Dave's Photo & Travelblogue

The $175 Cherry

On June 21st, I headed to the famous Senso-ji temple/pagoda complex in Asakusa. I particularly liked the temple where women pray for things important to them (meeting a good husband, having strong children, etc).

What was interesting today food-wise: green tea donuts. Seeing Baumkuchen (German “tree cake” with layers like the yearly rings of a tree), with the German name printed on the package. Then there was this:

This small box of cherries (meant as a gift) is $175 at today’s exchange rate. Yes, that’s about a pound of cherries. For $175. This is Japan!

I’ll leave you today with this shot of a street performer in Ueno Park. I did actually give him some change! Okay, it was mostly one-yen coins (I think made from aluminum?) and some fives, but a good handful. Thanks for the music!

What do you think about street performers? Do you ever give them change or a couple bills?

Eat All the Fish!

On my red-eye arrival in Tokyo June 19th, I was pretty beat. But I was too early to check in. Fortunately a few people in the hostel were ready to head out for the day just as I arrived. So I had a great time wandering around the city with them. We went to a park, then to a “running sushi” / conveyor sushi (known here as Kaiten Sushi, I believe). Kaitenzushi, doku des-ka?

The etiquette for these restaurants is simple. Sit down, and pour yourself some soy sauce. Spoon some powdered green tea into a cup and add hot water from the nearby tap. Then just pick a few plates and chow down. A word to the wise: don’t put the powdered green tea into your soy, as I did (thinking it was wasabi). To get the spicy stuff, ask the chef. Also, in case your dish of choice doesn’t come by, the chef will make it on request – no problem.

For those who say Japan is expensive, think again. Sure, you can find ridiculously expensive restaurants, but that’s the same in any major international city. I had 8 plates of 2 nigiri each (including one toro: fatty tuna!) for about $14 USD. And the meal was damn good, equal to better sushi restaurants I’ve been to in the States (where I paid ~$40 for this much zush).

Next we went to the Tokyo Aquarium. It was not as large or impressive as the Sydney aquarium (and had a similar $$$ price tag), but had a few interesting twists. A diver feeds the fish in one of the tanks about once an hour, sometimes with interesting results:

Besides fish (including a tank of “Nemo” clownfish), there are some other animals, like penguins, birds, and this sleepy Southern Tamandua:

Outside the aquarium, a street performer was getting 110% out of his monkey. Seriously, I felt bad for the little guy, and had no qualms about leaving without giving any coins. I’d feel bad supporting this kind of literal jumping-through-hoops. But it is impressive what an intelligent animal can accomplish.

To round out an awesome first day in Tokyo, I went to karaoke with some of my new friends from the Anne Hostel Asakusabashi. The way karaoke works: you rent a private room. The fee is per person who is in the room (either per hour, or as a full night package price), like bowling. Drinks and snacks are available (but expensive). You program the songs on a touchpad; there are literally hundreds of thousands available. Nick and I even sang “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater! My voice regretted that for a day or so. But it was fun!

So, Hi Joao, Nick (hidden), Bart, Dan, Michaelle, and Nathan! Expect more photos (and perhaps some video, mu-hahaha) later on.

For those who are regular readers, just wait for tomorrow. That’s when things really start to get crazy!

How’s about a question for you today: what’s your favorite kind of sushi? Drop by the blog website and leave a comment I’ll tell you what my best piece of sushi was, after I finish the Japan leg of my trip.

The City of Sails

It rained on June 6th, so I found indoor activities before my plane departed for Sydney. First off: lunch! One thing I wasn’t expecting in New Zealand was fantastic mussels (almost as good as Belgium!). Besides tasting great, the mussels at Fox’s were HUGE:

I headed across the street from the Viaduct area to the maritime museum, a perfect fit for Auckland, known as the “City of Sails.” If you like boats, you’ll want to go there for sure. On better days you can even sail on some historic boats. In the museum they exhibit everything from very old boats…

…to very new, advanced yachts, like the NZL32, winner of the 1995 America’s Cup:

New Zealanders are definitely proud of their sailing and boating history!

I left NZ for 5 days in Sydney aboard another kind of vessel: the brand-new Airbus A380-800. That was a surprise, since I never expected to be riding one of these new beasts on my ~4h flight to Australia. The plane was only 1/3 full, making a stop in Sydney on its way to Dubai.

About the A380: I can say it definitely felt different from every other plane I’ve flown in. The takeoff was barely noticeable. Turbulence was barely noticeable. Every seat had a personal video system and every row had 110V outlets. It felt less like a long-haul plane flight than I’m used to… which I suppose is the whole idea of this plane! So, excellent job, Airbus. Now I just need to wait for the Boeing Dreamliner, in order to compare European engineering with American.

Tomorrow: arrival Down Under. Crikey!

Auckland’s Markets

June 5th was a bit gray, so I started with a nice cup of tea. I love the sugar packets in the Skycity hotel:

First I checked out the Britomart farmers’ market, where I sampled some local foodwarez and drank a homemade ginger beer (<1% alcohol… so “okay for the kids if they don’t have too much,” as I was told). There were some street performers there as well.

For lunch I checked out Elliott Stables, a fantastic collection of restaurants and shops of all nationalities. I went for a Monte Cristo sandwich and some French mulled wine… mmm!

As I said, it was a gray day. I didn’t take a lot of photos, but I think my street photography is improving. I did enjoy sampling all kinds of international foods, including a bit of smoky Lagavulin Scotch at one of the Elliott Stables shops. Cheers!

WHAT is a Taro?

Native Hawaiians used to eat a lot of taro. It’s a root vegetable a bit like a potato, and has many varieties. Some can be pounded into poi, a purplish paste that is nothing like mashed potatoes. Poi has a strange sour taste that I didn’t really enjoy. And the letters are all right next to each other on the keyboard, which freaks me out.

But all you fans of Fritos and Lays are probably thinking, “it’s like a potato, can you deep fry it?”

The answer is, YES! (Though the sage among us know, you can deep-fry ANYTHING, even if sometimes you shouldn’t).

There are many Hawaiian taro chip brands, most of which are craft makers of small volumes of chips. Supposedly the taro is very delicate and requires a lot of attention to cut and fry it right. From the tastiness of these taro (and sweet potato) chips, I won’t dispute the hand-craft methods, though the price of over $4 per medium sized bag makes them a specialty item and definitely not for everyday snacking.

You might have had taro in a bag of Terra Chips. All I can say is, the Hawaiian Chip Company chips that I had were even better than your average Terra Chips. The crunch could fell a hundred year oak, and the taste could knock Hercules on his back. If you go to Hawaii, do try some!

By the way, for those following my one-a-day posts, this one counts as June 3rd. Though for me, there was no June 3rd – I crossed the International Date Line while asleep, and jumped from June 2nd to 4th!

Question of the day: have you ever tried Terra Chips? What did you think of ‘em?

The Garden Island

Kauai is known for its beautiful, green nature. Compared to Oahu, it’s virtually deserted – which is just fine by me. Food is less expensive (in restaurants as well as supermarkets), and the vibe is much more local than touristy Waikiki.

About May 21st: I’m not going to lie. It was all about the sunburn, which is by far the worst I’ve had in my life. Every movement was painful, and I probably looked like an 80-year-old each time I stepped out of the car.

That said, I made an effort to get out there and see a few driveable sights. I visited two waterfalls, but need to HDR the pics due to the lighting. So I’ll go with a few shots from the historic 1930’s Kilohana sugar plantation.

Free rum tasting at Koloa rum shop – the dark rum is fantastic, and the gold is not bad either. The rum fudge sauce was fantastic, though a bit pricey at (what was it?) $15 per small bottle.

Interesting art at Sea Reflections. I saw this and immediately thought of a German friend of mine who has chickens, to get her own fresh eggs. One turned out to be a rooster!

For the artsy among you, there is a Clayworks at Kilohana. Here’s the proprietor making mugs:

Tasty local meals of the day: Kalua Pig (similar to pulled pork BBQ, but in this case with rice and eggs). Dani’s restaurant has realistic prices for anywhere, and is quite the price-value find for Hawaii, though the atmosphere is nothing special. The Kalua Pig comes with free Kona coffee!

A perfect end to the evening: seared sushi-grade ahi fish tacos with fresh tortilla chips and a Negro Modela. Mmm! I highly recommend Monicos Taqueria.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I’ll go on a helicopter tour of Kauai! Subscribe by RSS or email (orange buttons in the left sidebar) to hear more about the ‘copter tour!

Waikiki: Playground of the Rich

This surf-obsessed beach lined with expensive shops (and probably Hawaii’s most expensive restaurants) is definitely a haven for lovers of posh hotels and convertibles. When I arrived on May 18th I saw a lot of Mustangs, so I guess that’s the preferred rental cabrio of Oahu.

As I’d been traveling for 24 hours, I didn’t do much upon my late-afternoon arrival. But I did head to Waikiki Beach, five minutes’ walk from my hostel, to take in the sunset:

There was a free hula show going on with native Hawaiian music, but I’ll have more about that in two days.

For dinner I checked out a delicious Japanese restaurant, which has branches in Waikiki and Tokyo: Jinroku Pacific, a Teppan Grill & Bar (2427 Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki). My longtime readers might remember another post about okonomiyaki, a large Japanese savory pancake:

And the tasty final product, topped with an egg, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, seaweed flakes, and fish flakes:

Here’s another Japanese “fast food” specialty, takoyaki. I tried the takoyaki for lunch another day. Mine was a little undercooked, but still good. There’s truly an art form to shaping these round octopus dumplings.

Let’s just say I slept well this night, after 24h of travel and a good Japanese meal. Though I did wake up early the next day due to 5h of jet lag. Tune in tomorrow to see Diamond Head crater and Honolulu!

Why do Mannequins need Nipples?

At the risk of offending some, here’s my question: why is every mannequin in Miraflores either smuggling raisins, or (in one case that I was too shy to photograph) having a “wardrobe malfunction?”

I thought this was funny. I’d be embarrassed if this were my shop, but apparently Peruvian fashion-store owners aren’t worried about showing a little nip.

Besides being shocked by the storefront windows on May 17th, I met some surfers down by the beach and talked with them for a while. Here’s a relaxed photo of Herman surfing with excellent style:

Okay, on to some delicious foods you should try if in Peru. Ceviche (raw seafood marinated in lemon or lime juice) at Mama Olla’s (restaurant suggested by Tim, thanks man!):

Maracuja Pisco Sour at Mama Olla’s. I discovered the ingredient that froths up the Pisco Sour: egg whites!

Suave Crema de Lucuma dessert at Las Brujas de Cachiche. Whatever this orange-colored cream is, the flavor mixes better with dark chocolate than almost anything I’ve ever tasted. Fantastic! Anise liqueur in the background…

After all this, I boarded what would be the first of two flights to Hawaii. Strike that, three flights… I volunteered to lose a couple of hours for a $250 voucher when the flight was full. Let’s see what else tomorrow brings!

Leaving Tambopata – For Now

I’m not a sentimental one, especially when on holidays. But I felt a special connection with the wildlife and the people at Explorer’s Inn, so I was a bit disappointed to leave after just two days (May 16th). I even slept like a baby on the second night there, despite the jungle noises & howler monkeys.

I have a feeling that I’ll be back to Explorer’s Inn sooner rather than later. And there will definitely be a few more articles coming up about the Tambopata Reserve.

The rest of the day was travel: boat, bus, two plane flights, and a taxi ride. In Miraflores I discovered that a lot of restaurants are closed Sundays. Dying of hunger after walking for hours, I tried a tasty local dessert, the turron – a crumbly almost-crunchy cake filled with some kind of fruit jam.

Afterward I found a restaurant that was supposedly Arabic, and tried out an interesting dish:

The hummus was good, along with the chorizo and salsa, though the latter were definitely not authentic Arabic fare. Cusqueno Malto (a dark beer) is fantastic!

Tomorrow I’ll be continuing the “weird sexual imagery in foreign countries” theme. Stay tuned.

Getting Into Hot Water

May 12th. Sorry we’re a bit out of order, as this is before Wayna Picchu. Traveling to the town of Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, is not easy. Especially when traveling there just a few months after devastating landslides damaged the train tracks, stranding many tourists at the town.

Well, the train track has been rebuilt, at least partly. But instead of taking the train directly from Cusco (roundabout 3h away by train), one must first ride a minibus for 2.5h along winding switchbacks and across dusty, bumpy dirt roads to Piscacucho. From there, the train takes you the last 2h beside the raging river, where you can see lovely views like this one:

Yes, that appears to be the old track strewn across the river rocks. Very reassuring.

The town itself is nothing special. I didn’t visit the hot springs (because that’s not my thing). Frommer says they’re somewhat dirty, but refreshing for hikers fresh off the Inca Trail. I did have some tasty trout ceviche – raw trout slices with a strong lemon sauce. Either this or a Pisco Sour (a drink, probably made with some “local water” ice) led to some brief… errr… digestive issues the next morning. So, beware what you eat and drink.

I found these varied roofing tiles an interesting contrast, mirroring a lot of what I see in Peru: extreme poverty next to attempted modernity (e.g. Lima).

Huy (a.k.a. guinea pig) is a local specialty available in nearly every restaurant. I didn’t try it, though, and instead had a crispy pizza at Chez Maggy (a restaurant I can highly recommend!).I believe it was chorizo, egg, and plantain:

I went to sleep early to be ready for Machu Picchu the next day. Pirwa Hostel was… well, let’s just say the staff was friendly and nice. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it too highly (I had a moldy room, intermittent bathroom light, lack of lockers, just bread + butter + jam for breakfast). Disclaimer: it could be great in comparison to other hostels there… I have no idea.

Next up: one of the most amazing ancient-city-ruins on the planet, Machu Picchu. And, according to Internet vote, one of the new seven wonders of the modern world! If you’re interested to read about Machu Picchu, just subscribe via RSS or email to be notified when the article is live.