Sunday, December 31, 2023

Happy New Year from the Rubenstein's, Wishing you a tremendous 2024! あけおめ、今年もよろしくお願いします。

Happy New Year!

あけましておめでとうございます。

 2023 was another active year for us, highlighted by an awesome family reunion in China and excursions to Hokkaido, Okinawa, Izu islands, etc. Meg took 2 more podium trophies on triathlon run legs while Ty conquered the ski slopes via snowboard. Motozo was a little too active with 7 triathlons in a narrow 9-week window. 2023年も活発な年でした。中国での家族の再会と北海道、沖縄、伊豆島などへの遠足へ遊びに行きました。

 



It was our second full year living in Shimoda. Lina turned 5 and started swimming classes. Ty started the 6th grade at Shimoda Asahi elementary school and is active in swimming, basketball, and surfing. His recent surfing exploits probably helped him master snowboarding in 3 hours. 

 

2023は私たちの2年目の通年でした。 リナちゃんは5歳になり、 Ty君は、小学校で6年生を始め、サーフィンに積極的に活動しています。 彼の最近のサーフィンの練習のおかげで、おそらく3時間でスノーボードをすぐにマスターするのに役立つでしょう。

Megumi continued repairing broken sentences at a local elementary school and also teaches yoga occasionally on the beach, squeezing in morning ocean runs. Her relay team placed well again twice this year in Oshima and Kawazu triathlons, placing 1st in the mixed divisions. 恵ちゃんはやっぱりやるね。


And Motozo probably overextended himself in 2023 by doing 4 triathlons in 6 weeks in May/June, than 3 more tris in 4 weeks in August/September. Needless to say, he didn’t podium any of these races. 


 

Go figure! 元三は少しやりすぎたね。

Thanks to my brother Dan and Melanie, we had an excellent and relaxing stay in the suburbs of Beijing. We visited the Forbidden City, Great Wall, 798 Art Zone, and various restaurants that would accept our Alipay payments. 😉


弟のダンとメラニーのおかげで、私たちは北京郊外で素晴らしいリラックスした滞在を過ごすことができました。 私たちは紫禁城、万里の長城、798芸術区、そしてAlipay支払いを受け入れてくれるさまざまなレストランを訪れました。 😉

My parents also joined us in Beijing. Amazingly, they traveled 22 hours from New York via Taiwan at the ripe ages of 89! 私の両親も北京に来ました。 驚くべきことに、彼らは89歳という年齢で、ニューヨークから台湾を経由して22時間の旅をしたのです。


Hope to see you soon. Wishing you a tremendous 2024!

今年もよろしくお願いします。

Us (Lina, Ty, Megumi, David Motozo)





                                                挑む!
        へへへへ。。




やった!



FTW!





                                                        Meg やるね!



Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Shanghai"d by the Peking Men


 

To kick off the holiday season, I went back to China, Shanghai this time, to hang with my father and brother. Call it a Rubenstein hot dog party if you will…😎

It was a super tight trip containing wind sprints through airports, suitcases bouncing down escalators, and frantic taxi rides across the city. At times I felt Shanghaied by these 2 Peking men but it was a great family reunion and totally worth it.

 ホリデーシーズンの始まりとして、私は今回は中国の上海に戻り、父と弟と一緒に過ごしました。 ルーベンステイン男性パーティーとでも呼んでもいいかも。 空港に到着してからすぐ走って、スーツケースがエスカレーターで滑り落ち、街中を必死にタクシーで移動するという、非常に忙しい週末の旅だった。 時々、この 2 人の北京人男性に上海でだまされたと感じましたが、それは素晴らしい家族の再会であり、それだけの価値がありました。

As with Beijing, it had been over 2 decades since my last Shanghai escapade and the city has gone vertical as you would have expected. The view of Pudong from the Bund is spectacular. There are new artistic developments up and down the river which reminds me of Singapore. And much more green parks. Of course every other car has a green license plate indicating hybrid/electric car.

北京の場合と同様、私の前回の上海冒険旅行から 20 年以上が経過しており、ご想像のとおり、都市の建物が非常に高くなっています。バンドからプードンの景色は素晴らしいです。 川の上流と下流ではシンガポールを思い出させる新しい芸術的発展が見られます。 そして緑がたくさんある公園もあります。 もちろん、すべての車には、ハイブリッド/電気自動車を示す緑色のナンバープレートが付いています。

We were perched in the heart of the Bund next to the famous Old Jazz Bar at the Fairmont Peace Hotel, a must see if you are in Shanghai. The first night Dad and Dan tried to get in to no avail on a Saturday night. We vowed to try again the next night and settled for cocktails in our own hotel bar.

私たちはバンドの中心部、上海に来たら必見のフェアモント ピース ホテルの有名なオールド ジャズ バーの隣にいました。 最初の夜、父とダンは土曜の夜ジャズバーに入ろうとしたが無理だった。 私たちは次の日にもう一度挑戦することを考え、ホテルのバーでカクテルを飲みました。

 

In the morning, on our morning walk, Dad and I collided with the Shanghai marathon, a complete coincidence. 

I’m a runner so whenever I see a marathon I’m either running it or supporting a fellow teammate, but I knew no one or nothing about it. 20,000 runners jogging through the Bund made me want to run another marathon. Than I thought of the hundreds of hours of training and didn't miss it so much... A Kenyan runner broke the course record 2:07 with a 2:05 in a fairly competitive race…

Anyway, after a stroll around the marathon course, the 3 of us tackled the Shanghai sights, namely the Pearl Tower and Huangpu River cruise. The views from the Oriental Pearl Tower were awesome. We paid extra to get to the top area with glass floors and it was definitely worth it. 

The elevator ladies reminded me of Japan’s attention to detail, describing the structure and sights. It’s 468 meters (1,535 feet) tall which isn’t even the top 10 for world’s tallest buildings but still immense and far taller than the 333 meter Tokyo Tower. 

The Pearl Tower was an icon when I visited 21 years ago but is now dwarfed by the Shanghai Tower, a 632 meter building, and other recent skyscrapers including the Mori developed Shanghai World Financial Center, which has hole in the top of it.

翌日の朝の散歩中に父と私は上海マラソンの選手を見ましたが、これは全くの偶然でした。 私はランナーなので、マラソンを見るときはいつもマラソンを走っているか、チームメイトを応援していますが、マラソンが開催されたいたことやランナーについては誰も知りませんでした。 かなり競争の激しいレースで、ケニア人ランナーはコース記録を2時間07分、2時間05分で新記録した…とにかく、マラソンコースを散策した後、私たち3人は上海の観光名所、パールタワーに行ったり黄浦江(Huangpu川)クルーズに挑戦したりしました。 東方明珠電視塔からの眺めは素晴らしかったです。 追加料金を払ってガラス床の最上階に行くことができましたが、それだけの価値はありました。 エレベーターの女性は、構造や光景を説明し、日本の細部へのこだわりを思い出させました。 高さは 468 メートル (1,535 フィートで、世界で最も高い建物のトップ 10 にも入っていませんが、それでも巨大で、333 メートルの東京タワーよりもはるかに高いです。 私が21年前に訪れたとき、パールタワーは象徴的存在だったが、今では高さ632メートルの上海タワーや、森ビルが開発した上海環球金融センターなどの最近の超高層ビルに比べて小さく見えてしまっているが、森ビルの上部には穴が開いている。


Next up we took a ferry ride on the Huangpu River, a tributary of the great Yangtze River. The Huangpu flows through Shanghai, dividing the city region of Pudong in the east and Puxi to the west.

 It was interesting to check out the newish architecture and marvel at the changes. I first landed in China on this river 32 years ago on the slow boat from Japan (Kobe) to Shanghai. It brought back memories of a much different China. After a quick lunch of street food which was very tasty (I got dumplings and my signature mapodofu dish, spicy and delicious!).       

Dan said sayonara and headed to the airport while Dad and I returned to the Bund for a well-deserved siesta. After a long nap, we were ready and energized for our last night on the town. On the way down to the jazz band hotel Dad and I were accosted by two ladies on the prowl, but no hassle for 2 veteran travelers....

After a swift Heisman-like stiff-arm to their foreheads, we entered the Jazz hotel unscathed and secured a table in the front row. The jazz band was awesome. 

  

According to the Guiness book of world records, “the oldest band is the Peace Old Jazz Band, composed of six veteran musicians, whose average age is 76. They have performed every night for over 20 years in Shanghai, China” And they were spot on. We appreciated the 1930s and 1940s tunes, Dad a little more than me. He drained his gin and tonic and got a refill while I sipped on red wine. 

There were 6 musicians with the lead trumpet player calling the shots. Their white jackets matched their white hair. After 2 sets I pondered if there was going to be a vocalist and….

poof, on the next set enters a woman in red. She stole the show singing marvelous Chinese lyrics, reminding me of Japanese Enka. I remembered nostalgically to my first night in China 32 years ago in this same bar. At that time, they only allowed foreigners in the bar and had 2 currencies of Yuan, one for foreigners only. That was a long time ago and it is hard to recognize Shanghai now. It was a glorious night and we didn’t want to leave but it was way past Dad’s bedtime….

次に、長江(Yangze川)の支流である黄浦江のフェリーに乗りました。 黄浦川は上海を流れ、東の浦東市と西の浦西市を分けています。 新しいアーキテクチャをチェックして、その変化に驚くのは興味深いものでした。 私は32年前、日本(神戸)から上海行きのスローボートでこの川をとおって中国に上陸しました。 それは、はるかに異なる中国の記憶を思い出させました。 とても美味しかった屋台の食べ物で簡単な昼食をとった後、餃子と特製の麻婆豆腐を食べました。スパイシーで美味しかったです! ダンは別れを告げて空港へ向かい、父と私は必須の昼寝のために外灘に戻りました。 ジャズバンドのホテルに行く途中、父と私はうろついていた二人の女性に声をかけられました。 彼らの額に素早くハイズマンを仕掛けた後、私たちは無傷でジャズ・ホテルに入り、最前列のテーブルを確保した。 ジャズバンドは最高でした。 ギネス世界記録によれば、このバンドは20年間連続で毎晩演奏を禁止された最古のバンドです。演奏者の平均年齢は76歳です。 私たちは 1930 年代と 1940 年代の曲を高く評価していましたが、父は私よりも好きでした。 私が赤ワインをすすりながら、彼はジントニックを抜き、おかわりをしてくれました。 先頭のトランペット奏者を筆頭に6人のミュージシャンが演奏した。 彼らの白いジャケットは白髪に似合っていました。 2セット終わった後、ボーカリストが来るのかと思ったら…なんと、次のセットでは赤い服を着た女性が入ってきた。 彼女は日本の演歌を思い出させる素晴らしい中国語の歌詞を歌い、注目を集めた。 私は 32 年前、この同じバーで中国に来た最初の夜を懐かしく思い出しました。 当時、バーへの入場は外国人のみで、外国人専用と人民元の 2 つの通貨が用意されていました。 それは遠い昔のことであり、今では上海を認識するのは困難です。 素晴らしい夜だったので、帰りたくなかったのですが、父の就寝時間をとうに過ぎていたので帰りました。

 

The next day we did our morning run/walk routine despite the hangovers. Dad walked and I ran along the Bund, exploring the new developments and parks. 

  

It was very picturesque and unlike the previous morning the boardwalk was empty except for the occasional Chinese dance or tai chi group. 

    

It was soon time to head home, Beijing for Dad, Tokyo for me. A short and sweet reunion of the Rubenstein men. Hope to make it back to Shanghai again before 2050! Thank you Dad and Peking Dan the Man for Shanghaiing me to this very cool city. 😉



翌日、私たちは二日酔いにもかかわらず、朝のランニングとウォーキングのルーチンを実行しました。 父は歩き、私は外灘に沿って走り、新しい開発地や公園を探索しました。 絵のように美しく、前日の朝とは異なり、時折中国舞踊や太極拳のグループが現れる以外は遊歩道には人がいませんでした。 父は北京、僕は東京、帰国する時間になりました。 2050 年までに再び上海に戻ってくることを願っています。

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Off the Wall traveling in the Middle Kingdom, 紫禁城に立ち入り

It's been 15 years since I've visited mainland China and 21 years since my trans-Siberian RR trip through China via Shanghai and Beijing. As you would expect, China is completely different 20 years later although you wouldn't know it from this photo of man on tricycle... 

シベリア鉄道旅行から21年、その次中国を訪れてから15年が経ちました.ご想像のとおり、この三輪車男性の写真からはわかりませんが、20 年後の中国は完全に変わっています...

When I first traveled to Shanghai in 1991, there were millions of bicycles flooded on the streets making it nearly impossible to cross the street for an inexperienced backpacker. Now the cars have replaced most of the bicycles and smart phones have replaced cash, making it arguably harder to travel and buy things. The air quality in Beijing has improved apparently over the past 10 years and the amount of electric cars on the road is impressive. Japan and the US should take note. Back on the Great Wall, it was much more crowded than 2002 but very few westerners. 

1991年に私が初めて上海を旅行したとき、何百万台もの自転車が路上に溢れていて、経験の浅いバックパッカーにとっては道路を渡るのはほぼ不可能でした。 今ではほとんどの自転車が車に置き換わり、現金がスマートフォンに置き換わったため、旅行したり物を買ったりすることがおそらく困難になっています。 北京の大気の質は過去 10 年間で明らかに改善しており、道路を走る電気自動車の数は目覚ましいものです。 日米は注目すべきだ。 万里の長城に戻ると、2002年よりもはるかに混雑していましたが、西洋人はほとんどいませんでした。

Thanks to my brother Dan and Melanie, we had an excellent and relaxing stay in the suburbs of Beijing. We visited the Forbidden City, Great Wall, 798 Art Zone, and various restaurants that would accept our Alipay payments. 😉

弟のダンとメラニーのおかげで、私たちは北京郊外で素晴らしいリラックスした滞在を過ごすことができました。 私たちは紫禁城、万里の長城、798芸術区、そしてAlipay支払いを受け入れてくれるさまざまなレストランを訪れました。 😉

The weather was frigid in Beijing, very little warming effect from the faraway Pacific Ocean. I heard that they built Beijing in the middle of nowhere so that noone would bother to invade it back in the day...  北京の天気は極寒で、遠く離れた太平洋からの温暖化の影響はほとんどありませんでした。 昔、誰もわざわざ侵入しないように人里離れたところに北京を建てたそうですが…。

November in Beijing feels colder than January in Tokyo...

北京の11月は東京の1月より寒い気がします...

My parents also joined us in Beijing. Amazingly, they traveled 22 hours from New York via Taiwan at the ripe ages of 89! 私の両親も北京に来ました。 驚くべきことに、彼らは89歳という年齢で、ニューヨークから台湾を経由して22時間の旅をしたのです。

The Great Wall deserves a little more commentary. This day trip was one of the highlights of our stay. Melanie again was a superstar, organizing the gondola tickets and car rides from Beijing. The area we visited was called Mutianya which is the most popular area of the wall. 
It actually is quite a climb from the parking lot to the wall itself, involving a bus ride, gondola, and personal driver for my Mom. It felt like hours to get my Mom and the kids up to the actual wall but we made it somehow. 
 

 The Great Wall of China is written in simplified Chinese as  万里长城, similar to Japanese (万里の長城), literally meaning "ten thousand long walls". It is marvelous to look at and walk upon, and wonder how much energy went into the design and construction spanning over 1,000 years. Apparently 400,000 people died while working on the wall. It is over 21,000 KM long so slightly less than halfway across America. 


A series of fortifications were built across the northern borders of ancient Chinese states as protection against various nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were built as early at the 7th century BC! The best known sections were built by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Apart from defense, the wall was also used as a border control for goods transported along the Silk Road. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the wall were enhanced by the construction of watchtowers, troop barracks, signaling capabilities using smoke or fire. It's a tremendous achievement. You can probably tell that I am super impressed...
Apparently the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor. The frontier walls built by different dynasties have multiple courses. Collectively, they stretch from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west, from the present Russian border in the north to the Tao River in the south, along an arc that roughly outlines the edge of the Mongolian steppe. It spans an incredible 21,196 KM (13,170 miles) in total. Today, the defensive system of the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. To top it off, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so it's got that going for it as well, which is nice.   😏 


After the Great Wall adventure, we relaxed for a few days, checked out a hip Art Zone called 798, tasting the local Chinese cuisine, and took in some gorgeous night views from the Hyatt tower. 



One of the first days in China we ventured to the Forbidden City armed with our Alipay apps on our iPhones and a driver who could speak about 10 words of English. Luckily the translation software on our phones is pretty decent for both text and voice. The ride into central Beijing went smooth but the payment system was the biggest obstacle of the day. Before lunch we tried to buy some souvenirs and authentic snacks at this store but it wouldn't accept our Alipay accounts. 
My Alipay asked for a password for my US credit card which doesn't actually have a password so that card wouldn't work. Meg's Alipay was attached to a Japanese card but that wouldn't work over 100 RMB either. We had to leave a big bag of goodies at the register. Soon after at lunch we had the same problem. Luckily we tried to pay for the meal as we ordered to avoid trouble later. Our Alipay didn't work again at the restaurant, so I had to call my brother who paid them by video call! 
This is us looking relieved after paying the bill...😋


Later at the Forbidden City, we walked and walked and marveled at the opulence and immenseness. It is one of the largest preserved wood structures in the world. It has funny celestial names such as Gate of Divine Might, Glorious Gate, Palace of Heavenly Purity, etc. 

Ironically, nature was calling me after a big lunch so we spend half the time walking ages in search of the rest rooms. 😟 Public toilets aren't easy to find in China especially inside the palace. It is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site, so worth a visit if you are in Beijing.   




Next stop Shanghai. Stay tuned for more Off the Wall adventures!

ままなく弟と父と上海に男性旅行へ行って参ります!