Travel, news, etc.

Writing from Asia and elsewhere by C. James Dale

A (dining) Room with a View
Lunch at Tokyo’s Ritz Carlton satisfies more than just your hunger

C. James Dale

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

TOKYO — The staff at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo met us at the entrance to the Towers Grill with the requisite smiles and bows.

“Irrashaimase,” they said in unison. “Welcome.”

They took our coats, ushered us to a corner table, then slipped away to get sparkling wine and water.

My wife and I were left to take in the view from our perch on the 45th floor.

To our right — Tokyo Tower.

To our left — Tokyo Sky Tree, the tallest structure on the skyline (all 634 metres of it).

Surrounding it all — the endless concrete, glass, and steel expanse of the Japanese capital.

Quite something, indeed, but our focus soon shifted to what we’d come to enjoy — the food. We made more trips to the salad bar than I’d like to admit. Then the main courses came. My wife had sea bass accompanied by a cloud of mashed potatoes (appropriate, given the altitude). I opted for the catch of the day, a light sea bream, also paired with a helping of mash. The verdict? Well, let’s just say we almost skipped dessert if that means anything.

Almost.


Again, not saying how many trips we made to the dessert bar (correction, how many trips I made). Chocolate cake, crème brûlée, fresh fruit, and on and on. Let’s just say I felt encouraged to fit in an extra run over the weekend.

Our lunch at the Towers Grill (5,555 JPY per person, plus 13% service charge) was timed to mark the Ritz Carlton’s fifth anniversary. The hotel, and its home Tokyo Midtown, opened in 2007. To make the occasion memorable, the RC folks have dreamed up a long list of things to keep visitors coming back: special lunches and dinners (various dates), an early summer happy hour (April 1-June 30), a week focused on whisky (May 1-8), and spa escapes (April 1-June 30). Click here to find out more.

Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, Tokyo Midtown, 9-7-1, Akasaka, Minato-ku; Phone: +81 3 3423-8000

3 weeks ago

Japan — it’s all about the hair

Forget the sushi, cosplay and jam-packed trains — Japan’s obsessed with cutting, curling, perming and primping instead

C. James Dale

CNNGo - April 23, 2012


3 weeks ago - 1
Insider Guide: What to do in Tokyo The Japanese capital is still Asia’s premier metropolis. Here’s where to find Tokyo’s best hotels, eats, drinks, nightlife and attractions C. James Dale  CNNGo — March 12, 2012 Tokyo is a city that can roar one moment and whisper at the next, a place where almost anything seems possible. And sometimes is. After all, 13 million people share this 2,188-square-kilometer piece of the planet, which is home to some of the world’s top restaurants, stores and cafés. It’s also a one-stop mecca for the best of Japan — culture, quality products and impeccable service. For the visitor wondering what to do in Tokyo, the choices are limitless. The city has endured the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, bombings of World War II, the implosion of its housing bubble in the 1990s and heavy effects of the March 2011 tsunami/earthquake that hit Japan. Each time, its people have dusted themselves off and rebuilt. Many tourists already feel an affinity with Tokyo thanks to Hollywood — 1978’s “Bad News Bears Go To Japan,” for example (what film were you thinking of?). But you can’t say you really know what to do in Tokyo until you spend your mornings walking through its temples, shrines and parks; your afternoons exploring its neighborhoods and back streets and your nights feasting in its restaurants, drinking in its bars and — why not? — hitting its famed karaoke joints. Click here to read the full story.

Insider Guide: What to do in Tokyo

The Japanese capital is still Asia’s premier metropolis. Here’s where to find Tokyo’s best hotels, eats, drinks, nightlife and attractions
C. James Dale 
CNNGo — March 12, 2012

Tokyo is a city that can roar one moment and whisper at the next, a place where almost anything seems possible. And sometimes is.

After all, 13 million people share this 2,188-square-kilometer piece of the planet, which is home to some of the world’s top restaurants, stores and cafés.

It’s also a one-stop mecca for the best of Japan — culture, quality products and impeccable service. For the visitor wondering what to do in Tokyo, the choices are limitless.

The city has endured the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, bombings of World War II, the implosion of its housing bubble in the 1990s and heavy effects of the March 2011 tsunami/earthquake that hit Japan. Each time, its people have dusted themselves off and rebuilt.

Many tourists already feel an affinity with Tokyo thanks to Hollywood — 1978’s “Bad News Bears Go To Japan,” for example (what film were you thinking of?).

But you can’t say you really know what to do in Tokyo until you spend your mornings walking through its temples, shrines and parks; your afternoons exploring its neighborhoods and back streets and your nights feasting in its restaurants, drinking in its bars and — why not? — hitting its famed karaoke joints.

Click here to read the full story.

2 months ago
Japan marks the one-year anniversary of March 11, 2011 People across Japan paused Sunday to remember their country’s darkest day since the end of the Second World War: the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The natural disaster destroyed once-thriving coastal communities and sparked a nuclear crisis. A year later, the reconstruction process is still just beginning; workers at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant are trying to keep the facility under control and get it ready for decommissioning, a process that will take decades; and radiation in the environment and the food chain remains a nation-wide worry. I’ve been covering the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 disaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for last 12 months.  I filed a number of stories over the past week.   On the Saturday edition of The National (link to come), I looked at the debate over the future of nuclear power in Japan.  On the Sunday edition of The National, I covered the memorials and anti-nuclear protests people in Japan held to mark the anniversary. I also filed a short hit for CBC News Network and full stories for CBC Radio’s World Report and The World This Weekend. If you’re still reading, a week ago I published an article on cbcnews.ca about the major earthquake that’s expected to hit Tokyo in the future.

Japan marks the one-year anniversary of March 11, 2011

People across Japan paused Sunday to remember their country’s darkest day since the end of the Second World War: the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The natural disaster destroyed once-thriving coastal communities and sparked a nuclear crisis.

A year later, the reconstruction process is still just beginning; workers at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant are trying to keep the facility under control and get it ready for decommissioning, a process that will take decades; and radiation in the environment and the food chain remains a nation-wide worry.

I’ve been covering the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 disaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for last 12 months.  I filed a number of stories over the past week.  

On the Saturday edition of The National (link to come), I looked at the debate over the future of nuclear power in Japan.  On the Sunday edition of The National, I covered the memorials and anti-nuclear protests people in Japan held to mark the anniversary. I also filed a short hit for CBC News Network and full stories for CBC Radio’s World Report and The World This Weekend.

If you’re still reading, a week ago I published an article on cbcnews.ca about the major earthquake that’s expected to hit Tokyo in the future.

2 months ago

Song Saa Cambodia: Sustainable luxury on a fantasy island

C. James Dale
CNNGo — March 5, 2012

“Welcome to your new home,” says Narith Asan, pushing open the villa’s heavy wooden door and lugging our bags inside.

Then he launches into his checklist: iPod over there, espresso machine there, drinks inside this fridge right here. My wife and I try to listen, but Asan’s getting some serious competition from the view.

Beyond the sliding glass doors, past the patio and the pool, the plush lounge area and the patch of private beach, the Gulf of Thailand gleams in the midday sun.

The odd fishing boat bobs on its turquoise waters. The untouched hills of a neighboring island decorate the distant horizon. Not much else is going on. 

It’s is the kind of simplicity that’s been luring people to Song Saa, a new luxury resort located on a pair of islands off the Cambodian coast.

Click here to read the full story.

2 months ago - 1

Ultimate Japan: 6 must-see destinations

When in Japan, make like a local and head straight for these “pure Japan” spots
C. James Dale
CNNGo - March 6, 2012
2 months ago - 1

(Photos:  Katie Van Camp)

ELEPHANT POLO, THAI STYLE 

Chiang Saen, THAILAND – The closest I’ve come to playing polo is wearing the shirts, but nevertheless here I am in the middle of a scrubby patch of grass in northern Thailand, helmet on head, stick in hand, waiting for a chance to score.

            Someone shoots the ball my way. I lean over, swing, and thwack! It rolls through a maze of mallets and animal legs and dribbles past the posts. One-nil. The crowd goes…well, the crowd cheers politely. My teammates and I congratulate each other. Then I give credit where credit is due: to the two tonne elephant I’m sitting on and her mahout, or keeper.

            “Khob khun krub,” I say to Hum, thanking him in Thai before slapping Nam Phun on her right flank. It’s unlikely she notices.

Click here to read the full story.

2 months ago

Roughing it in the Golden Triangle

 

Recently, my wife and I visited the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos meet. Hill tribes and farmers from this area used to produce the world’s largest supply of heroin and opium.  But the poppies are gone for the most part, especially in Thai territory. They’ve been replaced by tobacco, tea, coffee, and pineapples.

We gazed at the countryside from our perch at the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle. The hotel has 15 luxury tents spaced out along a ridge overlooking the hills of northern Thailand and the Burmese countryside.

Guests who come here often use hyperbole and superlatives to describe this place:

“It’s beautiful here,” said Claudia from Munich. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip.”

“This is quite the spot,” concluded Chris from Toronto.

“Que c’est beau ici,” remarked Judith from Strausbourg. “What a wonderful place. I am happy to be here.”

So were we. Over three days, my wife and I took a boat along the Mekong River to visit a market on the Laotian island of Done Xao (snake whiskey anyone?); a monk blessed us at Wat Chedi Luang, a 13th century Buddhist Temple in northern Thailand; we wandered through a wet market in the Thai town of Chiang Saen (lettuce, tomatoes, live frogs, ant eggs); we went across the border into Burma to see a replica of Yangon’s golden pagoda in the city of Tachliek; and we spent a morning riding elephants.

Oh…and I played a game of elephant polo.  More on that in my next post.  An article on my experience in the Golden Triangle will be published soon in the Globe and Mail’s travel section.

3 months ago

Tokyo’s stunning palace for the printed word

The slick new Daikanyama T-Site complex celebrates all things analog
C. James Dale
CNNGo - January 27, 2012
The duo that designed Tokyo’s latest architectural wonder is turning an age-old phrase by that quintessential Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, on its head. “Art is never finished,” said the Italian painter, sculptor, architect and you-name-it-he-did-it. “Only abandoned.”

Click here to read the full story.

3 months ago - 1

Luxury lands in Okinawa at last

Two new hotels aim to attract travelers with deep pockets to Japan’s southern islands

By C. James Dale 19 January, 2012

CNNGo

At first glance, Okinawa appears to have all the makings of a remarkable, subtropical travel experience — crystal-clear waters, top-notch scuba diving, endless stretches of beach, a generous helping of UNESCO World Heritage sites and delicious local cuisine to boot.

Click here to read the full story.

4 months ago

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