Spring 2013: Season of Asian Travels

Once the painfully cold and polluted winter was over, it was liberating to be back in the Beijing outdoors and re-commence our Asia travels, including Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, and Xi'An.

Gorgeous Spring in Beijing.

Our first trip of the season was to Shanghai to see my college friend, Tutram. She was finishing her MBA studies and only had a couple weeks left in Shanghai before departing. Instead of taking the plane, we took the bullet train. We were surprised to see how new, clean and fast it was. Though it was a 5-hour train ride, the ride was comfortable. That weekend welcomed us with endless sunshine and warmth. We had a great time walking on the Bund and catching a view of the futuristic skyline and an incredible brunch with Tutram at Madison’s.

At the Bund. This time in comfortable weather.

The perfect brunch: Excellent food, fabulous company.

The following week, we took a few days off to visit our friend Michael who was studying Chinese in Taipei. It was our second trip there. I was expecting a gorgeous weekend, as I had enjoyed in Shanghai. Sadly, it was rainy and cloudy the entire time.

Taipei at night.

Despite the rain, we did have a blast and even gained a few pounds! They say to come hungry to Taiwan and you will certainly come full when you leave.

Taipei is a heaven for good food!

Taiwan is also a very gay friendly place. It hosts the largest gay pride in all of Asia. You can also see gay men being affectionate with one another without people giving them dirty looks. There are a couple gay areas in the city and even a bear bar! Matt was certainly a celebrity there…they put us at the front table when we walked in!

Taipei is pro-gay and anti-nukes.

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to Tokyo. Because the Japanese Yen wasn’t doing as well, eating was actually affordable. When we arrived, we learned that the Narita International airport was pretty far from Tokyo. It took us nearly 2 hours to get from Narita to Tokyo proper. Next time, we’ll have to fly into Haneda. Given only having two full days to explore the city, we were only able to see the main attractions.

Day One, we went to Akihabara, the electronics and anime district of Tokyo. It was full of electronics, anime stores and sex stores.

Akihabara: Tokyo's electronic and Anime centers.

We then grabbed ramen before heading to Odaiba, an artificial island with a small amusement park and shopping malls. There was supposed to be a rainbow bridge, but the lights were off by the time we got there. However, we did ride the big rainbow ferris wheel.

Odaiba at night. Pretty romantic.

Day Two, we first went to Sensoji Buddhist Temple (below, top left), Tokyo's oldest and most visited temple and then to Meiji Shinto Temple (below, bottom left), one of the most beautiful temples we've seen.

Next, we stopped by Harajuku, Tokyo's sub-culture fashion district. I remember hearing about this place through Gwen Stefani's music, early/mid-2000s (e.g. Hollaback Girl). It’s as fun, edgy and crazy as I imagined it would be.

Harajuku: Fun. Fierce. Fab.

For dinner, we stopped by Ebisu to eat Japanese tapas and get Japanese ice cream with Matt’s friend. On our way to the gay-borhood, we stopped by Shibuya Crossing, Japan’s busiest crossing and to purchase the amazing green tea Kit Kats! This area was super-busy even for a Sunday night. Shinjuku, Tokyo’s gay-borhood was pretty quiet and low-key. There weren’t many people around. Probably because it was a Sunday night? We grabbed a drink and went into a couple shops before grabbing katsu curry for a late night snack.

Shibuya Crossing, yummy eats and Tokyo gay bar.

On our last day, we went to the Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the largest fish wholesale markets in the World. We missed the early morning auction, but saw lots of large sea creatures and got some yummy fresh sushi! Before heading back to the airport, we grabbed ramen and mochi with our friend, Kat. We definitely plan to come back to buy some ceramics next time and see more local attractions.

Who wants sushi?

In June, Matt did his immersion program in Gansu Province. Gansu is a very long province that stretches from the Eastern to Western side of China. This region is associated with the Silk Route. Many cities in this area have an interesting cultural mix (Muslim, Buddhist, Central Asia and Middle Eastern) due to trading. This mix is reflected in the food, architecture and the attitudes of the locals. Matt says much of the people he met were extremely nice. Taking the trains out was very easy, but inconvenient because they don’t run frequently. Unfortunately, Matt traveled during one of the wettest periods in the province’s recent history, causing many sites to be unavailable when Matt visited. I met up with Matt in Tianshui, the eastern end of Gansu to visit a Buddhist grotto, Maijishan. However, the unexpected downpours made it treacherous to climb up and the grotto was closed to public. We decided to spend our weekend in Xi’An instead. Xi’An is always a pleasure to visit. Not only does it have a very rich history (was the terminus of the Silk Route and capital for much of China’s history), the local government has done a fantastic job at preserving and re-building the old city. Our favorite parts of Xi’An include the Muslim quarter to eat and observe the night life, walk or bike on the city wall, and catching glimpses of the Drum and Bell towers at night.

Xi'An: one of my favorite Chinese cities.

Matt and I also did a couple other Springtime trips. We made a stop in Hong Kong to watch Star Trek, Into the Darkness with our Guangzhou buddies and Shanghai to celebrate our friend Lynn’s 40th birthday. We are always more than happy to visit either city.

The Year of the Ox buddies.

All photos taken from my iPhone.