bleungberg.com

Bleungberg arrived here a fortnight ago, and will remain here indefinitely. We’ve rented an office, and at the moment, Cairo is rather ‘nice’ – warm during the day, cold at night and very chilly indoors all day. And no sign of cockroaches (or geckoes) yet – thankfully – but they WILL come. (By the way, cats are really scrawny here, and plenty of dead ones around on the streets, too.)

Anyway, this is our first time in Cairo, and we decided to move here upon others’ recommendations, our own intuition and past experiences in the Middle East, and the prospect of getting some random jobs/challenges/studies. So far, it’s been fine, and Cairo is totally unique – it feels like a city on the brink, and looks like one giant mess; a catastrophe on an epic scale. When we saw the TV pictures from Haiti last week, we looked out of my window and thought, “it looks the same!”…Cairo’s like a bombsite. For us, the most comparable place to Cairo that we’ve visited is Seoul: both are massive, very cheap, grey, horribly polluted, immensely dirty, with unbelievable traffic jams and really confusing to walk around. An associate of ours here argues that at least the Nile makes Cairo pretty. We retorted that one can only see the filthy Nile if you live by the river, and not anywhere else! However, none of these has come as a surprise, so there’s no culture shock or anything as yet. These are also the reasons why we’ve chosen to live near the city centre instead of the nicer, plusher feel of the suburbs miles out (where the air is definitely cleaner), as downtown is where all the action is, however hideous they might be. One thing we weren’t expecting though is seeing 90-95% of the women wearing a hijab or a niqab (just the eyes, and sometimes, just the glasses!); we were expecting 65-70% at most. Anyway, like 20 million others here, we are doing our best to cope admirably in the presence of merciless drivers, occasional power/water-cuts, lack of pavements and some of the worst food ever in the world.

Yes, unlike Seoul – where the food is superb – Cairo’s is beyond shit. we thought Havana (food shortage and ration books!) was bad but Cairo is seriously taking the piss. It’s easily the worst place that we’d ever been to for food. Now, some of you would have followed our travel entries over the years, and we can guarantee you that McDonald’s and Asian food do not figure prominently – if at all – on our itinerary even in the Third World. That’s because no matter how unpromising a place looks, there’re always a few tasty dishes to keep Bleungberg going. We once spent 21 days in lamb-loving Iran, and loved the food there by completely avoiding all lamb-related dishes. Likewise, Turkey – rubbish seafood, but nice veggie bean stews and gorgeous chicken dishes to neutralise the evil lamb kebabs. Six weeks in Central America – rice and peas (gallo pinto) everyday…mmm…loved it. And so, it is with great sadness to report that our first-ever meal in Cairo was spent….at McDonald’s (which was very nice, by the way). As was the third (less so). The fifth came at a Chinese restaurant called ‘Le Peking’, followed by a Japanese meal. So, you get the general picture here. For sure, we’ve found a few nice local specialties (koshory, stuffed pigeons, chicken kebabs, molokhiya) but on the whole, Cairo’s a cruel place. And we can’t even begin to tell you how horrible those Chinese and Japanese meals were. Texas in 1990 and Havana in 2008 were, until last week, the nadirs of Bleungberg lifelong experience of Chinese food (yes, we here at Bleungberg bear ‘food’ grudges). But ‘Le Peking’ has now beaten the disgusting ‘Tres Dragones’ in Havana’s Chinatown into last place. At ‘Le Peking’, the lowest point came when the Egyptian waiter(s) ‘lectured’ us on the sauces available: soya, chilli and sweet & sour. Sweet & sour?! There’s no such thing called sweet & sour as a dipping sauce! We were mildly outraged/bemused, but was later seething when we took a bite out of the single worst piece of tofu we’d ever, ever had in my life. It was powdered tofu!! POWDERED!? At a Chinese restaurant?! Yuk. As for the Japanese, we badly needed pork only for the Japanese owner to tell us that swine flu killed off their pork supply six months ago. So, unagi (Japanese grilled eel) it was, and we can guarantee you that we’ll probably never ever have another fillet of unagi that was as tough and as salty as this ever again. To sum up, these meals were so bad that we wouldn’t even feed them to a cockroach.

OK. Food-rant over. we had fish and chips at a pub tonight, so we’re happy. There are also fresh fruits everywhere, which is fantastic. But, thank goodness our office has a kitchen. However, that’s all for now. we love Cairo, really – grocery shopping trips at 3am have never been more fun, as is crossing the road. Just not so sure about the people here yet…..
The words ‘ulterior’ and ‘motives’ spring to mind.

Bleungberg’s moving….

Olympic funding rows, a growing national debt, plus panic over swine flu deaths and H1N1 jabs.

Greetings from Vancouver, Canada, though at times, it’s no different to being in London. The Winter Olympics are just over 100 days away here and up at Whistler, and a few days ago, Bleungberg visited the CA$173m white elephant that is the Richmond Olympic Oval where the speed skating will take place next February. Whilst it certainly looked impressive, we couldn’t help but question the wisdom of spending that much money for a single event. Our voluntary guide (very enthusiastic, naturally) added that the entire building will become some sort of focal point for the local community after the games which, in our opinion, is ‘rather naive’ because the local population is predominantly Chinese, and Chinese people don’t ‘do community’. Bleungberg then realised that we are doing exactly the same in London, and if Vancouver is anything to go by, then those of us living in London will have to endure even more hassle and broken promises from 2011 including numerous road closures, diversions, traffic jams, tax hikes, fare rises, expensive tickets (always the first broken promise) as well as new transport links, random pedestrianised zones, gazillions of Olympic merchandise, sob stories, protests, silly torch relays and 300% hotel price increases.

Vancouver won the rights to host the games six years ago, and ever since Bleungberg’s first visit here back in October 2003, I’ve followed the Olympic developments with interest. One of the first initiatives back then was what to do with the Eastside of Vancouver, which includes the area between Chinatown and Gastown: THE worst area in the whole of metro Vancouver and a haven for druggies, hookers, homeless people and those who have been neglected by the city (the handicapped, orphans, mentally disabled etc). The provincial government was criticised right from the outset for the way they intended to turf out these ‘eyesores’ before the winter games in case Olympic visitors ’saw the ugly side of the city’. Well, six years on, we popped round to the area yesterday and these people are still there - dealing, soliciting, loitering, and smoking (very strong) cannabis in broad daylight. Why? Lack of funding and a collective will to relocate them. When Vancouver was awarded the Winter Olympics, the economy was doing well, and the government could raise money through land sales at the height of the boom. Unfortunately, British Columbia is even more incompetent than the British government when it comes to budgeting, and with the recession, they’ve no money left to deal with these ‘eyesores’. Opportunity missed.

We guess it’s the equivalent of the London organising committee saying they want to give the East End a good clean-up as it might look bad to worldwide viewers watching the marathon during the Olympics, and then say they have no money for it. Or any other hollow promises they might have. We have no doubt that any new transport links will be opened in time and will work supremely well before 2012 - anything is better than now. Vancouver’s new metro line opened early back in August and although it broke down last week, it’s brilliant for those of us staying in the southern suburbs though Vancouverites still criticise the transport brains for its routing - accusing them of favouring the south of the city over the more populated southeastern suburbs. In addition, metro and bus fares are going up - tomorrow….again.

Dammit, we’ve slipped into the Vancouverite psyche of only talking about the Olympics when no one outside of the city actually cares (likewise outside of London), and have left no time to tell you how beautiful British Columbia is. Or how it’s got the world’s best Chinese food, as well as lots of rain, seriously aloof people with some of the most obtuse and abrupt attitudes in the western world. we’ll leave all of that till the next time I’m here. With an ever-expanding family here, Vancouver is somewhere we’ll have to come back to over and over again, and may even have to move here eventually. Unfortunately though, Bleungberg are becoming less fond of the place. Retirement? - yes. Otherwise - no, thanks.

Goodbye for now.

Greetings from Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina, having trundled across Bulgaria, Serbia and Sarajevo from Central Turkey by numerous trains, coaches, and one taxi. The final stop is due to be Budapest at the weekend, and between now and then, some bits of Croatia and a tiny bit of Slovakia must also be negotiated before a neat little seven-hour transit chez Benedict XVI in Rome.

First of all though, may we just take a brief moment to say to those of you currently fasting for Ramadan that you have our full and utmost respect. We have no idea how anyone even managed to fast during the shorter days of winter, let alone 15 hours of daylight at the height of the summer! We arrived first in Konya, and then Bursa in Central Turkey on the eve of Ramdan a couple of weeks ago - two of the most conservative Muslim cities around, and immediately struggled on a full stomach in the blazing sun and intense heat. To think that so many around us survived on absolutely nothing until sunset - not even water - it is a pretty mind blowing experience, especially when watching families breaking fast en masse outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul at precisely 7.58pm. In fact, we would go as far as to say that Turkey has now become Bleungberg’s favourite country in the world, ahead of Japan and Iran. This was our third time there, and having now visited parts of the east, south, central, Northern Cyprus and, of course, Istanbul, Turkey is simply awesome on so many levels. We still rather dislike Istanbul, however, as it’s expensive, scammy and overrun with tourists. The rest of the country though is brilliant… spectacular scenery, interesting people, wonderful cultural sites, nice beaches and lovely mosques. We also find it quite civilised, safe, cheap, and getting around from city to city is a complete doodle. There is still a question mark hanging over Turkish food - too much lamb and not enough chicken or veggie options but after three tries, we think we might have finally found ways of steering clear of anything out of a sheep.

So, Turkey was outstanding, whilst the police-state of Bulgaria and Serbia served up some wonderful dishes but were largely unexciting (Belgrade is terrific if you go in a group whilst Sofia can be skipped and Veliko Tarnovo is recommended instead). Occasionally however, you come across a nugget of a place which is so profound and leaves quite an impression on you. For us, that place was Sarajevo, just up the road here in B&H. Both Sarajevo and Mostar had been on our wishlist for some time, but not even in our wildest dreams could we have imagined them to be so damn interesting and brilliant. There is simply no other place in Europe quite like Sarajevo - bombed into submission during a brutal four-year siege by the Serbs a little over a decade ago, yet, it soldiered on gamely and resiliently against all the odds. Along with a wealth of history and architectural wonders (Ottoman bazaar, beautiful mosques, Austro-Hungarian buildings, Communist offices and tower blocks), a fantastic nightlife, a wonderful Olympic legacy, a hospitable people and some glorious food, we are quite happy to declare this our favourite city in the whole of Europe.

To those of us who like history - particularly gutwreching ones - Sarajevo is a living museum and monument to the brutality of modern warfare and human suffering: bombed out buildings, bullet holes everywhere, derelict sites, half-hanging houses, swathes of graveyards and literally hills of cemeteries all over the place. Mostar - whose famous bridge was destroyed by those conniving Croats - is similar but on a lesser scale, but no less compelling or powerful. Everywhere you go or look, there are reminders of a very recent, brutal and dreadful war, and it is an odd feeling to be surrounded by people who are cheerfully boozing or just having a good time, yet, not so long ago, were running for their lives or surviving on rations. We had hoped to visit Gallipoli during the same trip, and even Auschwitz at the end of it. Time constraints meant that neither is possible, and we’re glad about that. …three wars in one trip would have been too much…

So, if you can, do give Sarajevo some consideration - you will not be disappointed. If the history side gets too heavy, there is always the cheap booze and cheap skiing to keep you occupied!

Whilst we are on the subject of the dumbing down of news, Bleungberg had the chance to catch the beautiful Laurence Ferrari in action on TF1 in France a couple of weeks back whilst holidaying in Belgium.

Ferrari took over from the pompous Patrick Poivre d’Avor as anchorman last summer on the commerical network and whilst we have no views on her credentials as a journalist or whether TF1’s news is now better - we think not on both counts and assume France 2’s 20.00 Journal to be the more informative and less biased of the two - we’ll agree that she’s far nicer to watch, and of course, infinitely prettier than the ultra-vain, hair-transplanted PPDA.

Hello all, and final greetings from Hong Kong.

Saying goodbye to this horribly crowded place isn’t something that I’ve been looking forward to, though, in all honesty, I never thought I would become so fond it either. It is very difficult to bid – temporarily – farewell to a city where everything just seems to work. Alright – that’s an exaggeration…a city where almost everything seems to work – especially when compared to the UK. I arrived here back in November with a degree of scepticism and detachment. I thought I knew what this place was about – hoards of people, nasty pollution, cockroaches but also brilliant food, unrivalled transport and a very industrious, materialistic and status-conscious population. However, there’s so much more to that. For example, I love the winter here, and have rediscovered just how much fun Chinese New Year can be for adults - a five-day orgy of food and gambling. I also love the people’s sense of humour here – and if you’re up for it, something as banal as buying oranges in a market could turn out to be the highlight of the afternoon just by engaging in a bit harmless banter with the traders. It’s a case of who gets the last word in, and it’s great fun, and I will miss that tremendously.

Hong Kong isn’t the only place that I’ve learned to love in this part of the world: for example, my memories of Japan become sweeter by the day. Similarly, I cannot begin to tell you how highly I regard South Korea as a country. My brief visit there around Christmas – freezing, ill, often hungry – were also five of the most enjoyable days of my life. I can’t quite pinpoint exactly what it was about the cities of Busan, Seoul and Incheon that I loved – they all looked dreary, grey, dirty, run-down - yet there is this rustic charm about these Korean cities which make them seem very gritty, nasty, unpretentious and very, very real. They don’t have the silliness of Hong Kong, the craziness of Tokyo, or the chaos of Bangkok, but they are well-worth a detour if you happen to be in the region, and especially if you fancy a bit of cold-hearted rudeness and outstandingly cheap shopping. South Korea is, put simply, highly underrated and easily the cheapest advanced country in the world. Go!

China, on the other hand, just gets worse every time I think about it. I ventured into a place called Zhuhei the other day and almost got beaten up by some guy wearing a pink t-shirt as I took pictures of his shop. I subsequently came to the conclusion that had I been beaten up, no one would have cared because they would’ve had to take me to the hospital and pay for my medical bills. And people in China don’t pay for other people’s medical bills! There aren’t many places I’ve visited that I would describe as awful: Alice Springs is one, the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, is another. And I can now add Ji’nan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhei to that list of six – the last four all in China. The word ‘shithole’ doesn’t even begin to cover those six places.

Similarly, my feelings about London is best described as lukewarm to downright negative at the moment. Chatting to one of you the other day – who’d also moved abroad in recent months – we both came to the conclusion that London is, well, shit. Nothing seems to work, everyone seems depressed and getting around is a chore. It’s bureaucratic, its people are useless, the whole city’s crowded, expensive, dirty, dangerous and just seems so unpalatable to live in right now. I even imagined this scenario the other day that things have become so bad in London that if there’s a corpse lying on the street, it’d probably be days before anyone clears that up because no one cares or knows what to do with it, whereas Hong Kong would deal with that within 30 minutes – only because they’re delayed by the newspaper paparazzi who’d always get there first! To me, London seems rudderless, ungovernable and uninhabitable and I get fairly depressed just thinking about that. One of you unkindly teased me the other day that after months of luxury on the Hong Kong underground system – the incredible MTR – I would now have to endure the London version. I guess you can add ‘torture’ to the list of crimes about London then.

Continuous greetings from Hong Kong, having just returned from a week in Manila.

So, was it a ‘Thriller in Manila’? Absolutely not. It had always been the only city in the world which Bleungberg had never ever wanted to visit. When Bleungberg was growing up, Manila was constantly ravaged by military dictatorships, martial law, corruption, poverty, plane crashes and destructive typhoons. Nor were we fans of the thousands of Filipino maids who had settled in Hong Kong, and caused chaos on the streets on Sundays. But, work meant we had no choice but to ‘confront’ our fears by spending the whole of last week in this most peculiar of places. Overall, Manila is ugly, dirty, horribly polluted, dreadfully poor and rather boring. It’s also by far the cheapest place we’ve visited for a while, though not for accommodation. Most interesting of all was to see just how different it is to its neighbours in the region.

It is odd - if you think about it - why no one ever mentions the Philippines when they ‘go backpacking in Southeast Asia’ because on paper, it has a far more colourful history than, say, Thailand or Vietnam. Maybe because it’s separated from the rest of the continent, or that people don’t know a great deal about it. We are guessing that a lot of you would absolutely love the place - Bleungberg’s just not a fan of Southeast Asia. It’s the only Catholic country in Asia, and has been brutally occupied by the Spanish, Americans, British and Japanese. The Spanish/American legacies certainly make Manila feel more like Central America than Southeast Asia. In fact, we’d compare Manila to Panama City: the peoples look alike; they share the same religion; both had been occupied by the Spanish for centuries only to be replaced by the Americans in the 20th century. In addition, the divide between the rich and the poor is immense, with soaring skyscrapers and outrageously priced hotels in one district, and shit smelling slumps the next. We can’t begin to tell you just how hard it was to find a reasonably priced hotel in Manila - and we had the same problem in Panama City this time last year: third-world countries but Stockholm prices!

Like Panama City, Manila also has one of the worst transport systems that we’ve ever experienced: yes, it has a light-rail and underground system, lots of buses and jeepneys (smaller buses) that link the various suburbs, but the whole network is very poorly planned and interchange systems are virtually non-existent. Missed the stop and think you can just change platform at the next station? Forget it – you need to leave the station, probably cross a busy motorway, re-enter the station by climbing three flights of urine-soaked staircases, queue up again to buy another ticket, go through time-wasting security checks and see if you can squeeze yourself onto the next train when others are trying to get off. And you can forget using any of it if you are disabled. We suggested to some locals that Manila seems to be one of those cities which could really benefit from hosting an Olympic Games. They agreed, but added that much of the funds will simply disappear into the pockets of corrupt officials.

Another very peculiar aspect is that all the clocks and watches in Manila are 15-20 minutes fast. We don’t know why, and we didn’t want to ask. Although the people who live there are generally quite friendly, on the whole, however, those Pinoys are absolutely useless.  Even though they speak really good English – way better than those snooty Singaporeans – communicating with a Pinoy was deeply frustrating. Here’s an example of what happened when we were out shopping one evening:

Bleungberg: What time do you shut please?

Pinoy 1: Er, er, five.

Bleungberg: Five? PM?

(It was 6.30pm at the time)

Pinoy 1: Yes.

Bleungberg: What time does the shop close, please?

Pinoy 1: Five.

Bleungberg: (getting weary) Five? But it’s 6.30?

Pinoy 1: Yes.

Bleungberg: (I turned to his colleague) What time do you close, tonight?

Pinoy 2: (asks Pinoy 1 a question) 10pm.

Bleungberg: 10pm? Thank you.

It was also very common to get a ‘yes’ to questions like “How do I get to XXX?” or “how much is this?”. Infuriating. Also, we found the Pinoys to be quite lazy – another trait they share with the Central Americans. Shops and restaurants are often over-staffed, meaning an awful lot of underworked employees who, rather than serving customers, can be seen idling, having chit-chats or singing to themselves (sometimes on the karaoke machine). The same applies to the numerous security officials who guard the entrances to shopping centres, train stations and airports, whose half-assed efforts mean planting a bomb somewhere in Manila is a doodle. Think about it, what use are security checks for vehicles driving into the airport when they don’t even bother to look at the boot?!

Given the choice, we would never go there again. That’s not to say we wouldn’t recommend anyone else from going there – if you fancy somewhere ‘different’, exotic, hot, dirt-cheap, and like the idea of being propositioned by gays, women and transsexuals in shopping centres, then what are you waiting for?!

New year’s greetings from Hong Kong.

The week before, it was Japan and everything great about it. To follow up – China. But first, allow us to make one thing clear - we were there for less than 72 hours, saw about 0.00000001% of the country - the port city of Qingdao (a day), Ji’nan (a whole afternoon), Guangzhou (much longer that anyone would want) and Shenzhen (barely five minutes) - and encountered a mere fraction of its billion-plus people. Our views are thus completely inaccurate, biased and not at all bitter and which many of you will no doubt disagree with. So, here goes: China is the most uncivilised, disgusting and unscrupulous place Bleungberg’s ever, ever been to. Period.

In our opinion, people who spit everywhere on the streets, blow their noses into the air, pick their noses in public are uncivilised. When people are doing these en masse, into your direction, onto your pathway, right in front of you – well, that’s beyond despicable. When walking along the street, we shouldn’t have to duck violently left or right because a new spit suddenly lands in our pathways, right? Unfortunately, people didn’t care – this is normal!

This wasn’t unexpected - we’d been repeatedly warned about these by people in Hong Kong - but to see it all on such a widespread, carefree and indiscriminate scale was both disturbing and bitterly disappointing. We’d thought that China had dragged itself into the 21st century - at least in urban areas - but it clearly hadn’t. These ’secondary’ cities were nothing but a series of ’shitholes’ – people’s phlegm everywhere – even frozen ones after a frosty night – along with dog shit, human waste, industrial pollutants, black fumes from cars and factories alike - all there for us to see and breathe in. No wonder we found the place to be so intolerable.

Added to these were utter chaos and unruly behaviour at the various train stations, dirty restaurants, unscrupulous hoteliers (some masseuses mysteriously appeared outside my hotel bedroom on New Year’s Eve), Nazi-like railway staff, counterfeit money being bandied around and everyone else seemingly trying to screw you over and we’d soon decided enough was enough. For the first time ever, Bleungberg curtailed a trip and headed straight for the border with Hong Kong – a 24-hour ride away by train. We could’ve stopped off in Shanghai or Nanjing along the way but by then, we’d seen, heard, smelt, experienced enough, and we were desperate to get out. Honestly, we’d never ever been so happy to see Hong Kong before. “Civilisation!”, we exclaimed.

For sure, Hong Kong’s people can be a little haughty when it comes to discussing relations with their mainland cousins, and we desperately wanted to like what we saw in China. But we’re just struggling to have anything nice to say about the country where we welcomed in 2009. In future, as we visit the bigger cities or more remote parts of China, our views will change, and we have no doubt that we will only grow to like it. But for immediate comparisons with the cleanliness and faux-politeness of Japan (many spitters there) and the rough-and-rustic charms of the South Koreans (who also spat everywhere but at least they were civilised), going to China requires too much of an effort, and is best left for another time.

Sadly, all these leave no room for South Korea, which was outstanding, cheap, fun, safe, tasty and decent. The cities aren’t particularly attractive, but its people were very agreeable and we have no hesitation in saying they are a solid bunch of individuals, who’ve been dealt rather too harshly by history.

An unexpected extra  night in Incheon, South Korea, as Bleungberg didn’t fancy going ‘cattle-class’ with Chinese petty-traders on the boat to Yantai, China today, and instead opted to stay an extra night to sail ‘business-class’ to Qingdao tomorrow. It’s just as well as it gave us an brief insight into the business of love motels here in the port.

It’s not technically a love motel but it once was, and the tacky and sleazy decor have certainly remained, as have the subscription to the porn channels. Mind you, for GBP15.oo a night, this represents excellent value - underfloor heating, double-bed, 12 noon check-out, a 28″ HD TV with over 100 channels, free internet in-room (high-speed, of course), free ginseng drinks in the fridge, a convenient location - this is simply unbeatable value.

In fact, accommodation has been truly outstanding here in South Korea - from the supreme Toyoko Inn in Busan (GBP 30 and it feels like 5*) to the GBP35-a-night Kaya Hotel with a room as big as you could imagine, South Korea is fast becoming one of Bleungberg’s all-time favourite destinations. Everything is so cheap as well, which helps, and made all the more memorable by the biting Siberian blast and flakes of sleet which somehow makes the freeze in New York seem warm by comparison.

The food has been great, too, but one would naturally get a little tired of the spicy dishes which accompany every meal after a few days. Fortunately, there are enough choices to keep us going. Interestingly, Bleungberg reckons we’ve had the best bread ever here in South Korea.

So, Bleungberg will be back - one day - as we would like to see a bit of the countryside. The cities can be skipped as they all look as grey and concrete-like as each other, and frankly, none of them is particularly attractive anyway.  

All in all, a fantastic country, with an earthy and gritty feel to it which was lacking in Japan though one should only ever consider visiting this place at any time other than the summer which would probably be too much to bear with not just the oppressive heat, rain and possible typhoons, but also intense pollution and horrible grime. We can’t imagine how many rats would be roaming the dirty streets then.

Christmas greetings from Busan, South Korea at the end of a week of inter-railing through Japan and the roughest boat-journey ever across to this Korean port. Bleungberg actually spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day morning in Hiroshima, which was a humbling experience, for obvious reasons. Not that we cared - the Atomic Bomb memorial and its fascinating museum were jam-packed with locals and foreigners alike. Other like-minded individuals had obviously given up on Christmas, too.
 
Anyway, eight days of hopping on and off the bulletin trains from Tokyo downwards and we have no hesitation in naming this the best country that we’d ever visited. The reason is simple: it’s the most wonderful place in the world. We at Bleungberg often judge a place by three things: transport, food and its cities, and Japan wins handsomely on every level. Its transport systems are not only superb, but breath-takingly well-organised though a little expensive but we’ll let that one pass. For example, Tokyo’s subway system looked like a mindfield on paper, yet works supremely well in spite of numerous competing franchises. The same could be said for other cities which we’d visited this time, but as a veteran (or geek) of the world’s numerous other transport systems, only Hong Kong can rival that of Japan. Of course, don’t even let us get started on those beautiful bullet trains….
 
In addition, there’s plenty of history - both modern (Hiroshima) and ancient (Kyoto) - culture, fashion, nature (Miyajima) to enjoy in relative ease and safety. (If Hong Kong is sheer madness, then Tokyo is utterly crazy on a different scale) Also, we cannot begin to tell you how hassle-free the past week has been. Maybe it’s because we’d spent too many weeks in the ‘Third World’ lately and all that makes Japan the perfect remedy to restore one’s faith in travelling in that not everyone’s out to mug you or  to con you, and that you don’t have to watch over your shoulder all the time. Sure, there are language barriers (though you’d be surprised at how much easier it is to know Chinese words…until it comes to the speaking part, of course) but ‘talking’ to the Japanese is another reason to like this place. We can’t think of a more unfathomable bunch of people in the world - are they introverted or not? Are they genuinely this polite? (Can anyone?) Does the wife who barbeques the skewers really hate her husband behind all that smile and make-up? Does the ever-cheerful lift-attendant in Daimaru (a much-lamented Japanese department store in Hong Kong but continues to thrive here in Japan) hate her job just pressing nine buttons all day? Do the people at 7-Eleven get sick of saying ‘Welcome’ every five seconds? How do the young people afford to look so flashy and trendy? Why do the men insist on looking like Cher? How do they stay so slim????
 
Yes, how do they stay so slim when they are surrounded by so much good food?? If the term ‘gastroporn’ had been created for a place, then this is it. Japan is the mecca of food, the epitome of fantastic cuisine, and the greatest place to have an eating holiday. We had a bet that upon our return to Hong Kong in the new year that we’d be fatter. In eight days, we’ve been binge-eating non-stop; it’s virtually impossible not to do so - there’s food everywhere, and people clearly enjoy it at all hours. Whether it’s at a road-side tent for a late-night skewer, or a mid-morning redbean paste sweet snack, it’s like being in a 24-hour food paradise. What’s great for us is that we don’t have to worry about what we order, so we don’t even need to care what’s on the menu and just drag the waiter outside into the cold and point at the picture/look at other people’s plates to order. There’s no lamb or goat’s cheese anywhere on the menu, so that means anything goes as far as we’re concerned, from deep-fried oysters to pork ramen, pan-fried yam to dough balls with green tea, roast chestnuts, pig’s intestines, chicken livers, rice biscuits in train stations, 7 Eleven, back-street alleys, bus terminals etc etc. There simply isn’t enough time during the day to eat. And there’s too much to eat.
 
That’s just as well as first impressions of South Korea are that food is not as impressive or tempting as Japan’s. Yes, it”s cheaper and plentiful, but the allure and lure just aren’t there. Maybe thatll all change when we get to Seoul tomorrow…