台湾 :: 九份

この前台北へ行ってまいりました。

出張でです・・・

働きました・・・

ちょっとだけ・・・

でもほとんど遊んだｗ

台北。有名もいいとこなのであえて今回は違がった所をポスティング。

その名も九份（きゅうふん）。

色々忙しい中最後の夜に時間とれたので学生来の友人Cとミーティング。友人Cですが、数ヶ月前香港に来ており、実に１０年ぶりの再会。感動モンだった・・今回は私ＧＬが訪れた訳です。元々「淡水」って所に行くつもりだったが昼に行って来たばかりだったので（すんません！）急遽九份に。台北からバスで１時間半離れた北部に位置する山あいの町、九份と言えば映画「非情城市」のロケ地とジブリのゴッド・宮崎駿監督の作品「千と千尋の神隠し」のモデルとしてかなり有名なとこ（結局有名でした・・）。友人に教えてもらうまで全然知らなくて、「センチヒのモデルになったとこだよ」と言われたら旅の疲れか先日食いまくったカニの後遺症か「もののけ姫」と勘違いし、コダマ溢れる千寿の森を想像してしまった。「それもののけ姫だから」とツッコマレ我にかえる。友人の友人Aちゃんが九份に住んでいたので色々紹介してもらいました。


結構高い位置にあるので景色はさすがにすごい。↑の写真では伝えられないなにか幻想的なものを感じた・・・霧がそうさせるのかな？山の比例と違って何故かでかい光があちこちあったからシュールに感じたかもしれない。なんであんなでけぇんだマジで。広大してみて下さい。（クリック）


しばらくしたらいつのまにかこんな所に。なにこのすさまじいノスタルジックな感じｗ。まさに千と千尋の神隠し的なものを感じた。ってかそのまんま。夜遅かったから店もほとんど閉まっていたが逆に神秘的な雰囲気を楽しませていただきました。


最後はここ、「阿妹茶酒館」。宮崎駿監督はここに来て顔なしを思いついたとか。仮面が怖すぎます。友人Aちゃんがとにかくチャーハンがうまい！と押していたのでチャーハンを注文したらマジでうまかった。あと色々小食もごちそうさせていただき、神秘的な風景で一服。感無量でございます。

驚きあり、出会いあり、「爆笑」ありで楽しかったです。あっざます！

次はもっといいカメラで来たいと思っております・・・

Taumata :: The Longest Place Name. Ever

"Taumata". Ain't so long is it.

That's coz it's a short for: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki-maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

I shit you not ↓



NO it's not shopped.

Here, let me be saint enough to help you Wiki this if you're too lazy to copy the above. Mind you I shat a brick typing this the first time. It was painful.

Tokyo Trip 2007 :: Day ⑤

Finally halfway...Went to the Ghibli Museum at 三鷹 (Mitaka) and walked our way to 吉祥寺 (Kichijouji)


Had onigiri in the morning on our way to the Ghibli Museum. There's a bus that takes you there directly.


Snapshots were only allowed outside of the Museum. I wanted to see this robot for years.


After we checked every corner of the museum we walked through a park to 吉祥寺 (Kichijouji). One of the best parks I've been to I can walk there all day long. The weather was perfect.


We arrived in 吉祥寺 (Kichijouji) after the long stroll and headed straight for Steakhouse Satou for the infamous Meatball. Long Queue. Assumed that was coming. We bought a whole bag and headed back to the park to dig in. It was like no other....


Always wanted to try the recent Japanese Salon (It's been a few years) so we decided to give it a shot. It was pretty amazing they wash your hair while you're sitting with your head slightly tilted backwards. Way better than lying down. I don't know how it is in other places but you ain't gonna find something like this in HK. The stylists have different ranks. Designer, Top Designer, Senior Designer and even a Director. The top ones were full booked so we went with the designer. It was good enough though.


After a long walk in 吉祥寺 (Kichijouji) it was time for dinner. We went to いせや (Iseya) famous for Yakitori. Again...the best I ever had....Went three rounds with the similar amount shown above.


Then we went to another one, also famous for Yakitori and had a couple. Again.....best I ever had. I like いせや (Iseya) more though, probably coz of the first impact.


Finally got back to where we stayed and dyed our hair. With dessert, again.

I'm only halfway to the sum of how much weight I've gained from this trip.

Tokyo Trip 2007 :: Day ④

The day I've been looking forward to. We went to 築地(Tsukiji) already on the 2nd day for Curry Udon but this times for sushi. Wanted to get up earlier to check out the market but again, it's too hard to get off that bed.


@ 寿司大 (Sushi Dai) :: Got lost there a bit late (9am) so we had to line for about an hour. But it was well worth the wait. ↓


@ the counter :: they serve instant made sushi right on the table. There's no dish, the whole table is. We ordered the "We'll let you decide" course. They serve whatever they got best from the market on that day so the menu may be different another day.
I recommend clicking on the images for a closer look. lol
↓ What we had in order.














and a big ass oyster to end the meal.


People outside waiting were peaking in staring at us so we decided to take off and check out the market.....and...we couldn't resist...


After a satisfying breakfast(?) we went to 六本木ヒルズ(Roppongi Hills). Took a walk around to analyze the area damn this place is huge.....so we took a quick break afterwards.

Took another walk around and noticed it was lunch time. So...we had lunch.






Menu :: Soups from Soup Stock Tokyo / Pumpkin Fry / Cheese Croquette / Cutlet Sandwich

Energy charged. Time for the long walk. We basically searched every part of Roppongi Hills to find the designs laying around. Some were interesting, including the infamous Maman, symbol of Roppongi Hills.


Maman :: Louise Bourgeois


Roboroborobo (robo-en) :: Choi Jeong Hwa (L)
Where Did This Big Stone Come From? :: Katsuhiko Hibino (R)


Park Bench :: Jasper Morrison


Arch :: Andrea Branzi


Ripples :: Toyo Ito


sKape :: Karim Rashid


Evergreen? :: Ron Arad


Annas Stenar :: Thomas Sandells


Counter Void :: Tatsuo Miyajima



Chair disappears in the rain :: Tokujin Yoshioka


day-tripper :: Droog Design /Jurgen Bey with Christian Oppewal and Silvin v.d. Velden

All in all it was very cool. It was interesting to see the designs aging. Ron Arad's Evergreen? is good example of clever use of product aging. There were no vines when it was first built.


R-Burger :: another break


Made way to 新宿(Shinjuku) in the evening. Took a walk in Tokyu Hands. You can get almost anything here. Toys, bags, undies, toothbrush, stationery, compass, push up counter, suitcases, pug calendar, anything.




Had Soba for dinner. Ordered 天玉そば(Tendama Soba). The blokes there were eating really fast so we followed. I think I finished it in 5 minutes. Then we took a stroll in 歌舞伎町(kabukicho) and no nothing happened.



finally...this ain't mine. I had a つくね棒(Tsukune Bou)...