Japan and China

[Pardon the incomplete report but we only had time for a few pictures without a lot of text - more to come later, hopefully ...]

Visiting Japan (for the first time)

Mangled English signs are everywhere in Asia - some of them quite amusing.
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Most of the Tokyo imperial palace is closed to tourist except on the emperor's birthday.

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Many cars (taxis in particular) have big rear-view mirrors mounted on the front of the hood.

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The Beatles and Starbucks are quite popular in Japan, apparently.

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The Pork Chop meets a friend.

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The inside of a Tokyo Starbucks.

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The live and mechanized versions, side by side.

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We didn't see any "Staleness Burger" restaurants, fortunately.

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Relaxing in one of the many beautiful Tokyo parks.

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The Porkster asked for directions to the tea house for us.

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The (in)famous Yasukuni shrine and the adjacent war museum.

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Watch out for the "Mighty Cars" when walking through the fish market!

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Ginza is a very busy place.

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Some subway cars (at certain times of the day) are "women only".

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The famous Takeshita street.

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Having fresh fish in a little dive near Ginza - wonderful food!

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We took the fastest bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto - what an experience! The Kyoto train station is an amazing structure, topped with a "Happy Terrace".

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Gambling is not legal in Japan, so Pachinko must not be gambling.

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It's important to take time out for refreshments.

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The numerous palaces are wonderful places of quiet, in the middle of the bustling city.

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It seems like many people in Japan are not getting enough sleep at night.

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In case you need an explanation of where to point your cigarette.

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The main imperial palace in Kyoto (which is one the most famous landmarks) is generally closed to the public.

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We ran into groups of uniformed school children everywhere.

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Zen gardens are wonderful places.

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Kyoto has a small but very nice subway system.

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It's a mystery how a car with a Czech country sticker ended up in a Kyoto garage.

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The displays of available dishes are quite cute (and a very practical idea).

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What a wonderful way to travel - much nicer than flying.

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We were not the only ones to pack a sushi lunch for the train ride.

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Back in China (again)


One of us visited Xi'An to see the famous terra-cota warriors.

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We also visited southern China and saw a Chinese-style cave (yes, there were many neon tubes tossed on the ground throughout the caves).

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The karst formations in this part of the country are really beuatiful.

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We shared the obligatory Li river cruise without about half a million other tourists, it seemed.

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These little guys would hook up to the big tourist boats and either sell chickens and other things to the cooks, or hawk trinkets to the tourists.

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The scenery is beautiful but a bit hard to see through the ubiquitous pollution.

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The town of Yangshuo is one big tourist trap.

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If you don't want to do any work when visiting the Beijing zoo, make sure to get the automatic guide!

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The panda's were fortunately active (mostly muhcing on bamboo).

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The pandas soon reverted to a more typical stance.

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The Beijing zoo also boasts a number of beautiful cats.

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By sheer coincidence a few former colleagues from Microsoft were giving lectures in Beijing during the time we were there.

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