Euro Trip 2010 Pt II: Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

Posted on August 28, 2010 by tokyofox

I went to Liechtenstein and all I got was a lousy passport stamp! Of course there’s a lot more to this tiny country than that and Vaduz (where I went) isn’t the be-all and end-all but most people seemingly go there just to be able to say that they have done so! A bit sad of course but even the locals know that the majority of tourists are usually just passing through and it’s how they make their money. Three Euro’s for the aforementioned stamp and a now or never moment so I stumped up the cash.

 

Talking of stamps, that is another main trade for this country as they are considered to be very rare but I kept my money in my pocket on that one as I couldn’t be bothered to write a postcard there and then.

I was actually looking forward to my day trip to Vaduz as I was curious to see a capital city which has a population of just over 5000 people. It is basically just one shopping street full of restaurants, souvenir shops and a few museums with a castle up in the hills behind it and that is where I started. As I was moving between Zurich and Lucerne I had to do it with my backpack and all but it wasn’t so bad and the views of the castle and the city were quite wonderful with lots of cultivated fields and small farms forming the landscape.

 

In the distance I could see the football stadium (for the national team and FC Vaduz) known as Rheinpark Stadion so once I’d descended I set off in that direction which was a 10 minute walk away from the main strip and of course no other tourist was in sight. It has a capacity of 6,127 and unlike any other stadium I was able to just walk into this one and snap away with my camera. Well I don’t know if I was able to but I did anyway and no-one intervened!

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Euro Trip 2010 Pt I: Zurich and Lucerne (Switzerland)

Posted on August 25, 2010 by tokyofox

I hadn’t stayed in a YHA since my early days of backpacking in 2001 but on my arrival in Zurich I eventually managed to find my way to my pre-booked accommodation.  No such thing as a cheap place to stay in Switzerland so I had to fork out 50 swiss francs just for the one night which is 50% more than one usually has to pay for such a place. The good thing about this chain of hostels is that they are very clean and had a fantastic breakfast included in the price which I took full advantage of the following morning.

My expectation beforehand of Zurich was that it was just a boring city full of bankers. However, I was quite surprised at what a nice city it was to walk around on a warm sunny summer evening. As well as the city centre itself I also chilled out for a bit by the lake at one of the many park spaces where locals go to sunbathe and have a quick dip in the lake.

     

I arrived in Lucerne the following afternoon and wasted no time getting out to see the sights dotted round the lake which were very pretty particularly the two main bridges (Spreuer and Chapel respectively with the latter featuring the city’s trademark water tower) which feature on all postcards for the place.

A day trip that I took on August 11th was to Mount Pilatus which was a kind of conveyor-belt way of travelling as it involved a 90 minute boat cruise followed by a 40 minute ascend of the mountain on the world’s steepest cog railway. All of it was amid beautiful scenery and at the top I was taken back by how cold it was. I hadn’t given it a thought when packing and so was about 2000 metres up in t-shirt, shorts and sandals while others were in hiking gear!

Of course I didn’t need to do anything at the top other than sit in the restaurant and admire the views (beautiful but often obscured by the fog) but that’s not my style so I persevered and did the trails up there including the climb to the highest point (2132m) which was a 30-40 minute gentle hike though a bit rocky near the summit which is still very do-able in good sandals.

    

A large gondola followed by a smaller one took me all the way down and in-between I took a stop to do the toboggan ride which was good fun and gave me a brief adrenaline rush on a trip which overall was lacking in activity of that nature.

Posted in Australasia Travel, Euro Travel | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

TF Film Review: The Karate Kid (2010)

Posted on August 23, 2010 by tokyofox

I recently saw the 2010 re-make of the Karate Kid and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Admittedly I had low expectations as the original is one of my all-time favourite films and didn’t want to see the usual bad re-make. Perhaps the reason it was better than I thought was that it stayed true to the original in many ways with the main changes being the location (China rather than California) and of course kung-fu replacing karate as the martial arts skill. Why its even called the Karate kid I don’t know!

I was surprised by how much I liked the Jackie Chan ‘Mr Han’ character (a chance for him to actually act for once!) and indeed the remake but its just not as powerful as the original. Will Smith’s son Jaden may only be 12 but he was charismatic and cool in the lead role. Incredible to see a boy of that age with muscles!

  

The chemistry between the two heroes in the original can’t be beaten and that film has had a lasting impact on many lives. It may not be in those top movie lists but its known by so many people. I can’t imagine the new one being remembered too far into the future although I did hear they were going to make another one. Not sure if it will follow the original part 2 as close as this one.

Given that the new one’s main character is so young the girl interest in the film is not so necessary and as much as I like Asian girls (not 12 year old ones though!) the Elisabeth Shue character is one I still look at and think as being very pretty which certainly can’t be said about most 80’s film actresses!

To be fair to the new film, Smith’s portrayal of ‘Dre’ is probably actually more convincing than Ralph Macchio’s ‘Daniel’ who, as much as I liked, didn’t really make me believe that he had become a karate expert. Though fearsome, the protagonists don’t play as much a part in the film as the ‘Cobra Kai’s’ (and particularly their leader Kreese) in the original which may be due to Smith featuring in almost every single scene if not them all!

Overall, this updated version of the Karate Kid was quite satisfying and very likeable and hopefully over time it will stand on its own feet without being compared to the original which of course is quite ironic as that’s exactly what I have done here!

Tokyo Fox Rating 8/10

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A Spiritual And Physical Challenge

Posted on August 15, 2010 by tokyofox

A few years ago I saw the second season of Jack Osbourne’s Adrenaline Junkie series on youtube. It featured many daredevil stunts of which I have done a few (bungy jumping, jungle trekking, marathon running, rock-climbing, kayaking, thai-boxing, kushti wrestling, skydiving etc) but one of the challenges caught my eye more than any other and it just happened to be filmed in Japan. The problem for me was finding where and when I tried to find this information or watch the video online a few months ago I just couldn’t find any thing on it.

Consequently I splashed out a tenner on the dvd box set of series one and two (season two wasn’t available on its own) and when it arrived I went straight to that part (episode 3) and was a little disappointed that they never did say exactly where they were. It just mentioned that it was somewhere in the mountains north of Kyoto.

As for the challenge itself, the idea was for Jack to be able to spend three minutes under what was dramatically described as a “freezing waterfall which will hammer body-numbing glacial melt-water on to him with the pressure of a fire-hose”.

This is something I’d like to try myself which is why I was interested in the location. I certainly know it wouldn’t be easy as having experimented a few times with standing under a cold shower I know all too well that you have to tap into your inner energy and detatch your mind from the freezing water pouring down on you.

In the episode, Jack had to train his mind using shintaido warrior techniques while getting in touch with Jedi-like inner force and after a very quick first attempt he then managed to stay under the waterfall for just over 10 minutes seeing off the attempts of his two companions with ease. The grand-master Japanese guy had to pull him out for his own safety as its said that just 12 minutes under it is enough to kill you from hypothermia.

 

Posted in Japan Life, Japan Travel, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Star Wars Shop In Tokyo!

Posted on August 11, 2010 by tokyofox

A couple of months ago I found out about a Star Wars shop in Koenji which is a station lying nine minutes west of Shinjuku. Despite living in Tokyo for many, many years I didn’t know about this place and in fact found out about it when Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac mentioned it on the Star Wars podcast ‘The ForceCast‘. (*)

When I went first went there it was closed but as I finished work very early on a Saturday last month I thought I’d try again and I wasn’t disappointed. Located on the second floor at the end of a shopping street ‘Star Case’ (below) is not much to look at from the outside with just a window displaying old and slightly yellowing full-size cardboard characters.

   

It’s a small shop inside but is absolutely packed with Star Wars related stuff with the majority of it being figures which isn’t something I want to get into. More of interest were the weirder items which have come out over the years such as a BMX, a video-game machine, curtains, posters, vintage soap, badges, cards, stickers, Pepsi-related products and so many more things which have carried the Star Wars logo over the last 33 years. Needless to say, I bought a load more stuff to add to my growing collection. I’ve heard photo’s are not really allowed in the shop but managed to take a few cheeky ones.

IMG_6991  IMG_6993  IMG_6994  IMG_6995  IMG_6996  IMG_6997  IMG_6998  IMG_6999IMG_6992

How to get there:

Take the Sobu Line to Koenji station. Leave by the North Exit. Across the road in the top left corner is a 7-11 (below) and a shopping street. Head for this and walk down the shopping street all the way to the end. Turn left and at the end of that lane you will see ‘Star Case’ on the second floor. It is open from 1-7pm everyday except Tuesday’s.

Address: Amanaya Buiding, 3-25-25 2F Kita-Koenji, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-0002

(*) They have been hosts of Rebel Force Radio since 2013

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Posted in Films, Japan Life, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

A Banana Vending Machine In Tokyo! You Better Believe It!

Posted on August 6, 2010 by tokyofox

There’s no doubt that Japan is the land of vending machines. Among a population of 120 million it is said that there is one vending machine for every 20 or so people which equals erm……a lot of machines!

The majority of them sell drinks and cigarettes but other things are available such as newspapers, flowers, porn, fried food, condoms, ice-cream, toilet paper, disposable camera’s, kids toys, beer, rice, eggs (yes, really!) and perhaps the most famous story overseas is of used schoolgirl undies being sold in these vending machines but I think that may just be urban myth. I am certainly aware that new underwear can be purchased from these ‘jihanki‘ (vending machines) as I have seen that.

Now, the ‘Dole’ banana company have started selling their products in a vending machine which I came across in one of the far-flung parts of the huge Shibuya station. Wondering what might happen to them when they fell I put my hand in to see that their was a foam landing mat to stop them becoming instantly bruised. Individual ones can be bought for 130 yen (about a pound) or you can get a bunch for 390 yen.

While on the subject of banana’s, today is unofficially banana day in Japan as ba(8) plus nana (7) are the month and day respectively.

  
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Malaysia 2010: Penang Pt II – Temples

Posted on August 2, 2010 by tokyofox

After taking in Khoo Kongsi temple (see Penang Pt II for details) I returned to the hotel to get my girlfriend and we headed out to the bus station again. Thankfully no sandals were snapped this time! Again we stopped for a feast of chinese food for brunch at some local place and after that we had intended to go by local bus to Penang Hill (at 830m above sea level) for its panoramic views but the driver said it was all closed which wasn’t so out of the blue as we had heard a similar story the day before.

As a result we headed down to the southern part of the island to visit Snake Temple which for some reason had to be done in two parts with the gap between the buses being quite long. Luckily a kind local informed us of what was happening and which bus to transfer to.

The main reason for wanting to go to that effort for a temple was the chance to get our picture taken with a snake. I have touched and held a snake or two before but never got the touristy photo. We were both really happy with our photo’s which came as part of the same deal (two photos for 30MYR).

I have since been asked by many students what it felt like (cold, hot, slimy etc) but the truth is that I can’t remember so well as within seconds of agreeing to the photo they put three snakes around me, told me to smile to the camera and then that was it. No time to really experience the moment in terms of stroking or touching them but basically they felt no different, better or worse, than any other animal. I think the snakes were slightly out of it thanks to the strong incense smoke lingering around the place.

   

We returned to George Town by bus and almost instantly took another bus to Kek Lok Si Temple which is the island’s most prominent and famous temple. Despite that accolade I didn’t really have any desire to see it as a temple is a temple in my book. However, my girlfriend had read about this place while I was out on my ‘Anna & the King‘ filming locations scouting mission that morning. Ultimately it was a good idea of hers as its hilltop setting was really picturesque. It was a long climb up to the entrance but went almost un-noticed as we had to walk up narrow steps through a load of souvenir stalls.

The first stop was a slightly cramped pond jam-packed with turtles and the rest of the impressive complex soon followed which included a seven tier 30metre tower and a cable-car ride up to the huge bronze statue amid an area of more temples, a fish pool and animal statues of the Chinese zodiac.

       

We only just caught the last cable-car of the day going up which meant we had to take the long walk down where it started to drizzle a bit. I rewarded myself with a huge ais kacang which is basically a dessert of ice shavings topped with syrups, coconut milk, red beans, seeds and jelly.

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Anna & The King Filming Locations In Penang

Posted on July 30, 2010 by tokyofox

My girlfriend wasn’t really interested in looking around George Town, particularly on foot, so with that in mind I left her in bed for an hour or so each morning while I went out to explore. I wanted to see the area as its normal to get to know your surroundings and for two other reasons; one was that it’s a British colonial town and the second was that parts of it were used to portray “Bangkok” in the 1999 film ‘Anna And The King‘ starring Jodie Foster.

 

There was a bit of light rain in the air on my first morning outing but that soon cleared up as I briefly walked around by Fort Cornwalis and then on to Penang Town Hall (above) where its Grand Ballroom played the part of the ‘Royal Court Room’ in the aforementioned movie which to be honest I only watched once I discovered some of it had been filmed in Penang. For the record, I’d never heard of the film until well after the trip had been booked and even though it was way more interesting than I thought it would be I won’t be rushing to see it again as its not exactly my type of movie!

The following morning I gave myself a bit more time and headed to Swettenham Pier (below) in Penang Harbour which portrayed “Bangkok Harbour”. There was absolutely no-one else around when I was there and I only saw a few people as I moved back in the direction of the hotel via Armenian Street. This played home to the “Bangkok” street scenes and its Armenian merchant houses (below) supposedly needed very little set dressing to make them more 19th century-like.

 

On that very same street (at #128 to be precise) was Syed Alatas Mansion (below), an 1860’s house of an Arab trader from Sumatra, where Anna and Prince Chulalongkorn find ‘Lady Tuptim’ in chains and as a slave. The temple where she was actually captured by palace guards (having ran away, disguising herself as a young man and joined the monastery where her former fiancé lived) was the UNESCO world heritage site Khoo Kongsi.

 

As far as temples go this was quite interesting as its a clan house (part temple part meeting hall) in the middle of a neighbourhood of houses and for that reason was difficult to find. Khoo Kongsi (above) is an elaborate mix of dragons, lanterns, carvings, paintings and ceramic tiles and that was my final port of call before I went back to find sleeping beauty still asleep in our room.

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Malaysia 2010: Penang Pt I – Parasailing and Dr Fish!

Posted on July 28, 2010 by tokyofox

With a forecast of heavy rain every day in Penang we were very lucky to experience only brief moments of drizzle but on the whole it was mostly hot weather. Inevitably that resulted in me getting sunburned (feet and head) though! No slumming it for me this holiday in terms of accommodation as I was with my girlfriend. We stayed at the Bayview Hotel which was more expensive than my usual pit but still very reasonably priced for what we got. I didn’t splash out on a taxi from the airport though instead choosing to take the local bus followed by a 15 minute walk to the hotel. We were a bit shocked on our check-in to have to pay an extra 100 MYR each as deposit which was annoying as getting that money back on our check-out would mean we had a surplus amount of cash that would just have to be spent at the airport.

  

We went out straight away for a well-earned beer and got down to the business of trying out the local dishes (hokkien mee and duck) at a nearby outdoor food court. More local cuisine was sampled the next morning at the most local of places as we made our way to the main bus terminal Komtar. We managed to feast on a load of Chinese dishes and a couple of drinks for just two or three pounds but after that fuel stop my girlfriend managed to catch one of her sandals on the road making it impossible to walk in them so we had to stop at the shopping mall at Komtar to buy a new pair. Not just one pair for her as she bought two! Safety in numbers I guess!

We took a local bus to the north of the island which is home to its most famous beach; Batu Ferringhi. After a quick drink (mint lemon tea for me) and some local nosh (laksa which is basically noodles in a spicy coconut-based soup) we tried our hand at two activities albeit not together!

She went horse-riding along the beach and then I went parasailing for the first time. In the UK or Japan you’d probably have an overly long safety demonstration course but no such nonsense in Malaysia. Pay your money, sign a form, put on the harness, get a ten second instruction of what to do (something about changing hand position and pulling something or another on the descent) and then away you go! I didn’t really know how to get up in the air smoothly. Run until you feel the boat really pulling you and then hope you take off!

As it was I went up a bit and seconds later hit the water before instantly shooting up in to the sky which was really cool although the brief dip in the ocean meant my eyes were full of salty water which impaired my vision slightly. The whole thing only lasted two or three minutes (just once round the bay basically) but to be fair it was enough and for under 15 quid it was well worth it for me.

  

Over the road from the beach was Dr Fish where we paid 50MYR (10 pounds) between us to dip our feet in this small bath full of fish who nibble away at your feet and supposedly cure it of all dead skin or whatever. It was actually very relaxing and rejuvenating and, after time at the beach, it felt very nice.

  

On the outward journey I had noticed a roadside restaurant called ‘The Place 007’ featuring the proper James Bond logo. I knew it would be almost impossible to go there but, having had the Bond theme in my head all day, I wanted to get a picture of it on the way home and knew taking it through the bus window would be my only chance. I just about managed it!

Posted in Asia Travel, Films, James Bond | Tagged , | 2 Comments

TF Film Review: The A-Team (2010)

Posted on July 18, 2010 by tokyofox

So having worked my way through the A-Team TV series DVD boxsets in the first half of this year I had become overly familiar with the original characters. With that in mind my expectations for the movie were quite low! They probably didn’t need to be to be fair as Hannibal was played by the excellent (and suitably greyed-up) Liam Neeson who has a proven acting pedigree and he didn’t really diappoint although he wasn’t quite as smug as George Peppard in the TV series.

In fact Bradeley Coopers Face-man was more smug which I didn’t really take to. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson did a better job than I expected as BA Baracus but lacked some of the charisma of Mr T in the TV series and to be fair that was always going to be the most difficult character to replicate. I didn’t really take to Sharlto Copley’s portrayal of Murdock too much.

Mr T. may have been the star of the A-Team but in my mind it was Dwight Schultz as Murdock who was the real star delivering some great comedic performances. He was the one that most of my friends and I always wanted to be in the playground recreations in the 1980’s after the previous weekends Saturday evening viewing of the show.

Some critics have attacked the plot of the film but what were they expecting?! The A-Team is all about action and this film certainly delivers on that front with the best seeing the team parachuted out of an aeroplane in a tank but anyone who saw the trailer knew this was coming which is kind of a shame as it ruins it a bit but I guess they have to include the best bits in these trailers to entice viewers.

I liked how the film told the back-story of how they got together and were convicted of a crime they didn’t commit. The use of protagonist names like Lynch and Morrisson are for the fans and the jail breaks are pretty inventive with the best one revolving around some 3D action.

I would have liked to see someone hire the A-Team as they used to in the TV series and though the film certainly won’t set the world alight it overall did the job that it’s supposed to do which is deliver high-speed thrilling action without much regard for minor things like plot and storyline! Room has certainly been left for a sequel.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

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