Kobe

The next stop on the agenda was Kobe.  It was Spring Festival back in Chinaland, and Kobe's well-established Chinatown promised to be busy as hell.  I had to stop here to investigate.

Japanese plastic food art, China style

After eating the most expensive cha sha bao I've ever bought, I had a craving for good ol' New Town Bakery bao back in Vancity.

Ruins of the Kobe Earthquake...a cryptic sight for the coming days in Japan after my backpacking trip. I hope Japan can bounce back after the recent events, just like they did after the Kobe earthquake.

Apparently, to be deemed worthy of being called Kobe beef, cuts have to pass a standardized criteria from a local quality check.  Something about the meat's marbled texture and appearance?

In search for a decently priced Kobe beef steak restaurant.

Found one!  And it only cost me $50.

I had my own cook because I came in fairly early to beat the crowd.

After eating the Kobe beef steak you see in this picture, I became very confused.  I don't know what's better - Albertan steak or Kobe steak?

Only places that show this sign use beef that has been checked by the local quality board.

Danger! Monkeys in the sewer!

Shanghaied (Weekend Trip)

This last weekend, the boys took a little trip to Shanghai to celebrate my colleague Mitch's bachelor party.  There were 9 of us.  Friday's flight drained the life out of us since it was 2 hours delayed.  But on Saturday, craziness ensued as of 8:00AM and ran until roughly 3:00AM.  All I'm going to say is that we started the day off by drinking beers with breakfast and ended with a few of us drinking beers at a shawarma restaurant wondering why some of us got tossed out out of CD Soho night club.  Some activities in between these two events involved a women's dress on Nanjing East Road, hockey jerseys, tough guy shots, a pillow, a bum with baijiu and an interview by local TV.  Use your imagination on how things went down.  All in all, we had an awesome time, but I can't seem to remember most of it. Whatever.  Shanghai is definitely a great city to have a stag.

Hiroshima

After Fukuoka, I took the Shinkansen up to Hiroshima. Made many friends here but also made the dumbass move of not writing down contact info.

Robots!!!

Cosplay Photo Store

A-Bomb Dome at the Peace Memorial Park

Aiaaah!! Historical erasure!!

Korean Victims of the Atomic Bomb Memorial

Black Rain

Tsukemen, a famous Hiroshima ramen-ish dish

Hiroshima-jo

The Seven Samurai

Agua

On Thursday night, without warning, the water was cut at the school.  The students and teachers living on campus couldn't take showers for Friday.  My class reeked of BO and the school washrooms (which are pretty clean) suddenly turned into Chinese public washrooms that don't flush. What's more, the water didn't turn back on until Saturday, even though maintenance said it would come back on Friday.

Not having running water really put things into perspective for me.  We Canadians are so lucky to have such good utilities and infrastructure to assure good utility.  The school area's waterworks are pretty good most of the time.  There are other places in the world that have it so much worse.  But the worst part to me was the lack of warning.  Bad waterworks, but worse communication.

Yesterday, Cathy and I brushed our teeth outside next to the only faucet that worked.  It was behind the cafeteria and next to two sewer grates.  The tap was slow and the area around it was muddy.  Cathy washed her face and I took a sponge bath, developing world-style. Didn't trust the water all that much, so when I came back inside, I took a shot of Chivas Regal 18 year old scotch whisky.

On a lighter note, I'm off to Shanghai next weekend!  My colleague Mitch is getting married and the boys are throwing him a bachelor's party on the Bund!

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!