Here are some selected Japan pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/spendloves/JapanFBE08
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Offical Photography Post in the dark
I am trying to post all of my selected pictures on the Asia FBE blog but I can't see what the results are so they might not work. Behind this Red wall I feel really disconnected. Shawn
Here are the Beijing Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/spendloves/BeijingChinaFBE08
Here are the Beijing Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/spendloves/BeijingChinaFBE08
Friday, May 30, 2008
Beijing China.... A Few Pictures
We're still here in Beijing, China and loving every moment. We've only got four days here and our itinerary is overflowing with things to do. Today we saw the Temple of Heaven and Forbidden City... then most of us went to the theater to see a flying acrobats show that turned out to be quite amazing. Our hotel here in Beijing is rather lavish and the food has been mostly good. The only real problem with Beijing is the Chinese government likes to censor online material and will not allow us to view our own blog.... I seem to have no problem reaching the administrative site to post material... but none of us have any access to any blog site whatsover... or any news site for that matter... The Chinese block access to USA today and other mainstream american media web sites... pretty crazy!
I have uploaded a web album to Picasa... the pictures should be in chronological order from the time we arrived in Japan to now.... I'll continue to add more photographs so check back every so often. Sorry I don't have too many group pictures! Shawn Spendlove... our group photographer... is supposedly going to have more photos available soon... and his work will certainly be of higher quality than mine... so keep watching for more pictures. Meanwhile... I'll post a more comprehensive journal entry of our stay in China once we leave Beijing.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brad.ball76/AsiaTripChina
I have uploaded a web album to Picasa... the pictures should be in chronological order from the time we arrived in Japan to now.... I'll continue to add more photographs so check back every so often. Sorry I don't have too many group pictures! Shawn Spendlove... our group photographer... is supposedly going to have more photos available soon... and his work will certainly be of higher quality than mine... so keep watching for more pictures. Meanwhile... I'll post a more comprehensive journal entry of our stay in China once we leave Beijing.
http://picasaweb.google.com/brad.ball76/AsiaTripChina
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tokyo... The Perfect City?
Monday morning we got up early and took the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo, stopping for a few hours along the way at the Toyota plant where we saw some amazing droid-like welding robots. By late afternoon we arrived in Tokyo and had the evening to ourselves. Our hotel was in a business district but we had easy access to some cool places with a whole lot of shopping and restaurants.
Tokyo is an incredible city… it’s very big and has some impressive skyscrapers. The city might remind someone of New York or Chicago… lots of traffic… lots of people… an elaborate mass transit system (the subway map looks more like a super complex board game)… there’s even a Times Square district in Tokyo with all sorts of dazzling lights (not far from the hotel we stayed in). But there is one BIG difference between Tokyo and other mega-cities… Tokyo is SPOTLESS! There is no litter or trash to be found anywhere in the city… in fact… there are not even trash cans on the city streets… everyone takes care of their own trash and it’s really quite remarkable. The Japanese people are impressive… they’re extremely kind, hard working, and they appear to be a very trustworthy people. We were told that crime is extremely low in Japan… and it shows… no panhandlers or bums anywhere to be found. Bicycles are left unlocked and unattended all across Tokyo and street vendors have products displayed on the sidewalk like you would never see in the United States for fear of shoplifting and theft.
So is Tokyo the perfect city? The BYU alumni that we met with during our business visits seem to think so. On Tuesday morning the spouses went shopping while the rest of us went downtown and visit with Todd Budge of Tokyo Star Bank and Mitchell Mason of Deutsche Bank. Both gentlemen went on their LDS mission to Japan and found their way back after college when their companies assigned them to Tokyo because the spoke fluent Japanese. The business visits were interesting and it was fun to hear from two alumni who were raising their family in Japan. Both men had nothing but wonderful things to say about life in Tokyo.
For most of us it seemed only DOWNER about Tokyo was the language barrier. Nobody in our entire group spoke fluent Japanese and it was very difficult to communicate. Most of the native Japanese who do speak English speak it in a very broken dialect that is hard to decipher…. So at the end of the day… Tokyo might be the wonderful city… but without some serious Japanese skills… it might be a tough place to live.
The language barrier was responsible for one hilarious incident that happened to a few of us on Monday evening. About 15 of us met in the lobby to go to dinner. Meanwhile Travis Isaacson and Laura Ball had spoken with the concierge and supposedly found a Tepenyaki restaurant in a nearby skyscraper that overlooked the entire city. While the menu was expensive, the concierge had assured Travis and Laura that it would be well worth the 5000 yen-per-person ($50 per-person) it would cost to dine at the highly recommended restaurant that overlooked all of Tokyo.
When we arrived at the restaurant we were ecstatic… the view was truly amazing and several hostesses escorted us to our own private room. We all ordered drinks, took a few pictures and began congratulating ourselves while the servers put bibs around our neck. Then everything came to a crashing halt a few moments later when the chef brought out the menu… The least expensive dish was priced at 17,000 Yen ($170)… even the appetizers cost over $80 each! The concierge back at the hotel had somehow told Travis and Laura about the private room charge of 5000 yen…. And not the average meal price… which would have cost around $250 per-person. We all had to untie our bibs, put our napkin down and make a rather shameful walk to the elevator. The whole incident made for a good story… sadly we ended up eating at a mediocre cafe in a windowless room… the food was very forgettable… but the night certainly was not.
UPDATE: We arrived in Beijing, China yesterday afternoon and we've already experienced the wild-n-crazy silk market... look for another update soon... but the Internet accessibilty here in China is limited... so be patient... I'll get more up soon!
Tokyo is an incredible city… it’s very big and has some impressive skyscrapers. The city might remind someone of New York or Chicago… lots of traffic… lots of people… an elaborate mass transit system (the subway map looks more like a super complex board game)… there’s even a Times Square district in Tokyo with all sorts of dazzling lights (not far from the hotel we stayed in). But there is one BIG difference between Tokyo and other mega-cities… Tokyo is SPOTLESS! There is no litter or trash to be found anywhere in the city… in fact… there are not even trash cans on the city streets… everyone takes care of their own trash and it’s really quite remarkable. The Japanese people are impressive… they’re extremely kind, hard working, and they appear to be a very trustworthy people. We were told that crime is extremely low in Japan… and it shows… no panhandlers or bums anywhere to be found. Bicycles are left unlocked and unattended all across Tokyo and street vendors have products displayed on the sidewalk like you would never see in the United States for fear of shoplifting and theft.
So is Tokyo the perfect city? The BYU alumni that we met with during our business visits seem to think so. On Tuesday morning the spouses went shopping while the rest of us went downtown and visit with Todd Budge of Tokyo Star Bank and Mitchell Mason of Deutsche Bank. Both gentlemen went on their LDS mission to Japan and found their way back after college when their companies assigned them to Tokyo because the spoke fluent Japanese. The business visits were interesting and it was fun to hear from two alumni who were raising their family in Japan. Both men had nothing but wonderful things to say about life in Tokyo.
For most of us it seemed only DOWNER about Tokyo was the language barrier. Nobody in our entire group spoke fluent Japanese and it was very difficult to communicate. Most of the native Japanese who do speak English speak it in a very broken dialect that is hard to decipher…. So at the end of the day… Tokyo might be the wonderful city… but without some serious Japanese skills… it might be a tough place to live.
The language barrier was responsible for one hilarious incident that happened to a few of us on Monday evening. About 15 of us met in the lobby to go to dinner. Meanwhile Travis Isaacson and Laura Ball had spoken with the concierge and supposedly found a Tepenyaki restaurant in a nearby skyscraper that overlooked the entire city. While the menu was expensive, the concierge had assured Travis and Laura that it would be well worth the 5000 yen-per-person ($50 per-person) it would cost to dine at the highly recommended restaurant that overlooked all of Tokyo.
When we arrived at the restaurant we were ecstatic… the view was truly amazing and several hostesses escorted us to our own private room. We all ordered drinks, took a few pictures and began congratulating ourselves while the servers put bibs around our neck. Then everything came to a crashing halt a few moments later when the chef brought out the menu… The least expensive dish was priced at 17,000 Yen ($170)… even the appetizers cost over $80 each! The concierge back at the hotel had somehow told Travis and Laura about the private room charge of 5000 yen…. And not the average meal price… which would have cost around $250 per-person. We all had to untie our bibs, put our napkin down and make a rather shameful walk to the elevator. The whole incident made for a good story… sadly we ended up eating at a mediocre cafe in a windowless room… the food was very forgettable… but the night certainly was not.
UPDATE: We arrived in Beijing, China yesterday afternoon and we've already experienced the wild-n-crazy silk market... look for another update soon... but the Internet accessibilty here in China is limited... so be patient... I'll get more up soon!
Monday, May 26, 2008
wasabi-licious
Shayne Howell will do anything for a free meal. If there is anything crazy/gross/nose clearing that needs to be eaten, he's your man. But it will cost you...
Sunday in Japan... Temples and Sushi
What a great day to start off the trip! Most of us had a decent night of sleep after yesterdays travel marathon and this morning the hardest decision anybody had to make was whether the wanted strawberry jam or orange marmalade spread on their breakfast roll. The food served at the hotel was excellent and once finished we had a perfect sacrament meeting (reverent, spiritual, and brief) before catching our tour bus to see the sites around Kyoto, Japan.
Kyoto seems to be a nice, clean, modest city, about the size of Salt Lake with some rolling hills surrounding the area. It’s a religious center and we spent most the day visiting various Buddhist temples and shrines. The first place we visit was an enormous wooden structure (supposedly the longest all-wood building in the world). Inside we saw 1001 gold plated statues guarded by some freaky mean looking Buddhist deity. Afterwards we all gathered together for a group picture and John McPhie won the hearts of a dozen or so school girls by posing like the super-hero we all know he really is (John spent about 10 minutes signing autographs for the dazzled Japanese kids afterwards).
Our afternoon was spent temple hopping all around Kyoto and waving to hordes of Japanese school kids who loved to flash us the two-fingered peace sign. We visit the Kiyomizu-dera temple up on a hillside and browsed through a cool market place on the way down to the bus. Lunch today was fantastic, we enjoyed traditional Japanese food and had to cook up our own steak on a sterno fryer… a little bit like cooking up fondue… all while sitting indian-style on the floor. Most everyone enjoyed our lunch and it may have been the highlight of the day.
Also this afternoon we made a visit to Nijo castle and walked through the never-ending maze of dark hallways with squeaky floor… a little bit like a spook alley or a first-person-shooter video game. The final place we visited was the Golden Pavilion temple named Kinkaku-ji– a beautiful structure with some lush gardens surrounding. We were lucky the weather cooperated perfectly today - overcast and cool with no rain.
Kyoto seems to be a nice, clean, modest city, about the size of Salt Lake with some rolling hills surrounding the area. It’s a religious center and we spent most the day visiting various Buddhist temples and shrines. The first place we visit was an enormous wooden structure (supposedly the longest all-wood building in the world). Inside we saw 1001 gold plated statues guarded by some freaky mean looking Buddhist deity. Afterwards we all gathered together for a group picture and John McPhie won the hearts of a dozen or so school girls by posing like the super-hero we all know he really is (John spent about 10 minutes signing autographs for the dazzled Japanese kids afterwards).
Our afternoon was spent temple hopping all around Kyoto and waving to hordes of Japanese school kids who loved to flash us the two-fingered peace sign. We visit the Kiyomizu-dera temple up on a hillside and browsed through a cool market place on the way down to the bus. Lunch today was fantastic, we enjoyed traditional Japanese food and had to cook up our own steak on a sterno fryer… a little bit like cooking up fondue… all while sitting indian-style on the floor. Most everyone enjoyed our lunch and it may have been the highlight of the day.
Also this afternoon we made a visit to Nijo castle and walked through the never-ending maze of dark hallways with squeaky floor… a little bit like a spook alley or a first-person-shooter video game. The final place we visited was the Golden Pavilion temple named Kinkaku-ji– a beautiful structure with some lush gardens surrounding. We were lucky the weather cooperated perfectly today - overcast and cool with no rain.
Tonight we all met up for dinner… but then split up into several factions based on our preference and willingness to have sushi for dinner. Some went looking for a McDonalds… some made it to the top of the Kyoto tower… while others found some good sushi in a nearby mall. But certainly the bravery award for the day goes to Shayne Howell who, after finishing off his sushi, devoured a heaping spoonful of wasabi to win a bet for 2500 yen.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Planes and Rain: Arriving in Japan
Day one of our trip was a long and tiring travel adventure. Many of us started out the morning waiting an extra hour in the Salt Lake airport because our flight was delayed. Fortunately we all arrived in San Francisco with plenty of time to spare before our international flight to Japan.
The flight over the Pacific ocean went as good as you might imagine. We flew across the big pond on a JAL 747... and our entire group occupied the last 7 rows of the plane. The kind stewardess seemed a little bewildered that nobody in rows 60-67 would taker her up on some coffee or green tea. Most of us passed the time away by reading and watching the movie Bucketlist 2-3 times. The Japanese style meals were interesting as well: Salmon noodle surprise with grapefruit, yogurt, and a roll was my personal favorite. Our flight lasted about 10 hours before finally touching down at Narita airport near Tokyo. We soon made our way through customs and then caught our connecting flight to Kyoto after kicking around the terminal for another couple of hours.
By the time we arrived in Kyota it was well past dark and the rain was coming down pretty hard. Though it was only around 8:00pm local time, most of us had been travelling for over 24 hours. We all made our way into our hotel, the New Miyako, located in the Southern part of the town near the train station. Looking at the itinerary this morning some of us figured we would have some spare time when we arrive do browse around Kyoto.... but fatigue after a long day of travel can put a damper on late-night tourist activities. Virtually all of us immediately head off to bed where we experienced the firm support of a Japanese style mattress.
Welcome to the ASIA F.B.E. Blog
This blog will follow the adventures of the 35 students, faculty and spouses on the 2008 EMBA Foreign Business Excursion trip to Asia. We've all been excited about this trip for months and it's finally here!
Here's where we'll be travelling:
May 24 - May 26: Kyoto, Japan
May 26 - May 28: Tokyo, Japan
May 28 - June 1: Beijing, China
June 1 - June 4: Hong Kong
June 4 - June 7: Bangkok, Thailand
** Extension
June 6 - June 9: Phuket, Thailand
Here's where we'll be travelling:
May 24 - May 26: Kyoto, Japan
May 26 - May 28: Tokyo, Japan
May 28 - June 1: Beijing, China
June 1 - June 4: Hong Kong
June 4 - June 7: Bangkok, Thailand
** Extension
June 6 - June 9: Phuket, Thailand
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