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| Sunday, 19-Dec-2004 00:00 |
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In China - 1: Beijing's Forbidden City
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Tiananmen Square and the Gate of Heavenly Peace
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Tiananmen Square and the Gate of Heavenly Peace
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The main entrance, the Gate of Heavenly Peace
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The main entrance, the Gate of Heavenly Peace
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Me and Chairman Mao
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"Little empress" posing at the tourist's souvenir photo area.
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Detail of gate
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The Hall of Supreme Harmony
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Guarding the Hall of Supreme Harmony
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I just returned from a 2-1/2-week holiday in China. Nothing more than scratching the surface, of course, as I logged about 4,300 kilometers of rail travel (plus a few hundred kilometers of boat and bus riding) going from Beijing to Hong Kong. But I'd never been to China, and a taste of this vast country is better than nothing at all.
And, of course, there's much to look forward to in future journeys.
To begin, let's start with Beijing's Forbidden City, once the exclusive home of emperors's families and imperial officials, now a popular historic attraction.
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| Saturday, 2-Oct-2004 00:00 |
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Tokyo Game Show
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Sony's new PlayStation Portable
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One of the massive manufacturer booths
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Another one of the massive manufacturer booths
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Promoting Metal Gear Solid 3
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Driver 3 booth...
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...with real car on display)
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Not ordinarily my cup of tea, but last weekend I checked out the <a href="http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/english/index.htm">Tokyo Game Show</a>, a big video-game trade show (open to the public for two of the days of its run) at Chiba's Makuhari Messe convention center. Heavy-duty game geek action, as some 500 new games were on hand.
It was, more or less, my idea to come: I mentioned the Show (which I'd read about in the previous day's <i>International Hearld Tribune</i> to my friend Liz and her out-of-town visitor, <a href="http://blogs.bootsnall.com/theglobaltrip/">Erik of The Global Trip 2004</a> blog. Liz didn't think he'd be interested; I knew he would be.
Still not my cup of tea, but a fascinating spectacle nonetheless.
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| Sunday, 20-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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In Paris, part 2
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Vending machine inside the Paris Metro.
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This stand sold apples (bought two) and apple juice (1 liter)
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Produce on display at the Place Monge farmers market in Paris
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Sunday, 9 May 2004:
My second day in Paris. I awoke slightly earlier than yesterday, and set out for the Sunday farmer's market at Place Monge in the Latin Quarter (5th Arrondissement), just a couple of stops away on the Metro. Partly this was curiosity, and partly a question of food supply. There are several of these markets around Paris, according to my Gourmet Guide to Paris book, and if I were to stock my apartment's refrigerator and cupboard, this stuck me as the way to go instead of to the nearest supermarket.e in Paris.
I made a brief shopping list:
milk, 1-2 liters
creme fraiche or yoghurt (bought Fountainbleu cheese dessert instead)
olives, 200 g
peach or tangerine (got the peach)
cheese, goat (bought 2)
butter, 500 g
bread, ~500 g / batard
apple juice, 1 liter
I also picked up a whole roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, a couple of apples, and a few hundred grams of raisins.
When I got back to my apartment, I had a really good lunch as my reward.
Photo 1:
Vending machine inside the Paris Metro. They sell the chocolate-covered biscuit sticks they call "Pocky" here in Japan, redubbed a more Japanese-sounding "Mikado". Proust fans may also note the package of madeleines. I should have bought a package to remember Paris by.
Photo 2:
One of the many stands at the Sunday farmer's market at Place Monge. This stand sold apples (bought one) and apple juice (bought 1 liter).
Photo 3:
Produce on display.
Photo 4:
Cheese/dairy seller. Note the man with his son, examining the cheeses--obviously a regular shopper, since he's brought his own cart for hauling his goodies home.
Photo 5:
Goat cheese on display at one of the cheesemonger stands. Bought one round of goat cheese here.
Photo 6:
More goat cheese (chevre), not even wrapped. I don't suppose you can get any fresher than this, short of making it yourself. Naturally, I bought some, along with some packaged Fountainbleu cheese dessert.
Photo 7:
There's a charcuterie stand behind the woman, selling a wide variety of meats, sausages, and hams. If I'd had more time in Paris or more cooking skill, I'd probably have bought some, but as it were I didn't think I could finish everything I would have bought if I'd succumbed to temptation.
Photo 8:
A fair number of tourists like me were about, snapping photos and admiring the produce on display.
Photo 9:
The stand on the left, though you can't really see it, has a full-blown rotisserie with chickens on a spit. I watched them slide the hot, freshly roasted chickens right off the spit, and the temptation was too strong: I bought one of the whole chicken, along with a side of roasted potatoes.
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| Sunday, 13-Jun-2004 00:00 |
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In Paris
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| Saturday, 29-May-2004 00:00 |
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European Vacation
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Long time, no post.
I'm back from a two-week vacation in London and Paris, and as I get my act together I'll post some pictures (I shot 2,568 of them, after all). Meantime, here are shots of the London Eye, the 137-meter (450 foot) tall Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the Thames, just across from Whitehall and from the Houses of Parliament.
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| Monday, 29-Mar-2004 00:00 |
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Chery Blossoms
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It's that time of the year again.
A few shots from the campus of ICU in Mitaka.
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| Wednesday, 25-Feb-2004 00:00 |
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Full Moon coming out
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As I was leaving the office a couple of weeks ago, I spotted the moon rising just over the houses.
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| Saturday, 7-Feb-2004 00:00 |
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Lord of the Rings promotion
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Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (finally) comes to Japan in a couple of weeks--sneak previews today--and the local distributors are promoting the hell out of it. For example, some big adverts in Shibuya's Hachiko Square, where they're dressed up the cylindrical 109 Store building. The big yellow thing is NOT part of the original building:
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| Sunday, 11-Jan-2004 00:00 |
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Christmas at Roppongi Hills
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A bit late, but I had trouble getting the pictures out of my camera.
It's Christmas at Roppongi Hills, the 4-billion-dollar development project in central Tokyo. Apartments, office space (anchor tenants include Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers), fancy shops, and restaurants (including Wolfgang Puck's).
You can read about the place courtesy of the New York Times via the International Herald Tribune:
Tokyo Builds A Microcosm Of Itself
By JAMES BROOKE
http://www.iht.com/articles/124256.html
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| Sunday, 4-Jan-2004 00:00 |
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My Japan Calendar
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Mt. Fuji from Tama River, Koremasa
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Hachiko Square, Shibuya
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Hokokuji Temple, Kamakura
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For my mother's calendar, the photos I used were of Japan. All are ones I shot myself--except for November's fall foliage picture, which was shot by Liz Atsumi (I used it on the calendar with her permission: you can see her photos at http://datigz.fotopages.com/. I include it here for completeness' sake).
If you want prints, drop me a line and I'll tell you where you can order them.
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