Stateside- June 30, 2008 I made it back to the states on Thursday. Vacation was great -- far too short though. It was great to see a bunch of the old Shanghai friends, hang out with my SF peeps in Tokyo and Shanghai, and get up to all the same mischief that I used to. Having just 3.5 days out of the office wasn't enough. I can't wait until my next vacations: Burning Man and India. Here's to a four day week!http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Stateside/blog.aspx?userid=1&blogid=20563 Back in Shanghai- June 25, 2008 However brief, I'm back in Shanghi. Landed here Monday night and ate at Vedas (delicious), then on Tuesday went around to the old office and dropped in on folks and had lunch, then Pablo and Maya arrived from Japan. Drinks at People's 7, then dinner at South Beauty, then went to this new place called Richy's (an offshot of Babyface it seems), then had some food at City Diner. Always a good place to end the night. Today, we woke up late, had lunch at Din Tai Fung, cruised around Xintiandi and I..http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Back+in+Shanghai/blog.aspx?userid=1&blogid=... Last day in Toyko and in to Shanghai- June 23, 2008 Our last day in Tokyo, we made our way to the Tjisuki fish market to go browse a ton (or really, many tons) of fish. Given the time of the day, we met the crush of the run hour crowd. It wasn't terribly bad via Ginza line, but everywhere the line intersected the JR Yamanote line, the mass of people moved in and our of the train. The worst it got was at Uneo, where people just pushed themselves on the the train. I took a bunch of pictures, and there were really expensive fish - the most...http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Last+day+in+Toyko+and+in+to+Shanghai/blog.aspx?... Sensoi Temple, Imperial Gardens, Harejuku, and more- June 23, 2008 Sunday was a whirlwind day around Tokyo. We started the day right outside the ryokan at the Senso-ji Temple and went from there to the Imperial Gardens. Thankfully it was Sunday and the crowds across the subway were not terrible. The gardens were nice and quaint, but the problem struck as around 9am the rain started and did not let up the rest of the day, going anywhere from a drizzle to full pouring rain. After the gardens, we walked over to the Yasukuni Shrine, the source of much...http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Sensoi+Temple%2C+Imperial+Gardens%2C+Harejuku%2... Getting to Japan and Shinjuku- June 22, 2008 After 10 hours of flying, I'm back in Japan for the first time since 2005. I'm traveling here with Ben on a long layover to meet Pablo and his sister in Shanghai. The flight was largely uneventful, although there was a fair bit of turbulence. I don't recall this from before, but there was a fingerprint scanner at the immigration desk, along with a photo. Welcome to the new world order. Getting from the airport to our ryokan in Asakusa took basically forever. We took the Kensi Skyliner train,.http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Getting+to+Japan+and+Shinjuku/blog.aspx?userid=... Bike Messengers in San Francisco- June 4, 2008 For the first time today, I used a messenger service in San Francisco. And let me tell you, best idea ever. I'd used them in Shanghai before, but never in SF. I needed to get a package from my office in SOMA to a place in downtown, so I called up Godspeed Couriers. They came to my office within 30 minutes, picked up the envelope with the documents and said they'd have it delivered within two hours for $8. Way better than FedEx and a ton more convenient than driving to downtown, trying to find...http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/Bike+Messengers+in+San+Francisco/blog.aspx?user... My Shanghai Top 5- June 3, 2008 I'm heading to Shanghai and Tokyo for a week of vacation in June, to meet up with friends and travel with others. I love Shanghai and to share, here are my top 5 things to do while in , kind of my "36 Hours": Y+ Yoga on Fuxing Xi Lu. I have yet to find a better yoga studio, with teachers as good and a small class environment. Not only that, but the facilities themselves are phenomenal in a beautiful old French building on a tree lined street, fresh fruit, water, and juice served after...http://www.redyawning.com/users/hyperionab/My+Shanghai+Top+5/blog.aspx?userid=1&blogid... |