The Westin Pazhou,ザ・ ウエスティン琶洲、広州

The Westin Pazhou opened its door in Sep.2011 with a direct access to the Guangzhou International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

 

Hotel Lobby with Christmas tree

 

 

In the end of Nov. I have spent a couple of nights in The Westin Pazhou.

They are just getting ready for the holiday season.

The weather on the day I arrived wasn't so bad. Not too cold yet but just bit foggy as any other cities in China. It rained in the evening of the second night and became chilly when I went out for dinner.

 

 

Inside the guest room with Westin's signature "Heavenly Bed"

 

Bathroom with separate bath tub and shower with complimentary amenities

 

The guest room was very nice. Big enough, modern design with open bathroom space (it can be separated with sliding doors) and famous "Heavenly Bed" made me sleep like a baby!

 

One of the reasons I visited there was to see my old friend.

Chef Toshiyasu Uehara works in the hotel's signature restaurant "Mai" Japanese restaurant.

He is a great Japanese master chef who has opened this restaurant and many others in the five star luxury hotels.

 

Japanese restaurant "Mai, located on level 42. "

-Entrance from the 42nd floor elevator hall (left), and Sushi Bar (right)-

 

Teppanyaki counter (left), dining table (middle), Private dining with Teppanyaki (right)

 

 



His restaurant is located on the 42nd floor of the hotel which provides excellent food and service, of course, and great view of Guangzhou skyline which creates special atmosphere.

The restaurant has sushi bar, teppanyaki counter, live open kitchen station and private dining room with teppanyaki counter other than usual dining area.

 

 

Function room on the 42nd floor with Guangzhou's skyline view

 

 

On the 42nd floor, besides "Mai" Japanese restaurant, there is a rooftop function space "The Panorama". Space with floor-to-ceiling windows and breath taking views of the Pearl River and Guangzhou City skyline.

 

 

View from the hotel,

Pearl River with construction site (left), exhibition center (middle), Shangri-la Guangzhou (right) 

 

 

The location of the hotel is perfect for the people who come on the business trip for the trade exhibitions but not so good for the ones come for sightseeing. Though, there is a MTR station which take you to anywhere in Guangzhou city, just outside of the hotel.

I didn't have much time for sightseeing anyway, so I didn't mind, as long as I could get confortable place to stay...

 

More about Guangzhou→Guangzhou, Aug.24 2012

 

 

Merry Christmas to you all!!

(Giant Christmas tree in the Taipei, Taoyuan Airport)

 

 

 

Mobile Market in Taiwan, 移動式マーケット

If you are living in a suburb or a countryside, you have to have a car and drive down to a town or a shopping mall for grocery shopping, but In Taiwan, a market comes to you!



 

Mobile Market Car with full of fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and other grocery

 

 

Everyday -except Mondays, market's official closing day, and other national holidays- around 12:30, the "Mobile Market" car comes to the neighborhood and make an announcement, "Vegetables, Fruits, Grocery shopping ♪"

The car drives down the suburbs and stops each communities for 20-30minutes.

 

 

Variety of fresh local vegetables

 

Also fresh local fruits, seafood, meat and others

 

 

The "Mobile Market" comes with fresh seasonal local vegetables, fruits, meat and some other dried food,  even seasonings.

Prices are a little bit more expensive than the local market, but if you think about going to a market by yourself, driving a car or using some public transportation, carry stuff around here and there, I think it is fair enough. It is much more convenient.

 

 

It comes everyday at same time for the people who live in suburbs

 

The market's boss/driver checks the weights of items you would like to purchase

 

 

Only you have to do is,

Pick whatever you want, Put them in a blue plastic basket, Tell driver/shop owner, He will check the items and major the weights, Pay the money and DONE!

 

P.S. There are also other "Mobile" shops, like, "Mobile Noodle Shop" or "Mobile Stinky Tofu Shop" come around 8:30-9:00pm for late night snacks .

 

 

Shirakawa-go and Kiso Magome, 白川郷、木曽馬籠の旅

The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama became one of the Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Dec. 1995.

Houses in Shirakawa-go. People still live in those houses in this village.

 

 

Pretty river runs through the village

Last month, in middle of Oct., I visited Shirakawa-go and Kiso Magome.

Shirakawa-gō (白川郷, "White River Old-District") is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture, in central region of Honshu, main island of Japan.

Kiso Magome (木曽馬籠) is an old town flourished in Edo period as "Shukuba-machi" -post town- along the side of Nakasendo(中山道) road which connects Edo(modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto.

"Gasho-zukuri" (合掌造り) -prayer hands construction-

 

 

The style of the houses in this village are very unique.

It's called "Gasho-zukuri"-prayer hands construction-. The name come from the shape of  it's roof, looks like two hands joined in prayer.

The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.

 

 



The houses in Shirakawa-go village are mostly straw-thatched

 

 

Changing the straw-thatched roof needs a loot of work

 

 

The change of the straw-thatched roof happens every 30-40 years.

* It used to be able to hold longer time (50-60 years or more) but the time became shorter since it is difficult to find the good conditioned straw in recent years. It also needs minor fixing almost every year depending on how much snow fell in the season. 

 

The changing costs a lot of money and lot of work.

Since they became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Dec. 1995, they can get financial support from the government.

Working for the changing roof needs many people. The villager help each other to change their house's roof in turn, but since the population of the village are not enough, they depend on contracted workers and volunteer workers.

 

 

Entrance to "Kiso Magome"(木曽馬籠)

 

 

Kiso Magome located in South-Eastern part of Gifu Prefecture, near the border of Nagano Prefecture.

This old town was thrived in Edo era with full of travelers who needed a food, place to take a rest and stay over night while traveling between Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto. 

Fortunately, the town is isolated in the country side with the mountains, the houses and the scenery are unobstructed by the modernizing development and keep the taste of Edo era.

Even now, we can still find images of the ancient time from this town. 

 

 

Old traditional style houses stand beside narrow alley

 

 

The town was busy with the people who traveled between Edo and Kyoto in Edo period 

 

 

I have stayed over night in Gero Onsen "下呂温泉"-hot spring-

Gero Onsen is one of the Japan's top three hot spring -other two are Arima Onsen in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and Kusazu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture-.

This hot spring has over 1,000years of history.

 



View from the hotel room (left), Japanese style room with "Tatami" mat (right)



 

I have stayed in Suimei-kan (水明館) Hotel, the 80years old hotel has three restaurants, three buildings with three public hot spring bath in each buildings. I have tried all the three public bath in two days (in the afternoon, evening and morning).

Most of the Japanese style "Ryokan" hotel includes dinner and breakfast. This hotel was one of them.

I had a fantastic dinner with famous "Hida" wagyu beef (飛騨牛)!

(Official website  of "Suimei-kan"-only in Japanese →http://www.suimeikan.co.jp/index.php)

 

Bathroom in the guest room, usually people use the big public bath in the hotel

  

View from the hotel room

 

 

In middle of Oct. The leaves of the maple tree and ginko tree were not yet turned either red or yellow.

If you wish to enjoy the typical Autumn scenery of this region, you may need to try in Nov... though it can be different every year.

(See also the post in Dec. 26 2011 →Autumn in Japan, 日本の秋)

 

 

 

Short Trip to Manila, マニラ

I had a chance to make a few days trip to Manila in the end of Sep.

Manila is the capital city of Philippines, also known as the most densely populated city in the world.

 

"Jeepney", important public transportation for local Filipinos

The trip schedule has been changed at last minute and I had to take a business class flight.
The flights between Taipei and Manila only takes less than 2hours.
So, it didn't have much difference on the seating of the actual flight but I enjoyed the in-flight meal and the access to the Executive lounge (China Airlines' lounge) at Tapei Taoyuan airport!

Small snack buffet with all different types of beverage and alcohol at the lounge

 

Lunch menu from Taipei-Manila

 

 

I also have enjoyed the nice service and food from the Philippine airlines' business class.

By the way, I chose the Filipino dish for the main course.

"Rellenong Sugpo in Sweet and Sour Sauce" with lemon grass scented steamed rice

 

 

A room of the Best Western Premier F1 Hotel 

(Official website →http://www.bestwesternpremierf1hotel.com/)

 

 

I stayed in the Best Western Premier F1 Hotel, located in Bonifacio Global City (or Fort Bonifacio) which is a clean and safe community.

It's a nice boutique hotel, not too expensive, located in a newly developed commercial district which was used be the part of Philippine Amy camp. 

 

 

The quality of breakfast buffet was very high

but too many people in the restaurant and had to wait for a while to find a table! 

 

 View over the Fort from the hotel. Many buildings are under constructions.

 

 3rd Shangri-la in Manila is planned to open in 2014 in the right middle of Fort district

(Official website →Shangri-La At The Fort, Manila Will Open In 2014 In Fort Bonifacio)

 

 

Just a few minutes walk from the hotel, there is a very nice street only for pedestrian, called "Bonifacio High Street". It's a commercial and business complex with low-rise buildings houses restaurants, cafe and boutiques.

"Market Market" which is another complex of a huge local market and shopping mall next to it.

 



 

Local market with lots of vegetable, fruit, souvenirs with food court

 

 Entrance of "Market! Market" at night (top left), Variety of local food at food court (top right),

Grilled local seafood at one of the shop(bottom left), Grilled fish set 85peso = 2USD! (bottom right) 

 

I saw Manila is growing. Lots of new buildings, hotels and shopping malls keep opening.

Things are still cheap, many nice fruit and seafood are there and majority of Filipino people speak very good English too!

Of course, there are still issues, such as the income gap between rich and poor, development of infrastructure and so on... 

Even then, I think Philippine has a very high potential of economic growth...

 

 

 

 

 

WSET -Wine & Spirit Education Trust-

Last month, I had a chance to join a two days course to learn basic wine knowledge.

The course was provided by The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).

 

Course book and wine in glasses for tasting

 

 

 WSET was found by the English wine merchants' guild -Vintners Company- in 1969.

 (Official website →http://www.wsetglobal.com/)

"The Wine & Spirit Education Trust has over 40 years' experience in the design and delivery of wine education programmes and qualifications in wines and spirits. In that time, it has grown to become the largest global provider in this field, with over 35,500 examination candidates per annum, in 58 countries. WSET qualifications are currently available in 17 different languages."

-from the official website-

 

 

14 people from different part of Taiwan attended the course

 

 

The course I joined took place in Taichung city, Taiwan.

(So, the course was ran in Chinese, though they gave me the English course book and exam in English.)

First day, the course started in 10am and study whole day until 6pm.

Level 1 course mainly covers basics. Such as, Types and Styles of Wine, Principal Grape Varieties, Social Responsibility...etc

Study through books along with the activities, like, wine tasting,  aroma sampling, food and wine pairing...etc

And the second day, we spent a few hours in the morning, reviewed what we have learnt in the first day and the certification exam after the lunch break.  

 

It was very interesting and I learnt a lot from the course.

Japanese food is very popular all over the world and loved by diversity of people.

Of course, Sake goes perfect with Japanese food but it can be enjoyed with wine also, if you choose correct food with correct wine...

 

Thanks to the teacher, Tina, and all the classmates, I have received the certificate from WSET!

I am looking forward to join the Level 2 course....

  

 

Angkor, Cambodia, vol 2 アンコール遺跡、カンボジア

Face of the Buddha, Angkor Tom

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia.
But the each sites are tremendously damaged because nobody had taken care of them during the war time and the time was quite long too...
Many countries stood up and help them restore the sites in a good shape, but at the end of the day, those work can not be done without the effort of local people.
I had a chance to visit the local art school "Artisans d'Angkor", established by the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ligue Française de la Formation Continue et de l'Enseignement (French League for In-service Training and Education), and saw how the local student learn to become a real craftsman and help reconstruct the sites, the heritage of their own country.

 

 

Young students getting ready to be a craftsman

 

Sketches of a statue of the Buddha (left), Buddha's face from the site (right)

 

How they make statues of Hindu icons, Shiva (left), and Ganesha (right)

 

 

By the way, you can see both Hinduism and Buddhism sculptures in Angkor sites because the Khmer Empire (9th-15th century) was influenced by both Khmer Hindu and Buddhism. It was very interesting to see that both sculptures were seen in a same temple or a same column next to each other.

 

 

Beautiful paintings are sold on the street

 

A young artist painting and selling his work on the street

 

 

Well, as I said in "vol 1", I walked a lot from site to site in a very hot weather, I could use some rest. I enjoyed fresh coconut juice prepared by local girl with a big knife and also a cold Cambodian beer at the store just out side of the site.

 

 

Fresh coconut juice (left top), Cambodian beer (right),

Shops selling snacks, beverages and souvenirs (bottom)

 

  

There was a local fruit market near the hotel I was staying at.

Many different types of tropical fruits are found in the local market. It's very cheap anyway but you can also negotiate for a discount! You can pay both Cambodian Riel or US$ in any stores and shops in town. (US$1≒4100R)

 

 

Local fruit market near Smiling Hotel

 

Dragon fruit (top left), Longan (top right),

Salak -or Snakefruit-(bottom left), Rambutan (bottom right)

 

 

At Siem Reap's old market, you can also find fruits & vegetables, fermented fish paste, herbs & spices and souvenirs, like, Cambodia's famous palm sugar or T-shirts etc. 

 

 

Local market, selling vegetables (left) and spices (right)

Variety of spices and seasonings (left), Fermented fish and pickles (right) 

Dried sausages, fish meat, etc...

 

 

5days trip wasn't a long time. I wish I could spend more time and explre more but I enjoyed those 5days. Angkor definitely is a place to visit, at least, once in a life time. There are so much to see... I strongly recomend it!

 

 

Angkor, Cambodia, vol 1 アンコール遺跡、カンボジア

Ruins of Angkor are the Cambodia's biggest tourist attraction, located near Siem Reap city.

 

Many ruins of Angkor were hidden in the forest, covered by trees.

 

 

I took a 5days trip to Angkor,Cambodia, last month. Angkor was one of the place I always wanted to visit. Cambodia was not accessible country until they ended their 20years of civil war in 1990.
So, I think we are very fortunate to be able to visit there and see the part of ancient history with our own eyes.

Smiling Hotel in Siem Reap

 

View from the balcony (left), Swimming pool (middle), Appearance of the hotel (right)

 

 

I was staying at Smiling Hotel, one of the four star hotels in Siem Reap City.

The hotel is not located in the downtown Siem Reap but there is a local market next door (if you like to explore and try some local food), the room was very clean, decent breakfast buffet and free Wi-Fi in every rooms and the lobby. That was good enough for me.

One thing though, there was a blackout for a few minutes, every night around 10pm! But it was nothing to do with the hotel,  it was not only in the hotel, seems like whole town gone blackout every night...

 

There are a couple of five star hotels in Siem Reap City. One is Sofitel and other is Le Meridien.

Both located next to each other and also a bit far away from downtown.

I also saw a sign of Park Hyatt going under construction. They made an agreement with Hotel De La Paix, rebrand and renovate the hotel, supposed to be opening in fist quarter 2013.

 

 

Tonle Sap, "Large fresh water river" or simply "Great Lake" 

 

 

First day of the tour started from "Tonle Sap", a great lake. Half an hour drive, straight from the airport, we arrived the lake. It is a huge lake, more like an ocean, just something wrong with the color of water.

The color of the water, as you can see from the pictures, was brown... It's not clean, obviously. People live there and do all the things necessary for their lives, from excretion to washing their clothing with same water from the lake... though they do have a water purification system in place for their food and drink.

Well, important thing is no matter what the circumstances are, people seem to enjoy their lives. Not much stress, totally relaxed. The lake support their lives with water and fish. They don't need to worry about food. They can also easily move around with the houses/boats, depending on the season.

 

 

Houses on the river bank (left), 

A boy with an aluminium bowl, using it as a boat (right) 

 

People have their life in "mobile" house

 

Over one million people live in floating villages around the lake(left, middle),

They even have shops and schools for their children (right)

 

 

From the 2nd day to 4th day of the 5days tour,  focus on the ruins of Angkor. Everyday from morning to late afternoon, there are a lot to see...

Angkor Tom, Angkor Wat, Ta Keo and so on... walked a lot in hot days except 4th day, rained in the morning, but all of them were spectacular sites. As you may know from the movie "Lara Croft", those temples and palaces are amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately, most of them are heavily damaged because they have been abandoned for long time during the war time... but somehow the abandoned buildings and the forest are in a good harmony and keep attracting people's eyes and hearts.



 

 

Angkor Wat, translated to "Temple City" or "City of Temples"

 

Angkor Thom, "Great City"

 

Preah Khan, "Holy Sword"

 

Preah Khan, Temple (right), Library (middle), Sculpture of Buddhas (right)

 

 

There are so many pictures and things I want to share, but it is becoming too long...

 To be continued.....!!