A life's journey: 2014

Tokyo Impressions

Wow, what a great place. If you’ve been to New York or other big cities, they seem to have a unique vibe and palpable energy. Tokyo is on par with any modern mega-city I've had the chance to visit. There are so many people, but they seem to move smoothly through the extensive network of trains, subways, buses and taxis. You always hear about Tokyo as a vertical city, where everyone is cramped into small spaces, what I hadn't imagined was that you were just as likely to visit a restaurant, bar, store on one of several basement levels as you were above ground. We were able to get around on the trains or by foot and the occasional taxi when we couldn’t find our way. There are museums, parks, endless cafes, bars, restaurants, malls. It truly has all of the trappings of a major metropolitan city in the U.S., but it was so much cleaner or better organized.

The structure in Japanese society comes through in your interactions with people, who for the most part are indifferent to foreigners, but were very helpful at a moment’s notice. You can literally walk into any store and ask for directions and they will do their best to get you pointed in the right direction. In America, typically you can always find that one jackass who is cutting the line, or won’t let you in, or cuts you off, or treats the hunt for a parking spot like a life or death struggle. (Note: if you haven’t noticed this person, it’s probably you or me) The people there seemed more patient, not always, but overall there was a refreshing classy demeanor.

Speaking of classy, everyone….and their puppy were well dressed no matter what time of day. Your typical Japanese businessman would be in a custom suite, complete with cuff links and freshly polished shoes, the ladies wore outfits that seemed elegant and refined, the majority wore fitted skirts and blouses, covered by cute coats of every shade and texture. It was cold is Japan during our visit which was great, I had completely forgotten the concept of sweaters as we live in the sweaty armpit of SE Asia. This made it great weather for coffee, and good ol Starbucks didn't disappoint, plus they had wifi, which made our navigating needs that much easier.

I don’t know that Thanksgiving is a big thing in Japan, but Christmas sure is. You could not enter a 7/11, starbucks, café, restaurant, clothing store, mall, fast food joint without being bombarded by the sounds of Christmas carols (in English) mostly of the Mariah Carey variety being pumped through the sound systems. Frosted windows, and Christmas tree displays made the picture complete. I think we may have felt a bit homesick, had it not been November 4^th.

We saw the sights, had really good food. I was fighting a bug from Cambodia, but I wasn't going to miss out trying Japanese food. We had a great meal at a cool joint called Sushi Yasuda.

Anthony Bourdain stopped in there on one of his shows and it looked great, so we tried it. The chef was great, Heather and even CJ joined us (he took all kinds of medicine pre game, but still got sick). The chef gave us mouthwatering samples of 14 varieties of delicious sushi. The quality of the seafood was so good, the tastes, textures and flavors were really on a different level. I had a great conversation with the chef throughout the meal, which made the experience that much better.

Visited a robot show, I can’t really describe it beyond, pretty Japanese girls, Dinosaurs, Robots, the Phoenix Suns gorilla, power rangers, choreographed dancing, the eternal struggle between good and evil. Look it up on you tube, it is mind blowing, awesome, insane, stupid, funny, weird and everything in between. I don’t know man (jaw dropping for Steve throughout the show!).

Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum was cool. It was interesting to see Eastern art as the focal point of a museum, rather than a half-hearted exhibit tucked into a corner near the bathroom and vending machines. This particular museum had the largest and oldest collection of Japanese cultural artifacts.

One cool piece was a 1500 year old scroll that details a poetry contest that a particular emperor held. They would be given a choice of categories like winter, spring, summer, fall, romance and “poem battle” until a winner was selected.

Other notable pieces were the samurai swords and armor and an extensive collection of Asian antiquities from China, hmm wonder how that got there?

Paul Garrison

Visited a shrine and hopefully got some blessings along the way. The temple was in Yoyogi Park, its just cool to type yoyogi. The park housed military barracks during WWII and was hit hard during the bombing of Tokyo, so the temple is a reconstruction of the original, but was still very cool to visit and take in some of the sights and sounds. The park was also used as one of the venues for the last summer Olympics in japan in 1964. There were signs all over marking the 50^th anniversary of those Olympic games, and there is even more excitement over the redevelopment being done for the 2020 games.

Sake

Wishes written on cardboards

Blessing

For the most part, we generally stuck to the tourist track. We would tuck into little bars and restaurants here and there, drink a beer and eat something Japanese. There was a great park right outside our apartment, so no matter where we went we always got to walk through a park first. Parks are quite nice if you haven’t been to one lately, I’d recommend it. They are usually green, although I’m not sure about in San Diego anymore. We have 1 in our town, so it was a treat for us.

Yoyogi Park from above

Overall impression- We were both really impressed. To see a modern, well-educated Asian culture and a highly developed economy, that, while taking some cues from the West, is still very much forging its own path. I don’t mean to say that the ultimate goal of society should be to consume at the same level as the US, but the sense of pride that dignity that the Japanese people exude is something that I admire. It gives me hope for the future for countries like Cambodia, not a fair comparison at this point, but I can dream can't I?

On the beer front, I saw Blue Moon and some of the Kona Brewing company beers, otherwise it was asahi and sapparo and their close relatives

I think we would both definitely go back to explore more of the museums and check out other parts of the country. So far it is our favorite stop on our year of self discovery in Asia. Don't I sound evolved?

Best Pho we've had in Asia, Hanoi Airport

Chocolate filled Panda head pancake

Clock

Crouching tiger finding her Zen, Phan

some sort of Plinko game, it is quite loud in there

Buzzed

Cute dogs, costing around $2,000/each

Reminded us of Brad and Blacky (the sister)

Typical side street

Funny Story:(hope its not one of those you had to be there things)

We arrived about 7:00 AM and took the hour and a half bus ride into the city. By the time we wandered the streets and finally gave up and got a taxi to drive us the 2 minutes to our apartment it was pushing 10 AM. One of our travel companions, CJ (think awkward teenage years that never went away) has been sincerely looking forward to Japan for some of its western food option. CJ is allergic to seafood and so that means he can’t eat anything in Cambodia, because everything has some sort of fish sauce, crab paste or other aquatic extract that his system cannot handle. It’s 10AM and Phan wants to rest, so CJ, Heather (another teacher, AKA Partner) and I decide we are going to head out in search of one the great traditions in American culture, McDonalds breakfast. We figure out that we are 1.7 miles from the nearest location, but have absolutely no idea how to get there. We get some sort of directions from the lady at the front desk, she points us in the right direction and motions to her watch with a sense of urgency, so I knew that she knew of that dreaded 10:30 AM deadline that can crush your soul something fierce. Not to be denied, we decide our best course of action is to run in the direction that she has pointed. We run into a bellman from a hotel nearby and I ask him, which way to McDonalds. No chance McDonalds is not translating, I use his pen to scrawl the most recognizable logo besides Coca-Cola and instantly he starts talking and pointing, all in Japanese mind you. At this point a taxi shows up and bellman talks to taxi guy and MikaDongals and we pile in. Clock in the taxi says 10:26, oh man, we’re not going to make it. We see a sign that has the golden arches and an arrow inferring that we are close. We get out of the cab, scour the location and realize that the sign is pointing us onward and that there is a McDonalds 280 Meters ( like 1,000 feet) down the road. Cab is gone, so we gotta run.

We see it, run inside, the menus have been changed, the time has past, but hey, why not ask anyway, just in case. Yes, the deadline is 10:30, but the register guy says he can help us and gives us a breakfast menu. Its in Japanese, so it takes me a minute to order (this will have devastating results) I order up some Mcmuffins and this ultimate McHeartattack breakfast sandwhich, hash browns, OJ, you know American stuff. They gave me a little number and let me know they’ll bring my food out to me. I go to find a place to sit, while Heather and CJ order, Heather comes back first with her food and then CJ comes to the table with a to-go bag with this look of pure misery on his face. I’m perplexed, what is wrong with this guy? Come on man, buck up! We inquire as to his profound state of sorrow and he explains to us as he was handing his money over to the cashier, the manager comes by and begins to berate him apparently because he has gone against the 11^th commandment and has served breakfast after 10:30 AM. He tells CJ that he cannot have breakfast and must order from the lunch menu, he tells us this as he pulls out a double cheese burger and proceeds to sulk the rest of the meal. Heather and I are stunned, I mean I love me some McDonalds, but this poor bastard has to eat Doritos and Cliff bars and has done so for the better part of the last 6 months. Had he ordered 30 seconds sooner he would be enjoying the delicious artery clogging breakfast that I was. Imagine being that close, even after the buzzer had sounded, ad while handing over your money finally being denied, that's cold blooded.

I derived so much sincere joy from this event, I had to share it with you. BTW the Japanese version of McDonalds is legit. I’m Loving It, indeed.

As the calendar turns to November, and the crisp Cambodian winter sets it. Just kidding, its 82 here today with relative humidity of geeze I’m so sweaty. BTW Phan and I were watching the San Diego morning news the other day (thanks again Dave) and the weather/hooker girls are getting better or worse depending on your point of view. This chick had a black, skin tight short leather S&M outfit on, and no it was not Halloween yet. Bob Dale would be ashamed of these hussies. In all honesty it is cooler then when we arrived in June, but still very warm.

So Phan’s Dad arrived in Battambang and we made the trip over there a few weekends back. It is only $5 to take the bus, but we decided to stay classy and opted for the private taxi, with the added benefits of leaving Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning. It was a harrowing, horn laden adventure, but we made it to the village in one piece. Phan and I were excited to see some of the family members that we had met a few years back and see the work that her Dad had put into fixing up the house. They even have a small storefront, oh and 3 dogs, which were very well behaved and even accepted Hooner into their pack.

We went out for dinner and drank, it was by far a better experience than our visit in 2011, when the house was literally empty and lacked many of the creature comforts we enjoyed this time around.. One of the highlights for me was learning to play Khmer chess from Phan’s Dad. It is a lot like regular chess actually, so Troy and I both took our turn getting schooled, but then her Dad played some ooooollllddddd guy from the village who made Phan’s Dad call him “the master.”

Here are a few pictures of Battambang and the village.

Central Market Battambang

Hoon in his spot

Phan looking out to the fron from the balcony.

Pa and Ming came back to Siem Reap with us and spent a few days seeing the sights, visiting Angkor Wat, it was Hooner’s first opportunity to see the temples, shh no dogs allowed. We took them to the circus and they had a good time.

Hoon at Temples

Cambodian Circus

Work is going just fine, we recently finished the 1^st quarter of the school year. The students are great, admin has been nothing but supportive and I have a beautiful view from my classroom. I really have no complaints. One interesting thing that occurred was when the issue of slavery came up. In the United States there is a built in social stigma associated with race relations and often our sensitivities can hinder our objectivity or depth of investigation. Usually the conversation ends with it was a dark time in American History….lets talk about reconstruction.

These Cambodian kids are approaching the situation with an outsiders perspective. In the U.S., this perspective may be viewed as callous, but I found it extremely refreshing to go beyond the baseline slavery is bad, and delve deeper into issues like the economic advantages of slavery, without the emotional burden of black and white. It was truly group A and group B and from a Historians perspective, removing such a powerful bias like race was intellectually very exciting.

Sorry for the nerdy History stuff

Some exciting developments in the travel department. We’re headed to East Asia in early November, I was honestly looking for a nice beach in the Philippines, but the airfare went up and that made it around the same price as going to Japan, so Tokyo here we come. We’ll be spending only 4 days there, but it is sure to be exciting, really looking forward to the food. Two other teachers from work are joining us, accommodations are pretty pricey so between the 4 of us, we should come out ok.

Earlier this week we also booked a flight for Christmas break to a new continent. (for us) Anywhere north in Asia is pretty chilly in December, so we’re leaving Christmas day to Sydney, Australia for 10 days. I have some weird dream about seeing the new years eve fireworks in the Sydney harbor, so maybe we’ll get that opportunity. There are quite a few Australians in Cambodia so we have been getting a lot of advice about possible itineraries. Japan and Australia are expensive when compared to Thailand and Vietnam, so we’ll have to be a bit more frugal, but it’ll be a great adventure. Also it is in the Southern hemisphere so it’ll be summer time over there, yeah more warm weather.

Phan and Hooner have opened up their own nail shop, which consists of one client, Hooner who receives daily massage and nail treatments. They are both doing good, Phan is enjoying the space to breath and think and observe and appreciate and read and relax. Things are going good though, a little homesick, man a double double sounds so good.

I’m still playing soccer. I hate it, don’t know how much longer I’ll last, I give up like 9 goals a match. I know it sounds bad, but that doesn’t take into account the 50 shots on goal other teams average. It is a bloodbath, we’re slow and I hope I don’t have to do it anymore. Additionally, there are loads of ill tempered brits and aussies who are reliving their glory days of JV soccer. It’s a mess, I gotta find a way out, oh I know I’ll just roll around on the ground holding my ankle like all the real soccer players do.

Alright, your all caught up. Send us emails, keeping us updated on your end, it would mean a lot to us, helps us feel connected.