Geisha, Gardens and...Astro Boy!

Kyoto is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace and with your eyes wide open.  For it is only then that you can truly see the beauty that resides behind closed doors. Away from the traffic and bustle of central Kyoto, and make no mistake, this is a big, working city, lies gardens beyond imagine and quite often beyond entry unless pre-arranged.  I was however, remarkably fortunate to experience a couple of Kyoto's most private and as it turned out, not so private, private gardens.  Some I had arranged and some I, well, literally gate crashed.  But before you cry foul, it all ended well.  After respectfully observing that I was not in a public reserve and with much blushing and bowing on my behalf, my reluctant hosts gave me a grand tour of the finer points of their creations with far more politeness than I surely deserved.  Unfortunately, twice today I have found myself in this embarrassing but, at it turned out, very fortunate position.  One was even being used as a backdrop for a documentary on Geisha!  The graciousness and kindness of the Japanese people can not be faulted, thank goodness, even in what must be for them, absolutely withering circumstances such as this.  Calling a day on any semblance of the leisurely pace at which I began my site seeing, I have made a hasty retreat to a small, cosy establishment not all that far from a homage to my favourite cartoon character, Astro Boy, to enjoy a well earned and refreshing Premium Yebisu All Malt Beer.  This beer has a full malt taste, quite different to the usual Japanese beer and well worth asking for.

The spirit of old Kyoto...

Konnichiwa. Eigo ga dekimasu ka? 
The Land of the Rising Sun...but before I deliberate, let me pay homage to the distinctly proud and resilient Japanese people who have suffered so much of recent times. I take my hat off to you.
Kyoto is polite, it is dignified, it is beautiful and...it lurks behind secretive screens.  My goodness what a place!! From the Philosophers Walk to the sublime temples of the eastern hills of Higashiyama, I am totally captivated by this city.  With traditional wooden houses, the click-clack of gita and the frequent flourish of brightly coloured silk, Kyoto is culture personified. But it is not out in the open. The first glimpse of Kyoto can be somewhat disappointing, but take a look around and it is all here, albeit relatively exclusive. Outsiders like me, can only peek through the cracks of the not so long gone centuries, but you can get a glimpse of the city's secretive soul if you look. Replete with fascinating temples and Zen gardens to the absolute, one really must exercise the muscles yet again and...walk.  It is worth taking the time to search behind the new department stores and shopping arcades and just take it all in. Take it all in, as I have,  with a side of complete extravagance at a delightful tea house in the Eastern Hills, particularly at one that serves the wonderfully balanced sake that is Urakasumi, from the Miyagi prefecture.  One can not say that it is the best, but it is certainly a sake that I can recommend.

Hong Kong...Mussel city!

One really can't venture to the Orient without a quick foray into Hongkers for a chance to replenish the old wardrobe.  I haven't been here for many years but my favourite tailor still flourishes the finest cloth to keen customers, still continues to measure chests, necks and ever increasing bellies and still turns out the finest shirts that money can buy.  Having taken to ordering from afar in recent times, I was still remembered, or at least, my requirements were.  My needs are mostly simple as you know... interesting things to look at, great memories, fabulous food and a tipple at dusk...but one really must have good shirts!  With a fresh supply of marvellous shirts in hand however, it would be negligent not to sample the delights of this amazing "ant hill" with a quick whip around.   Buildings on buildings on buildings on even more buildings and you have Hong Kong.  But there is more.  Though the glamour of times past has largely faded, there is still an urgency in the air and the smell of expectation on people's breath.  I suspect I reeked of a similar expectation, except I had spied some fresh, milky mussels at a small street vendor and had expectations of a delicious repast to follow.  I was not disappointed, in fact more than pleasantly surprised, when my ample dish of spicy steamed mussels were accompanied  by a sly nip of Confucius Vodka, a traditional sweet Vodka from the mainland, Shandong to be exact...not the smoothest of tipple but perfect for spicy mussels in the streets of one of the most densely populated cities on earth.

The tail of a dragon...

The future is here...and its in Shanghai.  As much as I have meandered from pillar to post, hung up my hat (albeit for a short time), unpacked my bags,  had my passport stamped and eaten the chocolates off the pillow at night,  I am pretty sure I have not experienced such variance from day to day as I have in Shanghai. Actually I am sure: if variety is the spice of life, then "life" is Shanghai.  If your hankering is to be a culture vulture, then come to Shanghai. If your desires are more culinary in nature, then come to Shanghai.  If it's inspiring and unusual design on your mind, then you can find it here.  From the banks of the Huangpu River to the temples to the Yuan and the mind expanding open air art forays, the bodily senses are in a constant state of flux.   All it needs is an open mind...and an open bank account.  But one doesn't really mind...when you can top it all off at the end of the day with a fabulous Les Pardes de Haut-Bailly, Pessac Leognan, 2004 at Shanghai's Napa Wine Bar & Kitchen.  Five years ago, all this was impossible but now.....well...maybe it's all just too much!

The Bund, the beautiful...and the Oriental Pearl

Lining the majestic Huangpu River, the life-blood of Shanghai, and the demarkation point between Puxi and Pudong, the Bund signifies everything that the Puxi side is...brash, bold and beautiful.  Known in Shanghai first as the English settlement and then later as the "International settlement" (how thoroughly cosmopolitan), the Bund became the major financial hub of East Asia at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century, reaching its glamourous best in the 30's and 40's.    Much of that Shanghai has disappeared but on the Bund today, you can still enjoy a taste of that elegance, albeit newly reinvented, and partake in world class food, drink and, I must say, company, in authentically  swish deco surrounds.  In fact, I was most fortunate to enjoy the wonderful hospitality of one such culinary establishment, M on Bund, and experience wonderful victuals and the wonderful views across the river to that amazing structure that is the Oriental Pearl.   How could I top an experience such as that... by settling in at a similarly swish cocktail bar of course, right in the middle of Shanghai's Dolce et Gabanna store, a mere hop, step and stagger away on the Bund.  I can't think of a more perfect place to enjoy a jaw-dropping Nicolas Feuillatte Cuvée Palmes d'Or 1996 champagne.  As I have said before...anything is possible in Shanghai.