Henry's Notes

Nature was good to visitors to Aichi today. Typhoon that was destine to hit full force onto Japan unexpectedly turned back out into the Pacific Ocean. So we were left with a sunny weather with very nice breeze.

The Aichi World Expo is 30 minutes outside of city of Nagoya. We had to take a bus from the city center to get there. The expo opens at 9am; We got to the West Gate by 8:30am and the line was already 30 minutes long. I couldn't believe the number of people attending this event. I think it's more than Disneyland on a summer weekend (left above)!

The idea of the World Expo is that it is a gathering of world cultures to bring to a region for people to experience. Looking at it another way, it allows someone with limited means of travel to visit virtually all places on earth. With this mission, I think the expo did a great job. However, this specific expo was supposed to focus on harmony with nature using new technologies. In this respect, I was greatly disappointed as I did not see many exhibits pointing toward this mission. I think it would be great if there is an exposition showing all the latest technologies people can use in their everyday life to lessen our impact on earth. Anyways...

Our plans to see Japanese corporate expositions (like Toyota, Mitsubish, etc) were not possible. When we got to the area (about 9:40am), tickets for the morning show were already taken and people were lining up for the 2pm tickets! It simply wasn't worth it. So we moved on to see the Mammoth lab exhibit. On our way to the Mammoth lab, we visited the super hi-def TV show. It's supposed to be 4x more detailed than the current TV and 2x more detailed than the current hi-def TV. Truly, it looked like we were at all the sights shown to us. However, given the current adoption rate of the hi-def TV, I wonder if it would be at least 20 more years before super hi-def will be adopted. As for the Mammoth lab exhibit, it was a bit disappointing. It was just a quick showing of the mummified mammoth skull and one foot. We weren't allowed to take any photographs; What a rip.

We then visited South Pacific Islands commons, including Malaysia, Vietnam, and Island states. Most notable was the small exhibit of Tuvalu, the country with the internet ending of ".tv". It turned out not only they make money from the internet address, they also make very beautiful stamps, which were quickly sold out to avid Japanese stamp collectors.

Next stop was the Africa commons, where we visited Egypt, sub-saharan African states (including Angola!), and South Africa. I was pleasantly surprised at Sub-Saharan African exhibits. Although most of their booths were small, most showed something unique about their culture worthy for me to take some pictures :) There were also exhibits of an African elephant skull (not mammoth skull!) and an homo-erectus skull with a video showing the reconstruction of what the owner of the skull might look like. Pretty cool. While at the Africa commons, we had a Egyptian curry with rice for brunch. It tasted pretty close to Japanese curry though... I wonder.

Another one of our plans was to see the German exhibit in the Mediterranean commons (yeah: huh?), which was recommended by various reports. However, we again abandoned our plans when we realized that the line was over 2 hours long! Instead, we visited Morocco, Turkey (very beautiful exhibit of geometric patterns in nature and Turkish designs), and Tunisia. We also watched a decent show of Flamingo dance performed by 4 Japanese ladies on the courtyard stage.

My dad really wanted to have some Belgium beer so we moved on to the Europe section. We skipped the waffle line and went directly to the Belgium pub for some (expensive) beer, Belgium sausage, and almond waffle. It was a good stop. Afterwards, we visited Romania (a 20 minute contemporary dance show), Ireland, and Czech (whimsical musical instrument and light exhibit).

Next, we wondered into the forest area where we took a forest lesson tour. The guides explained about several plants we saw along the way and then ended the tour with a hands-on exercise to draw a family crest. We learned that a tree nicknamed "The Order" got this name because it's young leaves can be eaten. Therefore, the old empire made an order to plant this tree in case of crop failure.

Finally, we entered the India continent area, where we visited India and Nepal. India felt so familiar even though my last visit was when I was 9... maybe it's because I have many Indian friends. Nepal has a really nice exhibit, although I wondered how many people looked carefully at the intricate carvings... I am showing one here, but it's all over the place.

Because I foolishly used my JR pass the first day I arrived in Japan, today is the last day before it expires (instead of tomorrow as my dad had planned). Therefore, we decided to take the train back to Tokyo tonight and spend an extra day in Tokyo. It's not so bad because now I have more chances to talk to Luke.

(left: Evening sky at the Expo)

It's a slow day for me because we didn't do any sight seeing. We didn't leave the hotel until 9am, and dad had some unfinished business in Osaka. We left Osaka for Nagoya via the Shinkansen (bullet train lines) around 3pm.

I am going a bit nuts here without anyone to talk to except for my dad. When we have dinner/meeting with others, I sit there twiddling my thumb. It's worse than sitting there by myself because then at least I can read or watch other people. I hate it when someone laughs in a conversation that I think involves me. It's a really vulnerable position to be in! It's a good lesson for myself to never do this to someone who doesn't understand the predominate language spoken. This is exactly why I try not to speak Chinese while I have friends around who doesn't understand it.

Although most Japanese knows some English, I often found myself unable to say anything because I had no idea where to start. I really should have learned at least travel-level conversation Japanese... I don't know why I didn't purchase a phrase book ahead of time; it would have been somewhat helpful.

Another thing I noticed today is that all the pictures I have rarely included other people (but I do have one taken today with my dad's psychology professor - a real gentleman - and our waitress). As I mentioned, I didn't talk to many people except for my dad (Mr. Ozaki who took me around Osaka yesterday spoke very little English) so I feel like a passive observer of the culture. This trip is so different than the Mexico trip this past Spring where John and I tried to speak to the locals and not caring so much as to what sights we see. Although, I at least know some Spanish...

Oh yeah, a typhoon landed today in Japan. So far, it has been nice cooling breeze and drizzles. Hope it won't get too intense when we visit the Aichi World Expo tomorrow, maybe it would be a blessing by turning some visitors away :P.

Ahhh... had a great night sleep in a nice Dormy Inn (really more like an hotel) in the hip part of the town. This place includes nice (but small) room, beautifully built hot-spring/spa, meeting area, free in-room internet jack, and coin-operated laundry (they don't sell detergent though). All this for a modest fee... less than what we paid for in Meiji and with far more amenities! Of course, my dad had advanced reservations here, so maybe that made a difference in price.

My dad bought a really nice camera last night with the help of his friend/consultant Ozaki. Boy, if you think BestBuy has a great selection of digital camera and electronics, you should see this place. It must have carried almost 80% of digital cameras available in the market place. In addition, they have a huge select of watches and other digital equipments/gadgets. It's a geek heaven (or hell if you are a broke geek). I got myself a semi-formal Casio G-Shock multiple-timezone solar charged watch for about $120 US. It's a self-purchased graduation gift from my aunt in Taiwan.

Anyhow, dad had to conduct some business today so Mr. Ozaki took me around town. We first went to Osaka Aquarium. It is a really amazing aquarium where you start at the top floor and gradually wind your way down to the deeper depths of the vertical aquariums. All of the exhibits were based on the Pacific Volcanic rim. The center piece contained schools of many different fishes, several different sting rays, sharks, groupers, and the most impressive whale shark. I have some pictures, but none of them correctly portray the awe I had. At least this one should show how big the center aquarium is (above-right). I may have taken some good pictures if my camera battery hadn't died half an hour into the tour... oh well.

Later, I rode a huge ferris wheel. Not terrible exciting, but I was able to see great views of the city (left - center building is the Aquarium).

We then rode the subway across town to the Osaka Castle City Park. The castle tower itself was rebuilt in modern time into a simple history museum about the castle area (right - the distortion is from the ultra-wide lens used). It's so modern that it has an elevator to the top (7th) floor. Still, it was neat to go up the tower to take in another panoramic view of the city. The most intriguing thing about the fort is that it's built of giant stone slabs that were cut/broken from even bigger stones about a hundred km away on an island. Some of the biggest pieces weighted over 100 tons.

The day wasn't over yet. We also visited the Osaka broadcasting station (with some TV show sets), Panasonic showroom, and a bit of the Tenjinmatsuri Festival. The Festival is supposed to be one of the 3 major festivals in Japan. The festival (a festive religious/cultural event) lasts 2 days starting with the prologue on Sunday with dances, drums, and various other rituals. Today, the Osaka Temmangu Shrine's divine spirits are transported on portable shrines on land and then on the river. The festival peaks around 9pm with rapidly firing fireworks and ends at 10pm with the return of the spirits to the shrine. I was supposed to see/experience part of this festival, but it didn't happen. I did see a boat preparing to transport a spirit (left). By the time we finished dinner, I was too tired from the day's travels. Mr. Ozaki had a pedometer, which registered over 17,000 steps! Instead of returning to one of the country's biggest party, I relaxed in the hotel's hot-spring pool, worked on this blog, and washed a load of laundry. Sounds great huh?

NOTE: All photo in this posting are courtesy of Mr. Ozaki, with the exception of the first photo, which I took.

Met up with my dad the day before. So far, we visited Kobe, Arima, Himeji, Hiroshima, and now I am in Osaka. We have been using our rail passes quite a bit. We stayed in Kobe the first night. We visited a very nice waterfall right behind our hotel (pictured on the right).

Yesterday, we first visited Arima near Kobe. Arima is a hot-spring town that was frequented by many famous figures in the past. However, it's not so well known as a tourist destination anymore. Netherless, we spent half a day there walking around and taking a bath at the "Gold Spring". We then traveled to Himeji, a site of a well preserved fort/castle designated as a World Heritage Site. It really is worth a trip to visit (pictured left) not only for the castle's beauty but also for a rare tour inside the castle tower! We spent a night in Himeji so that we can view the castle at night... a sight rarely seen by travlers.

Today, we traveled to Hiroshima, you know, where the first atomic bomb was used. It was a somber trip where we are reminded of the horror of war, specifically an atomic war. It's also great to see that the city has dedicated a park to plea for world peace without atomic weapon. Unfortunately, the reality is that atomic weapons still exists, for better or worse. The park includes a building that withstood the blast of the bomb (pictured right).


If you want to view more pictures, you can do so at my Yahoo's photo site.

I am in Japan visiting Luke and traveling with my dad until July 29th. I'll then make a small hop to Taiwan to visit my grandpa for a few days, and then back to LA. It's the 2nd time I visited Japan, but my last time was when I was in middle school. Anyway, I arrived on Thursday July 21 at the Tokyo's Narita Airport. The airport is actually an hour away from Tokyo itself by train so I decided to use my rail pass (about $250, which you must purchase before arriving in Tokyo, kinda like Euro rail pass). When the rail agent issued me the tickets, they told me I have only 10 minutes until the train starts, so I rushed to the train without getting any local money. I reasoned that I can always find an ATM or use my credit card to purchase things. I was completely wrong; When I arrived at the Tokyo station, I couldn't find anything of that sort. Therefore, I had no way to call my brother as I was supposed to do. I was really frustrated when I wondered to a map. To my surprise, I was actually standing below where he works! So I surprised him by showing up at the reception desk, hehe ;)