Not surprisingly, we got some great food touring Asia. A few meals stand out in my mind. In Tokyo, we ate at a teppanyaki restaurant, complete with our own chef [photos]. The beef, with a lot of marbling, was tender and flavorful, but also quite greasy — you can’t eat as much of that beef …
Monthly Archives: January 2006
Asia trip reactions: Language
Even though the Japanese are polite and want to help you, it can be hard to communicate with them because their English is quite bad. Now, I don’t expect the entire country to be fluent in a foreign language. But, for example, Yodobashi Camera is a gigantic Japanese electronics store that makes Fry’s Electronics look …
Asia trip reactions: Discipline and Politeness
You’ve probably heard that the Japanese are very disciplined. It’s true. Matt and I saw this while in the front car of a Tokyo subway train, where we could see into the driver’s cab. He sat up straight, in his uniform and gloves, and was constantly on alert. He regularly pointed at either his instrument …
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Smart cards for transit
Both Hong Kong and Taipei have RFID smart cards available for paying fares on subways and buses. Taipei even knocks 20% off of each subway ride. You don’t need to take the card out, just hover your wallet over the reader. It’s amazingly convenient. The Bay Area desperately needs something like this, especially since we …
So much for blogging during my trip
It wasn’t easy finding fast, cheap Internet access throughout my trip, and when I did, I mostly checked up on e-mail. I always take a long time to write (look how long it took me to write my dissertation!) and I decided my time overseas was better spent doing stuff. But now I’m back, and …