While we were in Hua Hin, Thailand, we went elephant riding with our friends Kellie and Barbi. After all, we figured it was definitely a unique travel experience. So, with the help of the hotel concierge, we went to the Hutsadin Elephant Hospital for our adventure.

When we first started out, Michael (9) wasn't so sure about the whole thing. He was clinging to Michelle pretty tightly.

Andrew (12), by contrast, was much more comfortable with the whole thing and even rode bareback in the driver's seat. I think he looks like Mowgli from The Jungle Book here. (For the record, I also did the "sit bareback on the elephant" thing.)

Our drivers (mahouts) took us for a thirty minute loop around their property, which included some hilly terrain and nice views of the beach.

Our tour took us past the mahouts' homes.

Michael warmed up to the whole elephant thing and by the end was "chillaxing" (his words).

After the ride, the boys gave the elephants a treat (for a small fee, of course).

The elephants returned the favor with a little hat trick.

The whole experience was actually pretty cool, even if it was a bit manufactured. The elephants are really big; this seems obvious, but it's different when you're sitting on top. (It was definitely a great reminder than being on top doesn't mean you're in charge.) Their gait has a weird lurching, rolling feel, but they seem very sure footed even going down or side-hill. It was also pretty amazing to see how dexterous they were with their trunks. They were able to even find little bits of pineapple on the floor or accept a one hundred baht note...

The experience was a bit commercial with a push to buy elephant tooth jewelry while you're on the elephant (the boys each now have a necklace...), a photo (which wasn't bad actually), and fruit to feed the elephants (which was fun). The money is ostensibly used to take care of these elephants who they're rescuing from bad situations. It was a lot of fun in any case and ultimately not a lot of money, so we were very happy with the whole thing overall. It was definitely a highlight of the trip and one we're still talking about.

Our Bangkok friends John and Ann took us to see the the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market, affectionately known as the J.J. Market. You can buy everything from food to pets (not at the same stalls) to clothes to souvenirs to furniture and more. Here are a few snaps I took from this amazing, huge place.

 

Here's a set of stickers in the window of my cab in Bangkok this evening. I guess there's a lot of things they don't want you to do. I'm sad to report I did none of these (although I'm not sure what the bull skull one is.)

The family and I plus my colleagues Steve and John took the 1.5 hour flight to Xian this weekend to see the sights. On the top of the list, of course, was the famous Terracotta Army, so we headed out on a muggy, hot day to check it out.

After fending off the numerous offers in the parking lot for a tour guide, we walked through a long shopping plaza to get to the entrance. (Tip: it’s probably worth the 5 RMB to take the electric tram to the entrance. Bonus tip: hang on to your tickets – you’ll have show them to various guards several times.)

It might have been worth getting a tour guide for 100 RMB (about USD$15). As they warned me in English and Chinese, the site is not well marked. We figured out where pit #1 was and headed over to the building to see Qin Shi Huang’s army.

The building housing pit #1:

Inside this building was the largest of the excavated pits. It was really breathtaking. It’s huge. If you look in this photo, you can see the tourists gathered around the edges of the pit. The soldiers were arranged in “rooms” divided by rammed earth walls that are apparently as hard as concrete. The rooms were covered with logs, grass mats, and dirt, forming a roof.

 

Note the original entrance used to populate the rooms; the doors were later sealed.

 

 

There’s still a lot of work to be done at the sites. Here is a platoon in various states of re-assembly.

In fact, there are many parts of the site that archaeologists have yet to unearth. They’re going slowly, apparently to limit the environmental damage from pollution, moisture (including that from the breath and sweat of the all the tourists), and mold that are beginning to take a toll on the ones already exposed.

The detail of each of the soldiers was really amazing. While the faces are all unique, the soldiers were apparently mass produced. The faces came from a set of base patterns and then were “personalized” to add expressions and different features. The different body parts were fired separately and then assembled. The pieces were all originally painted, but the color has faded over the years. This was a bit of a surprise to me since I’ve always seen the in the familiar brown color. They all originally had bronze weapons, but these were looted. However, the ones they recovered were still sharp due to the advanced chrome plating process used – thousands of years ahead of similar plating technology in the west.

In addition to the terracotta figures, they had two bronze chariots on display. These were smaller than real life (I think half sized), but still amazingly detailed and beautiful.

There was one weird thing. Ahead of the Olympics last year, they (not sure who “they” really is) built a huge terracotta solider marionette that held hands and danced with a Western-doll marionette. The two were just creepy.

Overall, the artifacts were really amazing as was the scale of the display. I just had no idea it was so huge (also, only about 1000 of the estimated 8000 soldiers has been excavated so far). Perhaps even more tantalizing are the reports of huge, 22 square mile (56 sq. km) necropolis nearby with a map of all of China. The old records say the ceiling is studded with pearls, simulating the night sky, and mercury was pumped to simulate river flows. To unearth the entire site, twelve villages and several factories would have to be moved. Almost none of the site has been uncovered and the entrance to the tomb has not been found yet. However, the soil apparently has high concentrations of mercury. It’s staggering to think of this level of accomplishment in 210 BC.

The only real downsides were the mobs of pushy tourists and the heat. It was difficult to really look at the statues and take in everything with so many people around (often thoughtlessly shoving, talking loudly, and bumping into us); in particular, it took some effort to stay connected with the kids. We were also just hot the whole time, even though the buildings were somewhat air conditioned. Michelle also wound up with a bottle of faux Perrier at a coffee shop outside the complex (this kind of real-looking packaging with fake contents is unfortunately too common in China.)

Still, the site was incredible to see, and we’re glad we went. Definitely worth a visit.

Just like my Facebook ramen tip, I got a great recommendation for a sake shop from my old friend (and sake expert) Bruce after I mentioned I was in Tokyo (on my last trip actually). So, after our Ippudo ramen dinner, my friend Shinji and I headed over to Fukumitsuya, which was nearby the restaurant in Ginza. (I had actually tried to go the night before with my colleague John, but we got there too late.)

Fukumitsuya is a sake brewery founded in 1625; this is one of three of their retail shops. They have a tasting bar and a retail section full of great sake and lovely sakeware made from ceramic, glass, pewter, and even silver.

We were helped by the very kind and patient Otsu-san, helped by Shinji's translation skills. As we discussed more and showed our appreciation, Otsu-san started pouring more and more expensive sakes for us, ending with this amazing 20 year old Momotose, which was a deep amber color and sherry-like in nose and flavor. I've never had anything like it. She also highly recommended the Hatsugokoro Midorigura 7 year old sake; this is a daiginjo, the highest grade of sake where the rice is milled down to at least 50% of the original size. It was really delicious as well, with a full, round taste that filled my mouth and nose. Kind of hard to describe.

Most sakes are meant to be consumed young, so it's somewhat unusual to see old sakes like this, especially the 20 year old (they had 30 year old sake too.) Shinji was impressed anyway. These were pretty expensive as far as sake goes (~USD$85 for a small bottle of the Momotose and ~USD$150 for a 720ml bottle of the Hatsugokoro), but I figured I couldn't find anything like this in Seattle or Beijing, so I bought a bottle of each to share with my sweetie. Affordable and memorable luxury. (I'd rather have one bottle I'll remember forever than 5-6 bottles I'll forget once the hangover wears off.)

I also picked up a tasty bottle of plum shochu. (Shochu is a distilled Japanese spirit, like vodka but weaker). It'll be great mixed with soda on the rocks. I topped off my shopping splurge with an elegant silver flask/pitcher thing and two egg-like ceramic cups. It took a lot of restraint to not buy more, frankly. I could easily have spend a zillion dollars here.

It was a very enjoyable shopping experience. They have a restaurant upstairs too, which I'd like to try sometime too. I'll definitely be back.

You can read more about the shop (in English!) on Tokyo Qool. (I tried the pink Nipponia Nippon they mention in the article too -- delicious.)

Fukumitsuya
5-5-8 Ginza
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
03-3569-2291

Thanks to my Facebook update saying I was in Tokyo, I got a hot ramen tip from my friend, George, who I met at Foo Camp a few years ago. So, after work today, I headed out with my old buddy Shinji (we worked together on Works and Picture It! a long time ago) to Ippudo. As it turns out, Ippudo is Shinji's favorite ramen place too. After a bit of navigational confusion, we managed to find the branch in Ginza and headed downstairs into the cellar restaurant.

 
(The Ginza Ippudo from across the street. The entrance is actually behind the truck. The sign says "Your happiness of eating this ramen makes us happy." They must have been very happy after I ate my ramen.)

Ippudo serves Hakata-style tonkatsu (pork) based broth, like my beloved Jangara Ramen. Unlike Jangara's super rich and luscious soup, Ippudo serves a lighter but equally delicious bowl of ramen. I followed Shinji's recommendation to try the akamaru (red sea) style instead of the more traditional shiromaru (white  sea) style. The akamaru is Ippudo's innovation, adding spicy miso and garlic oil to the shiromaru. It was simply great. You can even pick how well cooked you like your noodles (I picked one level harder than normal; not sure why. Normal would probably have been a little better, but it was cool to see how much control and attention to detail they have.)

(Here's my bowl of akamaru before I started eating. The cool copper tumbler is my beer. The pots behind the ramen are different kinds of pickles. The low dish at 12:00 is peeled garlic which you mince with the garlic press at 2:00.)

The gyoza (dumplings like Chinese potstickers) were also amazing, perhaps the best I've ever tasted -- savory filling in a light skin. Ippudo also provides pots of free pickles including these great spicy bean sprouts. Yum, yum, yum, with a side of yum.

There are branches around Japan and now there's a branch in New York, Ippudo NY. The chef, Shigemi Kawahara, won the 2005 Ramen King title. I can see why.

(Here's my before I tuck into my bowl of ramen. The after-action photos are NSFW. The scenes of culinary carnage and self-satisfied food ecstasy are probably best left to the imagination.)

As usual, Rameniac has a much better write-up (from which I liberally drew for this post).

Thanks, George!

Last weekend, we took advantage of the boys' short spring break (two days off school -- shorter than normal this year because of the late start due after the Olympics) to take a quick jaunt down to Sanya, a city on the south coast of Hainan Island. Hainan is on the south coast of China in the South China Sea near Vietnam; it's often referred to as the "Hawaii of China." It's a popular resort destination for Chinese and expats, plus it's apparently a big draw for visitors from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. More interestingly, it's a huge favorite for Russian tourists. On our drive from the airport, we saw a lot of signs with Russian on them.

Contrary to my normal vacation mode where I want to see a lot things at our destination, this time we just wanted to sit around, soak up the warmth, and relax. To that end, we chose to stay at the Banyan Tree Resort in Sanya. The resort is away from the bustle of the more popular hotel areas, in a quiet section on Luhuitou Bay. We spent a lot of our time in and around the private pool in our two bedroom villa, going to the beach to play in the sand and warm water in the mornings when it was a bit cooler. The boys thought the midnight swims were especially cool.

(This is a Photosynth view of our villa. It's a composite image of a few hundred photos. You may need to install Photosynth first. BTW, Photosynth is a super cool technology by the big brain guys at Microsoft Live Labs. Worth checking out.)

 

 

I managed to sneak out to Luhuitou Golf Club for my first round in eighteen months. It turns out that not playing for a while doesn't help your game. Fortunately, I was playing alone save for my caddie, who was polite enough not to laugh, and the course was impeccably maintained with perfect greens (not that I could make a putt to save my life.)

The facilities were undeniably lovely and the service was very good (particularly by Chinese standards). The only real downer (and probably the thing that would encourage us to to try someplace else next time) was the food. It was very inconsistent, ranging from great to fair, and the menu was pretty limited. By the end of our fourth day, we were pretty bored with the selection. (Although I did have a pretty good Hainan Chicken Rice - always good to try a dish in the place of its origin.)

Still, it was great to get away from the dusty grey and brown air and ground of Beijing for warm, humid, clean air and lush tropical environs of Sanya. We all had a very enjoyable and relaxing time.

I just came across this photo I took last summer in Tokyo, which I clearly forgot to post at the time. What a ridiculously awesome sandwich. I'm pretty sure the Japanese on the poster says, "An honorable way to die. Get one today!"

Three all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, bacon, and an egg on a sesame seed bun... (The song and the sandwich are clearly better with the egg, bacon, and extra patty.)

The remarkable thing about this photo is that you can see Mount Fuji. While Tokyo is hardly a clean-air city, it's definitely cleaner right now than Beijing. It's been a nice relief to not be able to taste the air for a little while.