Shinjuku Mitsui Building
Tokyo Sumitomo Building
Shinjuku Center Building
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Sompo Japan Building
Shinjuku Nomura Building + Sompo Japan Building
I got a room upgrade this time around...
...and loved the views.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
西新宿
I had an afternoon in Nishi-Shinjuku for once, so I explored.
Shinjuku Mitsui Building
Tokyo Sumitomo Building
Shinjuku Center Building
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Sompo Japan Building
Shinjuku Nomura Building + Sompo Japan Building
I got a room upgrade this time around...
...and loved the views.
Shinjuku Mitsui Building
Tokyo Sumitomo Building
Shinjuku Center Building
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Sompo Japan Building
Shinjuku Nomura Building + Sompo Japan Building
I got a room upgrade this time around...
...and loved the views.
Tokyo
Well, it's 1AM and I'm wide awake. This jet lag stuff is awful. Might as well get some photos processed...
My first hour in Tokyo was a little stressful... While checking-in, the receptionist asked for my passport. I looked into my bag, only to find my wallet. Then, the Kübler-Ross model kicked in...
What had happened:
It was my first time flying into Haneda Airport, so I went to the info desk to figure out how to get to Shinjuku station. Apparently, I dropped my passport while I was there.
Luckily, I had plans to eat, drink, and be merry. Some friends had planned a picnic at Yoyogi Park for their co-worker's birthday.
^fact: that instrument is modular and awesome.
The next day, I returned to HND to pick up my passport. Then I headed to the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art. The area around Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station was very quiet...
The street was lined with community made dolls that represented various things in culture.
Street Flair.
One could only take photos in an exhibit called Ghosts, Underpands, and Stars. There were a series of different rooms that led you through each subject. The exhibit was aimed towards children and encouraged them to interact with the art. Kids ran, yelled and played with the pieces.
‘Stars’ symbolized wishes.
‘Underpants’ symbolized a child's growth.
‘Ghosts’ symbolized imagination.
Looking outside.
Monday - Friday were spent on work related stuff. I was able to get dinner with friends on Friday night; at a small place in Shibuya. The place was cozy and served dishes from a Japanese island.
Best find of the trip? Taco rice and steak wrapped tofu!!!
My first hour in Tokyo was a little stressful... While checking-in, the receptionist asked for my passport. I looked into my bag, only to find my wallet. Then, the Kübler-Ross model kicked in...
- Denial: It must be in my other bag!
- Anger: WHAT IS THIS?! IT'S NOT HERE?! I NEVER LOSE THINGS!!!
- Bargaining: Please excuse me while I look through my bag for the 5th time. I must of missed it the first four times. Also, please give me some more time to go through my other bags again.
- PANIC!
- STRONGER PANICKING!!!
- Depression: I'm screwed, they'll never let me back into the states...
- Acceptance: The hotel tells me how to file a police report; so I can go to the embassy for a new passport...
- Joy: Front desk calls me. The airport found it.
What had happened:
It was my first time flying into Haneda Airport, so I went to the info desk to figure out how to get to Shinjuku station. Apparently, I dropped my passport while I was there.
Luckily, I had plans to eat, drink, and be merry. Some friends had planned a picnic at Yoyogi Park for their co-worker's birthday.
^fact: that instrument is modular and awesome.
The next day, I returned to HND to pick up my passport. Then I headed to the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art. The area around Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station was very quiet...
The street was lined with community made dolls that represented various things in culture.
Street Flair.
One could only take photos in an exhibit called Ghosts, Underpands, and Stars. There were a series of different rooms that led you through each subject. The exhibit was aimed towards children and encouraged them to interact with the art. Kids ran, yelled and played with the pieces.
‘Stars’ symbolized wishes.
‘Underpants’ symbolized a child's growth.
‘Ghosts’ symbolized imagination.
Looking outside.
Monday - Friday were spent on work related stuff. I was able to get dinner with friends on Friday night; at a small place in Shibuya. The place was cozy and served dishes from a Japanese island.
Best find of the trip? Taco rice and steak wrapped tofu!!!
Saturday, September 7, 2013
CX548 - HKG to HND
Cathay operates one of their 77H's on this short haul flight, and I was able to find award availability in F for a measly 28k miles!
This meant that I had access to check out Cathay's new first class lounge, The Wing. Below is the champagne bar section. Sadly, all the cabana rooms were already filled when I arrived.
I booked this flight over a 747 flight, with a later departure time, as two co-workers and I have worked on variations of this 777's configuration. The latest plane delivered just last month with a slightly refreshed first class seat.
^B-KPV is around 2-years old
Seat 1A.
^The ottomon doubles as another seat, so one can dine with a fellow passenger.
...and check out that bin-less interior! The mini-suites have adequate stowage for your carry-on items, shoes, your jacket, a pillow, some bedding, a bicycle, your groceries, and more...
The flight was wonderful. The food was fancy and well made (go galleys!), the attendants were friendly and attentive. I had some good conversation with the crew and received constructive feedback on the galleys, the TV was HUGE, and the seat was comfy and massaged my back. I don't know what else to say.... so here's a view of Taiwan!
This meant that I had access to check out Cathay's new first class lounge, The Wing. Below is the champagne bar section. Sadly, all the cabana rooms were already filled when I arrived.
I booked this flight over a 747 flight, with a later departure time, as two co-workers and I have worked on variations of this 777's configuration. The latest plane delivered just last month with a slightly refreshed first class seat.
^B-KPV is around 2-years old
Seat 1A.
^The ottomon doubles as another seat, so one can dine with a fellow passenger.
...and check out that bin-less interior! The mini-suites have adequate stowage for your carry-on items, shoes, your jacket, a pillow, some bedding, a bicycle, your groceries, and more...
The flight was wonderful. The food was fancy and well made (go galleys!), the attendants were friendly and attentive. I had some good conversation with the crew and received constructive feedback on the galleys, the TV was HUGE, and the seat was comfy and massaged my back. I don't know what else to say.... so here's a view of Taiwan!
Friday, September 6, 2013
Hong Kong - A Sunny Day!
My third and final day. I woke up early and found that it was sunny outside! I decided to go for a pre-breakfast walk. The streets were pretty deserted and some cabs were hanging out waiting for their first customers.
The waterfront was a busy place. We had folks headed to work and runners getting some miles in before work.
With the weather much nicer, there were many boats in the water.
I eventually got breakfast and took the Star Ferry across to Central.
And made my way to The Peak Tram terminal.
The line was long, but I eventually made it up this tourist trap.
^this place is literally a trap. The observation deck is on top of a mall, where one must ride escalators up multiple levels. Then you can enjoy this view.
Afterwards, I headed back to through Causeway Bay to get this amazing beverage. In a nutshell, it's a block of mango jelly, a block of aloe jelly, and some mango juice.
I returned to Kowloon just in time for sunset.
I got dinner and headed out to the waterfront again to get some skyline shots. The water was still filled with boats; as the weather was still very nice.
And to treat myself, i wento the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's opening night. The phil debuted Bright Sheng's, Shanghai Overture. Also on the program was Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 5 Emperor, and Dvořák's Symphony no. 9 From the New World.
The waterfront was a busy place. We had folks headed to work and runners getting some miles in before work.
With the weather much nicer, there were many boats in the water.
I eventually got breakfast and took the Star Ferry across to Central.
And made my way to The Peak Tram terminal.
The line was long, but I eventually made it up this tourist trap.
^this place is literally a trap. The observation deck is on top of a mall, where one must ride escalators up multiple levels. Then you can enjoy this view.
Afterwards, I headed back to through Causeway Bay to get this amazing beverage. In a nutshell, it's a block of mango jelly, a block of aloe jelly, and some mango juice.
I returned to Kowloon just in time for sunset.
I got dinner and headed out to the waterfront again to get some skyline shots. The water was still filled with boats; as the weather was still very nice.
And to treat myself, i wento the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's opening night. The phil debuted Bright Sheng's, Shanghai Overture. Also on the program was Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 5 Emperor, and Dvořák's Symphony no. 9 From the New World.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Hong Kong - The Rainy Days...
Day 1
I woke up to something tapping on the windows at 7am or so. The curtains were drawn, and I assumed it was just a window cleaning crew due to how loud the tapping was.
Well the tapping didn't stop and it got more frequent, so I got out of bed to investigate. I was wrong. Very Wrong. There were raindrops slamming into the floor to ceiling windows. HUGE RAINDROPS. Apparently there was an AMBER level rainstorm hanging out over Hong Kong. Fantastic.
I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went about my morning routing and got breakfast. Then I met with Elaine and we went shopping. We stopped at a tailor, uniqlo, an eyeglasses place, and caught a late lunch at a Shanghainese restaurant. After all this, I returned to the hotel, and crashed due to jetlag. I woke up around 8pm, found a random dinner joint, and fell back asleep.
Day 2.
It was still raining like crazy, but I ventured out in the morning. The first stop was Tsui Wah Restaurant for breakfast of buns with condensed milk and a noodle dish. I also made my way to the waterfront. The photo below is doctored... the visibility wasn't this good.
This was the view from my booth at Tsui Wah. After I finished breakfast, I was going through my guide book, when two older ladies simply sat down in my booth. They asked if I was done, and said their booth was too cold. Hint taken...
Next I walked to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to pick up some tickets. The lobby was impressive.
The Cultural Center is conveniently located next to the Avenue of Stars.
^HK Cinema's finest!
Also on the waterfront is the Museum of Art. Here's some 油條
...and Chickens!
I made way back to TST Station to head over to Central.
Those aren't Korean drama stars...
^They're cram school instructors!!!
I wandered around some of the high rise towers in Central and checked out the HK International Finance Centre's observation deck. Here, they had an exhibit to explain how HK printed money. The more interesting fact is that HK doesn't print it's own money. They let three different banks print their cash, so you could have a HSBC, Bank of China or Standard Charter Bank logo on your dollar bills.
Inside of the HSBC Building.
^much more impressive than the Boeing Everett site.
After this, a tourist from the mainland asked me how to get to the Central MTR station. I was headed there too, so we compared maps, figured out where we were, and found our ways to the station. From here I headed back to TST to meet Lawrence for dinner. We caught up and headed to the tourist trap that is the Temple Street Night Market and walked around Kowloon.
Taiwan night markets are still the best. That is all.
I woke up to something tapping on the windows at 7am or so. The curtains were drawn, and I assumed it was just a window cleaning crew due to how loud the tapping was.
Well the tapping didn't stop and it got more frequent, so I got out of bed to investigate. I was wrong. Very Wrong. There were raindrops slamming into the floor to ceiling windows. HUGE RAINDROPS. Apparently there was an AMBER level rainstorm hanging out over Hong Kong. Fantastic.
I couldn't go back to sleep, so I went about my morning routing and got breakfast. Then I met with Elaine and we went shopping. We stopped at a tailor, uniqlo, an eyeglasses place, and caught a late lunch at a Shanghainese restaurant. After all this, I returned to the hotel, and crashed due to jetlag. I woke up around 8pm, found a random dinner joint, and fell back asleep.
Day 2.
It was still raining like crazy, but I ventured out in the morning. The first stop was Tsui Wah Restaurant for breakfast of buns with condensed milk and a noodle dish. I also made my way to the waterfront. The photo below is doctored... the visibility wasn't this good.
This was the view from my booth at Tsui Wah. After I finished breakfast, I was going through my guide book, when two older ladies simply sat down in my booth. They asked if I was done, and said their booth was too cold. Hint taken...
Next I walked to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to pick up some tickets. The lobby was impressive.
The Cultural Center is conveniently located next to the Avenue of Stars.
^HK Cinema's finest!
Also on the waterfront is the Museum of Art. Here's some 油條
...and Chickens!
I made way back to TST Station to head over to Central.
Those aren't Korean drama stars...
^They're cram school instructors!!!
I wandered around some of the high rise towers in Central and checked out the HK International Finance Centre's observation deck. Here, they had an exhibit to explain how HK printed money. The more interesting fact is that HK doesn't print it's own money. They let three different banks print their cash, so you could have a HSBC, Bank of China or Standard Charter Bank logo on your dollar bills.
Inside of the HSBC Building.
^much more impressive than the Boeing Everett site.
After this, a tourist from the mainland asked me how to get to the Central MTR station. I was headed there too, so we compared maps, figured out where we were, and found our ways to the station. From here I headed back to TST to meet Lawrence for dinner. We caught up and headed to the tourist trap that is the Temple Street Night Market and walked around Kowloon.
Taiwan night markets are still the best. That is all.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Hong Kong or bust!
So it's Labor Day, and I'm sitting on United's N788UA to NRT and then catching another 777 to HKG. Total travel time should be around 18 hours.
Next to me is a retired salesman. When he showed up, he claimed that he had the window seat. I was like, "nuh-uh, look at this boarding pass," and proceeded to show him my seat number. He accepted this and took his (assigned) aisle seat. This has actually happened a few times on other trips. I'm not sure if the travelling public feels as if they have Jedi powers or something, but I find it really confusing.
He's actually a nice guy. He worked at some Detroit-based company back in the day, and was later recruited to work in Bellevue. Now he just travels for fun. He claims this is "just a mileage run" to maintain his 1K status on United. My response? "Baller."
I look forward to retirement, but sigh, I haven't sat next to anyone interesting in a long time...
#businessclassproblems
This will be my third time flying to HKG, but my first time to actually leave the airport. On the agenda:
The flight has the refreshed United configuration; with B/E Aerospace lay-flat shell seats. Why they don't have any built in stowage space is mind boggling...
Leaving Seattle on a sunny day is always tough...
Seeing how I was getting into HK at 10pm (their time), the goal was to stay awake on the flights; so I would pass out upon arrival. Thus, I began my movie marathon after the dinner service. On the schedule:
9.5-hours after we left Seattle, we began our descent to Narita.
Since SeaTac has the worst gate and jetway layout ever, one must photograph their aircraft at the destination. Hey future architects of the world! Make your boarding gates photo friendly!
Across from our gate was one of the EVA Hello Kitty A330's!
The transfer tunnel to T2 reminds me of the transfer tunnel at ORD.
without the trippy lights.
So, with this four-hour layover at NRT, the first item to do was to check into my connection, however, the fact that the check-in counter wasn't open made things difficult. Thus, I'm in the Cathay Lounge wrapping up some work.
It's now 3:45pm, and a Cathay rep found me and handed me my boarding pass. Asian airline customer service... I heart you. With my ticket in hand, I make my way to the JAL Sakura Lounge, which is supposed to be the amazing.
Just before 6pm, I left the lounge for my gate. The JAL Lounge was indeed amazing. They had a separate dining floor, tons of seating, good alcohol and free massages.
T-Minus 4-hours until Kowloon.
The flight is fine. It's configured with their older regional business class (really wide and soft recliner seats). After the dinner service I chatted with their attendants, asking them about their catering processes, and I received some good feedback. They have Oblivion looping on their video system, so I'm just watching that to stay awake.
We eventually land on time, and I head to the transit counter. The agent couldn't find my my bus reservation, and then his co-worker eventually asked if I was "Joshila." Tired and confused, I gave a neutral nod of my head... Turns out I was the Joshila that they were looking for...
I've been up for 20-something hours. Time for bed. Here's the room's view.
^this was actually taken the following night...
Next to me is a retired salesman. When he showed up, he claimed that he had the window seat. I was like, "nuh-uh, look at this boarding pass," and proceeded to show him my seat number. He accepted this and took his (assigned) aisle seat. This has actually happened a few times on other trips. I'm not sure if the travelling public feels as if they have Jedi powers or something, but I find it really confusing.
He's actually a nice guy. He worked at some Detroit-based company back in the day, and was later recruited to work in Bellevue. Now he just travels for fun. He claims this is "just a mileage run" to maintain his 1K status on United. My response? "Baller."
I look forward to retirement, but sigh, I haven't sat next to anyone interesting in a long time...
#businessclassproblems
This will be my third time flying to HKG, but my first time to actually leave the airport. On the agenda:
- Hang out with a family friend and college friend.
- Eat.
- Shop.
- See things.
- Go to the opening of their symphony
The flight has the refreshed United configuration; with B/E Aerospace lay-flat shell seats. Why they don't have any built in stowage space is mind boggling...
Leaving Seattle on a sunny day is always tough...
Seeing how I was getting into HK at 10pm (their time), the goal was to stay awake on the flights; so I would pass out upon arrival. Thus, I began my movie marathon after the dinner service. On the schedule:
- The Bling Ring
- One hour in, and I'm depressed. What the heck, Generation Y? Stop reading TMZ. Go read a book or a newspaper.
- Monsters University
- Revenge of the Nerds called. They want their movie back.
- Olympus Has Fallen
- The number of plot holes in Olympus Has Fallen may outnumber the number of bullet holes in the White House at the end of the film...
9.5-hours after we left Seattle, we began our descent to Narita.
Since SeaTac has the worst gate and jetway layout ever, one must photograph their aircraft at the destination. Hey future architects of the world! Make your boarding gates photo friendly!
Across from our gate was one of the EVA Hello Kitty A330's!
The transfer tunnel to T2 reminds me of the transfer tunnel at ORD.
without the trippy lights.
So, with this four-hour layover at NRT, the first item to do was to check into my connection, however, the fact that the check-in counter wasn't open made things difficult. Thus, I'm in the Cathay Lounge wrapping up some work.
It's now 3:45pm, and a Cathay rep found me and handed me my boarding pass. Asian airline customer service... I heart you. With my ticket in hand, I make my way to the JAL Sakura Lounge, which is supposed to be the amazing.
Just before 6pm, I left the lounge for my gate. The JAL Lounge was indeed amazing. They had a separate dining floor, tons of seating, good alcohol and free massages.
T-Minus 4-hours until Kowloon.
The flight is fine. It's configured with their older regional business class (really wide and soft recliner seats). After the dinner service I chatted with their attendants, asking them about their catering processes, and I received some good feedback. They have Oblivion looping on their video system, so I'm just watching that to stay awake.
We eventually land on time, and I head to the transit counter. The agent couldn't find my my bus reservation, and then his co-worker eventually asked if I was "Joshila." Tired and confused, I gave a neutral nod of my head... Turns out I was the Joshila that they were looking for...
I've been up for 20-something hours. Time for bed. Here's the room's view.
^this was actually taken the following night...