Hong Kong Disneyland: Other impressions

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Jay

I have to say that English was a really useful language during the trip to Hong Kong. All the signs at HK Disneyland had English and all the workers spoke enough for their jobs.

The menus were easy to understand, and the workers often brought out a menu with pictures of the food. All the restaurants had some kind of barbeque, some kind of stir-fry, and some kind of noodles. There was dim sum (yam cha) to be had, and you could get burgers (served with plastic gloves for your use; a first for me to see!), pasta, sandwiches, and other familiar food. I got the impression that they were going out of their way to make sure there was something for just about everyone.

The pin trading at Walt Disney World is the best, but, surprisingly, HK Disneyland’s pin trading was much better than at Disneyland Resort in California! Most of the workers had pins for trading, and were quick to let you have a look. The workers in California, for the most part, didn’t seem to want to be bothered with it, and that included the pin trading stations!

The landscaping at the Autopia in Tomorrowland was cool and included

a peeled banana.

This boy was cute in that despite not being tall enough to drive his own car, he went back to the “You must be this tall to drive” sign at least 10 times. Even his parents got in on it trying to convince the worker that he should have his own…

The castle is much smaller than those of the other parks I know, obviously the result of Eisner’s cost-cutting during construction. Perhaps a makeover is in store…

The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel was great, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. The design is from the Grand Floridian at WDW, which is based on the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.

The final shot comes from the exit sign as you leave. All-in-all, it was a great place to visit.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Jay

If you veer left after Main Street you’ll cross the bridge into Adventureland at Hong Kong Disneyland. The first ride on the left is the ubiquitous Jungle Cruise. The layout of the area is a bit different than I’m used to. The Jungle Cruises in Tokyo, Anaheim and Orlando are mostly self-contained, meaning your experience is mostly part of that attraction. In Hong Kong, the Cruise heads around Tarzan’s island and his treehouse (there’s no Tom Sawyer to be found here).

As you head around the island, you pass the rafts (same style as Master Sawyer’s, just named for Tarzan characters) and get a chance to wave to the adoring crowds.

Another big difference, and one that I was surprised to see because it could work in some of the other parks, is that you have a choice of three languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, or English. We took the English route. Our guide was very lively and did a great job of telling jokes and pointing out all the sites. I have to say, though, that for all her hard work, I could not understand anything she said. I’ll write more on the language thing later.

As we got on, we noticed that the right front seats were wide open AND there was quite a bit of water around the gunwale (cool nautical word, huh?) As you can see from the shot above, our guide took the brunt of the blast from (I think it was one of the elephants; you have been warned).

The Hong Kong Disneyland Jungle Cruise has to be the best of the four I’ve been on. The robotic animals and natives were a bit more realistic and this fire and steam creature made of stone was an interesting surprise. Take the ride and check it out for yourself.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Posted on April 2, 2008 by Jay

Spring sprang a couple of weeks ago, and after some careful planning, the family was able to travel to Hong Kong for the first time. Our first stop was the relatively new Hong Kong Disneyland, opened in late 2005. We stayed at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel which is about a 10-minute ride from the park via a Disney shuttle bus. There is also an MTR (more on this system later) station near the entrance, so it’s convenient if you’re staying along one of the many stations along one of the routes.

Visitors are greeting by a surfing Mickey and some other aquatic friends.

If I blinked, the entrance is similar to other Disneyland-based parks that I have visited, with a security check of your bags and the Main Street station. On first glance, the layout of the park is similar as well, with one big difference. There are only four sections to the park: Main Street, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Adventureland. While they have a few of the main rides that you would expect—Autopia, the Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain—the park may be more notable for rides that are missing: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, among others.

The park can easily be visited in a day, although that might not work if there are any large crowds. We virtually walked up to all the rides and got on. The only exception to that was the Autopia, but even that was reasonable. The sign said 60 minutes, but our wait was under 30 minutes. The second-longest wait was for The Lion King show (around 20 minutes). Although some places, like the entrance, seemed crowded, the park seemed to absorb people well. I read a couple of articles in the local paper noting that attendance was not as high as expected; for those of us visiting now, that is a good thing. Disney stockholders (who own 43% of the park; the Hong Kong government owns the other 57%) might think otherwise. I also read that two more sections are planned for Hong Kong Disneyland. The article’s main topic, however, was that a Shanghai Disneyland is in the works, and that might impact the numbers of visitors to the HK park. Time will tell.

All in all, I would have to say it’s worth the visit, especially if you’re planning to be in the area. We had a good time and plan to visit again. I’ll write more on some of the details. Stay tuned.

MSG is glutamate is umami is MSG

Posted on March 5, 2008 by Jay

The New York Times has an article on the various form of glutamate that are added to food around the world. The one we know and love is known as the chemical monosodium glutamate (MSG) synthesized by Tokyo University’s Kikunae Ikeda in 1908 (yep, one hundred years ago). So go out and celebrate with a bag of nacho cheese flavored Doritos® today. As the author points out, those have FIVE different forms of glumate in every bag!

Does your brain need a bit of a boost?

Posted on February 24, 2008 by Jay

Do you know Dr. Maoshing Ni? He is the author of several books on health and longevity and runs the Ask Dr. Mao site.

He has a list of tips on boosting your brain power on the yahoo site. Useful tips include doing some brain exercises like puzzles and memorizing items in a list; getting enough sleep (and grabbing a power nap) and exercise; eating the right foods; brewing your own herbs; and drinking green tea every day (I’ve got mine right here! )

I would add to the list the fermented foods like natto and miso. What do you do to keep your brain healthy?

Riding Trains or the Subway in Tokyo: A Primer

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Jay

When I was up in Tokyo for the JALTCALL 2007 conference in June, 2007, I had my trusty Panasonic Lumix DX-10 at my side. I thought I would take some shots of my travels around the city. I didn’t have much time for that because I was busy going to presentations, and when I wasn’t doing that, I was lugging my bag around (note to self: take the rolling bag next time).

I did manage to take a few shots. I mostly got shots of the Tokyo Metro System, but I did get one of the the JR system in Tokyo.

I grew up in Southern California, so I was new to subway trains in 1985 when I went to both Mexico City and Japan for the first time. If you’re a subway train veteran, thanks for reading this far. You’re free to go. Since I walk to work now, I still have to acclimate myself whenever I head into the big city (we do have a street car here in Kumamoto! )

Basically, you want to find your stop on the map above all the ticket machines, look at the price to get there, put your money in, and get your change and ticket.

Follow the crowds to the wicket, go through the section with a green arrow, and remember to take your ticket out as you walk through (you’ll need it again to get out of your station).

Look around and up, and find your train line. Make sure you check the direction and stay on that side (I still have a tendency to move to the side dodging people and forget which side to be on), so you don’t head off the other way or on another line. I almost got on another line on the way home the last day. Hey, it was Shinjuku station, and there are at least 20 tracks!

Head out of the train at your stop, and look for the signs that show you what is near each exit.

It is important to go out the right exit, or you could have a really long walk to get around to the other side of the station. As you leave the station, have your ticket ready. You need it to get back out; it will not come back to you when you exit.

If you get stuck, there are lots of maps in different scales to help you get your bearings.

You can also ask any of the workers on the platform or the windows. Remember, everyone wants to help you get where you want to go. Just smile, and say the name of where you want to go.

One huge difference I noticed this trip (it’s been at least four years since I spent any time in Tokyo) was the change in the signs on the trains. They are all electronic now, so the signs change as the trains move down the line, with the present and next stop in big ol’ letters. That made it harder for me to miss a stop.

Another tip is to not ride during peak times. This worked out for me every ride except Saturday night getting on the Yamanote loop line. I just kept walking until I saw a little space on one of the cars. I exhaled to get as small as I could, and I pushed my way on. Two more people got on after me, so maybe you get the idea of how crowded it can get. I understand some of the train lines use the conductors to push people on during the heaviest times of the day. Fun, fun, fun!

[Editor's Note: This entry was originally written June 14, 2007. It has be redone (now with photos! )]

Nazca Exhibition in Kumamoto

Posted on January 10, 2008 by Jay

Last month we got a chance to go to the Nazca display at the Kumamoto Prefecture Museum of Art (one of my students reminded me about it; thanks Yoko!) I have to say that it was very interesting. The first section moved through a bit of the history and geography of the area, and there’s an illustrative timeline to give some perspective. This site has a good rundown on the details.

The artifacts on display were simply amazing. I guess because of the climate (the area looks awfully dry), many of the items were well preserved. Several items were more than 2,000 years old and were in excellent condition. There is a well-kept mummy that you have to see to believe.

The end of the display is dedicated to the huge line drawings in the desert floor. This area of Peru is a World Heritage site, so it’s on my list of places to visit. Unfortunately, people are doing great harm to the area with cars and motorcyles. I hope that kind of activity is stopped ASAP.

The Nazca display continues until January 27th. Get your tickets and go now!

Fukuoka Subway Guardrails

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Jay

I went to Fukuoka last month to do a little business. I really like taking the train from Kumamoto to Hakata station, but that method is not nearly as convenient as taking the bus (and it’s cheaper, too!)

Anyway, I’ll have to write about all that another time. I hadn’t been to Fukuoka on foot in a while, so I hadn’t been on the subways for at least a couple of years. To my surprise, the two stations I used had guardrails set up the entire length of the platform. I cannot recall if Fukuoka has had any troubles with people falling or being pushed into oncoming trains, but it has happened in other parts of the country. This seems to be a great pro-active move on the part of the transit folks. Nice job!

Just to show the contrast between lines with and without the guardrails, the above shot is from one of the stations on the Tokyo Metro line.

Disneyland Resort, Summer 2007

Posted on December 27, 2007 by Jay

This summer we got a chance to spend a couple of nights at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. We used some of our Disney Vacation Club points to stay on the concierge level of the Disneyland Hotel. The service was great and the view excellent! Two nights and two parks worked out well for us.

We happened to be at California Adventure when High School Musical 2 was debuting. There was a show and parade, and we were able to catch the float as it sped by. I had no idea at the time of its popularity. Now I know.

Another highlight was the Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure. The old submarine ride has been updated with newer, more accessible submarines and a whole new underwater world. We took advantage of the popularity of the ride (a three-hour wait!) and rode other rides early with shorter lines. We went back and took the Nemo ride later after things calmed down (and one of the parades was going).

Sushi Ota

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Jay

World, meet Mr. Ota. His San Diego restaurant, Sushi Ota, is just about the best sushi shop I’ve been to (I’ll save my other favorite, Daiki, in Ise, for another post). Besides being a great guy, Mr. Ota runs a smooth-running ship with fantastic food. We were trying to figure out when we first started going; it must have been not too long after he opened in the late 1980′s. That was back when there were exactly two people behind the counter: Mr. Ota and a nice guy nicknamed Joe. Now there are seven or eight people perfectly choreographed. It’s a big coincidence that Mr. Ota’s hometown is a couple of hours south of Kumamoto (in Hondo). He’s in my hometown, and I’m near his. Mr. Ota knows what my family likes, and he takes great pride watching our expressions after putting his original California- and Kyushu-fused creations in front of us. He has never missed with us. This meal took place about four months ago, so I’m working from the photos and my feeble memory. If the details are lacking, just enjoy the photos, and use your imagination…

Our meal started off with the above creation, although I broke it up before I remembered to take a picture of it. It was crab meat and tomato in a savory gelatin, and it just melted in my mouth.

I need to take some notes when I go back next time because I cannot remember what was in this original masterpiece. I do remember that the avocado matched perfectly with the grated daikon, tare (sauce?), and the fish inside.

This was one of those one-bite experiences that last only as long as you can chew it. There was crab involved and squid and a white fish, and that sauce!

Yes, your honor, guilty as charged. I forgot what kind of fish this was, but it was grilled to perfection and it was tender and extremely tasty.

I understand the giant bluefin tuna is dwindling rapidly. A few orders of various parts of maguro is usual for me. This time we had one order of toro and left it at that. I hope the tuna population returns to normal soon. We should all think carefully before catching/ordering/eating any more giant bluefin tuna.

Uni (sea urchin) is a delicacy in Japan. It just so happens that the waters of the east side of the North Pacific Ocean are filled with sea urchins. Sushi Ota serves them up from both California and Japan.

My wife likes the awabi (abalone); I can do without it. It’s a bit too chewy for me. She said it was wonderful!

Memory lapse again. As you already know, the one on the right is sake (salmon), but the one on the left eludes me right now. Perhaps another trip is in store, so I can ask…

Our final order was tamago. I think it was the first time to order it at Sushi Ota. Check out the cool brand.

Thanks for (another) excellent meal, Mr. Ota. I can’t wait to go back!

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