima left at 6:00 pm. This didn't give us much of a day in Tokyo (we had a late morning due to my interview, check out, etc.), but we managed to see a number of things. Our first stop was Ueno station, where we purchased the tickets for Hiroshima. Afterwards, we ventured outside to Ueno Park, which contained various museums and the zoo. (And Diane, no we didn't go check out the Pandas and their instructional videos—here's a nice pic of a Panda, though.) The National Museum was okay; nothing to write home about. I did like the building's architecture. By noon, we were ready for lunch, so we grabbed some pizza (Yale also ordered a Caesar salad) by the zoo. For only 600 yen, I was ready to go to the zoo, but I wanted to go to Shinjuku station (the world's busiest train station—3.29 million people go through it every
day).

A short ride on the train took us across town to Shinjuku. Was it all that I hoped? Yes and no. We didn't hit it during rush hour, so it wasn't as packed; however, it was quite large and the flow of people never seemed to stop. Other than knowing Shinjuku to be a big train station, I didn't know what there was to do. We came across a sign that said "Skyscraper district." That intrigued both Yale and me, so we ventured off in that direction. It turned out to be a great decision because we really go to see another side of Tokyo. The buildings weren't as tightly located (like you find in NYC), but they still have some impressive ones—one of which was the Tokyo government offices. Another building had a 30-story elevator on the outside of it that provided us with a nice view of Tokyo. While Tokyo isn't littered with skyscrapers, the city stretches as far as the eye can see; and, it has tons of small (10-story or so) buildings; truly an impressive sight to see.

By this time, our day in Tokyo was coming to an end. We returned to our hostel, shed a few tears (I hope you know I'm joking), and waved goodbye to Tokyo.

007 Coming to DVD

To all my friends who are in love with Daniel Craig and the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale.

A Day in Tokyo

Well, today started quite early. As I mentioned, I got up extra early thinking that I had to get up. Anyway, navigating the Tokyo metro has been interesting. I continue to be amazed by the sheer number of different subways lines running under the city. How the Japanese got it figured out is beyond me. Just so you can appreciate what I'm talking about, check out the picture.

So, we started the day of by purchasing an all-day subway pass. I thought that it would include the Japan Rail (JR) line, but it didn't. I found this out when I tried switching lines and my ticket was rejected. :-) Anyway, we go to Harajuku station a few minutes late. My friend, Maurine, agreed to come into town and show us around for the day. We began by visiting the Meiji Shrine and the neighboring park. It's a shrine dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife. It was nice to see some traditional Japanese buildings. Afterwards, we headed down Harajuku Street to eat some crepes. Yes, crepes. I know, it's Tokyo and you wouldn't think that this is a place that can make crepes, but they weren't half bad. I had one with bananas, pie crust, chocolate, and ice cream. It turned to be our 11:00 am breakfast.

After the crepe, we decided to head back to Ueno station (a few stops from our hostel and on the other side of town) to pick up our Japan Rail passes. Unfortunately, I forgot my documentation for my JR Rail Pass, so they refused to give me one. It means that I have to buy tickets everywhere I go rather than having a one-week, unlimited pass. Yale was smart and brought his docs, so he was able to pick his up. I'm hoping that when my travel agent, Nancy, scans and emails me a copy of my docs that the JR lady will be kind enough to let me get the pass. I have serious doubts about this working out, though. All in all, it means that I'm gonna spend an extra couple hundred dollars on train fare.

Since we had subway passes, we used those lines most of the day. The only JR line runs a circle around the city and it isn't the most convenient way to get around town. Our next stop was the Imperial Palace. It can be considered one of Tokyo's "Central Parks." It's actually the park in the city where you go if you want to be touristy. Another major park includes Ueno Park, but we didn't really spend time there. They have lots of national museums and a zoo in Ueno Park. The Imperial Palace is located on a block of land (approximately 3 miles around the grounds) in the heart of the city. It's really peaceful and quiet; a good place to relax on a busy day. Best of all, it was free.

The next stop on today's journey was the Tokyo Tower—a wannabe Eiffel Tower with lots of radios/satellites hanging off of it. It cost ~800 yen (~US$8) to go up, so we passed. The sky was cloudy and it didn't look like we'd get a nice view from the top. However, when walking towards the tower, we saw this big building nearby, so we decided to go find out what it was. On the way, we came across this really nice park with some pretty trees. It turns out that we came across another Shinto shrine that was nice. A little different from the last shrine we came across.

We happened to be close to the Tokyo Temple (i.e., the LDS temple), so we decided to hop on the subway to go pay a visit. It turns out that it would've taken three different subway lines to make it there, so we hailed a cab instead. The temple is located ne Hijo station and is part of the international district where lots of embassies and ex-pats live. So, it's in a swanky part of town with lots of nice, expensive homes and cars. I was a little surprised by the location of the temple. It's next to a park and some buildings. I thought that it'd be surrounded by larger buildings. However, the piece of land it sits on is worth millions. I got really excited when we stumbled upon the Lamborghini dealership. The Murcielagos were beautiful!

Having only eaten a crepe, we were getting hungry (by 3:00 pm). Maurine knew of this fabulous Mexican restaurant, so we stopped by at 4:00 pm, only to realize that it was closed! We had to wait until 5:00 pm for it to open for dinner. So, we strolled through a few streets full of non-Japanese (can't say if they were Americans or Brits or another race) people. While hanging out at the local Starbucks, three Japanese students approached us and asked us if they could interview us (in English). Yale was the recipient of this interview, which was nice. He was able to give the most unbiased opinion of the country (since Maurine and I both lived in Japan for some time). Obviously, he simplified his responses as the students did not fully comprehend what he was saying. That's okay, my Japanese is pretty bad right now. We took a picture with the kids and they were off on their merry little way.

We finally got into the restaurant after two failed attempts (seriously, who's ever been rejected twice by a restaurant owner?). It was so exciting to be in a Mexican restaurant. Just the other day, Yale was talking about how he missed having good Mexican food (not that Provo really offers any authentic Mexican food). Anyway, the only people in there were foreigners (after all, this was the "international district"). I ordered some empanadas and appetizers (not authentic, but good) and a beef burrito. I must say, it was delicious! I'm yet to be disappointed with the food that I've eaten. Granted, I've eaten at Denny's, a French crepe place, and a Mexican restaurant. By the time we finished, the three of us were exhausted from a long day of walking. I wish I had a pedometer to track how many steps I walked. Yale and I thanked Maurine for the terrific day and we headed home (where I crashed for about an hour).

Tonight, we headed back out to visit Akibahara (the Electronics district). Surprisingly, the place was pretty quiet. Most shops were closed for the night. We did find a Sega club that was busy with people playing different video games. In addition, we found a seven story electronics shop; nothing too special to report there, though.

Overall, it was a good day and I'm looking forward to hitting the shopping (Ginza) district tomorrow. Well, it's time for bed (midnight) and I have a 7:00 am international phone call to make. I'll let you know if anything good comes from it.