Dotonburi (道頓堀)
Dotonburi is all about having a good time. Crowds pouring in for good chows, Pachinko, and girls. Yes you heard it, there were “girl bar” neon signs and young girls in costumes waiting on the streets, approaching guys walking alone or in groups. If there’s presence of female company, the guys won’t be bothered by these girls.

Our first meal in Osaka was ramen – mouth watering rich, wonderful ramen. We were halfway through our journey and we still haven’t tried authentic ramen. It was our luck to have stumbled into 二金堂, a small Ramen restaurant on Dotonbori. We placed orders and paid to a vending machine. Then handed the receipt to the waitress. In minutes, our ramen arrived. The broth was rich and thick. The noodle cooked to perfection and packed with flavor. It was amazingly tasty, possibly the best ramen I have in my life.

Then some pretty shitty stuff that made me gag just thinking about it…
As usual, we were hot and sweaty, desperately looking for something cool. We saw a poster of colorful ice at a takoyaki shop. Ktula got the pink ice with Takoyaki (grilled octopus) on the side, I pick what appeared to be simple shaved ice with cheery on the top. What I didn’t know was underneath my shaved ice was half dozen of grilled octopus balls. What I thought was brown sugar syrup was actually soy sauce. Yes, my “refreshing” looking fruity shaved ice turned out to be not all what I expected. I should have known when the waiter asked me if I want some wasabi on the side of my ice.

The giant crab sign made us look. And yes, we want some crab. It was a crab fest celebrated with sashimi, sushi, soup, and tempura.

The lady at Kani Doraku told us Okonomiyaki Mizuno is the best okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake) restaurant in the neighborhood. Even though we just had a big crab meal, ktula precede to line up for some pancakes. ktula liked okonomiyaki but admitted it’s not something he would want to have very often. As for me, the dish was too heavy and the flavor was on the plain side. I was not a fan.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館)
This was the highlight of our time spent in Osaka. The aquarium is not the biggest nor has the most underwater collections. But it was well design and layout the way visitors get to fully enjoy the exhibition. The star attraction was a pair of whale sharks. ktula and I spent a lot of time at whale sharks’ tank, watching these majestic creatures and being blow away. It was such an incredible experience.

Umeda (梅田)
Umeda Station was so big, it took us a good 25 minutes to walk to the exit we tried to get to. The station was also jam-packed with people. People moving in proximately the same speed, forming traffic flowing 2 ways in sometimes very narrow underground tunnels. I felt claustrophobic in several occasions. Then some other times I felt like salmon, going along with other salmon, not because we wanted to, but because that’s where everybody was heading.

According to tourist guide, there was a floating garden on the roof top of Umeda Sky Builidng (梅田藍天大廈). When I was researching about the floating garden, I found very little information and no photos about it. We had no idea what to expect. But the idea of a floating garden in this dense urban jungle sounded too good to passed on. After the 25 mins walk to exit Umeda Station, it took another 10-15 minutes under the burning afternoon sun until we reached the building.

Wondering if the building and surrounding area were newly developed, there was nothing interesting personality wise. The building’s food court level was decorated to resemble the early century Japanese streets. Somehow the vintage theme just felt very corny to me.

We headed up to the roof top observation level through a futuristic looking escalator tunnel. The uninterrupted city view was good, but calling it a floating garden was plainly not right. There was no sight of green vegetation in any form or shape. It’s an observation deck, nothing more.

Sky Building was disappointing. But the trip to Umeda was not a total lost. We pick an awesome Japanese restaurant inside Hanshin Department Store. The average age of restaurant diners was 45 years old. That was a good sign implying we were at an authentic Japanese restaurant. The meal was indeed great. It’s the kind of homie comfy Japanese food I felt like curling up to a ball and take a nap afterward.

The tour ended at Leifeng Pagoda. I bided goodbye to my parents and headed back to Shanghai with ktula and his family. The tour guide arranged a van to take us back. For most part the ride was comfortable. Upon entering Shanghai city, the driver started smoking inside the van. China is the worst place to be if you hate 2nd hand smoke and inconsiderate open-mouth coughing and hacking.

Our tour program covered 4 cities in 5 days was very rush. We didn’t spend enough time at points of interest; but too much time wasted at shops and tourist traps. We were aware of 3 shopping stops we’d make. It’s a common practice taking tourist groups to pre-selected local stores to shop. Tourists are encouraged to shop. However, it’s considered malpractice if tour guide pressure tourists into buying. Our local tour guide didn’t do such thing. However, toward the end of the tour, she gave a full hour speech condemning tourists whom chose not to buy or don’t buy enough at shopping stops. That was in my opinion unprofessional and uncalled for. Also, it felt like a 5-day brainwash camp listening to each local tour guide’s “Look at China’s awesome progress” propaganda. Why not just let me experience the new China myself?

Ktula and I were dropped off at Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel. With ktula’s Starwood platinum elite status, we were given a room located in the club member level.

Like all the nicer hotels we stayed in China, the bathroom has a blind that can be retracted all the way to the top. I’m not sure exactly what’s the purpose exposing the entire bathroom like that. One thing for certain, the new China has a open mind at just about anything.

Before dinner with Michelle, James, and the rest of the Yong family, we made a quick stop at the club lounge for a sip of wine, also courtesy of elite status. From the lounge window was this uninterrupted night view of Shanghai.

Going home
Toward the end of the trip, both ktula and I were more than ready to go home. We missed Mango terribly. We flew from Shanghai to Tokyo, then to Los Angeles, and finally Seattle. The journey home was long and tiring, but it’s good to be back.

Hanshan Temple (寒山寺) and its surrounding area were very well maintained. But I can’t help but wonder how much were the original remaining.

For those whom enjoyed being pampered, massage in China are a heck of a deal. Different from spa massage, Chinese foot message is about stimulating acupuncture points for healing and health benefits. This technique can be applied to the entire body. I am not a fan of massage but am curious why people like it so much. While in Suzhou, we were taken to a foot massage center right off a busy street. The center has over 200 masseurs working 13 hours a day, 7 days a week. Personally I found the experience painful and nerve breaking. I had to constantly reminding my masseur to go easy on me. The masseurs at the center were probably too young to master the techniques.

The hotel we stayed at Suzhou was Sheraton Suzhou Hotel and Tower. It made up for the disappointing accommodation in Wuxi. Looking out from any hotel window was this stunning view of Chinese garden built exclusively for hotel guests.

Wuzhen (烏鎮)
The water town of Wuzhen turned out to be the highlight of this trip. The unearthed cultural relic revealed people began living in the area as early as 7,000 years ago. The town itself has 1,800 years of history.

Time seems to have stopped here in Wuzhen. Walking on the ancient stone-paved street, we were surrounded by aged houses and shops well-preserved from its original forms. And the sounds and scents of local residents living their everyday life – the cling-clanks of mahjong pieces hitting each other; the splashing of water from a bucket; the smell of wine aging in wine jars…. This place felt more real than anywhere we’ve being to during this trip.

Hangzhou (杭州)
Hangzhou has something new and something old. And that makes it special. We didn’t have the fortune to spend more time there.

December night in Hangzhou required heavy winter gears. That’s how we dressed to attend Impression West Lake, a show performed outdoor in the beautiful West Lake. With Zhang Yimou onboard as one of the director-in-chiefs, the show maintained certain esthetic quality that brought spectacular experience to the audience. People watching the show were quite stingy with applause even at the end of this outstanding performance.

According to the tour guide, dining at Lou Wai Lou was a big deal. Only the rich or the government officials have such privilege. Few years ago ktula traveled to Hangzhou and also dined in Lou Wai Lou. He was happy to return to the restaurant. He can try more dishes this time than the last time when he was here by himself.

My dad’s schoolmate Mr. Liang joined us for lunch. They go way back, more than 65 years. During the meal, dad shared their fond moments in school and as roommates. After lunch, Mr. Liang left quickly with tearful eyes. Over decades of friendship is indeed something to be cherished for.

Second time visiting Singapore, I had some idea how to make the best out of this trip. I’m not big on shopping so we skipped that part altogether. I still managed to get a nice top during a short window shopping (according to ktula, I conned him into buying the top for me). We did however indulge ourselves in food of all kinds.

Food
The local desserts have so many varieties and oh so delicious we had it everyday. While I tried different ones such as Mango Kachang, Sea Coconuts, Red Ruby and Cheng Tng, kutla stick with his favorite Chendol. They are no doubt the best thing after a long walk under hot, humid day.

Ordering coffee was tricky. What’s considered ‘regular’ is coffee already mixed with milk and sugar. I learned my lesson from my last visit. This time, to make sure my coffee was served in its original form, I ordered my coffee with very specific instruction. I also noticed coffee came with options – coffee-0 and coffee-c. I don’t remember exactly what they stand for. But one is with milk and the other is with sugar.

Last time we had some amazing Thai food here. So we headed back to the same Thai restaurant on Orchard to get our craving fixed. The dish was good but the portion was smaller than I remembered.

Next, how about something exotic, like steamed shark head? In the Singapore episode of “Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations”, Tony presented his fans with yet another bizarre and curiously mouth-watering dish – Tian Jin Hai’s signature steamed shark head.

According to the address on No Reservations website, we arrived at Jackson Kopitiam to only find the entire place was shut down several months ago. All the food stands inside the kopititam were relocated. ktula tenaciously investigated and found Tian Jin Hai’s new location. We took a long ride on MRT. The station was so remote, we didn’t see an available taxi for nearly 15 minutes. Finally, we saw a taxi about to make a u-turn 2 intersections away. Ktula jumped out to the middle of the road, started waving like a mad man. The taxi driver saw us. Another 10 minutes or so, we arrived Jin Tian Hai inside a country club.

A medium shark head costs $45 Singapore dollars (about $32 US dollars). At first it took me a little while to work up the courage biting into a shark. Once I did, the taste was quite unique. The shark itself had a mild taste. But the seasoning is where the magic begins. Biting into it, the texture is similar to the fatty part of pig knuckle, very soft gelatin like. In addition to the shark head, we ordered 3 more dishes. 2 out of the 4 dishes turned out not so great.

Other than pigging out, we also did some sightseeing.

Underwater World
First we tried Fish Reflexology. Basically, you pay the spa to feed their fish with your dead skins. These fish are Turkish spa fish. In their native environment, they live in hot spring or lakes. As soon as we dipped our feet in the warm pool, school of fish came to nibble on our feet. Pretty neat experience.

Entering Underwater World, we were greeted by several large Touch Pools. One of them was ray pool. Some of the rays were quite large. They were super soft on the touch. Ktula bought me some raw fish pieces to feed these gentle giants. A smaller ray was particularly interested at a quick meal. It eagerly came after the fish pieces in between my fingers. And with a quick suction action, it sucked the fish out of my hand and swallowed it.

The aquarium carries lots of exotic underwater creatures such as nautilus, giant spider crabs, camouflage shrimp and crab species… This place is great!

Singapore Zoo
I can’t say the same about the zoo. We traveled a long way to the zoo in a really hot and humid day. Then waited 45 minutes in line before we could get in. The place stunk and the exhibition was very limited. They do however have a large collection of monkeys. I don’t like monkeys so that didn’t do me any good.

Chinatown
I found the concept of a Chinatown in Singapore very strange. This country is filled with ethnic Chinese singaporean. Everywhere we went, there were Chinese speaking their own Chinese dialogs. For me, the entire Singapore is the Chinatown. But talking to local cab drivers, they’ll tell you the subtle difference in Chinatown versus other areas.

It wasn’t on our schedule, but somehow we ended up at a gold driving range behind Miramar Entertainment Park.This was a first for both Ktula and I. Betty took courses before. She gave us some pointers then off I went.

After a few practice swims, I went for the ball for real. “Pong!” I hit the little white ball in 1 swim!

Call it beginner’s luck, but it deserved a little victory dance.

This winter Ktula and I took a 2-week trip to Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia.

First stop in Taipei, our schedule was packed with sight-seeing, friends visit, and constant feasting on local food. The hotel i pick initially was located in a questionable alley on Chung-Shan North Rd. After 2 nights, we moved to The Grand Hotel(圓山大飯店).

We covered the usual tourist attractions and then some:

In past years, I would make the effort to pay a visit to the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) when I’m in Taiwan. This year was no exception.

We were blessed with good weather. The day we visited Taipei 101 observatory, the visibility to the entire Taipei basin was clear under blue sky.

My mom took us to Liouhuang Valley in the Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園). The air in the valley was filled with strong sulfur smell. Taipei locals came for the hot springs and scenic hiking routes.

Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) was yet another eye-opening experience for young Ktula. The varieties of local food stands; the boiling noises of vendors yelling, traffic, and market goers; not to mention the unique smell in the air. It was Taiwanese culture in its true and most colorful nature.

About 30 minutes ride from downtown MRT main station is Danshui (淡水). Used to be a fisherman’s town, now it’s evolved into a popular seaside destinations for locals and tourists alike.

My sister Betty took 2 days off from her extremely busy schedule and accompanied us to destinations that’s harder to get to with public transportation. Jiufen (九份), a declining gold mine town, now visitors came near and far for its Chinese style narrow streets and tea houses.

After his unsuccessful shrimping incident, Ktula has being dreaming about shrimping in Taipei. And so we did. For a change of luck, Ktula caught his first shrimp in less than 15 minutes, shortly another one, and then another! Betty caught her first one, and then Liam caught one too. I didn’t catch anything for a long time but eventually i started to catch up. At the end, each of us had at least 5 catches, that’s 19 times more shrimps than Ktula previously caught!

The days in Taipei was short and sweet. We left Saturday early morning and to our next stop, Johor Bahur, Malaysia.