일본 (ill-bon): 일

추석 (Chuseok) is the harvest holiday for South Korea, some like to call it the Thanksgiving of Korea. I like to think Thanksgiving is the Chuseok of America. I think it's clear which came first. In modern times, I would say this metaphor holds true. Historically though, Koreans played a role more aligned with the Native Americans, except they successfully fought off the colonists. And now I've successfully consumed a paragraph of irrelevance to state that Chuseok closed my school for four days last week. The perfect time frame for a 'hop' over to Japan.

Over the past year or so, I've realized I really like to explore a new city by wandering on foot. This is a change from my previous "see all the spectacles" attitude in which I'd hustle from point to point so as to "see everything". I find it much more relaxing and valuable to pick a few points of interest within walking distance (note: walking distance is always under estimated in guide books). This often leaves me walking through less touristy parts of a city (even if its from tourist point A to tourist point B) which is a great way to see the lifestyles of the people who actually live there. The stores and restaurants in tourist heavy locations adjust their menus and styles to suit foreigners. By nature this dilutes the true experience. I realize this is an elitist approach to tourism by default; but who isn't elitist in some way, shape, or form?

Introducing Guest #1...

...and guest #2.

Due to the aforementioned holiday, the cheapest tickets we could find for this 'hop' were during odd travel times, which left us with three full days for sightseeing and two half days of travel. We chose to reside at a hostel in Osaka, and make day trips to Kyoto and Kobe. From Osaka, Kyoto is about 45 minutes by train. Kobe is about 30.

Screw the Ab-Rocker.

Stand out grocery store.

Umbrella holder: utilitarian rain or shine.

Can't beat this.

Low rider.

Ferris oval.

Lamien.

Osaka.

Parking garages are the new parking garages.

Our first full day was spent wandering through Osaka. We managed to avoid the confusing train system all day, instead opting to hoof around. By the end of the day, we walked through the two main tourist areas in Osaka, tried Takoyaki (a.k.a. squid balls) and the deluxe Japanese Ramien.

I hadn't done much reading up on Japan, or the cities we were planning to visit, so many things took me by surprise throughout this trip. Osaka, for example, has an apparently large bicycle infrastructure that people seem to use. The city is very flat, I would also consider it sprawled (11,893 people per square KM), but I have been living in Seoul (17,288 people per square KM) for a year so who knows. At any rate, while walking around town, we noticed many people riding utilitarian bikes, from kids to business associates. One of the most memorable moments was seeing a business woman, in a nice dress, come out of an office building, strap her purse/briefcase to her bike, drop the kickstand and move on.

Although the streets are wide, and many of them include some kind of protected shoulder for bicycle passage, many of the sidewalks are also equipped with a marked bicycle lane, and almost all the crosswalks have bike striping. People tend to ride on the sidewalks and lock their bikes near the curb. It's all very fascinating coming from Portland, where the bicycle infrastructure is in rampant development. Seeing all this in action, I had a quandary: Why can't this work in Portland? It seems to me, cyclists in Osaka have no problem sharing the sidewalk with pedestrians and visa versa. Not only are they nonchalant about sharing, but when the stupid foreigners can't figure out which side to pass, they don't seem to mind the dance.

--Warning: Osaka is no longer mentioned.--

Cross the Pacific to Portland, and you have a completely opposite vibe. T(here), the ideal multi-modal transportation system is developed in segregation. Cars are separated from bikes, which are separated from pedestrians. Everyone has a strong sense of entitlement to their current mode.

If any user neglects to use their designated area, thus impeding upon another's designated area, everyone is in uproar; the smooth synchronicity has been violated. Think bikes on the sidewalk/in the car lane, pedestrians/cars in bike lanes, etc. I think a clear separation is necessary to cool the chaos and provide safety. I also understand the sidewalks in Portland are not built for bikes and pedestrians. But should that change? Why should a bicycle be subjected to a car lane (assuming a bike lane is not present) when they want to move along slowly. Doesn't it seem safer for everyone to keep the slow riders on the sidewalk in this event? Should we replace a car lane to make wider sidewalks in Portland, or should we instead implement a cycle track?

Ultimately I'm going to conclude that the bike way should be the priority, to continue the separation. It could all come down to a cultural difference between Portland and Osaka. Or it could be the little person/big ego vibe Portland procures with it's bicycle culture, I simply needed to write it all out to come to a conclusion.

Thanks for listening.

China pt. 5: Later

Ah, the Forbidden City. How massive and impressive it is. Thorough travelers suggest spending two days to see it in it's entirety. I don't disagree.

Oh Mr. Mao.

If I was the last Emperor, I would've put rapids in this.

The photo line.

The exit gate.

Later.

And don't let the door hit you on the way out.

In continuity of the rest of our Beijing tour, we took the abbreviated path through the Forbidden City. It is most definitely massive and holds a great deal of China's history.

China pt. 4: The Meat Market

For your viewing pleasure, I introduce the finale of the three post series on day four in Beijing. If you knew this, you must find my life terribly fascinating. I do.

After an unsuccessful attempt the previous night, we made a point to arrive at the night time food market before closing. This market is as the tour books tout; a place for tourists to try the legendary bugs and balls of Chinese cuisine. From the disproportionate amount of westerners, it's obvious this isn't the typical Chinese restaurant setting where these exotic cuts are enjoyed. Instead it's a place where westerners can go to earn a misunderstanding of typical Chinese cuisine.

Animals eating animals.

How does one begin eating a starfish?

Sheep testicles here!

I want the one with no English.

Seahorse sea hell.

I tend to lean towards the "When in Rome" school of thought that I, as a TOURIST, should do as the locals do, eat as the locals eat, and drink as the locals drink. For me, this is the best way to gain a truer understanding of the observed culture. It is also an easy way to support practices I wouldn't necessarily subscribe to by loosening my ethical and moral restraint, all for the sake of an experience (even if that experience becomes an 18 month residency). In short, I am a hypocrite and I eat all kinds of meat--young, old, land, sea, happy, miserable. It doesn't count if you're in a different area code.

While visiting the different stalls, I realized I wasn't in a mood to stomach some nasty tasting bug carcass, so I opted for the more palatable cuts. I had some squid, an entire leg of lamb, deep fried ice cream, and some sugar glazed fruit.

The hand that holds the arm.

Vegetarian options.

Sugar coated fruit...

...is shiny.

Sit tight, day five is just around the corner.

China pt. 4: Summer Palace and 798

The Empress Dowager Cixi sure had some fantastic digs at the Summer Palace. You can see the immense size of the estate by looking at a map of Beijing. The lake alone was dredged to be large enough for the Chinese Navy to perform naval drills in front of the Emperor. It must have been sweet to be royal in China...

Among many things, the Summer Palace is famous for the long corridor, Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake, Dowager Cixi, and her plays. The view from the top of Longevity Hill is the best place to understand the scale of this property. It's simply amazing. In an effort to stave off mental relapsing from over exposure to a city's vast history, we gave ourselves the footnote tour of the Summer Palace. I tend to have interest in sites like these, but when there is only enough time to stack one on top of another for 5 days, I'm happy with the abbreviated tour.

Imagine warships.

Your typical royal door.

Almost the whole shibang.

The solution to our waste problem.

I found this garbage/recycling container inside the Summer Palace. There was another type of container labeled similarly, minus the "garbage" part. I'm not sure if that means I should put the obvious recyclables in the other container; then use this one for questionable items, and items I'm certain can't be recycled. Either way, I'm sure whoever sorts through the waste at the end of the day gets to decide. I like the optimism.

Our second point of interest in day four was the 798 art district. This area is about half way between the airport and the city center, not reachable by subway. So our un-savy bus skills left us in a taxi. Fortunately the cost of a taxi across town in Beijing is about equivalent to four subway tickets across town in Seoul.

The 798 art district is comprised of renovated industrial buildings for the purpose of showing and creating art. In addition to the various galleries, there are sculptures placed in random courtyards and corners. It seems to be a very hip/trendy, developing area. I think in a few more years there will be more galleries, restaurants, and bars. One disappointment is this area shuts down around 7PM, which doesn't leave any option for night time restaurant and art hopping.

798.

Man at work.

Referring to the reflection.

A side note about this "Man at Work" sign, it was written in many languages at the base of a statue of Jesus on the cross. Not only is this a hilarious comparison to our understanding of "work", but the idea intensified my curiosity regarding art in China. Art plays a significant role in society as a means of protest and propaganda (see Uncle Sam or Guernica) . If the people of China are allowed to create and display art, what kind of control does the government have? Unfortunately I didn't think to ask any of the gallery staff this question, I'm sure their answers would have been interesting.

China pt. 4: Breakfast

Lucky for us, I had a good day with my camera and got a lot of interesting photos. This means day four will be broken into pieces so I don't have a 22 photo post.

After our continental breakfast, we made our way to the Summer Palace where the famous Empress Cixi (pronounced: c c) resided in the summer. Before we reached the gates, we spotted a line of people waiting while a man operated a spinning griddle. I got the travel hunger; I wasn't hungry but wanted to try what he was making.

Pour the batter.

Roll it up.

Add an egg.

Scrape it off.

Fold it up.

MMMMM...

I didn't really know what the finished product was, but the process of cooking the big pancake tortilla was so fascinating I just had to have my own. It turned out to be some kind of delicious spicy wrap with an optional sausage.

The real name according to the sign was "Big Shan Dong Pancake" but I'm calling it the Chinese burrito.

China pt. 3: Drunk on Sherry

On the third day in China, we went to see the wall. (Sing that sentence to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas.) The section we wanted to see, called Simatai, is suppose to be a great three hour adventure from point A to B. This section has not had much restoration performed on it, most tourists avoid it, and so we wanted to go. To our disappointment, Simatai was closed for, we suspect, renovation...Boo.

Our second choice was to take a guided tour of the most popular destination on the wall, called Badaling. The tour we signed up for was suppose to also visit the Summer Palace, but we learned after departure that we would instead be visiting the Ming Tombs, along with government run jade and silk factories.

Pretty.

The view from the afterlife.

Didn't say no "tagging".

Clear skies.

The Ming Tomb was interesting, but unfortunately our guide was in a rush to get us to the restaurant/jade factory where we'd be eating lunch, so our tour was painted with a broad brush. From what I gathered, the emperor's tomb is located in a place that people believe is in the afterlife. This is why you walk through a gate to 'return' back to the during-life. Our guide, English name Sherry, told us about a group of Palistanians (we couldn't tell if she meant Pakistanis, or Palestinians) who wouldn't walk through the official gate back into during-life. She said it had to do with some religious belief they had. Her story was completed by stating they were the worst group she'd ever had, leaving little doubt that they were ranked as such because of their belief(s). Did she know there was a Muslim in our group? I don't think so. And I thought Americans were the only religiously ignorant people of the world.

What the Emperors use to eat.

As I mentioned, the tomb visit was followed by a stop at a government run jade factory, where you can see how jade is cut and polished, then you can buy all the real jade pieces you want at a 'good price'. The whole thing seemed a bit cheesy; dragging a group of tourists through merchandise before they are allowed to eat. But to a couple American fashonistas, that place was a gold mine.

Disneyland?

The great wall amusement park.

I cropped all the people out.

Freaking tourists...

Seriously, you're all ruining my experience.

By the afternoon, we were busing up the mountains and catching glimpses of the Great Wall weaving through the landscape. We arrived at Badaling and matched Sherry's sprint up to the tour group staging area. Once we had our tickets, we got the VIP pass up to the...amusement park ride. I felt like I was back in the states at Oaks Park. The ride consists of individual cars, hooked together in an endless line up the hill to the official Wall. Screw walking they say.

Once on The Wall, we were given 45 minutes of free time to walk around. In that time, we attempted to reach the highest point we could see, but amidst the crowd, we did not succeed. We were told to get in line for the ride down at the end of our time allotment. The endless line of personal cars were fragmented into sections of 12 or 15, the first car operated by an employee who was responsible for operating the brakes. In the end we made it down without any issues.

The experience of this trip brought out a few introspections among the group. The three of us enjoy and seek the back door destinations to get a truer cultural experience and to avoid the crowds and hustling. Throwing us into this kind of tourist paradise results in either; "What a waste of time and money!" Or, "Hey, let's look at the bright side." We opted for the latter this time around.

I'm not sure how the rest of the group is feeling now that all is said and done, but I've come across a few moments of pondering since my return. As I mentioned before, our group likes to seek the less traveled spots, but why? I'm going to speak for myself here. Am I simply trying to be better than the rest of the schmucks in some way? Why do I feel entitled to have a non-crowded section of The Great Wall all to myself? Am I a first class tourist among second class tourists? After all, I'm just as much of a tourist as any other tourist. I can't speak the native language, I don't know most of the social customs, I am on vacation in a place where I intend to spend my foreign earned cash and stimulate the tourist economy.

To some extent, this complex I have stems from my guilt as a native English speaker (and travelling through France not knowing French, dicks). Not only was I lucky enough to learn the international language first, but I'm affluent enough to afford extravagant trips to the Great Wall. Most people in the world aren't lucky enough to have just one of these privileges. Those that do have the ability to travel, must learn some amount of English to communicate outside places of their native tongue. In addition, those locals who work in tourist hot spots must learn English to serve people like me. I think I may have a complex, and I think I've written tourist one too many times. More to come.

Tourist.