Movie Review: Wanderlust

The first movie of the flight started half-an-hour before we took off -- the advantage of VOD (Video On Demand) and a business class seat.  Anyway, with a title the same as my blog I had to watch it! Of course, that wasn't the best criterion for choosing a movie.

Thus movie featured Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston but I never heard of it in the theater... with reason.  The story is a typical one. New Yorkers struggle to have a life in the City. They're forced out to try to make ends meet.  They see an unsavory alternative and settle on a supposed Shangrila -- hippies enjoying a good life and battling corporate types that want to build an evil casino.  Man gets in a fight with woman who flees into the arms if the resident alpha male.  Man leaves camp only to realize he made a mistake weeks later.  He returns to conquer the alpha make, oh, who was conniving to sell the commune to the evil casino.  All is well in the end with the commune being saved.  And there's a brilliant novelist in the commune who is discovered by the couple. Thus let's then to return to New York for a successfully, perfect life. Happily Ever After.

The movie didn't have enough meat for the lead actor and actress, who definitely deserved better. The movie had a small role for Alan Alda, who did well, but want enough by far to save this movie.  Everything was predictable but the dialogue wasn't witty with to get past this.  Definitely one for the TV.. or better yet just pass on it completely.

Rating: 3/10

Sayanora Tokyo!

July 16 -- I'm on my way out of Tokyo now, taking the bus to Narita Airport. (It's about an hour and half ride. A taxi would be ridiculously expensive.)  I was contemplating a 6am trek to the fish market to see the tuna auctions, but I was told that it was closed. Today is a national holiday. I'm not quite sure what holiday it is as I've been told different things by different people. Some say it's an old emperor's birthday, but the beat answer is that it's a new, contrived holiday to have one amidst several months without any.  In any case I'm on an earlier bus in car there is holiday traffic.

Yesterday, we slowly made our way back to Tokyo via a local train. I visited Ema's place for dinner. It's a two bedroom that might be small by American standards for a family of four, but it seemed perfect for them. We had homemade sushi that you made yourself. Earlier, we went to a supermarket to buy stuff. Things seem about 30-40 percent more expensive. Oh, check out the cubical watermelon, specially grown that way. It's normally $125, but really just for display.

It's a nice sunny day today and I'll soon go look out the window. Generally, it's been hot (80-90F) but with very high humidity.  I think I would have wilted and hid in the air-conditioned comfort of the hotel room if I was on my own...

See you stateside!

The Hot Springs at Atami

July 14 -- Today, I met up with Ema and her family-- Shin (husband), Yu (six-year old daughter), and Rin (four-year old daughter).  The kids only know basic English, so it was quite a challenge to interact with them. But soon enough they were somewhat friendly, although perhaps still reserved, especially Yu.

We met at the subway station to take the bullet train to Atami. It's a seaside resort about 50 miles southwest of Tokyo. We started in a hotel that Ema characterized as being built in the sixties.  There was a nice, shallow pool for the kids and then we went to Roman baths with water supplied by underground hot springs. It's supposedly medicinal, but it was definitely relaxing.  The sauna was a cool 78 degrees... Celsius!

Dinner was an all-you-can-eat buffet. It was a mad rush to get food. There was a lot of seafood which I ate, but didn't know what it was!  Decent food but the average American probably wouldn't try much of it.

There was an arcade that the girls loved. They especially liked a taiko (Japanese drums) game where you had to beat according to the song. Kinda like Dance Dance Revolution but with drums.

It was a very nice, relaxing weekend jaunt.  The hotel had a feel of an old resort in the Poconos. But it was still fun. I saw one non-Asian while I was there. Almost everything was written in Japanese only, so it would have been hard to navigate on my own..

Oh, my injury was fine. It never even bothered me... It's amazing that not a single Japanese person has asked me about what happened, even if it's quite obvious and they're talking right to me. Let's see how it is in America when I get back, for comparison. (One Aussie did ask, but that was it.)

Coming face to face with... WHAM!

I negotiated a crowded subway at rush hour and came out amidst a protest near the prime minister's house against the reopening of a nuclear plant. Many Japanese are still sensitive after last year's tsunami/earthquake/nuclear incidents. There were tons of police but eventually I got routed to Ema's office building.

I was so excited to find it that I didn't notice that the there was solid glass where I thought it was open. I went right into it hard.  I discovered that I was bleeding.  At that point I ran into Ema (not literally this time...). After a trip to the bathroom, I discovered I had a healthy gash at my left eyebrow.  We tried a clinic upstairs but it was closed. So we ended up going to a hospital emergency room.  The wait wasn't too long. I was attended by three doctors initially. It was funny communicating between my poor Japanese and their slightly better English. But in the end it was determined that I needed stitches.  The whole process took about an hour.  Here are pics of me and the doctor. It cost about $250 but hopefully insurance will cover it -- I have some travel insurance too.

I was well enough to go to dinner with Ema, but no alcohol. I have a huge bandage on my forehead so you can imagine I'm getting some looks!  Tomorrow we're off via the bullet train to the hot springs. Hopefully, no more mishaps!

Random wandering through Tokyo

July 13 -- I didn't much of today recovering from Mongolia.  It was so nice to sleep in a comfortable bed, so I slept in.

I had a late breakfast at Starbucks and used their wifi. It's interesting. I didn't miss internet in Mongolia, but here in Tokyo, I do. Everyone is so connected with their smartphones, I feel like I'm missing something. And the irony is it's harder to find free wifi here than in Ulaanbaatar!  At Starbucks, I actually had to ask another customer to help me get wifi. Apparently, you need to go through a registration procedure that requires the Internet before you can access the internet... Catch-22, eh?

I took the subway up to Yanaka in the northeast of Tokyo. The subway is so much easier nite than when I last was here. There are signs in English now! It makes it easy to get around since the subway system is very extensive. I even saw the people pushers later on -- conductors with batons to push people into the cars when it's crowded.

It took me a bit of wandering and asking strangers who knew very little English before I found Yanaka street. It was a quiet waking street with small food and specialty shops. It had a rural feel without the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo.  I was a little late so most of the restaurants had already closed for lunch. So I embed up at an Indian restaurant. I was the only one there but the food was good. The owner was from Northern India and had lived in Tennessee. Go figure.

It's do humid here I decided to head back for a shower.  Some observations... People don't tend to wear sunglasses. Lots of bikers on the sidewalks. Bicycles aren't locked locked up often when left. People don't make eye contact -- I think Japanese have perfected the technique of looking at you without looking at you...

Cavorting in Jalman Meadows

July 9 -- Today was a fun and active day, our last one in a ger camp. We started off early, hiking upriver five kilometers. A heinek (half-yak, half-cow) carried rafts on a cart. We helped pump up the rafts, which were different from whitewater rafts. It was a catamaran with two pontoons upon which you sat. Our trip was definitely not whitewater with swiftly moving but calm waters. We thought we could drift along, but miscommunication between us and the guide due to the language barrier had us stuck against some branches. We struggled for a while before finally limping to shore. Then, we had to drag the raft out of the river and carry it about fifty meters downstream, across a sidestream to find a place to get back into the water. At that point, I had been up to my knees in the water, which was fairly cold. But at point it meant I was comfortable dragging my foot through the water. That helped keep me safe from the hordes of flies that were attacking us. Quite a little adventure on our raft. The other raft had a much more peaceful and placid ride.

After lunch, we were going to go horseback riding, but it was forestalled by rain. I ended up buying a yak hair shawl and playing a Mongolian card game with the eight-year old kid.

When we finally went riding, it wasn't especially exciting. The horses were friskier than I expected and we were led in pairs by a guide. We did an hour ride and my knees were sore by the end -- the stirrups were short for the likes of a tall one like me.

After riding, we tried our hand at archery as well as tossing our Frisbee around. Oh, and playing tag with the kid (Batjin). He really is quite friendly with us. He's the grandson of the camp manager out to have fun here over the summer.

Tomorrow, we leave for Ulaanbaatar, but we'll stop to see a local Nadaam.

Bye-bye Gobi...

July 8 -- Our last day in the Gobi was but a morning. We were up at 5:30 and out at six. No nice sunrise though. And of course our flight was delayed by an hour. We took a fifty-seater Saab turbo prop 510km north to Ulaanbaatar. It took about an hour to get there.

Once in UB, we ran a bunch of errands -- bank, supermarket, post office, and chemist -- before heading out of town. Our destination was the Jalman Meadows ger camp, about 100km northeast of UB. It took a while to get out of the city traffic and it was the bumpiest ride yet -- mostly because we didn't have our super bus. The only place to see along the way was an enormous shiny stainless steel statue of Chinggis Khan. It was 40m tall. They plan on building a thousand horseman to accompany him and 200 gers for hotels. Very ambitious.

The ride took us up into the hills. We're about 5000ft above sea level and you can see coniferous trees fit the hillsides. The camp is an eco-friendly site. There are no permanent structures and electricity is provided by windmills and solar panels. The shower is a vat where you pour a mixture of hot and boiling water. There's a small electric pump connected to a showerhead. It's surprisingly effective!

We tossed a frisbee with a few of the kids here. There's an right year old boy who speaks excellent English with an American accent. They all go to an International Bachelorate school. One of the older kids is a junior who wants to study engineering in America (maybe MIT!)

Tomorrow is rafting and horseback riding, provided it doesn't rain. It should be a fun day!

Hiking in the Gobi

July 7 -- The Gobi _Desert_. You'd figure it'd be parched and dry. Nope. Not strictly true. Apart from the rain we saw in the earlier days, today was a water-themed day.

We got an early start to try to see wildlife in the nearby Yol Valley. Our hike into the valley went along a small stream, likely runoff from the earlier rains. Unfortunately, all we saw were pequots, rodent-like creatures, and a type of vulture. In the middle of the trek we came across sections that still had thick ice that we inched by. You could even see the blue of the ice in some places. The ice was crystal clear in a few areas. A very cool hike despite no fancy animals. At least I didn't freeze!

We stopped at a small museum on the way back which had dinosaur bones and eggs, as well as pelts and stuffed versions of all the animals that we didn't see. It was small but an impressive museum for being in the middle of the Gobi. At a shop outside, I bought a set of (sheep's?) anklebones that is used for fortune telling. Your fortune depends on the side on which four bones fall. It's a common game that we've seen in many shops and ger camps.

After lunch and a kip, we went for another hike. This time we hiked through a gorge to a frozen waterfall. Again, ice in the Gobi. Before we left on the bus, we started tossing a frisbee around. Some locals saw and came to join us! That was pretty neat! I think it'll be nice to bring frisbees for kids on future trips....

After returning to camp, we watched as the locals raised a ger. It only took an hour. A ger is made of a lattice wall with six sides. There's a central upper circular frame from which 90 poles extend to the lattices. The frame is held up by two posts. The inside of the ger ranges from five feet high on the edges to about eight feet in the center. It's about twenty feet in diameter. The ger skeleton is wrapped in felt made from sheep's wool. A linen sheet covers that and then it's wrapped with a canvas covering. The center is left open as a window but can be covered for warmth. A small door provides the only entrance. It's surprisingly cozy. There are all sorts of rules -- you need to step in/out with your right foot, you have to walk around clockwise, you can't walk through the central posts, etc.

Tomorrow, we have an early departure as we're flying up to Ulaanbaatar. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to post these reports...

Deep in the great of the Gobi

July 6 -- Today was another travel day, billed as a "long, arduous journey." It was rougher than earlier days, but not too bad. Our trusty Russian bus-truck got us through some muddy spots. Once again, we thought of that quote from Doc Brown -- "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!" And indeed, at points we seemed to be crossing the desert somewhat randomly!

The only major stop was to the Flaming Cliffs, so named because the red cliffs look even redder at sunset. This was were Andrews discovered dinosaurs fossils and eggs in the 1920s. We saw a video on their expedition at a nearby ger prior to visiting the cliffs. It was impressive that they had footage from then. The cliffs were good for a nice hike thigh we didn't find any bones ourselves! :-) Tonight, we're at a ger camp in the middle of the desert. It was supposed to be bare bones, but it was upgraded really with electricity, flush toilets and showers. Nice facilities though the showers were cold and without pressure.

Not much else to say so I'll sign off. We have an early start tomorrow wii as to try to catch some wildlife. We're going to some place that still has ice! I'm worried I'm going to freeze! It'll be worth it if we see an ibex or snow leopard!

A local Nadaam festival

July 5 -- So as mentioned today was a travel day. It wasn't as bad as I expected even though I did sit in the back of the bus. Some of the trip was off road --our truck took off on the semblance if a path but it often disintegrated into traveling over grassland. I've definitely been on hikes with better tracks! Over the course of the trek, we transitioned from the grassland of the steppe to the edge of the Gobi, from green to nearly brown. We'll dive into the Gobi tomorrow.

We chanced upon a few random things that really were quite spectacular. We stopped to see some locals milking mares. They use it to make airag, a fermented milk drink, but we didn't get a chance to try it. We haven't had much in the way if truly local fare yet... The family had a lot of kids who we interacted with. One woman had bottles of bubbles which we gave them. The kids had obviously never seen that before, so they really got a kick out of it.

The second unplanned stop was to catch a horse race of a local Nadaam festival. We were very lucky to see that, as we were in the middle of nowhere. Nadaam is the local sports festival where kids compete in horse racing, archery, and wrestling. They race long distances with over thirty horses in the race. It was quite exciting to see them thunder by right there in the middle of the steppe. You could look about at times and see no sign of human life in any direction.

We're in a posh ger camp tonight. They had really nice showers that were better than my club! After dinner there was supposed to be a fashion show, but that didn't happen. So instead we dressed up instead. I have some nice pictures but they're on my camera. I'll post links after the trip.

Onward to Tokyo

So now I'm in after what boiled down to a travel day. I left the hotel at 3:45 in the morning for my 6:45 flight to Seoul. Two hours there and I continued on to Tokyo.

So it's understandable that I was very tired but the highlight was meeting random people along the way. People are so much more probe to chance conversations while flying, particularly Americans deep within foreign speaking countries.

In UB, I spoke briefly to a GM exec from Bangkok who was here to sell cars here. He was impressed by the uses American cars (seen in suburbia in the US) were put to on the rugged Mongolian roads. He was saying that Hummers were still actively sold in the used car market. I think this is one country where the average driver could justify a Hummer...

I also meet a woman who worked for a NGO that promoted democracy and women in government. There was a big women's leadership conference in UB that she helped coordinate. Hillary Clinton was there last week for the conference.  She even got to see the President of Mongolia!

In Korea, I met several US serviceman who were heading out of Korea to go back to the States.  They had some interesting perspectives on life in Korea as a serviceman.

I took an airport bus that went straight to my hotel. I sat next to a Japanese man who was coming back from Irvine, California for a trip on meditation techniques. To give you an idea of the vote of language here, when I first asked him if he spoke English, he only said a little. I later learned he lived in New York for ten years and sore very well. Maybe he didn't really want to talk to me... :-)  Seriously, though, I think his thoughts on English prowess and a reluctance to speak it is fairly common...

After taking a real shower (so nice!) And cleaning some clothes (it's amazing how much dust there is in Mongolia!), I went out to dinner. I settled in a sushi bar in the fiftieth floor of a nearby building. Communication was difficult but the omakase dinner (chef's choice) and sake were excellent. I had sake (salmon), uni (sea urchin -- so much better here), anago (sea water eel), toro (fatty tuna), anaebi (sweet shrimp) , ika (squid), tamago (egg), maguro (tuna), sea bass, and saba (mackerel). I also tried a piece if a high-end toro, which actually didn't impress me. A very good sushi meal, though pricey -- nearly $60.

I spoke to Ema and set up plans to meet her for dinner. Other than that, my day is open, so I'm going to explore. It should be a fin, relaxing day!

Onto my second leg...

I'm finished with my Mongolian party of my trip and am in a plane to Tokyo for a different phase of the vacation.  I don't think Japan and Mongolia could be more different...

Anyway, I also realized that some of my Mongolian posts (with pictures) were stuck in my outbox, so once I figure out what went wrong there, they'll be sent out.  They'll be out order until I get to a computer, but I don't think it should matter.  I'll also do some summary posts when I get back.

Our guide

Our guide, Handaa

Live blogging from Nadaam

Here we are in the stadium waiting for the Opening Ceremonies!

Back to UB

We had an early start today so we could catch a Nadaam in the countryside. It was a combination of a fair and sports competition.  We saw the wrestling and horse racing events.  The wrestling looked rather like sumo wrestling but the object was to get the opponent to touch a hand, elbow, or knee on the ground. The horse race we saw was of young kids riding two-year olds eleven kilometers. It wasn't quite as exciting as the last race we saw since the riders were spread out at the finish line.

The fair included lots of festival games. I tried my hand at throwing darts at balloons and throwing balls at cans. I did decently but just missed winning. :-( There were kids riding horses and people lining up to get their pictures taken in front of backdrops.

Lunch was an outdoor picnic on hills overlooking the town. We got to try mutton which was really tender. We also did shots of the local vodka.

The most interesting part was talking to some local and getting invited into their ger. It turned out to be a ger of a local political party but they were still very hospitable even if we couldn't vote. We got to try airag finally! That'd be the fermented mare's milk drink. It tasted like buttermilk really.

I didn't take any pics from my phone today so no blog photos. I got a lot of nice people shots on my camera but those will have to wait until I get back.

Tomorrow is the opening ceremonies of the Ulaanbaatar Nadaam.  We'll get to see wrestling again as well as archery.  It'll be my last day in Mongolia!

Leaving UB and Heading West

Today, we left Ulaanbaatar and headed out of town.  It was mostly a driving day.  Our first stop was a temple.  This was a working temple, replete with monks but also catering to tourists.  Again, the place could have used some upkeep, but it was a nice stop. We saw the monks chanting. There were statues of both Buddha as well as the local gods.  This temple was one of the few that survived the Communist purges, mostly because it was a show temple for visiting dignitaries.

Our next stop was the supermarket, to pick up food and water and gifts for the local. Fruits and vegetables were expensive and of poor quality, so I might skip until we get back to civilization.

Then we started west out of town. The roads were bumpy and the seven-hour journey really got really tiring despite the stops and the Russian jeep-bus. 

Once we got out of the city, it got pretty sparse. The steppes were very green amidst the rolling hills. We saw sheep, goats, and horses. Lunch was on the side of a hill and a bathroom break was next to a watering hole with horses wallowing in the mud. A very scenic drive.

We got to the ger camp in the early evening. Gers are Mongolian tents. They are flattish with a slightly sloped roof. They are surprisingly well-apportioned with beds and sinks. The bathroom is an outhouse down the ways.  I've included some pictures of the camp.

Dinner was very good.  A carrot salad, soup, beef patty with oats and mashed potatoes. One of the better camp meals I've had.

No shower tonight. We're hiking to a monastery tomorrow. Later we'll visit a local family in their ger.  Early nights and early mornings...

Happy Independence Day from Mongolia!

Everyone except the Americans seemed to remember that today was Independence Day. It was amusing that they were all wishing us for it...

Today we didn't venture far, but we made several stops. Apart from photo and bathroom stops, our first one was to a hospital. One woman had hurt herself falling. It was still sore so they wanted x-rays.  They saw her within five minutes and the whole episode cost 7500T, about $5!

The main highlights of the afternoon was a stop to the Kharakhorum museum. Kharakhorum was the ancient capital under Chinggis Khan's son. It only later as the capital for forty years and it's all buried now. The museum was ultra-modern (with really nice bathroom facilities!).  I'd say the museum is a good step in preserving history as well as providing venues for tourists to visit.

We then headed to the Erdene Zu monastery, another place that was preserved and then restored. But before we entered, it started to hail! The hailstones were the size of marbles. (See the picture.)  It went on for ten minutes before it turned to rain.  We tried to sneak out into the monastery in a window, but ended up getting drenched.  I don't remember much about what I saw because I was so cold and wet, but I've included a picture.

Tonight, we're staying at another ger, although it's a permanent camp with real showers. It's been pouring, so we have a fire lit in the stove.

Tomorrow, we're heading on a nine to ten hour drive towards the Gobi desert.  It's only 280km, so it's bound to be a bumpy ride!

At Delger Camp

Today we spent the day around our ger camp, Delger Camp, just below Hongo Khan Mountain.  We're about 250 kilometers west of Ulaanbaatar. 

After breakfast, we hiked about 8 kilometers to the Erdene Khombo monastery, which is led by a woman who is the granddaughter of an abbot. It's a simple monastery with only 2-3 monks. It was restored less than twenty years ago.  You could see the ruins of the old monastery there.  It is definitely a scenic place, sitting at the end of a valley.  Along the hike, we didn't see too much wildlife but the views were excellent.

After bussing it back, I tried out the showers. It's really just a spray nozzle attached to a plastic container filled with water that was pressurized by a hand pump.  Simple but effective, enough to get clean enough.

After some rest, we visited a nearby family. They lived in a ger with four girls.  We sampled some homemade  products -- dried goat curd, milk tea, and goat cheese. The host also had us sample some snuff, though I didn't get much of it.  In return for their hospitality, we gave them some gifts that we had pooled amongst ourselves.  After, we went outside, where the older girls were milking the goats. I took a turn at it, but I wasn't especially good at it. Definitely a new experience! After that, the goats were released from their corral and we saw them united with their kids, who had been roaming the hills during the day. It was a loud and boisterous reunion...

Right now, it's after dinner and a storm has rolled in. I'm listening to rain come down on the roof of our ger. Time to read and had to bed. We're on country time here, so I should be asleep by ten.  It really is nice being in the middle of nowhere...!

One more day in Ulaanbaatar...

Today was one last day in civilization before we head out to the countryside.  Even if one might consider Ulaanbaatar off the beaten path, everything we've heard says that it'll be rougher out there.  So we're heading out expecting minimal conditions and hope for better.  We won't have paved roads for much of the trip!

Yesterday, I met up with Kathy and the rest of the Explore tour group. There are thirteen of us, four Americans, three Aussies, and seven Brits.  Only three guys though.  We were told pickpocketing is rife here, and it was quickly evident when one lady had her wallet swiped.  We were even told that there are muggings, but we should be safe in a group.

Today, we got a tour of the main square, named after a famous general.  I saw a guy selling pictures there for the second time. We met one more time after dinner. It's kinda amusing as we both recognize each other and actually talk.  It's nice that they're not pushy.  If I see him when I return to Ulaanbaatar, I'll succumb and buy something from him.

We went to the Natural History Museum. It was badly in need of renovation, but the highlights were the dinosaur fossils and eggs.  Lots of dinosaur stuff had been found in the Gobi Desert.  This museum and the American Natural History Museum are the best places to see Mongolian dinosaurs. 

In the afternoon, we went to Bogd Khan's Palace.  There were some nice bits -- Mongolia's Versailles, by a stretch.  But the grounds really need some upkeep as well as some of the buildings. Oh, here's a picture of Kathy frightened by a door painting.

We drove up to a vista to see Ulaanbaatar from atop. It's a nice location in a valley, but you see construction everywhere, the evidence of urban sprawl.

We went to a cultural show which was better than most. They had  wonderful throat singers (think of Feynman) and an amazing contortionist.  The folk singers and musicians were good, too.

Dinner was at a Korean restaurant. So far I've had Cuban-American, Indian, sandwiches, and Korean. I guess we'll see Mongolian food in the countryside...  Today's meal was treated by the local guide because it's Nadaam, the local Olympics, so to speak. More about that later in the trip...

Okay, I'm fading now and I fear my post won't be too scintillating (though are they ever...?) if I continue.  So good night. You'll hear from me again after my stint in the country.

Exploring Ulaanbaatar

Today's been a good day so far.  At breakfast, I met our tour guide, Laura, and an Aussie also on the tour, Mike.  Mike is retired from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation who likes traveling.  I guess you have to a little to come to Mongolia...

Anyway, Mike came along withe me even though he had been to a lot of places already.  We started by trying to track down a bank, which wasn't so easy on a Saturday. Eventually, we found one and changed some money into the local currency, the Tögrög. I'm never going to remember that...

Next, was a visit to the National Museum. It was a nice sized museum which summarized the history in a very reasonable amount of time. One tidbit is that Genghis Khan is called Chinggis Khan here.

Next was lunch at a Cuban-American-Mongolian restaurant, Millie's Espresso. The owner was studying in Russia and meet his wife there. The food was good and my macchiato was better than what I could get in California. In fact, he had hot sauce imported from California!

After lunch, we went to the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. As you can see, the temple is in the middle of the city right next to some new modern skyscrapers.  All the figures appeared designed to scare, as they were quite graphic. I've included a few pictures as well as one of a Green Tara wall painting. It was a nice temple though somewhat small.  Admission was 5000 T, but to use a real camera for photos was 25000 T more! (Exchange rate is 1325 T to 1$.) I didn't spring for that! It seems a common charge ratio based on other museums...

A short trip to the Persecution Museum followed. It wasn't too interesting since most of it wasn't in English. Mongolian uses the Cyrillic alphabet so I can read a little, but it doesn't get me too far.

We picked up some water and beer before returning to the hotel to rest up.  Budweiser beer! Though this is the Czech variety and much better.

I'll probably go radio silent soon after this. No Internet once we venture out onto the steppes...

First impressions...

So far I don't have much to go on. I got in after midnight and I was picked up by a driver.  But I'll still jot a few things here...

People do seem friendly, at least those on the flight.  Based on the immigration lines, it was mostly locals and I think primarily well-to-do ones.  One eleven-year old boy befriended me and was saying he'd been to America five times already! He was very talkative and friendly, much to his family's consternation and bemusement.  I already got a sense that the younger generations will be the ones able to and comfortable enough to speak English.

It was quite dark flying in to Ulaanbaatar. Not many street lights. I was kinda glad I got a car to pick me up, particularly at that hour.

I met a nice Belgian couple at  baggage claim. They gave me some good advice on how to get around. They even offered me a ride if the driver didn't show!  He was sent here to oversee a local brewery that was a subsidiary of Heineken.

The driver didn't speak much English but was friendly. We bonded over the UEFA football results and the NBA. He knew about the draft and trading deadlines -- I think he knew more that me!

It's 8am and I should start venturing out. I'm exploring on my own today as I don't meet with the tour folk until 6pm.  I think I'll hit a museum, a temple, a bank, and some local food places, all on foot. Everything is fairly nearby. I could use more sleep as I'm tired but jet lag isn't letting me sleep more now. Oh well, time to be adventurous...

First picture from this trip

Let's see if this works.  Thus is the departure lounge at Incheon, Seoul's airport. I'm obviously killing time here.  Don't worry, I'll be relatively scarce on the Internet once my trip starts in full force.

I had an interesting neighbor on the plane. This lady was a dolphin trainer who was heading to the Philippines to train 25 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins that would eventually end up in Singapore. I thought that was a pretty neat job.  Hmm.  Now if only I was a better swimmer!

Random thoughts on a captive audience

A few hours later...

I'm sitting here watching the second movie of the flight. (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or whatever it's called.)  I find it surprising that advertisers haven't tapped into the captive audience on planes.  Even without audio, people would be forced to watch commercials.  The back of seats represent fertile ground for ads.  Okay, maybe I'm grateful that they don't do this, but I'm just saying.

Something more palatable is if restaurants sponsored and provided masks. I wasn't quite sure what I was even eating for the lunch on this flight.  Consider a meal provided by Macaroni Grill or Cheesecake Factory.  That would be a good sampling for the restaurant and might encourage people to try it out.

What do you think?

Okay, back to the movie...without commercials!

Movie Review: John Carter

One more airplane movie and still time to kill. So one more review...

This movie lived up to its reputation and reviews. It was terrible. The plot was confusing and disjointed.  It was difficult to figure out what exactly was going on until maybe halfway into the movie. For all that was spent on special effects, they didn't look impressive.  It felt more like a SyFy channel movie.

It was supposed to be based on an archetypal science fiction book and maybe the story presented better in a written form. But in a movie it just did not work.  Very little in character development and it was hard to get an affinity for any of the characters. Acting wasn't very good either. Money was spent on special effects not actors and actresses.

Rating: 2/10

Movie Review: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

This was a fun little movie, perfect for the TV or the airplane, as the case was. The ensemble cast is a group of very strong actors and actresses, although they have their own mostly separate stories. I would have liked more interactions between them. The real star is the setting itself. India looks very vibrant and fun in the movie and everyone in it looks like they enjoyed filming the movie.

It's impressive to see the English living at length in India. I'm not sure I could do that as comfortably as (most) of them did. It makes you think about how so many of our friends are actually living quite easily in a "foreign" country (the United States) for them...

One interesting vignette was when Judy Dench's and Bill Nigby's characters were shopping in a market.  She was about to buy something but he stopped her, trying to bargain. When they didn't get their price, he said to walk away, saying the seller would follow, but of course he didn't.  This was exactly what happened to me with a friend in Thailand. The only difference was that they went back to pay the price in the movie because "she really wanted it". I've still not lived that down...

One of the quotes of the movie: "When I want to hear your opinion, I'll tell you it."

The movie, like most movies, wrapped up plot elements much too easily in the end. But still a movie with seeing.

Rating: 6/10

Traveling Once More!

After nearly a year and a half, I'm on my way out of the country again (well, apart from Canada, but that doesn't really count).  I'm also resurrecting my blog for the first time since then.  I hope someone is actually still reading this!

This year's trip takes me to Mongolia for the Nadaam festival, something like a local Olympics for the country.  I'll be on a tour with Explore, a UK company, along with Kathy, an old travel buddy who I haven't seen in nearly three years.  After 12 days there, I'll spend five days in Tokyo as a decompression/recovery period. I'll see Ema, a MIT friend who I haven't seen in even longer - maybe five years?!

It's quite a slog to get to Mongolia. I first have a 11 hour flight to South Korea, a 7 hour layover at the airport, and then a 3.5 hour flight to Ulan Bator.  23 hours total travel time.  I leave on a Thursday and get there on a Saturday local time!

I probably won't try to leave Incheon, Seoul's airport, since I'll be tired and I dint want to chance missing my connection. I've been to Seoul twice before so its no big deal.  Unless I can sneak in a trip to the DMZ...

Anyway, I just wanted to jot off a quick introduction. Drop me an email it ads comments letting me know you're reading this!  And if you ask questions or like to hear about certain things, I'll try to oblige.

More when I finally get somewhere...!