I'm baaaaaaack!!!

Holy cow....

It's been way too long since I've touched this thing.

So many things in my life have changed since my last post.  Instead of writing about life, I've been living it.  I really wish I could write about all of it right now...sometimes it's much more interesting to do that.  But I find myself so busy these days...much busier than being back at Maple Leaf, that's for sure.

You're wondering where I am.  I'm back in my native Vancouver.  That's right...I'm no longer an expat.  All those times are just memories now.  It was an amazing three years abroad. I have no regrets in leaving Canada for that amount of time.  I traveled to some great places and have met some great friends that I'll never ever forget.

But my real struggles start now.  Expatriation was surprisingly easy for me. It might seem like a struggle for some.  I think it gets easier over time. Some even come to love it.  I suppose it all depends on how you go about living life and traveling out there.  Only now in retrospect, in the comfort of my home, do I have a deep appreciation of what has happened to me in the last 3 years.  I miss being abroad, and I realize now how brave expats really are.  Maybe one day, I'll go back out there...

I have found, and as many expats have found, repatriation is hard.  I'd go so far to say that it is the most difficult part of being an expat.  My first few months back home...well...let's just say I'll be writing about that later...a lot about that later...

And now for catch-up blogging!  I gotta finish off my stories from my final year abroad...

*     *     *

I'm too lazy to actually put pictures up of Yangshuo, so I'll just make a bullet list of some interesting things that led up to Spring Festival 2013...I'll do Yangshuo later.

• Another Shanghai bachelor party.  Trained it to Nanjing then to Shanghai.  Highlights: a colleague throwing a large McDonald's drink at a taxi that almost ran us over, seeing Chinese youth dance to Indian beats in a Nanjing nightclub, eating a delicious Teppanyaki  feast, and then replacing beer with a bottle of scotch because I wasn't getting drunk fast enough.  Needless to say, that last one was foolish of me. I was the first one to drop that night.  Apparently, I did tough guy shots again, but I don't seem to remember.  My colleague Joe had to drag my sorry ass back to the hotel. What a great guy. The next day, I had lunch with Hedy near Hongqiao Airport. We had one of our shared favorites  - American BBQ ribs. Coming from Wuhan where that doesn't exist, it was pretty effing sweet.
• I "fought" a student during Sports Day.  Muay Thai Boran vs. North Korean Tae Kwon Do. Highlight (accident) of the fight: I took a full on flying kick to the face which stunned the crowd.  In the end, I was "killed."  Students loved seeing me dead, and my victorious opponent was deemed "the most dangerous student at Maple Leaf."
• Cathy left Maple Leaf in January for a seemingly better job.  Seemingly.  Yes it is a lot calmer and less bothersome than being a Maple Leaf counselor, but it is also quite isolated and the pay was initially not as much.  However, we think it was a good move and she's "moving up." Now she's getting better pay for a less stressful job.  Cathy also moved in with me just before the end of her time at Maple Leaf.
• A swanky bar at the Royal Grace Hotel opened up near Wanke Cheng Shi Hua Yuan (Wanke Garden City), an apartment complex where most of the teachers lived.  I'm not much of a mixed drink guy, but my new favorite mixed drink is hands down the Singapore Sling.

Goodbye Honey

For the last 10 years, I had a great friend named Honey.  She was my companion from late high school all the way through university.  She had golden hair and the warmest smile I've ever seen.  While Honey was the Parungao family's guard dog and took her job very seriously, her personality was that of a puppy since the day she came running into my mom and dad's backyard to when I held her in my arms and watched her life slip away from me.

The way my family adopted Honey goes like this.  Her previous owners were a couple that were breaking up.  They had two pets: Honey the dog  (Siberian Husky/German Shepard) and Holly the cat (Himalayan).  Both were around 5 years old.  The couple gave Honey and Holly to us for free on the condition that the two pets never get separate.  We took them both.

Mom and I took care of Honey.  We trained her, washed her, picked up her shit, and took her out on walks.  For the most part, I was charged with doing these things, but being a very young and very stupid new university student, mom did a lot of work on Honey as well while I was either studying or procrastinating.

Honey in her youth.  She could outrun and out-wrestle me.

Honey under her tree at Deer Lake

I have some very fond memories with Honey.  Back when she was new to the family, I still did competitive fencing.  Roy, my instructor, said I should be running 5 km per day, followed by practicing lunges and footwork in my backyard.  Not only did Honey keep my pace, she often made me run faster and longer.  When I started doing lunges, she would bark and sometimes jump on me and start to wrestle me.

We used to bushwhack our way off-trail in various nature parks around Burnaby.  We often walked through Deer Lake Park in the dead of night; the coyotes howling off in the distance made her very nervous.  One of the best memories I have with her was simply going to my old elementary school and playing fetch.  She usually demolished any so-called "indestructible" rubber balls my family bought her after one run.

Our "traditions" were often seasonal.  In autumn, I would walk with her to a large willow tree which Honey loved to sit under, sniff, and pee on.  Years later, I would pick this spot to spread her ashes.  In winter, I would spend some days with her in the field at Deer Lake Park, aggressively wrestling with her in the snow.  I wore an old jacket, so she could actually pounce on me, bite me, and take me down.  I would smack her upside the head, only for her to redouble her efforts.  It was all very barbaric and child-like, but by the end, her and I were covered with mud, melted snow and sweat, grinning with adrenaline and satisfaction.  She even made me bleed one year.  Winter sports like snowboarding or skiing have nothing on these violent encounters with my dog.

After Rob left for Montreal, our cat Holly vanished, the reasons unknown.  We speculated that she was killed by a predator, or she was taken by a neighbor.  Maybe she went to go look for Rob?  We'll never know.  Anyways, Honey was now alone in the backyard, but the disappearance of the cat didn't have an effect on her duty as the guard of the house.  It was too bad Holly disappeared.  She was a part of the family and Honey's sister.

We often brought the dog into the house so she could have company.

Honey established many good relationships with family and friends.  She absolutely loved my Uncle Keith from Edmonton.  Every time he came to visit, she would spend hours with him out on the patio, sometimes late into the night. Another person Honey really liked was my mom's friend Rick.  I've never met Rick, but from the stories I've heard, Honey would follow him around looking for snacks, specifically bacon.

Honey and I at my old elementary school in 2011

It was tough leaving Honey when I moved to China for work, but it needed to be done.  Out of all the things I missed from home, going on a walk with Honey in a clean neighborhood and park was the one thing that I missed the most.  Being in China, you learn to appreciate the simple things in life that you've lost in North America, like fresh air and the companionship of a large dog.  There's none of that here in China, especially the part about fresh air and a clean neighborhood.

When I came back to Vancouver this year, it was clear that Honey was sick.  She couldn't go for a walk for more than 5 minutes without laying down in exhaustion, and there were cancerous lumps on her belly.  Usually, large breeds have a life span of 10 to 14 years, and Honey was approaching 15.  She could have died anytime during my first 2 years in China, but I like to think she waited to see me one last time.  This summer, her health quickly deteriorated and she was in a lot of pain.  We put her on meds to ease that pain, but then her legs gave out and she couldn't walk.  After I came back from Boston, my family made the tough decision to put her down.  My Aunt Peggy advised me to not be in the room when the vet would put her down, but I went in regardless.  Honey died in my arms at the SPCA in Vancouver on August 8th, 2012.

Honey in her golden years

That afternoon, I went out for a long walk.  While I was at Deer Lake, it began to rain. It hadn't rained for weeks, but in a blink of an eye, Vancouver had a flash thunderstorm.  And there was plenty of lightening and rain.  So much, in fact, that I almost got hit by some of it while running back home soaking wet.  Call it coincidence, or me being a fool for running through a forest of tall trees during a thunderstorm, but to me it marked the end of my companionship with my best friend for a decade.  It stopped raining and thundering once I got inside, and it didn't rain again in Vancouver until I left for South Korea.  Was it a sign? I've always scoffed when Mom and Dad claim belief in that bunk.  But was it?  Sure. I'll think that it was a sign this once. It was Honey saying goodbye to me.

Honey put a smile on my face as I came home from work and school everyday.  And when I think of her now, I can recount on how I have changed over the last decade.  Her presence comforted me during my darkest and saddest moments in university.  Walking her around my native Burnaby and Vancouver made me realize how much I love my hometown and its natural beauty.  I will have other pet dogs in the future.  That is for certain.  But Honey was with me as I grew from adolescence into adulthood.  For this, her memory will never leave my mind.

Goodbye Honey.  You'll be missed.

Point Five Zero

Vancouver, Early August 2012...

Some of my friends have been wanting to fire some lead down range for a while.  I've never fired a real gun in my life, so I figured why not?  My old self defense instructors insisted that although a person may hate guns, he or she should still be able to use one if they have to.  I couldn't agree more.

Desert Eagle....Point Five Zero.  No, it's not my old band.  

Too bad some friends of mine weren't available at the time, but you can't please everyone, eh?  Nonetheless, my buddies Jeremy and Mark were up for blowing off some steam, so we went to the gun range in PoCo.

We were a bit early, since the morning was reserved for gun club members, so we decided to have an early lunch.  Jer Google mapped a small but delicious Mexican diner nearby.  I gotta say, a great day out with your friends would involve going to have lunch there (I don't remember the name, but there are signs), followed by some gun slinging.  Fun times will ensue.

Jeremy firing off a 9mm handgun.

Mark doing the same.

We figured since we were there, we might as well go all out.  We got a nice "buffet" of weapons by choosing 2 guns each and sharing ammunition.  I got a 9mm handgun and a .357 Magnum. Jeremy went for .44 Magnum and a shotgun.  Mark opted for the .22 and 9mm.  We also got to fire 2 rounds of a Desert Eagle .50 each.  Needless to say, it was a cannon in handgun form.  It was brute force.

Jeremy went crazy with his shottie,
unloading all his slugs within seconds.

Killing a fat zombie with my weapon of choice -
.357 Magnum Revolver.

Overall, my favorite weapon was the .357 Magnum.  It wasn't as awkward as the .44 Magnum, and for some strange reason I could shoot straight with it. Despite it's great power, it had a smooth recoil.  When I got back to China and told Cathy I wanted a .357, she got so pissed off.  You should have seen her facial expression!

I had such a fun time at the gun range, I'm bound to do it again.  I wanted to go to a range in Seoul with a new SK friend who I met in Boston, but that fell through.  Anyhow, If you're ever in a major city with me, mention the word "gun range" and we'll be off towards it that weekend.

Cathy in Canada!

In July, Cathy came to Canada with the Maple Leaf Vancouver/ Victoria summer camp as a supervisor.  Unless financially wealthy to Chinese standards, getting to visit Canada as a Mainlander on an individual tourist visa doesn't really happen.  Cathy was able to come on a "group tour" visa, which is easier to get for Mainlanders because the financial prerequisites aren't as demanding.  Being one of the supervising adults on the tour, having a responsible colleague to take care of the kids (thanks go out to Ms. Rosa Du from Tianjin), and staying at an accommodating home-stay were the major reasons why Cathy was able to hang out with me quite a bit away from the students.  She even got to visit with some of my friends and family, and catch up with old friends too.

This summer, Cathy visited my native Vancouver!

I went along with Cathy, Ms. Du, and the Maple Leaf students  to tour around Vancouver.  We went to Gastown, Chinatown, Canada Place, and Robson Street all on Cathy's first day in Canada.

Cathy and I got away from the kids and visited with my high school buddy Henry and my Toastmasters friend Puja. 

It was kind of funny being on a tour with Maple Leafers while on summer break.  It was as if I never really got away from them. Some of the kids were from Wuhan and knew who I was.  They weren't really surprised to see me.  I think they expected me to show up because Cathy was leading their tour group...

In the evening on Cathy's first day, my friends Henry and Puja came downtown to meet Cathy.  Fun conversation ensued at the expense of my dignity.  For example...

Cathy: So what was Paul like when you met him, Puja?

Puja: He wasn't always like this.  Actually, when he first walked into Toastmasters, he was a 'lil bitch...

Paul: WTF!? That's a lie! That's total BS!

Henry: Hahaha! Before learning how to speak up, Paul was a 'lil bitch! I totally see that!

Cathy: [uncontrolled laughter]

Puja: Yeah, he was kind of a 'lil bitch! But he learned fast.

This is some good proof that the Toastmasters method works...

Cathy braving the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

 The next day, the tour group went up Grouse Mountain.  I was supposed to meet them up there via the Grouse Grind, but the tour group left earlier than I expected, so I didn't get to hike.  Instead, I met them at the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Cathy admiring the natural environment.

Cathy admired the enormous trees and fresh air. Sadly, Wuhan is pretty much devoid of these things. I took them for granted for such a long time while in Canada throughout my childhood. I now see that I should have done a lot more hiking in my youth. Seeing Cathy admire such things made me cherish Vancity's accessibility to natural environments.

That evening, I went out with Cathy to go shopping on Robson Street, then drove to West 4th Ave to hang out with my buddy Anthony.  Cathy met him when he visited me in China last year.  We walked to the local Safeway, where Cathy wanted to buy typical North American snack food for her family.  After that, we went down W 4th Ave to watch the sunset on the Granville Street Bridge.

When we got back to the hotel, Cathy and I stopped a female student trying to leave the hotel dressed like a hooker - oodles and boodles of make up, gravity-defying short dress, and an attitude problem when we told her to get back.  Where the f*** was a foreign 15 year old girl to go?  Granville Street nightclubs?  Downtown Eastside?  She didn't even know the city's layout.  She should have thanked us for doing her a favor, lest she wanted to get preggers via date rape. Cathy told me a story that another counselor back in China told her as a warning to be vigilant on supervision while abroad...

A few summers ago, on another summer camp, some kids escaped the hotel and got piss-ass drunk.  They made a ruckus and began to scare locals.  They even threw a girl at a car...so the story goes. Luckily, no one got hurt, although the police got involved and it was quite an embarrassing fiasco.

Sigh. The bad tomatoes of Maple Leaf...what will they think of next?

Cathy and her crew left for Victoria the next morning.  3 days later, I went to visit her when she was available.  The kids were busy with their own home-stays.  We went out with Ms. Du and a Cantonese girl at Cathy's home-stay named Arlene.  Arlene was a student in Victoria.  She brought us to a dim sum restaurant, claiming it was better than dim sum than her native Guangzhou.  It was Cathy's first time to try Cantonese dim sum.  Needless to say, she liked it a lot.  [Cough] Probably because it's Chinese [cough].

Arlene, Ms. Du, and Cathy at a dim sum restaurant in Victoria's Chinatown.

After dim sum, we went to Roger's Chocolate and Roots to buy some gifts for Ms. Du and Cathy's relatives.

The next day, I went back to Victoria to hang out with just Cathy for another day trip.  We started by going to an Irish pub, where Cathy and I shared Shepard's pie, calamari, and an Scottish beer called Innis and Gunn.  It was delicious.  The premise around Innis and Gunn is that it's brewed in old Scotch Whisky barrels, giving it a distinct flavor. We both liked it.

Cathy knocking back an Innis and Gunn at the Irish Times Pub

From there, we walked around Victoria's downtown for a while taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  We jumped on a bus to go to the Cragdarroch Castle, which proved to be a very interesting experience.  The history of the Dunsmuir family is pretty messed up.

The Empress Hotel.  Plans to eat at its restaurant were disrupted by the fact that it's so damn expensive.

In front of the BC Legislative Assembly 

Cathy "playing" the piano at Cragdarroch Castle

 A few days later, my parents came back to Vancouver from their vacation in Florida, NYC, Washington DC, and Ottawa.  We immediately got onto a BC Ferry with my Grand-Aunt Peggy to Victoria.  Cathy was working, so we visited the butterfly museum and one of the many wineries in Saanich while waiting for her to get off work.  We all went out for dinner at a great restaurant called Pagliacci's after we picked her up. It was highly recommended by my mom's friend, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Mom and I are the family wine connesseurs.  We did a tasting of
Church and State Winery while Aunt Peg and Dad watched us.

Our awesome dinner at Pagliacci's in Victoria.  Probably the best
Italian pasta and cheesecake you'll ever eat can be tried here.  The company made it even better. 

After dinner, we drove Cathy back to her home stay in Saanich.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Her home-stay was a behemoth of a pastoral house.  It was also very clean and beautiful, surrounded by a stunning garden and very big grass lawn.  I was glad that Cathy got to experience that sort of life for once.  Bloody hell, she deserved it for how much work she puts in back at the school in Wuhan.

On Cathy's last day, she and her group relocated back to Vancouver.  My good friend and old colleague Hedy came out to visit Cathy and myself at Richmond Center.  She used to work with us in Wuhan, but relocated after her first year.  And despite our visit being a typical mall walk, we enjoyed each other's company and caught up quite a bit.  Thanks Hedy.

In conclusion, Cathy's visit to Vancouver/ Victoria was a really great experience for her.  She really enjoyed herself visiting my friends and family while successfully taking care of a group of Maple Leafers.  She saw my homeland and hopefully likes what she saw.

Our good friend Hedy came to visit us at Richmond Center on Cathy's last day.

Muay Thai With Kru Suphan/ End of summer 2012

Okay, so I sort of lied about updating this thing throughout summer. I have 1 more week before I go back to Wuhan.  It also happens that I'm in Seoul right now and it's raining hard, so I guess I have time to update this thing.

This summer has proved to be both one of the best and worst.  I'll fill in the details in later posts, but I'll just summarize right now.  Travelling to Ottawa, Boston, Seattle and Seoul has squashed the travel bug in me...at least for now.  Getting to see my brother Rob after two years was definitely a big deal.  The only thing that prevents it from being the best thing during summer was the fact that he finally managed to beat my Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. I'll get you for that, Rob.

In Vancouver, I got to hang out with my awesome friends and do really cool activities. Some highlights include yachting (thanks Jeremy and Fei), firing lead down range (thanks Jer and Mark), eating delicious white food (thanks Kristy) and drinking bubble tea (thanks Henry), figuring out how to finally navigate Richmond (thanks Hedy), and having quality manversations with various guy friends.

The two biggest highlights were about Cathy and Honey. One was good and one not so good.  Cathy visited Vancouver with a bunch of Maple Leaf students, and I had the privilege of "kidnapping" her for a couple of hours here and there to be with her in my native BC.  She managed to see my friends Anthony, Henry, and Puja, as well as Mom, Dad and my Aunt Peggy.  That was the good thing.  The not so good thing was the death of my pet dog and best friend Honey.  Again, I'll fill in details in later posts.

Okay.  Since I failed to put out a large post on my Muay Thai lessons in Bangkok, I'll just post a video.  In short, my time with Kru Suphan and his assistant Mami was so fun and educational that I'm going back for 1 more week at the end of my 5 week holiday next year.

What's good in Vancouver

Yeah, I know I haven't really posted on here for a while.  I promise to do so real soon, but things keep on coming up. Right now I'm in Vancouver for summer vacation.  It's been pretty busy and I've sacrificed quite a bit of sleep for having fun with friends and getting a new computer.  Whatever...you're only young once, and sleep is for the weak.  Or was the saying "sleep is for the well-organized?"

Cathy visited Vancouver for two days with the Maple Leaf summer camp.  After that, she went to Victoria, where she currently resides.  She's one of the adult supervisors for the trip along with a counselor from Tianjin.  I've visited with Cathy 4 times already.  Highlights include the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Cragdarroch Castle, having delicious food and drinks in both Vancouver and Victoria, preventing scantily clad students from escaping the hotel late at night, and of course, seeing Cathy meeting up with some of my friends who were available to hang.  Thanks Henry, Puja, and Anthony.

I'll post about all of this later.  I'm having a really great (and busy) summer, meaning I won't be taking my summer break from blogging.  Next post about my Muay Thai training in Bangkok.  I'd better get on that soon...before I go to Ottawa to see my brother Rob.  Him and I plan to hit up Boston.  A few weeks after that, back to Wuhan via my favorite Asian city...Seoul!

Wo xiang Cathy

Vancouver, week 4.  I've been enjoying my time here in my native Vancity for the last few weeks, although it's been pretty busy.  So far, highlights include relearning how to drive, seeing my childhood friends, hanging out with colleagues here and in Victoria, purchasing a PS3, seeing the old Sage Bistro crew at UBC, purchasing an Cannon SLR camera, seeing my buddy Anthony and visiting my old Toastmasters club.  I also threw away a lot of junk from university, although it hardly made a dent in my junk pile at my parent's house.
 In the next few days, I plan to buy shoes that actually fit me (Chinese shoes do not fit my feet at all), and an MEC frame pack.

I'm also really beginning to miss my girlfriend Cathy.

All my friends and family told me they want to meet her.  I want her to come visit my hometown and see the people who raised me and hung out with me through the years.  Unfortunately, she isn't here by my side.  It will be very hard for her to be here with me. You might say, "Paul, just pay for her plane ticket! What the hell, man?! You're a privileged Westerner!"  Well, it's not so simple.  I'd love to do that, but I must respect the fact that Cathy wants to be independent.  But let's say I do get a plane ticket for her.  There's an even bigger issue...

The visa application of my department head's girlfriend was rejected.  It was a simple visitor's visa, and yet she still got nothing!  Her English is as good as Cathy's.  She has a job and family in China.  The big issue was travel experience and money.  According to Immigration Canada, you need money and international travel experience coming from China to Canada.  It's more or less saying that if you are Chinese and don't have money, you can't visit Canada...even if your boyfriend is a Canadian.

Before I left Wuhan, Cathy and I did a bit of research.  We learned that single people seeking visitor visas (who speak English and have had no travel experience) are sometimes deemed a bunch of gold-diggers and freeloaders with immigration tenancies, so rejection of a visa application to such people is very high.  I would be very offended if my government categorized her as a freeloader.  Cathy is part of a Canadian offshore school community and one of the hardest working staff members.  Hell, she's even hung out with and understands more about Canadians than many immigrants in Vancouver! She works harder than a good chunk of them too.  Not to be hating on immigrants in Canada, but Cathy's a cut above many of them for sure.

Anyways, I guess I have to take a chill pill and just go with the flow on this one.  I already knew Canadian immigration is oft subjective and even accused of some officials as discriminatory...no big surprise there.  I'm sure we'll will get through this one somehow.

Fuji-San

On my last full day in Japan, I did two things.  First, I splurged and stayed at a nicer ryokan, which was friggin' awesome.  Second, I went to see one of the most unmissable sights in Japan - Fuji-san.  It was a bit confusing to find the bus from Tokyo to a place called Kawaguchi Lake, which has a great lookout point of the mountain. I wanted to climb Mount Fuji, but many red flags advised against climbing it in winter.  I also didn't have enough time, nor was I prepared for a snowshoeing trip.

Kawaguchi was pretty much dead.  Many places were either not open, or empty.  There weren't that many people, and there was a lot of snow.  However, it was a clear day.  All the mountains and trees around the Fuji-san area were a nice break from the din of Tokyo.  I walked to the gondola that went up to the lookout.

Mount Fuji is an beautiful and epic sight to behold.  When I saw it, I realized why it was of national importance.  It is one huge-ass mountain.  It also is very wide.  None of my pictures could do it justice at all. 

Lucky nothing like this happened to me on my backpacking trip.

After I came down, I walked around Kawaguchi Lake.  It was getting really cold, and the few places that were open were closing up shop.  However, I stumbled over a nice outdoor onsen that was open.  Had it to myself for the whole time.  Excellent.

Getting back to Tokyo late because the bus was late to arrive, hot tea was waiting for me in my room.  Once I saw that, I just smiled and thought to myself that it was worth splurging on a better ryokan.

Traditional Japanese breakfast

Well, that more or less sums up my travels through Japan, HK, Macau, and Guangzhou.  It was one of my most memorable trips.  I had total control over where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, which is the advantage of doing a solo assault.  But, next time I do Japan, I want people to come with me for sure.

Tomorrow, I go back to Vancouver for about a month.  I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends who I haven't seen in over 9 months! Oh, the stories I have to tell them!

I'll miss all the places that I've seen here in Asia so far.  I'll miss my colleagues that are leaving Wuhan, especially my travel buddy Nicolas.  We've traveled all over China with each other: Wuhan, Shanghai, Wudang Shan, Xi'an, Beijing and Chengdu. Our adventures together are over, but mine are not. I will have more, and perhaps find a new travel partner.

What awaits me when I come back to China in August?  I don't know.  Keep checking my blog.  It might be out of action for a while when I'm back in my native Vancouver, but rest assured, it'll be back in full swing by the time I get back to China.  Part one of my adventures in Asia are over.  Thanks for reading and have a great summer!!!

Yokohama

I wasted a lot of time traveling the day I planned to leave Takayama.  Forgot my camera at the train station and had to turn back.  I lost 4 hours of travel time.  I had no definite plan of where I was going, which is both a blessing and a curse when backpacking.  All I know was that I had to get towards Tokyo or somewhere close to it. 

That's when I remembered my old iaido sensei back at UBC telling me Yokohama was a great international city.  It also happened to be a sister city of my native Vancouver.  I blitzed towards the place on the shinkansen. Once I got there and walked around at night, I fell in love with it.  It felt so much like Vancity.  Had a cheap dinner with local ale.

I got into town well after nightfall.

The next day, I rented a set of wheels and biked around town.  It wasn't terribly cold and once I got going it was totally fine. I hit a number of spots in just a few hours: the Mitsubishi Museum, Chinatown, Yokohama Harbour, and an area that resembled a cross between Yaletown in Vancouver and New Westminster Quay.

The variety of restaurants around Yokohama reminded me of home.  In Wuhan, there's not that much variety at all.  It's just local food and that's about it.  Not that it's a bad thing, but the Chinese love Chinese food.  (Correction: the Chinese of a certain region of China love their local food). But, in Yokohama, they love just about any flavor.  I was tempted to go into a Ukrainian restaurant for lunch, but settled for wonton soup in Chinatown (I was missing HK and Guangzhou at that moment).

'

My ride

The Mitsubishi Museum is made for kids, but there's some pretty interesting stuff.  I had a very nice basic Japanese conversation with this orange robot.

Looking towards downtown Yokohama

Another Japanese Chinatown.  Tai gui le!

The Flag 1

The Flag at 798

The Flag at the Forbidden City

The Flag at the Temple of Heaven