Kawasaki, Japan

The travel blog is back in business, now that I’m on the road again! Whoo hoo! I’m spending the next 3 weeks in Kawasaki, which is an industrial area near Tokyo. I was asked to fill in for an auditor who is ill and is not allowed to travel. The decision was made on Tuesday and I flew out from San Diego on Monday (the day after my niece's wedding). This was possibly the most short notice I've ever been given. Since I've been complaining about being grounded this year for no good reason, I couldn't pass up this opportunity now could I?

I arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday night after spending 12 hours on the flight from Los Angeles. The virus scare is evident as I saw face masks worn by many of the airport personnel. Passengers staying in Japan had to fill out a health questionnaire. Not only do they want to know where you're staying and how long you'll be in the country, but whether or not you've been running a temperature or have been coughing, have a sore throat or runny nose. Plus the form asked for your seat number. I hear it's a lot worse in China where they actually take your temperature!

I’m writing while on a bus to the city airport – Haneda – as it’s the easiest way to get closer to Kawasaki, after which I’ll either take a taxi to the hotel. Flying into Haneda was either ridiculously expensive or way too long (no direct flights from the U.S.). The bus ride will take 75 minutes, especially since it’s 8 pm and we’ve missed rush hour traffic.

Narita is the international airport in Tokyo. Although I’ve flown here a number of times before (mostly to connect to other cities in the region), this is my second visit since 2006. I have to comment on the awesome baggage carousel, which is a great example of Japanese Ingenuity. There are sensors on the end of the carousel where the luggage comes off the conveyor belt. The bags stop if the sensors detect there are luggage on the carousel that’s turning. The belt quickly starts up and drops the waiting bag into an empty slot on the carousel. I watched my bag patiently waiting for an opening. It took a perhaps a minute but no double-parked bags on the carousel! How cool. I wonder why more airports don’t have these installed.

As I type, I’m listening to a high-school aged girl from Colombia (from Bogota no less) talk with a woman sitting next to her on the bus. She lives in North Carolina and speaks a little Japanese. I think her comprehension is about the same level as mine. Luckily the woman speaks very good English. She’s here for 6 weeks, staying with a host family. She says she’s always been fascinated by the country and is looking forward to learning about the country. I can hear the excitement in her voice. It's so cute that she's comparing everything to Colombia. For example, she asked if there were stalls where you buy fruits and vegetables as there are in Colombia (nope). She's just trying to get her bearings.

I'm now in my tiny hotel room. Probably the smallest room I've ever had on a business trip. But internet access is included along with breakfast. It's across the street from the train station (no horns blaring as they are in Houston) and there are lots of restaurant and shopping options within walking distance. Still, it'll be a cramped 3 weeks in here.

The taxi ride to the hotel from the airport was about $40 US. Most of the taxi drivers wear white hats, white gloves, white shirts and black trousers. The doors open by a push of a lever so they don't have to get out and you don't have to touch the door. :-)

I look forward to adding photos and being a better blogger than I was in Thailand. I hope to get out to Yokohama one weekend since it's only 4 train stops away and supposed to have lots of sites to see. And perhaps see more of Tokyo the second weekend. Since I'm pinch-hitting for an auditor, I am not leading the audit and should be far less busy than normal. :-) Stay tuned to this space!

P.S. It's weird logging into blogspot.com and seeing Japanese characters where Sign In should be!

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More of Sleazy Pattaya

It's too easy to write about the sleazy side of Pattaya, plus I don't need to write much because the photos do a great job in conveying why this is the sex capital of Thailand.

Walking Street is where many congregate among the neon lights, guys peddling the sex shows (they shove a piece of laminated paper at you which lists what goes on in the show, primarily women and household objects), and scantily dressed women try to entice passers by to check out the show/bar. A lot of the places have themes - Airline Club has women dressed as flight attendants in short skirts. There's a gangster themed place, another where the women dress in schoolgirl outfits, another with European women, etc. They do their best to distinguish themselves from other clubs.

Of course, this is all catering to the oversexed male who are typically old, fat, ugly and want to feel like they're 20 again with young Thai women (or men). It's pretty disgusting. The phenomenon isn't limited to white males. There are plenty of Middle Eastern and Indian men to boot. The number of Indian restaurants in the sleazy area confirms what I see.

Pattaya isn't just for straight men. There's Boyz Town as well as a number of other gay-oriented streets. The first night we were in Pattaya, we were walking home from dinner and hear some dance music coming from a vehicle. We thought nothing of it until the truck passed us. And there were three young men dancing away in skimpy outfits. They were quite a change of pace from the scantily dressed women. We weren't the only ones snapping pictures. They were stopped in traffic long enough to take at least one good shot. Not surprisingly, they were advertising a gay bar.

Ladyboys are popular here and caberet shows are a big tourist draw. Many look pretty darn good as a woman, such as these two seen on Walking Street. There was an ad in the weekend Bangkok paper for sex change operations for less than $2,000. Amazing!

We're getting immuned to what goes on around us. How sad....nothing shocks us anymore.

For more photos of Sleazy Pattaya, check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14794&l=27497&id=1134000222

Hiya Pattaya

An hour and a half south of Bangkok and on the water is Pattaya. One would think it would be a pretty place....seeing that there is a beach. But alas, this place is sleaze city. U.S. soldiers used to come here for R&R during the Vietnam war and Pattaya has never outgrown their reputation.

Pattaya is full of men of all ages and sizes and their young Thai playthings. Not only old white dudes and their young Thai girlfriends (or pick-ups), but dudes with their young Thai boyfriends. Plus there are a lot of Russians running around and the women dress as poorly as the Thai women (high heels, short shorts).

Having dinner and watching the world go by is pure entertainment. There is a walking street full of bars, restaurants, jewelry stores and clubs. What a bizarre mixture.

The Beer Garden on one end of "Walking Street" has a sign that says "Single ladies welcome." Sure enough, there are lots of Thai women sitting on bar stools waiting for a sugar daddy or a "date." Note this bar is "Lucky Bar No. 3."

On the positive side, the food is cheap and good. Because of the wide variety of tourists that come here, there are restaurants serving Russian, Japanese, Italian, Indian, steak, seafood, Thai, Chinese, etc.

There are cheap massage parlors on each block (i.e., $5 for an hour Thai massage fully clothed) and facial salons everwhere. Dental clinics are also prevalent. Laser teeth whitening is about $300. I got a new bite guard for $140.

Shopping (my favorite topic) is also cheap, but so are the clothes. But silk items are inexpensive so I'll probably pick up some pieces before I leave. And definitely a visit to the tailor to custom make clothing is a necessity. Nothing beats a pair of pants that was made to fit you!

I am spending 3 weeks in Pattaya before taking off on a Thai beach vacation. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about!

Placeholder for Bangkok

will post this weekend

Photos from India

I got too lazy to add India photos to my blog so here's a link to where they can be viewed (or click on the link from the title of this post):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12678&l=abbbb&id=1134000222

Next trip is Thailand in a couple of weeks. Hopefully there will be no technical difficulties and photos and comments can be posted in a more timely manner!

Fast food chains

Ordinarily I never eat at American fast food chains outside the U.S., but I'm glad I've experienced the Indian versions of familiar restaurants. Surprise....it's not exactly the same!

Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut - Because of the large number of vegetarians in India, pizza restaurants are heavy on the veg pizzas. And non-veg choices are usually with chicken rather than beef products. On Pizza Hut's menu, pepperoni was the only meat pizza available. You want Indian spices in your pizza? How about a chicken tikka pizza?

McDonald's - There's a McD near the apartment in the shopping area. Unfortunately in that area the food choices are either street food (looks good, but I don't want to chance getting sick) or McD and KFC. Both have A/C and seating with a view of the street so they're quite inviting when you're tired from shopping. I stopped at McD today thinking I would get a burger (I haven't had meat in 3 weeks!) and found that hamburger isn't on the menu at all! Burger choices are chicken, veggie and filet-o-fish. I ended up with a mexican chicken wrap, which was pretty good.

KFC - Last weekend I gave KFC a try since I was on that side of the street. Just like McDonald's, the menu is different. Fried chicken (dark meat only) and chicken nuggets were familiar, but instead of fries you can have rice with veggies in it. They also had fried veggie pieces for the vegetarians. KFC does deliver (virtually every store delivers for free here!) and has a number of scooters ready to go.

Subway - My lunch choices at work is either Subway, Pizza Hut or Coffee Day. Subway sort of tastes like the U.S. version. Turkey is available, along with chicken ham, lamb salami, tuna, and chicken meatballs. The veggie sub is obviously quite popular. There's no oil and vinegar or italian dressing. They do have honey mustard, mayo, teriyaki sauce and some other sweet sauces. I found that the best choice is asking for very little mayo and salt and pepper. Actually, the best lunch is leftovers from home!

Indian weddings

One of the cool things about spending 3 hours a week with my yoga instructor is learning about all things Indian. She attended a wedding today so we talked a bit about Indian weddings.

I've learned a few things about them since arriving in Mumbai:

1. Winter is wedding season. How terrible for those whose plans were disrupted due to the recent terrorist attacks!

2. They can be held on any day of the week. The day and time is selected by looking at the birth charts of the bride and groom. In fact, the charts are also used to determine if the couple should be married at all. They're usually held during daylight hours.

3. They're a massive, festive event. A colleague was invited to a wedding of someone he didn't even know. When asked if it was going to be OK with the bride and groom, he was told that there were going to be 1,000 people in attendance so how will one more guest matter? The more the merrier!

4. I've seen restaurants and fields decorated to host a wedding. It's a bit difficult to miss as lots of colorful fabric is used to decorate the entryway. It's a wonderful sight next to so many dirty and gray buildings in the city.

My teacher wished we had discussed this earlier because she would've invited me to come along. I hope that one day I can experience an Indian wedding because they're steeped in ritual and fun. For now I guess I can watch movies like Monsoon Wedding and get into the spirit of the event.