Lost In Translation

Osaka: CUE Conference 2008

I was in Osaka, earlier this month,July 4-6, for a conference (College and University English teachers) at Kinki University (pictured below).  I stayed in central Osaka in the Namba district, the picture above is from that area near the station).  I hadn't been in the Kinki area for about five years so it was interesting to compare it to Tokyo, however, due to the conference I didn't have much time to hang out.

I haven't been posting many pictures, because Typepad (the blog site I use) upgraded the system and it took me till now to figure out how to do it properly.

The Frugal Traveler: The Grand Tour

The NY Times' frugal traveler Matt Gross is going to Europe this summer:

This summer, the Frugal Traveler is embarking on the Grand Tour, reimagining the classic European journey as a budget-minded, modern-day jaunt. Over 12 weeks and on less than 100 euros a day, Matt Gross will circle the continent in search of cool hotels, memorable meals and contemporary culture. New columns and videos will be posted every Thursday, with updates and frugal tips throughout the week.

In 1992 I undertook a similar journey, so I will be watching closely and comparing it to my experience. We also took the ferry from Dover to Calais, and continued onto Amsterdam and then activated our Eurail passes and started our six week journey around Europe.  

36 Hours In Chang Mai

The NY Times looks at one the best places in the land of smiles, Chang Mai:

BLESSED with a cooler climate than Bangkok and buffered by lush mountains, Chiang Mai has long served as a backpacker’s gateway to Thailand’s northern reaches. But an influx of Thai artists and Western expatriates has turned this quiet city into a vibrant destination in its own right. Design studios have sprung up in town, fusing traditional Thai with modern twists. Age-old curries are now paired with Australian red wines and croissants. The area around Nimanhaemin Road now looks like South Beach, packed with BMWs and Art Deco homes, alongside contemporary art galleries run by young Thais with purple hair and nose rings. But traditional Chiang Mai is still there. Walk away from Nimanhaemin into the old city and you’ll see shaved monks meditating and backpackers chowing down on banana pancakes.

The Brel Chronicles

My friend Brendan, from Koshigaya on the JET Program, and his girlfriend Mel are going to spend the next 10 months traveling and have started an entertaining blog chronicling their (mis)adventures:

The Brel Chronicles Follow the antics of Brendan and Mel (a.k.a. Brel) as they traipse the world for the next 10 months in search of the perfect beach, wine and espresso.

They've recently been in Costa Rica and Belize with Brazil, the Galapagos Islands and Greece on the horizon.

Well Traveled: Venezuela

The always entertaining Slate Well Traveled column goes to Hugo Chavez's South American socialist paradise:

It's surreal to walk around Caracas, a vibrant consumer-driven metropolis, and see the same type of propaganda billboards you see in Havana. (I had been expecting more subtlety.) It's one thing to see posters proclaiming "Socialismo o Muerte" (Socialism or Death) amid Havana's crumbling squalor, but it's a bizarre juxtaposition to see Caracas' "Patria, Socialismo, o Muerte" (Fatherland, Socialism, or Death) banners vying for space with ads for Coke and McDonald's.

Go to China or Vietnam, and you see a pre-existing Communist state paying lip service to its old Marxist orthodoxy as it embraces consumerist modernity. But the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez is a real oddity—a fantasyland that isn't in on the joke, that doesn't seem to realize those tired socialistic slogans are nothing more than retro kitsch. Even the thousands of Cuban advisers who come to Venezuela must know this, but they still gladly come to proselytize, especially since it gives them a chance to drink Coca-Cola and eat at McDonald's. There is a rich future for a Latin American left, I am sure, and it will take many forms, but one reason Chávez has gotten as far as he has is that his project is so crudely passé and unsubtle, it is hard to take seriously.

53 Places To Go In 2008

The NY Times has a list of 53 places to go in 2008, my traveling days are going to be limited in the future, but that can't stop me from dreaming. Anyway, I have already been to 1. Laos (twice-most recently 2007), 14. Prague, 39. San Francisco, 44. San Diego, 47. London, 48. Vietnam, and 50. Las Vegas. Only, 46 more to go!

Khon Kaen

This year's Thai TESOL Conference was in the northern town Khon Kaen. It is the de facto capital of Isaan with a population around 150,000. it has a much slower pace than Bangkok and prices are also more reasonable here.

There were lots of dinosaur statues around town (this one at a hotel) promoting museum that houses the dinosaur fossils unearthed in the area.

Here's an example of the inexpensive local stret food, spicy noodles for 10 baht ($0.35).

Thailand Revisited: Sights In Bangkok

I recently visited Thailand for a brief three days and nights (I arrived after midnight on Tuesday and flew out at 6 am Friday) by redeeming some unused mileage for the 2008 Thai TESOL Conference. This year's conference was held in the Isaan capital Khon Kaen.(i will post about later) However, I was able to spend some time in the capital, and here are some of the sights I saw there. The picture of the shrine above is from The Jim Thompson House, which is walking distance from the main shopping district near Siam BTS station.

An elaborately sculpted elephant bush.

Some grilled street food samplings.

A water taxi cruising a canal.

The infamous Bangkok gridlock in action.

The Frugal Traveler / Seattle

The Frugal Traveler visits my former home, Seattle, and mostly eats his way around the city:

THE dining room at Cascadia — one of Seattle's top restaurants, with a cutting-edge chef, luminous décor and a cellar lauded by Wine Spectator — was empty. No one sat on the green banquettes, eating Alaskan king crab with white-truffle gnocchi under the coppery mahogany paneling, and empty wineglasses sparkled on white tablecloths. Only an occasional wandering waiter disturbed this stillness.

Across a frosted-glass divider, however, Cascadia's bar growled with energy. Every stool was taken on this Friday night, and upscale Seattleites mobbed the lounge and the sidewalk tables, where the setting sun warmed their faces and melted the ice in their cocktails. Of course no one was at dinner — this was happy hour.

To the Frugal Traveler, no phrase is more inspiring than “happy hour.” The prospect of two-for-one drinks and post-work camaraderie fills his heart with hope. If only every hour could be happy! But in Seattle, those 60 minutes of joy have been elevated into evenings not only of cheap drinks but also of discount gourmet snacks at the classiest restaurants. From midafternoon till long after midnight, one can graze on the delicacies of the Pacific Northwest, and still get change from a Jackson.

The Frugal Traveler/ Chicago

I have really enjoyed Matt Gross' articles as The Frugal Traveler for The New York Times in the past. This time he's visited Chicago and makes this humorous obsevation:

An hour later, I reached my hotel — or rather, my hostel. Though in general I avoid hostels (often crowded, dirty, uncomfortable), the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Hostel looked promising. Situated right in the Loop, the heart of Chicago's business district, it was voted best large hostel (it has 500 beds) in the world by customers of HostelWorld.com in 2006. And two nights in a six-bed room would cost just $77, leaving me plenty of cash to blow on what I was sure would be an expensive city.

But to woo the Frugal Traveler, a hostel must be more than cheap, well situated and popular. In this case, it was the architectural history that sold me. Built in 1886, the hostel is seven stately stories of heavy timber lofts clad in lush red brick, with wide windows facing out onto an El track. Once, it had been a manufacturing center, and had even housed the Encyclopedia Britannica printing presses.

Now, as I could see as I walked through the lobby, past the comfy couches and pool and Ping-Pong tables, it housed the world: a Girl Scout troop, college students, business travelers, foreign tourists and older couples who enjoyed the hostel experience even when other options were within their means.

My fourth-floor room was big and bright — or it would have been, had it not been occupied by three hung over guys who'd lowered the blinds, apparently to sleep all weekend. I saw only one of them awake; he was German and when he wasn't in bed, he was walking around naked. Yup, I was in a hostel.