Nov 7
Resting today, chilling out. Tonight we had the giant sushi feast! Everyone came out, Mila and her beau, Kan, Gio, a bunch of folks...it was a truly excellent meal. Scott got to discover all the squishy Japanese foods- slimy seaweed soup, fish fiox gras, fish uterus sushi, etc..
Good to push those boundaries. Oh and a lot of sake! We were a little tipsy on the train. Good times...
Nov 8
Headed down to Shibuya and the big shopping area of Tokyo. Saw the new Lumin CD on the shelves on a couple of big music stores, Tower etc. That was a nice treat. Makyo's label Dakini Records has released the latest Lumin disk, Ketri here in Japan and in the spring it will be available worldwide. It is so great to have it finally out after all these years, some really beautiful stuff on that album.
Cruised around all of the super trendy music shops, all specialized by genre-trance, ambient, eclectic/world, hop hop etc. Good to see so many cool music shops in Tokyo. The scene here is really really great, very strong interest in music, much more so than other Asian countries I have been to recently. Had an excellent meal with Gio and Scott and headed home at a decent hour, as always, navigating the labyrinth of the Tokyo subways. The station in Shibuya is like 10 stories below ground with multiple lines running above it. Each floor is like a small shopping mall with nice little shops everywhere. Very different than say BART here in SF which has zero amenities. Why is the US so barbaric to its citizens, not to mention the non-citizens?
Nov 9
A quick stop to the super trendy fashion district near Shibuya, to get a little shopping in before we head out to Sendai later tonight. Got a couple of really nice long sleeve printed shirts. I like the cut of a lot of these Japanese clothes, was looking all over for a G Star type of jacket and found one that was a bit too rock and roll, Gio said I looked like Bono or someone in it, it was a bit much, lots of buttons, zippers and gadgets. Saw some very extreme fashion among the kids here, apparently a trend these days is to dye your skin brown, kink your hair or wear an Afro wig, platform shoes, halter tops and hot pants and try your best to be a soul super star from the 70's. Very odd, very Japanese.
Strolled around all of the high-end boutiques and tried very expensive clothes.
Got back to the hotel, checked out again and headed out with Gio and Scott to the train station for Sendai a small city in Northern Japan, and another out of town show.
We arrived, got picked up again by another set of wonderful hosts and went right to the venue and got sound check out of the way. Nice little spot, no stage but a good sound system and cool vibe.
After a nice dinner with the hosts we are back at the venue waiting to go on. This time we are joined by I Chan, one of the Tribal Matrix dancers. Good thing too, cuz they all came to see her! The whole crowd it seemed were her fans and students. She did a wonderful set and joined us for ours. The crowd here was almost 95% women and they were polite but not totally into it. Anyway, it is all good, great set from Makyo, back to our nice hotel and out the next morning.
Nov 10
Rushed back to Tokyo for our longest day of the trip. We arrived back at our hotel around 2pm, checked in, backed our gear for the night met up with Gio and headed back downtown for our last gig in Tokyo, which promised to be the best. Great venue, great staff, pre-show stuff went well. Did an acoustic set with Scott and a young dancer early in the evening. Nice to play without the electronics for a change. But our set that night was thunderous; I just turned everything up to 11 and had a great set. At one point later in the set all of the super star dancers got up on stage with us and jammed out, it was so much fun! Mishaal, I Chan, Milla, Kan, all of them together. It was a very memorable experience seeing all of that beauty and expression together with us. Great night.
Onward to the after party! We all walked over in the rain, a motley crew of musicians, dancers in costume, dj's and other revelers along with us. This one was in Ripongi near the other club, kind of the North beach of Tokyo, frat boys, strippers, a bit seedy. But Gio had set up the coolest space for the after party, a tiny little spot that was at the top of what looked like an old hotel. The room itself reminded me of SF in that it was all dark wood and curved lines and the best part was the tiniest little balcony over looking the dance floor that had a ceiling of about 4 feet and two low couches, I hid out up there all night with some new friends and watched everyone pass the night away on the dance floor. Drum Spyder and Makyo did fine Dj sets and we all crawled out around 8am. Long night.... but one I will never forget.
Nov 11
Sadly our last full day in Japan.
I slept all morning and took a melancholic stroll thru Gio's neighborhood, Ekoda. Picked up a couple of things for my Mom and the house back home. I realized once again, I had connected deeply with another place and would be sad to leave. I guess that is the price for opening up so much when traveling, it is hard to leave and harder still when you get home. But thankfully we had one more night! A dinner was planned at an Indian friends house, named Shrini. Another great night together, this time with home cooked Indian dinner, great friends etc. These people we met are so wonderful, so open to their lives. It made me realize how jaded and smug folks are here in the States. Life is pretty grey there in the US. The dancers and I were talking about the stylistic differences between the Japanese belly dancers and the ones we have in the US and they mentioned with all love and respect that the women in US are "macho" and tough, and that the Japanese women are attracted to belly dance as it is an expression of extreme femininity, something they enjoy very much. I concur the dancers here are so beautiful, so feminine, it is really inspiring and refreshing to be clear of the convoluted gender politics and socio-sexual issues we have here in the Bay Area. Sorry but that is my take on it.
Spent the whole night together, play frame drums, ouds and singing, dancing on the tables and all the while feeling the slow creep of sadness coming in as I knew tomorrow I would be on a plane heading back to chilly grey SF and school, work, schedule and worst of all, empty streets. I always ask when I get back- "where is everyone?". Things are slower in the States.
Anyway, back "home" now and already making plans to go back to Japan in the Spring/Summer of next year. This time we are hoping to partner with a cultural organizer in Taipei who hope to get us out to Taiwan, Shanghai, Honk Kong, and possibly Korea as well as working with Gio and the Japanese distributors in Tokyo and other cities there.
The new album is nearly finished, we are mixing in December. It was great to give all of the tracks a test drive on big sound systems in the clubs in Japan.
So a big shout out to Gio (Makyo), Scott (Drum Spyder) Mishaal, Mila, I Chan, Kan-san, all the promoters and distributors, and everyone else we met along the way there. It was truly amazing. I felt we touched that moment when the timing on a new trend is a perfect match for your craft and everything resonates beautifully.
Thanks for reading this, where ever you are.
Have a wonderful new year,
Jef
photos up at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefstott/
Tokyo Japan tour part 4
Kyoto Japan part 3
Nov 5
Our first day at the temples in Kyoto. Grabbed a local train in the morning and headed out to the foothills on edge of Kyoto to see the ancient Zen temples and gardens and explore the river and mountains with Gio and Scott.
I finally felt the deeper poetic side of Japan that I had been looking for in the other cities. Kyoto was the ancient capital of Japan during the Shogun times up until the early 20th century and all of the ancient temples, palaces and religious sites are preserved. Very very beautiful there.
We walked thru a small shopping district near the river and made our way into the first temple compound that is nestled into the foothills, wandering through giant bamboo forests along the way. We spent a good amount of time at a huge Zen Buddhist temple and garden and checked out the tatam'e houses there. Very nice. Back into town for an excellent meal of Udon (which I love!) and tempura. Almost got hit by a bus before lunch as the traffic runs on the other side of the street and I looked the usual way and stepped out into oncoming traffic right in front of a huge bus, close call.
Anyway after lunch and ice cream we climbed up the side to the mountain to visit the monkeys! A whole gang of monkeys live on this on side of the hill. It was pretty crowded with people and monkeys when we got there, lots of kids on field trips. We hung out for a while but it got sort of unnerving as these are wild monkeys and occasionally they would all start screaming at the same time and start running around the little house we were all gathered at.
Spent the late afternoon and twilight hours strolling thru absolutely gorgeous traditional temples and houses, the Japanese maples were turning bright red and it was really beautiful there. Gio mentioned that David Bowie used to live here and the track "Moss Garden" Lodger is homage to Kyoto.
Made our way back to the train in the rain and got cleaned up for dinner in the old quarter near the river in downtown Kyoto.
Wandered thru the very narrow streets of downtown Kyoto, passing by one after another of fabulously appointed tiny little places with a minimalist design framed against willow trees leaning into the river, lanterns reflecting on the wet pavement. So beautiful, wish the night would never end, very romantic place. Stopped into a sort of opium bar cave sort of place and had a drink, felt like were we went thru a portal and landed in cave in Tibet or something, had some food and ended up at Zappas, another Bowie sighting there as well as Bono among others. Apparently they liked to spend time in this little tiny bar as well.
Nov 6
Third day in Kyoto
After a long conversation over coffee about music, genres, marketing gear etc (one of many)
We set off for another round of temples, this time in the center of town. Gio had gone to college here back in the day so he really knew his way around Kyoto. So great to be traveling here with him. Can't really imagine doing it any other way.
Happened upon a Shinto wedding procession heading down a quiet backstreet, with the bride in a cool giant white headdress. Also passed a pair of geishas on the street today, very interesting to see them. I wondered if they were part of the performing troupe that has in the theater down the street or if they are part of a cultural program or if they were real geishas. Anyway, got a few candid shots for the files.
Saw so many big temples today, actually started to get temple fatigue. This happened in Ankor Wat, too. It seems I have a thresh hold for everything including fabulously beautiful Japanese temples. Our last stop was the temple of 1000 Buddha’s and its true there were 1000 of the in there, an army of gilded Bodhisattvas, all staring back a you with the distant calm that comes from being a deity. Stunning and sort of psychedelic.
Night train back to Tokyo, back to our old neighborhood. Felt like we were coming "home" after a long journey, but it had only been a few days, but as always when you are traveling, days are so full and rich.
photos up @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefstott/
Osaka Japan part 2
Nov 3
So we were all massively hung over, an inauspicious beginning to the trip. Our hosts generously took us out to a fabulous buffet lunch and a day a traditional Japanese hot spring. Lovely! Very clean facility (of course), all wood, nice changing rooms, very nice showers, and out door pools. Really blissed out in the hot water, under the waterfalls, in the dark little caves. Totally recovered and ready for Osaka.
-Bullet train to Osaka
After a bit of drama with our host not picking us up at the train station, we settled into a very nice hotel in downtown Osaka. Unpacked and headed out to the club for sound check, with the promoter, who showed up in the most cheeky outfit of super tight white pants, extremely elongated snakeskin shoes, heavily gelled hair and tight yellow blazer.
Nice club, Massive sound system, huge speakers! Everything sounded great and we grabbed a bite and went back to the hotel as we did not go on until 2am.
Our set rocked hard, everything sounded huge and clear, very happy with the mixes. We were joined by the dancer Mishaal, who is amazing, tall raven haired force of nature. Very powerful dancer. Really felt a connection with the crowd, many people right up front, dancing, focusing a lot of energy right to the stage. Many people came to us afterward for hugs and handshakes. I really enjoy connecting with new people, especially those who love music. We could not communicate thru words but the channel was clear, we found friends in Osaka. Our set as followed by an all Japanese percussion group playing Raks Sharki with one of the most beautiful dancers I have ever seen,
Karena Murakami. So feminine, so fluid.
A very late night and check out in morning came too early.
Nov 4
After uninspired Indian lunch, we wandered thru downtown Osaka and unfortunately came upon a bad traffic accident in which two young people on a scooter had been hit by a small truck. The disconcerting thing was that the EMTs were moving very slowly and the people on the ground were not moving at all. Gio indicated this was normal due to the fact that the doctors and pharmaceuticals have strong-armed the government so much that the EMTs are no not allowed to administer any thing beyond the most basic services as anything more than that would cut into the doctor’s profit. Disgusting greed.
We found our way to a small park and saw a cultural fair there, with kids playing Tiko drums and bi wa (oud like) instruments. Walked around looking for the river but no one knew where it was. Industrial Osaka was not inspiring.
Hopped on an afternoon train to Kyoto for a couple of days of rest and sight seeing in the ancient capital of Japan.
We checked into a family style pension that Gio had reserved for us. I must say that Gio took care of EVERYTHING, hotels, cabs, trains, clubs, and dinners. he had it all sorted. We could have never navigated our way even out of the Tokyo train station without him!
Anyway, after getting the lowdown from our fastidious host at the pension, who had a the alarming combination of being very positive and up and being very strict about the protocol (this may be a typical Japanese combination optimism and adherence to protocol) we headed out to dinner at a family style restaurant that serves a local Kyoto specialty of sort of an omelet made of eggs, flour, and whatever else you might want to add in. The restaurant was really cool and very Japanese, they all yell when you walk in the door and there is all sorts of chatter and commotion as you walk through the place. Seated at the sunken table with the hole in the floor for the feet, the table was basically a big griddle where the food is cooked right there and eaten on plates right of the range. Very tasty and the beers went down pretty easy too.
Back to the pension for a traditional Japanese bath and a good night sleep (finally!)
photos up @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefstott/
Japanese Tour part 1
Japan Tour 2007
Nov 1st
Arrived in Japan with Drum Spyder, immediately felt the shift to a new place, population density in the airport, the pace of people’s gate quicker, very stylish young men and women.
We found our way onto the train to Shinjuku and we are here in Japan. Makyo (Gio) met us at the train station and began our first navigation of the labyrinth of the Tokyo subway. Several floors below ground we wound our way upward through dozens of escalators and elevators finally emerging on the street into the din of the 21st century futurist Tokyo, packed with people, a hard bebop quartet was pounding away in a nearby square. We grabbed some green aloe vera juice at a small stand and walked into Makyo's neighborhood-Ekoda in the North West of Tokyo.
After checking into our super small hotel we ventured out to get our first meal, a cozy BBQ place, appointed in blonde wood and low tables that seemed to be a meeting place for young sumos. The owner of the place came to our table and gave me a fantastic piece of paper that had the names in Konji of all the sumo wrestlers in Japan beginning at the bottom with very small text and climbs up until the most famous sumo is listed in giant bold type. Great looking graphic.
Slept practically in the same bed with Spyder, need a bigger room.
Nov 2
Finding coffee the next morning was challenging as although there were lots of folks up and about they were all heading off to work or school and no businesses in neighborhood were open, a bit later Gio made some good coffee as we got ready to head out of town for the first part of the tour, to Nagoya, Osaka and a few days in Kyoto.
We got onto the bullet train to Nagoya and we were off at 150 miles an hour. Our arrival in Nagoya was an hour or so later and we went directly to the club for sound check. The club was smallish, a rock venue with an art gallery upstairs. Everyone was very nice, especially Heinz, the Swiss owner. Sound check was a bit dodgy as the venue is used to having rock bands that don't have the frequency range of electronic music. We headed off to the hotel, which was quite nice, tall glass building, and dropped our stuff. After a fine meal of Japanese take out noodles together in the room, back to the club for show #1. We arrived to the din of a crazy Japanese punk band at the club and headed upstairs to the gallery for refuge till we went on. I am not totally sure why the promoter booked Makyo and us with an ironic punk band but it all worked out. Everyone was all boozed up by the time we went on and the sound system made all of our songs sound like Led Zeppelin, which was fun. Nothing like a fuzzy oud! Nice dance performances by local belly dance companies followed. After our set we settled in at the bar and discovered Japan serves absinthe, which made everyone very happy. So the evening was spent indulging in the green fairy, they like to mix it with champagne in Japan. Spyder found this concoction delectable.
We wandered back to the hotel and crashed, one down four to go.
photos up @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefstott/
back to Vietnam and home again
Vietnam Part 2
Our ride back to Saigon was two bus rides long and took all day and all night but was very comfortable and well coordinated. We ended up back in district one in Saigon checked into our old hotel, booked our tickets for the next part of our trip and went to bed.
We left for the Central Highlands the next morning and after winding thru the mountains on a bus for several hours found ourselves in the cold somewhat dreary town of Dalat. I think every trip has it's lull and this was ours. Many people along the way had recommended this town saying it was "charming" and "quirky". Well that was a very sunny view of a very boring place. It was cold, raining, and moldy (kind of like SF!) and we could not wait to get out. We passed a day on a tour seeing some small agrarian villages, silk farms and a couple of fabulous pagodas along with a huge waterfall. All very nice but as we where running out of time we cut our plans and headed for the resort beach town of Nha Trang.
Good choice! After a lovely ride down the mountain we arrived back into the sunshine and the bright blue waters of the China Sea into a swanky little beach town. We got dropped of at one of the nicest hotels in the area and went straight to the seaside, swimming until the early evening in the warm water. It was Saturday night and all the families were out along the beach enjoying themselves.
We spent a few short days here which was highlighted by a day long boat trip for snorkeling , swimming and exploring several of the small islands in the bay. Perfect way to end the trip. The best part of this outing was after diving and a massive lunch on the boat, the crew picked up a bunch of old electric guitars, bass and plastic jug drums and totally jammed out! Hotel California in Vietnam on the boat, yes! And as if we could not get any better, a floating bar pulled up to the boat! The drummer of the band, a total bohemian guy in his 50's jumped over board with a case of sweet wine from Dalat and beckoned all of us into the water. We all jumped in and after several rounds of wine, got quite puckered. It seems the traditional phrase for "down the hatch" is Yo! and so as we were knocking back this really strong brew at the floating bar in the turquoise water we were shouting Yo!Yo!Yo! at the top of our lungs.
So fun!
Back in town found a really cool night club/ lounge with a British Dj spinning mellow house tracks. The drink special was a frozen Bellini and they went down easy.
As we prepared to leave town we discovered that the train tracks had been washed out in the recent rains and so all of the flights were booked so we ended up taking a new sleeper bus back to Saigon, which was cool and pretty funky. Rebecca slept well but I spent the night rolling along the highway saying goodnight to this fabulous country and plotting my return.
Flight back to Taiwan although in first class was super bumpy and pretty nerve wracking.
Last few days in Taiwan were very quiet, catching up on sleep and doing laundry and of course eating with the family.
And as if the Gods wanted to extract on last bit of adventure out of us, as we took off from Taipei airport a massive lightning storm surrounded our plane and stuck with us until we broke thru the clouds and settled into cruising altitude.
Home now, jet lagged and feeling the world outside my window is pretty flat in comparison to what we have been through. Slowly getting motivated to get back into the studio to finish up the new album, Grad school starts in a month etc...had a great weekend with friends who eased our transition (thanks to the Numi crew, Angelic Aromas and all the Ambisonic folks!)
Already planning the next big trip. Looking into Western China and the Xing Xang region- a frontier area where all of the Muslims in China are located as well as Lhasa and Tibet.
Perhaps Morocco, Egypt and Turkey again?
Who can say, all I know is I just want to turn right around and get out there again.
thanks for all the posts and support along the way. You are the best...
caio
Jef
photos up at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
Cambodia and Ankor Wat
Siem Reap
After settling into our fine guesthouse (13th Villa) by the red river that bisects Seim Reap in two, Rebecca and I grabbed a couple of bicycles and set off to explore this charming small town in western Cambodia. We are actually closer to Thailand now than Vietnam. As we rode thru the mostly dirt roads with much lighter traffic than anywhere else we began to feel a relaxed and decidedly spiritual serenity in this town. Buddhist monks walking everywhere in their orange robes, living alters along the roadside, gentle faces greeting us and waving. Rebecca and I headed South and wandered accidentally into the monks University, an early 20th century complex of colonial buildings on a large campus. It was really interesting seeing all the monks stopping what they were doing to come out into the paths to check us out and say hello, waving to us and whispering to each other. With each passing moment on our bikes we became more quiet and peaceful.
On a night ride, we discovered a main alter in a traffic circle that was very active. A statue of Buddha heavily adorned with flowers, candles and incense right in the middle of the intersection, people praying right there, beautiful. Next to it was a small temple room where families would come in the evenings to prostrate before the rows of saffron monks who would chant blessings, ringing bells that carried far into the night.
Crossing the river, we then discovered a whole new section of town. Modern stylish art galleries, open air bistros, 5 star hotels rising up behind white walls and banana trees. A new presence has come to this town - big money. We were immediately concerned that the local population might not be seeing the direct benefit of this surge and our concerns where proven correct in later conversations with the locals. There is a trickle down economy here but the big money is not staying in the region. Along with these corporate enterprises is the the introduction of dozens of NGOs and humanitarian agencies that are attempting to bring relief to the this decimated nation. I am not going to go deep into the recent history of Cambodia, but I will put things in context here. The Khmer Rouge exacted a cultural genocide on all intellectuals, artists, educators and diplomats from 1975 up to the late 1980's in the name of an extreme form of socialism. The US actually added to the problem by implementing several ongoing bombing campaigns throughout the country to try to quell the Northern Vietnamese (communists) in hiding in Cambodia. Government coups were happening every other week for several years. The country has been relatively stable for only a few years now and is literally rebuilding itself from the ground up. Many of the traditional arts, dances, folklore, etc was lost with the genocide. As is the case with most oral traditions, the information was never written down. So now there is the combination of massive effort of NGO's and big business doing a land grab on the country to capitalize on the massive interest in the almost forgotten Ankor Wat. More than once we saw convoys of Toyota Land Cruisers out fitted with TV antennas, corporate sponship stickers, and tons of gear speeding thru town. Most likely a crew for a major cable network or an NGO on assignment.
Ankor Wat and the days in the temples
Once we had our bearings in town, we made plans for to first visits to the Temples. We hired Rain our wonderful tuk tuk driver and set off to see the epic Ankor Wat. The temples of Ankor are the largest religious structure in the world, actually a collection of several massive sites that comprise an area the size of a small city. Created in the 12th century by the Khmer culture that ruled the areas that are now Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Southern China.
Most of the bigger sites are easily access able and are therefore crowded. But the crowds come in waves and can be avoided. We often had these places to ourselves.
It has been a dream of mine to see this for many years and I was not disappointed.
Massive stone faces looking out from the granite walls slick from the tropical rains, labyrinth mazes of ancient walls adorned with reliefs of Apsara temple dancers, giant trees overgrowing forgotten palaces deep in the jungle. Mountain high stupas crowned with living alters attended by ancient monks and nuns keeping the faith alive and the fires burning.
A surreal sense of wonder and homecoming settled over me like a dream as I wondered thru these ancient sites. One particular power spot among many was the main alter inside the Bayon temple, a huge maze of carved faces and structures. Inside the highest stupa or pillar was a gorgeous Buddhist alter with a bronze seated statue draped in yellow robes with brightly colored umbrellas and tall candles. A dream to sit there in silence in the belly of this massive temple thinking this alter has most likely been burning for almost a thousand years.
Another moment was wandering alone into a Buddhist monks village off the beaten path. Stilt houses, giant pagodas with children quietly singing and playing inside, more children pumping water from a well for the monks to use in their ablutions pouring the pure water over the heads of the novices to cleanse them and purify their souls.
Wandering deeper into the jungle I found a totally deserted large stupa and temple rising out of the mist. Covered in giant trees and surrounded by a wall of Buddhas this one really stuck with me as the epitome of a young boys definition of exotic adventure. I was in a dreamworld of jungles, elephants, monkeys and Buddhas.
It may seem as if I am repeating myself when I describe the power and profundity of this place but it is all that. Wave after wave, temple after temple, alter after alter, endlessly blowing open all of my chakras for several days. One of my deepest memories from these places is when as I was kneeling before the Buddha in a temple an ancient nun kneeled down before me and began blessing me. She leaned over and tied a simple red string around my wrist for good luck and to "have compassion". I think of her every time I look at the colorful band on my wrist and feel very blessed indeed.
Our last day in the temples was spent riding bicycles thru the Cambodian countryside back to our favorite sites, revisiting our new old friends one last time. We rode all day along rice patties filled with water buffalo, under jungle canopy, thru the temples again. Very lovely.
I did manage to crash into a ditch on my bike as Rebecca and I were chatting too much and not watching the road. Don't worry Mom, I have travel insurance!
These days were not without other challenges. All along the temple route there are small market places and stands set up with women and children ready to sell you everything. The desperation in their eyes is as extreme as the poverty they live with everyday. Their taunts could get overwhelming. Also at nearly every temple entrance was a band of basically the same line up, traditional musicians who were victims of landmines. The one armed drummer, flute player with one eye, the dulcimer player with no legs etc...it also was overwhelming. I gave them as much as I could. Additionally I did see a pair of lepers waiting for someone near an exit of one of the temples. Difficult as these scenes are, it only made me love this place more. Rebecca and I have made a pact to assist local organizations there as much as possible thru out the year. I also hope to return often to help as much as I can. I loved it that much.
We ended our last day in Siem Reap getting a pair of full body massages together and having another fine meal of traditional food in the old market area.
We left in the morning after nearly a week in Cambodia with a bitter sweetness in our hearts. I know we will be back soon. We loved Cambodia!
photos up at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
South to Saigon into Cambodia
photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
Hanoi/Halong Bay
We navigated the harbor/tourist trap and boarded our very well appointed Chinese junk and set off into the blue sea.
photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
Taiwan/Taipei
have been in Asia over a week now and am feeling very good. No health issues to speak of and am sleeping well.
The flight to Taiwan was an eterinty, many lifetimes spent in the air, flying over the Berring Strait down over China and Japan to Taipei. Was received very warmly by Rebecca's family in Shin Zou. Once settled, we basically ate our way thru Taiwan. The main event of the day is eating. the rest of the daily activities such as sleeping, bathing, etc are just am means to kill time between meals. and the food has been amazing, family dinners, market stalls, elaborate teahouses.
Everything here is a done by family committee. When I wanted to exchange a pair of shoes one day, the mother grabbed a co worker in the family business and insisted on joining us to make sure it all went well. I was embarassed, as we in the US pride ourselves on being independent to a fault. Our lives there at home are very solitary by comparison.
We spent a couple of quiet days in the family house and then went on to Taipei by train with R's sister. We arrived in Taipei just in time for a record heat wave. Reports were saying over 40' celcius in the City Center, something like 105 f with nearly 100% humidity. Taipei is a decidedy modern opulent Asian city which boasts the current tallest building in the world (Dubai is preparing the nest dominant phallic obilisque currently). We spent an evening swimming thru alley after alley of designer shops, tea lounges and bars finally settling on a Japanese grill house for dinner. Many beers later we went in search pf accomodations. As it was late we ended up at a downtown "love motel" which can be rented by the hour. Used mainly for extra-marital activities, these clean modern rooms have certain staged look to them, sharply focused lighting, dramatic lines, etc. In the halls, there was the customary yelping coming from the other rooms. But actually a nice place for a night.
Next day ducked into the National museum to escape the heat and headed home after a great meal in the market stalls.
Last day in Taiwan was spent in the country side with R's mother and sister exploring old villages and tea houses. Very beautiful and soulful places. It was good to get out of the caos of the cities for a while. Last meal with the family was a very elaborate spread of home cooked gourmet food, many many dishes made in our honor. I presented a collection of my music cataloug to R's parents and as the music was playing and the toasting began the conversation became more spirited. R's father, a gentle slight man, is a Chi Gong master and he abruptly jumped up and challenged me to pushups! 60 years plus and he dropped and did 50! I struggled thru 30 or so and gave up. The master wins again...
As a general observation of my initial impression of Asia, I saw very few police and heard no sirens for several days and yet the streets are a wild confluence, a moving sea of moto scooters, buses, cars, carts and bikes all merging and moving together in an organized intuitive flow. Random merging, lane changes etc, whimsical driving technique is really a high art. I think the scooter is another representation of the ADD psyche that I saw on television here, a change of mind, changing lanes, wrong way on a one way road, whatever, it all works.
Actually, it is very safe here, the US is far more dangerous. Also as I travel more I see that the US is the anomoly. Most other places feel basically the same, a more primary human experience. This is what corporate branding is trying to dilute. This is even more apparant in Hanoi, where I am now. For a brand or product (pop star, celebrity, BMW whatever) to rise above the noise of daily life here, is impossible. Life here is much more immeadiate.
And that is why I travel.
In Vietnam now, have had many adventures already. This is a much wilder and unpredictable place. Will write more in a day or so before I begin my journey south to meet up with Rebecca in Saigon.
photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/jefstott/sets/
Heading out to Asia today
Hey everyone I am leaving for my first trip to Asia this afternoon. We will be in Taiwan for a few days visiting family and then I am off for a week solo in Hanoi and then I travel down the length of Vietnam to Saigon. The we are off to ANKOR WAT in Cambodia! Biggest temple structure in the world. Then back to Saigon and the Mekong Delta and then off to Taiwan for shopping and chilling. We will be gone for a month and it will be good to get off the grid for a while and hang out old school in Vietnam and Cambodia.See you in a month!
caio
Jef