1 == Bernie's brain dump as of April 2009 ==
3 **UPDATE**: the report for April 21st is now available!
5 === Aplil 24th -- over 1 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megametre|megameter]] by train ====
7 We left our comfortable hostel in Kyoto early in the morning for a second Shinkansen
8 ride of 360Km, this time on the faster [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozomi_%28train%29|Nozomi]].
9 The one-way ticket was "just" 10,250円, equivalent to $105 or €80.
11 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima/00085.jpg|The A-Bomb peace memorial near the epicenter|maxwidth=480}}
13 Unlike Kyoto, there aren't many sites of historic interest in Hiroshima because, quite
14 unsurprisingly, every building in the city center is at most 64 years old.
15 With [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial|one notable exception]].
16 Coming such a long way only to see a broken dome and a the surrounding
17 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial_Park|park]] might seem crazy,
18 but it was definitely worth it. One of the most dramatic moments of human history
19 happened right here not long ago, and survivors of about my father's age can give
20 their first-hand testimony with the help of black and white photographs and melted
21 items from the museum. After causing so much horror and observing its consequences,
22 what did we do about it? We quickly built **thousands** of bombs much more
23 destructive than [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy|Little Boy]]. Smart move.
25 As usual, I couldn't refrain from taking [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima|a load of photos]] here too.
26 These probably can't deliver the pain in the chest one gets by visiting the museum,
27 but might still be a little disturbing.
29 In the afternoon, we returned to the Hiroshima station just in time to catch the 16:01
30 Shinkansen for another 690Km ride to another location which will be revealed
31 in due time. Don't miss the next amazing episode of Bernie's Adventures!
33 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima/00079.jpg|"Peace" written with origami cranes|maxwidth=480}}
35 Also check the story behind the [[http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/crane.html|millions of paper cranes]]
36 sent from all over the world in memory of the little Sadako.
38 === Aplil 23rd -- Last day in Kyoto ===
40 ==== Morking: Arashiyama by bike ====
42 In the morning of this sunny day, we biked to a few locations on the
45 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Dakakuji|Dakakuji]], an active Shingon Buddhist temple
46 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Tenryuji|Tenryuji]], another beautiful Buddhist temple with a beautiful Zen garden, next to a bamboo forest
47 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Monkey_Park|Monkey Park]], a place where you can closely observe and interact with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaque|Japanese macaques]].
49 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Monkey_Park/00028.jpg|see no evil, hear no evil, speak no English|maxwidth=800}}
51 ==== Evening: a city I did not like ====
53 At last, I've found a place I actually didn't like much in Japan!
54 The first impression of Osaka's central station was that it was old and
55 dirty. Of course one could still eat on the floor, and coming from
56 [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto|Kyoto's station]] might
57 have compromised my judgement. There was big crowd of busy people
58 everywhere, and if //you// bump into someone, //they// don't apologize
61 Our copy of the Lonely Planet highly recommended [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dtonbori|Dotonbori]]
62 at night for its "Blade Runner views", so we headed there. They must have watched
63 a version of the movie with bad special fx, because all I could observe in
64 Dotonbori was a narrow street sided by neon signs of restaurants and pachinkos.
65 Just above average, imho, and certainly not worth the time and the price of the
66 train ticket. Unless you're a moth, perhaps.
68 {{http://www.codewiz.org/wiki/Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Osaka/00003.jpg|The Osaka central station|maxwidth=800}}
70 We granted our guide a second chance and choosing their highest rated
71 restaurant in Dotombori, one specialized in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udon|udon]].
72 There was no English menu and the only food I could order was a chest of cold
73 spaghetti on a bamboo crate with no sauce but a cup of soy sauce, also cold of course,
74 in which one could dip them separately. Or so I understood: the waiters were extremely
75 kind but wouldn't speak English, which created even more confusion. //Dulcis in fundo//,
76 the bill was much higher than usual and they wouldn't take credit cards.
78 We rushed back to the metro to Shin-Osaka, JR train to Kyoto, local train to
79 Arashiyama, where our bikes were still waiting for us for the ride back home.
84 ==== Kyoto Higashiyama ====
86 Today we walked along the east side of Kyoto, north to south:
88 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ginkakuji|Ginkakuji]] -- rock garden with a view point;
89 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Eikando|Eikando]] ([[http://www.eikando.or.jp/English/index_eng.htm|home page]]) -- an active Buddhist temple
90 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Chion-in|Chion-in]] -- huge temple with the largest bell in Japan
91 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Sennen-zaka|Sennen-zaka]] -- a trendy touristic way with maikos (aka geishas);
92 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Jishu-jinja|Jishu-jinja]] -- a temple hanging on a cliff with an impressive scaffolding;
93 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Fushimiinari-taisha|Fushimiinari-taisha]] -- The multi-torii tunnel. My #1 favorite shrine!!!
95 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Chion-in/00056.jpg|}}
98 Eating in japan can a challenge for a vegetarian who also happens to dislike fish and crustaceans.
99 The average menu has about 5% of veggie dishes, but many restaurants in tourist areas specialize
100 in traditional food such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi|sushi]] and
101 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura|tempura]]. Imitations of Italian kitchen are close to
102 perfection, of course: in Tokyo, we had perfectly reasonable spaghetti with eggplants.
104 Even with my options severely limited, I could still find several exquisite dishes.
105 I quite like soups, including [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso_soup|miso shiru]],
106 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen|ramen]] and others I ordered by pointing at the
107 fake dish in the restaurant window without ever knowing their name.
109 My favorite food so far is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice|Omurice]]. Yeah, perhaps
110 it's not as sophisticated as the average Japanese recipe. Hmm... I guess learning to
111 appreciate complex and delicate flavors takes some more time.
113 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ryoanji/00016.jpg|Omurice = omelet + rice|maxwidth=640}}
115 As for beer, I still couldn't find one I like. The most popular ones, Asahi and Kirin,
116 are just tasteless dry lagers. All the drafts I could find taste like Asahi too. The
117 only good beers I had were at the [[http://www.deliriumcafe.jp/|Delirium Cafe]] in Tokyo,
118 where I had a delicious [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauwel_Kwak|Kwak]] followed by a
119 cherry flavored [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriek|Kriek]]. Too bad we had to stop at
120 just two to make sure we could find the way back to the hostel :-)
122 Now I'm looking for a place where I could taste vegetarian [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyaki|sukiyaki]],
123 the favorite food of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataru_Moroboshi#Ataru_Moroboshi|Ataru Moroboshi]].
127 ==== Great temples everywhere ====
129 Yesterday was rainy, but it didn't stop us from biking around and visiting quite a lot of stuff:
131 * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ninnaji|Ninnaji temple]];
132 * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ryoanji|Ryoanji temple]], with its puzzling rock zen garden;
133 * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kinkakuji|Kinkakuji temple]] (aka golden temple);
134 * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Nijojo_Castle|Nijojo castle]], which is actually two castles for the price of one;
135 * a quick tour of the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kyoto_downtown|Kyoto downtown]];
136 * the [[http://www.kyotomm.com/international/english/|International Manga Museum]] was closed already. Grrr....
138 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kinkakuji/00012.jpg|the golden temple of Kinkakuji|maxwidth=800}}
140 ==== x264 goodness ====
142 I re-encoded all videos from MJPEG, the crappy native format of my Canon camera, to x264 (aka MPEG4).
143 Firefox 3.1/3.5 still doesn't grok it with the ##video## tag, but I didn't have a
144 [[http://theora.org/|Theora]] encoder installed.
148 ==== Best hostel ever ====
150 The [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Utano_Hostel|Utano hostel]] in Kyoto would rival many
151 five star hotels I've seen. Sorry I couldn't take any photos in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen | Onsen]].
153 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Utano_Hostel/00005.jpg|the hostel provides a traditional goan too|maxwidth=800}}
155 ==== Impressive station ====
157 The [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto|Kyoto station]] is an impressive modern building,
158 worth a visit by itself.
160 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto/00015.jpg|Anime characters by Osamu Tezuka|maxwidth=640}}
162 ==== Shinkansen tour ====
164 In a jounery report, the details of transportation are usually left out as uninteresting.
165 Except if one takes the fastest train in the world! We took the
166 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dkaid%C5%8D_Shinkansen|Tokaido Shinkansen]] line from Odawara to Kyoto,
167 riding on a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_Series_Shinkansen|700-series]] train for the
168 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikari_%28Shinkansen%29|Hikari]] service (not the faster
169 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozomi_%28train%29|Nozomi]], but still very impressive).
171 The ticket cost a whopping 11240 yen per person, and I'm not even getting a
172 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Express_999|machine body]] with it! ;-)
174 See [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Shinkansen|the the photos]] and don't miss the
175 [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Shinkansen/00009-x264.avi|pass-through]] and the
176 [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Shinkansen/00011-x264.avi|on-board]] videos.
178 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Shinkansen/00006.jpg|Shinkansen|maxwidth=800}}
181 === April 19th - Hakone day 2 ===
183 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/FujiSanBernieSan.jpg|The Fuji-san (left) with Bernie-san (right)|maxwidth=1024}}
185 We took the suggested touristic itinerary around the Hakone mountains which employs all sorts
186 of transportation means: bus, cable train, rope way, cruise boat and bus again.
188 Along the way, we could see the volcanic sulfuric vents and pools, the Ashi lake with its breathtaking
189 view of the Fuji-san, the ancient cedar avenue, the old post, the detached palace gardens and the
190 beautiful [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_shrine|shinto jinja shrine]] of with its
191 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii|torii]] diving in the lake.
193 Of course, I took plenty of [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/Trip|photos of the Hakone trip]].
195 === April 18th - Hakone ===
197 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/Hostel/00008.jpg|Our japanese style room at the Senkyoro YH|maxwidth=1024}}
199 We arrived in a small town near [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone,_Kanagawa|Hakone]]. I'll publish photos later.
201 **Update**: [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone|photos of the hostel]] are now available.
204 === April 17th - Ghibli museum in Mitaka, Ginza ===
206 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/GhibliMuseum/00005.jpg|Robot from the ancient city of Laputa|maxwidth=800}}
208 The museum was actually a bit of a disappointment, but maybe just because I had my expectations so high.
209 Cameras weren't allowed inside, so I only took [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/GhibliMuseum|few photos]].
211 In the afternoon, we walked around the shiny neighborhood of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginza|Ginza]].
212 See the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Ginza|photos]].
214 === April 16th - Fish Market, Gardens, Tower of Tokyo, Temple ===
216 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Tsukiji_Fish_Market/00013.jpg | Tsukiji Fish Market |maxwidth=800}}
218 We had a very intense day where we visited a lot of places all around central Tokyo:
220 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Tsukiji_Fish_Market | Tsukiji Fish Market]] ([[http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html|Japan Guide]])
221 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Hama_Rikyu_Gardens | Hama Rikyu Gardens]] ([[http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3025.html||Japan Guide]])
222 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Zojoji | Zojo-ji Temple]] ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zojoji|Wikipedia]])
223 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Tokyo_Tower | Tokyo Tower]] ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower|Wikipedia]])
224 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Reiyukai_Temple | Reiyukai Temple]] ([[http://www.reiyukai.org/|official web site]])
225 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Imperial_Palace_Gardens | Imperial Palace Gardens]] ([[http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3017.html|Japan Guide]])
226 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Edo_Museum | Edo-Tokyo Museum]], which was already closed.
227 We'll try again when we come back to Tokyo ([[http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/english | official web site]])
229 NOTE: photos still being uploaded, gomen nasai!
231 Seeing so many beautiful things at such a high frequency might make one's head spin.
232 In fact, this evening I've been dangerously close to faint in an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen | Onsen]],
233 which was really scary because I had never lost consciousness before. I had walked all day with very little
234 food and drink, which might have been part of the problem, but diving in thermal water for a long time has
235 certainly triggered it. What a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaijin | gaijin]] who can't even take some
238 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Zojoji/1.00011.jpg | Zojo-ji temple (left), Tokyo Tower (center), Bernie (right) |maxwidth=800}}
240 === April 15th - Skyscrapers everywhere ===
242 Compared to Tokyo, every other city I had visited would seem dirty, old, boring and disorganized.
243 I can't find the words to describe my amazement walking around this amazing city full of wonders.
245 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Roppongi/TokyoMidtown/00023.jpg|Tokyo Midtown Gardenside seen from the Galleria building|maxwidth=800}}
248 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Shinjuku|Shinju-ku]] -- The district of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Metropolitan_Government_Building|Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building]].
249 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Roppongi|Roppongi]] -- A rich district hosting modern art museums (Art Triangle) and night life ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi|Wikipedia]])
250 * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Pachinko|Pachinko]] -- Popular Japanese slot machines
252 **Update**: now finished uploading the photos
254 === April 14th - Arrival in Tokyo ===
256 {{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo/Sensoji_Temple/00081.jpg|The way to the Sensoji temple in Asakusa|maxwidth=800}}
258 I couldn't resist grabbing a super-cheap round trip to japan, a place I've always wanted
259 to visit. By "always", I mean: since when I was in kindergarten, watching great series
260 like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Jeeg|SteelJeeg]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z|MazingerZ]] on TV.
261 My dad accepted to accompany me in this trip even though he wasn't particularly fond of Japan. Until now, that is!
263 The first day was simply amazing, but I'm way to tired to tell a lot about it.
264 The [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Tokyo|many photos and videos]] that I'm still uploading will hopefully serve
265 documenting this long day appropriately.
267 NOTE: if you can't watch the videos embedded in the wiki, get yourself a recent browser featuring HTML5 or
268 send me a patch adding support for old-style HTML video embedding.
272 Yes, I've neglected to update this blog for a few months. This isn't because I had nothing
273 to talk about. In fact, these months were quite intense, with a lot of notable events, including:
275 * 2009 Jan: Visited the [[Pictures/vacation/EastCoast2008|East Coast]] with Silvia
276 * 2009 Jan: Attended the [[Pictures/conf/XOCamp2009|XO Camp 2]]
277 * 2009 Feb: Attended the [[Pictures/conf/Fosdem2009|Fosdem 2009]] with a few friends from Italy and SugarLabs colleagues
279 [[Pictures/vacation/brussels_riga_stokholm_2009/Brussels | Brussels]],
280 [[Pictures/vacation/brussels_riga_stokholm_2009/Riga | Riga]] and
281 [[Pictures/vacation/brussels_riga_stokholm_2009 | Stockholm]] with Tommaso
282 * 2009 Mar: Organized a small revival of [[SystemShockBBS]] with a few original users
283 * 2009 Apr: Attended a meeting/miniconf in [[Pictures/conf/Bolzano2009|Bolzano]] with WalterBender
285 I am currently back in Florence, trying to find a way back in the US.