Istanbul

Just a quick note from Istanbul. Busy city, and a lot of things to see here. Pictures show the Bosporus bridge between the European and Asian parts of Istanbul, and the inside of the Ayasofya mosque.

Pictures online

More of the pictures I have taken during this trip are now online:

• Seoul
• Tokyo
• Taipei
• Singapore

Last day

Met with some former colleagues at AsiaNetcom today. We had lunch in a large foodcourt, just across the road from their office. Completely filled up, to the last table (the picture was taken later on the day). Finally, escaped from the airco-terror, and lunched in the open air!


Now at the airport, waiting for the flight back to Amsterdam. I can already see the plane parked in the distance, waiting to go home.

Singapore Sling

At the end of the day, after several meetings, went to the Raffles Hotel courtyard for a genuine Singapore Sling.

The Singapore Sling was created at the Raffles Hotel at the turn-of-the-century by Hainanese-Chinese bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon.

Highly recommended!

Recipe
30ml Gin
15 ml Cherry Brandy
120 ml Pineapple Juice
15 ml Lime Juice
7.5 ml Cointreau
7.5 ml Dom Benedictine
10 ml Grenadine
A Dash of Angostura Bitters
Garnish with a slice of Pineapple and Cherry

A Sunday in Singapore

For people who like shopping, this city is heaven (and hell if you don't). The hotel is linked to multiple (air-conditioned) shopping malls, and it is really hard to get out. You lose all sense of direction, and there are hardly any signs to the exits. I somehow managed to escape from the system, onto the streets, where it is as to be expected: hot and humid (with the sun right above your head).

There is some colonial heritage to see in Singapore, such as the Singapore Cricket Club in the picture below. Other places to visit, like Chinatown and Little India, have mainly become tourist attractions. The shopping mall area around Orchard Road is huge (see 2nd picture), and very busy.

On the positive side: this city is full of very good restaurants!

Taipei to Singapore

Flight from Taipei to Singapore. Arrived around 7pm, with still a temperature of 27C in the evening (and a humidity of 95%!). Went outside for a walk along the Marina Bay promenade. Had dinner at a Cantonesee restaurant (excellent!).

Taipei

Yesterday I have been in meetings all day, today some time to see more of Taipei.

Visited a Confucius and a Taoist temple in the morning, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in the afternoon, and just walked a lot through the city. Traffic is crazy here.

"fresh fish"

One more note about Japan. This is what you get when you order "fresh fish" in a sushi restaurant:


Aji (horse mackerel)

Tokyo to Taipei

Not a very exciting day. Heavy rain in Tokyo. Long flight. Drizzle in Taipei.

Went into the city for dinner. Hot-pot buffet: cook your own dinner at the table. I got very thin sliced lamb meat as the main ingredient. The buffet contained a lot of vegetables, fish, and several other things that were not identifiable (incl. pork intestines, as I found out after I ate them :-).

Kawase Hasui

At home I have two woodcut prints from Kawase Hasui (1883-1957). You can see both of them on this page.

Yesterday I already was at the Ueno Toshogu shrine, and made the following picture. The small structure in the front is not on the print, but you can see the shrine roof between the trees, and the top of the pagoda in the back.



Today I went looking for the Honmonji Temple in Ikegami. This neighborhood now is part of Tokyo, and can be reached using the Toei Asakusa line (last stop, Nishi-magome). The temple is about a 10 min. walk from the subway station. The scenery obviously has changed in the last 80 years, but you can still clearly see what Hasui has drawn:



The surroundings of the temple are beautiful, with a lot of cherry blossom here as well.

Tokyo: Hanami

After my meeting in Shinjuku I went on a tour of Hanami, cherry blossom viewing.

The timing is perfect: the blossom is at its best, and in a week or so it will already fall down. During this short period, the Japanese people enjoy walking around under the trees, chatting with friends, drinking, and eating. There are food stands in all the parks.

I started in Shinjuku Gyoen, then went to Ueno Park (where is was very crowded, even on a Monday), and finally Sumida Park (at Asakusa). Pictures in that order:





In the evening had a wonderful dinner with my friends Hideo, Jeff, and Takamichi from AsiaNetcom. The (dried) fishes in the picture were actually used as chopstick holders when we came in, then cooked again for a while, and eaten as a whole. Not bad at all, and the rest of the dinner got even better.

Seoul to Tokyo

Traveled from Seoul to Tokyo today. There are many Japanese tourists in Korea, and Seoul domestic airport (Gimpo) even has a dedicated terminal for flights to Tokyo (Haneda).





Back in the country of the heated toilet seats and talking elevators!

North Korean border (Punmunjeom)

A lot of heavy rain today. Went on a tour to the North Korean border at Punmunjeom.

Since the end of the Koran war, North and South Korea are separated by a 4km wide DMZ, 2km on each side of the demarcation line. In Punmunjeom, a Joint Security Area has been established, where the truce negiotioans took place, and which is still the place where peace talks are held.

The demarcation line passes through the blue United Nations buildings in the picture below (the soldiers are South Korean). You can visit the building, and walk to the North Korean side of the line. The grey concrete building is North Korean (with a guard in front of it).









Also on the tour, we could see a Noth Korean propaganda village, with a large flag, and huge signs saying "Follow the way of the Leader". Too much rain to make good pictures though.

Dinner: steamed pork with Gimchi. This is cabbage, white radish, and other vegetables that have been pickled and fermented in a red pepper sauce. Very hot, it took me half a liter of water and an equal amount of beer to cool down again.