Now and then...(Wuhan, Hakata, and tonkotsu ramen)

It's been a while since I've written on here.  Last week at school, there were many things happening. I had to hand in interim reports.  There were a series of department meetings and a general staff meeting.  I went to boys' poker night.  Bled chips at the beginning, but by the end I came out on top.

 I also got fed up with my social studies students for dirtying up the classroom and leaving it as a pigsty every day.  So I decided to go military on them.  Look at how clean this room is!  I was told by some of my students that it's the cleanest room in the school.

A number of teachers decided to become hardcore gym rats.  Work out every day at 4:00PM. I'm one of them.  We hang out in the weight room after school.  Some of us learn kung fu on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and I go running around the track if I'm late getting to the gym.

 Okay.  Let's go back on the road...

Two months ago, I left Hong Kong for Japan.  I landed in Fukuoka (Hakata). What a pleasant city! Interesting things to see, and tasty eats!  It's the ramen capital of Japan.  After having ramen in Hakata, all other ramen paled in comparison.

When I finally got to my hotel, it was night time.  I decided to walk around the nearby nightlife area of Hakata (which apparently was one of the most famous red light districts of Japan).  I saw what would become a constant reoccurring sight throughout my travels in Japan - roving bands of drunk businessmen stumbling out of stripper joints.  Went to buy some food and called it a night.

The next day, I went to visit some shrines. They had these funny looking entrances where you had to go through a big guy's mouth.

It was fairly cold outside, and a sweet old lady beckoned me into her small mama-papa restaurant.  I guess she could tell I was a gaijin (foreigner).  Had some delicious homemade udon, which hit the spot.

Grannie also gave me a free ticket to go to a nearby museum, where I learned a bit about the Gion Yamakasa festival, where large groups of men run floats around town.

 

At night, I went to a place called Ramen Stadium for dinner.

TONKOSTU RAMEN!!!

Here's something funny I found out.  Apparently, to many Japanese, ramen noodles are Chinese pulled noodles.  But here in Wuhan, and even when I was down in Hong Kong, ramen is deemed Japanese.  The Japanese think it's Chinese, and the Chinese think it's Japanese!  I chuckled to myself as I finished my delicious meal.

Even though the Japanese and Chinese get on each others' nerves sometimes, I find it funny they don't realize that they have so much in common, and that they don't give each other enough credit for each other.  But at least they do recognize that the other culture can make something delicious like ramen. That made me have a little bit more faith in humanity, and made me warm and tingly inside...or was that just the noodles?

Japanese Earthquakes

Well, my friend and coworker from Sage Bistro Joyce is in Sendai, Japan right now. We all know about the recent 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan on the 11th of March.  Well, it hit Sendai particularly hard.  Actually, the epicenter was near Sendai.  Apparently, aerial photographs of the region look like a playpen of kids' toys - mangled, ripped up, and smashed.  Not to mention the aftershocks and the potential nuclear power plant meltdown. I really liked Sendai when I was there last month.  I hope the city redevelops itself to its former glory after these troubling times.

My thoughts and hopes to Joyce, her students, colleagues, friends and community.  I hope they can stay safe and unharmed in the upcoming and challenging weeks or months ahead.  If you're reading this Joyce, here are some pictures for you to remember better days...

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 5

After going back to Hong Kong from Macau, I had early dinner at a low-key local place. I was very hungry.

Wonton and San Mig. Fills you up very fast.

View in the restaurant

The last thing I did in HK was to check out the laser light show from Kowloon that overlooks Hong Kong. 

Had to hit the sack early for an early flight to Fukuoka, Japan the next morning.  But back at the Chungking Mansions, I didn't get much sleep at all.

Maybe it was me getting used to the comfy bed in Macau.  Maybe I was too excited about going to Japan. But, there was a couple next to my guest house room that were making a lot of squeaky noises on their squeaky bed.  That kept me up.

Well, that pretty much sums up my journey throughout Guangzhou, HK and Macau.  I love the Cantonese-speaking areas of China.  Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities the world over.  The places and adventures I've had in these places were awesome.  The food was even better!  I look forward to my next visit to this area of the world.

Next up...JAPAN!

Gamblor! Macau! Part II

Well, Gamblor caught up with me again.  Went to another guys poker night last Thursday.  This time my colleague from the Foreign Nationals school didn't clean me out.  Time did.  I bled chips the whole night, except for winning a few really big pots which inevitably bled too.

And speaking about gambling, during my second day in Macau, I decided to go to the Venetian Casino Hotel.  Apparently it's a carbon copy of its Vegas counterpart.

All in all, I really enjoyed my little side-trip to Macau.  It is such an interesting place.  For an island that caters to all sorts of vice, it was very pretty and a lot of fun.  One day, I shall return to there (hopefully with some of my friends from Wuhan or Vancity).  Maybe then I can actually win at the tables.  And if not, at least I'll be in an interesting venue with them that I can explore some more (and eat delicious food)!

The super posh lobby of the Venetian

It had a faux-Venice shopping area that had a faux- river running through it. No faux-Rialto Bridge though.

Walking around Senado Square, which dons both Portuguese and Chinese characteristics.

My hotel room

Gamblor! Macau!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to work at Sage Bistro on the UBC Vancouver campus.  Okay, maybe I was working there last year at this time, but I feel like I've been away from that place for an eternity.  During holidays, I sometimes hit up River Rock or Grand Villa casinos for some late-night blackjack with my friends.  Most of the time I used my Sage tips.  Lucky for me, I was in the green before I left for China. You know what gamblers say, "You don't have a gambling problem if you're winning."

Well, I got a little glimpse of the high-rollers.  No, not in Vegas.  That place will soon be small beans as compared to where I went...MACAU!!!

Casino Lisboa

Paul at the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral

My casino of choice.  Wynn's.  Okay, okay...I lost $60 there. But holy s--t did I go out in style.

Macau preparing for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Would've liked to see what it was like, but I was in Kobe's Chinatown at the time in Japan.

Macau is a pretty cool island. I have to say that it's a place of pretty serious gamblers.  They love their Baccarat here, and I saw Chinese throw down money like it was nothing.  I was actually hard-pressed to find a blackjack table at some casinos. As for the entertainment, well that's a work in progress.  Vegas is still a lot more fun away from the tables, but probably not for much longer after the next string of casinos begin to pop up.  And they will pop up soon.  The construction next to the Venetian Hotel Casino is without compare. The last time I saw that many construction sites was before the 2010 Vancouver Games.

But what Macau does have that Vegas does not is a deep Portuguese colonial history.  Okay, yeah I think that colonialism generally mucks stuff up.  But after you taste Macauan cuisine, you'd be glad that they've had a lasting effect here...at least in the cuisine.  The first dinner I had was HK style fried rice topped with a Portuguese seafood stew.  Words cannot describe how delicious it was.

Walking around Senado Square, vendors hand out samples of snack foods.  Personally, I liked the jerky meats.  I didn't buy any since they give you so much meat, and I didn't want to carry it around.  But I harsh freeloaded off the freebies.

...and not to mention THESE...

...Ah yes, the famed Macau egg tart.  Far superior to the Hong Kong ones IMO (sorry to all my HK friends, but you gotta admit, Macau egg tarts are so flavorful, piping hot, and just a perfect snack)!

After the tables in Wynn's, I went to the bar at the Casino Lisboa to have a double Johnny Walker Blue Label (yes I splurged on my drink...so what?)with a touch of spring water to celebrate my losses. The free burlesque show at the bar was a nice touch.

More on my adventures in Macau soon!

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 4

 This week will be busy.  I'm teaching 1 block of Social Studies 10 and 3 blocks of Info Tech 10.  I'm just going to put up some pictures with small descriptions for this edition of Pan Laoshi's Adventures.

Central Hong Kong

A view from Victoria Peak

Went up on the Tram, went down on foot on Old Peak Road.

Came across a nice park with a big fountain and a zoo. Headed to Causeway Bay but my camera battery died.

Central by night from Kowloon.

The next day I wanted to go to the Big Buddha, but met Annetta - a new friend.  Detoured to Disneyland HK, which is puny, especially if you've been to Disneyland in California and Disneyworld in Florida.

Annetta helping me pick out a present for Cathy.

On the way to the Big Buddha.

The Big Buddha

Annetta and I went up the Peak at night to go see Toussaud's Wax Museum.  Fought off some ninjas with my homeboy Bruce Lee.

Central...on the way to have late night wonton noodle soup. The next day I would depart to meet Gamblor in Macau.

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 3

Hong Kong!  I love Hong Kong!  When I first went there, I fell in love with the place almost immediately.  There's so much to see! There's so much to do!  Lots of sights, lots of sounds.

李小龍 (Lee Xiao Long).  You know his English name.

Last time, I stayed with my father at a hotel.  This time, however, I stayed at the infamous Chungking Mansions.  My mom emailed me and told me that she stayed there back in the 70s with my grandmother and great-grandmother.  It was a filthy hole-in-the-wall dung heap back then, and to a certain extent it's kept a bit of that.  I was also tipped off that it has been deemed one of the dirtiest and most dangerous place to stay in all Hong Kong, for its reputation of vice is without compare in the city.

I actually didn't think it was all that bad.  Okay, a fight broke out between a security guard and a drunk ass foreigner, and the internet place tried to sucker me into paying more than they deserved, the various "businessmen" surrounding the place were so sketchy and pissed me off a number of times, a couple having loud rough sex was making it difficult for me to sleep, and the main floor often smelled like Chinese washroom.  But other than that, it was fine.  The guest house I was at was ran by a Chinese woman and a cleaned by a short Filipina.  She kept the rooms quite clean.

My HK Mansion.

The Chungking Mansions was just a place to rest.  I was in Hong Kong to bask in the glory of my favorite city in East Asia, although I'm really not all that sure if it's my favorite anymore.  Not after Tokyo.

The first thing I did was to meet my friend Stephanie, who works at a school in a different part of China.

 

OMG, soy sauce ready on the table.  You never see this in Wuhan!

 

Of course, the next thing was to get my eat on because HK food is so effin' delicious.  Canto food is a lot more similar to Chinese Canadian.  Bland to Mandarin standards.  But eats in HK reminded me more of home than of the spicy and oily dishes of Central China.

Wonton Noodle Soup, Biatch!

From Kowloon we went to Central via the Star Ferry.  After crossing, we ran into a beer and wine kiosk.  I got myself a stout beer to drink as I walked around town.  Compared to Wuhan, however, it was tai gui le.

Beer Kiosk

Buying HK egg tarts (|Macauan ones are  far superior IMO)

Walked around for a while until we arrived in SoHo, the foreigner's food haven.  Went to a Spanish restaurant and had seafood paella and rioja (my favorite wine).  I think the place was run by Pinoy (Filipinos).

Great first day with a friend and lots of flavorful food in the city that raised the immortal Bruce Lee.