Beijing

The media this week (and all month, really) has been wall-to-wall news, articles and essays about Beijing. Here's my contribution to the avalanche of Beijing coverage:

• Beijing [Figure-Ground.com]
• CCTV Headquarters - Rem Koolhaas/OMA [Figure-Ground.com]
• National Centre for the Performing Arts - Paul Andreu [Figure-Ground.com]

Incidentally, for the first time that I can remember, I'm actually excited about the Olympics. It has not much to do with the Games themselves, but everything to do with the host city and country. All the controversies surrounding this Olympics (the pollution, the media censorship, the crackdown in Tibet, the support of the Sudanese goverment) and the herculean effort the Chinese have made in successfully building a new Beijing that just screams money and power everywhere you look, have made the Olympics interesting again.

August 6, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, beijing, china, photos, travel

Beijing

I just returned from an 8-day trip to Beijing. I haven't been to China in almost exactly three years and Beijing specifically in eight. China's effort to spiff up Beijing for the Olympics has been well reported but still I was unprepared for the great leapt in general quality of life of Beijing today.

These are things I usually think of when I think about life in China: Bicycles, squatters, line cutters, phlegm, dirty bills, gray polluted skies, garish architecture. These are the truths about China today, you can choose to overlook them and focus on the positives, but it doesn't mean they don't exist. Sure, you can still find all that in Beijing today but they are nearly all gone. In their place are blue skies, stunning architecture and a flourishing art scene.

First of all, it's surprising not to see many bicycles around. This is China! where bicyles are the mode of transportation. It's like Taiwan without the scooters. Inconceivable. But there it was, roads absolutely clogged with cars, but not so many bicycles. I knew Beijingers are hot for the automobile but I was not expecting to see so few bicycles on the roads.

Another change which I was not expecting to see is that there were no longer people squatting on the ground everywhere. People actually just stand around instead of squatting on the ground.

Other things that used to drive me crazy about the mainland are markedly improved. There are still line cutters, but not nearly as many. It used to be nobody (or at least it felt that way) waited on lines, it was a mad scrum to buy anything or to enter anywhere. Now, the majority of people wait in line.

There are still people hocking up phlegm, but not nearly as many. You can go for hours without hearing it once.

Most of these points seem directly related with Beijing government's removal of migrant workers from the city. Now that I think about it, big city folk probably never really squatted or spat that much to begin with. It was always the poor, uneducated migrant workers bringing down the overall social climate of the cities.

The money is not as dirty and worn as before. I come across crisp new bills all the time. I didn't notice a lot of wallet usage and new bills get immediately crumpled up in pockets so it's quite a battle the Chinese government has to fight to keep the money in circulation not looking like the moist, soft, tattered bills I used to come across all the time in China.

And out of the 8 days I was in Beijing, a shocking 5 of them had blue skies. Granted, it's not blue like a Vancouver summer day blue. Even on a clear day you can see some light haze in the horizon, but it's not the complete gray that used to blanket the city.for days on end. The drastic measures of temporarily shutting down factories and limiting trucks on the roads have already made an impact. When they start limiting cars starting on the 20th (even number plates one day, odd the next), it can only get better.

Even the simplified Chinese characters, which used to bother me, look good to me now. I guess it was always the crappy typeface they typeset everything in that offended me, not the actual simplification. Now that Beijing and China has progressed to a point where good graphic design is employed, I'm actually beginning to like simplified Chinese characters. With their clean, simple lines, the simplified characters are very modern, in the sense of the art and architecture movement. All of a sudden traditional characters look fussy and dated.

Some things haven't changed, like the sully and indifferent service you get everywhere, from government workers on down to store employees. It's like a country full of people who openly hate their jobs. You tend to get very unfriendly, curt, and, most of the time, completely unhelpful answers to any questions you might have. Asking a Chinese a question appears to cause them great inconvenience.

Oh, and the food is still too salty.

And too bad they can't do anything about the traffic, which is as bad as everyone says it is. The ring roads, which are the major traffic arteries of Beijing, are in constant gridlock.

Most of these progress probably won't last much beyond the Olympics. Once the migrant workers return and the ever increasing cars and trucks go back to jamming the roads, the overall quality of life will likely go back to before. The Chinese government could always unilaterally decide they like their capital city to remain spiff and shine, however. In that case, perhaps this new Beijing will not be only temporary.

See my Beijing (July 2008) set on Flickr for photos and more thoughts on and reactions to the "new" Beijing.

July 18, 2008 | Filed Under: Travel
Tags: beijing, china, travel

Nakagin Capsule Tower, Plus Nagoya and Fukuoka

• Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972) - Kisho Kurokawa [Figure-Ground.com]

I've also expanded Figure/Ground's Tokyo (2005—2007) section to include photos from Fukuoka and Nagoya. Therefore, the section has been renamed "Japan" to reflect the expanded scope. Definitely take a look at the Fukuoka sub-section if you are interested in architecture. There are quite a few interesting buildings in that set.

• Fukuoka [Figure-Ground.com]
• Nagoya [Figure-Ground.com]

June 7, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, figureground, fukuoka, japan, kishokurokawa, nagoya, nakagincapsuletower, tokyo, travel

Toyota Municipal Museum of Art

I love Taniguchi's buildings. They're very elegant and understated.

• Toyota Municipal Museum of Art - Yoshio Taniguchi [Figure-Ground.com]

Another Taniguchi building I've photographed: The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures.

May 8, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, figureground, japan, photos, travel, yoshiotaniguchi

Yokohama International Passenger Terminal

• Osanbashi Yokohama International Passenger Terminal - Foreign Office Architects [Figure-Ground.com]

May 3, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, figureground, osanbashi, photos, travel, yokohama, yokohamainternationalpassengerterminal

Tadao Ando in Tokyo, 2005—2007

Three recent works of Tadao Ando in Tokyo (pictured above from left to right: hhstyle.com/Casa, Omotesando Hills, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT). You see a definite departure from earlier works with the incoporation of lots of sharp angles and diagonals. I'm not sure I like this "new" Ando. These are pretty underwhelming projects compared to his earlier work like the Church of the Light and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

• Tadao Ando in Tokyo, 2005—2007 [Figure-Ground.com]

April 30, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, figureground, japan, photos, tadaoando, tokyo, travel

Harajuku Protestant Church

• Harajuku Protestant Church (2005) - Ciel Rouge Creation [Figure-Ground.com]

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, church, harajuku, photos, tokyo, travel

Bangkok & Ko Phangan

• Bangkok & Ko Phangan [Figure-Ground.com]

April 15, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Photos, Travel
Tags: bangkok, figureground, kophangan, thailand, travel

Tokyo

A selection of photos from four trips to Tokyo taken between April 2005 and December 2007.

• Tokyo [Figure-Ground.com]

March 27, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Photos, Travel
Tags: figureground, japan, tokyo, travel

Imperial Hotel Entrance Hall

Surprise, surprise, another update to Figure/Ground! Hot on the heels of the Indonesia travelogue, here's a small update featuring a few shots of Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel entrance (yes, just the entrance), moved from Tokyo and planted in an architectural history theme park near Nagoya.

I thought it looked extremely sad, having been torn not just from its location, but from the rest of the building as well. It's architecture without context.

The photos of the truncated building set against a lush mountain backdrop and overlooking a lake look just so ridiculously incongruous and wrong, so you won't see those here. Some of you are probably curious to see them, but I simply cannot do that to FLW.

• Main Entrance Hall and Lobby of the Imperial Hotel (1923) - Frank Lloyd Wright [Figure-Ground.com]

March 19, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, franklloydwright, imperialhotel, japan, travel

Indonesia

Photos from a short trip to Indonesia last May:

• Indonesia [Figure-Ground.com]

I can't believe it's been ten months since I last updated Figure-Ground.com. It's frightening how time flies. I've introduced a couple of minor tweaks to the site's look as well.

See also the Indonesia (May 2007) photoset on Flickr.

March 16, 2008 | Filed Under: Announcements, Photos, Travel
Tags: figureground, indonesia, travel

One More Reason Why Japanese People Are So Cute

I was looking out the window of the plane as it started to taxi away from the gate when I noticed that the airport grounds crew not only bows to the planes as they taxi away (this is to be expected, Japanese people bow all the time), but they also—get this—wave goodbye to the planes until they are out of sight as if each and every one is full of their closest and dearest friends. Tell me that isn't adorable.

December 7, 2007 | Filed Under: Travel
Tags: airport, japan, travel

Visiting Japan Isn't as Hassle-Free as It Used to Be

When did Japan get so paranoid about visitors? At some point between now and when I last visited in July, they've instituted American-style immigration check-point, with photo taking and fingerprint scanning (in fact, they've gone one-step further and scan both of your index fingers).

Plus, their customs is now almost as invasive as Customs Canada. It used to be you could just breeze through customs, you didn't even need to fill out a declaration. Now, they are carefully searching through nearly everyone's luggages. They even took my tripod for an x-ray and asked me a ton of questions about where I'm from, where I'm going, what I'm doing, etc, etc. Even padded me down for good measure.

What the hell are they so afraid of?? Customs Canada's excuse is that they want to soak every last cent of every poor Canadian who travels, but what about Japan? Do they have such a huge smuggling problem that they need to do this to every visitor? Or are they just targeting us Taiwanese?

Anyway, perhaps because of their unfailing politeness or my unfailing love of everything Japanese, all these added invasions of privacy didn't really seem all that unwelcoming. You get the sense that the people doing the searching are just following new bureaucratic rules versus a lot of the U.S. immigration officers sorry, I meant Homeland Security officers who seem to be on power trips over all their expanded powers to keep you out. A few smiles and "thank yous" go a long way.

December 7, 2007 | Filed Under: Travel
Tags: japan, travel

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Tokyo)

I will just come right out and say it: start-to-finish, it was the best meal I've ever had.

If you are reading this review, chances are, you know all about Robuchon and his Ateliers popping up all over the world (Tokyo, Paris, Vegas, New York, London, Hong Kong at last count), so I won't get into who he is (a legend in French cuisine) and what his Ateliers are all about (fancy French food in informal settings inspired by sushi bars). What better place to try his Atelier concept than at the original location, the one in Tokyo?

Continue reading "L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Tokyo)"

September 19, 2007 | Filed Under: Food & Drink, Travel
Tags: food, frenchfood, japan, joelrobuchon, latelier, review, tokyo, travel

Ginza Kyubey

In all my trips to Tokyo over the past few years (this was my 8th trip in 8 years), I've never tried a high-end sushi restaurant (I went to Nobu Tokyo once, but I don't think that really counts). Not having a reliable local guide
to take me, I've always thought the mysteries of haute sushi dining is most likely out of my reach because at that level, the interaction between the sushi chef and the customer is so important (and as it turned out, it did prove to be a problem this time). Plus, I am more than satisfied simply trying the multitude of affordable dining options in Tokyo. The relief on my wallet (in an otherwise expensive city) is a welcomed side benefit.

I still don't know any local foodie (or anyone, period, who lives in Tokyo, actually), but I decided it's time for me to dip my toes into the realm of fancy Tokyo sushi joints. For my first foray into this world, I decided upon Kyubey (久兵衛), supposedly one of the most famous sushi restaurants in all of Japan. Incidentally, they are the inventor of gunkan-maki ("battleship wrap")—the technique of wrapping sushi with a loose topping like ikura or uni with a strip of nori. I figured since they are that well known, they are likely as equipped as anyone to deal with foreigners.

Continue reading "Ginza Kyubey"

July 20, 2007 | Filed Under: Food & Drink, Travel
Tags: japan, review, sushi, tokyo, travel

Seoul

These photos are from a trip I took to Seoul over two-and-a-half years ago. I've been meaning to put them up but never got around to it. I'm actually at the airport on my way to Jakarta right now; hopefully, I won't sit on my ass for two-plus years before putting the photos from this trip up. I'm planning on going to some rather out of the way places in Indonesia so wish me luck! This is the first time I'm going somewhere where I need to take preventive medication (for malaria). I almost wanted to cancel my ticket after I read about all the horrible diseases I could contract there. Yikes.

• Seoul [Figure-Ground.com]

May 24, 2007 | Filed Under: Announcements, Photos, Travel
Tags: asia, figureground, photos, seoul, travel

Gehry Residence (plus thoughts on Sketches of Frank Gehry)

"We were told there were ghosts in the house. I decided the ghosts were ghosts of cubism." —Frank Gehry

A small update today: a few exterior shots of the Gehry Residence in Santa Monica. I took these after I went to see Eames House in nearby Pacific Palisades.

I finally got around to seeing Sydney Pollack's documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry last night and I remembered I have a few shots of his house which I never posted so here they are.

• Gehry Residence [Figure-Ground.com]

The documentary is okay, nothing too interesting. It's basically a 80-minute love-fest of Gehry and his work. I understand Gehry is a larger-than-life figure, but can the partners in his firm come off as any more in deference of him? Craig Webb, who by the way is a splitting image of Lyle Lovett, acted more like an awe-struck first-year student assisting his famous professor than a partner in a major architecture firm.

Some Gehry Quotes from the Documentary

On starting a new project: "I'm always scared that I'm not going to know what to do. It's a terrifying moment."

On a model he's working on: "That is so stupid looking, it's great."

On Alvar Aalto: "I would say my work is probably closer to him than any of the other previous generations."

On architecture: "What bugs me are these god damn rules that my profession has as to what fits and what doesn't."

May 20, 2007 | Filed Under: Announcements, Architecture & Design, Photos, Travel
Tags: architecture, california, figureground, frankgehry, la, movie, photos, santamonica, travel

Le Calandre

Tonight we went to a Michelin 3-Star restaurant, Le Calandre, in Sarmeola di Rubano, a few minutes outside of Padova, near Venice. [For those of you non-European and/or non-foodies not familiar with the Michelin Guide, here's some information on what it is and what it means to have three stars.] I have never been to a Michelin 3-starer before (or 2-star or 1-star, for that matter) so I was quite anticipating the meal. Some people consider this the finest restaurant in all of Italy. The chef, Massimiliano Alajmo, whom we met at the end of the meal, is the youngest chef ever to have been awarded 3 stars by the Michelin guide. Of couse, I also heard from somewhere that the Michelin rating system is not as accurate in Italy as it is in France. But it's got 3-stars and I have read many fine reviews of this place, so I think it's safe to say that it's one of the very best in the country.

So how was it?

Continue reading "Le Calandre"

November 27, 2004 | Filed Under: Food & Drink, Travel
Tags: italianfood, italy, lecalandre, review, travel

Ten Reasons Why China Sucks

This ridiculous article titled "From cells to bells, 10 things the Chinese do far better than we do" has been making the rounds in the blogosphere these past few days. I say ridiculous because it was obviously written by someone who has not traveled widely in Asia (or at least meant for someone who has not traveled widely in Asia), as almost all of the things that the author claims China does better (like cheap cell phones, stop lights that count down, wireless service bells, parking data, slipcovers for chairs in restaurants, etc, etc) can be found all over Asia (HK, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, etc, etc). It's an Asian thing, not a China thing.

In response to that, I present you with my list of ten scary-ass things about China, most of which are uniquely Chinese. For this list, I won't include anything pertaining to politics and government (like human rights, or lack thereof, for example). You could easily make a top 1000 list of horrible things about China if you included the government. This list will only include stuff that bother the heck out of me on a day-to-day basis living here. Keep in mind that I've spent most of my time in China in Shanghai, easily China's most advanced city (along with Beijing). Everything I mention below is progressively worse the further out from Shanghai you go. Believe me, I've ventured past Shanghai several times and each time I've been scared shitless.

1. The internet here is almost unusably bad. Many overseas sites simply aren't reachable and even the ones that are, are very, very slow. Must be their uber censorship router filtering everything coming into the country.
2. Horrible Mandarin. A properly educated mainland Chinese person speaks beautiful Mandarin, I have to admit. Unfortunately, most Chinese people aren't well educated and they speak horrendous Mandarin.
3. Simplified writing is an abomination. It's as if one day the American government decided that not enough people are literate so they decide to adopt text messaging shortcuts as the national written language "cuz it's EZer 2 Lern."
4. Chinese people have absolutely no concept of waiting in line. It's just one manifestation of the general lack of curtesy here. I've never met a population of people that exhibited such rudeness. It's all part of the lack of education that I mentioned before.
5. Pollution. And I include with this not only the horrible air pollution, but noise pollution as well. The constant honking on the streets slowly drives me insane as I walk around the city. I know this isn't just Chinese, it happens in many other places, but man, they love to honk here. Car horns. Bicycle horns. Police whistles. It's non-stop noise everywhere.
6. If the honking doesn't drive you mad, the cacaphony of people hocking up phlegm will do it. Maybe it's the horrible air quality, but why do Chinese people have so much phlegm????
7. Chinese people love to yell. You'll usually find at least one or two people on every block angrily screaming at someone about something or other.
8. Food generally speaking is horrible here. The hygiene is low-to-non-existent and the culinary skills are seriously lacking as well. I wouldn't be caught dead eating anything from a street vendor in China. You can get food poisoning just by looking at them. Speaking of restaurants, the quality of service in China stinks as well. Due to the cheap labor, the ratio of the waiters to customers is frequently 2-to-1. Yet most Chinese wait staff have no idea how to properly wait a table.
9. Bad architecture and design. Chinese people's concept of good architecture is a building with a faux european renaissance look with a lot of gold trimming, hopefully with a fancy top. Driving around Shanghai, you'll notice that almost every building has some sort of "hat" on top.
10. Too many instances of dirty old men paired with hot young things. It's just disgusting and sad. I know there are sugar daddys all over the world, but it's literally all over the streets here. You can't turn around without seeing an old man with a pretty young girl.

I'll end the list at ten, but I could go on and on. Well, I've always said China is a scary-ass place. Scary as in it's scary backwards. It's progressing fast, no doubt, but it's still very, very backwards. Scary, too, because it is progressing beyond the sophistication of the populace.

November 5, 2004 | Filed Under: Travel
Tags: china, travel