Japan Series - Shirotori Gardens, Nagoya

This was not on my list of places to visit until the concierge recommended it to me. I took the Meijo Subway Line and got off at the Jingu-Nishi station. From there it was a 15 minute walk to the garden. As usual, I had to ask for directions on the way.

The Shirotori Gardens is an oasis in the city, almost like Hyde Park in the centre of London. The landscape was created in the image of the Tokai area, with ponds, waterfalls, pavilions, a tea house and many unique sights. It was beautiful, peaceful and tranquil.

The beautiful Shirotori Garden, Nagoya

An elderly gentleman reading his newspaper by the stream

A woman photographing the carp

Blazing azaleas

One of the bridges that dotted the Shirotori Garden

Tea house

Gardener brushing the bark off

Gardener shaping a tree

Women listening to suikinkutsu

In the garden is a suikinkutsu, which is a garden ornament and a music device. It consists of an upside down buried pot with a hole at the top. Water drips through the hole at the top onto a small pool of water inside the pot, creating a pleasant splashing sound that rings inside the pot similar to a Japanese zither called koto. This one was built next to a stone basin. The sound of the splashing water put a smile on my face; the two Japanese women smiled at me, mumbled to me in some Japanese and when they realized that I do not speak their language, expressed surprise and walked away.

Japan Series - Out and about in Yokohama

There is never enough time to see Yokohama when life revolves around daily trips between hotel and office. It is also difficult to take photos when lugging a laptop around. So the pictures I had taken of everyday life at Yokohama are to me a little bit precious.

Thoroughfare linking Yokohama Blue Avenue to Queen Square, Yokohama

On our way to lunch we passed this lovely spot lined with trees and flower beds. I enjoy the open spaces in Yokohama because most of the time I tend to be emerged in the hustle bustle of human life around Yokohama Station.

Minato Mirai seen from Yokohama Blue Avenue, Yokohama

From the Yokohama Blue Avenue, one can see the Fuji Xerox building (the cylindrical one) and the Nissan HQ. There is also a church in the vicinity but I didn't bother to look inside.

Yokohama Station

The underground B1 level at the Yokohama Station is always busy. The protocol at Yokohama is to walk on the left side to allow people to pass on the right side. On my first day at Yokohama, I stood in ignorance on the right side of the escalator and was admonished because I was blocking the way. I was mortified.

JR staff at Yokohama Station

Most mornings, I saw a chap (no women I am afraid) standing near the south gates of the Yokohama Station with a public address system. Exactly what he was saying I could not understand. I don't know if the Japanese have fallen foul of the English way of public communication when people are often told via public address systems not to do this and not to do that.

Nissan's New Mobility Concept Yokohama

Nissan's HQ is in Yokohama. This is their New Mobility Concept, a 100% electric vehicle developed for senior citizens and single-member households! It is smaller than a compact vehicle and would appear to be ideal for narrow streets and small parking spaces.

Sock shop, Yokohama Station

Japan is a shopper's paradise. Look at this ladies' sock shop, selling nothing but socks. As a consumer, I feel I can buy with confidence in Japan because the quality of merchandise in shops big and small tends to be good.

Paradise of Creators, Yokohama

I think they mean "Creators' Paradise" or "Paradise for Creators". It is a handicraft shop in Tokyu Hands and is designed for enthusiasts who want to make their own things. In the background you will see a shop assistant bowing to say thank you to a customer. I still feel embarrassed by the amount of bowing coming from sales assistants.

Fish stall, Takashimaya Department Store

I have not had the opportunity to buy uncooked food in Japan because I don't cook (or need to cook) for myself. The choice of food stuff at the Takashimaya Department Store is bewildering. To make any sense, I would have to learn Japanese first.

Vegetables store, Soga

The Japanese seem to care deeply about the quality of food that they buy. I remember once in Yorkshire a shop was selling broken biscuits. Such an idea would horrify the Japanese. I didn't have time to visit some other supermarkets away from the up-market department stores to make a comparison. Note to myself: maybe research is needed.

Cake shop, Yokohama Station

There are cake shops everywhere; they tend to sell either western cakes or Japanese cakes. The cakes are always beautifully displayed. The packaging - even for a single cake - is done with care. Packaging is an art form in Japan. I witness with envy the dexterous way in which shop assistants wrap things up. In Takashimaya, shoppers are given a choice of at least 6 types of wrapping paper and an equal amount of ribbons. Wrapping service is free. 

New store opening

This is the Japanese version of flower arrangements for a shop opening. The colours are really garish. The good thing is: they can be recycled for the next shop opening.

Lottery advertising

Quite often in the evening I saw a girl holding a placard to attract people to the lottery kiosk. The character written on the back of her coat is "Dream", which sums up the whole thing about lottery, which is that it is a dream.

Kids on an outing

Japanese children on the whole are extremely well behaved and well groomed. They are brought up to respect others as well as themselves. They seem to be a different breed to a lot of kids in the western world.

Beautiful peonies

A florist sprang up one day on the way between the hotel and the office. It had the most gorgeous peonies. The flowers were so lovely that I was almost tempted to buy a bunch for myself to put beside the bed.

Hamburg Series - Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg

This is the applied arts museum to non German speakers. The museum bills itself as one of the most important museums of applied arts in Europe, with a collection that includes furniture, interior accessories, textiles, lamps, glass, metal and ceramic objects, sculptures, antique piano instruments, books and jewellery. There was even an Andy Warhol exhibition that had one of the largest collection of posters I have seen anywhere in Europe.

Now you see me! Now you don't!

First of all, a witty piece of woman's apparel. This was one of twenty odd pieces of weird clothing that would appeal to people with a wacky sense of humour. The body of a woman is printed on the fabric and the printing is so life-like that one almost wanted to touch it to test the reality. In the background, a video was running with a model sashaying down the catwalk in this dress. There is no doubt that this dress is provocative. My first thought was, why bare it all on print? On closer examination though, I realized how clever the whole thing was. The image on the fabric looked real, the way the garment was sewn looked real, everything looked real but it was really just an optical illusion that the onlooker sees a woman's body through a see-through dress.

Feet of clay

This is a an illustration by Wieslaw Smetek, a Polish illustrator, graphic designer and painter working in Hamburg, who illustrates for illustrious magazines such as Time, Stern and Spiegel. His visual language is original and witty. I call this illustration Feet of Clay because it resonates with me: corporate talk of agility when making changes is more like turning an oil tanker. 
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay (The Book of Daniel)

Bursting at the seams

Another illustration by Smetek. This one is self explanatory. We hear about prisons bursting at the seams, hospitals bursting at the seams, refugee camps bursting at the seams etc., but seldom about EU membership bursting at the seams. Most institutions are expansionist: the more the merrier, more power makes might.

An exquisite piece of porcelain in the porcelain section. There were many beautiful pieces but for me, this one reminds me of summer and bountiful flowers. It's dainty, whimsical, and romantic. Notice the leaves threading through the flowers and the small bunch of flowers at the top acting as a grip to lift the lid. Utterly charming.

Spiegel Canteen

This is the canteen designed by Verner Panton for Spiegel. It was orange, it was psychedelic and it made my head spin. All the designs - lamps, textiles and wall cladding were Panton's own, only the furniture had to be ordered from Knoll International according to his contracts. The specially designed mirror lighting used on walls and ceilings are unique and interesting.

Children's play area

And finally, the children's play area located on the basement near the lockers. I was fascinated by the design, the fun chairs, the wigs, hats and garments for children (and adults) to play with. I felt like a child again and could easily have spent an hour or two there enjoying myself. In that room I found the child in me.

Japan Series - Have you eaten?

In the old days, when Chinese people met each other they used to ask "Have you eaten?" Food is an important part of my life. One of my colleagues subsist on energy bars, day in, day out, and this kind of alternative sustenance bewilders me.

I like Japanese food so much that I can eat it almost everyday, except in the morning. I found that I had enough of Japanese food for breakfast. Instead, the chef at the hotel would cook me two poached eggs, and sometimes served them on two small toasted teacake-like bread.

For lunches and dinners, I tend to stick to Japanese food.

Shabu Shabu

A shabu-shabu meal near Bashamichi Station, Yokohama. This was a group dinner and the shabu-shabu was for four people (not all the meat was in the photo). We had a bottle of chilled saki "Dai Ginjo", which was delicious. The meat was supposed to be dipped into a raw egg but the thought of it made me squirm. So no raw egg for me. The restaurant is a traditional one; at the entrance we had to remove our shoes and walk on the tatami shoe-less. 

Tempura

This was a set meal that came with tempura, a few pieces of pickled vegetables, an egg custard, two other small dishes, the ubiquitous miso soup and some rice. This meal was eaten late one night after work, at about 9 pm, an hour before closing time. At the end of the meal, a mandarin sorbet was served. I really like the Japanese set meals - a variety of food at the right quantity. 

Another set meal, but this one on a larger scale. I had this meal one Sunday lunchtime on the 10th floor of the Soga building, Yokohama. The set meal came with soba noodles, either hot or cold.  I chose hot noodles, needless to say. The quantity on each plate is quite dinky, but the beauty is in the variety. My least favourite dish is the cold salad - I was not brought up to eat raw vegetables.

Unagi

Unagi - freshwater eel, is a delicacy in Japan. It is served as part of unadon, a donburi dish with sliced eel on a bed of rice. What I like about the rice is the sticky soya sauce that makes the rice so tasty. I was looking forward to this meal - every time I passed the poster advertising unagi it whetted my appetite. Alas, the eel was too dry. I need to find another restaurant that serves plump juicy unagi. 

Tonkatsu

This tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) set is a bit more elaborate than the standard fare: there were a number of side dishes (pickled vegetables) in addition to the shredded cabbage. The meal was eaten at one of the restaurants located on the 8th floor of the Takashimaya department store, Yokohama. In haste, I poured the sauce over the cutlets when in fact I should have dipped the cutlets into the sauce. 

Sashimi

This plate of sashimi was part of a meal at my favourite sushi restaurant on the 8th floor of Takashimaya department store. I would sit at the counter and order sushi directly from the chef. A few of the chefs had come to recognize me and would hand me the English menu as well as ordering green tea for me. Most diners at this restaurant drink Shoju, and were either with other businessmen or their spouse. A lone female diner is a rare sight at such sushi bars.

Ramen

And now onto ramen. This is probably the simplest ramen I had. I was at Kawagoe, miles away from the shops, so popped into the art gallery restaurant to have a quick meal. There weren't many choices left at 3 pm, so I chose ramen instead of cold soba noodles. The portion was on the small side, but the broth and what little lean pork there was, were tasty. Service was with a smile. Payment was in cash.

Snow crab miso soup

I had this snow crab miso soup at Nagoya, at a sushi bar where diners choose their dishes on a touchscreen instead of ordering them from the sushi chef. It was probably the best miso soup I had. The crab meat was succulent and was easy to pick at because the shell was already cracked in the right places for the diner. The Japanese are masters in their craft. Elsewhere I had fish miso soup but none of them could beat this crab soup.

Chirasi

This is chirasi, best described as sushi rice salad. The ingredients are topped on sushi rice with no rolling or shaping involved. Although there seems little fuss, the chef who assembled this meal did it with an eye for the aesthetics, with careful arrangement of cucumber, lotus root and fish roe at the top. I have to confess that I did not much like the raw vegetables so I will stick with sushi next time.

Sushi

This is my favourite selection of sushi, at my favourtie sushi restaurant on the 8th floor of Takashimaya department store, Yokohama. At this restaurant, the hand towel is freshly prepared (not in a plastic bag), the ginger is dispensed by the sushi chef (not in a container), and the green tea is real green tea (unlike the green tea powder at some cheaper places). Above all, I feel welcomed.

Tempura

I ate this tempura dish at a restaurant specializing in tempura at Nagoya. Here, the tempura came with two kinds of grated daikon radish - condiments to put into the sauce into which the tempura pieces are dipped. I saw other diners forsaking the grated radish and dipped their tempura in salt. On the day, I had shrimp, squid, sweet potato and mushroom. There was not enough food to feed a starving child.

Green tea ice cream

It was a hot day at Nagoya. After a morning of wandering around the Shirotori Garden, I dropped by at the restaurant to have some food. Nothing much there, just a vending machine dispensing tickets for noodles and desserts. I had this green tea (matcha) ice cream that came with red beans and mochiko (mini snowballs made from sweet rice flour). The taste was sublime on a summer day.

Hamburg Series - St Michaelis Church

We normally visit churches on account of the architecture. Sometimes we bump into a service and we would stay a little while to watch the service and to listen to the choir. These religious ceremonies have a calming effect, maybe that's due to the conditioning effect of the mind.

St Michaelis Church is described as the most beautiful church in norther Germany. I am not sure about this, but not in a position to argue because I haven't seen all the churches in northern Germany. Compared to the Baroque churches in Italy,  St Michelis is not in the premier league.

St Michaelis Church, Hamburg

One of the three organs, St Micahelis Church

The magnificent pulpit

The magnificent altarpiece

A choir practicing. In the background is a second organ.

On the day, there was a church fete. There were senior citizens setting up stalls for bric-a-brac and food and drink, as well as benches for visitors to have a cup of tea or coffee, a glass of wine, some cakes and home-made sandwiches. The cakes were really delicious. I observed that the pace was slow, actually very slow, but then this was not a commercial enterprise so everybody waited patiently and with good humour, including myself.

Mass appeal or niche market

There was a VW van parked outside the church selling newspapers. Strategically placed was a basket of sweets. Searching on the internet, I found that this is a weekly Protestant newspaper. So, every church is looking for an audience.

Hamburg Series - Out and About

Hamburg is such a beautiful city. It surprised us because we were expecting a prosperous port city. The affluence of the city is reflected in the architecture, in the lifestyle, and in the cost of living.

Dusk at Ausenalter, Hamburg

Directly opposite the Le Royal Meridien Hotel at An der Alster (where we stayed) is the Ausenalster. Walking along the banks of the lake, soaking in the warmth of the evening sun, listening to the water lapping the shore, and watching joggers and cyclists flying past helped us unwind for the weekend.

Pavement cafe culture, Hamburg

There are a lot of pavement cafes in Hamburg, particularly in the area near Ausenalster. In the morning, people gather for coffee and a chat, in the evening, a younger crowd take up the seats for a drink and a chat. I observed that people were still talking to each other rather than sitting together but checking mobile phones separately.

Le Royal Meridien, Hamburg

This is a relaxed hotel, without the stuffiness of a grand entrance or statement flower arrangement in the foyer. We could not get a room with a lake view but were given a suite which was roomy enough; it had all the mod cons except enough power sockets. From the 9th floor Le Ciel restaurant where we took our breakfast, there is a fabulous view of the lake - that really lifted the spirit!

Boats along Binnenhafen

We were on our way to Miniatur Wunderland, and after getting off the U3 at Baumwall, we walked along the Binnenhafen to the soothing sound of water on a hot summer day (about 25C). It was a weekday, and it was rather quiet in the area; no hustle or bustle so making the walk very pleasant indeed.

Tourist capsule transport, Town Square, Hamburg

This is a cute three-wheeled cycle, powered by human. This one is attractively painted in green to convey the eco-friendly nature of the transport. It's actually a clever design, providing some shelter to the driver and the passengers at the same allowing for advertisement to generate some revenue.

Some American boxy car

Among the German cities that I had visited, there are comparatively speaking a lot more Smart cars in Hamburg. Then along came this boxy ugly American car with Babylon emblazoned on the body. Admittedly it turned some heads, but what was the fuss all about?

Jungfernstieg underground station, Hamburg

We stuck pretty much to the U3 line (the yellow line), but the public transport system in Hamburg - the HVV - is extensive, with integrated S-bahn, U-bahn and Regional Rail. Once, we got off at the Jungfernstieg underground and when I saw the circles on the tiles, I just like it. It's a simple colour scheme, but the clean lines and the choice of colours make the design attractive.

Sea Food Bar, Alsterhaus department store

We stopped by for lunch at the Sea Food Bar at the Alsterhaus department store. The lobster salad was superb and the service attentive. Whereas a lot of locals prefer to sit outside enjoying the sun, the heat effectively drove me indoors. This is what I would describe an upmarket department store, selling simple day-to-day hats with a price tag of €300.

Pavement human statues, Hamburg

All over Europe in major cities, there are bound to be artists dressed as mute and silent figures, even in the searing heat, to attract donation. Hamburg is no exception. This team of 8 sat there and every time someone threw a coin or two, the whole lot would rattle their can to say thank you. Rather fetching.

Binnenalster, Hamburg

The Binnenalster is a beautiful spot. Here you can feed the swans and the ducks, watch activities on the lake, sit under the trees and while away a couple of hours. It was here that I saw four Japanese girls holding their embroidered umbrellas to protect them from the sun.

Canal linking Binnenhafen to the Jungfernstieg area

I was struck by the number of streams, rivers and canals in Hamburg. Statistically speaking, it has more bridges than Amsterdam, Venice and London put together. These waterways, natural or man-made, and most of them clean, add a touch of class to the city.