Lioness in Japan

The kangaroo and I share an interest in historical stuff so we had to check out the My Son ruins (often likened to Cambodia’s Ang Kor Wat, but it’s much smaller in scale) that were bombed during the Vietnam War but had been slowly reconstructed through the years.

Here’s a ridiculously happy shot of us but we cheesed out for the camera because it was actually a shockingly grey day at the Imperial Palace in Hue. It was a really good walk, and again, if you are a history buff, you will love this place.

The kangaroo really wanted to stop and rest for five to six days — just eating, reading, sleeping, swimming, beaching. Google led him to Jungle Beach where there was nothing much but some huts, a quiet beach, homey Vietnamese food, and hammocks.

This was our hut and we had such a glorious time just being. I would slather on some mosquito repellant and sun block and curl up with a book. Bliss.

We also slept on Hello Kitty bedsheets. Japan always finds us somehow, no matter where we are in the world…

In continuation of my honeymoon series…

It was pretty cold in Vietnam’s northern capital city, Hanoi, so it was no surprise that Halong Bay was chilly too but it was worth going there because it really was beautiful even though a bit touristy. It felt quaint sleeping in a cozy cabin on an old-fashioned “junk boat” (with a motor, running water, electricity, etc. of course).

We took a cruise in one of those boats above. We kayaked, hiked, cycled, ate, and just had a rad time with an Aussie couple from Perth and a Kiwi couple from Wellington.

We climbed quite a few stairs to reach up the top of a hill to get this view. It was really lovely.

Turn away from this page if you retch at lovey-doveyness. I actually feel quite sentimental when I look at this photo because it’s our first one taken on our honeymoon at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, Vietnam. We did a day of cultural sight-seeing and also popped in to say hello to Ho Chi Minh’s body at his mausoleum.

I’m not going to go into detail on my trip as there are much better guides out there (Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide). I would rely more on The Rough Guide To Vietnam and TripAdvisor for reviews and recommendations but the Lonely Planet is good for detailed maps and suggested routes.

Anyway, I’m just going to pick out photos that I like from my trip and talk about them.

Before I set foot on Taiwanese soil, I was told by many people that Taiwan is a paradise for vegetarians and vegans so I imagined a souped up version of the San Francisco veggie scene (there are all mannerof veggie restaurants, from Thai to Mexican), but alas, I understand that “paradise” is a relative word. The Lonely Planet said vegetarians would be able to go to food courts with their omni friends and there will be something for everyone – hmm, not so in my opinion. I wandered through several food courts in department stores and I couldn’t find anything to eat, besides fruit, desserts and juices.

This is an example of what you can find at a food court…A giant “Mount Fuji” curry omu-rice with sausages and a beef patty…

Looks terrifying…LOL!

However, I still think it is easier for veggie lovers to eat in this country (compared to Singapore and Japan) and people are truly respectful of your choice to eat vegetarian, mainly because of its dense population of Buddhists, who are 100% vegan or go through crucial or festive times as vegetarians. That was what I appreciated enormously because I’m usually the odd one out wherever I am and I almost feel like I have to over-compensate for my dietary choice, eg. from apologizing to whomever at a party or event that I would like to have a vegetarian option to tolerating bigoted opinions about how meat is absolutely necessary to keep on breathing as a human being (by “over-compensating” here, I mean by keeping quiet and gritting my teeth). Just utter this word, 素 (su), and any waitress or stall holder would understand what you need in Taiwan.

So the key is to move away from big commercial hubs and choose the more out-of-the-way veggie joints. I know there are many vegetarian buffet eateries but they didn’t appeal to me because the food sits there for hours and I’m not into greasy, cold food, which is also cooked in the vein of unhealthy Chinese vegetarian food that is widely available in Singapore as well — so not exotic to me but could be interesting to someone else. I’m such a food snob but it’s my honest opinion.

Onto the food now…

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Jiu Fen

I spent most of my time in Taipei City but I took a mini road trip to see rural Taiwan. I chose Jiu Fen because it’s so close to the city and it’s well-connected by bus and train.

My Lonely Planet Guide said taking the bus was the best way to go and an old dude handing out flyers near the bus stop also told me it was more convenient than the train when I asked him which way was better. I spoke to quite a few random strangers in Taipei and Taiwanese are just really sweet and friendly folks.

After an hour’s ride, I arrived to see this from a viewpoint right next to the bus stop. Jiu Fen is a northeast seaside town that thrives on tourism though in its glory days it was a gold mining town.

The quiet roads and tranquil hills were just what the doctor ordered because I was a little tired of crowds in the city, especially after an exhausting night at Shilin Night Market (sorry I realized I only took videos of this so I will do a separate video on my Beauty Box blog).

But I couldn’t resist checking out the Jishan street market that hawks food, souvenirs and local goods. It wasn’t that crowded so I had a leisurely stroll through the winding alleyways.

I know tea is a huge deal in Taiwan and the tea houses are quite an experience but I don’t drink caffeinated tea so I just looked from afar…

Random cute trinkets…

And stinky tofu….which I adore! There are a few ways that stinky tofu is cooked and the markets tend to deep fry them or grill them but what is similar is the fermented brown paste (which exudes the stinkiness) and the optional chilli sauce and/or pickled cabbage. I think I had stinky tofu almost daily in some form or shape…

Mid-way down this market street was a huge crowd gathered around this store that sells yam paste cakes. It smelled very much like onee, a teochew dessert that is also a yam paste with gingko nuts and pumpkin, and reminded me of home. Taiwan is definitely one of those places where everything is familiar but a little bit different so you don’t feel bored.

They don’t look like much but the crowd was seriously lapping up these cakes and there was a long snaking queue. I think there was some newspaper article about this store that was framed up at the entrance and thus “famous”.

I broke away from the market street and wandered over to a quiet temple to explore. It seemed closed so I just headed back to the bustling centre of Jiu Fen again…

Jinguashi

It was mid-afternoon by now so it was way too early to go back but a little late to go anywhere else too far so I hopped onto a bus and got to Jinguashi, a historical village, officially called the Gold Ecological Park, that preserved some Japanese architecture and gold mining buildings from the old days.

The village pretty much winds down from 4pm and many vendors were closing up shop…

But I did manage to sneak into the Crown Prince Chalet that was built specially for the royal Japanese family but they never came apparently.

And I was constantly amused by the Japanese brands everywhere. I knew there was Japanese influence in Taiwan but I didn’t know how big it was. There were Family Mart and Seven Eleven (which sold oden and onigiri – ?!), Japanese department stores, and plenty of Japanese restaurants. There were also Japanese style hot springs around the country but I decided against visiting one because it was bloody hot.

And I actually made my way to see the Golden Waterfall that gets its orange hue from copper and iron deposits.

There’s a story behind how I got to the Golden Waterfall and this “frog” rock mini-fall. All thanks to this dude…

Mr Jiang was my taxi driver back to Taipei from this area and it was not without some good old haggling….

Actually the story starts from the bus stop at Zhongxiao Fuxing train station… This other taxi driver (pictured below) tried to get me to take his ride instead of the bus. His rate was just 60TWD (USD2) more than the bus fare and it really was a good deal but I was a bit worried about being a solo female traveller and heading off into the boonies with a stranger.

But he actually said he would get a couple more tourists so we could split the fee and I wouldn’t feel “unsafe”. But alas, my bus came first and I headed off. He even told me which bus to get on!

So back to Jinguashi….I was waiting for the bus that would take me back to Taipei and this guy pops his head out of his taxi and starts to wave at me frantically.

Before I knew it, him and two of his other taxi driver buddies came over to talk to me. But Mr Jiang was the first one to starting selling me his Golden Waterfall + Taipei City “package” (“Only 400TWD [USD13]!”) so the rest just tried to persuade me. I could see that although the tattooed driver spoke to me first, there was a “code” that they kept to — the first one who starts selling should get the customer.

And it seems Mr Jiang was an old hand at being a salesman. First he waxed lyrical about all the natural wonders of the area, laughed at my fears of travelling alone in a taxi, praised my complexion (“You’re Singaporean? No way! You’re so fair; Singaporeans are soooo dark!!”), congratulated me on my pending nuptials (he asked me if I was married) and praised the kangaroo’s ability at finding such a lovely lass such as I, and finally, he confessed he had to get back to the city to have dinner with his wife and just wanted to earn his ride back.

So we settled on a very good fee of 150TWD (USD5) — what can I say? Singaporeans are famous for haggling (I had one Balinese DVD seller surrender defeat before I even started asking for the price, “Are you Singaporean? Okay cheap price. No lower. Very cheap already. You Singaporeans always want cheap cheap”).

He regaled me with stories and photos of his past customers from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, US, Malaysia, and Singapore and even crooned in Korean and Japanese…He was a scream and so charming. I would highly recommend him and he gave me his name card, so if you need a taxi driver to explore rural Taiwan, you can just email me and I’ll pass you his contact details.

To be continued…

In mid-July I took off to Taipei for a five-day trip and it has been an endless source of fascination for people around me as to why I would suddenly travel to Taiwan by myself.

Well, simply put, I wanted to have the last taste of freedom before I get hitched in Sept. By freedom, I don’t mean hitting up clubs and talking to strange men — I wanted to travel at my own pace and to have a “girly” trip; the what when where how were all my own. No cycling next to speeding trucks, or splashing around coral reefs, or snowboarding. Just exploring and enjoying a city, but Taiwan was steamy hot so I did work up a sweat most of the time.

One of the perks of living with a road warrior is many mileage points and my whole trip was booked on points. I am thoroughly spoiled and I know it.

I don’t usually really care where I stay when I travel, as long as it’s decent and comfortable but I had to stay at the W Hotel in Taipei because it is such an amazing place….Even riding the elevator was like being in a Kylie Minogue music video…

The room was so artfully decorated with modern but whimsical details…

I generally went sightseeing from 11am to 9pm daily and I liked chilling on this sofa to read or slurp on my bubble tea (I had this everyday and I’m suffering from bubble tea withdrawal…) in the morning or evening.

And check out the view from my 24th floor room…

And how sexy is the pool…?

I felt very well taken care of, especially when I received not one but TWO welcome treats (due to the weirdass booking system on SPG, we had to make two reservations instead of just one) which is part of their signature touch.

I don’t usually eat junky sweets but I had to try these Oreos with melted marshmellow…And I scoffed a nectarine every morning out of that basket..

This one was incredible! A dessert “hamburger” — it was freaking huge! I only had a small portion because it was impossible to finish that whole plate of decadence. The “patty” was a melty chocolate biscuit with strawberries on top, marzipan “cheese”, and custard “avocado” (you can’t see it in the picture). The bread was just a regular hamburger bun. It totally made me laugh out loud!

And I couldn’t resist taking a picture of nuns chilling out at the W lobby. I encountered many monks and nuns during my stay and it’s no wonder because Taiwan is a fervently Buddhist and Taoist country with a plethora of Chinese temples.

I didn’t mean for this post to look like I am sponsored by the W — haha, no way! — but I highly recommend it if you are looking for an alternative hotel experience.

To be continued…

Hi there, sorry for the long pauses but I’m actually wondering what to post during this strange time that we are going through in Tokyo. Don’t get me wrong — I’m okay, the kangaroo is okay, my friends and students are also fine, but life is still a little…different.

My Tokyo contacts are either promoting charity events or update whenever there is a significant shake…and there are quite a few farewells, too, due to earthquake and radiation fears. Some couples have broken up or gotten back together and there’s an overall feeling of reflection. I don’t think I’ve had a conversation that didn’t at least refer to Mar 11 in some way or other these past six weeks. I’m not complaining it’s all around me — I want to talk about it because it’s important, but this is the new “norm”, I would say.

I thought I would recount my time in Kyushu but before I bombard you with my pictures, I would like to state I’m sick of a certain word that describes gaijins who left Tokyo in the week that followed Mar 11. I’m not surprised that some folks are leaving permanently because they have a somewhat tenuous connection to Japan — and I say this without an ounce of judgement or criticism. If you don’t have a job or family keeping you here, you would leave for better pastures, too, earthquake or no. The average turnover for gaijins here is a mere two years so it’s not surprising this is happening.

This event made me call into question why I chose to live here and not somewhere else. There were moments when I thought my life here is shallow and I could start again in another country — another business; another set of friends — but it takes years to build either up and I simply cannot cut myself off from the bonds I have formed (however bittersweet or jaded I might feel sometimes from living in this strange city)…anyway, enough of that, I’m here to stay for now.

Anyway, where did I go? I zoomed away with friends to Saga, which is northwest of Fukuoka in Kyushu.

It’s a quaint little coastal town with blue waters lapping yellow beaches.

As mentioned, we didn’t do much except watch the news on the telly, surf the internet for more news in English, talk to friends and family on the phone, break with meals and we would round up the night with more than just a tipple or two. I drank copiously even though I knew it would make me feel worse for wear but it was stressful looking on at what was being reported in Tokyo and the Tohoku region at the time, and alcohol did cheer us up a little.

We took a very long stroll one day and got some new clothes at Uniqlo to tide us over. I realized that Uniqlo undies were not crap at all…In fact, I’ve got several pairs now — I would recommend getting them.

Four days later, the kangaroo and I jumped into our rental car and hurtled towards Miyazaki where a volcano just had erupted a few days before our arrival. It felt like we couldn’t quite escape the effects of the restless and disturbed plates shifting beneath all of Japan. But when we arrived there was no sign at all of a spewing angry volcano…

We did much needed laundry and learned laundromat vocabulary in Japanese but not in time to figure out we didn’t need to chuck in detergent with our clothes as the machine provided everything including softener.

The kangaroo had the much famed Miyazaki beef — incredibly marbled and juicy according to the carnivore of our household. As a side note, he relishes in describing the thick steaks he imbibes on his US business trips which thoroughly disgust me with his torrid descriptions of perfect bloodiness and how the meat was still mooing, so this holy grail experience was no different. I just took a bite of his salad and all I can say it was pretty good and devoid of cow juice…

Although our time in Miyazaki was spent mostly holed up in our hotel room working, we did venture out for jogs in the nearby pine forest and some sightseeing.

We stopped by a fertility and marital temple — cool, we could use some luck there…One wedding typically stresses the hell out of most people and we are having two…

So you’re supposed to throw a number of clay pebbles at a circle made of rope down by the rocks from a cliffpoint where the temple is. If you get a pebble in the circle, you will be blessed with luck. There were detailed instructions on the sign: men have to throw with their left hand and women with their right.

Ready ready ready steady…go!

He didn’t get any in and neither did I — oh no, our wedding and marriage are in hot soup now!!

Miyazaki was nice but I would have rather gone under different circumstances. Did I think it was necessary to have left? Yes and no. Yes because we didn’t know what was going on but no because the Fukushima situation actually got worse after we returned to Tokyo, though there are no more scary explosions.

I thought this was a fitting goodbye from Miyazaki…

A big old ash cloud…Time to go home, folks…

Even the road signs warned us of the ash cloud looming…

I hope to return to Kyushu again, though…it’s a gorgeous island to drive around especially down the coast where there are a plethora of sights to see for tourists.

I blogged this over at my Beauty Box blog on Mar 1 but I thought my LIJ readers would appreciate my Japanesey holiday in snowy Hokkaido…

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Sometimes I wonder if my skin troubles are also due in part to stress and sometimes lack of sleep. I love my work so I wouldn’t say I’m stressed in a negative way but I’m definitely challenged by the lack of time for everything in my life.

Funnily enough, I thought my year-end pilgrimage back home in Dec/Jan would help re-charge my batteries but I think it was just as hectic as my regular working routine. The endless rounds of dinners, lunches, drinks took a toll on me and then I had to throw myself back into my crazy Tokyo schedule so I inwardly craved for a quiet weekend. Just give me two days of peace and quiet and I’ll be right as rain.

And last weekend’s sojourn to snowy Hokkaido was just what the doctor ordered. Perhaps my still painful ankle (from a nasty tumble in Sydney in early Jan) was a blessing in disguise because I skipped out on snowboarding and just chilled on my own while my other half skied happily on powder snow.

I just found joy in the simple things on our trip and hope you enjoy taking a peek at my holiday…

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We thought another cool place to get hitched would be The Whitsundays. Wedding in board shorts and bikinis, anyone? We couldn’t say no to crystal clear blue waters and unbelievably white sand that could be the perfect backdrop to our nuptials…

This picture was taken as we were leaving Hamilton Island on a ferry to Daydream Island where we would check out the facilities and have a few days of fun — all in the name of wedding research of course. We wanted to make sure it was really a fun place to have our wedding. And no guesses there, we had a blast…

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