Notes to Myself

Kyoto 2008

Though I stayed in Kyoto for a couple of nights I only spent three quarters of a day in Kyoto itself. Here are some photos from that day.

Close to shijyou there is a famous market which is just full of all sorts of weird and wonderful Japanese foods, particularly seafood. In order of food, the photos include: an osembei shop, squid, octopus, bamboo root, real wasabi and tako-yaki.

Walking along the back streets of Kyoto is a rewarding experience. At the end of the market there is an area of more modern shops but five minutes away there are at least a dozen small shrines/temples along small streets which appear to double as normal houses.

My favourite site was of a shrine which was built into a block of flats! (photo 13). Not far from there I was walking along a charming local road only to come across a building named 'Puyo' which charged services by the hour... what an interesting mixture of culture all within a five minute walk.

A short ride from Kyoto station is Fushimi Inari-taisha, a shrine with thousands of red torii lined up along the paths around the shrine complex. I'd wanted to visit this shrine for years and the rain did little to spoil the trip. To walk around the entire shrine you have to walk up into the mountain and according to a map the full round trip takes over two hours - next time!

I've been to Kyoto quite a few times now but there is always something new to see.

> Kyoto, Spring 2008 Photo Gallery
> Photo Gallery Index

Match Debut

A friend had been trying to persuade me to join his tennis club for some time but I often went as his guest and wasn't sure if it was worth joining as it's in East London. When he told me last week that he'd like me to join him for a team match and that I was eligible for the 'long-distance' discounted membership rate that settled it!

So today I turned up with my membership form and cheque in hand and went straight to an away game. It was quite exciting and I was interested to see what 'competitive' league tennis is actually like. I played in a few tournaments in Japan, but not in any club tournaments. This was the first time I've played competitively in England since I was about 10 years old!

The heat was a real killer today. I covered myself in Sun cream so I didn't get burnt but the Sun still beat me into submission with its heat and brightness. Even though I drank about 3-4 litres of water I had a really bad headache.

As I'd suspected (and you may remember me talking about this a while back), people with great shots don't necessarily win. I couldn't believe we drew one set all with a couple of guys who couldn't even hit a flat/topspin backhand between them. It was all funny slices which floated back - but with very few misses.

I ended up drawing a couple of matches and losing the last one. Strangely though, the last match was the most exciting as our opponents played a similar attacking style to us.

I learnt a lot from the experience and look forward to doing better next time around.

Ferrero Rocher

A while back I was given a box of my favourite chocolates, Ferrero Rocher. In order to savour the experience I brought one a day to work which I carefully ate after lunch. I say carefully as obviously you have to eat the chocolate and nut coating first!

This behaviour struck my colleagues as odd but it would cause the usual fun of quoting the old TV adverts:

"The Ambassador's receptions are noted in society for their host's exquisite taste that captivates his guests"... "Monsieur, with these Rocher, you're really spoiling us."

After coming back from Japan I heard that one of my colleagues had searched for my stash of Ferrero Rocher but obviously hadn't found any.

I spoke to my colleague about the search and then thought nothing of it until he later returned from a trip to the shop across the road with a broad grin on his face. He pulled out a massive box of Ferrero Rocher and enjoyed getting his own back by handing them out to everyone but me. Even I had to admit it was pretty funny.

Privacy Filter

The last time I was in Japan I was looking for a 'privacy filter' for my PSP. They're basically the same as the plastic sheets you can buy for keitai in Japan - they stop you being able to see the screen unless you are looking at it more or less straight-on. But the only one I could find was 1200 yen - what a rip-off!

But after a further six months of annoying people sitting next to me peering at my PSP screen on the train, enough was enough. So this time I shelled out the £6 for this wonderous piece of privacy kit!

I have to say it works pretty well, though it does obscure the screen output very slightly. I'm sure I'll get used to it and take satisfaction in blocking out those unwanted viewers.

Yoshino Sakura

Following my visit to Kobe, next on the list was Yoshino in Nara. Yoshino is mountainous area famous for sakura blossoms which gradually move up the mountains during the spring.

The train journey from Kyoto to Yoshino was spectacular. As you move away from the city and into the mountains you are suddenly surrounded by fields, beautiful bamboo forests and rivers.

Yoshino itself wasn't bad either! Take a look at the amount of sakura that was blooming on the lower parts of the mountain. Again, it was a shame about the cloudy weather but even so it was well worth the trip.

> Yoshino Photo Gallery
> Photo Gallery Index

Dirty Keyboards

In the Metro this morning there was an article about how grimy computer keyboards can be. Here's a similar BBC article.

One of the keyboards tested in the survey was had more germs than one of the toilets tested! It certainly makes you think if you eat in front of your computer each day.

Although the keyboard I'm using at work is relatively new looking - not much falls out when I tip it upside down like the last one I had to use - I gave it a scrubbing with some washing up liquid. Don't get me started on the office phones...

Association

At work today I got out some sembei I brought back from Japan. They didn't go down so well with my colleagues but I love sembei!

Anyway, when I started biting into that crispy goodness I almost immediately felt the urge to have a cup of coffee. Why? Because every week I used to have coffee and sembei after calligraphy lesssons with my teacher in Japan.

Even after many years have past I imagine this associative thinking will still be present. It's such a powerful sensation. I imagine it's because it reinforces habitual behaviour, something familiar and comforting.

That reminds me, even though I make a cup of tea at work every morning I barely touch it. Why do I bother?