Shenzhen Life, 深セン生活

I wrote about Shenzhen on this blog right after I moved to Shenzhen about one and half year ago. (See→2011 Jan.30 "Hello Shenzhen!")

Beautiful twilight time scenery in Futian district

One and half year is not considered to be a long period of time, I guess..., but I still did taste some Shenzhen Life.
Universiade 2011 was taken place in Shenzhen , New subway (MTR) lines have been opened within this period, construction sites are still everywhere and quite a few international 5* hotels have been opened or planned to open soon in Shenzhen.

St Regis has been opened in the end of 2011 as the world's tallest St Regis hotel, as well as the tallest building in the city. It is located in the Kingkey 100 building in Louhu district, only takes 5 minutes walk from Grand Theatre subway (MTR) station.
The Langham Shenzhen is opening in September this year in Futian district, also only 5 minutes walk from Chegongmiao subway (MTR) station. It will be the first Langham hotel in South China.
Also, The Four Seasons, Renaissance and Hilton are scheduled to open their hotels in Shenzhen within a couple of years...

Grand Hyatt Shenzhen in Luohu district.

The hotel is surrounded by luxury boutiques and connects to the MIXC shopping mall.

Futian Shangri-La Hotel located between two shopping malls -COCO Park and Central Walk- and 5 minues drive to the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre

Newly opened St Regis inside the Kingkey 100 (left)
-the Chinese sign on the side says "For Rent Worldwide" with a phone number-and Shenzhen's icon Shun Hing Square (right) -the tallest building in the city before St Regis- 

Shenzhen is a city with sky scrapers, bunch of theme parks and shopping malls. Not much of historical site or buildings.
Most of the people are from other region of China, come to get a benefit of China's first and one of the most successful Special Economic Zones. Therefore, it's hardware is nice and new but the software is still need to be updated. People there still need time to learn basic morals and ethics to be a part of internationalization...

COCO PARK ,

One of the most popular shopping mall in Futian

Past one and half year, I have enjoyed being in Shenzhen in many ways, and now I am leaving this city for another challenge in another part of the world!
Journey still continues...

JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, JW マリオット香港

JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong opened its door in 1989 as the first Asian and flagship hotel of the Marriott hotel group.

The entrance of JW Marriott Hotel HK

The hotel with 602 guest rooms (including 25 suites) and 7 restaurants is located in Pacific Place -only 5 minutes walk from Admiralty MTR subway station-, Hong Kong Island. 

It's a 23 years old hotel but still looks pretty stunning!

 Appearance of the hotel

Hotel room with king size beds(left), huge space (middle) and nice & clean bathroom

Wide windows and fantastic view of downtown Honk Kong 

The guest room is big for a Hong Kong hotel standard -hotel guest rooms in HK can be quite small-.Luxurious bedding with fluffy pillows & thick mattresses, Two huge wide windows you can enjoy the view of Hong Kong city, Harbor or Mountain. 

Outside swimming pool located at 7F along with "Fish Bar and Grill" seafood restaurant

Cease the summer heat at the swimming pool and relax at whirlpool or sauna at the poolside. Or enjoy a meal at the seafood restaurant "Fish Bar and Grill".

"The Lounge" and "Q88 Wine Bar" at Lobby Level

At "The Longe" you can enjoy from the morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and all the way to dinner. Located at same lobby lebel, there is also "Q88 Wine Bar" you can enjoy their live music show.

Conrad and Island Shangri-la,

just across the street from JW Marriott

There are many 5*hotels in Hong Kong for the travellers to choose... but JW Marriott is definitely one of the top hotels in town.

Renaissance HK Harbour View Hotel -New Room-

Modern designed new room with plasma TV, reading light besides bed

see through glass window, a door between bathroom area and bed room

Let's see, recently renovated new guest room in Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel!

As soon as you step into the room, you can feel the difference from the old rooms.

No doors to the bathroom but a wooden door to the bedroom area. A glass window in between the bathroom area and bed room area, wooden floor, trendy lighting setup... all these make it looks more stylish and creates calm ambiance.

Open bathroom area with no bathtub

However, the room size stays the same which means "small". Or, maybe little bigger...because a small bathtub in the old room is now disappeared in the new room.

Some people might feel uncomfortable with new room's layout though... specially with the open bathroom space. Get into the room and you can see the bathroom area immediately.

Also, no bathtub means a lot to Japanese guests. They need to take a bath, not only a shower!!

It makes feel like staying in "Courtyard by Marriott" or other 4*hotel...

Old room with cathode ray TV

Old rooms had more classic taste, even though their furniture were bit scratched and old fashioned cathode ray TV were used in the rooms... I believe there are many regular room guests still prefere　the original rooms. (*I am not sure if they still keep the original styled rooms after renovation or not...)

Entrance at ground floor and lobby/front desk at upstairs

You can find more information about the Renaissance Harbour View Hotel's renovation on the website below.
↓
Renaissance Harbour View Hong Kong completes renovation | MICE | SCMP Directories | SCMP.com

Teppanyaki -鉄板焼き-

Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that you can enjoy watching chefs preparing food in front of you, just like seating at a sushi bar.

Fresh ingredients for Teppanyaki

-Wagyu beef, Salmon, Lobster, Clams and seasonal vegetables-

Teppanyaki room,

Shizuku Japanese Restaurant in JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen

Chinese "Snow Dragon" wagyu beef

Teppanyaki, literally means "Iron"(Teppan) "Grill"(Yaki), is a modern and western influence cooking method. It is not considered to be a traditional, authentic Japanese, as far as I know...

It's origin goes back to 1945, from a stake house restaurant "Misono" in Kobe. The idea of cooking in front of the customers came from a sushi restaurant. At the beginning, it wasn't so popular among Japanese customers but it became more popular to foreigners.

In my childhood life, teppanyaki wasn't either high-end or popular thing...

Though, I enjoyed "Okonomiyaki" and "Monjayaki" (Japanese style savory pancake, both prepared on Teppan iron plate) specially when I was out with bunch of friends and prepare the food on an iron plate which was installed in the table. Those are not expensive and goes good with beer!

(* In Kansai-western Japan- region, people are custom to eat "Okonomiyaki" as a side dish served together with steamed rice but Kanto -eastern Japan- region, most people don't eat it with rice)



tools and seasonings for Teppanyaki

Nowadays, Teppanyaki is a one of the most popular cuisine which represents Japanese cuisine in all over the world!