Travel - China

For Cats Only

May 28, 2006

One of the problems with personal guides is that they want to put a positive spin on their city and are highly sensitive to keep to a tight time schedule. Have only 3 days in Beijing? Then that leaves the Great Wall (half-day), the Summer Palace (half day) … and so on. Even when there may seem to be a couple of hours between stops, there was no way I was able to get any guide to take me fishing.

Suzhou, the “Venice of the East”, an hour outside Shanghai, was the closest I came. Traveling on one of the canal boats, we saw men, not only fishing with poles, but also traps: a large net, built like a scoop, with a long handle on a fulcrum post. Our guide, however, said this was not to put food on the table, but to feed … their cats.

Chinese guide humor:

What is the national bird of China?

Cranes .. you see them at all the new buildings going up (… ba-boom)

A bit more erudite:

An international economist at the UN went to address a group of children from all over the world. After everyone settled down, he asked them, “What is your opinion on the shortage of food in foreign countries?” There was a lot of murmuring, but no hands went up. So he asked them group by group what the problem was.

The African children said they were working on an idea, but they had to ask, “What is food?”

The European children had a similar problem. “What is shortage?”

The Asian children stumbled, “What is an opinion”?

Finally, coming to the Americans, they shook their heads, “What is a foreign country?”

Travel - Tokyo

Shurakuen?!

One thing I detest are people who are just plain unhelpful. I tried to find a place to fish in Tokyo and after three hours, at least two tour guides, and a cab driver later, I stumbled on a place that sounds like the one in the Time Asia article, but who knows? It sure doesn't show up in Google ...

So I will tell you EXACTLY how to find such a place.

• Go to the Ichigaya stop on the Keio line (If you are staying in Shinjuku, it is the third stop east)
  
• On exiting, make sure the Starbucks (... yes) is over your right shoulder
• Go down the first set of steps on your right on the right side of the road.
• Walk slightly downhill and over the bridge.

You should see posters that remind you of an aquarium or pet store.

That's it!

The lady behind the booth speaks only Japanese apparently and shows you a sign for 870 ¥ (yen) -- less than $10 US (at 108 yen to the dollar). You are given a 3-foot stick with some pink mono attached, which you unwind from the stick to a very thin bobber and #6 hook. She gives you a margarine cup with a gray ball the size of a small orange inside. There may be 10-15 others sitting on milk crates fishing



It turns out that the ball is bait and is to be torn off in small pieces and pressed onto the hook. Then toss the lot into a pond (must be 4-5 self-contained pools).

I tried this for about 20 minutes (of my allotted hour) and saw one fellow was doing better than most; so I got up and motioned if I could watch him. He did one better. He took my "rod", adjusted the bobber to the right depth, and fiddled with a tiny collar-like weight. Then he showed me where to toss it all. One key input: it seems you are encouraged to chum; so throw a small handful of the gray bait over the place where the bobber is.


He quietly left with his stash (about 6-7 12"” carp), but then came back and sat by me, as a silent coach, appropriately tossing in more chum as needed. There were three of us fishing the pond, but I caught not just one, which gave me quite a run around the pool, but another just as my time was almost up. I bowed and thanked him. The 30-Second Fisherman was not skunked that day!

It was the highlight of three days in Tokyo ... that and having a drink at the top of the Park Hyatt (Lost in Translation?)