Day 3: Ikebukuro, Asakusa, New Year's Eve 2009

JR Rail Pass
Today is the last day of the year, the 31st of Dec 2008. We first went to Ueno station in the morning to get our JR Passes. Apparently, only foreigners are allowed to purchase this pass. It is actually quite powerful. Unlimited rides on JR operated trains and certain Shinkansen lines (minus the Nozomi line) for either 7 or 14 days, or a whole month. We bought the pass for whole of Japan (28300 yen). You can get this pass at any JR station information counter, but you have to order online ahead, and bring your passport with you. We're going from Tokyo to Kyoto, Hakone and back. So this works out to be a lot cheaper than if we buy the tickets separate. All the Japanese we encountered on this trip, including Atsunobu and Koki were terribly impressed with this magic card. The JR Pass is probably the best pass in the universe.

Meeting Mieko at Ikebukuro
After settling the tickets, Charlene and I took the Yamanote line and went to meet an old friend of her's from Susan Garnsey's lab - Mieko Ueno. We met up in Ikebukuro for lunch and coffee. We had hot pot - cod fish, meat balls, and a kimchi and pork. It was a great time to catch up with a friend, we had fun talking and finding out what was going on in each others' lives. Ikebukuro is between Ueno Station and Shinjuku, and it is also a center for shopping and business. Anyway, after coffee we headed back to Ueno to meet up with the rest again.

The Walk to Asakusa
Charlene and I came here before as well. But it was again nice to come back to a familiar place. Asakusa is the area where the Kaminarimon is as well as Sensoji Temple. Koki brought us around here the last time. He also told us the story about the lightning and thunder gods I think...behind the Kaminarimon, and also the goddess of mercy statue behind the Sensoji Temple. But I forget exactly what it is. My memory is not the best in the universe. This time, we spent half a day there, and discovered some new things. We walked from Ueno station to Kaminarimon (30min).

Because it is New Year's Eve, there was an extra amount of crowd around the Kaminarimon/Sensoji Temple area. The shops in front of the temple were all open in their full glory. We were so distracted by the little tidbits from on the way, and also the area before Sensoji Temple - tempura, Mr Donut, Japanese pickles, red bean snacks of all kinds, hot sweet sake, rice crackers, little trinkets. We saw Ryokan Shigetsu again around the area. It is still there and doing well. We were glad about that, and happy to see it. And just when we made it to the Sensoji Temple, we discovered that the New Year scene involves also a night market around the temple. There was stewed radishes (oden), yakitori, grilled clams, fish, caramelized fruit, hot sake. So many things to eat. We hung around the Temple area, beautiful crescent moon. And as we were going back, we had more beef stew and hot sake.

After walking around the most awesome temple in the universe and the most crazy night market in the universe, we caught the train on the Yamanote line, the most amazing line in the universe, and arrived back at Ueno house, and watched the Red/White show usher in the New Year. This show, called Kohaku Uta Gassen in Japanese, is always showed at the end of the year as part of the celebration, and traditional Japanese families watch it as it showcases the best music of the year. So in most senses, it is the best music variety show in the universe. At midnight the Temples all over Japan start ringing their bells (108 times, representing the number of human sins and desires), and the people rushing to make their wishes at the temples. In Japan, it seems, New Year is celebrated first with a family dinner, then going to the temple to observe the bell ringing, and praying for blessings for the New Year. A huge crowd. Police had to hold them back for order. They are the most policing policemen in the universe.

Have the happiest new year in the universe!

Day 2: Tsukiji Market, Ginza, Tsukishima

The wet and wild Tsukiji Market
Today, we met Atsunobu, who was our guide for the entire day! Thanks Atsunobu! It was a wonderful time. Charlene's parents were impressed out of their boots by our most illustrious tour guide, who is the best tour guide in the universe. We started off early morning and headed to Tsukiji Fish Market. Our adventure began in the inner market, where it was all wet and smelt of the sea. Tons and tons of people buying food for the coming New Year celebration at home. Huge tuna as big as a cow! Live fish, octopus, sea cucumber, prawns, salmon, and all kinds of colorful, wonderful products of the sea. Fish heads, fish heads, rolly polly fish heads. Fishermen slopping around. Fish slapping everywhere. Octopus suckers staring at you. Puffer fish bloating up. Delicious! Tsukiji fish market is the best fish market in the universe. Here's a clip to show you the flipping fish fantasia:

There were many opportunities to sample food along the streets as well, all kinds of Japanese pickles, seaweeds. Nuts and berries. And an Okinawa donut. Next, the outer market. Ramen, donburi, the first Yoshinoya (picture shown). Almost all the sushi shops had long lines, but we finally had lunch in a sushi restaurant that had a shorter line. Great fresh fish as well as the famous tamago that people were lining up all the way just to get a taste, and boy, it was good indeed. It was the best tamago in the universe.

Walking through Ginza
After lunch, we walked towards Ginza district and stopped at various places along the way. Ginza is kinda like the Magnificent Mile in Chicago or Orchard Road in Singapore. But of course, it is the best Ginza in the universe. A Hongan Bhuddist temple was a long the way. Hongan apparently is a very powerful association that was politically involved. Historically, they were the ones that the shogun used to control people through religion. This is according to our best tour guide in the universe. We also passed a Mac store, an An Pan shop, Itoya (stationary shop). We spent a while in the 7 storey Itoya building. Because this was the best stationary in the universe.

Tsukishima the Moon Island
Next, we took the train to Tsukishima area for a monjayaki and okonomiyaki dinner. Here, the streets are famous for their monja shops. In fact, it is called monja street. Monja is the best food in the universe. It is made from starchy gluten, and is fried on a teppanyaki with vegetables, seafood, or other ingredients. Like chai tao kuay. We also had okonomiyaki, which is like a really thick and rich omelette. And also fried noodles - yakisoba. It turns out that our best tour guide in the universe is also the best chef in the universe. Here's what I mean:

Finally, we walked across the Sumida river and went to the St Luke's hotel observatory for a night view of the city. At the end of our day, we parted with Atsunobu, and headed back for Ueno.

Thanks again for an awesome time Atsunobu!

Day 1: Tokyo - Harajuku, Shimokitazawa, Jiyugoaka

The Meiji Shrine in Harajuku
We started the day in Harajuku, where the Meiji Shrine is. I've been here before but it was nice to be back in a familiar place in a foreign land. This is a shrine dedicated to the emperor, who is also deemed as a deity - Son of Heaven. Many families have special occasions here, like weddings, graduations, funerals. People come here also to pray for good fortune and blessings. You can get talismans and charms for road safety, success in studies and business, and of course, in love. The weather was great and it was a nice walk. The sake and wine that were donated to the emperor are still there. This time though, people were busy preparing for the New Year celebrations coming up soon. Temple staff were carrying props and fixtures everywhere, and stands were being put up so that people can purchase charms on New Year's day, as well as the night food markets.

Shimokitazawa street shops
Next up was Shimokitazawa. Many small shops selling anything from groceries to gifts to furniture. We looked for a Curry place for lunch recommended by a travel magazine, but after going around a few times and double-checking for directions, we concluded that the shop had closed down. This is good advice, ALWAYS buy the latest travel guide, or at least, check online about your facts first. Finally, we had lunch at Popolamama consisting of Italian fusion. Pasta and pizza. It was pretty good. A standard meal that was filling! Afterwards we shopped around more, and then had coffee.

Jiyugaoka
Jiyugaoka in Kanji is Hill of Freedom. But don't be mistaken, nothing is free there. More small shops again, this time with several dessert shops. Crepes along the roadside, the Sweet Forest - a food court that sells all kinds of desserts - cakes, ice-cream, chocolates, jelly, parfaits... After dessert, we had dinner at one of those hole-in-the-wall ramen shops. We were all very full already, but the ramen is always good in Japan. This one was a little oily, but hey, its ramen. Eating ramen in Japan can be very stressful. Everyone has their own place. there is not big table where you can sit together and chat. In fact, you are not supposed to chit-chat. Eat your ramen and get going! But don't forget to shout "Oishi!" because ramen is the best food in the universe.

Getting from here to there

Taking the LEX from Champaign to O'Hare is probably the worst experience in the universe.
This is the view from the back of the LEX (the Lincoln Express). It was crazy! I highly do not recommend the LEX unless you really have no choice. $50 (after tax and tip!). Plus, I hear that the Suburban Express is better. More comfortable for the same price, with newer vehicles. In the LEX, our luggage was dragged out in the trailer outside. The ride was bumpy, it was raining...and leaking! It reminded me of my army days, riding in the dark in the hummer on a mission. Never again! It is not worth it when you can choose your ride. Next on my list of public transport between Chicago and Champaign is the Amtrak.

Having hash browns in O'Hare, Chicago, US.
We finally arrive at O'Hare, Terminal 3, at 6 in the morning. Our flight leaves at 11am! Stupid mid-west weather. We checked-in after a decent wait of about 1 hr, that's good by O'Hare standard. O'Hare is probably the worst airport in the universe. That's just the airport. The people who work in it are probably nice. After passing through the security checkpoint, where we still have to remove our laptops from their covers and take off our shoes, we were in! We navigated to the usual Parklab venue for food while in transit in O'Hare at the Food Court (K Gate area) Macdonald's. And there I am, with my big breakfast combo of which the only thing I really like are the hash browns and scrambled eggs. Macdonald's coffee is probably the worst coffee in the universe.

Arriving at Narita, Tokyo
We flew via American Airlines. American is probably close to the worst airline in the universe, next to United, which is even closer. The worst airline in the universe probably is illegal. There is no free alcohol in flight. That's probably why. And the food is like the kids happy meal in a family restaurant - both in terms of size and quality. But the redeeming point here is the destination - Tokyo. Why else would you pay for this? Well, technically, I didn't pay. This was a mileage claimed trip. After a 13 hr flight, we are at Narita Airport waiting for Charlene's family to arrive. Charlene is having her afternoon tea while we wait. That's two espressos and an ice cream cone which when combined correctly equals Affogato! Narita airport is probably the best airport in the universe.

From Narita to Ueno Station
Charlene's family arrives at 5.30pm. Everyone is happy. And its great to see family again! We took the Keisei Limited Express (1920 yen pax) from Narita Terminal 2 to Ueno Station in the northwest region of Tokyo. Its a direct train and you can purchase tickets directly at the counter in front of the arrival area of the terminal. After a 70 min train ride, we arrive and check into Ueno House (Taiwanese run long-term stay). We appear a little dark in the photo, but that's because my camera is not the best camera in the universe. Its a nice place for long-term stay. We will be staying there for four days and with six people, its definitely a whole lot cheaper than any hotel.

We left our luggage and quickly head out for dinner nearby at a restaurant called Yayoiken. The place, like any standard Japanese small restaurant, had an interesting way of ordering your food. Its basically like a soda dispenser, only it dispenses food tickets. You put in your money, and then push the buttons that indicated the meal you want. A ticket comes out and you hand it to the waiter. And in a few minutes, your food comes out of the kitchen, onto the table, and into your tummy. One thing I have to say about Japanese restaurants...they are haiyai!

After a fulfilling meal, we go back to our apartment to rest from the day of traveling and get ready for the exciting journey tomorrow!

Departure Eve

Getting ready for the flight to Tokyo tomorrow. We just called for a taxi ride pick up (CU Taxi) at 5.30am. Then as we were packing, the phone rings informing us that our flight from Champaign to Dallas had just been canceled. Probably due to bad weather. So we called American, and they informed us that we had been re-ticketed to take the 7.15am from Champaign to Chicago, and from Chicago to Tokyo, arriving at 3.15pm. Whew!

It is Friday night, and there is dense fog all around.

Dinner

We had the bunch come over yesterday. This was the menu:

Steamed Whole Grass Carp
spring onions
ginger
white wine
salt
olive oil
grass carp
cilantro

Steamed Prawns
brandy
prawns

Curried Lamb
lamb
tumeric powder
cumin seeds
lemon
garlic

Vegetable Clay Pot
tofu
cauliflower
shiitake mushroom
carrots

Boiled Kai Lan
kai lan
oyster sauce
garlic

Lotus Root Soup
lotus root
pork ribs
squid
peanuts
red dates

No pictures leh.

Evolution of Hope

Hope in a few things,
Hope in nothing,
Hope in everything,
Hope in one thing.

SFN Conference in DC 2008

Went to the conference to give my talk. It was, in my opinion, okay only lah. But I guess it was fun to take a break from the regular schedule. I decided that I'm only ok with DC. Not my type of city, but tolerable. Too much political buzz around.

Pictures here: http://travelingjosh.shutterfly.com/2824

Jen and Andy's wedding in NC

Follow the link for pics:
http://travelingjosh.shutterfly.com/2692

We had a great time, drove there for 12 hrs (stopped halfway in London, TN to rest for a night), through the Smokeys, attended the wonderful wedding in Nantahala Valley, spent the night in an old fashioned wood lodge, then drove back another 12 hrs.

A Good Wine

For those who can't see, this is a Blackstone 2006 Syrah. It cost us about $6~8 at Shnuck's. And it was good. I think this will be a standard buy. So far, its one that has stuck. Although that's only because we documented this particular one. This syrah as just the right blend of depth and fruit giving it an all rounded body, which is the way I like it. Goes well with pretty much anything...but then really, any good wine goes well with anything.

Nobody Mourns the Wicked

Nothing is at it seems, once a story is told. We hear about the wonderful wizard of Oz, but why is he so wonderful? Follow the story of Elphaba, by musical or by book. Either way, you'll see things have a 'wicked' way of unfolding.

What a wonderful modern musical...and she flies! Wow. On a broomstick! Double-wow. Bam! And most of all, she's green! Definitely, if you can get tickets, you should watch this fantastic display, if only for an evening of wonder and great story-telling, with the most colorful of characters. We got in for $37 :)

Curtis Orchard

We went to Curtis Orchard the other day. Its an apple farm with apple trees. You can pick your own apples from the trees. They give you the special apple picking hook to reach those that are too high (those that tend to taste better too!). We sampled from the trees...although I'm not sure if we took too many because by the time we sampled, we were actually quite full! Anyway, we picked a whole bag full, and its still not finished yet.

The pictures show some red apples, although most of the apples that were ready for picking were green ones. A lot of the apples also dropped to the ground, many were beginning to rot. It seems quite a waste, but I'm sure there must be some use for these rotting apples somehow...

Curtis Orchards open specific rows of apple trees for picking depending on the season. Usually, the different types of apples ripen over the course of several weeks from late summer to the fall season. You could try your luck...or call them to ask when what type of apples are available. But personally, just go there and buy their pre-picked honey-golden crisp apples. That's their signature apple. Its good!

Texas

Just added the Texas roadtrip photos. See them here.

John 4:7-26

The Samaritan Woman

For me, one of the most impressive statement Jesus made resides in this passage, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." Pondering this statement, I realize that as simplistic as it is, it really pushes your perspective about Jesus into a binary, dichotomous, choice. You really cannot afford to treat lightly this statement. Unless you think he was kidding. Which it seems, given the context, that he really was not. So then either he is mad, or what he is saying is really true.

Is it really that great to never be thirsty? Is not part of the human life learning and enjoying change, fluctuations, times of fullness, times of need? To everything is there not a season? So what really does he mean never be thirsty? Surely, he know this when he said this. Do I really want to not be thirsty? Do I really want all my needs to be quenched? What would life be like if everything was as it should be?

These are hard question to which I do not have the answer for myself...yet. More meditation, prayer, and consideration is needed.

John 4:1-6

When Jesus knew that the Pharisees were aware of His increasing popularity, He withdrew to a less busy district, back to His home area up north in Galilee. Perhaps He knew that it was not time yet, or perhaps He has other reasons not to attract attention, or pull away from John's ministry. Whatever the case, the next statement seems somewhat of a shock for some.

"But He needed to go through Samaria".

This has been interpreted as Jesus purposefully desiring to go to Samaria and minister there to the discriminated people. But reading the text, this interpretation may not be a necessity, although certainly possible. Alternatively, Jesus could have "needed" to go through Samaria because of what was happening in Jerusalem. If He were becoming more popular, and He desired to limit this for the moment, then perhaps a good idea would be to take the road less traveled. What can we learn? Perhaps nothing more than that whatever road we walk on, it may lead to something really important...and it may not involve doing anything special but just to walk it with the knowledge of that possibility. In other words, cherish each path.

Samaria. A place filled with people that the Jews regarded as half-breeds. Israelite offspring of ancestors who inter-married. A complex history of external influence and collaboration with Gentiles. In society, there are many example of this. Interesting how even now, although we seek to eradicate such discrimination, it still exists in our heart of hearts, if we are honest with ourselves. Why? Because we are innately not used to accepting people who are different from us. Most of us anyway. And especially so when their beliefs are different. Samaritans, although they believed in God, we are not told the completeness of their concept and faith here. All we know is that they have a different religious center that was not Jerusalem. Therefore they did not treat the Temple as the center, unlike under the Mosaic and Solomonic customs. Did they worship a different God? They acknowledge Jacob/Israel as their fore-father. Did they have different practices in worship and lifestyle? Most probably.

All these question are resolved through one solitary act. Jesus did not care about all that. He wanted to be among them. And He wanted them to be welcomed in. They were white unto harvest.

"Jesus ... sat thus by the well".

Did he know the woman would come? Why didn't He get the water Himself? Or help others?

I Think That I Shall Never See, A Brain as Pretty as a Tree

What if, sunlight to a tree, is as information to the brain? A tree needs sunlight to survive, to produce food. In response to this basic need, the tree spends a lot of its effort to maximize its ability to obtain sunlight. It does this by forming more leaves, and by spreading those leaves out at widely as possible to cover as much area as possible. Pushing this idea even further, to the extent that the tree covers a portion of area, that is the amount of sunlight it can absorb. Sunlight falling on other areas will be lost to the tree (albeit there might be secondary or tertiary transfer of energy via light reflection, diffusion, and other means). One important parameter that would determine the success of sunlight absorption for a tree would then be leaf surface area. Specifically, greater surface area would increase sunlight absorption rate.

Now, we project this idea onto the brain, of course being well aware that the brain is much different from a tree, although, probably not very very different. The brain is in the business of representing information. Its very function is the processing and retaining of all the information fed into it from the moment of its development. It would be interesting to pursue when this onsets, but that is a digression for later. Nevertheless, the brain develops in tandem with its experience with information. Some of that information is hardwired, or genetic. Some of that information is nurtured, or environmentally experienced. The role of each neuron then, in cooperation with all the other neurons in the brain, is to keep EVERY SINGLE EXPERIENCE, whether internal or external.

Why does the brain want to do that? Well, that's the same as answering why does a tree want so much sunlight for? We can only provide partial understanding here, because this borders on the domain of philosophical and religious pursuits. Biologically, a tree seeks sunlight as part of its nutritional source for the purpose of ultimately creating more trees. That is about as far as we can describe based on observation. This is, in a way, a tautology. Because what we impose as the purpose of the tree, is in fact, what we see the tree already doing. Therefore, such an answer may not satisfy some, but it is a partial answer at the least. Turning back to the brain, again, only a partial answer is given. The brain seeks to contain as much information as possible, because that's what is already observed that it is doing, and perhaps, this information helps the organism to survive, and to produce more organisms of this kind.

More importantly here, we shall consider how does the brain perform this function of representing as much information as possible. The tree does it by increasing surface area exposed to the sunlight. The brain's equivalent would be to increase the number of neurons it has, the connections between these neurons, the variability in the way these neurons can activate. Some smart person might be able to come up with an equation that tells us how much information a given brain with a given number of neurons and connections, and variability in activity, can hold. This could somehow be mathematically related to the concept of surface area...

However, there is a problem in terms of space. While the brain is fantastic and has way superior computational capacity, it is still finite. That is, there may come a time when a given person's brain can no longer process anymore new information. Maybe it has come already, just that we don't know it or that its not as big of a problem as we might think, given we have external aids for our memory now, through things such as computers, books, paper, language, and symbols. This finite capacity is indeed a problem, but our brains have a rather interesting way of solving it, at least to a great extent. Lets turn back to the tree for a moment, because its a greener thought. Lets say that to get more sunlight, the tree has two ways of doing it given a fixed amount of material. It can send more branches out with many leaves, or it can make fewer but bigger leaves. If it sends out more branches, it would have to content with using some of that material to make tree-parts that don't absorb sunlight (branches). If it makes bigger leaves, it may have to content with those leaves blocking each other out, since they will be close together as there are no branches to help spread them out. In the same way, the brain might have two ways of holding information within a limited amount of material. It can create more and more connections with more neurons, or it can use the existing neurons and connections in different ways. Here is where the tree analogy might break down. Unlike information, sunlight to a tree is a one-dimensional problem in the sense that it only needs to worry about expose area. Information, however, is obviously multi-dimensional, with auditory, visual, tactile, odor, taste modalities in the sensory domains, and countless of types of dimensions when you think about concepts and their associations, temporal information etc. Another dissimilarity between a tree and the brain is that most trees only make one kind of leaf, or grow with a certain fixed physical structure. The brain is able to flexibly use neuronal connections to group neurons in very dynamic ways. So, while a tree either has small or big leaves, the brain may use both small groups of neurons encoding some type of information, as well as bigger groups encoding other types of information.

The maximum surface area of the brain (meaning the physical ability of the brain to differentiate between its billions of states of activity using its neuronal connections), limits the total amount of different information the that brain can keep. This will be developed in later blogs. Here are some teasers. One brilliant way of reducing the space needed would be to encode information in terms of similarities and differences. And also, unlike a tree, the brain in the organism makes decisions about what the organism should do, affecting the environment and modifying subsequent experiences, as opposed to being completely at the mercy of the experiences.

Next time...."Similarities and Differences", and "The Brain, The Tree, Intentions, and Decisions".

Why The World Should Use BrainVoyager

Gardening Site

Charlene and I have just added a garden to our corridor. As with all growing things...we'll see how it turns out! Stuff of earth. Check out the blog of the garden's progress at http://jcofgardening.blogspot.com/

Charlene Sees/Hears Dinosaurs...NOOOOOO!

Mother says: Would you like to go on the choo choo train?
Child replies: Noooooo!

We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden with Nina, Rich, and Atsunobu. Flower after flower, scene after scene, the colors, touch, smell all filled our senses. Simply put, it was a very happy time. It is quite amazing how the simple delicate things can reach deep down.

Now, the serious business though. While I was taking a scenic shot. Someone amidst our group saw or heard something quite phenomenal. I wonder if we should report this to the Paleontological society? Hmm...here...this is what I mean:


You can check out photos of our Chicago Botanic Garden trip, with all the flowers in their glory by going to my Shutterfly Collection, or by going to The Daily Josh.

Those Darn Geese!

Charlene and I took a break at the Kickapoo State Park. The other Singapore students were there too. They took the wet route...canoeing! But we decided to have a quieter time with picnic and my Fables comic. Ha ha ha. By the way, if you don't know about Fables, shame on you. I'll tell you about it next time. Back to Kickapoo...

The day was great. Sunshine and blobs of clouds. When the sun er...shinded down on us, we got warm. But when the clouds went by, it was chilly. Acherly hor, the weather these days are siao lah. Its supposed to be warmer, but for some reason, they never turn off the outdoor air-conditioner. But ok lah. So the rest of them went canoeing, and according to the reports from Qinwei, they got really really wet and cold...in fact, they almost dieded. We also took her camera hostage, for reasons I shall not elaborate.

Anyway, we were hanging around the lake and saw a bunch of geese chillin out there. But oddly, they had a strange behavior...perhaps they were trying to show us some attitude? Here...take a look and see for yourself:

Earthquake!!!

It happened at 4.30am. Fast asleep. Then the rattling started. The heating pipes. At first, I thought it was those cars with loud boom boxes. But it seemed an unnaturally loud rattling this time, much louder than a normal boom box could cause. Then, it started. The bed began to shake, the ground vibrated, and the rumbling. The slow but purposeful moan of the earth, turning on its side.

Thoughts raced through after. Was it a meteor that hit nearby? Was it a bomb? Are we at war? Was it tanks driving through the city? Was it some monster that has appeared? Was it aliens landing? I could not totally sell myself to the idea that I had just been shaken by an earthquake. The very foundation under my feet were loosed.

The next morning, the morning show reported: 5.2 earthquake originating about 300 miles southeast of Champaign at 4.30am. Felt even in Chicago.

I am still alive. No one was harmed.