Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Books/Libros

I've been reading a fair bit during the trip, and I just thought of listing the books here, in case anyone's interested or needing ideas on what to read next. Not all recommended though...

Estuve leyendo bastante durante el viaje, y se me acaba de ocurrir poner la lista de libros aca, por si a alguien le interesa o si andan necesitando ideas sobre que leer. Aunque no son todos recomendables...

Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens
Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- Mark Twain
The White Tiger-Aravind Adiga
The Third Girl- Agatha Christie
Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie
The Silence of the Lambs- Thomas Harris
Snuff- Chuck Palahniuk

Monday, December 28, 2009

Second week in Buenos Aires/Segunda semana en Buenos Aires
















It's been another week in Buenos Aires- I think I'll be updating the blog only once a week while I'm here, cause I don't have too many stories to tell about Argentina.
So what's happened this past week...? Uhm... Saturday night I went to a pub to listen to my brother's band. My brother Joaquin has been playing the bass in a band for about a year and a half now, so because I hadn't been back in Argentina in over 2 years this was the first chance I had to watch them, they were really good!
Sunday was lunch at my brother Diego's house and then I met with some friends from high school for afternoon tea. It was really nice to see them all again, and 2 of them have kids now, so I met the 2 cute little boys as well (Felipe and Benicio).
Monday... went into the city and to my aunt Ana's office. I met everyone there and even some of my blog's followers (hello there!) whom I had never met before, very funny. We then went to "throw eggs" to Flo, a friend. This egg throwing is a tradition in Argentina (and maybe in other countries as well?!? But I've never heard of it being done anywhere else). Whenever someone graduates from University, the friends and family go and wait at the front of the Uni, and when the new graduate walks out, after just passing their last exam, they are greeted by people throwing raw eggs at them. The raw eggs are the traditional item of choice, but of course the tradition's developed and you don't only throw eggs at the person now but also flour, ketchup, mayonnaise, yerba, anything and everything really. It's always heaps of fun although I don't expect people from other countries to understand it... truth is I don't understand the meaning of it either, but I know it's fun! And Flo was so happy!!! She was really scared that she didn't know if she was gonna pass or fail, so she was extra happy when she passed and even enjoyed the egging.
What else? Christmas shopping of course, and then Christmas celebrations. I skyped with the argentineans in Australia and with Guille from Spain on Christmas, that was really nice. In Argentina we celebrate Christmas Eve, not really Christmas Day. So Christmas Eve was at Diego's house, with Jackie, her parents, Joaquin and my father. Eating, eating, drinking, eating, eating, presents (yes, we open the presents at Midnight, we don't have to wait until the next day). And when everyone was leaving or going to bed I started watching an aussie movie on TV and stayed the night on the couch. Christmas Day is just eating the leftovers from the previous night, and although people still get together it's not the real celebration. So it was basically the same people as last night, eating leftovers, except without Joaquin and with my mother who came over.
In the afternoon Ana and her partner (Fernando) came over for a while, and then I went to their place with them. I stayed all weekend there. Eating, watching DVDs, and they gave me "some" DVDs to take home and watch- which is never gonna happen, to start with I don't watch much TV/movies, but even if I did it would be nearly impossible- I'm here for another month and a half and they lent me FORTY EIGHT DVDs, yes, FORTY EIGHT, which would average more than one a day. Impossible, I'll never do it, I'm giving up right now without even attempting it. Although if I try really hard I think I'll maybe make it to 10. We'll see.
So, back to my weekend at Ana and Fernando's place. We even went out for a "city tour" on Saturday- oh yes, I'm on my RTW trip, so I might as well do some tourism even if it's in my own city, right? So we drove around their neighbourhood, I had all the important landmarks pointed out at me and explained, and we even took pictures when approppriate. I felt like a tourist again. And I got back home about 4 hours ago, Sunday night now. I skyped with Sara for almost 2 hours, and then with Ana G (both argentinean friends from Australia).
And so it goes, my second week in Argentina. I'm again up to date with my blog, wow, finally! Uhm... not really... I'm still missing the Spanish bit- next time, no way I'll do it tonight.

Y paso otra semana en Buenos Aires- me parece que voy a escribir el blog solamente una vez por semana mientras este aca, porque no tengo muchas historias para contar sobre Argentina.
Que paso esta ultima semana...? Uhm.... el sabado a la noche fui a un bar a escuchar a la banda de mi hermano. Mi hermano Joaquin esta tocando el bajo en una banda hace como un anio y medio, pero como yo no venia a Argentina hace mas de 2 anios esta fue la primera vez que los pude ir a ver, muy bueno!
El domingo fui a almorzar a lo de mi hermando Diego y despues me junte a tomar el te con algunas amigas del colegio. Estuvo re bueno verlas de nuevo, y 2 de ellas ahora tienen hijos, asi que tambien conoci a los 2 chicos que son un amor (Felipe y Benicio).
Lunes... fui al centro y a la oficina de mi tia Ana. Conoci a todos los de su laburo y hasta a algunos seguidores del blog (hola!) a los que nunca habia conocido, muy gracioso. Despues fuimos a "tirarle huevos" a Flo, una amiga. Y es espaniol no hace falta que haga la explicacion sobre que significa ir a tirarle huevos a alguien, ya saben que es lo tipico cuando alguien se recibe. Flo estaba feliz! No sabia si iba a aprobar o no, asi que cuando aprobo estaba extra feliz y ni siquiera le importaron los huevazos.
Que mas? Compras de Navidad y festejos de Navidad obviamente. Hable por Skype con los argentinos de Australia y con Guille de Espania para Navidad, muy bueno. En Argentina se celebra mas la Nochebuena que el dia de Navidad. Asi que Nochebuena fue en lo de Diego, con Jackie, los papas de Jackie, Joaquin, y mi papa. Comer, comer, tomar, comer, comer, regalos (si, abrimos los regalos a las 12 de la noche, no tenemos que esperar hasta el dia siguiente aca). Y cuando todos se estaban yendo o yendose a dormir empece a mirar una pelicula australiana por tele y me quede a dormir ahi en el sillon. El dia de Navidad en verdad solo es comer las sobras de la noche anterior, y aunque la gente se junta no es el verdadero festejo. Asi que basicamente eramos los mismos de la noche anterior, comiendo las sobras, menos Joaquin y mas mi mama.
A la tarde vinieron Ana y Fernando un arto y despues me fui a su casa con ellos. Me quede ahi todo el fin de semana. Comiendo, mirando DVDs y me dieron "algunos" DVDs para que me lleve a casa par mirar- que jamas lo hare, porque para empezar no miro mucha tele/peliculas, y auqnue lo hiciera seria casi imposible- me quedo aca por un mes y medio mas, y me prestaron CUARENTA Y OCHO DVDs, si, CUARENTA Y OCHO, que seria un promedio de mas de una pelicula por dia. Imposible, jamas lo lograre, me doy por vencida ahora mismo sin siquiera intentarlo. Aunque si realmente lo intento creo que puedo llegar a 10. Ya veremos.
Bueno, de vuelta al fin de semana en lo de Ana y Fernando. Hasta salimos a hacer un "city tour" el Sabado- si, si, estoy haciendo un viaje alrededor del mundo, asi que mas vale que haga turismo aunque sea en mi propia ciudad, no? Asi que salimos a dar vueltas en el auto por el barrio, me senialaron y explicaron todos los lugares notables, y hasta sacamos fotos en los lugares apropiados. Me senti como una turista nuevamente.
Y volvi a casa el domingo a la noche, unas horas antes de escribir la historia esta en ingles. Hable por Skype con Sara como 2 horas y despues con Ana G (las 2 son amigas argentinas de Australia).
Y eso fue, mi segunda semana en Argentina. Estoy otra vez al dia con el blog, wow, finalmente!! Ahora si que puedo decir que estoy al dia, porque escribi la parte en espaniol tambien.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Argentina











I´ve been in Buenos Aires for about 1 week now. It was a long 45 and a half hours trip from the moment I left the hotel in Tokyo until I walked into my mother's house in Argentina- subway and train the Narita Airport, plane to New York, a couple of hours stopover there, then plane to Sao Paulo, about 8 hours there (it was hell; tiny, shitty transit area- no internet, no smoking anywhere at all, no TV, 2 shops (1 was closed) and 1 coffee shop), then plane to Buenos Aires, straight to a restaurant for dinner with 2 of my brothers (Diego and Matias), my mother, and Diego's wife (Jackie), and after all that I finally arrived.
The next day I went out for lunch with my father and my third brother, Joaquin, and then shopping for shoes with Joaquin (oh yeah, he loves shoe shopping haha) cause my pair of sneakers had holes in them already, and both my big toes were sticking out by now. So now I have a new pair of sneakers, which have no holes in them but they hurt my feet. Oh well, you can't have everything!
The next day was Matias' birthday (he's 11 already!), so we had his birthday party with the family at his father's place, and the day after we went shopping for his birthday present (the first thing he asked for was like 500 dollars, the next 2 he already has them but "I don´t know where they are", the 4th one he already has it but it's being repaired at the moment, so we finally settled on the 5th option- that was hard, and Christmas is coming up soon as well...) and after that we went to his birthday party with the kids from school.
The next day I went to watch Matias at his swimming lessons (which apparently he now hates?!?) and after that we went to Diego and Jackie's house and stayed there for a couple of nights. I met up with Luli and Chris (a friend from school and her South African husband, they live in South Africa but are here visiting), and Matias spent the day in the pool.
Another day I met up with Karen- a friend who now lives in San Francisco. I went out with her, her sister and her friends and then stayed the night at the sister's place.
Last night I met up with my aunt Ana and her friends, and today lunch with my father.
So that is a detailed run down on what I've been doing since I got to Argentina- won't be writing like this anymore, it's too boring, but basically the idea is: I've been catching up with everyone, and most importantly, eating and eating, which is the thing to be done in Argentina.

Hace como una semana que estoy en Buenos Aires. Fue un largo viaje de 45 horas y media desde que sali del hotel en Tokyo hasta que llegue a la casa de mi mama en Argentina- subte y tren al aeropuerto de Narita, avion a Nueva York, un par de horas en transito ahi, despues avion a Sao Paulo, como 8 horas ahi (fue una pesadilla, un area de transito chiquita de porqueria- sin internet, sin sector fumadores en ningun lado, sin TV, 2 negocios (1 estaba cerrado) y 1 cafe), despues avion a Buenos Aires, de ahi derecho a cenar a un restaurante con 2 de mis hermanos (Diego y Matias), mi mama, y la mujer de Diego (Jackie), y despues de todo eso finalmente llegue.
Al dia siguiente fui a almorzar con mi papa y mi tercer hermano, Joaquin, y despues me fui a comprar zapatos con Joaquin (ah si, le encanta salir a comprar zapatos haha) porque mis zapatillas estaban agujereadas, y los dedos gordos de los 2 pies se salian por los agujeros. Asi que ahora tengo un par de zapatillas nuevas, que no tienen agujeros pero me lastiman los pies. Y bueno, todo no se puede!
Al dia siguiente fue el cumpleanios de Matias (ya tiene 11!), asi que tuvimos la fiesta de cumpleanios familiar en la casa de su papa, y al dia siguiente fuimos a comprarle su regalo de cumpleanios (la primer cosa que pidio costaba como 500 dolares, las 2 siguientes ya las tiene pero "no se donde estan", la 4ta ya la tiene pero la estan arreglando en este momento, asi que finalmente nos pusimos de acuerdo con la 5ta opcion- costo es asunto, y ahora tambien se viene Navidad dentro de poco...), y despues de eso fuimos al festejo de cumpleanios con los amigos del colegio.
Al siguiente dia lo fui a ver a Matias a su clase de natacion (que aparentemente ahora lo odia?!?) y despues de ahi fuimos a la casa de Diego y Jackie y nos quedamos un par de noches ahi. Me encontre con Luli y Chris (una amiga del colegio y el marido que es sudafricano, viven en Sudafrica pero estan aca de visita), y Matias se paso el dia en la pileta.
Otro dia me encontre con Karen, una amiga que ahora vive en San Francisco. Sali con ella, la hermana, y las amigas y me quede a dormir en lo de la hermana.
Anoche me junte con mi tia Ana y sus amigas, y hoy almuerzo con mi papa.
Asi que esa es una descripcion detallada de lo que estuve haciendo desde que llegue a Argentina- no voy a seguir escribiendo asi, es muy aburrido, pero basicamente la idea es: me estuve encontrando con todo el mundo, y lo mas importante, comiendo y comiendo, que es lo que hay que hacer en Argentina.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Mascot V/Mascota V


I never did the Mascot swap before leaving Thailand, oops! But I did it in Japan. I made the swap with Natalia, a lovely Russian girl who was working at the reception of the hostel I stayed in in Tokyo. I gave her Johan's scarf and I got a handkerchief which was hand painted by a Japanese woman, really pretty. I'll upload the picture of the Swapping Ceremony soon.

Nunca hice el cambio de Mascota antes de irme de Tailandia, oops! Pero lo hice en Japon. Hice en canje con Natalia, una mina rusa que era un amor, que trabajaba en la recepcion del hostel en el que me quede en Tokyo. Le di la bufanda de Johan y ella me dio un panuelo pintado a mano por una mina japonesa, re lindo. Ya voy a poner la foto de la Ceremonia del Canje.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Mas Japon/More Japan
















So, what else did I do in Japan... I met some nice people and we unsuccesfully went out at night a few times- we are sure there must have been nightlife going on somewhere, but we couldn´t really find it. We went to the right areas (Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Roppongi) and although there were lots of people walking around in the streets, all the places we walked into were empty. So we just had fun walking into the love hotels and looking at the pictures of their rooms instead.
I met up with Nirmal (an american-indian guy I had met in Thailand) and spent a couple of days hanging out with him. We went to the area near Tokyo station one day. We looked at the Imperial Palace (from the outside, you are not allowed inside), we walked along Ginza (very fancy shops, labels such as Chanel and Armani, and we went into some of them dressed like cheap bakcpackers that we are), and we met a funny, funny, crazy old Japanese man (who insisted we were gonna get married and have 5 kids although we kept telling him we were purely friends and had just met about a week ago). We had some food in one of the little restaurants and cafes under the railway tracks (it's awesome, the train goes along a bridge over the road, and they have turned each of the bridge's "semicircles" at street level into restaurants and coffee shops, it´s so cool to be eating there and you feel all the vibrations every time a train goes past above). We walked to the river and then caught a train to Odaiba island and saw the beautiful city by night (hugeeeee!). In Odaiba we saw some weird futuristic buildings, a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty (but much smaller), and a bizarre shopping centre which was like being in Venice in Italy (so you walked in and all the shops looked like italian apartments, with balconies etc, the areas where you walked were like the streets, and the ceilings were lit up as if it were the sky, and it had fountains, arches, etc, so you felt as if you were actually walking outdoors in Italy). WEIRD!
The next day we woke up at 4:45am OUCH! to go see the Fish Markets (apparently a must see here!), but when we got there it was closed for 4 days. I was half disappointed and pissed off and half ecstatic and relieved (I absolutely hate fish and seafood, so I was dreading the stinky smell of the Fish Markets, especially so early in the morning). So instead, we got the bullet train (called Shinkansen) and went to Hakone for the day, which is a town near Mt Fuji. What a beautiful view! Nirmal and I went separate ways when we got there cause he only had a few hours and then had to go back to Tokyo to fly back home, but I spent all day in Hakone. Views of Mt Fuji, parks, train, cablecar, ropeway, bus, cruise boat, black eggs, smoking volcanoes, stinky sulphur smells. It was an amazing day.
And my last day in Japan I went to the Ueno and Asakusa areas- they are the areas with temples, shrines, pagodas, which remain from the older Japanese culture (from the Edo era)- beautiful buildings. And that was it, 5 days was not enough for all there is to see in Tokyo!
But, toilets are amazing!! I had so much fun going into every public toilet I could find, and playing with all the buttons- they have water, music, sounds, auto flushing, auto toilet seat cover lifting, auto bloody everything! And the best thing- heated toilet seats!! It's always been my dream to have a heated toilet seat, and although I never sit down on public toilets I could not resist it in Japan and I sat down on every heated toilet I found. NICE!

Que mas hice en Japon... conoci gente buena onda y fracasamos en intentar salir a la noche varias noches- estamos seguros de que en algun lugar seguro habia onda y joda, pero no lo logramos encontrar. Fuimos a las areas correctas (Shinjuku, Kabukicho, Roppongi), y aunque habia montones de gente caminando por la calle, todos los lugares a los que entramos estaban muertos. Asi que nos divertimos entrando en los hoteles del amor y mirando las fotos de los cuartos.
Me encontre con Nirmal (un pibe de USA-India que conoci en Tailandia) y pase un par de dias haciendo cosas con el. Un dia fuimos a la zona cerca de la estacion Tokyo. Miramos el Palacio Imperial (desde afuera, porque no te dejan entrar), caminamos por Ginza (negocios muy paquetes, marcas tipo Chanel y Armani, y entramos a algunos negocios vestidos como los mochileros baratos que somos) y conocimos a un viejo japones muy muy gracioso y loquisimo (que insistia con que nos ibamos a casar y tener 5 hijos, aunque le repetiamos que solo somos amigos y nos acababamos de conocer hace como una semana). Comimos algo en uno de los mini restaurantes/cafes que hay bajo las vias del tren (es una masa, el tren pasa por un puente sobre la calle, y transformaron todos los "semicirculos" que se forman bajo el puente en restaurantes o cafes, esta buenisimo estar ahi comiendo y sentir todas las vibraciones cada vez que pasa un tren por arriba). Caminamos hasta el rio y despues nos tomamos un tren a la isla Odaiba y vimos la ciudad lindisima toda iluminada (enooooorme!). En Odaiba vimos algunos edificios futuristicos extranios, una copia de la Estatua de la Libertad (pero mucho mas chica), y un shopping bizarro que era como estar en Venecia en Italia (entrabas y todos los negocios parecian como departamentos y edificos italianos, con balcones etc, la parte por la que caminabas era como si fueran las calles, y los techos estaban todos iluminados como si fuera el cielo, y habia fuentes, arcos, etc, asi que parecia como si estuvieras caminando al aire libre en Italia). RARO!
El dia siguiente nos despertamos a las 4:45am OUCH! para ir al mercado de peces (aparentemente algo imperdible aca!), pero cuando llegamos estaba cerrado por 4 dias. Estaba mitad decepcionada y enojada, y mitad aliviada y feliz (odio el pescado y cualquier comida de mar, asi que estaba odiando la idea del olor oloroso del mercado de peces, sobre todo tan temprano a la manana). Asi que en cambio, nos tomamos el Tren Bala (que se llama Shinkansen) y fuimos a Hakone por el dia, que es un pueblo cerca del Monte Fuji. Vista espectacular! Nirmal y yo nos despedimos cuando llegamos porque el tenia solo un par de horas y despues se tenia que volver a Tokyo para tomarse un vuelo de vuelta a USA, pero yo me quede todo el dia en Hakone. Vistas del Mt Fuji, parques, tren, cablecarril, gondola, colectivo, barco, huevos negros, volcanes humeantes, olores olorosos se sulfuro. Fue un dia espectacular.
Y mi ultimo dia en Japon fui a las zonas de Ueno y Asakusa- son las zonas con templos, altares, pagodas, que estan de la epoca antigua de Japon (la era Edo)- edificios divinos. Y eso fue todo, 5 dias no fue suficiente para todo lo que hay que ver en Tokyo!
Pero los banios son espectaculares! Me diverti muchisimo entrando a los banios publicos en todos lados y tocando todos los botoncitos- tienen agua, musica, sonidos, se tira la cadena sola, se levanta la tapa del asiento sola, todo se hace solo!! Y lo mejor- asiento de inodoro caliente!! Siempre fue mi suenio tener un asiento de inodoro caliente, y aunque nunca me siento en los banios publicos, en Japon no me pude resistir y me sente en todos los inodoros calientes que encontre. QUE LINDO!

Monday, December 14, 2009

The colours are back!/Volvieron los colores!

Yay, I've finally found where the font colours had gone, so I'm happy again. I'm going through the old posts now changing them and making them all pretty again. It will take me a while but I'll do it!
Yuppie! Finalmente encontre adonde se habian ido los colores del texto, asi que estoy contenta otra vez. Estoy revisando los posts viejos ahora, cambiandolos y poniendolos lindos otra vez. Me va a tomar tiempo pero lo lograre!

Awesome Tokyo-First 2 days/ Tokyo Increible-Primeros 2 dias



















Five days is definitely not enough for Japan! Or for Tokyo for that matter. What an awesome city- modern, eclectic, lively, happening, cool. It's got attitude! And I absolutely loved the way people dress, especially young people, and especially especially young girls- it's so out there and over the top, it's fascinating how fashion conscious they are, how they get into a character (and dress up like it) and pose, it´s all about being seen while pretending they don't care about being seen. And the city- the buildings, skycrapers, giant TVs on buildings, neon signs, lights, shopping malls, huge avenues. The technology is amazing- I am very technologically challenged so it doesn't take much to impress me, but I'm sure that the techno geeks out there would have also loved it and been impressed. And the shops- you can get anything and everything and they are so specialised it's bizarre- like you have a "Hawaii shop- for people who like Hawaiian things", and toy stores which are 8 floors big, and one floor is entirely pink (yuck, and half of it is of course all Hello Kitty stuff), and the massive pachinko places (the Japanase version of the pokies) which are all packed and you have rows and rows and rows of pachinko machines. And all the video games, which are also so sophisticated, I spent ages staring at people playing and could not figure out what the game was even about or what they had to do at all. It´s all really full on, it´s all big, it´s all loud, it's all bright, it's all neon. And on top of all that, it's December, which means I got to see all the Christmas decorations, which are of course full on, big, loud, bright and neon.
So...5 days. I spent the first 2 days walking around the hip cool areas where young people hang out. I was so fascinated by it all the first day that I went back to the same spots the next day again- Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku.
Shibuya is mainly the shopping district for young trendy people, with big stores and shopping malls. It has the famous Shibuya crossing: the busiest intersection in Tokyo, and every 3 minutes the lights go all green for pedestrians and people cross the road simultaneously from every direction (same as the Town Hall corner in Sydney). The Hachiko statue- a dog who supposedly used to wait every day at the train station for his owner to come back from work, and after his owner died he kept going back everyday anyway waiting for him- so the Japanese made a statue of him, for his loyalty; and I've heard that Hollywood has made a movie about it now, called Hachiko. The ultra hip/cool/trendy shopping centres where girls buy their outrageous outfits and sales assistants dress the same way. The love hotel hill- full of them, one next to each other, and you can have a look at the photos at the front to see what the rooms look like. The pachinko and video games massive and noisy stores.
Harajuku is mostly the alternative shops area, tiny shops on the small lanes selling quirky stuff, and also the expensive labels on the main roads. It´s the place where people dress up and hang out to be seen- I heard/read somewhere that teenagers dress "normally" during the week, and they come here on weekends, they dress up in a character (I saw Elvis Prestley's, bunny rabbits, goths, punks, crossdressers) and pretend to be someone/something else for the day. Nearby there's a nice park, (Yoyogi) and a great park with the Meiji shrine (which was beautiful, and several weddings going on there).

Shinjuku is the new business district, so it's one of the areas with all the tall skycrapers, giant TVs on the buildings, and lots and lots of lights and neon signs. There's a free observation deck from the 45th floor of one of these buildings (Thanks Andrew, it was an amazing view!), and the day I went they were teaching tourists how to make Origami, so that was also heaps of fun. There's also a building which supposedly has the biggest pendulum in the world in the lobby- but when I went it was under renovation work so I couldn't actually see the pendulum hanging down, although I could see the top bit of the structure. And Shinjuku also has the red light district area- more love hotels and the usual strip joints and brothels (I imagine, I didn´t really go into any).

Y si, espaniol la proxima. Ana S- no te quejes!! Bueno, aca va en espaniol ahora:
Cinco dias definitivamente no es suficiente para Japon. O para Tokyo siquiera. Que ciudad tan espectacular- moderna, eclectica, llena de vida, pasa de todo, copada. Tiene mucha onda! Y me encanto como se viste la gente, especialmente la gente joven, y especial especialmente las chicas jovenes- es tan exagerado y demasiado, es fascinante como estan tan pendientes de la moda, como se meten en un personaje (y se visten como ese personaje) y posan, como gira todo alrededor de ser visto, al mismo tiempo de estar pretendiendo que no les importa ser vistos. Y la ciudad- los edificios, los rascacielos, televisiones gigantes en los edificios, carteles de neon, luces, shoppings, avenidas inmensas. La tecnologia es impresionante- yo no soy muy tecnologica asi que no cuesta mucho impresionarme, pero estoy segura que a los super tecnologicos tambien les hubiera encantado y hubieran estado impresionados. Y los negocios- se puede conseguir de todos, cualquer cosa, y son tan especializados que es extranio, como por ejemplo hay un "negocio de Hawaii- para la gente a la que le gustan las cosas Hawaiianas", y jugueterias que tienen 8 pisos (y un piso es todo rosa, yuck! y medio piso por supuesto esta todo dedicado a Hello Kitty), y los lugares de pachinko gigantezcos (la version japonesa de las maquinitas de poker) que estan todos llenos y tenes filas y filas y filas de maquinas de pachinko. Y los videojuegos, que tambien son re sofisticados, me pase anios mirando a la gente jugar y no pude ni descifrar de que se trataban los juegos ni que se supone que estaban tratando de hacer tampoco. Todo es a full, todo es grande, todo es ruidoso, todo es brillante y todo es de neon. Y encima de todo es Diciembre, lo que significa que pude ver todas las decoraciones de Navidad, que por supuesto son a full, grandes, ruidosas, brillantes, y de neon.
Si... 5 dias. Me pase los primeros 2 dias caminando por las zonas de mas onda donde pasa el tiempo la gente joven. Me quede tan fascinada el primer dia que al dia siguiente volvi a los mismos lugares otra vez- Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku.
Shibuya es principalmente la zona de shopping para la gente con onda y moderna, con shoppings y negocios grandes. Tiene el famoso Cruce de Shibuya: la interseccion mas transitada de Tokyo, y cada 3 minutos todas las luces se ponen verdes para los peatones, y la gente cruza las calles de todas las direcciones a la misma vez (lo mismo que en la esquina de Town Hall en Sydney). La estatua de Hachiko- un perro que supuestamente esperaba todos los dias en la puerta de la estacion de tren a que su duenio volviera del trabajo, y despues de que su duenio murio el perro siguio yendo igualmente todos los dias esperandolo- asi que los Japoneses le hicieron una estatua, en honor a su lealtad; y me dijeron que Hollywood ahora hizo una pelicula, llamada Hachiko. Los shoppings con re onda donde las chicas compran sus ropas escandalosas y la gente que labura en los negocios se viste de la misma manera. La colina de los hoteles del amor- lleno de hoteles, uno al lado del otro, y podes mirar las fotos en la puerta para ver como son los cuartos. Los locales de pachinko y de videojuegos enormes y ruidosos.
Harajuku es principalmente la zona de negocios alternativos, negocios mini en las callecitas chiquitas vendiendo cosas quirky (no se como traducir quirky...), y las marcas caras en las calles principales. Es el lugar donde la gente se disfraza y pasa el tiempo para ser vista- escuche/lei en algun lado que los adolescentes se visten "normal" durante la semana, y vienen aca los fines de semana, se visten de algun personaje (yo vi Elvis Prestley's, conejos, goticos, punks, tipos vestidos de mujer) y pretenden ser alguien diferente por el dia. Cerca de ahi hay un parque lindo (Yoyogi), y otro parque buenisimo con un templo (Meiji shrine- re lindo, y habia varios casamientos).
Shinjuku es la nueva area de negocios- asi que es una de las areas con todos los rascacielos, televisores gigantes en los edificios, y montones y montones de luces y carteles de neon. Hay un piso con observatorio gratis en el piso 45 de uno de esos edificios (Gracias Andrew, la vista espectacular!), y el dia que yo fui le estaban enseniando a los turistas como hacer Origami, estuvo muy divertido eso. Tambien hay un edificio que supuestamente tiene el pendulo mas grande del mundo en el lobby- pero cuando fui estaba en remodelacion asi que no pude ver el pendulo en si colgando, aunque pude ver la parte de arriba de la estructura. Y Shinjuku tambien tiene la zona roja- mas hoteles del amor y los tipicos cabarets (bah, me imagino, porque la verdad no entre a ninguno).

Plane food/ Comida de Avion

I am mostly disatisfied with the vegetarian options on planes. I flew with Japan Airlines from Bangkok to Tokyo as a vegetarian- and they insist on giving you all boring non-fat stuff. I repeat- just cause I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean I am also on a diet!! Wheat instead of white bread, stupid fruit instead of cake... ludicrous I say! I still have a right to eat fattening unhealthy food even if I decide not to kill animals! But hey, at least I got a sandwich instead of the rice crackers (why on earth do they think vegetarians can't eat rice crackers anyway....?), and after I finished my sandwich I still asked for a packet of the rice crackers. BONUS! I was also angry that I didn't get the yoghurt, but luckily I checked my ticket and I think the fact that I had requested the "vegetarian lactose-intolerant" meal explains why I didn't get the yoghurt... Miss JOOO- I feel sorry for you, you are a true vegetarian, have you ever thought about complaining to the airlines and informing them you are not on a diet?!?! I'll willingly sign your petition if you start one.

Estoy totalmente disatisfecha con las opciones vegetarianas en los aviones. Viaje con Japan Airlines de Bangkok a Tokyo como vegetariana- y insisten en darte comida dietetica y aburrida. Pan negro en vez de blanco, fruta de porqueria en vez de torta... es un insulto! Tengo derecho a comer comida engordante y poco saludable, aunque decida no matar animales! Pero bueno, al menos me dieron un sandwich en vez de las galletas de arroz (no se por que se piensan que los vegetarianos no pueden comer galletas de arroz...?), y despues de haber terminado mi sandwich igualmente les pedi que me dieran un paquete de galletas de arroz, BONUS! Tambien me embolo que no me dieran el yogur, pero por suerte me fije en mi pasaje y me parece que el hecho de que pedi comida "vegetariana, intolerancia a la lactosa" explica por que no me dieron el yogur... JOOO- te compadezco, vos sos una vegetariana real, alguna vez pensaste en quejarte a las aerolineas y explicarles que no estas a dieta?!? Con gusto firmo tu peticion si empezas una.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

El regreso a Bangkok/ Return to Bangkok





















We checked out of the hotel in Koh Phangan on the 3rd and went back to Bangkok- walked to the pier, got a ferry to Koh Samui (another island in Thailand), had lunch there, got a taxi to the airport (how cute is the airport in Koh Samui!! really chilled, shops outdoors, people sitting on the lawns), then got the mini train along the tarmac to the plane, then took a plane to Bangkok, and then a taxi to the hotel- so that was my 30th birthday, I spent it traveling, literally! I loved it- traveled by land, air, and sea, all on the same day.
So we finally got to the hotel at night. Yani had told me she was paying for our 2 nights accommodation in Bangkok as my birthday present, but what she hadn't told me was what the hotel was like. OH MY GOD!! It was AMAZING!! I was staring at Yanina when we arrived as in: "are we in the wrong place?!?", while we are sitting in this extra fancy lobby waiting while they are checking us in, and there we are, trying to look serious and cool, but giggling and taking pictures, and I'm wearing the same smelly crappy dress I wore for the full moon party the night before (no way I was gonna put on clean clothes just to travel all day!) and thinking what the hotel staff must have thought when they saw my dirty smelly backpack hahaha.
As soon as the guy carrying suitcases to our room (whatever they are called) closed our bedroom door we started hugging and jumping up and down around the room, it was so funny. And of course touching everything, playing with everything, and taking a million pictures of the room. Only problem is: I don't know why I can't upload the pics from my camera to the computer, so my photos of the last 10 days in Thailand and the first day in Japan are trapped in my camera (I'll try and get it sorted while I'm in Argentina hopefully, and I've got a new memory card now, so the last 4 days in Japan are safe).
So, back to the hotel- it was awesome, thank you so much Yani for such a nice birthday present and for coming over to Thailand for my birthday!!!!!!
We had booked an all day tour for the next day, with an early start, so we went out for dinner and went to bed early (uhm... I think by this time it was past midnight anyway).
4th Dec - woke up too early for my liking, as we were being picked up at 6:30am for the tour. Buffet breakfast included in the hotel- wow, so many things to eat, I hate it when I can't try everything. Delicious, and of course I packed up a few pastries and sandwiches for later on the day.
We first went to the Floating Markets- water canals, and people have set up their shops/stands on the shores along them, and also go around on small wooden boats selling anything and everything. It was really cool, we got on a boat and they took us around for about an hour, looking around- some places you can only access on a boat, other places you can walk to. There were moments of full on traffic jams, and the woman on our boat was a shit... driver?/boater? whatever the word is, and it was very funny to hear them getting angry and yelling at each other and getting "water rage".
From there we went on to the Tiger Temple (oh crap!!! I just realised, all my photos in the tiger temple are trapped in my camera aaaaaaargh!!)- it's a buddhist monastery where they shelter animals (injured, orphans, etc), and the main attraction are the tigers. They have over 40 tigers, and you can go and pat them and have pictures with them! It was excellent!!! We walked around, one by one, sitting behind the tigers, touching them, and having our photos taken by a staff member- it was really well organised, and we got to go around twice touching the tigers. I hate it when you go to things like this and they are normally so rushed, and you only get a little quick glimpse or crap photo, but this was so well done, we had heaps and heaps of time with the tigers, and as many photos and patting them as we wanted.
The last stop was the Bridge over the River Kwoi (and the museum about it)- it was a bridge built by the Allied Prisoners of War during WWII, with a train over it. So when the Allies sent planes to bomb it, the Japanese made the POW all stand in a line all along the bridge and wave- thinking this would stop it from being bombed; but it didn't, so 2 thirds of the bridge were destroyed, hundreds and hundreds of POW died, and the waters of the river were tainted red and stunk for days. Sad.
And that was our day tour, it was really good. We got back to the city and spent hours walking around- it's the King's birthday tomorrow 5th, and they LOVE their royalty here, so the celebrations were massive. Fireworks, stages, live music, performances, parades with huge floats, people and stalls everywhere, and the city looking more beautiful than when I saw it last week, all lit up, with colourful water fountains, and lights on trees everywhere. Dinner on Kho San Road- I felt like I was back home. And back in the hotel we had our complimentary cocktail in one of the bars. Nice.
The last day in Bangkok- we woke up early, enjoyed the yummy yummy breakfast at the hotel, and then Yani went to see a couple of temples that I had already seen, while I stayed in the beautiful hotel and spoiled myself- outdoor swimming pool, sunbathing and reading, looked at the botanic gardens (yes, IN the hotel!), and spent almost an hour in the bathtub:) We then met up, walked around some shopping centres a bit, had lunch, and Yani left back to Australia:(( It was sad to see her go, and felt all lonely when she left, but after walking around the beautiful Bangkok city and a nap in Lumphini Park I was all happy again and excited about Japan- I left that same night for Tokyo.

El 3 nos fuimos del hotel en Koh Phangan y de vuelta a Bangkok- caminamos al puerto, nos tomamos un ferry a Koh Samui (otra isla en Tailandia), almorzamos ahi, nos tomamos un taxi al aeropuerto (un amor el aeropuerto en Koh Samui!! re relajado, negocios al aire libre, gente sentada en el cesped), despues un trencito por la pista hasta el avion, despues un avion a Bangkok, y despues un taxi al hotel- asi que ese fue mi cumpleanios de 30, lo pase viajando, literalmente! Me encanto- viaje por tierra, aire, y agua, todo en el mismo dia.
Asi que finalmente llegamos al hotel a la noche. Yani me habia dicho que ella pagaba nuestras 2 noches de alojamiento en Bangkok como regalo de cumpleanios, lo que no me habia dicho era como era el hotel. POR DIOS! Era INCREIBLE!! Cuando llegamos yo la miraba a Yanina onda: "estamos en el lugar equivicado?!?", mientras estamos sentadas en el lobby del hotel re paquete esperando a que nos registren, y estamos tratando de estar serias y con cara de superadas, pero tentadas de la risa y sacando fotos, y yo teniendo puesto el mismo vestido choto y oloroso que use para la fiesta de la luna llena la noche anterior (ni en pedo me iba a poner ropa limpia solo para viajar todo el dia!), y pensando que habra pensado la gente que labura en el hotel cuando vieron mi mochila de mochilera sucia y olorosa hahaha.
Ni bien el tipo que llevo las valijas al cuarto (como sea que se llaman) cerro la puerta de nuestro cuarto nos empezamos a abrazar con Yani y a saltar por todo el cuarto, muy gracioso. Y por supuesto a toquetear todo, jugando con todo, y sacando un millon de fotos del cuarto. El unico problema: no se por que no puedo subir las fotos de mi camara a la computadora, asi que mis fotos de los ultimos 10 dias de Tailandia y el primer dia de Japon estan atrapadas en la camara (voy a tratar de que me lo arreglen minetras estoy en Argentina, tengo una memory card nueva ahora, asi que los ultimos 4 dias de Japon estan a salvo).
Asi que de vuelta al hotel- espectacular, mil gracias Yani por el regalo de cumpelnaios tan lindo y por haberte venido a Tailandia para mi cumple!!!
Nos habiamos reservado un tour de todo el dia para el dia siguiente, empeznado bien temprano, asi que fuimos a cenar y a dormir temprano (uhm... creo que ya era pasada la medianoche para ese entonces).
4 de Diciembre- nos despertamos demasiado temprano para mi gusto, porque nos pasaban a buscar a las 6:30am para el tour. Desayuno buffet incluido en el hotel- wow, tantas cosas para comer, odio cuando no puedo probar todo! Delicioso, y obviamente me empaquete algunas facturas y sandwichitos para mas tarde.
Primero fuimos a los Mercados Flotantes- canales de agua, y la gente armo sus negocios/puestitos en las orilas a lo largo de los canales, y tambien van en botes de madera vendiendo de todo. Una masa, nos subimos en un bote y nos llevaron a dar vueltas como una hora, mirando todo- a algunos lugares se puede llegar caminando, a otros solo en bote. Habia momentos de embotellamiento mal con los botes, y la mina de nuestro biete era re mala... conductora?/botera?, como sea que se diga, y era muy gracioso escucharlos enojandose y puteandose y teniendo discusiones de trafico.
De ahi fuimos al Templo de los Tigres (que cagada!! Me acabo de dar cuenta, todas mis fotos del templo de los tigres estan atrapadas en mi camara aaaaaaargh!!!!)- es un monasterio budista en el cual asilan animales (lastimados, huerfanos, etc), y la mayor atraccion son los tigres. Tienen mas de 40 tigres, y podes ir y tocarlos y sacarte fotos con ellos! Estuvo excelente! Caminamos, de a uno, sentandonos detras de los tigres, tocandolos, y una de las personas que trabajan ahi te sacaban las fotos- estaba re bien organizado, y dimos la vuelta 2 veces a tocar los tigres. Me embola cuando vas a cosas como esta y normalmente es todo re a las apuradas, y solo podes verlo todo rapido o sacar un par de fotos chotas, pero esto estaba tan bien hecho, tuvimos montones de tiempo con los tigres, y los pudimos acariciar y sacarnos tantas fotos como quisimos.
La ultima parada fue el Puente sobre el Rio Kwoi (y el museo relacionado)- fue un puente construido por los prisioneros de guerra aliados durante la segunda guerra mundia, con un tren que pasaba por el puente. Asi que cuando los Aliados mandaron aviones para bombardearlo, los japoneses hicieron que los prisioneros de guerra se pararan sobre el puente todos en fila a lo largo y saludaran- para evitar que lo bombardeen; pero no lo evito, asi que 2 terceras partes del puente fueron destruidas, cientos y cientos de prisioneros de guerra murieron, y las aguas del rio se tinieron de rojo y apesto por dias. Triste.
Y ese fue nuestro dia de tour, estuvo muy bueno. Volvimos a la ciudad y pasamos hotas caminando- es el cumpleanios del rey manana 5 de dic, y AMAN a la realeza aca, asi que las celebraciones fueron inmensas. Fuegos artificiales, escenarios, musica en vivo, shows, desfiles con carrozas gigantes, lleno de gente y puestitos, y la ciudad mas hermosa que cuando la vi la semana pasada, toda iluminada, con fuentes de agua coloridas, y lices en todos los arboles. Cenamos en Kho San Road- me senti de vuelta en casa. Y de vuelta en el hotel nos tomamos nuestro cocktail gratis en uno de los bares del hotel. Muy bien.
El ultimo dia en Bangkok- nos despertamos temprano, disfrutamos el desayuno rico rico en el hotel, y despues Yani se fue a ver un par de templos que yo ya habia visto, mientras yo me quede en el hotel y me di unso gustos- pileta al aire libre, tomando sol y leyendo, di una vuelta por el Jardin Botanico (si, EN el hotel!), y me pase casi una hora en la banadera. Despues me encontre con Yanina, caminamos por un par de shoppings, almorzamos, y Yani se fue de vuelta para Australia :(( Me dio re tristeza y soledad cuando se fue, pero despues de caminar de nuevo por la hermosa Bangkok y de dormirme una siestita en el parque Lumphini estaba toda contenta de nuevo y excitada sobre Japon- esa misma noche sali para Tokyo.