A dash of color

TST, Hong Kong.

The worst of the Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Macau Auto Show: Maid Outfits

They don't do anything for me. Seen at the Fiat booth.

Shenzhen Convention Center. Futian, Shenzhen.

The best of the Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Macau Auto Show: Audi RS5

The lines. And those wheels. And that engine.

Shenzhen Convention Center. Futian, Shenzhen.

Preparing for the zombie-pocalypse

Shuangjing, Beijing.

The worst of the Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Macau Auto Show: QQYLDYSB GX7 GLEAGLE

Pretty blatant copy of a Land Rover (even down to the green badge on the grill) and what is up with that name?

Shenzhen Convention Center. Futian, Shenzhen.

The best of the Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Macau Auto Show: Porsche Cayman S

The Cayman redesign looks much better in person than it originally did in early press photos. I like it.

Shenzhen Convention Center. Futian, Shenzhen.

Is this cool or not?

Can't decide. Shixiabei, Shenzhen.

Like a rock

Like a very, very shiny chrome rock.

Shenzhen Auto Show. Shenzhen Convention Center.

Behind the scenes of the construction of a convention

I went inside the Shenzhen Convention Center yesterday as all the major automotive companies and sponsors construct their huge booths in preparation for the start of the Shenzhen - Hong Kong - Macau International Auto Show come this Saturday. It's amazing the amount of materials and manpower go into constructing these temporary, mobile showrooms. I will be going back today and will hopefully have more time to walk around and see the show floor before the Show's official opening.

Lazy eyes

Baishizhou, Shenzhen.

Taking out the trash

Shuangjing, Beijing.

Tokyo Day 3: Ginza

Same as the first two days - beautiful weather, clear skies, clean streets, polite people, expensive stores, and great pastries. Took the subway to Ginza, walked its streets, and then explored the exterior of the Imperial Palace. See full gallery HERE. 

Tokyo Day 2: Starting with a shrine and ending with curry

We started the day by walking through Omotesando to the Meiji Shrine, and ended the day with spicy cuttle fish fried chicken curry. 

It was another day experiencing utopian, not dystopian, Tokyo; the overly crowded, polluted, nutty, techno-futuristic monstrosity of my imagination failed again to show up. Instead in its place was a beautifully spotless, fluid, blue and green paradise.

Most notable sights of the day were young Japanese waiting in long, all-day-lines for Eggs N' Things of Hawaii and Garrett Popcorn of Chicago, Japanese seniors spending hours sitting on the sidewalks painting the scenes of mid-day Omotesando, and the wedding processions, sake barrels, and perfectly trimmed trees of Meiji Temple.

Some photos below. Full gallery HERE. 

Tokyo Day 1: Here physically, not mentally

Is this Tokyo? Am I really here? The plane ticket says yes. The signs say yes. The hotel attendants say yes. My eyes say no. 

I always thought Tokyo was one of those mythically large cities, represented in my imagination by thousands of skyscrapers and millions of residents stacked shoulder to shoulder in suffocating localities.  

So I was a little confused and underwhelmed this morning as I left the hotel and was presented not with a Blade Runner-like future metropolis but instead with a clean, comfortable, scenic, and spacious landscape.

I expected this type of serene atmosphere in Nagoya (see my Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 Nagoya posts from last October) but I always thought Tokyo would be much more claustrophobic and gritty. What I have come to find, at least on this first day walking through Midtown and Roppongi, is a city that is way more intimate and unblemished than its size should allow. Maybe my experience will evolve over the next few days as I travel to other places in the city, but for now, color me impressed (and a little confused).

By the way, I found myself subconsciously walking more upright and delicately today. It's as if I'm afraid I'd stick out like a smelly-barbarian in a city of well-mannered nobility if I allow myself to walk around in very relaxed, semi-lackadaisical nature as I normally do in China. Maybe it has something to do with current participation in Kendo classes and how I am now in the habit of moving around in a civil, respectful, deferential manner when I'm in a Japanese state of mind.

Below are a selection of photos from the first day. Go to the gallery for the complete collection of Day 1 photos.

Hong Kong MTR train derails

Looks like 77 injured. Cause may have been high-speed related. I have never personally traveled on the MTR in the northwest New Territories, location of the derailment.