Category Archives: Travel

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Tokyo Ueno Park Colorful Autumn Foliage painting

Ueno Park autumn foliage painting

 

This painting was the next in line for my autumn creations. I am deeply inspired by colorful nature, so for the most part, when I take pictures, I try and compose the pictures like I would a painting, because I know that I will probably want to paint it later. I selected this picture (see below), because it had the colorful foliage I like to paint, and it was a different setup than the previous painting from Bukhansan National Park. The composition for this painting reminded me of all the perspective drawings I did in art class as a kid. The majority of the medium for this painting was a watercolor underpainting  overlaid with hard pastels. The gazebo was drawn in watercolor pencil.

The most challenging part of this painting for me was to produce a sense of depth in the water to add to the perspective, and also to render the green foliage in the foreground with as much realism as possible. That required me to lay in multiple layers of pastel in different colors. Even then it still wasn’t completely realistic, but close enough.

Like most paintings, this one looks better from afar, and after I completed it, it took a bit to grow on me. Sometimes it takes a bit for me to finally say the painting is as complete as it is going to be. Frequently I am dissatisfied during the actual process of creating the painting, and I often feel that I am not producing the painting on the page that is in my head (and close to the reference photo). However, I eventually reach a point where I can’t think of any way to improve the painting and I call it done. Then, it takes a couple days for me to really develop an attachment to the the painting  and to like it.

Ueno Park colorful fall foliage

 

The reference photo was taken in Ueno Park in central Tokyo when I visited there Veteran’s Day weekend November 2012.  Ueno Park is one of Tokyo’s largest parks and right next to a major Metro stop  (Ueno). It’s a pleasant park to walk around and enjoy different museums, temples, shrines and gardens. This particular picture was taken late in the day and the sun was close to setting. I like the warm, late afternoon autumn light and how it makes most of the backdrop warm, though the cool blues of the water and green foliage in the foreground makes a nice contrast to the yellows and oranges in the background.

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Bukhansan National Park Red Autumn painting

my painting of Bukhansan National park sunny red trees

 

Autumn in Korea is my favorite time in the country. The weather is cooler and less humid, which makes hiking so much more pleasant than during parts of the Korean summer when the humidity makes you feel like you just took a shower after stepping outside, and sometimes the monsoon rains gives you a real shower. But most of all, the reason I love Korean autumns is that the landscape come alive with bright, beautiful colors. Korea is a very mountainous country and there are numerous forests populated with trees that change color and foliage for the seasons. These bright colors of nature inspire me to create art.

The art my eye is drawn to, either as a viewer of art or as a creator of art, is bright and colorful paintings. I’ve never been a fan of dark, dreary realist paintings and preferred paintings that pop with color. Likewise the art I want to make is the colorful world around me. This makes autumns the perfect time to capture images to create paintings later.

The mediums I used for this painting were a watercolor under painting in greens and browns, watercolor pencil for the trees, and hard pastels for the foliage. I felt the combination of  mediums would be ideal to achieve the effects I wanted. This was the first time I used an under painting, and I was really pleased with the result for the most part, though next time I should fade out the colors of the under painting more to make the colorful leaves pop to a greater degree. In the past, one of the frustrating things about using white paper for paintings is that the teeth of the paper showed through  and marred the overall effect I was trying to achieve. Putting down the green/brown under painting enabled me to build the trees and leaves on top of the under painting and thus achieve a greater illusion of depth. The viewer can see the green poking through in parts of the painting to look like real nature. The big lesson I did learn for improvement with this painting, is that I should use an under painting for the leaves as well. This became readily apparent when I started to apply the pastels for the leaves. I prefer hard pastels, because I personally find soft pastels to be rather messy. Even though the pastels are hard, they have varying degrees of hardness and softness. The whites, yellows, and even the oranges to a certain degree were reasonably soft and therefore easy to build up layers of color to produce realistic-looking leaves. I ran into trouble with the red pastels though. That color was substantially harder and it was more difficult to apply the red color to the existing under painting. The reds didn’t pop the way I wanted them to, unlike the yellows and oranges, because they didn’t layer well. It was also more apparent for parts of the painting where the leaves overlaid branches. I initially used masking fluid to block out the tree branches before applying the under painting, so when the fluid was removed, the paper was white. Due to the hardness of the pastels, it didn’t build up layers of color easily and the whiteness of the paper can be seen behind parts of the painting. Overall though, I was rather pleased with this effort, since it was the first one like it that I painted. I think I mirrored the reference photo well enough (though it wasn’t a complete duplication), and captured the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of this landscape.

Bukhansan National Park sunny red trees

 

This is the reference photo used for the painting. It was taken in Bukhansan National Park on a fine sunny October afternoon. The park is located within the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area, which makes it readily accessible for urban hikers. Visitors can easily reach the park by taking subway Line 3 to Gupabal station, exit 1 and then Bus 704 or 34 to Bukhansan National Park. Just follow the hordes of people in hiking gear to the trailhead and follow the signs for the trails from there. The park’s location within Seoul means that this park is convenient not just to you, but to everyone (approximately 25 million people) in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area. While beautiful, particularly during autumn, this is not a place for solitary hiking, so know before you go. Crowds are numerous on the weekends, though if you want to beat them as much as possible, start very early. Yes, there will be early hikers, but they are the serious hikers and not the slow family walkers. You can walk as much as you want and turn around at any point, since the trail is well marked with signs and distances. The trail can be a bit uneven and steep in places, but for the most part, the trail is suitable to regular hikers. One word of advice though. Since this park is reached via a bus and not a direct subway stop, there is a high potential for running into long lines at the main bus stop for the park. When I went, I made it to the bus stop not long after sunset, and it took me an hour to get on a bus to go to back to the subway. The smart hikers in the know walked further up the road to catch an earlier bus stop and avoid the main bus stop with the very long lines. After all, once a bus was full of people from the early stops, it would just drive by the main stop. If you like hiking and love beautiful nature (particularly in autumn), Bukhansan National Park has much to offer for hikers, nature enthusiasts and landscape artists to be inspired.

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Seoul Cherry Blossoms 2013

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Springtime in Korea means many things. It means longer days, bright sunshine, an end to bitterly cold winters. And my favorite thing- the blossoming of Korean flowers. All throughout the countryside different flowers start to bloom beginning in March and continuing throughout spring. Among my favorite flowers are the numerous cherry blossoms that are spread throughout the city. This year I went to two different areas of Seoul to partake in the amazing beauty of the cherry blossom trees- Yongsan and Yeouido. What I love about Yongsan is the view of the urban landscape surrounding the area of the city broken up by bright, beautiful cherry trees lining the roadways.Image

I think this photos sums up the contradictions that is South Korea at the moment. It is a very beautiful country, with a rich history, fabulous temples and palaces and ancient ruins, gorgeous nature, mountain views and colorful trees and flowers. But it is also undeniable that just to the north lies their sister Korea, separated by the Demilitarized Zone since 1953 and technically still in a state of war, though there is an armistice in place (now whether or not North Korea REALLY abides by that now remains to be seen). The greater metropolitan area of Seoul is well within the range of North Korean long range artillery, and security is often in the back of your mind (particularly nowadays with North Korean rhetoric at a particular fever pitch). This picture juxtaposes the delicate, ephemeral beauty that is the Korean cherry blossoms against the cold, hard concertina wire designed to protect both military and civilian alike and provide security.

It’s hard not to delight in the innocent wonder of the massive amounts of cherry tree blossoms. I wanted to capture all the images to create paintings from them later.

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Cherry Blossoms Yongsan 2013

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What I like about Yongsan is that it is comparatively empty. It’s easier to get up close and personal with the cherry trees in relative peace, quiet and solitude. For a different experience, I recommend attending the Yeouio Cherry Blossom Festival. Yeouido Island is another excellent location for cherry tree-lined streets in Seoul, just south of the Han River. In fact, part of the Hangang park runs along the northern area of Yeouido Island, and is an excellent area to enjoy a picnic, walk, run or bike along the Han River, and enjoy the gorgeous views of Seoul. Every year the Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival is held-this year from 12-21 April 2013. The bulk of the festival is held around the road surrounding the National Assembly on Yeouido Island. It is easily reached by taking the Seoul subway, Line 9 to National Assembly stop. During the festival, the road is blocked off from traffic, which makes it easier for the thousands of visitors to enjoy the cherry trees, take pictures, enjoy musical performances and just relax with the sunny beauty of a Seoul springtime. This is a beautiful area, though it is definitely not for those who don’t particularly like crowds, since the festival is full of them.

me at Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival 2013

ImageCherry Blossoms Yeouido sunny trees 2013

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You have to take advantage of the cherry blossom season, because it certainly isn’t long. Cherry trees blossoms last about 7-10 days and then they are gone. Already, the cherry trees are shedding, spreading their delicate petals in the wind like pink-white snowflakes along the sidewalks. Soon all the branches will be bare, and you must another year for spring.

Next year, I want to get farther afield to enjoy different cherry tree festivals, particularly the one held in Hwagae near Jirisan National Park. But if you live in Seoul and just want to see some cherry trees, it is very easy to do so without ever leaving the city.

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Grand Canyon North Cape Royal Sunset Painting

my painting of Grand Canyon Cape Royal sunset

I’ve been trying to get back into painting again. I’ve created art in fits and starts for most of my life. Like most kids, I enjoyed drawing and painting in art class just for fun. I dabbled a bit with watercolors in college, before getting frustrated with not making enough progress, and stopping. Then for a couple years, I discovered the beauty and portability of colored pencils. Colored pencils give me the control I like, but the artwork can be time consuming. And again I wasn’t making the progress I hoped, so I gave it up.

About a year and a half ago, I decided to take it up again. This time, I decided to go with a mixture of watercolor pencils and pastels. I like the combination both bring to create artwork. Watercolor pencils give you the control and precision of wax colored pencils, but they also can be used for the color diffusion of watercolor paints. I like to draw the painting out and then follow up with water to blend the colors. Pastels are a great way to render diffuse, bold color, particularly for landscape paintings.

For this painting, I selected a reference photo of a sunset I took at Grand Canyon North at Cape Royal during my vacation there this past summer (see below). I felt it was a good picture to start with. I found it very beautiful, with bright colors- just like the paintings I want to create, and the paintings I appreciate as a collector. Plus, I felt it would be relatively easy to render, since sunsets seem to be easier.

What I will say about this painting is that- it’s not BAD for a first effort after months of not painting. It certainly could be worse. I’ve done better sunsets in the past, but something about this painting just didn’t work for me. Maybe it would have been better to render it in pastel, as watercolor sort of seemed to blend all the colors into one big patch, rather than the separate, distinct colorful clouds and sun from the reference photo. Or I should have been more disciplined in the drawing of the clouds. And the use of watercolor for the canyons just didn’t really come out like I hoped. The distant shadows were okay, but the closer canyons weren’t really distinct or detailed. Again, pastels might have been a better choice to render the shadows of the stones and the vegetation of the canyons.

When I first took the painting in after I decided I was finished, I was rather disappointed. I had this image in my head of how I would be able to correctly recreate the reference photo as a painting. While the painting captured the general use of color from the photo, the overall effect was flat. There was no dimensional shadowing or distinct clouds. There was no depth or real artistry.

But as what usually happens, the more time passed and the more I could take it in, I started to appreciate it more. Sure, it wasn’t what I envisioned in my head. But there is a colorful beauty there, and not all artwork must be 100% representational to be enjoyed. Think of it like a first draft of a writer’s novel. It may not be what I want it to be right now, but nobody starts out being a really good artist. It takes work, lots and lots of work to become a quality artist. Inevitably in that work journey, there will be efforts that don’t exactly thrill you, but still can teach you something, and you can still take away something from the creation to make future work better. I have to constantly fight against the internal voice that tells me if I am not instantly good at something, it isn’t worth working harder to become better at it. So while this painting is not what I hoped it would be, it’s representative of a first step toward becoming a better (maybe one day, professional) artist.

Below is the reference photo I took of the sunset. I visited Grand Canyon North in August 2011. This was my first night in the area, and I drove out to Cape Royal, because I knew the sunsets were supposed to be amazing. It was very peaceful to sit out at the viewpoint and watch the sun melt into a variety of blazing colors and paint itself across the canyons. It’s times like these on vacations when I am reminded again and again how much beauty there really is in this world, and it is this beauty that inspires me to be an artist.

Grand Canyon Cape Royal sunset

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Seoul Museum of Art- Tim Burton Exhibit

Tim Burton Exhibit entrance

Last weekend I visited the Tim Burton exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art. The exhibit itself has been around for a few years, starting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It’s now been on a traveling exhibition, and Seoul is the only stop in Asia. I always liked most of Tim Burton’s movies, so I figured it would be an interesting art exhibition, and was it ever. The exhibit covered artwork he created from his childhood all the way up to his current movies. Artifacts included in the exhibition were childhood paintings, drawings from his movies, models from his movies, and essentially anything that inspired him to create the art and movies he has over the years.

Tim Burton Romeo and Juliet sign

Tim Burton Exhibit 2nd floor

The exhibit was broken up into three areas covering his childhood artwork, his work as an animator for Burbank Studios, and his work as a director and producer of movies that are now deemed “Burtonesque”. It was interesting to see the evolution of his work and the maturation of his creative process. It was also interesting to see what sorts of things inspired him to paint on his own. When he was younger, he seemed to have a real love of freaky clowns, aliens and very large breasted women (but don’t most heterosexual men?)  It struck me just how many different sort of art styles exist out there among all the artists of the world for the past several hundred years. I like to frequent art museums of all genres and eras, but I can’t help but marvel at the more modern forms of expression, particularly the more expressionistic and surrealistic styles of artists like Tim Burton. Artists of the Renaissance, baroque and even Impressionism to a large degree, tried to recreate the world as they saw it, or at least a more representational view of their subjects. But 20th century painting styles and beyond have also incorporated very different styles where artists are not just looking to make art that looks realistic, but capture the strange images in their imagination.

I too like to create art in my spare time, and lately I’ve been getting back into pastel and watercolor pencils to improve my technique. I tend to favor more landscapes and pictures with bright colors. Most of the work I do are from reference photos I take on my travels. So I tend to try and be as reasonably representative as possible when I recreate these images as paintings. That’s the kind of art that comes natural for me to make. But I have to admit to a twinge of jealousy when I see artists like Tim Burton (and others) who create art from their sheer imagination. They aren’t looking to recreate reality exactly, but rather create their own version of reality or bring their imagination to life. I can only imagine what sorts of things go on in these artists’ heads and what drives them to see the world the way they do and create the art they do. I enjoy being being transported into the fantasy worlds they create, and it was very easy to get lost in the different worlds Tim Burton has created over the years through his art and his movies.

As you walk through the exhibit, you get a real feel for what something means when it is called “Burtonesque.”  Tim has several motifs and styles he likes to use in many of his artwork. Examples include stripes and swirls and the strange, almost grotesque shapes of his animated creatures. Particularly with his later, more mature work, it is easy to look at a piece of art and know immediately Tim Burton was the person who created it.

Tim Burton Nightmare Before Christmas paintings

Nightmare Before Christmas drawing

Nightmare Before Christmas series drawings

Tim Burton models

Now, no art museum exhibit would be complete without a visit to the merchandise store, and Tim Burton’s exhibit was no exception. Among the magnets, prints, postcards and the like available for purchase, was the comprehensive Tim Burton art book. And this book doesn’t screw around. I feel you absolutely get your money’s worth with this purchase. It is a huge book, both in size dimensions and number of pages. It includes over 400 pages filled with his artwork over the years. It’s makes a great doorstop :), but more than that, I bought it to sort of serve as inspiration to make future artwork. I can look through all the pages and see what Tim Burton has created over the years through the sheer force of his imagination, and appreciate it whenever I want. I can also use his work to inspire me to further my own artistic abilities. Maybe one day I’ll get to the point where I can create the art that goes through my head rather than just what I see in a photograph in front of me.

Tim Burton merchandise

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Morning Calm Arboretum Lighting Festival

Morning Calm Arboretum Sunken Garden wide view

 

What’s a public garden in a cold climate supposed to do in the winter? Sure, you can stay open all year around, but for the most part, the beautiful flowers people like to see at gardens are hibernating for the winter. Of course gardens can also close, and some of them do, until spring when new flowers bloom. Or gardens can take the step that the Morning Calm Arboretum in Korea does and host a lighting festival. Sure the garden is open during the day and you can walk around the gardens and take in the snow-covered views. But the real action starts when the sun sets, and the garden comes alive with all the lights. Shrubs and trees are covered in all shades of colored lights imaginable.

Morning Calm Arboretum beautiful lights of Sunken Garden

Morning Calm Arboretum Hometown Garden beautiful lights

All of a sudden, you are transported into a fantasy world, albeit a crowded fantasy world filled with many, many people jockeying for position to take the best photos. While beautiful, this is definitely not the place to come if you want peaceful solitude, where you can just sit back and take in the view. Or I should say, you can’t really contemplate the view from any viewpoint that attracts a lot of people. Everyone is impatient for their turn to take pictures ( I know I was), so you take the pictures you can, take in the view from the viewpoints for a couple minutes and then just walk around and enjoy the lights and block out the people (if that is your thing like it is mine). When I was focused on just seeing the lights and not worried about taking pictures, time just sort of slowed down and it was more about enjoying the moment and experience for what it was.  The Sunken Garden is the main attraction, where most of the lights are located. But there are also three other lighted areas: the Hometown Garden, the Bonsai Garden, and the Road to Heaven pathway.

Morning Calm Arboretum night lights in snow

The Morning Calm Arboretum Lighting Festival takes place every year from approximately early December to early March. During the lighting festival weekends, the garden is open until 2100. The earliest sun will set is around 1730 near winter solstice and gets progressively later as time goes on. When I was there this past Saturday, sun set around 1815 and the lights came on right around that time.

me with Morning Calm Arboretum Sunken Garden view

Getting to the Morning Calm Arboretum is a bit time consuming, but still pretty straightforward. Since I don’t want to drive in Korea, I elected to take public transportation. I took the Metro and a bus all the way there. In Seoul, take a train to Sangbong station, which is a stop on the Metro Line#7 or the Jugang Line. Transfer to the Gyunchen Line subway headed toward Chuncheon. An alternate means is to take an ITX train from Yongsan, Cheongnyangi, or Sangbong (among other stations) headed toward Chuncheon. The ITX train is undoubtedly quicker, and just slightly more expensive. It however doesn’t run quite as frequently as the Metro. Either way, you will exit the train at the Cheongpyeong Station. From there, go around the back of the train station to catch a bus. There is a shuttle bus that runs from Gapyeong Terminal to the Morning Calm Arboretum on regular intervals throughout the day. The shuttle bus will stop at key tourist sites, such as Nami Island, Petit France and Morning Calm Arboretum. An all day bus ticket with cost 5,000 won per person. The ride from Cheongpyeong Station to Morning Calm Arboretum is approximately 30 minutes. Ticket prices for the Lighting Festival is 8,000 won per adult. A note if you take the shuttle bus there. The last bus is scheduled to leave from the arboretum at 2000, and keep in mind there will be a line of people headed back to the train station.  So keep that in mind if you want to sit down for the 30 minute ride back to the train station. Taxis will also be available, though there is also a  line for them as well. Travel time from central Seoul to Cheongpyeong Station is approximately two hours each way.

More information for the Morning Calm Arboretum can be found at their website: http://morningcalm.co.kr/

The website is in both English and Korean. The Morning Calm Arboretum is open year round, the views change throughout the year thanks to the changing seasons.

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Tales of the Introverted Traveler

me at Huxinting Teahouse in Shanghai

 

I have always been a deeply introverted person. I’ve taken a wide variety of personality tests over the years for fun and for professional reasons. For every test that measures introversion vs. extroversion, I consistently measure extremely introverted. I require a certain amount of quiet and solitude to maintain my emotional equilibrium. If I spend too much time consistently around people, I start feeling very antsy and have to retreat into my apartment cave to recover. While I have friends, most of them these days live scattered through different countries, and I rarely socialize with people outside of my current workplace. Most of the friends I’ve made in the past several years are through work. I have hobbies, but it seems like most of them are solitary activities or hobbies more frequently practiced by older individuals. I move every two to three years for work, so just when I might make some good friends, it’s about time to pick up and move (or they pick up and move). I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m just not interested in making new friends, or at least I’m not interested in making superficial friends to engage in superficial social activities. I still very much yearn to find a person I can form a deep friendship (possibly romantic) bond, though it is kind of hard to do at my age and professional rank. Almost everyone my age and rank are married with kids, and my career field doesn’t really allow for much fraternization with subordinates. Factor in my introverted nature that makes me shy away from typical social activities like clubs and bars, and it’s no surprise I spend the vast majority of my free time alone.

So combine my social situation with my deeply introverted nature, it’s also no surprise that I travel by myself most of the time. Back in the day (2001-2002), I had a boyfriend and we lived in Germany at the time. We got a lot of long weekends in our jobs, so we took advantage of all that free time and traveled all around Europe together. We had similar travel styles, because we liked to plan our travels in advance. We weren’t the types who just showed up at a place and played things by ear with accommodations and activities, but rather we reserved as much as possible, and planned our daily itineraries. We also liked to see the same things, like castles, cathedrals, interesting historical sites, and museums. The only thing we split upon was art museums, but that was easily handled by splitting up for a short period of time so I could indulge in beautiful art, and he could shop, sit in a cafe and drink beer, or see some other site that didn’t really interest me.

Since that relationship ended over 10 years ago, I haven’t had a consistent travel partner. The vast majority of my travels, both long weekends and long vacations, have been by myself. The few times I have traveled with another person, it was with my mother, and it went well, because we have similar travel styles and she lets me indulge in my extreme travel planner ways, while she gets to enjoy the ride and the fruits of my planning.

So again, the vast majority of my travel was on my own, and I very much enjoy my introverted traveling. Most travel advice I hear for solo travelers seems to be geared to extroverts in the sense they always encourage travelers to interact with strange fellow travelers or the local populace. While I very much enjoy seeing new cultures and experiencing new things, interacting with strangers in any capacity is not something I’m particularly thrilled to do. Sure there are occasions when I’ve enjoyed a spontaneous conversation with a stranger, but in general, it is not something I seek out, nor something I particularly enjoy. When I travel, I very much disappear into my own head and thoughts. I like observe what is going on around me when it comes to people and local culture, but not necessarily participate.

My introversion manifests itself differently if I am on vacation in a more isolated place known for beautiful nature versus a very large city. When I’m on a beautiful nature vacation, such as New Zealand or my Parks of the American West vacation I took last summer (Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon North), I can just disappear into my own head and enjoy the beautiful sites around me. Sure, there are often people, but there are easy ways to enjoy solitude, by either getting off the beaten path for hiking, or start traveling early in the morning before most people get started. However, I also like to travel to large cities to enjoy historical and cultural sites. At some point during every vacation in highly populated areas, I hit what I call my people pain threshold. That’s when the overwhelming number of people, noise, sights, sounds, smells makes me want to crawl into a nice little, quiet nest to escape it all. During my last long weekend in Shanghai, I experienced that acutely a couple times. Shanghai has around 18 million people in its metropolitan area and the population density is rather high. There were places I visited in the city that were literally crammed with people, and I had no personal space whatsoever. Like walking along a market street in Shanghai pictured below.

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It created this feeling of stress where I just wanted to get away to a place where I was alone and it was quiet. That place might have been my hostel room, but it could also be a place with a nice view that gave me more space. Shanghai did have its nice view on the Bund to take in and decompress. The riverside promenade is wide, and at that time of the evening, it was pleasantly and sparsely populated.

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But the inverse of the people pain threshold also holds true for me. This is only applicable on my longer vacations (i.e. more than three weeks), but it usually does manifest. Meaning that after three weeks without any significant adult interaction and conversation, I start feeling antsy, but this time craving for human contact. Just like spending too much time continuously around people makes me jittery, spending too much continuous time alone also starts to wear on me. That’s when any sort of loneliness sets in, and my own fantasy life ceases to be quite as effective. Once that feeling sets in, I know it’s time to go home (though I never go on vacation without a set end date anyway).

Essentially what I’m saying is that introversion and travel aren’t mutually exclusive. You can travel all throughout the world, see new things, eat new foods, and even experience new cultures (albeit from a more detached viewpoint), and still maintain true to your introverted nature. It doesn’t mean you aren’t a true traveler if you don’t talk to people if you don’t want to. It just means you experience travel differently than extroverts.

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McDonalds of the World

Shanghai McDonalds traditional looking

I have a “guilty pleasure” while traveling. I say guilty pleasure facetiously, because in reality I don’t feel guilty at all, because it’s just my thing when I travel. Though I have run into fellow travelers who try to make me feel guilty for this particular thing, like I am some sort of ugly American. Ironically enough, one of those same travelers chastising me for this in Egypt was the same one who couldn’t stop moaning for a Starbucks. She completely failed to see the irony in her stance on that one.  That guilty pleasure happens to be eating at a McDonald’s in every country I can. I make it a point to eat at a McDonald’s once during every vacation, even if the only one I can find is at the airport. That means everything from long weekends all the way up to month-long vacations. That adds up to be dozens of McDonald’s in dozens of countries. I certainly haven’t eaten in one for EVERY country I have visited. In those cases,  the countries typically didn’t have a McDonald’s. It may be one of the biggest global brands, but it still hasn’t made inroads into every country as of yet. The biggest global brand I have ever seen is Coca Cola products. I have NEVER been to one country that doesn’t have a plethora of Coca Cola products, but that is probably the penchant for the country to establish local bottling plants to spread the beverages as far as possible. There is only one country that has McDonald’s that I haven’t been able to visit, and that was Iceland. It certainly wasn’t for lack of desire, but this was the one developed country that didn’t have a McDonald’s that was centrally located downtown near the tourist areas. I kept seeing one on the outskirts of Reykjavik  when I was on bus tours [right next to a Taco Bell- which is extremely rare to find outside of the United States], but was never able to find it in my rental car.

Bergen McDonalds

 

What I have found in all these McDonald’s is that there are some interesting similarities and interesting differences. Many of the restaurants were located in actually beautiful and historic places. One in Bergen, Norway was in this beautiful , 19th century clapboard building (see above). I’ve eaten at a McDonald’s next to the Spanish Steps in Rome (though it wasn’t there anymore my last visit), and I’ve eaten in one right across from the Pantheon in Rome. You could eat your American fast food burger and fries outside al fresco and take in the view of the piazza and the ancient building. Talk about a clash of cultures.

Shanghai McDonalds

 

 In all these multitude of McDonald’s the only things standard to all of them are the fries, Big Macs, and some sort of McChicken sandwich. EVERY SINGLE McDONALD’S in every single country has their value meal number one as the Big Mac value meal, just like the United States. After that, it’s all up to regional tastes. I have seen things at McDonald’s you would never find in the States. Stuff like bulgogi burgers in Korea, calamari wraps in Germany (among a multitude of other regional items), and other things. Names might be different for even the same item. For those who have watched the movie “Pulp Fiction” , you are undoubtedly familiar with Quarter Pounders renamed Royales. In most McDonald’s in Europe you can get mayo instead of ketchup, which is a taste I acquired and continue to this day. U.S McDonald’s deliberately fill the cups with ice so you get less soda and they pocket more profit, but you are pretty lucky to find many ice cubes in McDonald’s in other countries (or in other restaurants for that matter, but that’s a post for another time).

My American traveling friends and I sometimes joke that McDonald’s is the “American embassy” just because it is so prevalent in many countries. I can’t really say I eat there because of any great need to maintain some sort of American touchstone. I guess I do it, just to compare the different experiences around the world.

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Hosteling in my 30s

I didn’t start traveling the world until my mid 20’s, and that is when I decided to make full use of youth hostels. I like to travel, but don’t like to spend money on hotels in most places. I just want a place to sleep and leave my stuff and take a shower, and hostels were the best way to accomplish that. I’d rather spend my money on the travel itself, activities, memorable meals and local shopping. Lodging was almost besides the point. So over the years, I have stayed in dozens of hostels in dozens of countries. I’ve stayed in some really nice ones, and I’ve stayed in some dodgy ones. I’ve stayed in ones that were overflowing with visitors, and some that were practically empty (particularly when traveling off season). I’ve rarely traveled in a country that doesn’t have many different hostels in all the vacation spots.

Thankfully the Internet has made it easier to stay in hostels (along with all the other aspects of travel). I remember reading a news article several years ago detailing how hostelling has changed over the years. Back in the 1960s/70s, most of the people who stayed in hostels were college students (or just post college) backpacking across the world. There was no real easy way to reserve places in advance, and it was incumbent upon the traveler to just show up in the morning and try to see if a bed was available. Many hostels back in the day even had age limits for visitors, topping out at age 26 often. Most of the people staying in hostels took advantage of the communal kitchens and saved money by bringing their own food and cooking. Hostels were a way for groups of young people to congregate and meet.

There are still many of the same qualities in most hostels. Communal kitchens and bathrooms still exist. Recreation rooms still have the games and books, but now have Internet and free WiFi. And you can still stay in multi-bed dorm rooms, sometimes segregated by gender and sometimes mixed gender. But there are some distinct differences in the hosteling experience nowadays. The Internet has enabled travelers to book rooms or beds days, weeks, even months in advance. There are a multitude of hostel booking sites, such as Hostelworld.com, hostelbookers.com, hostels.com, hihostels.com. Most of these sites overlap in their offerings, but you can get all the reviews of different locations and can book online. It’s great for those of us who like to plan our travel itineraries in advance and not just wing it, particularly during high tourist season of a country. Now hostels don’t just offer multi-bed dorm rooms, but also private and even family rooms. Hostels now don’t have an age limit anymore, so you start to see a different clientele. Sure, the vast majority of the hostelers are still college age students, but now there are more budget-minded families and older solo travelers. There are many hostels located in central locations like city downtown, and not just in off the beaten path.

I fall into the older, budget-minded solo traveler category. Sure, I started out hosteling in my mid 20s, but now I am in my mid/late 30s and still going strong. I don’t do it for the communal social experience, because for the most part I keep to myself. I don’t travel to meet new people per say, and would rather not engage in conversations with strangers. That’s become even more so as I get older, and I feel distinctly out of place with the other hostelers. Granted I don’t look my age (I could pass for late 20s), but I’m still VERY aware of the fact that I am often 15 years or more older than the others. Plus there is the draw of all the free Internet to keep my attention occupied elsewhere.

I do find that I wonder if I should keep doing it. All the reasons I started staying in hostels still stand, but I admit the whole communal bathroom thing is getting old, particularly when they are mixed gender. That was the case when I stayed at my last hostel in Shanghai. There was no actual BATHROOM, but rather an open area in the hall that had separate bathroom and shower stalls. I don’t run into that arrangement often thankfully. I always like it when the dorm rooms have ensuite bathrooms, just for the increased amount of privacy. I also will ALWAYS request an all female dorm room if it is offered (not all hostels do), just because I am REALLY over staying in a room with college age boys, both for the smell factor and for the noise factor. I didn’t particularly like rowdy college boys when I was in college, and I definitely don’t enjoy their immature antics now in my 30s.

Right now, the benefits of hosteling outweigh the drawbacks. I can still stay in a place with a bed and free Internet. I wonder if I will still feel this way when I hit my 40s.

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Arriving in Shanghai

Shanghai East Nanjing Road 1

My profession has thankfully allowed me the opportunity to live in foreign countries. And for me, one of the great pleasures of living in foreign countries is the ease of foreign travel. As much as I like living in the United States, it is a very big country so it is a lot harder to just leave the country for a long weekend. Again my profession affords me a lot of time off in the form of long weekends. So when I live overseas I like to maximize those long weekends. That was what I did this past weekend. I fully intended on spending four full days in Shanghai, and I got close. When you travel on limited amount of days to a place where there is a LOT to see and do, every moment counts. So I try to get one of the earliest flights out and one of the latest flights back in. That was my intent for this trip. My flight out of Seoul was at 0855 and I SHOULD have arrived in Shanghai around 1000. Alas, this was probably about the longest flight delay I’ve ever experienced at eight hours. It was so long, I decided to take the 45 minute train back to my apartment and relax there on the Internet rather than hang around the airport for the equivalent of an entire work day. Of course it could be completely worse, but it was frustrating to lose an entire day of travel, because I didn’t arrive in Shanghai and get to my hostel until around 2000.

What was great, and saved a ton of time was the ride on the maglev (magnetic levitation) train to and from Pudong Airport. If you are ever in Shanghai, I HIGHLY recommend the maglev train. A round trip ticket costs 80 RMB (roughly 13 USD), and it is completely worth it. The 19 miles between Pudong Airport and the metro stop of Longyang road is covered in under 10 minutes with brief top speeds of 400 kph (248 mph). The maglev train is fast and smooth, and cuts down travel time significantly. I mean, who likes to waste time getting to and from the airport when you can cut out the traffic entirely? That just means more vacation time for you.

Shanghai East Nanjing Road 2

Since it was relatively late when I got to my hostel, and I was tired, I only walked around a bit. I was staying just off East Nanjing Road, which is a major pedestrian shopping street between People’s Square to the west and The Bund to the east. I have more night pictures of Shanghai in a future post, but the whole street was bright with a multitude of neon lights and it was buzzing with activity and people. It’s like Seoul or Tokyo or London or even Las Vegas. I saw more than one instance of Shanghainese dancing music routines in the street. I could never figure out if this was just an exercise routine or had some deeper meaning, but the participants knew all the dance steps and were dancing in time with each other. Even for someone who has spent a lot of time in large cities (and in fact I live in Seoul now), all the people, noise, lights and activity were a bit overwhelming at first.