Denmark

新年快樂！

2012-01-24T00:13:00.014+08:00

Or in English: A happy new year!

From today on, it is not only the year 2012, it is also the Year of the Dragon. According to the Chinese lunar calender, this starts from today (Monday, January 23rd). I hope the Year of the Dragon will bring peace, happiness and prosperity to all of you.

It has been a while since my last blog, so I'll give a short update on my last few months.

Full House
In the week during Christmas, we had some very special visitors: my brother, his wife and their two boys, Kilian (3) and Dorian (1). It was wonderful to have them over and to be able to spend more time together. We already expected a slight change in our daily rhythm, but didn't know exactly what to expect. But we found out children are the ones who'll decide your daily schedule... We did have a lot of fun though. Kilian is a smart kid who loves dancing. He especially likes dancing on the song "The Golden Age" by "The Asteroids Galaxy Tour". After the song was finished he demanded kindly but firmly "Again!!". Dorian is still in an age where he observes as much as possible and tries to utter a few words to let himself be understood. All I could understand is that he either wanted to eat, or sleep... And that he is a serious rival for my wife's attention... ;-)

The week was soon over and we all flew back to the Netherlands to celebrate New Years' eve in the Netherlands. But they are more than welcome to visit us again! I really felt proud seeing my little brother as a responsible and good father. He and his wife, Sylwia, are for sure doing a great job!

Writing about my nephews reminds me of a something I already saw numerous times in Denmark: a baby carriage standing outside a shop or restaurant unattended while their "owners" are inside doing some shopping or eating a lunch. Nothing special about that, you might say. But in some occasions, the baby was still lying inside the carriage. This is something I just don't understand.

Back in the Netherlands
A week after Christmas we flew back to the Netherlands for a few days to celebrate New Year's eve with my parents and some old friends. It was so nice being back again! Apart from seeing my parents, we did miss some typical Dutch things. So the first thing we did in The Hague was finding some fresh deep fried fish called "kibbeling" and eating fries with mayonnaise. In Amsterdam, our mission was to find some nice "bitterballen". I really started to appreciate some trivial things from my own country when I moved abroad.

It was nice again to walk around in Amsterdam. We do love the atmosphere over there. There's just something about Amsterdam I do miss over here in Copenhagen. Maybe it's just me being Dutch, but it does feel more lively. Even though it was raining all day when we were there...
Since we are crazy about cats, we also went to the "Kattenkabinet". A museum about cats, with cats. All the artworks in this small museum are inspired by cats. You can find advertisements, jewelry, statues, and paintings (amongst those also a Picasso). There are also seven cats walking around the museum. We bumped into a cat which I first thought was a statue. But she was just enjoying the warmth coming from a heater and nothing would distract her away from that spot.

After our short visit to the museum, we decided to go to the famous Tuchinski movie theater. Built in 1921 in a spectacular mix of styles (Amsterdam School, Jugendstil, Art Nouveau and Art Deco). It is considered as one of the most beautiful cinemas in the world. The perfect spot to spend a rainy afternoon in Amsterdam.

Chinese New Year
This year is our first year to celebrate Chinese New Year in Denmark. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon (traditional Chinese: 龍), is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac, and the only animal that is legendary. The Year of the Dragon is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac. To celebrate Chinese New Year, it is quite a tradition to eat "Hot pot" with the whole family. For those who want to know what that is, I quoted Wikipedia:

Hot pot (traditional Chinese: 火鍋) refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. Vegetables, fish, and meat should be fresh. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce.

Jennifer was busy whole afternoon preparing a delicious hot pot. That surely was a good start of the New Year! It was also the first day it started to snow. Until now the winter has been relatively mild, but it seems that winter is starting to kick in. The last nights were the first ones to be under 0°C. I'm hoping to be able to do some ice skating later this or next month!

Kilian, playing in the garden with Jennifer and a big dragon's egg.

Dorian, checking out the world around him.

Baby carriages left outside a restaurant, with the babies still inside. Must be a Danish thing I just don't understand....

This cat was really enjoying the heater, at one moment her head was even in between the heating elements...

Jennifer prepared a very tasty hot pot.

The first proper snowfall in Copenhagen, hoping for more! Always love it when you wake up and find out the world is covered in a beautiful white layer of snow. And that cracking sound when you are the first one to walk over it... Hate it when that all turns into a brown gooey mass...

Some lakes in Copenhagen are already covered with a thin layer of ice.

The first visitors

2011-11-02T22:43:00.011+08:00

Last week my parents visited us for the first time in Denmark! We were happy to have them over! It was nice to show them our new home and our new city. They enjoyed being here as well. My mother was only able to stay for the weekend, but my father spend the whole week with us. We had a lot of fun cycling in and around Copenhagen.

My brother, his wife and their two kids are visiting us for Christmas. We're looking forward spending some more time with them. My two nephews, Kilian and Dorian, are adorable! Dorian probably won't register much of his visit here, but Kilian surely will.

When people are visiting, you tend to look at your "own" city in a different way. While you usually take the shortest distance from A to B, you now want to show your guests the beautiful or authenticate parts of the city. I remember I used to live in Amsterdam for quite a while, but it wasn't until I had friends over before I actually went to see all those spots so popular with the tourists.

When my parents visited, we went to Tivoli for the first time. Tivoli is an entertainment park in the middle of the city center. It has restaurants, shops, shows and many rides and attractions. It was actually a lot of fun! If only the entrance fee wasn't that steep, I'd be there a bit more often.

I do want to see a lot more of the city. So, don't hesitate to drop by Copenhagen and come visit us! For now, I'll just do some groceries and will take the most direct route to get there....

My brother and his youngest son, Dorian.

My two nephews together. Their behaviour is almost opposite. Dorian is quietly observing the world around him with a smile, while Kilian is running circles around everyone for attention.

David and Dorian.

Our new hanging lamp from 'Moooi'. It is beautiful indeed. The shadings it makes on the walls and ceiling are quite special.

Tivoli Park in the late afternoon. You can see the Chinese Pavilion and in the background a high flying carrousel.

We went out for a High Tea. We found this place while my parents where visiting Copenhagen.

Dear Antoine...

2011-11-02T21:12:00.008+08:00

Sometimes you touch the lives of people you don't know...

Last week I was going through my blogs from my six-week trip to Japan. That reminded me of a former colleague of my mother. Antoine Assenberg. When I was traveling, he was in the hospital for treatment of a very serious form of cancer. Through my mother, he heard about my trip. From that moment on, he followed my weblog daily. He mentioned it was almost like he was traveling together with me. It allowed him to see another part of this world he wasn't able to go to himself. It made his very difficult time in the hospital a little bit more bearable.

My mother did mention about him, but I never got to meet him after my trip. He passed away on October 17, 2009. He was only 33.

I touched his life without realizing it. I wished I had the courage at that time to send my regards to Antoine and maybe even have met him. It made me realize even more how precious life is. I admired his strength and positive attitude, even while he knew he wouldn't live for much longer. He still loved each day and tried to enjoy the little things life offered him as much as possible. Our lives are in a way connected.

Antoine, thank you for being there with me during my travels..

Great King Street / My first impressions about Denmark

2011-10-01T16:17:00.025+08:00

As some of you already might know, or might have guessed, we have found a really nice apartment! It's in the middle of the city center on a five minutes walk from almost every interesting spot. Our apartment is in a street called "Store Kongensgade", which translates to "Great King Street".

We are almost settled down, we are just waiting for some furniture to arrive. But apart from that, we are happy with the home we created (just reminded me of the final words used in an American TV show, Extreme Home Makeover: "Welcome home family Wessel, welcome home...").

The street we're living in is also home to a lot of nice shops and restaurants. A bakery with a French chef serving macarons and other amazing pastries, a ecological bakery with the best bread in town, delicacy shops selling all kinds of cheeses, a bookstore annex cafe, and not to forget Paradis which sells the best ice cream in town ("is" means ice in Danish). Let's hope I can maintain my current weight. Although, the prices over here are so high, that that might not be a big problem...

My first impressions of Denmark
After two months of living here, I do have some first impressions about Denmark. And I must say, moving to Denmark is in a way more of a culture shock to me than moving to Taiwan was. Even though Denmark is only an one hour flight away from The Netherlands. Why?

I guess it is also because we don't have any family members living here. But it's not only that. In general you can say Danish people are not as open as Taiwanese or Dutch. Apart from that they have a high believe in equality and regulations. Which leads to some inflexibility as far as I can tell. Their social welfare system is also really good. Too good if you would ask me. People know they are being taken care of (if they lose their jobs, get sick or are going with retirement), so they won't put any extra effort in the jobs they are supposed to do. Of course this is a generalization, but I do feel the attitude is... different.

But don't start thinking I don't like it here! It is just part of living in another country with a different culture. The city itself is beautiful! A lot of beautiful buildings, gorgeous castles, museums, great restaurants, and nice parks. And that all within 5 minutes of our apartment! Copenhagen is also home to "Noma", the best restaurant in the world. Once I can afford it, it is definitely something I want to experience going to. And not to forget Danish design. Beautiful. With long, cold winters, most people spent their time at their homes. So it is not weird that most of their money is spent on the interior of their houses as well. In that perspective, we do feel at home here! ;-)

Climate change
How does this topic belong here? Frequent readers of my blog probably know, but I'll give you an update. In September, I headed back to the Netherlands for one week. Main reason was a project I'm doing with the National Taipei University. I was invited to write a chapter about how the Dutch agricultural sector is responding to climate change. In September the two professors I'm working with came over to the Netherlands to talk to some Dutch experts. I was happy to arrange the program and to be back in my home country again!

Meanwhile, I'm also trying to get a scholarship or funding for getting my PhD at the university here. I went to the University of Roskilde, where I had a wonderful chat with one of the professors there. She was enthusiastic about my idea to do a research on climate change and how countries are responding to that. But the system here is a bit different. To be able to start, I need to find half of the total funding myself. The other half will be paid by the University. She is also trying to help me out on that part, so let's hope for the best. Everybody, cross your fingers for me!

Our first home cooked meal in our new apartment.

Our couch, lamp and painting found their spot in our new living room.

My mother made as a beautiful stained glass window. It looks great!

Danish open sandwich (smørrebrød) on dark rye bread.

We went on a small daytrip to Helsingør, also home of the Kronborg castle. Kronborg Castle is one of northern Europe's most important Renaissance castles. Known all over the world from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The name of the boat is fitting with the Kronborg castle in the background.

Sandbeaches! Not as much as in The Netherlands, but it is nice to sit in the sand and just enjoy a sunny day. If the weather would be a little bit more like Taiwan, that would be even better! I don't look forward to the winter with temperatures well below the freezing point.

New country, new challenges

2011-07-28T21:34:00.005+08:00

Sunday July 24, 2011. Flight CI61 took us in the direction of our new country, Denmark. Departure temperature: 38 degrees Celcius. Arrival temperature: 13 degrees Celcius. The summer over here is surely different! ;-)

On our arrival in Copenhagen on Monday, we were picked up by Jennifer's new colleagues. Not entirely new, because the director of the economic division also happened to be her former boss in the Netherlands. It's nice to see a familiar face! After we dropped our luggage in the hotel, we went straight to the office to get familiar with the new colleagues. In the evening, I made us some pasta and we headed straight for our bed. The jetlag and a day with all new impressions made us very tired..

CPR number
On the second day, we wanted to arrange all the formal visa stuff as soon as possible. We are already granted a resident permit (which we got two days before our departure), but we still needed to get a CPR number which is needed to be an actual person in Denmark. Without it, you can't open a bank account or, for example, make use of the social security system.

At the civil registration office however, we heard that we couldn't register without having a permanent address. Our hotel booking or Jennifer's work address wasn't allowed. We should come back after we found ourselves an apartment. Fair enough. There is a catch though… To be able to rent an apartment you need a bank account. When opening a bank account you need….. a CPR number….

Luckily though, the bank didn't give us much trouble when opening an account. So now we can start looking for an apartment!

Search for an apartment
Being used to the Taiwanese system, I thought it would be fairly easy to find an apartment over here. But to my surprise the market over here works slightly different. We have to look for houses ourselves on the internet and then contact the real estate agent that property belongs to. You can't give them an assignment to help you look throughout all of Copenhagen. If there are other properties from another agency, you have to find out about that yourself and contact them. Luckily for us, there is one agency that covers the biggest portion. But the rental prizes are insane! The apartments we found in the city start from 12.000 DK and go as high as 40.000 DK (That's roughly between 1.500 - 5.000 Euro or 60.000 - 220.000 NTD). I hope we can find something nice within our budget. Just keep an eye on my blog for the end result!

Bikes, bread and cheese.
The first thing I noticed when walking around on Copenhagen was all the bicycles driving around! Just like the Netherlands, they have separate bike lanes. It seems like most Danish people use their bike for transportation. I did miss that in Taipei. I already saw a lot of beautiful bikes cycling around. The city itself is also beautiful. Most houses in the city are a older, but well maintained. You really feel the history when walking though the city center. Another thing you can find here is cheese (lots and lots and affordable!) and nice bread. Taipei also has some really nice bread stores (like Hogan, they even won an international prize for the best bread in the world), but you really had to look for those. It's nice to be back in Europe.

The next few months will be all about settling down and finding ourselves a nice home. Apart from that I do believe we have to get used to the culture. Danish people are in a way a lot like Dutch people, but I also sense they are more distant. We'll see how things develop. I'm looking forward to our new life in Copenhagen!

Neyhavn, the famous harbour close to Jennifer's work. Copenhagen sure has a lot to offer. More soon...

Rivertracing & Invasion Drill

2011-06-15T22:38:00.013+08:00

In July we are flying to Denmark. Probably for 5-6 years. A new challenge and new opportunities. I'm looking so much forward to that! But at the same time I feel a bit sad. Sad for leaving Taiwan. Not being able to see my friends over here that often. Or eat the typical Taiwanese food...

But for now we can still enjoy living here. The last few months we did a lot. So what have we been busy with the last few months? A short overview.

Taipei is developing quickly. Big buildings are arising everywhere. But I'm happy Taipei is also trying to keep its historical identity. You can find a lot of historical and cultural locations throughout the city. One of them you can find just behind the Taipei 101. This area used to be the living quarters for Japanese soldiers until 1950. Instead of being torn down, you can still see how they used to live. Now it's partly museum, partly cultural park. In the weekends you can enjoy some performances, buy local products or just enjoy home made ice or have a coffee at the cafe. A little gem in the middle of the business and commercial district!

Did you ever had an experience of having an odd feeling, but can't immediately figure out why? The other day I was on my way to the National Chengchi University. At Fuxing station I had this weird sensation that something was wrong. After a few seconds I knew why. There was absolutely no traffic on the main streets. The streets were completely empty! After 10 minutes traveling on the MRT (Taipei's metro system) I noticed that ALL streets were empty. Kind of spooky. Finally I figured out that Taiwan was practicing an invasion (from China) and the police and army weren't allowing anybody on the streets. When I arrived at my destination, I still had to wait inside the station until the practice was over. Just another day in Taipei.

The last week of May was my last week of teaching English at Happy Marian. For every student, I prepared a notebook with a personal message. After teaching these kids for almost two years, you really bond with them. And they with me as well. In one class, two kids were even crying for half of the time. One girl - Amy - asked if she could accompany us to Denmark. When I asked her what about her parents and brother, she replied that they could come too... :-) Two other kids, Harmony and Harry, gave me a small gift which they bought with their own pocket money. I'll sure miss all of them!

Even though I loved teaching English, I surely missed working in my own field of expertise: Spatial Planning. That's why I was especially happy with a proposal from the Taipei National University. Professor Chan and Lee are currently doing a project for the Taiwanese Ministry of Agriculture (COA). The topic is how climate change is affecting agriculture. They asked me to help them write a chapter about the Dutch experience and approach to this issue. Apart from that, I'm also happy to have the opportunity to learn more about Taiwan.

What I will miss for sure about Taiwan is the beautiful nature. Sometimes you just have to step aside from the commercial street to find yourself surrounded by nature. Scott and I went on a hike that started just behind the old street of Sansia. A wonderful hike which we only followed partly. Along the route, we also stumbled upon some resting areas. To our amazement, one resting area was equipped with fresh water and tea equipment. We were offered some tea and nuts before continuing our hike. Taiwanese people are so friendly. The other day I went on a beautiful hike with Tyler, Phil and David. We went to the Yanmingshan national park and followed a river upstream, encountering three waterfalls. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the beauty and power of nature. And it was a rush jumping down the waterfall from 8 meters high! Hopefully I'm able to do some more hikes before leaving Taiwan. If I do, you'll probably read about it on my next blog! Until later...

View on Taipei 101 from one of the many small alleys.

This alley is typical for the Japanese soldier houses.
The small alleys functioned as a social gathering place.

Invasion drill. Weird to see the streets all empty...

Teppanyaki! Lea and Peter introduced us to this restaurant.

While hiking in Sansia, we stumbled upon an electricity tower. The view from the platform was really nice.

River tracing somewhere in the Yanmingshan National park. An amazing hike. It left me speechless at times.

Apart from one other hiker on a parallel route, we were the only one in the river. It was nice to get out of the city for a while.

The third waterfall was the most amazing one. Not as high, but a beautiful scenery. And it was a rush jumping down. Tyler, thanks again for arranging the trip!

阿里山－ Alishan National Park

2011-03-29T20:36:00.013+08:00

Last weekend we spent our time at 阿里山, Alishan National Park. This weekend was particularly busy because of the sakura, or cherry blossom. This is the season where the sakura is in full bloom. Taiwanese people love to see the sakura, and I can't blame them. It was beautiful! The Taiwanese aren't that crazy about the sakura as the Japanese though. Japan even has a daily news bulletin on TV about where and when is best to go.

With the recent earthquake and Tsunami in Japan though, their minds are completely occupied with the aftermath of these disasters. As they would say in the Netherlands: my heart goes out to all the Japanese people who are still struggling. For many international tourists, especially Chinese, Taiwan is also another option for seeing the cherry blossom.

The park itself is located at a height of 2000 meters and is quite large. It has a lot of trails going further into the mountains. Inside the park are several hotels, restaurants, shops, houses, a temple and a school. Apart from the Sakura, there is so much to see. Huge ancient trees from over 2000 years old, trees shaped like a heart or a pig, multiple generations of trees growing on top of each other, dense woods and the famous sunrise with a view over the mountain range and clouds. Walking around the park made us feel so tiny. Nature has so many beautiful and unexpected things to offer.

In that respect, it is like Taiwan itself. It has so much to offer! There are still many things we still want to see. But time is running out. We recently heard from Jennifer's work that we are moving abroad again for five years this July! Where? Denmark! Closer to my old home, The Netherlands. Another challenge and more opportunities. But I'll save that for a next blog...

For a small impression of our trip I added some photos below, but you can also check more photos on Facebook: Photos 阿里山

Last months of 2010

2011-01-15T15:49:00.014+08:00

2011 already....

The last months of 2010 went by so quick! Only two more weeks and then we are celebrating Chinese New Year, together with my parents. We're looking forward to their arrival!

The last few months were more or less the same as earlier months, but I'm enjoying my life together with Jennifer so much. It's wonderful to have someone to share life with. I'm surely a lucky man. A few events from the last months in a nutshell: we went to Kyoto, Japan for a long weekend, we had friends over for Christmas and we went on a small hiking trip with my parents in law. Besides some special events, I'm still enjoying teaching English and learning Chinese. The writing part is actually a lot of fun, even though it takes a lot of time and the progress is slower than I wished.

Kyoto
Last December we finally had a few days to spare to go on a short holiday! We decided to go to Kyoto for three days. Jennifer never been there before, so it was fun to show her around a little bit. Japan is always wonderful for traveling. Kyoto is especially nice for its historical athmosphere. Lots of temples, wooden houses and Geisha walking around. We were lucky to run into some Maiko (apprentice Geisha) and took some pictures with them. For an impression of our trip you can see the photos on Facebook: Photos Kyoto

I added some random photos from the last months below. With every picture you'll find some small notes. I'll already wish you all a happy Chinese New Year. May the year of the rabbit bring you all good fortune and happiness. Until my next blog!

A short visit to the International Flora Expo. It is opened for a bit over a half year. They did a wonderful job, it looks amazing. Especially if you know that only a short time ago there was almost nothing in this area. On the photo you can see the Taiwanese area, one of my favorite spots.

I went for a short bike ride with Tyler to and around Xindian. One moment you are cycling in the city, the next moment you find yourself surrounded by nature. It still amazes me every time.

After a short but steep ride, we had a wonderful view over Xindian. It took us twenty minutes to get up, roughly two to get down...

Our last evening in Kyoto. We were looking for a nice place to get some dinner and found a restaurant on a stone throwing distance from our hotel. Great food, nice sake and sochu and a typical Japanese atmosphere.

Wintertime = hotpot time! Jennifer prepared some hotpot at our own apartment. Basically it's soup or bouillon with some lettuce, mushrooms and tofu. You can also add some egg, fish or meat if you want, or some extra spices and chili. Any way you like it... We used a pan where half is a miso based soup, the other half some left over pumpkin soup. Together with some "hello kitty" shaped ingredients it looks like a feast.

January 1st we went to a short mountain trail near Dahu Park. Together with Jennifers's parents and her sisters. A short, but surprisingly nice route.

On our way to the top, we stumbled upon a small shrine with a small Buddha figurine. The character behind the statue means "Buddha".

At the top of the trail we had a wonderful view over Taipei city and the Taipei 101.

Another view, not as clear on the picture, but the sunlight breaking through the sky was amazing!

On the MRT, Muzha line (Taipei metro)

Our apartment. Everytime I come home I feel so at ease. It's always nice to stay home on a lazy rainy Saturday like today. Updating my weblog, making some small bites, reading... :-)

好久不見 !

2010-10-31T15:55:00.010+08:00

Or: long time no see!

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean nothing is happening. On the contrary. But it's nice to be busy. What kept me so busy?

Lecture at the National Chengchi University
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to give a presentation at the National Chengchi University in Taipei. I was invited by the department of Land Economics to give their students a lecture about Dutch urban and spatial planning (Thanks professor Tzu-Chin Lin and Hsiu-Yin Ding!). It was also a nice opportunity for me to get to know more about the Taiwanese land economics.

The professors first showed me around the campus and the area surrounding the University. I was so fortunate that they had the whole afternoon with me to show me around and to share their information. They really made me feel welcome. Around four in the afternoon I had the lecture. There were around 50 students in total. And their English level was very good, so that wasn't a problem at all. The Taiwanese culture is different in some aspects. Dutch students love to ask questions and discuss with the professor. Taiwanese students are more shy in that way. But after the first student asked a question, it made it easier for the rest to follow.

After the lecture, professor Lin invited us all to get a bite and some coffee afterwards. Jennifer also joined and we had some nice time afterwards. It was nice to be able to talk about my profession again and to meet some new friends!

Learning Chinese
With Tyler in Thailand for work, my study pal (and good friend) is gone for a few months, so I decided to continue study by myself. Instead I'm focusing on writing Chinese. I must say it is a lot of fun! It takes a lot of time though to learn how to write. With over 5000 characters I don't expect to be able to write them all soon. But step by step I'll get there. Every week I'm learning around 15-20 new characters. The trick is to try and remember them all. And that just takes practice, practice and a little more practice. At this moment I'm able to write around 120 characters. Only a few more thousand to go!! As my teacher always says, 慢慢來..

Family
Big news from my brother, they are having a second son! I'm so happy for them, but hopefully his two boys won't be as busy as my brother was when he was young! He was always flying around like a busy bee. But I look forward to see my new nephew in a few months.

Jennifer is busy with her work, very busy! This month she had to work overtime almost every day and had to go to the office on every Saturday as well. Next week she has a big meeting with all the officials in Japan for which she had to prepare a lot things. In that respect I look forward to the period after December when she is less busy. But I'm happy with every moment we get to spend together.

I wish you all well and will conclude this update with some random photos taken during the last few months. Until my next blog!

No comments....

One of the typical Taiwanese sweet snacks. These are sweet potatoes made even sweeter.

Halloween at my English School. A nice opportunity for the kids to dress up and get a lot of candy. Because Halloween is not typical in Taiwan, my school provided candy to some shops around the school on forehand where they could go trick or treat.

You should have seen some faces of the kids when they walked in with a smiley face and then saw me.. With the younger kids I had to take of my mask to ensure them I wasn't really a monster.

View from our apartment with the sun setting. Never can get enough of this view!

Friends & Fun

2010-07-18T16:37:00.014+08:00

One year in Taiwan. Apart from being in a new country I also made a lot of new friends. Friends I will miss for sure when we will move abroad again. But then again, good friends are always there, even if you are not near. It's nice to get to know more and more people. It does make the world feel smaller.

Below a quick overview on some people I met who became good friends.

OK, not a friend, but just a fun picture. This is a submarine. A beer with a glass of tequila dropped inside. This drink we ordered at Roxy Roots. One of the few laid-back places in the Taipei 101 area where you don't have to dress up.

The American Ass. Or Scott for intimi. A former fellow teacher at Happy Marian.

Tyler and Chris. Both fellow students from Chinese class. Tyler and I are now studying together. We share a passion for cycling (even though my knee sometimes thinks differently) and a good conversation once in a while.

The TLI gang. TLI is where we all met learning Chinese. In this picture are Tom (the crazy English bastard with a memory like cheese with holes ;-), Tyler, Chris, our teacher and Joshua. People missing in the picture are Junko (now living in Hong Kong) and Jason.

Having dinner with 15 persons for Joshua's birthday party.

In this picture: Cindy, Jennifer and me. Cindy is an old friend from Jennifer whom she met in The Netherlands. We were having dinner at Kampai. A Japanese grill / beer house. Lots of fun with some friends! You can order the dishes you want and you have to grill them yourself.

Jared, Cindy and Jennifer. Still at Kampai. Jared was visiting Taipei for two days on his way to Europe.

I met Jared when I was traveling in Japan in 2007 / 2008 (Check blogs and pictures from that trip in the archives on this weblog). Later he decided to live in The Netherlands for one year. Funny how you meet people and run in to them later.

This picture is taken at Taipei Story Land. They recreated Taipei in 1940 - 1980. It's funny to be able to buy to "old" candy and see the toys from 1980. I even recognized a lot of toys from my own childhood! Everything back then was "Made in Taiwan" :-)

It's nice to be able to live in a new country and do a lot of fun things. But it's even more fun when you get to do all those things with the person you want to share the rest of your life with... I'm a lucky man!

Dragonboat Festival (2)

2010-06-16T11:42:00.007+08:00

As promised, some pictures from our actual race at the Dragonboat festival. We did had a lot of fun! (For the sharpminded: Yes, we indeed didn't proceed to the next round...)

In total there were around 200 teams competing. Friday and Saturday were the qualifying heats. Sunday the finals. A friend of mine did make it to the finals though! Not bad considering the competition. And top sport it is! My friend's team started training in March for three times a week. The last two months they intensified it to five times a week...

Below the pictures from our preparation and race!

The Dutch team... This time my height looks normal!

In the background you can see the startline. Each heat starts with four teams. The top two teams advance.

Going to the start.

The teams just before our own race. We really started to feel the tension by now.

And we are go!

The Dutch are leading! Well.... over number four that is..... ;-)

We finished in 3rd place with a time of 2:39. A new Dutch record! Numbers one and two had a time of 2:17 and 2:19. Those were times that can get you to the finals...

If we would have competed in the previous race we would have finished second. I guess we had an unlucky draw.

But we had a lot of fun!

Dragonboat festival

2010-06-06T10:57:00.001+08:00

A few weeks ago I started dragonboat training! We are competing with a completely dutch team. A dragonboat looks like a big long rowingboat with space for 20 people with paddles, a drummer and a helm guy. The front of the boat is in the shape of a dragons head. The goal is to move all that people over a distance of 500 meter as fast as possible down the river.

But what is it all about? Why would we do that? A short history...

The story behind the dragonboat festival

In a kingdom called Chu, there lived a great patriot and poet by the name of Qu Yuan. He championed political reform and truth as essential to a healthy state. The King, who had fallen under the influence of corrupt ministers banished his most loyal counselor, Qu Yuan, from the kingdom.

Left to wander if the countryside, Qu Yuan composed some of China's greatest poetry expressing his fervent love for his country, his deep concern for his country and its future. Upon learning of Chu's devastation at the hands of a rival kingdom, he leaped into the Mi Lo river holding a great rock in a display of his heartfelt sorrow.

The people loved Qu Yuan very much and raced out in their fishing boats to the middle of the river in a vain attempt to save him. They beat on drums and splashed their oars in the water, trying to keep the of fish and water dragons away from his body. To honour his soul and to ensure it didn't go hungry, they scattered rice into the water.

However, late one night, but spirit of Qu Yuan appeared before his friends and told them that the rice that was meant for him was being intercepted by a huge river dragon. He asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages and to tie five colours of string about it to ward off the dragon. This tradition is
continued to today, although now the dumplings are wrapped in leaves rather than silk.

The dragonboat races

Two weeks ago we started with our first training. We found out going straight isn't as easy as it looks! After making circles for twenty minutes we managed to zig zag our way from one side to the other. Luckily we already improved a lot. Today we did a full racing distance at full speed. It too us a bit under three minutes. But afterwards I heard to be really competitive, our time should be under two minutes. I guess we are just going to join for the cultural and social aspect. And it is a huge event! One of the few national holidays. Teams come from as far as Orchid Island from the south of Taiwan. That's what I call dedication! Friday June 11 are the first races. The finals are on Sunday 13.

Below I added some pictures, no pictures from the training or races yet, but I'll make some more pictures during the event next Friday. Hope to update you guys soon. But in in the mean time, wish us luck!

加油!

(Jia you literally means to add fuel, but also can be translated as to make an extra effort)

On my way to training.

The races and training are on the river by the DaZhi bridge. The building in the back is the Grand Hotel.

Teams are not only there to race, it's also a social event. This team just finished training and are having a barbecue.

Did you notice the print on the square? I only discovered it after I took this photo from the bridge.

All the boats are free for use for all competing teams. Thanks Taipei City!

Hipstamatic

2010-05-10T10:32:00.005+08:00

As you might already know, I do love making pictures. So I was happy to find an application for my phone called "Hipstamatic". The original is an old plastic camera from the 80's that purposely messes up your pictures a little bit. For a surprising effect. In the application you can choose your lens, type of flash and type of film roll. The effect won't be visible until after you took a picture through a small lens.

So here are a few shots I took last weeks in Taipei. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did taking them! As a friend of me already mentioned, it's a bit like falling through a time machine.

How am I doing? Good! Life in Taiwan is nice, even though the weather is getting a bit hotter now. I do love our apartment! I know I mentioned it before, but it is so relaxing to come home. Most of the time that is. At this moment the neighbours upstairs are now drilling the whole floor away.... :-(

I'm still teaching English at the same place, at the same time I'm trying not to lose my urban planning background. I just finished an article about the urban planning in Taipei. Since the area I'm living in is going to have a lot more opportunities (read: money) next year, I wanted to point out to them how they can best spent it. I'm also sending it to some newspapers, hopefully with some success! But I'll update my blog if there is any progress in that area.

Jennifer's work is also fine. She's pretty busy from time to time, especially when there are some trips to Japan for the APEC meetings. But in general we can spent a lot of time together! :-)

Warm greetings from Taipei, until my next blog!

Differences

2010-03-21T17:06:00.012+08:00

Living in another country gives you an excellent opportunity to get to know another country, its people and its culture. Some are small, others are big. But all together it is what Taiwan is about. At least from my (a dutch) point of view. In this post a brief description of my observations until now.

Let's start with the most important factor: the people. People in general are so much more friendly over here! While at first people seem more reserved because people don't shake hands of kiss each other on the cheeks when they meet. People keep a bit more of a distance. But people are much more sincerely friendly. And not because they want to sell you something and are after your money. Of course it helps being a foreigner. When my parents where visiting here we got a lot of extras at many restaurants without having to pay for it. But besides that if really stands out that Taiwanese people are really hospitable.

Be warned though, if you are too physical or to friendly to start with, the other person (especially from the other sex) might think you are after a bit more then just being friendly. That's not the message you want to sent. At least not mine...

In traffic they turn completely 100% around though. Always expect people cutting you off, driving through red and horning at you when you are crossing through green or are in their line of driving. But I also wrote about that earlier....

Something you wouldn't notice straight away, but the moon here is different from in The Netherlands. I actually didn't notice it until after I saw the movie "Cape No.7" where there is one scene where a drunken girl shoots at the moon "stop laughing!". You can see a shot of the moon in the picture below to get an idea. Sometimes it is almost completely horizontal. It's funny I didn't notice it earlier, it's so obvious!

There is also the weather, of course. You maybe already have read that Taiwan frequently has earthquakes. I read somewhere there are roughly a few hundred earthquakes a year. Some you can feel, others are to small to notice. Last month I felt around 10 earthquakes, of which one was quite severe. But besides that there is also the temperature. It's a lot warmer and also more unstable than in the Netherlands. Within three weeks this month the temperature dropped down from 25 to 10 degrees, up to 32 degrees, down to 8 and up to 30 degrees again. Besides the temperature there's also the moist. To give you a small example, a few weeks ago I found out four bags which are hanging in one of the rooms had mould all over them. A few wooden spoons my parents brought from the Netherlands four weeks ago had mould all over them as well. Now I understand why my father in law keeps cleaning up all the time...

The language is also different. It might sound like an open door, but I think a language also says a lot about a culture. The order of the sentences is different and you have to be a lot more specific. You can also stress the topic of your sentence by using an extra word (把 = ba). The meaning of the sentence is exactly the same, but by stressing out the important part of a sentence the other person can tell what your focus is. Sometimes I made some mistakes because I'm still thinking in Dutch or English sentence patterns. One time I was out with my wife and parents for dinner and I wanted to say the food looked very good, but instead I said the girl looked good... I had to be a bit more specific!

The nature in Taiwan is so very beautiful! During Chinese New Year my parents where also visiting Taiwan. We brought them to some places around Taipei and also a bit further. Taiwan really has a lot to offer. From mountain trails, gorges, hotsprings, teahouses, beautiful cliffs to beaches. Taiwan has it all! There is still so much for me to see!

Most amazingly of all, it took my no time at all to get used here. It really feels like home. Great food, the people so friendly, our house so comfortable...

愛台灣!

For a small impression of our trip during Chinese New Year see the link below:
Photos Chinese New Year

She is hot, she is so easy...

2010-01-13T08:29:00.001+08:00

Breaktime during one of my classes. One of my eight year old students told me about another eight year old kid: "She's hot". I responded "Who is hurt?". "No teacher, she is hot. She is so easy..." he responded with a straight face.

After that comment he walked to the bookcase to get a readingbook about wild animals while Scott (the other teacher) and I couldn't help laughing out loud while telling him he shouldn't say that. That probably didn't deliver the message properly...

But (luckily) he clearly didn't understand what he just said since he wanted us to read the animals with him and didn't show any emotion at all.

But that boy is either going to be a cassanova real soon or will just be playing games on his computer for a long time :-)

Earthquake!!

2009-12-19T21:32:00.011+08:00

And quite a big one! 6.8 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was in Hualien, which is in the middle east part of Taiwan. In Taipei that still caused a shock of 4 on the Richter scale. I must say that is high enough for me... It's weird to see your tv rocking around and to see the hanging lamp swinging quite severe. I'm happy though we have a special shock absorbing system. But that also made the building swing a bit longer.

I know Taiwan will have a lot of earthquakes, since it is right on top of two tectonic plates crashing into each other. But this was probably the strongest earthquake this year.

But enough about that, it's also the last month of the year. Which means we're already living here for almost five months. Time really flies! Saint Nicholas is already passed, his American counterpart, Santa Claus, is almost here and 2010 is just two (!!) weeks away. I wonder how next year will be. My biggest wish: speak enough Chinese by the end of the year to be able to have good conversation and maybe have my own consultancy company on urban planning. You can never set the bar too high.. As my old boss always said: sometimes you got to hurt (challenge) yourself to be able to grow and reach your goals.

last month I also made some random photos with the camera on my phone. Below an impression of our last month in Taipei. Until next time!

Taiwan National University

Lin Family mansion garden

Lin Family mansion garden

The old town of Sansia

The old town of Sansia

The old town of Sansia

Sunset as seen from our apartment. Love our view!

Jiufen - Spirited Away

2009-12-05T23:22:00.005+08:00

This weekend was the first weekend we didn't had any obligations or things to arrange, so Jennifer and I both felt like doing somethings nice. We decided to go to Jiufen, a small village up North known for its foodmarket and especially for the many tea houses with a great view over the Pacific Ocean. The first time I walked through the narrow streets and the stairways marked by red lanterns, I had to think about an anime movie I saw years ago: Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. It had the same atmosphere. As I found out later, not by chance. Miyazaki was inspired by Jiufen and used it as a model for the city in his movie. I must say he did a great job, since he caught the feel of the village quite well!

I just loved walking around there, getting some nice food, walking through beautiful streets and relax a little in one of the many, many tea houses. To give you a glimpse of the atmosphere I added some pictures me and Jennifer made this evening. I would recommend anyone visiting Taiwan to go there! Make sure to go there somewhere between four and eight so you can grab some nice bites and catch the atmosphere in the evening. After eight most of the shops are closing though...

I look forward to all the other "hidden" places of Taiwan! There is still a lot to discover.

Moved into our new apartment

2009-11-21T00:57:00.007+08:00

Hello again!

It has been quiet on my weblog for a while, but that doesn't mean nothing happened. On the contrary! A lot did happen. But most important: two weeks ago our apartment was finally ready to move in!

Since we didn't had internet for two weeks, I didn't had the opportunity to post a new weblog item earlier. But now you can see the result as it is at this moment. We are not yet completely finished, but most of the work is done: we finished the living room, our bedroom, the walk in closet and the kitchen. The guestroom is now kind of the storage room, but that will hopefully change soon as well.

It is so nice to have our own space again! To have a couch where you can sit on, a sound set you can listen to and a nice table with comfortable chairs to sit. When living in a crowded noisy city it is so welcome to have a quiet spot where you can be and relax. We only lived here for two weeks, but it does feel like home! See the pictures below for a short impression of our livingroom and the view from our apartment.

As I'm typing this message I'm enjoying the nightview with a smile on my face. I feel so happy and lucky to be able to be here together with Jennifer!

For more photos of our new apartment see the link below:
Photos from our new apartment

Intermezzo: Taiwan traffic...

2009-10-20T17:49:00.000+08:00

Found this article about the traffic in Taiwan in a travelguide. No further comment needed...

Traffic

Local drivers have a well-deserved reputation for being somewhat reckless. It is possible (even normal) to obtain a driving license in Taiwan without ever having driven on the roads, and this may be a reason (along with the overcrowded roads) why courteous or defensive driving is definitely not the norm. The guiding principles seem to be that the right of way belongs to the larger vehicle, i.e. trucks have the right-of-way over cars, cars over motorcycles, motorcycles over people, etc. Despite traffic's chaotic appearance, it is viscerally intuitive to yield the right-of-way to a much larger vehicle barreling towards you. Additionally, you're not responsible for anything you can't see - so try not to look around too much.

Local drivers regularly cut in front of moving traffic into spaces that seem too small, try to change lanes regardless of the fact their destination is already full, etc. Be aware that during busy traffic (i.e. nearly always) two-lane roads will spontaneously become three-lane, an orange light will be interpreted as 'speed up', and the smallest moment's pause in oncoming traffic will result in everybody that's waiting trying to turn across it. Drivers routinely enter a junction when their exit is blocked, and are therefore frequently still there long after the lights change, blocking traffic traveling in other directions. Many motorcycle riders also have a tendency to zip through any space, no matter how tiny. Also be aware that motorcycles often travel through areas typically considered as pedestrian-only spaces, like the night-markets.

If you happen to drive a car or a motorcycle, the obvious rule is that if someone turns in front of you, you should be the one to adapt. To avoid collisions, drivers need to be extremely vigilant for other vehicles creating hazards and always be willing to adjust speed or direction to accommodate. Do not expect drivers to yield way, or respect traffic lights in many areas, especially in central and southern Taiwan. Sounding the horn is the usual way a Taiwanese driver indicates that they do not intend to accommodate a driver trying to encroach on their lane, etc, and does not necessarily imply the anger or criticism, as it does in other countries. One bright side of Taiwan's chaotic traffic is that drivers tend to have an exceptional awareness of the spatial extents of their vehicle, so that even though it continuously looks like somebody is about to drive straight into you, it's relatively rare that they actually do so.

Safest place on earth!?

2009-10-19T23:11:00.002+08:00

With all the typhoons and earthquakes Taiwan has, this must sound a bit crazy, but regarding the safety in the cities this is probably almost true. Even though we live in the biggest city of Taiwan it feels so much smaller. Regarding the attitude of the people that is. People are so friendly over here! Of course there are bad apples and of course bad things do happen. But try and imagine the following scene happen in any big city somewhere in Europe.

On Monday you lost your keys somewhere on the street. Being a bit angry with yourself you decide to change the locks of your apartment. Friday you walk passed the area where you had to go for work four days earlier. Right next to the trafficlight where you are waiting to cross you'll see your own key-cord with all the keys still on it hanging on the traffic light...

The scene is just part of my imagination, but the keys where hanging there for four days indeed until someone took them. I can't think of any other city where a set of keys would just hang there for that long...

Last month was so busy! Besides having Mandarin class and teaching English in the afternoons, we also have to deal with our new apartment and I had a congress in Kaoshiung and Taipei for one week. A short update!

Apartment
Last weeks the contractor has been busy with installing the airconditioning and finishing the ceiling. Now we can start with the paint, lights, floor and curtains. We already ordered everything, but it's just a matter of knowing when the painter is ready so we can schedule the rest! :-) With a little bit of luck we can move in before Jennifer goes to Singapore for her work in the beginning of November...

Everytime we go there, it feels a little bit more like home. The atmosphere is really nice. We can hardly wait to move in! :-)

The view from our apartment!

The shared swimmingpool, 25 meters long and around 1,10 meters deep

A view on the lobby. They will install some furniture later

Congress
From 4-8 October I joined the INTA33 World Urban Development Congress. I used to work with INTA before when living in the Netherlands. Living in Taiwan gave me a nice opportunity to attend their annual congress which was held in Taiwan this year. I also also helped INTA a bit with the organization. The week itself was quite interesting. Not only the presentations and workshops, but also the people I met.

I won't go in to details, but it was also nice I had some free time walking around in Kaoshiung. I did enjoy the week a lot! Besides being able to talk and hear about my field of expertise, I also where able to meet a lot of Taiwanese people. I was happy to practice my Mandarin ability a little bit. I was good to notice I did make some progress and am able to have some small talk.

For more information on the congress itself see the website below:
INTA33 Congress

A shot from the Taiwan High Speed Railway, it reaches speeds over 300 KMH!

The famous Love River in Kaoshiung. It's called like that because of the many couples who go there to have a stroll along the riverside.

Metro station in Kaoshiung, the ceiling from stained glass is so beautiful!

For some more pictures of Taiwan check the links below:
Kaoshiung & Taipei October 2009
YanmiShang

Teaching
One month later and feeling more and more like a real teacher! I really enjoy teaching "my" kids. I can really see them advancing with the week. Learning Mandarin myself, I know the language is completely different in terms of writing and the grammar. So I do believe it's much harder for them to learn English compared to me when I was a kid.

I have one small class of three kids and on big class of twelve kids. The one with twelve kids is more serious with homework and tests. The one with three kids is a bit more relaxing (for the kids that is... ;-)) and we have a lot of time to play games. My most used items are big plastic squeaky hammers, a big fluffy dice and sticky balls. Try and think what kind of games you can do with that! In one of my next blogs I'll explain a bit more.

I had a lot of fun watching their reaction when they called me an "egghead" in Mandarin and I responded back in Mandarin that it wasn't a nice thing to say to the teacher. Until then I only told them to speak English in class and they didn't hear me talk Mandarin before... :-D

Mandarin class
Learning Mandarin is really paying off! Like I mentioned earlier, it's really good to be able to have a small conversation and also actually understanding a bit. During the congress I also took twelve "foreigners" with me to have a little taste of Taipei at Din Tai Fung, one of the most famous restaurants in Taiwan. It was nice to have a conversation with the waitress in Mandarin and understanding we had to wait for half an hour and discussing about the tables. There wasn't one big table available, but we could have two tables of six close to eachother. She also mentioned I didn't order their most famous dish and if I wanted to order it.

I just felt happy not being completely lost in translation. I guess the phrase "It's all Chinese to me" should be changed into "It's all Greek to me" :-)

Until my next blog!

Ramon

Mugshot from one of my classmates... ;-)

Teacher Ramon

2009-09-19T23:25:00.005+08:00

Last Friday I had my first working day as an English teacher at Happy Marian!

(Happy Marian provides after school English training for children in the age between 7-12 and has around 40 branch schools in Taipei)

In the beginning of this week I was invited over for an interview and a demonstration class. I was kind of in the blue of what to expect, but luckily I have some fellow students at Mandarin class that have some more experience. I had twenty minutes to prepare a class and teach them some vocabulary. They had some improvement tips for me, but they where quite satisfied with my performance, since they offered me a job! It's only eight hours per week, but it's a start.

I have two classes, one with three and the other with eight children in the age of 7-9 years. Last Friday was my first real class. I prepared the class especially with some games I just learned from Chris (Thanks Chris!!). Happy Marian does provide a lesson plan, but I also need to find a style of teaching that fits me. This Sunday I have some training, so Monday should be a bit better already. I just have to get used being called teacher Ramon!

This week I also had another really interesting meeting. I was invited by the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to give a presentation about Schiphol. They are interested in how Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) deals with their management. Their team (around 20 people) is dealing with the developments from the airport. I was happy to have the opportunity to meet with almost the whole team. For me it was also a very good way to get to know more about the Taiwanese problems concerning spatial planning.

After the meeting they did let me know they are quite interested in my expertise. I'll see if it ends up in some kind of cooperation, but I would be more then happy to be able to strengthen their team!

But for now I'll first do my homework for my Mandarin class and have my training tomorrow! Teacher Ramon wishes everybody a nice weekend! ;-)

First month in Taiwan: my impressions

2009-09-05T13:17:00.004+08:00

After living here for one month I sure got a lot of impressions. Good ones and... well, less good ones.

Learning the language
I finally started my Mandarin class! I just finished the first week. Three hours per day on every weekday. I must say it does give me some structure and routine. Getting up in the morning, going to the metro together with Jennifer and attending my class until 12.30. The afternoons I spend learning, doing my homework for the next day and I have some time looking for jobs and organizing things for the new apartment. Well, for the last part it's actually Jennifer that does most of the work... I'm not that fluent in the language yet to find some specific stores or order something through internet.

Cappuccino
I love coffee!!! Unfortunately, Taiwan doesn't have a coffee culture like the Netherlands. Starbucks coffee sets the standard with medium quality coffee and high prices. 100 NTD for a cup of cappuccino. That's around 2 euro. Not too bad, but considering you can also buy a whole meal for that amount... Luckily I found a nice coffee store near my language school that sells really nice cappuccino for only 50 NTD. And they knock off 5 NTD if you don't use sugar and cacao! You won't get that in the Netherlands... ;-)

Food
I do love the eating culture in Taiwan! Besides the quality of the dishes, I also like the way of eating. On the contrary to Europe, where everyone has his or her own plate, in Taiwan you share dishes. Usually you order a few dishes which are served in the middle of the table so you can enjoy eating the dishes together. But you have to pay attention when eating at a round table with a spinning disc in the middle (also called "Lazy Susan"). It's convenient when you are eating with more people, but you don't want to spin the table when someone is just getting some food...

Noise
Living in Taipei has it good and bad sides. It's so convenient to have stores all around Taipei that are open until at least ten in the evening. The convenient stores (the word says it all) are even opened 24 hours a day! You can almost get everything you want at almost any time of the day. The downside of living here is the crowdedness. So many people, a lot of roads and not so many parks. All the time you have to watch out for traffic. Scooters... they are everywhere! I never saw so many packed together on and next to the road. In Taipei it's hard to find a spot where you can relax and enjoy some silence and relaxing atmosphere.

Umbrella ladies
Ah... I should also tell about the ladies with umbrellas. Whether it's rainy or sunny, you'll always see them. Either to protect themselves against the rain or to block the sun from tanning their skins. The downside is that nobody realizes some people are on the same level as the iron threads from their umbrellas. Like some dutch guy for example. I always have to protect my eyes from preventing being poked with sharp objects...

Supermarkets
Supermarkets are one other thing. In the Netherlands you have them conveniently in your neighbourhood. So it's possible to go there almost every day and get your fresh vegetables and groceries. But over here you only have hypermarkets. Huge markets where you can almost buy everything. Downside is that they are huge, noisy and far away. So it's more common to go there once every one or two weeks. That means better planning and huge fridges!! The average fridge over here is twice as big as the one we have in the Netherlands....

There is a lot I need to get used to and to get adjusted. But that's also the fun part of moving to another country! It makes me see the Netherlands from a different perspective. Things I took for granted, I either appreciate more, or I become more critic on that.

But in short, I do love living here! It feels like home, even though I'm still a stranger to this country.

Our own apartment!

2009-08-19T21:51:00.019+08:00

We found our own apartment! :-D

It went a lot sooner then I imagined. We visited around 10 - 15 apartments before we found this one. At this moment the building is still under construction, but it's in the final stage of completing. We got ourselves a really nice three bedroom apartment with a great view from the 14th floor!

Last friday we went to the bank to finalize the finances. I never saw any deal that needed so much signatures and stamps! I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say Jennifer needed to sign 40 times and stamp around 60 times. But now it's final and we can start looking for a nice wooden floor, curtains and some small furnitures. By the end of September we can get the key and start moving in.

The complex has some shared areas which all occupants can use. This includes a lobby with receptionist, a big lounge area, a swimming pool, fitness room and a yoga room! It really feels a bit like you are entering a fancy hotel.

Below I added some pictures to give an impression of the building and interior. I also made some pictures myself. I really look forward moving there! But for now we still have to be patient. But I'm really happy for knowing we can start living in our own apartment soon. Now I can concentrate on finding a job. Next monday I'll start my Chinese lessons, so I won't be bored!

Our building is the higher one on the left.

This is the layout from our apartment. From the living room and master bedroom you have a really nice view over a park, the city and the mountains. There is a bathroom belonging the "our" room and there's also a shared bathroom for when you have guests.

Our apartment is just below halfway the building, on the right corner

This is what the artist impression doesn't show. Taipei is still full of old buildings. But if you look around in the area, you can see the city is renewing itself in high speed. I'm happy we have a open view without the chance of another high building just rising in front of ours...

Click here for a movie about the construction

The apartments view

2009-08-10T23:09:00.009+08:00

To give you an impression of the surroundings of the apartment we have stayed and are staying now, I added some pictures with the view. On the first two photos you can see the view from the apartment of our friend Lea. The last three photos are with the view from the top of the building we are staying now. The nightview is really stunning! You can even see Taipei 101...

From Lea's apartment you can see the Taipei 101 and the rest of the skyline of Taipei pretty good! This city is huge! Not as big as Tokyo, but clearly a lot bigger then Amsterdam or The Hague....

You can clearly see the edge of the city along the green area. I guess the skyline will be a lot higher in a few years. At this moment they are building a LOT of new buildings.

In the top of the photo you can see the Taipei 101

In the area to the right they will build a new complex of buildings of which the highest one will be 303 meters

I love the view from the top of our current apartment!

First typhoon and residence permit

2009-08-10T11:15:00.008+08:00

Last week we moved from our friends apartment in Beitou (thank you Lea!) to an apartment closer to Jennifer's work. And with air conditioning! :-) We found this apartment through the boyfriend of Jennifer's younger sister. They also helped us a lot moving there. Talking about helping, Taiwanese people are so friendly! The boyfriends' parents also live in the same building and they really helped us out where possible. When Jennifer was working and when I was cleaning the apartment, they brought me a lunchbox and some honey drink since they noticed I catched a cold / flu. So very considerate!

Last friday was a typhoon warning! The first one this season. Most typhoons are in August and September. The typhoon itself wasn't that bad in Taipei, but later we heard that more south in Taiwan it was pretty bad. The rainfall was a staggering 110 inches! (2.5 metres). Lots of floodings, some landslides, a few collapsed buildings, bridges and unfortunately some death. Over here you couldn't tell it was that bad. The good side on this typhoon it that the almost dried out water reserves throughout Taiwan where almost completely restored again. In one day! Amazing...

A collapsed hotel building is seen in floods after Typhoon Morakot hit Taitung county, eastern Taiwan

Morakot dumped a record 2.5 metres (100 inches) of rain on the southern Taiwanese county of Pingtung

Since Jennifer was free from her work because of the typoon, we did had some time to go to Ikea. Long live globalization! We got some basic furniture for our temporary apartment. From here we can continue our search for our own place.

This weekend we met with Jennifer's parents. We also suggested to have lunch with the younger sister, her boyfriend and his parents. It was the first time for them to meet! I added an exclamation mark on purpose, because over here I think that's really a big deal! It's the first impression and also a good opportunity to "measure the goods". For the parents it's also important to know the future / career plans of the boyfriend. I didn't understand all, but I do know a lot of questions went over the table back and forth between the two parents and to the boyfriend. But my guess is he was approved, Jennifer's parents seemed quite happy!

Today I picked up my health check report in the hospital. With this report I can apply for my residence permit (ARC)! This afternoon I'll go there together with Jennifer. After I get my ARC I can finally open a banking account and get a cellphone.

I still have to find my way and to get a more stable feeling. But I guess it would be a lot better if we have our own apartment and if I would have a job and start studying mandarin. But being here for a holiday is a lot different then knowing you'll live here for a few years!

Survived the first weekend in Taipei (40 degrees!!!)

2009-08-03T13:21:00.001+08:00

Today (monday) I went for the Health Check I need for my residence permit. I thought it would be quite difficult since I don't know the language or hospital system over here. But I must say it was like a walk in the park! I needed a skin test, blood test, x-ray test and some other small tests. Within one hour I did all these test, including the formalities and stamps needed. I'd like to challenge any dutch hospital to achieve the same, without any appointment in advance! Next monday I can pick up the result and apply for my residence permit.

This weekend we already did a lot!

First of all we bought a cooling fan that also works on ice. We definitely need that! Considering there is no airco in our apartment (probably the only one in Taipei...;-)) and this weekend was the hottest until now this summer! 39,4 degrees yesterday, today a stunning 40 degrees is expected.... Well, at least in the nighttime it cools down to 33 degrees...

We also visited a few apartments in three areas we consider are interesting to live. It's also good for me to know what you can get for what price. But I must say the price is quite high over here! I think double compared to Amsterdam! But we did see two apartments that are quite nice. In one the surrounding area is so so, but the other was quite nice! The shared living space is huge and also includes a swimming pool, play area with pool tables, billiard, tabletennis, a cinema room and three karaoke rooms! The apartment itself was quite spacious and bright. But the price is also quite on the high side. But I think we'll succeed in finding something nice!

My life in Taiwan started! It's still unclear to me where we'll live and when I can find a (nice) job, but I don't worry about that too much. Time will tell, I just look forward building our own 'nest' in our future apartment.

Taiwan, here we are!

Preparing moving to Taiwan: people's reactions

2009-06-15T17:10:00.001+08:00

I already told a lot of people I'm moving to Taiwan this next July. I'm following my wife to live in her home country. Until now, I can roughly distinguish two kind of reactions of the people I have spoken:

1. Wow! That's really exciting! Goodluck and I hope you'll have fun. Big step but really brave!
2. Eehh! You are following your wife? What are you going to do there? Are you really going to give up your job here? Did you think it over properly?

Of course I know everybody is different. What is a logical and possibly a good step for someone isn't even an option for the other. But what amazes me the most, is that many people are more traditional then I anticipated. My plan is to learn the language and find a part time job in the meanwhile. I do want to have some independency and also be able to treat my wife for a dinner now and then. After I master the language I'm sure I'll find some interesting job. But for me it's the most important to have a challenge and do something meaningful. The message I got from group with the second reaction are mostly in terms of "You sound just like a woman who is following her husband!" or "Are you sure you thought it over properly? It won't be easy and you might have problems finding a job and are more dependent on your wife!"

So?

What is so very different in case Jennifer will stay here in the Netherlands with me? For her it would also mean needing to find a job and being more dependent on me (at least in the beginning). In the end the situation is the same. The only other option is not being together, and that's no option.... We made a choice that would be best for us as we see things now. It seems like some people have more problems with a man following his wife abroad then the other way around. I already anticipated that, but not in that high numbers!

But in the end, the opinion of other people doesn't matter. If we are confident about our decision and are also willing to see and face the problems (or challenges!) ahead, it will all work out fine. I'm sure about that! As sure as I am about the fact that we will encounter some difficult periods or situations. But that stands apart from wherever you live.

You never know what kind of things you will encounter, so it's not a matter of thinking about everything that might go wrong, but about how you will deal with a situation when it's there. Sometimes it's good to just follow your heart, the mind will follow...

Married

2009-05-15T15:19:00.001+08:00

Thursday, april 23 of 2009. A special day for Jennifer and me. We got married!

In the days before we got married, Jennifer's parents and sisters where in our apartment and we showed them around in the Netherlands. So many places to see in not so many days. Her sisters, especially the youngest one, only has 10 free days a year, so you can imagine taking 5 days off to travel to the Netherlands is the most she could afford! But I'm so happy they all could join! It makes the whole marriage so much more beautiful and meaningful. Getting married before the ones you love the most.

But before it was that time, we had to go see the Netherlands! No time to get nervous yet! We went to see the flowers at Keukenhof, Amsterdam, The Royal Palace "Paleis 't Loo" in Apeldoorn, the open air museum about the history of the Netherlands in Arnhem, Castle "Haarzuilens" near Utrecht and to visit the city of Delft. All of that in four days time. I really had a great time showing my new family around! See the link below for some impressions of the trips we made.

Pictures from the Hsieh family visiting the Netherlands

And then it was Thursdaymorning. April 23. I got up and got dressed. So far nothing unusual. But after deflating the airbed (the other Hsieh family members occupied the rest of the rooms with beds) it hit me. Today I'm getting married! After packing my bag I kissed my girl goodbye and drove to my brothers place with a stopover at the flowershop to pick up the bouqet and the corsages. Once there I had a cup of tea and my parents also arrived. But it wasn't until I changed into my wedding suit that I started to feel a little bit nervous. The car arrived (an old Daimler from the fifties) and we drove back to Scheveningen to pick up my future bride. And what a surprise I got when I opened the door!

She looking so stunningly beautiful! Like a real princess. Her dress was so simple yet elegant. It really fitted her so well! As my mother said a bit later, she had to swallow a few times not to already cry on seeing Jennifer. And the best part: she was going to be mine!! :-)

The ceremony itself was beautiful. The old city hall (built in 1565 and a section added in 1733) looked beautiful and even though it was packed with people, it felt intimate. I felt proud standing there with my beautiful wife to be and everyone there to witness us getting married. It did feel like a special moment when her sisters presented us the rings and we kissed eachother for the first time as a married couple. Some people asked me later - after we got married - if I felt any different being married. I must say I still love Jennifer as much as before, but the most special thing is we promised eachother to be together forever in front of all the family and friends.

After the ceremony we where walking through a rain of rose leaves which my brother arranged. After setting free some white doves (symbolic for love), we went with the photographer to make some pictures in the city center of The Hague and at Landgoed Te Werve. We had so much fun shooting the pictures! The photographer did her job really nice and besides the beautiful pictures she made, she also made us feel comfortable and at ease. And it was also really nice to see all the people's reactions. Lots of people congratulated us with a big smile or told their little kids their was a princess walking around! We just had lots of fun.

The reception (as well as the dinner) was at Landgoed Te Werve. And, apart from the stunning location, we also had beautiful weather! The reception itself we had outside at the terrace. We had a really nice wedding cake. Or actually I should say "soesjes" as they are called in dutch. A round piece of pastry filled with cream and covered with chocolate. It was something different then the traditional weddingcake, and it looked really lovely! After a surprisetoast from my brother with some champagne we had a small amuse to prepare ourselves for dinner.

The dinner was amazing! And I'm especially referring to the atmosphere. The big oval table was set up for 40 people, that way it felt like one big family. It was just so wonderful to sit together with close family and best friends. Of course the food was nice, but the people all together made us had a warm and intimate feeling about the whole evening. Highlight was the two speeches of my father and Jennifer's mother. It was touching to see my father feel so happy for the both of us to have found each other, but also feel a bit sad for us leaving to Taiwan. And Jennifer's mother did a lot of effort to give a speech in English. That was truly amazing! To not master a language and still give a warm and loving speech in front of 39 people.

After a wonderful day with lots of impressions to look back upon, we drove to the location for our wedding night: The "Haagsche Suites". A small but amazing place. The owner has three suites, each in a different but luxurious style. Not too much overdone (for a suite that is..) and with a warm and (again) intimate feeling. It was so relaxing to be able to sit down, and smile at eachother while drinking some champagne. It wasn't until soon or we fell asleep together. Rings on our finger and a big smile on my face!

It was a tiring day, but also so full of love. If I speak for myself I can really look back on a day where we had a lot of fun and I enjoyed every moment. I do look forward sharing the rest of my life with my lovely wife. I know we can conquer anything on our path when we are together.

Jennifer, my lovely 佩娟, I'll love you for the rest of my life!

Some more pictures from our photographer

Pictures from our honeymoon

Moving to Taiwan!

2009-03-08T06:32:00.000+08:00

Just a few more months before I make a big step in my life.
Or to be more precise, two steps.

In the end of April I'm getting married to the most wonderful girl in the world. I'm so happy to have met her! To think about sharing the rest of my life with her makes me feel warm. I think it's safe to say we both feel lucky to have found each other. Sometimes I'm thinking "If we only could have met earlier...". But then again, I think we are now both in a phase of our lives that we know what we want. And I think that makes our relation strong.

Recently we heard Jennifer is being called back to Taiwan from her current post at the "Taipei Representative Office in The Netherlands". I decided to give up my current job and follow her to Taiwan. So at the end of July we're moving to Taiwan! I wander how I will experience settling down in a strange country with a completely different culture and language. But with the knowledge of Jennifer being with me, I do look forward to the adventures we're about to experience. I'll keep this weblog up to date from this August. Taiwan, here we come!!!

Photo's of our trip to Taiwan February 2009

Ps. For my previous weblog items from Japan, check the archive of 2007 & 2008 on the left side.

Last days in Tokyo

2008-05-14T22:41:00.001+08:00

The last days in Tokyo are a bit as I expected. I'm just taking it easy, doing some souvenir shopping and walking around. Not taking too many pictures. It's funny that in these kind of periods - when not focusing on your own trip - you are experiencing more from the other culture.

Most of the time it are only small things, but I do believe that it says a lot about a culture. Yesterday for example I noticed three Nigerian guys standing on the street, addressing people in a quite aggressive way to get them in their shops. My first reaction was that all these Nigerian guys are aggressive, because all other Nigerian guys I saw where like that. But when thinking about Nigerian people in the Netherlands I got a quite different image about them. Then I realized that the attitude of the Japanese people made them act like that. Since most Japanese man are built quite small, are not very easy to show emotion (like anger) in any way and are not really as competitive as most other man, it makes even me look like a big cool tough guy. So if the Nigerian guys (who are in general a bit stronger built then I am) notice that they get away with acting aggressive and being really successful with that as well, of course they will act more like that.

Maybe an open door, but funny to think about it in this way. Ok, enough philosophy or sociology for today. Maybe until my last weblog for this trip (or is this already the last one?).

Hotels I stayed in during my trips to Japan:
- Suigetsu hotel Ohgaiso (Tokyo, Ueno)
- Turtle Inn Hotori-an (Nikko)
- Sakura hotel Hatagaya (Tokyo, Shinjuku)
- Guesthouse Kikugawa (Miyajima)
- Hotel Kawashima (Hiroshima)
- Kyo no yado Shimaya (Kyoto)
- Mitsui Garden Hotel (Kyoto)
- Tokyu Stay Shibuya (Tokyo, Shibuya)

Kamakura and Enoshimo

2008-05-12T19:58:00.000+08:00

Today I travelled through the Kamakura and Enoshima area, actually two cities close to eachother. I must say I was really impressed with what I saw! And I know it's only a small part I did get to see. I was there quite late (around twelve) and since all temples are closing at 16.00 I simply didn't have enough time. But it's a wonderful area to walk around with many many beautiful temples. I can really recommend going there! Apart from the biggest bronze Buddha statue in Japan it has - for example - a temple in a bamboo forest, one inside a cave area and one on an island.

Apart from that you can walk for hours and hours in the beautiful mountain area surrounding the two villages. If you are planning to go there, make sure to get there early! There's just so much to see...

Amazing that's only one hour travel south from Tokyo.

I'll just keep this post a bit short, kind of tired and feeling a bit of a headache. I think I'll go sleep early today. With a thought about all of you! Of course... ;-)

Hakone and Capsule Hotel

2008-05-10T15:18:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I arrived back from the Hakone area. A nice change of scenery for a few days! My hotel was close to a lake from which I had a beautiful view over Mount Fuji. I must say it is an incredible sight. Luckily I had a (quite) clear view over Fuji San (Mister Fuji). It's not always like that. After crossing the lake I took a ropeway up to an sulfur hot spring area, created by the volcanic activity in the area. You couldn't take a bath there, but I did buy and eat the famous black eggs which suppose to give me seven years extra of life. Quite a bargain for only 3 euro! ^_^

After visiting the black eggs area and a trip further up the mountain by ropeway and down again with the cable car I enjoyed a real nice Onsen (Spa). One weird thing though. Before entering the Onsen I weighed 80.9 kilos. After leaving the Onsen half an hour later my weight was down to 80.5 kilos! So I magically lost 400 grams! The silly thing is that the Italian guy who joined me also exactly lost 400 grams of weight! I don't think that is all dirt, so you apparently sweat a lot more then you can imagine. Just a silly calculating game: with 50 man walking around in the Onsen that will probably mean 50 * 0,4 = 20 kg of sweat each half hour. Roughly 40 liter of sweat each hour. Mmmmm..... (An Onsen is supposed to make you clean?)

I actually also experienced an earthquake last thursday. 6,7 on the Richter scale. But to be honest, I didn't even noticed it apart from waking up without a reason I could think of. Now I know why I woke up. Talking about earthquakes, when walking in the area of mount Fuji I could hear loud pounding sounds every ten minutes or so for a few hours. It even made the ground tremble a little bit. Later I realized they where blasting explosives to get rid of uncontrolled avalanches from Mount Fuji. Quite impressive...

When arriving at Tokyo I checked in at my hotel: Capsule hotel Shibuya. A real funny experience... I hardly fitted in the capsule which is approximately 2 meters deep, 1 meter wide and 1 meter high. Apart from 6 floors of capsules, there's also a relaxing room and a shared hot spring / bathing area. Something I at least wanted to experience for one time. These capsule hotels are mostly used by salary-men who don't have the time to go back home. You can even buy new shirts and ties at the reception! I can't imagine spending each night of the week in those hotels. But for some it is daily routine.

Six more days in Tokyo! Although I do enjoy being here, I'm also looking forward going home again. Pretty silly right? But I am looking forward visiting Ryogoku (a Sumo wrestlers area) and Kamakura (big Buddha statue and temple in the bamboo forrest area). Some more pictures and stories about my adventures later!

Odaiba

2008-05-06T20:43:00.000+08:00

Today I booked a two day trip to Hakone. Or better said, I made a reservation for a nice hotel in the middle of the Hakone Area. To let you know more about the area I'll quote something my father found on the internet and send me this morning:

"Hakone is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, less than 100 kilometers from Tokyo. Famous for hot springs, outdoor activities, natural beauty and the view of nearby Mt. Fuji, Hakone is one of the most popular destinations among Japanese and international tourists looking for a break from Tokyo."

(Thanks dad!)

So I do look forward going there and having a small break from Tokyo. To escape the madness I started to love a little bit...

After I made the booking I went to Odaiba to enjoy an Onsen (hot spring), do some shopping and having a great view again over the skyline of Tokyo. The funny thing about Odaiba is that's it's complety artificial and yet so lively. You can really spend a whole day there and still haven't done and seen everything. There are so many huge shopping malls over there. The one I entered has already too much to see in one day: An indoor theme park called Joypolis, a floor consisting of silly action games, two floors of a replica of a Hong Kong street area wit lots of restaurants, a spa area, a movie theater and of course all the different shops....

It's just so over the top. It's so..... Japan.....

^_^

Next days I'll probably won't have the internet, so more about my Hakone adventures on saturday or sunday!

Ikebukuro

2008-05-05T17:39:00.000+08:00

Petting Zoo, Children's Paradise, Food Theme Park and Geek Girl Heaven...

Ikebukuro is just a bit north from the city center and is less visited by tourists. But I must say it does has some interesting extras to offer. I didn't know it existed, but there's also something like a petting zoo. This is especially for Tokyoites who don't have enough space or time to hold pets and still feel like cuddling with some cute fluffy cats.. In the big area of sunshine city you'll find lots of other entertainment besides shopping. There are two huge areas for playing with trains and barbie like dolls. Those areas are crowded with children. Besides that, there's also Namco's Namja Town. A huge food based theme park for selling ice, deserts and dumplings. The area also contains some attractions to make it more interactive. So huge and so crowded. In the end I was almost screaming and running for the exit.

Besides all the entertainment, Ikebukuro is also known for selling anime for girls and woman. Where Akihabara is the place to go for geek guys, this is the place to go for geek girls. In the area you'll find lots of stores who sell comics, DVD's, games, small dolls, special clothing to look like your favourite comic action hero and even the female version of the maid cafes you'll find a lot in Akihabara. Let's just call them... butler cafes. How creative... But you won't find guys serving the ladies, it will still be girls but then dressed up as butlers.

OK, I'll go enjoy my 7 euro strawberries now, they'd better taste good for that kind of money. Tokyo isn't expensive, but when it comes to fruit...

Petting Zoo Nekobukuro

A small car running on hydrogen (around 120 euro)

Small tracks with little trains for little kids to play with

Anime shop for girls or woman still feeling like being a girl

Parks

2008-05-04T18:26:00.000+08:00

Just a short blog this time. Today I visited Shinjuku Park and the Imperial Palace Garden. Both I visited earlier in wintertime, so it was nice to see how different it looks now. But to be honest, some places look more special in wintertime. But the parks are much more visited now, so that does make it more lively. It's so nice to see all these people sit in the park, eating their bento (lunchbox, which most of the times contains rice and sushi) and playing ballgames with eachother.

I'll stay in Tokyo until may 7. After that, the golden week is over and it will be a lot more convenient and a lot less expensive to travel to the other places outside Tokyo. I'll go to Kamakura and Hakone for sure. Hakone is known for its sulfur springs and also for the black eggs boiled in the sulfuric water. I'll find out later how that will taste...

So next days I'll take it easy and just visit some places I forgot last time...

Country of queues

2008-05-03T17:19:00.000+08:00

Japan is truly the country of queues. You can find them anywhere. At first you'll think there is something very special for people lining up like that. But after asking around you'll find out the queue is for a restaurant, a shop that sells 100 Yen coffee (60 eurocent), a donutshop or a just a shop selling signed items from some famous Japanese band...

Truly amazing how the Japanese can be so patient... (Especially compared to my father who used to walk away in a restaurant if he didn't get served fast enough.. ;-))

Today it started with a lot of rain again, so I decided to go on some souvenir shopping. After I spend a few thousands Yen for some Manga Comics, a game called Bleach and a few more small items from the temple, I headed for an Onsen (Spa) in Asakusa. A very small and local hot spring with some hot water baths, one cold water bath and a sauna. I was quite surprised when getting in the water and thinking I got cramps all over... Then I could see some Japanese guys smiling to me while pointing to a sign with a lot of Japanese characters and a picture with a lighting bolt... The water was charged with electricity! At least it felt like that.

If you don't expect anything like that, you just don't know what's happening to you. A shocking experience I must say.

I also visited a pachinko slot machine building again. This time I tried to make a more clear picture for showing what Pachinko looks like. I also made a video, so if I'm back home and if you happen to meet me with my laptop, I'll surely show you that video... So noisy...

Windmills and bicycles...

2008-04-30T09:52:00.000+08:00

It almost seems like Japan appreciates the Netherlands more then we do...

Today I was travelling by subway and I saw an advertisement for preserving the earth. Their program is called "Eco Friendly". Their main message was that all beautiful things around us will vanish if we don't take actions. They showed how much The Netherlands will be flooded when the sea continues to rise. After that the movie showed the windmills and people cycling through the low lands. It almost seems like the Japanese care more then we do. Almost...

I'm really enjoying being back to Japan again! I'm meeting people from my last trip and I'm also making new "Friends". Today I ate at a place called "The Pink Cow". A vegetarian Californian based kitchen. The owner is from California and the chef from England. Well, at least you can argue the weather is England is more or less the same as in California....

Next days is Golden Week in Japan. So that means a lot of people are free and are going for visiting their parents or relatives. I'll just have to find out where the best places to go are. I'll probably also visit Kamakura and Hakone. Kamakura for its temples and biggest bronze Buddha statue and Hakone for the relaxing Onsen (Hot springs) and a view over the lake on Mount Fuji.

Op het vliegveld

2008-01-10T09:46:00.000+08:00

En toen was het alweer 10 januari! Ik zit nu op het vliegveld van Narita. Over anderhalf uur vertrekt mijn vliegtuig. Vijf weken is lang voor een vakantie, maar de tijd vliegt ook voorbij.

Na de eerste twee / drie weken merkte ik dat ik meer de rust nam voor de cultuur en de mensen. In plaats van mooie plekken bezoeken, begin je ook meer te merken van de cultuur en gewoonten. Japan is zeker een mooi land om in te reizen en heeft een rijke historie. Maar om te wonen lijkt het mij niks. De werkdagen zijn lang en de vrije tijd beperkt. Daarnaast hebben de meeste japanners weinig privacy. Mensen wonen vaak met meerdere personen in een appartement en delen de kamer 's avonds met anderen. Soms met familie, soms met vrienden. De belangrijkste reden is geld. Het is vaak gewoon te duur om in je eentje een huis te huren of kopen.

Waar ik eerst de vele "Love hotels" associeerde met buitenechtelijke activiteiten, zie ik het nu veel meer zoals het werkelijk is: veel koppels gebruiken deze hotels om af en toe wat privacy te hebben. Ik wist dat al eerder, maar nu begrijp ik het ook.

Het is een van de vele kleine dingen die je merkt naarmate je hier langer bent. Ik laat alle indrukken eerst maar even inzakken. De afgelopen vijf weken heb ik zoveel gezien, dat je veel dingen ook even vergeet. Maar het was absoluut een bijzondere reis! Een reis die ik iedereen zou aanbevelen...

Tot mijn volgende weblog???
:-D

Karaoke

2008-01-08T20:01:00.000+08:00

Gisteren voor het eerst in mijn leven karaoke gedaan. Ik moet zeggen dat het me erg meeviel... Het was eigenlijk wel leuk. Nadat we uit waren gegaan, was het vrij laat en hadden we de metro al gemist. Dus deden we wat veel jonge mensen doen: een karaoke kamer huren voor 25 euro voor de hele nacht met gratis drinken. Van 01.00 tot 05.00 hebben we ons prima vermaakt met liedjes van U2, the beatles, wham, grease, noem ze maar op. Maar ik moet zeggen dat de japanners naast ons toch meer uit hun dak gingen...

Het concept is dat je beneden in de hal aangeeft met hoeveel mensen je bent, en hoelang je wilt blijven. Daarna krijg je een kamer toegewezen op een van de vijf etages. In de kamer staat een karaoke set met zachte banken eromheen. Na je liedje krijg je ook een beoordeling van de computer hoe slecht je eigenlijk wel was...

Maar ik moet toegeven: als je met een groep leuke mensen bent is het zeker lollig om te doen. Al moest ik wel even in de stemming komen.

Vandaag dus "flink" uitgeslapen tot een uur of tien en daarna de stad ingegaan voor wat souvenirs. Ik heb gelukkig alles gevonden wat ik wilde. Morgen inpakken en nog wat rondlopen voordat ik donderdag weer naar Amsterdam vertrek. Ik vertek om 12.30 vanaf Narita en land om 19.35 in Amsterdam.

Tot snel allemaal!

Mr Guide

2008-01-07T08:55:00.000+08:00

Vandaag heb ik toevallig weer met Jerrod afgesproken. Dat is die Australische jongen die ik in Nikko ben tegengekomen en met wie ik die mooie sneeuwpop van mijn vorige post heb gemaakt. Dat was voor hem overigens de eerste keer dat hij met sneeuw en ijs in aanraking kwam. Wel komisch om te zien hoe hij aarzelend het ijs op liep terwijl ik al tig keer op en neer was gesprongen om te laten zien dat het toch echt wel veilig was.

Dit keer was hij samen met een vriend uit Korea die hij gisteren had opgehaald van het vliegveld. Ze wisten niet echt waar ze heen moesten gaan en hadden ook maar een dag in Tokyo. Vandaag heb ik dus een beetje de gids gespeeld. Maar het was leuk om met een aantal mensen de dag door te brengen. En grappig om Jerrod stoer te horen roepen dat hij voor het eerst op een meer had gelopen... ^_^

Met name een bezoek aan Yoyogi park was weer leuk. Veel bijzondere mensen, wannabe bandjes, een open lucht trance festival en de Elvis mannen / Rockers waren ook weer actief. Dezelfde mannen stonden in mijn reisgids met een foto van ongeveer 8 jaar oud. Het schijnt dat ze daar jaar in jaar uit elke zondag staan. Dit keer ook bij avond de Tokyo Tower opgegaan. Ook dat leverde weer mooie plaatjes op.

Nog drie dagen en dan vlieg ik alweer richting Nederland. Wat gaat de tijd toch snel. Maar als ik terugdenk aan wat ik allemaal gedaan heb, dan lijkt het of ik hier al maanden ben. Morgen of overmorgen eerst maar wat soevenirs inkopen en een was draaien voor ik weer naar huis ga. Ook dat hoort bij reizen...

Brrrrr....

2008-01-04T18:47:00.001+08:00

Vandaag heb ik samen met een Australiër opgetrokken en zijn we met name wat meer de bergen ingegaan. Na verhalen over sneeuw en hotsprings leek me dat wel een leuke plek. Helaas bleek de hotspring een echte te zijn met veel zwavel, en groene slurrie...

Maar we hebben wel een mooie wandeling gemaakt over en langs bevroren rivieren, watervallen en tempels. Helaas ben ik wel wat ziekerig, vandaag dus maar vroeg slapen en hopen dat ik me morgen weer wat beter voel.

Nikko: tempelcomplex

2008-01-03T20:45:00.000+08:00

Nikko is slechts twee uur van Tokyo reizen, maar je komt in een compleet andere wereld. Hier zie je meer hoe het dorpsleven in de natuur is. Het is wel even wennen met de winkels hier. Na zes uur zijn alle restaurants en de meeste winkels gesloten. Je moet veel meer nadenken wat je de volgende dag gaat doen en of je dan wel voldoende eten hebt..

Nikko ligt in een dal en heeft onder andere een beschermd tempelcomplex, een aantal Onsen, wilde rivieren en heel veel sneeuw. Niet in het gebied waar ik nu ben, maar wel waar ik morgen heenga. Ik was van plan een stuk te gaan wandelen vanaf een waterval naar een Onsen, maar nadat ik hoorde dat je minimaal vier lagen kleren nodig hebt en minimaal wandelschoenen van 20 cm hoog, zie ik toch maar af van dat plan... Ik hou het maar op een bezoek aan het meer en de onsen gelegen aan dat meer. Misschien dat ik nog wel een sneeuwman ga maken.

Het tempelcomplex van Nikko is erg mooi om te zien. Ook erg onjapans. In tegenstelling tot de meeste tempels wordt er hier veel goud gebruikt, wat meer Chinees is. De versieringen zijn erg gedetailleerd en prachtig om te zien. Ook vandaag heb ik weer veel foto's genomen. Hieronder een kleine selectie.

Odaiba (2)

2007-12-31T18:33:00.001+08:00

Vandaag ben ik weer naar Odaiba gegaan. Dit keer heb ik alleen een vrij rustige dag ingepland. Geen automatenhallen of winkelpromenades dus. Ik heb eerst een paar uur in een prachtige onsen besteed:

Oedo Onsen Monogatari

Daarna ben ik richting het gebouw van Fuji TV gelopen, aangezien het weer superhelder was vandaag. Oftewel, goed weer voor foto's. Vanaf de 25e etage heb je een prachtig uitzicht over de stad. Ik heb daar vanaf vier uur tot even over na vijfen gezeten. In een uur tijd zie je de stad overgaan van dagritme naar avond en nachtritme.

Nu ga ik op zoek naar wat eten en dan ga ik richting een tempel, waarschijnlijk in Roppongi. Op die manier kan ik dat goed combineren met uitgaan. Roppongi is DE wijk om uit te gaan. Morgen heeeeel lang uitslapen en dan een was draaien voordat ik naar Nikko vertrek.

Nogmaals, allemaal een heel gelukkig nieuwjaar!!!

Achtbaan en 100 yen winkels

2007-12-30T19:06:00.000+08:00

Hoogtepunt van vandaag was een achtbaan. Letterlijk. Denk je ongeveer alles gezien te hebben, stuit je ineens op een pretpark bovenop een winkelcomplex. Compleet met achtbaan die gedeeltelijk door het gebouw heen gaat. En dan hebben wij het in Nederland over "meervoudig ruimtegebruik" als we een parkeergarage onder een flat plaatsen...

Het was vandaag koud, en dus heel helder. Vanaf de top van de achtbaan kon je even genieten van een prachtig uitzicht. Heel even dan. Want daarna donder je bijna loodrecht omlaag en heb je weinig tijd om de omgeving in je op te nemen.

Vanmiddag moest ik ook nog wat extra sokken kopen. Het wordt wat kouder, en sinds ik twee paar wintersokken weg heb moeten gooien, heb ik dringend behoefte aan nieuw paar. Maar in de meeste winkels verkopen ze alleen maar hele dure sokken. Een beetje zonde als ze overal minimaal vier maten te krap zijn...

Maar gelukkig hebben ze hier ook overal 100 Yen winkels. Veel verschillende artikelen voor weinig geld. Voor 105 yen (waarom geen 100 yen denk ik dan) mijn vier maten te kleine sokken gekocht. Maar daar kan ik geen buil over vallen. 100 yen is 60 cent.

Morgen is het oudejaarsdag. Waarschijnlijk ga ik overdag richting Odaiba. Wat simpel vermaak opzoeken in de amusementshallen en een van de mooiere onsen van Tokyo bezoeken. 's Avonds ga ik richting een tempel om mee te maken hoe ze in Tokyo oud en nieuw vieren. Ik verwacht in ieder geval geen vuurwerk. En dat bedoel ik weer letterlijk. Maar daarover later meer.

Ik hoop in ieder geval dat jullie allemaal kunnen genieten van een mooie en gezellige avond!

Terug in Tokyo!

2007-12-28T19:51:00.001+08:00

Sinds gisteren ben ik weer terug in Tokyo. Dit keer in Shinjuku. Waar je verblijft maakt heel veel uit in waar je met name in de avond bent. De oostkant van Shinjuku is druk met restaurants, uitgaansgelegenheden, de rosse buurt en veel, heel veel neon. Ik zit aan de westkant, wat met name bestaat uit hoogbouw, hoogbouw en nog eens hoogbouw. Het is overweldigend als je door de wijk loopt en overal omringt wordt door gebouwen en snelwegen die elkaar soms in drie of vier lagen kruisen.

Vandaag en gisteren heb ik vooral veel rondgelopen in Roppongi en Shinjuku. Na genoten te hebben van een uitzicht vanaf Tokyo Tower (een soort van replica van de eiffeltoren, maar dan 13 meter hoger...) ben ik een winkel binnengelopen waar ze samurai spullen verkopen. In veel winkels kun je voor 10 euro een houten oefenzwaard kopen, of voor 30 euro een 'echte'. Deze winkel is even anders. Hier verkopen ze zwaarden en outfits die origineel zijn, vanaf het jaar 1200. De prijs is afhankelijk van de staat van een zwaard en of bekend is wie het gemaakt heeft en uit welke periode het komt. Prijzen starten vanaf 5000 euro. Maar je vindt er ook zwaarden van over de 200.000 euro. Voor deze zwaarden moet je ook een vergunning aanvragen om ze te importeren. Deze duurste mogen echter niet geëxporteerd worden en blijven in bezit van Japan.

Ze hebben ook nieuwe zwaarden die van een zacht metaal zijn en niet scherp gemaakt kunnen worden. Hier hoef je dan ook geen vergunning voor aan te vragen om deze te exporteren. De prijs hiervan start vanaf 120 euro. Deze worden net als een houten zwaard vaak als oefenzwaard gebruikt. Mocht ik geld overhouden, dan koop ik er misschien ook een. OK, genoeg over zwaarden...

Ik ben tot en met 2 januari in Tokyo, daarna ga ik richting Nikko. Aangezien ik al veel van Tokyo gezien heb, zal ik de komende dagen vooral lekker rustig aan doen en wat plekken bezoeken waar ik wat meer tijd aan wil besteden. Ik zal waarschijnlijk ook niet veel in mijn weblog updaten.

Miyajima

2007-12-26T18:56:00.000+08:00

Na de Fuji yama is de rode houten Tori van Miyajima een belangrijk symbool van Japan. Daarnaast wordt het eiland als een van de mooiste plekken van Japan beschouwd. Terecht ook, want het heeft prachtige natuur, mooie houten huizen en de tempel en de poort maken het inderdaad een bijzondere plek. Miyajima betekend letterlijk tempeleiland en is al 1500 jaar heilig. Op het eiland staat ook een van de belangrijkste shinto tempels van Japan.

Vandaag de 580 meter hoge berg beklommen, die overigens wel minder zwaar was dan de beklimming van gisteren. Daarna de tijd genomen voor een goede lunch en het tempelcomplex en de tori bekeken. Natuurlijk als een goede toerist deze vanaf elke mogelijk hoek op de gevoelige plaat gezet... Na half zes wordt het echt donker en verdwijnen de dagtoeristen en keert de rust op het eiland.

Ik had er alleen niet op gerekend dat ook alle restaurants dan sluiten. Maar gelukkig had ik wel een goede lunch vandaag. Een keertje avondeten met brood en koekjes is dan minder erg.

Maar eens kijken of ik het morgenochtend op kan brengen vroeg op de staan en de poort bij zonsopkomst te fotograferen...

Kerst in Hiroshima

2007-12-25T21:44:00.000+08:00

Vandaag ben ik naar een van de vele eilanden voor de kust van Hiroshima gevaren. Niet de meest bekende, die bewaar ik voor morgen, inclusief een overnachting. Na een beklimming van een klein uurtje naar de top (287 meter) genoten van een prachtig uitzicht over de omliggende eilanden en de kust zelf. Maar wat heb ik een slecht uithoudingsvemorgen zeg. Zodra ik terug ben maar meer gaan sporten...

Al wachtend op de pont terug naar Hiroshima op de kade wat in de zon gezeten en een boek gelezen. Ineens waande ik mezelf in Corsica in de zomer. Grappig hoe herinneringen ineens weer boven kunnen komen. Maar helaas was het te koud om ook echt een duik in de zee te nemen en te gaan snorkelen...

Kerst is wel een beetje apart als je alleen reist, maar ik heb genoten van een heerlijk diner (tempura van groenten) en een wandeling over de vredesboulevard met allerlei verschillende kerstverlichtingen. Twee jongens op felverlichte scooters verkleed als de kerstman maakte het toch een beetje dat ik een kerstgevoel had.

Hopelijk hebben jullie ook allemaal genoten van twee heerlijke feestdagen! (Ik neem aan dat de meeste dit bericht pas later lezen..) Morgen drink ik aan glas sake op jullie allemaal!

Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park

2007-12-24T19:09:00.001+08:00

Hiroshima is qua uitstraling compleet anders dan Kyoto. Het eerste wat opvalt is de breedte van de straten. De zijstraten zijn allemaal even breed als een hoofdweg in Kyoto. Daarnaast zijn er natuurlijk veel minder oude gebouwen aanwezig.

Als eerste ben ik naar het 'Peace Memorial Park' gelopen waar een aantal monumenten zijn neergezet en ook een museum staat. Een monument is ter nagedachtenis aan alle slachtoffers. Een ander monument is een brandend vuur wat pas gedoofd zal worden als alle kernwapens op aarde ontmanteld zijn. In het museum hebben een maquette met de situatie voor en na de val van de atoombom en de foto's van verschillende slachtoffers de meeste indruk op mij gemaakt. Je kunt en wilt je niet voorstellen hoe dat geweest moet zijn...

Het meest bekende gebouw is een koepel die 100 meter van de inslag verwijderd stond. Wonderbaarlijk stond een gedeelte nog overeind. Deze koepel staat er nog steeds in de staat zoals deze na de inslag was.

Verder tevens nog het kasteel van Hiroshima bezocht en wederom een van de vele tuinen die Japan rijk is bezocht. Beide prachtig, maar toch heeft het geen indruk op mij gemaakt. Ik weet niet of dat komt door de sfeer van het museum en het park, of doordat ik in Kyoto overspoelt ben met prachtige tempels en tuinen....

Mijn hotel is trouwens ook weer OK. Het uitzicht is prima, alleen wel apart dat ik op de negende etage zit en het raam wagenwijd open kan. Dit zorgt er dan wel weer voor dat ik een mooie foto kan maken (zie onder)... Ik heb overigens ook wat foto's toegevoegd bij mijn vorige bericht. Nu krijgen jullie ook een beetje een impressie van kabuki.

Laatste weekend in Kyoto

2007-12-23T21:28:00.000+08:00

Dit weekend stond voor mij vooral in het teken van rustig aan doen en bedenken waar ik nu heen wil gaan. Zaterdag ben ik naar de Kurama Onsen gegaan. Een half uur met de trein vanaf Kyoto en gelegen midden in de bergen in een klein dorpje. Ze hadden daar zowel een binnen- als buitenbad. Het water komt van een natuurlijke warmtebron en bevat stoffen waarvan ze zeggen dat ze verjongend en verkwikkend werken. Maar hoe dan ook, het uitzicht vanuit het buitenbad was geweldig! Probeer het je voor te stellen: al zittend in het hete water, terwijl de regen op je hoofd drupt met een uitzicht over de groene dampende bergen... Meer rustgevend kan je het bijna niet krijgen.

De ryokan waar ik verblijf bevalt overigens prima! Het slaapt een beetje hard, maar de service is ongekend. Ze letten daar erg op de details. Nadat je je bijvoorbeeld hebt gewassen in de gemeenschappelijke ruimte, staat er in je kamer een kop thee klaar. Als je de ryokan verlaat staan je schoenen al klaar met de schoenlepel er al in. Nadat je je 's morgens hebt gewassen staat het onbijt al voor je klaar in je eigen kamer. En je slippers die buiten je kamer moeten staan zijn ook omgekeerd zodat je er makkelijk in kan stappen. Wel bijzonder om een keer mee te maken. Misschien moet ik ook binnenkort maar een capsulehotel proberen. Dat is dan weer het andere uiterste...

Vandaag ben ik naar een van de befaamde Kabuki voorstellingen geweest. Of eigenlijk DE kabuki voorstelling. December is de maand waarin het jaar groots afgesloten waar alle grote acteurs ook aan deelnemen. Een vijf en een half uur (!!) durend spectakel met verbluffende decors, prachtige kleding, toneel, dans en een beetje acrobatiek. Het geeft je een goed inzicht in de cultuur en geschiedenis van Japan. Gelukkig hadden ze ook een boekje met een engelse beschrijving. Anders was het alleen maar mooi geweest. Nu was het ook bijzonder.

Ik leer ook steeds meer over het fenomeen geisha. Ik was verbaast te lezen dat een volledige outfit van een geisha zo'n 20 kilo weegt. Als je dan bedenkt dat veel geisha's zo rond de 40 a 50 kilo zijn...

Morgen vertrek ik naar Hiroshima en heb ik ook al een overnachting geboekt op het eiland Miyajima. Ik ben benieuwd hoe dat is. Dat zal wel weer heel anders zijn...

Tijd voor mij om weer terug naar mijn ryokan te gaan. Morgen weer vroeg op!

Het dorpje op weg naar de onsen

Uitzicht vanaf mijn kamer in de ryokan

Het wereldberoemde Minamiza theater voor kabuki

Een impressie van de voorstelling

Kyoto: Gion

2007-12-21T19:54:00.001+08:00

Vandaag ben ik de dag begonnen met zoeken naar een ander hotel. Ik wil toch nog wat extra dagen in Kyoto doorbrengen, maar helaas was het hotel al volgeboekt. Maar nu heb ik het genoegen om een Ryokan uit te proberen. Een traditioneel Japans hotel. Oftewel een lege kamer met tatami matten en geen bed. Ik ben benieuwd hoe dat me gaat bevallen. Daarna heb ik gelijk een hotel geboekt in Hiroshima, mijn volgende bestemming. Vanaf morgen beschik ik dus ook niet standaard over internet, dus waarschijnlijk vanaf vandaag wat minder frequent berichten en weinig of geen foto's.

In de middag heb ik meer rondgelopen in Gion, de geisha wijk waar ik het al eerder over had. Ik heb tevens een van de mysterieuze restaurants uitgeprobeerd en het bleek inderdaad te zijn wat ik dacht. Een theehuis waar je gewoon kunt lunchen. Het enige verschil is dat er soms ook geisha's lunchen. En de prijs ligt iets hoger. Maar er zijn ook theehuizen waar ik niet zomaar naar binnen kan. Sommige theehuizen zijn veel exclusiever dan het theehuis die ik heb bezocht. Vandaag trouwens ook een boek gekocht die ik morgen veel ga lezen. Het boek heet 'Geisha of Gion' en is geschreven door een van de meest voornaamste geisha's van Kyoto van de jaren zestig en zeventig. Geisha kun je het beste vertalen als artiest. In Kyoto noemen ze zichzelf Geiko (vrouw van de kunsten). Een Maiko is een jonge geisha die zich met name gespecialiseerd heeft in de dans en is typerend voor Kyoto. Het is wel anders om een boek te lezen en ook de locaties waar over geschreven wordt terug te kunnen herkennen. Dat maakt het gelijk minder ongrijpbaar.

In de middag weer wat tempels bezocht met overigens ook prachtige tuinen. In de tuinen van de zilveren tempel (Ginkakuji, niet de verwarren met Kinkakuji, de gouden tempel) zijn tientallen soorten mos terug te vinden en is prachtig om te zien. De zilveren tempel is trouwens gemaakt door een shogun die de kleinzoon was van de shogun die de gouden tempel liet bouwen. Hij is echter houtkleurig gebleven omdat het geld voortijdig op was...

Morgen ga ik een rustdag inbouwen. Nadat ik mijn rugtas gedropt hebt in de Ryokan, ga ik met de trein een half uur richting het noorden om de Kurama onsen te bezoeken. Deze heeft zowel een buitenbad, binnenbad als enkele rustkamers. Na ruim twee weken van veel rondlopen kan ik dat wel gebruiken....

De herten van Nara

2007-12-20T22:33:00.000+08:00

Vandaag vanaf Kyoto met de lokale trein naar Nara gegaan. Nara was vanaf het jaar 710 even de hoofdstad van Japan. Nu staat de stad nog om twee dingen bekend: het grootste koperen Boeddha beeld ter wereld (15 meter hoog) en de vele wilde tamme herten die in het stadspark vrij rondlopen. Dat is wel een aparte gewaarwording. Overal waar je loopt, daar zijn de herten ook, soms verdwalen er een paar in de stad zelf. In het park met haar vele tempels moet je ook niet proberen rustig te lunchen... Een krakende tas staat garant voor hordes herten die zich om je heen verzamelen. O ja, het beeld was trouwens ook indrukwekkend...

's Avonds heb ik weer rondgelopen in de geisha wijk van Kyoto: Gion. Dit keer met camera. Zo krijg je misschien een beetje een idee hoe het is om daar rond te lopen. Kleine straatjes, oude houten huizen met bamboe matten voor de ramen en af en toe steek je via een bruggetje een kabbelend riviertje over. Als er dan een geisha gracieus langs loopt, waan je jezelf echt even in het verleden....

Daarna voor het simpele vermaak gekozen en een amusementshal ingelopen. Deze was compleet met grijpmachines, gokspellen van elk type die je kunt bedenken, aracdespellen en bowlingbanen. Het leukste om te zien is nog altijd het spel 'Dance Dance Revolution'. Je moet met zijn tweeën (of alleen) danspassen nadoen die je op het scherm ziet. Hoe meer je de sequentie om het scherm volgt, hoe meer punten je krijgt. Maar het ziet er echt waanzinnig uit. Japanse tieners die zichzelf in het zweet werken en als razende met hun voeten bewegen...

Mij krijg je niet op zo'n apparaat....

Als niet-Japanner krijg ik trouwens ook een heleboel niet mee. In Gion zijn een heleboel straatjes met een restaurant achtige uitstraling. Alleen buiten hangen er nergens menu's of iets dergelijks. De entree is slechts versierd met een paar Japanse karakters die waarschijnlijk aangeven wat het is. Voor de deur staan limousines die mensen ophalen en brengen. Soms zie je een geisha langslopen op straat met een dienblad met thee of lopen er mensen langs met de mooiste bloemboeketten. Ik vermoed dat het theehuizen zijn waar je niet zo maar in komt als westerling. Of als doorsnee japanner...

In de minder sjieke wijken zijn er een heleboel clubs waar je als westerling gewoon niet in komt. Ik vermoed dat het allemaal hostess clubs zijn waar ik toch niet wil zijn (60 euro betalen voor een uurtje babbelen met een vrouw en dure drankjes kopen), maar erg grappig om te zien dat er op straat mannen staan die iedereen naar binnen willen lokken en mij straal negeren... En dat is nog maar een van de vele dingen die ik meekrijg. De indruk die ik krijg is dat een heleboel mensen het hier wat minder nauw nemen met trouw zijn.... Is dat nu het mysterieuze oosten waar iedereen het over heeft? ;-)

"mam, mag ik die twee bambi poppen??"

Je komt ze echt overal tegen...

Geisha district Gion bij avond (1)

Geisha district Gion bij avond (2)

West Kyoto

2007-12-19T16:04:00.000+08:00

West Kyoto heeft inderdaad minder tempels, maar daarom niet minder bijzonder! Het resultaat is wel een stuk minder foto's. Erg bijzonder is de goudgekleurde Kinkakuji tempel. Het origineel is in 1950 vergaan in een brand, maar dit is een exacte kopie en daarom niet minder indrukwekkend. Het origineel schijnt wel minder opvallend schijnend te zijn.

De Ryaniji tempel heeft een erg mooie omliggende tuin en een bijzondere rotstuin. In tegenstelling tot andere tuinen aangelegd in de middeleeuwen bevat deze tuin geen bomen. Het is een kleine rechthoekige ruimte waarin kleine witte steentjes vijftien grotere stenen omringen. Hoe langer je de rust neemt om de tuin te bekijken, hoe meer je erin ziet of ontdekt. De eenvoud ervan is bedoeld om filosofische meditatie te bevorderen.

Bij elke tempel is trouwens een wassteen te vinden waar je je handen moet reinigen voordat je de tempel ingaat. Bij de Ryaniji tempel is ook een theekamer. Bij de ingang daarvan is een unieke wassteen te vinden met een inscriptie gebaseerd op de Zen filosofie.

Verder zijn hier meerdere tempelcomplexen te vinden waar tientallen kleinere en grotere tempels binnen beschermende muren terug te vinden zijn. Deze worden nog steeds gebruikt door veel japanners om zich tijdelijk af te zonderen van het jachtige moderne leven. Wel leuk om door zo'n complex te lopen en dan een grote groep kleine schoolkinderen tegen te komen die allemaal 'bye bye' tegen je roepen...

Kinkakuji tempel: de gouden tempel

Rotstuin van de Ryaniji tempel

"Ik leer alleen om tevreden te zijn"

Tuin rondom de Ryaniji tempel

Myoshinji tempel

Oost Kyoto

2007-12-18T19:54:00.000+08:00

In totaal zijn er in Kyoto rond de 1800 tempels en andere oude gebouwen terug te vinden, ik zal ze toch maar niet allemaal bezoeken... Met name in de oostkant zijn veel bijzondere tempels te vinden. In het hoogseizoen is het hier gekkenhuis, maar in deze periode is het eigenlijk heel rustig. Wat het volgens mij ook een nog meer bijzondere ervaring maakt. Vandaag heb ik in totaal 145 foto's gemaakt waarvan er 115 de moeite waard waren om te bewaren... Tot nu toe waren er dat zo'n 30 per dag... Ik heb geprobeerd een kleine selectie van wat mooie foto's te maken, maar dat is me niet echt gelukt...

Vanmorgen ben ik eerst naar het keizerlijk paleis gegaan. Onderweg daar naar toe vroeg iemand uit L.A. me de weg naar het paleis. Hij was een dag in Kyoto en wist niet echt waar hij moest zijn voor mooie locaties. Uiteindelijk hebben we zo'n beetje de hele dag samen opgetrokken. Hij is assistent director van met name de serie 'NCIS' in Hollywood en heeft ook meegewerkt aan de film 'The Graduate'. Hij had nu een aantal weken vrij vanwege de stakingen van de scriptschrijvers in Amerika. Maar voor hem betekend dat ook geen loon.. Voor mij was het in ieder geval een leuk gezelschap.

Na het bezoek aan het paleis zijn we richting de oostkant van Kyoto gelopen. Je komt daar de ene verrassing na de andere tegen! Een standaard tempel blijkt vol de staan met duizenden Boeddha beelden. Of je komt een 20 meters hoge boeddha tegen. Sommige tempels hebben prachtige entrees die metershoog zijn. Dan stuit je opeens op een gigantisch kerkhof die doorloopt tot hoog in de bergen. Indrukwekkend... Ook vindt je hier de oorspronkelijk wijken van Kyoto terug. Houten huizen aan de voet van de berg. Prachtig om te zien en om rond te lopen. In de loop van de middag genoten van een lunch en sake in een traditioneel restaurant. Oftwel schoenen uit en zitten rond een tafel in de hurkhouding. Als we een tempel tegen kwamen die er normaal uitzag, dan sloegen we de maar gewoon over. In Tokyo zou ik dergelijke tempels uitgebreid bezocht hebben...

Tijdens een bezoek aan de Kiyomizu tempel kon je voor 100 yen ook een bezoek brengen aan de steen de je geluk kon brengen. Mocht je hem zien, dan moest je hem ronddraaien en een wens doen. Was wel hilarisch om te merken dat je door een pikdonker doolhof geleid werd waar ergens een steen miniaal verlicht was... Dat was eigenlijk de enige toeristische oplichterij die ik heb gezien. Voor de rest was elk bezoek meer dan de moeite waard. Ik ben benieuwd wat ik morgen allemaal zie!

Tuinen in het keizerlijk paleis

Sanjusangen-do tempel

Myoho-in tempel

Kerkhof op weg naar Kiyomizu tempel

Kiyomizu tempel

Bedelaar

Traditionele straat in Oost-Kyoto

Kodaji tempel

Chion-in tempel

Shoren-in tempel

Tuin bij Shoren-in tempel

Kyoto: Shogun Nijo-Jo

2007-12-17T16:25:00.001+08:00

Vanmorgen vroeg op om op tijd de shinkansen naar Kyoto te halen. Langs Mount Fuji en twee uur later stapte ik uit het Station van Kyoto. Afgelegde afstand ongeveer 500 kilometer. Het hotel wat ik in eerste instantie geboekt had heb ik toch maar links laten liggen. De wijk zag er niet echt geweldig uit. Via de lokale VVV ben ik terecht gekomen bij een erg sjiek hotel voor zelfs iets goedkoper dan het hotel wat ik in gedachte had. Normaal heeft dit hotel kamers vanaf 10.000 yen (60 euro), maar vanwege het laagseizoen betaal ik nu 6.000 yen.
(Zie voor het hotel de link hier rechts)

Na mijn kamer verkent te hebben heb ik rondgelopen in de stad. Wat heeft Kyoto een andere uitstraling! Veel laagbouw en 90% minder neonlichten. Het centrum is wat moderner dan de oostkant. Maar ook dat biedt al veel moois! Ik heb met name rondgelopen in het Shogun Nijo-Jo (Shogun = Generaal, Jo = Kasteel). De toenmalige shogun Ieyasu hield niet van onverwacht bezoek, dus rondom de kamers in dit kasteel is een galerij aangelegd die altijd piepgeluiden maakt, hoe zacht je er ook overheen loopt. Wel een aparte ervaring. Ook de tuinen rondom het kasteel zijn prachtig.

Morgen ga ik richting de oostkant van Kyoto. Die wijk bevat heel veel tempels en is ook een stuk ouder dan het gedeelte waar mijn hotel staat. Maar eerst een bezoek aan het keizerlijk paleis waar ik net een vergunning voor heb gehaald. Zonder vergunning kom je er als niet-Japanner niet in.

Nu maar op zoek naar wat eten, ik heb flinke honger merk ik. Ik ben dan ook vergeten te lunchen vandaag....

Harajuku: De twee gezichten van Yoyogi Park

2007-12-16T18:14:00.001+08:00

Elke zondagmiddag laat Yoyogi Park de twee gezichten van Japan zien. Het traditionele en het moderne eigenwijze gezicht.

De tempel in het park is een van de grootste tempels waar mensen uit Tokyo terecht kunnen om te bidden. Daarnaast is volgens mij ook de grootste tempel gelegen in een groene omgeving. Het is in ieder geval erg gewild voor officiële ceremonies als trouwerijen. Ook vandaag stuitte ik om in ieder geval een huwelijk en volgens mij nog iets anders. Alle genodigden zagen er in ieder geval prachtig uit. Dat levert bijna ouderwetse plaatjes op van het Japan van vroeger.

100 meter terug is de toegansbrug tot het park. Tevens de ontmoetingsplek voor 'cosplay-zoku'. De manier voor sommige tieners om een alter-ego te creëren en bij een groep te horen waar ze geaccepteerd worden en waar ze hun creativiteit kwijt kunnen. En dat trekt natuurlijk een hoop mensen aan die dat willen fotograferen. Mensen zoals ik....

Vanavond was mijn laatste avondmaal in Tokyo voor 2007. Vandaag maar een eenvoudige hamburger gegeten. Nou ja. Vegetarisch dan. En zonder broodje. Maar met rijst en zeewier. En ja, dan noemen ze dan toch een hamburger.... Morgenochtend vertrek ik naar Kyoto. Hopelijk beschik ik daar ook over internet. Maar dat merken jullie gauw genoeg. Als er voorlopig geen berichten verschijnen, dan weten jullie hoe het zit....

Odaiba

2007-12-15T23:22:00.000+08:00

Vandaag vooral rondgelopen in Odaiba. Qua sfeer weer heel anders dan rest van Tokyo. Met overigens een prachtige blik op de skyline van Tokyo. Odaiba is een zelf gemaakt stuk land in de baai van Tokyo. Dit is tijdens de economische hoogtij van Japan (de "Bubble") aangelegd. Je vindt hier veel aparte architectuur. Daarnaast alleen maar grote commerciële bedrijven, warenhuizen, restaurants en amusementshallen. Hele verdiepingen met attracties, achtbanen, arcade spellen, pachinko, noem maar op.... Als mensen er maar terecht kunnen om hun geld uit te geven.

Toyota en Honda hebben er bijvoorbeeld ook hun vestiging. Maar naast de normale verkoop van auto's kun je er ook terecht voor een testrit in de auto van de toekomst (zie foto hier onder) en bijvoorbeeld een kijkje in hun race auto's.

Na een kleine tour langs verschillende amusementshallen en restaurants kwam ik uiteindelijk bij de wandelpromenade terecht. Vanaf daar heb je een heel mooi uitzicht op de skyline van Tokyo. Zelfs inclusief een op schaal nagemaakte Statue of Liberty. Je waant je heel even in New York....

Morgen is het trouwens alweer mijn laatste dag in Tokyo. Maandag ga ik naar Kyoto. Ik ben benieuwd hoe me dat bevalt! Ik ga nu maar slapen trouwens! Ik zie net dat het alweer bijna twee uur is...

Tokyo of New York?

Tokyo duur?!?!

2007-12-13T20:23:00.000+08:00

Tokyo is eigenlijk niet zo duur. Voor een stedentrip is het denk ik zelfs goedkoper dan de meeste Europese steden. Hotels zijn betaalbaar. Met een beetje zoeken vindt je wel een hotel voor 40 euro. Je kunt ook altijd in een capsule hotel terecht voor 25 euro per nacht. Als je tenminste niet claustrofobisch bent. Ook het eten is hier heel betaalbaar. Amsterdam is zeker twee keer duurder...

Maar om te wonen en hier te leven is het wel duur...

Mensen in Tokyo werken lang. Heel lang. Formeel is er vaak een 48 urige werkweek. Alleen als je bij een groter bedrijf werkt dan heb je kans op een werkweek van vijf dagen ipv zes. Maar vaak maken mensen veel meer uur. Het is heel normaal om twee uur te reizen om op je werk te komen. Werkdagen zijn vaak 10 uur. Daarna wordt je geacht met je collega's nog wat te drinken. Een appartement huren in Tokyo is heel duur. Daarbij is de ruimte vaak erg klein. Voor een appartement van 20m2 betaal je al gauw 600 euro per maand. Voor 35m2 zit je minimaal op 1500 euro per maand. Veel geld voor weinig ruimte dus. Mensen van mijn leeftijd in Tokyo zijn dus met name aan het werken en komen dan laat thuis in hun appartement niet groter dan mijn hotelkamer....

Voor mij valt het wel mee, maar als je hier woont dan is het wel zwaar. Hard werken, weinig sociale contacten en een kleine ruimte om in te wonen. Dan is mijn 70m2 in Den Haag zo gek nog niet....

Ghibli Museum Mitaka

2007-12-12T16:54:00.001+08:00

Vandaag eens een rustige dag ingepland. Na alle hectiek van de stad ben ik naar een rustiger gebied gegaan. In Mitaka is naast het Ghibli museum ook een mooi park. Niet geweldig, maar wel heel fijn om even te zitten, wat rustig te eten en rond te lopen.

Het Ghibli museum was prachtig om te zien. Het museum zelf heeft geen vaste route, dus je kunt zelf je weg bepalen en leuke plekjes vinden. Een beetje sprookjesachtig, net als de tekenfilms die ze maken. Veel van de deuren hadden ook prachtige glas in lood versieringen. Helaas mocht je binnen geen foto's maken. Onderstaande deur heb ik nog wel stiekem gefotografeerd.... Een aantal bekende films van Hayao Miyazaki in Europa zijn 'Spirited Away' en 'Howls Moving Castle'.

Mocht je het museum overigens zelf ooit willen bezoeken, reserveer dan een kaartje via hun website! Ze verkopen niet aan de kassa en laten maximaal 200 buitenlandse bezoekers per dag toe. Dit om te voorkomen dat je bezoek aan het museum een lange wachtrij wordt...

Na mijn bezoek aan het museum heb ik nog even in het park rondgelopen. Het park was niet zo mooi als in de lente, maar de winterkleuren mogen er ook zijn! Het soort planten en bomen dat daar staat, maakt het gelijk heel anders dan een Nederlands park. Tussendoor heb ik ook nog kunnen genieten van een franse lunch. Ik hoop dat de foto's een beetje een goed beeld kunnen geven, de kleuren waren echt prachtig!

Sjinjuku

2007-12-11T20:37:00.000+08:00

Vandaag was ik behoorlijk moe van al dat rondlopen afgelopen dagen. Gisteren redelijk op tijd naar bed gegaan en vanmorgen werd ik wakker rond half twee. In de middag wel te verstaan....

Vandaag vooral rondgelopen in Sjinjuku en heerlijke ramen gegeten (soort van noodle soep met wat je er maar in wilt: ei, groenten, vlees). Een groot gedeelte (Kabukicho) van Sjinjuku is eigenlijk niks. Veel neon (zie foto's onder) en het staat bekend om zijn vele massage parlours en hostess' bar. Het levert wel mooie foto's op in het donker. Het enige rustpunt in die wijk is de tempel. Ik had het wel even gehad toen ik een aantal keer achter elkaar behoorlijk aggressief werd benaderd door nigerianen die me naar hun hostess bar mee wilde krijgen. Vandaag dus maar vroeg naar huis gegaan.

Ik ga zo lekker genieten van een bad met een filmpje aan en vandaag vroeg naar bed. Morgen naar een van de rustigste plekjes in Tokyo en een bezoek aan het Ghibli museum!

Maid cafe in Akihabara

2007-12-10T19:16:00.001+08:00

Vandaag heb ik mijn lachen in moeten houden...

Het begon eigenlijk vrij normaal met een bezoek aan weer een van de vele mooie parken die Tokyo rijk is. In een traditioneel theehuis ceremoniele thee gedronken met een speciale cake erbij en daarna via de boot naar een ander gebied gevaren. Dan merk je pas hoe waterrijk Tokyo eigenlijk is. Lopend in de stad merk je er niet veel van, maar het is bijna een stad op het water. Tokyo scheen vroeger heel veel kanalen te hebben, maar daar is nu volop overheen gebouwd. Het water is er nog wel, maar niet meer zichtbaar. Ik ben benieuwd hoe groot dat ondergrondse gebied is....

Daarna heb ik rondgelopen in Akihabara. DE wijk voor manga en electronica. En ook een beetje de wijk waar veel 'geeks' (otaku) uithangen. Deze zijn dan ook dol op de vele 'maid cafes' die je daar kan vinden. Gelukkig vinden de meeste mensen in Japan het ook een beetje vreemd...

Bij binnenkomst geef je aan of je een roken of niet-roken plek wilt. So far so good... Maar na binnenkomst zie je allemaal jonge meisjes gekleed in een frans dienstmeisjespakje. Nadat je wat drinken en eten hebt gekregen, moet je samen met het dienstmeisje een soort van ceremonie doen waarbij je allebei hartjes gaat uitstralen naar je koffie en cake. Voor diegenen die de film "Lost in translation hebben gezien" het was net als Bill Murray op bezoek in de talkshow terwijl hij de host probeerde na te doen.... Daarna kon je kiezen of je een (kinder)spelletje wilde doen met een van de meisjes. Je kon ook met ze op de foto (zelf foto's maken is niet toegestaan) in de pose die je zelf wilt... Met de handen omhoog als konijnenoren, de vuisten voor de borst of omhoogwijzend naar de hemel op je knieen. Jij mocht aangeven hoe je op de foto wilt, het Japanse dienstmeisje doet je wel na.... natuurlijk alles wel tegen een kleine betaling....

Na een uur wordt je gevraagd het cafe te verlaten. Bijzonder om te zien dat sommige otaku (zowel man als vrouw) dan weer gewoon in de rij gingen staan om weer naar binnen te mogen voor een uur hersenloos gepiep, een praatje en stomme spelletjes. Voor hun is dat misschien alle aandacht die ze denken te kunnen krijgen... Je krijgt trouwens ook een lidmaatschapkaart mee. Bij elk bezoek stijg je een "level" en geven ze je waarschijnlijk meer aandacht. Maar pas vanaf level 100 ga je meetellen....

Maid Cafe @ Home

Tokyo vanaf het water

Een van de weinig zichtbare kanalen

Akihabara bij avond

Harajuku & Imperial Palace

2007-12-09T19:58:00.001+08:00

Ook dit weekend weer heel veel gelopen. En ook veel mooie dingen gezien. Tokyo blijft een drukke stad, maar voorlopig vindt ik dat nog allemaal geweldig! Volgende week woensdag maak ik ook een uitstap naar een gedeelte buiten het centrum. Er is daar een groot park en het wereldberoemde (in Japan althans) Ghibli museum. Daar schijnen veel mensen uit Tokyo ook naar toe te gaan als ze de drukte willen ontlopen.

Zaterdag heb ik vooral rondgelopen in Harajuku en vooral winkels, gebouwen en mensen bekeken. En natuurlijk ook zelf weer wat gekocht... 's avonds sushi gegeten in een geweldig mooi autenthiek Japans (en ook erg lekker) restaurant. Daarna de stad bekeken vanaf een uitzichttoren in Roppongi. Erg indrukwekkend te zien hoe groot Tokyo eigenlijk is. Adembenemend... Neem het centrum van Rotterdam met al haar hoogbouw en vermenigvuldig dat met 100. Dan kom je ongeveer in de buurt van het centrum van Tokyo. En dat is niet overdreven...

Zondag heb ik vooral rondgelopen rondom Tokyo Central Station en de keizerlijke tuinen bezocht. Ook erg mooi om te zien. Het paleis zelf is afgesloten voor publiek en slechts twee dagen per jaar geopend: 23 december en 2 januari. Maar waarschijnlijk ben ik dan in Kyoto of Nagasaki.

Ook erg leuk trouwens om dit weekend niet in mijn eentje rond te hoeven lopen. Ik heb via een vriendin een naam doorgekregen van haar vriendin in Tokyo (dank je Lea!). Dan kom je toch gelijk op plekken waar je in je eentje niet zo snel heen zou gaan. En ik heb gelijk wat tips meegekregen waar ik eventueel nog meer heen kan gaan. Maar daar later vanzelf wel meer over.

Tempel in Harajuku

Snelweg door stad gezien vanaf Roppongi Tower

Wolkenkrabbers vanaf de Imperial Palace Garden

Toegangsbrug en -poort naar het ontoegankelijk gedeelte

Zicht op de Imperial Palace Garden

Daikanyama en Yebisu

2007-12-07T20:04:00.001+08:00

Vandaag bijgeslapen van mijn reis en een jetlag. Gisteravond lag ik rond half elf op bed en werd vanmorgen weer om elf uur wakker... Vandaag ben ik vooral in Daikanyama en Yebisu geweest.

In Daikanyama zijn vooral veel kleine winkels te vinden. Je kunt daar grote merken, maar ook vooral lokale merken terugvinden. Ik heb het beperkt weten te houden tot de aanschaf van een trui bij Okura... In Yebisu is er eigenlijk niet veel, maar hebben ze het equivalent neergezet van hoe zij denken dat een Europees winkelgebied eruit ziet. Of zou moeten zien... Het resultaat is een gebied met een aantal klassieke europese gebouwen en rondom allemaal hoogbouw. Je wordt met een lange rode loper een soort van sjieke koopgoot ingeleid om daar uiteindelijk ook een MacDonald aan te treffen. Maar eerlijk is eerlijk, ik wou dat elk winkelgebied in Europa er zo mooi uit zag.

Ik verbaas me nog steeds over hoe schoon Tokyo is. Nergens afval, hondepoep of een sigaret te vinden. Bijna nergens dan. Je mag hier dan ook nergens buiten roken, alleen op de gebieden waar dat aangegeven staat. Mocht je ergens veel mensen op een kluitje zien staan, of in een groot bushokje, dan weet je dat je daar moet zijn als roker. Straks ga ik kijken hoe het avond / nachtleven van Tokyo is. Alhoewel ik niet denk flink te gaan stappen vanavond. De jetleg (en het shoppen) zit nog in mijn benen...

Het weer is hier overigens geweldig! Even koud als Nederland, alleen dan met zon en geen regen :-)

ps Vorig jaar verbaasde ik me ook over het fenomeen "Pachinko". Een soort van gokspel waar half Japan aan verslaafd is. Ze zijn in bijna elke straat terug te vinden en meestal opgebouwd uit vijf etages. Er komt een gigantische herrie uit die apparaten en je kunt een hoop balletjes winnen. Die kun je weer omruilen voor een prijs, die je ergens anders weer in kan wisselen voor geld (gokspellen zijn immers verboden). Misschien ga ik het ook nog proberen...

Winkel in Daikanyama

Sake cafe in Shibuya

Yebisu Garden Place

Shibuya crossing

Pachinko automaten

Aankomst in Tokyo

2007-12-06T18:32:00.000+08:00

Na een lange vlucht via Kopenhagen donderdagochtend half elf Japanse tijd geland op Narita Airport. Vorig jaar kwam ik in de avond aan, dus toen heb ik niks van de omgeving kunnen zien. Nu dus wel. Het gebied tussen Narita en Tokyo is eigenlijk heel rommelig. Er lijkt niet echt een structuur in te zitten. Wat dan wel weer mijn verbazing schetste was dat midden in die chaos een echte nederlandse molen inclusief vlag stond. Aan een meer.

Eenmaal in Tokyo aangekomen was het even zoeken naar het hotel. Dat bleek verkeerd op het kaartje te staan. Uiteindelijk hebben twee hulpverlenende (of gevraagde eigenlijk) niet engelssprekende Japanners mij na een minuut of vijf op de juiste plek geholpen. Wat bleek? Dat was 50 meter van het punt af waar ik ze in eerste instantie aansprak... ^_^

Onderstaand twee foto's: van mijn hoteluitzicht en een viertal van de vele 'vending machines' die je overal tegenkomt. Zelfs in de trein!

Zo, ik ga maar eens avondeten maken, het is alweer laat...

Binnenkort meer!

Denmark

新年快樂！

The first visitors

Dear Antoine...

Great King Street / My first impressions about Denmark

New country, new challenges

Rivertracing & Invasion Drill

阿里山 － Alishan National Park

Last months of 2010

好久不見 !

Friends & Fun

Dragonboat Festival (2)

Dragonboat festival

Hipstamatic

Differences

She is hot, she is so easy...

Earthquake!!

Jiufen - Spirited Away

Moved into our new apartment

Intermezzo: Taiwan traffic...

Safest place on earth!?

Teacher Ramon

First month in Taiwan: my impressions

Our own apartment!

The apartments view

First typhoon and residence permit

Survived the first weekend in Taipei (40 degrees!!!)

Preparing moving to Taiwan: people's reactions

Married

Moving to Taiwan!

Last days in Tokyo

Kamakura and Enoshimo

Hakone and Capsule Hotel

Odaiba

Ikebukuro

Parks

Country of queues

Windmills and bicycles...

Op het vliegveld

Karaoke

Mr Guide

Brrrrr....

Nikko: tempelcomplex

Odaiba (2)

Achtbaan en 100 yen winkels

Terug in Tokyo!

Miyajima

Kerst in Hiroshima

Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park

Laatste weekend in Kyoto

Kyoto: Gion

De herten van Nara

West Kyoto

Oost Kyoto

Kyoto: Shogun Nijo-Jo

Harajuku: De twee gezichten van Yoyogi Park

Odaiba

Tokyo duur?!?!

Ghibli Museum Mitaka

Sjinjuku

Maid cafe in Akihabara

Harajuku & Imperial Palace

Daikanyama en Yebisu

Aankomst in Tokyo

阿里山－ Alishan National Park