a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
My bags are packed for my trip out tomorrow. (Well, almost. I still have to put a few things in and close them).
I fly out to Singapore on All Nippon Airlines with a stop at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Japan.
I will arrive in Singapore early on Sunday morning local time, and spend two days there before my Princess cruise departs on Tuesday.
(Do they not have a reputation for spitting at you if they find you annoying? I will have to look into that first before I get too close too them).
[Page from the online Readers Digest at rd.com]
It was time to go home today, and I took a flight on Alaska Airlines from Palm Springs airport to Seattle.
Pictures:
The (somewhat unusual) courtyard inside the secure area at Palm Springs airport;
Allegiant Air getting ready to fly out to Bellingham airport in Washington State;
Stepping on board my own flight— a Boeing 737-900 (twin-jet) from Alaska Airlines;
The Flighty app replaced the airplane with a flying turkey— a nod to Thanksgiving, of course;
Arrived at Seattle, got my checked bag, walked the half-mile to the light rail station, and here comes the train (look for the Mountain that is out, through one of the glass panes);
Utility poles and power cables on the way;
Views of the stations called SODO, Pioneer Square, Symphony and Westlake.
I took the scenic route from Solana Beach to Palm Springs today, driving across the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains.
The first few pictures are from a turnout point a few miles after Ribbonwood (elevation 4,397′) on Highway 74.
The last ones were taken from the Coachella Valley Vista Point on Highway 74, with Palm Desert visible down below in the valley.
Three of us had a lovely lunch at Mister A’s restaurant in downtown San Diego. The restaurant is on the 12th floor of the Manchester Financial Building and offers great views of downtown, the Coronado Bridge and even the runways at San Diego International airport.
After lunch* we made our way down 5th Avenue to Jacobs Music Center to attend a live performance by the San Diego Symphony of the music that was composed for the animated movie Flow (released 2024).
*Mine was a king salmon ‘Wellington’ (shown below).
It was raining this morning, and we drove out to see the supercars and other classic cars that are parked in downtown Rancho Santa Fe on Paseo Delicias and Avenida de Acacias.
They are there every Saturday morning for the Rancho Santa Fe Cars and Coffee event, which runs from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
The green Aston Martin Vantage (MSRP: $245,750) is my favorite, even though I am 99.999% sure will never own one.
Happy Friday.
I took a flight out to San Diego this morning to visit my brother and his family, and to catch some California sun.
Top to bottom:
A gorgeous sunrise in Seattle;
Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 with orca livery at Seattle-Tacoma airport;
Screenshot from my Flighty app warning that we will have an on-time departure (pushback from the gate), but that there will be an 18 min delay in taking off (which was exactly what happened, but we still arrived 10 mins early);
Beautiful gel photos of saguaros in the arrival concourse in San Diego airport (I forgot to take note of name of the photographer);
The Spirit of St Louis airplane is still in the baggage claim hall in San Diego airport’s Terminal 2.
Well he was Thailand based
She was an Air Force wife
He used to fly weekends
It was the easy life
But then it turned around
And he began to change
She didn’t wonder then
She didn’t think it strange
But then he got a call
He had to leave that night
He couldn’t say too much
But it would be alright
He didn’t need to pack
They’d meet the next night
He had a job to do
Flying to Cambodia
– Lyrics from the single ‘Cambodia’ by British singer Kim Wilde, released Nov. 2, 1981
The song “Cambodia” by Kim Wilde is about a woman whose pilot husband is sent on a mission to Cambodia and never returns, leaving her in a state of longing and unanswered questions. Written by her father, Marty Wilde, and her brother, Ricky Wilde, the song is a tragic love story about loss, separation, and the enduring pain of waiting for someone who is gone. The lyrics depict the woman’s emotional journey from hope to the realization that her partner is never coming back. [Google AI Overview]
Cambodia is on the itinerary for my upcoming Princess cruise out of Singapore.
We will stop at the port by the city of Sihanoukville for only one night and one day, though.
I signed up for the excursion to Ream National Park with its mangrove forests, wildlife and pure stretches of white beach.
C A M B O D I A
Capital: Phnom Penh
Currency: Cambodian riel
Official language: Khmer
Population: 17.6 million
Government: Unitary state, Parliamentary system, Constitutional monarchy, One-party state, Elective monarchy
King: Norodom Sihamoni
Cambodia—officially the Kingdom of Cambodia— is somewhat larger than the U.S. state of Missouri. It is bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam, and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The Khmer language is one of the major tongues of the Mon-Khmer subfamily of the Austroasiatic language family and is spoken by nearly all people in Cambodia, including the Cham-Malay.
The people of Cambodia suffered under the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 after winning power through a guerrilla war. The Khmer Rouge government under Pol Pot was responsible for the Cambodian genocide (1976-78), during which up to three million people were murdered.
Tourist-wise (‘Quick Facts’ from Google Maps):
Cambodia has a landscape that spans low-lying plains, the Mekong Delta, mountains and Gulf of Thailand coastline. Phnom Penh, its capital, is home to the art deco Central Market, glittering Royal Palace and the National Museum’s historical and archaeological exhibits. In the country’s northwest are the ruins of Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire.
Hey! The postcard I had mailed to Seattle from the top of Seoul tower made it into my mailbox.
Situated at No. 1 Sejong Road in the Jongno District of Seoul, the palace was originally built in 1395 as the palace of the King of Choson. It was listed as a cultural property on Jan. 1, 1963.
Issued Dec. 17, 2021
Perf. 13½ |Design: Ryu Ji-Hyeong |Engraving: Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation |Litho. |No watermark
#3555 500₩ Multicolored |Fruit cluster of bunge (Crataegus pinnatifida)
This tree is also called Chinese hawthorn and is known for its bright red fruit that is used in traditional East Asian medicine and foods (like candies and teas).
500₩ = US$ 0.36
[Source: stampworld.com]
I should have stayed on in Tokyo for another week so that I could catch some of the action at the Japan Open ATP 500 men’s tennis tournament there.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz (🇪🇸, 22) made his debut in Japan there, today.
He scared everybody with an ankle injury in the first set of his match, but recovered to beat Argentinian Sebastian Baez (🇦🇷, 24) by 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.
The structures on the left of the track are in Ariake Tennis no Mori Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum.
Look for the elevated Yurikamome Line on the left of the picture. The Ariake Tennis no Mori Park train station is towards the top right of the picture.
[Graphic from Olympic and Paralympic Games TOKYO2020 website]
Carlos is doing a Japanese bow as he greets the representative from Kinoshita Group (I couldn’t get his name). The man in the middle is the umpire of the match, Fergus Murphy from Dublin, Ireland.
[Still from TennisTV coverage of the match]
It’s Friday night in Seattle.
The flight on All Nippon Airlines out to Seattle went without incident (8h 33m total travel time).
In Seattle I picked up my checked bag, and made a quick stop at the Global Entry kiosks for a facial recognition check. (The check takes 5 seconds flat.)
I even told the immigration officer I had brought back items to declare in my bags, but he waved me through.
Majestic Mt Rainier seems to float above it all.
It’s Friday night in Tokyo and I am at the airport.
I had time today to squeeze in one more train ride, on the Yurikamome Line.
The train on this line runs on an elevated, fully automated track (so no driver) that connects Shimbashi Station to Toyosu Station via the popular Odaiba area.
Thursday was my last full day here in Tokyo.
In the morning, I ran out to Uniqlo in Ginza to change my size M shirts that I had bought Wednesday night, for size L. (The line at the fitting room was too long yesterday and I took a chance with the size M).
Then I went out to a gallery called Ozeki with beautiful Japanese lantern lamp shades that a YouTuber had recommended. I bought a little round one that is folded flat for packing into a suitcase. (At this point in any overseas trip it is always a question if all the stuff I had bought, would fit in my suitcases.)
And for the evening I made a run out to the Mandarake store (books, cards, collectibles) in Shibyua. At 5.30 ish, it was almost too late. You don’t want to get crushed on the train by the commuters that go home.
At Shibuya Scramble Crossing: lots of crazy people and definitely too many foreigners taking selfies and annoying the locals, I’m sure.
Get out of my way!
On Wednesday night I did my mandatory (mandatory for me) walk-about along the main street in Ginza, Tokyo’s luxury shopping district. The street is named Chuo-dori, which translates to ‘Central Street’.
The sign in the first picture says ‘Ginza Block 6’.
Stores on Chuo-dori close at 7 or at 8. The Onitsuka Tiger store (Japanese footwear maker) was filled with sneaker aficionados right until closing time. Look for the storefront with the cool tiger neon sign in the pictures below.
I was out of the bed in my hotel in Seoul shortly after 4 am this morning.
I had to take the first train of the day (5.28 am) on Line 1, from City Hall Station to Seoul Station.
At Seoul Station, I took the 6 am Airport Express train into Incheon International Airport.
(Cost: US$9, with a free bottle of mineral water from Jeju Island thrown in. For me, it’s not really about the cost, though. I just think taking the train is a lot more interesting than taking a taxi.)
The flight out to Tokyo’s far-away Narita Airport was slightly delayed, but went without incident.
On the large screen there was an animation of “The Sleeping Gypsy” (1897) painting by the French Naïve artist Henri Rousseau. (The lion sniffs at the sleeping woman in the painting).
The flight route makes it seem as if the pilot was asleep and said Oops! I better turn south to get to Tokyo.
I bought my ticket (13.14 pm departure) for the Narita Express at the ticket counter with only 8 minutes to go until departure time. I know the way to the platform, so I could do that. The next train is 30 minutes later, and I did not want to wait.
This train has the new livery which was introduced in 2023.
I could not very well go up Seoul Tower, and leave Lotto World Tower out, right?
So off I went today to Lotto World Tower, even though it was a 40 minute train ride out there.
There is an express double-car elevator that whisks the humans inside up to the 117th floor* in one minute flat. I felt a little vertigo, and my ears popped on the way up. There no view to the outside, just display screens on the sides and ceiling of the car.
*The Seoul Sky observation deck in the Lotte World Tower spans seven floors, from floors 117 to 123.
It opened on May 28, 1986. Built at a cost of US$200 million, it was built to host the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Seoul Tower is not far from my hotel.
I opted for the cable car to get me to the summit.
A parking lot at the summit can also be reached by bus or by car— or even by walking up all the way with a stairway called the Sam-soon Steps.
This is a 5x telephoto lens picture, so the picture makes it appear closer than it really is.
Lotte World Tower is located to the southeast of Seoul Tower. Seoul Tower is on Namsan Mountain, which is north of the Han River (in the picture), while Lotte World Tower is in Jamsil, which is on the south side of the river.
This a communications tower (can send and receive signals). The antenna on top of Seoul Tower is a broadcast antenna for TV and radio (transmission tower).
Look for the cable car stations at the bottom and at the summit, on the right side of the picture.
Flying to the “other side of the world” is a theoretical concept, but a direct, non-stop flight across the Earth’s circumference would take approximately 20 hours in a commercial jet, though no such flight is possible with current commercial airliners.
[Source: Google AI]
Happy Friday. (I know it has been an awful week for the national psyche in the United States).
Here in the Far East, it was the first day with milder temperatures for me (a high of 28°C/ 83°F in Seoul today).
I walked around the hotel here by Seoul’s City Hall for a bit this morning, and then went out to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) with the No 2 subway line.
In it is the shrine called Hwangudan (황궁우 / 皇穹宇)— also known as the Wongudan Altar. It was constructed in 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire and renovated from 2015 to 2017.
[Source: Trip Advisor/ Viator]
As it happens, both the departure and arrival airports for my flight today are located on man-made islands.
It took two train rides to get me to Osaka’s Kansai International airport (KIX), and after I had arrived at Seoul’s Incheon airport (ICN), two more trains to get me to my hotel in the city.
This is the train operated by Nankai Electric Railway (Nankai Den-tetsu), that ran us out on the Nankai Line to Kansai International airport.
The airport is famous (infamous?) for sinking into the sea because its foundation was built on the soft, compressible clay in Osaka Bay, which could not fully support the immense weight of the artificial island.
Engineers have implemented ground improvement techniques like vertical sand drains to speed up the drainage of water from the clay and stabilize the ground, which reduced the sinking rate from over 19 inches per year to about 2.3 inches annually by 2023.
[Source: Google AI Overview]
The debacle with the 300-some South Koreans detained in the immigration raid at Hyundai’s facility in Georgia is front page news here.
It is a distinctive orange-colored arch bridge over the Han River.
I set out this morning to take a ride on the streetcar that starts at Tennojiekimae Station. Just with dumb luck, I discovered upon arriving there that Osaka’s tallest building is right there, as well.
So I first went up to the observation deck on the 60th story of Abeno Harukas, and then took a short ride on the street car.
Today was my last full day in Osaka.
I am flying out to Seoul, Korea (two hours on Asiana Airlines), in the morning.
Abeno Harukas is an amazing building complex that boasts: the 58th-60th floor observatory; from the 38th-55th floors and 57th floor, the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel with restaurants; 17th and 18th floor offices; the 16th floor Abeno Harukas Museum and rooftop garden; 2nd basement to 14th floor, the Kintetsu Department Store; 1st basement and 1st floor: Osaka Abenobashi Train Station, and 4th and 3rd basements: parking lot. Wow!
