Asia Trip Day 1/2 - Tokyo (October 2015)

The original plan was to keep a detailed travel diary and add photos each day. Unfortunately, jet lag and lots of walking each day resulted in early bedtimes so not much was written after day 2. I'll post it anyway along with anything else I can remember three months after the trip.

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Sunday 10/25 to Monday 10/26

Beginning of a long trip. Sister put on roof luggage carrier and we took her SUV to LAX. Parents dropped us off. The new international terminal is pretty nice. We boarded at a new gate (157) on to a Japan Airlines 777. Seats were decent size-wise but cushion was pretty thin and soon my butt was hurting. We were also lucky to have a vacant center seat so was able to spread out a bit. The food was pretty bland but they did have an assortment of snacks in the galley that were pretty good. The best economy seat food I've had is probably still from the Air France LAX-CDG flight on an Airbus A-380.


Our ride to Tokyo

We arrived at Narita on-time and getting through immigration and customs was very easy. The arrivals area however, was full of people and a complete zoo. We exchanged some (too much) dollars for yen, then tried to find a Japan Airlines counter to try and select seats on our return flight. Unfortunately, the seats that Expedia sold us were class Z, which did not allow seat selection. Sigh... would have been nice to know before we bought the tickets. Anyway, after that we exchanged our Keisei Skyliner voucher for actual tickets, and got on our train to Ueno station. The train was really comfortable and got to about 90 mph along the way.


Keisei Skyliner

Before arriving in Japan, I thought all tracks to each station converged at a single location. This is untrue. Some stations were more like several stations connected by long passageways. Even though it looks like a single station on a stylized map, it can take 10+ minutes to walk to another connecting line. So, when we arrived at Ueno, it was the Keisei Uneo station, different from the Japan Rail (JR) Ueno station, and different from the Tokyo Metro Ueno station. Ugh. Fortunately, I had lots of practice runs with Google street view and we were able to get to our Airbnb apartment, lugging 4 roller suitcases behind us. The apartment was were the instruction said it was, and we were surprised at how small it was; it looked bigger from the website photos. There were only two bedrooms with two beds each so one of the kids had to sleep on the sofa(bed) in the "living room".


Map outside of train station. Good thing this was here since T-Mobile's free data roaming service was useless.


Tiny bedroom


View from Airbnb apartment


Cemetery right outside our window

Since we were tired from the long trip and dragging our luggage down the street, my sister and I went out and got some Yoshinoya beef bowls from just down the street and brought it back to the apartment. It tastes exactly the same as the US version; not sure if that's good or bad.

MAMAMOO's Moo Party (October 2015)

As mentioned in a previous post, MAMAMOO was in town for the 42nd LA Korean Festival in October, and they also scheduled a fan meet-up. VIP tickets were $110 but you get to shake hands with the girls and get their autograph. I had worried about being the oldest guy at the concert/meet, but I saw a few older white guys there.

I thought the meet-up and the mini-concert was awesome, even factoring the $110 price. After hearing and reading about the recent BTS concert tour fiasco, I was glad that this event was pretty well run. The only minor complaint was the long waits in line: before VIP event, inside VIP event, and between VIP event and concert. I did manage to meet a few people in line (mostly Chinese for some reason) and made some new Facebook friends.


Event was held at the Fonda Theater in Hollywood. The building was a bit old but sound system was working fine.


VIP fan meet-up. You could bring one item for them to sign. I brought a Pink Funky CD I just bought 2 days ago. A lot of people brought posters. Seated (my) left to right: Hwasa, Whee-in, and Solar.


I met this crazy guy from Stockton that drove down just to see MAMAMOO. He brought a few posters and this faux "painting" print from Walgreens. He ended up giving aways some posters but kept the fancy framed print plus a candid photo poster.


Solar...


... and more Solar. Pretty.


Whee-in stood for this song...


... but had to sit most of the time, especially when there was a lot of dancing.


My autographed CD

I shot a few videos with my Sony RX-100 that came out pretty decent. The videos are grouped in this YouTube playlist.

Matt Redman Concert (October 2015)

Day before leaving on a two week Asia trip, I went to a Matt Redman concert at Mariners Church along with several people from CCCSB. One of my carpool buddies attends Mariners and told me about the concert. I have never been to Mariners before and was surprised how large it was.


Almost 4000 people capacity

I only managed to record one video since my phone was acting up. It even crashed on this video and reset itself near the end of the song.


10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord) - Matt Redman

New Brown Eyed Girls Album

Yay! They're consistently one of my favorite K-pop girl groups (others currently are MAMAMOO and SPICA). There was some issues with their prior management company which seems to be behind them now. Hopefully they will continue to release new music.


신세계 (Brave New World) - Brown Eyed Girls

They were also recent guests (November 2015) on Weekly Idol. One of the funniest episodes ever.

42nd Los Angles Korean Festival (October 2015)

42 years and it's the first time I've heard of this event. The festival was held in early October at a small park in Koreatown over four days with food and performance. I was there Saturday night (October 3, 2015) to see Mamamoo perform.


I dragged my dad along since I just introduced him to Mamamoo a week before. We drove to Union Station and tool the Red Line to avoid traffic and parking issues.


It was super crowded when we arrived and there were huge lines for food stalls. We ended up going to the stage area and didn't get anything to eat until after the festival ended (at Sam Woo in Cerritos).


MCs Sam Hammington and some Korean-American lady. I've seen Sam on Korean variety shows.


Rapper Vasco


Pungdeng-e. Never heard of them before.


eSNa. Korean-American singer/songwriter that collaborated with Mamamoo on a few songs.


Mamamoo! Too bad Whee-in was still in her cast and could not dance.




음오아예 (Um Oh Ah Yeh) - MAMAMOO

Washington DC (July 2015)

Even though I've lived in the US for ~30 years, I haven't traveled that much within the country. Last July, I spent a week in DC with my sister's family. It's only the 2nd time I've been there. Due to work travel, my sister has lots of Alaska miles and Marriott points so airfare and hotel rooms were free.


Washington DC Chinatown. There were signs in Chinese on almost all businesses. This was a literal translation: corner bread coffee shop.


I guess there's no literal translation for Fudruckers so this says "World's Best Hamburger"


National Gallery


Spy Museum display (forgot was it was about). This was the only museum that we had to pay to get in. Some of the displays were cool but the space was small and everything was super crowded.


Enigma machine at the Spy Museum. I had just watched The Imitation Game so it was relevant.


Lincoln Memorial


MLK Memorial


Washington Monument


Small SpaceX display at the National Air & Space Museum. I'm surprised that there was anything at all.


View of Jefferson Memorial from the top of Washington Monument


Capitol Building (scaffolding for dome repair). We managed to get tickets for a tour of the building; no such luck for White House tour.

Shredder

Bought a cross-shredder April of last year from Amazon for $70. I tested it on ~700 wedding photos and it worked pretty well.


Thought this would make a nice desktop wallpaper but it's too busy


Filled up an entire Costco trash bag

Parking Structure

Due to poor planning, we've been out of parking spots for several years. Many of us had to park in an off-site structure two miles away, and take shuttle to/from work. This adds about 30 minutes to my commute each day. In 2015, we finally decided to build a seven-story parking structure across the street. It should be complete by the end of this month but probably still won't have enough parking spots for everyone.

A few photos from my cubicle. I wanted to take a photo each day but forgot most of the time so I don't have enough for a good time lapse video.


January 2015


March 2015


May 2015


September 2015

Ugly. The current plan is to cover the street facing side of the parking lot with a very large vinyl print, probably a picture of Mars of something. That will cost ~$2M.

Chinese Bus Tours

I've dropped off my parents on several Chinese Bus Tour trips in the past, but recently I've gone with them on a few as well. After the alpacas farm "tour", I don't think I'll go on any more bus tours.

Sedona, November 2013




Red Rock



Monterey + Napa Valley Wine Train, December 2014




Lonely Cypress


Wine Train. It was dark so we couldn't see anything out the windows while we ate dinner.

Santa Barbara, May 2015




Alpacas...


The Santa Barbara tour portion was basically a half-hour ride on the amphibian bus

2015

2015 was a tough year. There were some good times but I had foot issues for most of the year, including outpatient surgery, multiple trips to the ER & urgent care, outpatient surgery, weeks of hyperbaric treatment, and crutches. Hopefully 2016 is a better year.


After 3 nights in the hospital, I was about to rip out the IV line.

Also, my main blog reader complained about the lack of posts recently. It's been easier to update my Facebook page but I'll try to do a few catch-up posts.

Choice Music in Korean Galleria

Took forever to drive to Koreatown to pick up the Mamamoo CD I ordered but finally got it. Hopefully the info about the fan meeting this Sunday is correct and I'll be able to get the CD signed and get a picture with the group.

Koreatown was super crowded today and my Korean friend said it will probably be a lot worse tomorrow night for the concert. I think I will try and park at Union Station and take the Metro Red Purple Line to the festival (1/2 mile walk). My dad is thinking of coming so $6 for parking and $1.75 x2 (round trip) x2 = $13 which is not too bad to avoid traffic and parking.

LA Moo Party

Update: Ugh. All the CDs online are shipped from Korea. I did find one guy on ebay but takes a week to ship. I also found a few music stores in K-town and sent some emails. I guess I'll have to run down there in person tomorrow to see if I can find anything fit for an autograph session.

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Mamamoo is coming to LA to perform a free concert at LA Korean Festival on October 3rd. They're also holding a fan meeting the next day at Fonda Theater at 4pm. Since I'm usually free on weekends, I dropped $110 ($90 for ticket + $20 "convenience" fee) to see them live. Hopefully they will speak some English or have translators 'cuz my Korean skills are non-existent. I've been to a few Korean concerts but nothing like this. The event website said no photos, which is crazy for a fan meeting, and that they'll sign one item. I really don't have anything so I'm scrambling to see if I can get an album shipped by this Friday. :(

Favorite performance:

The Way to Sampo - Mamamoo (Immortal Song 2)

New Passport

Yay! I got my new passport in the mail yesterday. I think it took only 3 weeks for them (State Department?) to process and return to me. I still have to get my old passport back but they said it may come in a separate mailing. I opted for the larger 52 page passport since I had to add pages to my last one. It used to be free to add pages but now the government charges $82 to add 24 pages to your existing passport.

Will they add another 24 pages to my 52 page passport if I need it?

Asia Trip Planning

My sister and I talked about taking my nieces on a trip to Asia for awhile now. Well, we finally decided on dates and bought plane tickets for late October/early November so I guess we're really going. At first I looked at fully guided tours, especially in Japan, but they cost a lot of money. After researching sample itineraries, I've decided to try and plan our own trip.

The plan is to fly from LAX to Japan, stay a few days in Tokyo then Kyoto, and continue to Taipei. Since we have 5 people, which is an odd number for hotel rooms (and taxis), we ended up booking all lodging through Airbnb. In Tokyo, we're staying in an apartment near Inaricho station (near Ueno Park) for 5 nights. This is followed by 3 nights in Osaka near Namba station, and 5 nights in Taipei near the main train station. It was a lot of work to find places big enough within our budget, yet near train/subway stations so we can walk with luggage. In total, the 13 nights will cost us about $2400 with Airbnb booking fees and cleaning charges.

I've also been trying to arrange activities each day, along with all the required public transportation rides. Tokyo has to have the most confusing subway system, primarily because there are several companies, all with their own lines and stations. Just because you see a station next to where you want to go on Google Maps, it doesn't mean it will be cheap nor convenient to get there.


Tokyo Subway Map - Only contains lines/stations for 2 subway companies

I'm still deciding to go with a tour of Mt. Fuji or plan it myself. After that, I think I'm done with Japan itinerary, but still have to figure out what we want to do in Taipei.

New Favorite K-pop Girl Group

Um Oh Ah Yeh - MAMAMOO

Strange group name but lots of vocal talent. One thing I noticed was how effortless their performances are for a bunch in their early 20's. I guess when you're not worried about singing the right notes, you can focus on other parts of the live stage. In some of the other popular girl groups, half the members can't sing that well. They remind me of a younger Brown Eyed Girls.

Hope they come to KMF this year.

Ah Yeah - EXID

Ah Yeah - EXID

They will be here for KMF in a few weeks. I really wanted to see them live along with Apink but the Hollywood Bowl is not a great venue. The place will also be packed with thousands of screaming teens due to TVXQ and some other boy bands. My foot is still messed up so I didn't want to walk all the way in/out of the Bowl.

Hopefully they'll come again in the future.

"Freedom of Religion"

Shameful

Christian Science Monitor

In 'China's Jerusalem,' party members must now profess atheism

A Communist Party crackdown takes a new turn in a religious hotbed of faith on China's east coast. Prospective party members who worship need to officially 'rectify' their beliefs.

As with many things in China, laws don't mean shit. It's just used as political cover—for whichever faction of the CCP currently in power—to do whatever they want against their "enemies." Is it surprising that none of Xi Jinping's cronies are "corrupt"? They'd better start buying houses in Arcadia before his term in office is up.

The Global Times quoted a professor from a prominent party college in Beijing that gave an interpretation of the latest move:

"Party members are banned from joining religions. Believing in communism and atheism is a basic requirement to become a Party member." said Li Yunlong, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. Li said that Zhejiang authorities stressed this basic requirement due to local situation, adding he hopes this will set an example to other provinces. "This could be a part of efforts against the penetration of Western hostile forces," said Li.

Wait, Western hostile forces.... is he talking about Marx and Lenin?

New Church #1: EFCI 1.5G Ministry

1.5G stands for 1.5 generation. From their website, they are trying to reach those born overseas but grew up in the US bi-culturally. I guess it's something similar to NewSong's Third Culture ideology, trying to reach those stuck between two dominant cultures. Anyway, I showed up at 11:05am for their 11:10am service and the full-English ministry was still in the room so everything got delayed. The service feels like the English service at CCCSB without the Youth, and with some Chinese thrown in. In the end, it felt a bit gimmicky... about 90% of the service was in English but several worship songs were in Chinese, the worship leader had a pretty strong accent, and the speaker threw in a few Chinese sentences. I think the concept is fine, but since it's part of EFC Irvine, it's still a Chinese church, especially the Chinese lunch after service.

I don't think my Chinese is good enough to be even 1.5G. I had raised this issue while back at CCCSB. It's not about language but culture. The English Ministry never grew in the past 20 years because I don't think there is a goal, other than somewhere for the Youth to go before college. Is there truly a 1.5G culture? Maybe there is but in practice, it's hard to define and to balance the two different cultures. I'll go back a few more times and maybe visit a small group, but I'm thinking that I need to find a mostly Asian church not attached to a 1st generation Asian congregation.