Leading on from the last entry, I started to wonder whether I had ever actually shown you Mags ROTHARford or not.
Well, here she is in all her glory. I think she still looks good as new almost one year later. That's because I take care of her - almost every week I oil her up and put it in her...
air, that is.
Don't you just love the basket! How long would you give her on the streets of Dublin? More importantly, how long would you give "me" on her on the streets of Dublin?
Oh dear, the photo doesn't seem to be uploading, so you'll just have to live in suspense a bit longer.
P.S. Success at last! I've had Mags every which way this weekend! But I've finally got the darn photo uploading right-side-up. Mam and Dad, I hope it was worth the wait - slightly too great a build up, methinks.
I am feeling extremely chillaxed today. This is probably due to the fact that the last two days have been public holidays and I am writing this in a cafe in Odaiba (previously mentioned as being one of my favourite places in the city).
However, feeling good today was far from a foregone conclusion. In fact, I would go as far as to say that yesterday was pretty much a stinker. It was one of those days where one thing after another conspired against me, but it culminated in me getting racially profiled by the police.
This has not happened to me in years, yet it can be a fairly common occurrence on the streets of Tokyo. Long story short; I was riding my bicycle at night in my neighbourhood (heading out to the shop to get Apple Cider Vinegar to be precise - how very ghetto of me - practically a drug deal!!!) when a police car tailed me for two blocks and then pulled me over ａｔ the traffic lights to get my ID and bicycle registration . I'm used to the drill, so of course I had all the documents and was able to respond to his questions in perfect Japanese (they weren't difficult). But there was hate in my eyes and ice in my voice all through the exchange. More so because he didn't ask word one of the Japanese woman on the bike beside me. To be sure, she had never had such a thing happen to her because she even asked the cop what exactly he was checking for. His answer - right to my face, mind - was, "foreigners sometimes steal bicycles".
It was a crappy ending to a crappy day， and it was one of those times when I realise that, no matter how well I speak the language， no matter how deeply I absorb the culture, no matter how much I contribute to ｔｈｅ economy and the social life of the place, the very fact of who I am and what I look like will single me out to be different, other, worthy of only suspicion.
I know that this is nothing compared to innocent Muslims not being allowed to board planes, or black male drivers being pulled over for driving nice cars on the streets of L.A., but when it happens to you, it still kinda sucks.
And with my day's perspective on the whole thing, I also recognise that it an entirely healthy thing for me as an educated, white, English-speaking male to get a taste of a little bit of discrimination...but I still ended the day hoping for the big one to come and flatten the city (preferably when I'm away on business)!
Hey Big Sis, I finally got a snap of that crazy big group of identical dogs that get professionally walked in my neighbourhood. Would you say they're pretty old, or is that whiteness around their faces a feature of their breed?
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Here's a little camera phone pic of the Sumida River at the end of my road. I grabbed this jogging there the other night. Tokyo Tower is the electric blue thing in the middle and on either side is East Ginza and Tsukiji (home of the famous fish market). Whenever I see the night cruise ships all lit up like the one in the photo, I really wish I was on one taking the tour. At this stage, though, I'm so comfortable in my surroundings that I could probably give a passable tour myself.
I went to see the Blue Man Group's show here in Tokyo a couple of weekends ago. They've had a permanent theatre in the city for ages, but they're going to be moving on in November, so I wanted to catch them before they left.
My sister pointed out that, having just gotten back from the land of anyongs (Anyong!), going to see the Blue Man Group made my life into one big 'Arrested Development' tribute. I can think of worse vocations to have.
So, the show: well, I loved and hated it in equal measure. It's quirky, original and entertaining, with some great music (especially from their DIY instruments), but they are all about the involuntary audience participation; I sat there in quaking terror at being called up to the stage.
Oh, and another thing: at one stage in the show, the three Blue Men walk on the backs of the seats up through the theatre, posing to rock out to the music along the way. As a result, I can now say that I have had both Cirque-du-Soleil clown crotch AND Blue-Man-Group man crotch shaken in my face in the same year.
At the risk of boring you all to tears, there are just two more little things I wanted to tell you about the holiday in Korea.
First of all, Dad, you have got to move to Pusan and open a cupcake shop: I bought these little guys at a speciality baker near the hotel and they cost like 4 euro! You've been way ahead of the trend on this one making cupcakes all these years, so it's about time you made a bit of money of it. Please note that they have Smarties on them, so my opinionated aunt can take a running jump.
The other thing was about the room service. You see I almost never order room service, but when I do I feel it's really rude to leave the dishes there to be collected without saying a word. So I always leave a little note. This time, I found out how to write 'Thank you' in Korean and then added 'It was delicious', or something in English. I went about my day and came back to the room, and, for the first time ever, I'd gotten a little Post-it from the staff in return. I thought it was charming.
I did lots of touristy things in Korea. I took a boat cruise around the outlying islands.
It was a lot of fun, but the weather was a little hazy, unfortunately. Also, the guide spoke Korean 95% of the time while occasionally playing an English pre-recorded soundtrack. I really felt my sister's pain from her time touring with me in Japan: when you don't understand the language, you really would prefer silence. Cue headachy frustration - especially when they kept going on about bloody hot springs!
I also hit up the local aquarium. I love aquariums as I find them really peaceful.
I also proved that you do learn by visiting such attractions. When I came back to Japan I was able to answer one of those impossible questions on the Stephen Fry quiz program 'QI': I knew that an octopus is a highly intelligent animal and can be taught to solve puzzles and even open jars and bottles.
On a holiday, though, the things which turn out to be the most fun are regularly the things that you don't plan at all. For me, this was ending up boogieing the night away at a beach dance party. I hadn't been dancing in years before this. While the sun was up the DJ played crowd-pleasing K-Pop (Korean Pop) music. It was funny how everyone at the beach totally got into the spirit. Lots of families with kids and older people were giving it welly. Worryingly, even some of the lifeguards (hopefully off-duty ones) came running up when a famous boy band made a special appearance. Then, once the sun went down, it turned into a more adult crowd.
I think the DJ, DJ Koo, must have been about the same age as me because he played lots of classics from my uni days and early twenties when I would have been a regular at clubs. I loved it, though my stamina is not what it was. The great thing about being on a beach is that you just have to go down to the water and you have a natural chill-out room at your feet. Again, not speaking the language it seemed like this thing was some completely spontaneous event - "it's not a rave, it's a happening!" - which seemed to make it very special to me . However, there were probably posters for it up all over the place and I just didn't know.
Overall, the food in Pusan was really good. The service, while friendly, was a lot more slap dash and less ritualised than what I'm used to here in Japan. Korean people speak English with a different intonation to Japanese people. I could understand their English, all right, but just a half a bear later than what is socially acceptable. It made for some awkward exchanges. Just as Japanese people have difficulty distinguishing the English 'l' and 'r', Korean people struggle with 'f' and 'p'. And I can tell you that one of my greatest disappointments with the holiday was that the 'coppee' in Pusan is aboslutely 'awpul'! I think the staff are not taught how to use their expensive coffee machines properly, and no matter where I went, I ended up with a watery mug full of grinds and sediment. But back to what I ate...
On arrival I was famished, completely shaky with the hunger, so I ordered up some room service.
It was such fun opening up all those little side dishes and trying to guess what I was eating. It had been entered in the menu as 'Korean bean paste hotpot with vegetables' , but there were definitely some funky and unidentifiable items in there, too. Don't get me wrong - it was delicious. But I had vivid, vivid dreams that night. And then on my morning walks I would often see wild turtles washed up onto the shore like this little guy,
and what with all the statues of them about the place, I'm guessing the area is pretty famous for them,
and well I'm just saying... there may have been more than kimchi and tofu to my first dinner.
Of course I ate lots of Korean dishes during the course of my stay. And this inculded a pretty swanky bibimbap. I'm used to the counter-restaurant style. It was really good but a little too spicy in the end. The overall experience became just one of chillis rather than the individual ingredients. Plus the background music was 'Stairway to Heaven' played using traditional Korean instruments, so I guess that didn't exactly aid digestion.
I branched out a couple of times, too, and had Italian. One of the great joys for me was to rediscover al fresco dining. It's much too humid in Tokyo for outdoor dining right now, but Pusan was dry with a light sea breeze so I could really enjoy the food, the sea air and the view of that massive bridge.
I was also happy to be able to get a photo of the side dish of pickles that Italian restaurants in Korea always seem to serve - I had told someone about this before and they didn't believe me but now I have the proof.
Occasionally I went somewhere more for the atmos than the food itself. The interior of this waterfront bar was attracted me first (my flashless photo doesn't do it justice),
but when I saw that patrons were treated to a cellist who happened to be playing some of my favourite music, I was sold. To be honest, the food was pretentious and overpriced (truffle and rocket pizza???) but it actually tasted pretty good.
When speaking of holiday food, I must say that nothing makes me happier than a buffet breakfast and this was one of the best I've seen. A wide selection of foods from all over the world and so fresh! I think my face pretty much says it - I could have stayed there all day every day and the holiday would have been a success.
When I came back to Tokyo, it was such a shock that first morning. I was bereft. How are you supposed to survive without a smorgasbord of treats prepared and waiting for you and your morning paper. I am so weak that the following morning I headed to the hotel down my road and ponied up for the full buffet just to keep that holiday mood going. I think this may become my weekly treat.
Coming from the airport, Pusan reminded me of Hong Kong. From the bus, you are met with row after row of high-rise apartments, which show you how densely populated the city is. But once you get to Haeundae Beach, it's much more like Dubai. There are lots of gleaming skyscrapers and almost as many cranes, and all the guides proclaim that the city has 'the world's biggest department store' or "Korea's longest bridge'. I guess the heat and multi-lane highways with out-of-control bad driving also add to the distinctly Emirati impression.
When I arrived at my hotel, I was well pleased. It was definitely five star, but the staff could not have been more relaxed or friendlier. And best of all was the view of the beach from my room and the sound of the waves lapping against the shore below.
Now it is a very much a city beach - think Sitges outside Barcelona or Manly in Sydney - and as a result it is fairly black with people of a weekend. But during the week, and especially in the early mornings, you could really have a good stretch of the sand and sea to yourself. Luckily I am now an old man and, thus, a very early riser: even on holidays I woke before the alarm very day about 5.45 to yoga and then an hour's walk on the beach and around the headland.
Haeundae is definitely a tale of two beaches. The end where I was had the yacht club and the marina, and smelled of rich people (Aveda white tea and aloe shower gel mixed with money, in case you didn't know), while the far end had some dodgy looking motels, a few nightclubs and smelled of stale beer and fish. Needless to say, I spent most of my time as an impostor in the land of plenty.
A brief beery aside: Korean people are known as the Irish of Asia, and I can see why. On my aforementioned early morning constitutionals - we're talking 7am here people - it was not unusual for me to see young and old alike knocking back some beers or chuhai as they saluted the sun. To be fair, these serious party people were far outnumbered by the healthy types who were out swimming and jogging and power walking along the strand. Even people in electric wheelchairs were out keeping pace with the joggers. It also heartened me to see the volunteers out every morning cleaning the beach and taking pride in their surroundings and keeping things nice for everyone.
