Weekend in San Francisco

Last month I made a quick birthday weekend trip to San Francisco. 21 hours in an airplane, for just 3 days in the Bay Area. Best. Call. Ever.

The main purpose of the trip was to get my PhD thesis signed and submitted -- at last! Nearly two years after taking a leave of absence to move to Japan, and six years after starting, I'll finally be graduating (and not a moment to soon, either... my candidacy was set to expire next June). Admittedly, if I hadn't been working 12-hour days on the side, what took me two years could probably have been done in 3-4 months.... Anyways, some "friends" of mine out there (you know who you are) will be surprised by all of this, because they just assumed that I was never going to finish at all. You can all apologize to me now, or not, I don't care.

Now that my thesis has been signed and submitted, I can make time for all those things that I've been ignoring for the past 2 years. Such as reading books. And learning how to use my camera. I finally caved and got an iPhone. I need a new apartment. Though I definitely wasn't working on my thesis continuously over these two years, it was always something that weighed on my mind. Every time I was out doing whatever, there was always that tiny bit of guilt. It feels great to be free of that burden.

That weekend in SF, I was also lucky enough to see Buffalo Springfield (!) in concert at the Bridge School Benefit concert, reuniting on stage for the first time in 40 years. Pearl Jam and Elton John dropped by, too. Epic.

Hmmm, what else? My friends were kind enough to throw a small graduation/birthday party for me (and Mami). Three Wednesdays ago was Culture Day, a national holiday in Japan. You would think that you can't do much with a Wednesday holiday, but it's actually a great thing because you wind up with a pair of back-to-back two-day weeks. I vote for more Wednesday holidays.

A minor gripe: I went to see a live show two weeks ago in Tokyo, featuring Talvin Singh. From all accounts, he's a very accomplished musician, so I was expecting at least an entertaining show. What we got was some random tabla/Apple iDJ fusion garbage that failed to do anything very well. I sense that his goal was to do just enough to please the easily-impressed Japanese audience (and no more), leaving the rest us feeling ripped off. Sigh. My good buddy Erik was in town that night for a short visit -- hadn't seen him in more than 2 years.

I just returned to Tokyo on Tuesday, from a 10-day work/holiday trip to Hong Kong. After a week in the office, I spent the Labour Thanksgiving (another delightful Japanese holiday) long weekend meandering about the city. My hotel room during the week had a "harbour view" (mostly freighters and a freeway on-ramp, but still very nice), although according to Alan, everything in Hong Kong is a harbour-something-or-other. I crashed at Alan's pad in Kowloon over the weekend -- his claim to fame is having one of the best views of Hong Kong from his apartment. No doubt.

Happy American Thanksgiving!

Enjoy these fine photographs. Get Chrome.

My advisor Hector Garcia-Molina, signing my thesis.

The 2am burrito/nachos/quesadilla, one of the things I miss the most about San Francisco.

At last, a decent South Indian meal in the Mission, at Udupi Palace. Dosa, are you taking notes?

Braving the rain for Elton John and Buffalo Springfield.

Halloween party at Mado Lounge in Roppongi Hills. (yes, I'm recycling my costume from 3 years ago, in case you're one of the few that remember)

Design week in Daikanyama. I want a faucet like that.

C.O.D. in Gaiemmae.

That's Erik, chowing down on some fine tofu in Ebisu.

The view from Alan's apartment in Hong Kong.

Just outside my hotel in Sheung Wan.

The "harbour view" from my hotel room.

Big Pete's sweet ride.

The beach in Hong Kong. Yes, in Hong Kong, you can go to the beach even in November.

The view from atop Victoria Peak.

Getting My Life Back

Starting early July and ending in August, for seven weeks straight without even a single day off, I had people staying (crashing) at my place. Sadly, during that time, in a moment of abject stupidity, I managed to lose my digital camera, memory card and all the precious pictures that were on it. So, I won't be able to share with you evidence of the mayhem.

I've spent most of September recovering, cleaning up the apartment, and generally trying to escape Tokyo. Between music-festing, beaching, and lazing around doing nothing, I've been pretty tied up. For silver week, I took a 6-day trip to Korea (same as last year, my loyal fans would quickly point out). Thank you Anni and Mie for pushing me to impulse purchase that flight.

I also bought a shiny new Canon S95 while I was in Seoul, so mayhem will no longer go undocumented. (I'll save the Korea pictures for another post, sometime soon, when I get around to it)

I returned from Seoul just in time to catch the tail end of the Namaste India 2010 festival in Tokyo. The Japanese all-female Indian classical music trio (see picture below) was pretty amazing. But as far as I was concerned, this uncle was the clear winner.

Happy October!

Art car outside the gates of Fuji Rock.

Trombone Shorty, killing it in the Field of Heaven.

I want a T-shirt that says "Coin Rocker".

A view of Seoul on my way back from a week in Korea.

It's rare enough to see an all-female Indian trio, but these women were Japanese to boot. They were really good, too. Super impressed.

This is me, exhausted after a tough day at the beach (photo is courtesy of Eri's iPhone).

Mom and Dad in Japan

Mom and Dad came to visit me in Tokyo last month, for the first time since I've been here. I think they liked it. Then again, Tokyo is so parent-friendly, what's not to like?

They got around Tokyo quite easily, and even managed day trips out to Kyoto and Hiroshima (!).

Here are some pictures from their zany adventures.

Slumming it in Roppongi Hills.

Barrels of sake outside Meiji-jingu.

Navigating Takeshita dori in Harajuku. Dad bought a cool little jinbei at one of the shops here.

Ueno natsu matsuri (summer festival) in Ueno park.

Shibuya. This is my favourite picture from their trip.

Taking a breather after a stroll around Imperial palace, in the blazing hot sun.

Sipping tea (using proper technique, of course) in Hamarikyu gardens, Shiodome.

That's Mount Fuji, amongst the clouds, off in the distance. Mom and Dad weren't pleased that it was raining all day.

June

I've managed to escape Tokyo on four of the last five weekends. That's great news compared to a year ago, where I had a six-month stretch where I didn't leave Tokyo at all, not even once. I've taken trips (well, tagged along on others' trips, really) to Hakone, Osaka/Nara/Kobe, a half-marathon in Gunma and a music festival in Nagano. Saritha, Irene and Adam were in town visiting, at various points, too.

This past weekend I "ran" my first half marathon in almost two years (though I was walking for at least 5k of it). The course was pretty brutal -- hillier than San Francisco, to put it in perspective. The stupidity on my part was that I tried to run it on almost no training (I went for one 8k run one week prior). My legs hate me right now.

Meanwhile, there has been a sudden spate of friends leaving town. Just in the last month, Alice, Eric, Kirsty, Paulette and Taylor, that I can think of. Or, maybe, there have always been people leaving town at a steady rate, but I only now have enough friends to notice? In any case, all these sayonara parties are depressing, and there are still others who are talking of leaving.

The oppressive humidity is back. My 10-minute walk to work is now sweaty enough that I have to change shirts by the time I get there.

Finally, much respect to the Samurai Blue. They went out honourably. I was at a bar in Shibuya last night, and the most memorable part of the night was after the penalties, when not a single supporter went home, but instead gave repeated standing ovations because they were just so proud that their team had come so far. The rampant street partying in the rain was pretty bomb, too.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

A Korean artist, Sim Youn Jin, at Design Festa in Odaiba. I bought two of her pieces.

Saritha and Irene crammed into a stairway in Golden Gai, Shinjuku.

The Taico crew, getting warmed up.

To me, this picture captures so much that is Japan. Boxy cars, Japanese houses and train tracks, set against mountains and lush greenery. Having a meal in the parking lot of a convenience store after an epic night of music.

The Glico guy, Namba, Osaka.

This Starbucks in Kobe is apparently a huge tourist attraction because it is located in an 異人館, which roughly translates as "barbarian house" (they're referring to Europeans).

Touring the Hakutsuru sake factory in Kobe. The guy's not real, by the way. He's made of clay.

Melting into my chair after a tough 21k.

Last night (this morning) in Shibuya, after Japan lost to Paraguay on penalties.

Southwest China

I returned last Monday from an 8-day Golden Week trip to Southwest China. 3 days in Chengdu and 5 days in Guilin/Yangshuo. I say "Southwest China", but you can only really hope to see a very tiny slice of Southwest China in such a short trip. Many travellers spend a month or two in Yunnan alone.

Those of you that are planning trips to China, I suggest you quickly escape the glitz of the East coast, and go West. Yangshuo is easily one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. My only complaint this trip -- all four of my flights (NRT - PVG - CTU, return) were late and/or cancelled. I was stranded in Shanghai airport for about 20 hours on the way home.

I don't usually do this, but I kept some scribbly travel notes during the week that I was on the road. Here are some random excerpts:

Day 1, on flight: "Chinese people carrying Swarovski bags from Ginza. These are the privileged ones, clearly."

Day 3, in Chengdu: "Strolling through People's Park. Awesome. Everybody is staring at me. Why is that guy taking a video of me?"

Day 4, in Guilin: "Free WiFi seems standard at (backpacker) hostels now. Why is it still not free at hotels or airports?"

Day 6, in Yangshuo: "16 dumplings for 10 yuan."

Day 9, in Chengdu: "Getting ready for one last round of ma-po tofu before heading home."

Enough talk, here are some photos from my trip.

The human-interface counter kindly informed me that my flight had been cancelled, but couldn't give me a reason why.

Giant Buddha, in Leshan. Biggest one in the world.

Panda Breeding and Research Center, just outside Chengdu. This is just one of many, many panda pictures I took that morning.

People's Park, Chengdu. There are people chilling out here at all times, day or night. Amazing energy.

The view from atop Fubo Hill in Guilin.

Biking through the countryside, in and around Yangshuo.

More Yangshuo countryside from that same afternoon.

This might have been the first scarecrow I've ever seen in real life. I know, I'm a city boy.

Waving hello as I cross the Li River by bike.

Kayaking down the Li River, between stunning karst formations.

Oh, hanami

It's hard not to love cherry blossom season in Japan. It's a sure sign that spring is almost here, and winter is on its last legs. Everyone is in a good mood.

Even the snow monkeys are feeling chipper.

Roppongi Art Night. I think this piece is about the environment, but I can't say for sure.

Manu, working on his chopstick skills.

Snow monkeys in Jigokudani koen, Nagano. They don't seem to care that I'm there.

Winter wonderland. Admittedly, snow looks a lot prettier when you don't have to shovel it afterwards.

Sakura trees in full bloom, behind Tokyo Midtown.

Beautiful.

Aoyama cemetery.

Emi, Shin1 and me, feeling great on a Sunday afternoon.