== Bernie's brain backup of April 2009 ==
-=== April 21th - x264 ===
+=== Aplil 24th -- over 1 megameter by train ====
+
+We left our comfortable hostel in Kyoto early in the morning for a second Shinkansen
+ride of 360Km, this time on the faster [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozomi_%28train%29|Nozomi]].
+The one-way ticket was "just" 10,250円, equivalent to $105 or €80.
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima/00085.jpg|The A-Bomb peace memorial near the epicenter|maxwidth=480}}
+
+Unlike Kyoto, there aren't many sites of historic interest in Hiroshima because, quite
+unsurprisingly, every building in the city center is at most 64 years old.
+With [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial|one notable exception]].
+Coming such a long way only to see a broken dome and a the surrounding
+[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial_Park|park]] might seem crazy,
+but it was definitely worth it. One of the most dramatic moments of human history
+happened right here not long ago, and survivors of about my father's age can give
+their first-hand testimony with the help of black and white photographs and melted
+items from the museum. After causing so much horror and observing its consequences,
+what did we do about it? We quickly built **thousands** of bombs much more
+destructive than [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy|Little Boy]]. Smart move.
+
+As usual, I couldn't refrain from taking [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima|a load of photos]] here too.
+These probably can't deliver the pain in the chest one gets by visiting the museum,
+but might still be a little disturbing.
+
+In the afternoon, we returned to the Hiroshima station just in time to catch the 16:01
+Shinkansen for another 690Km ride to another location which will be revealed
+in due time. Don't miss the next amazing episode of Bernie's Adventures!
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hiroshima/00079.jpg|"Peace" written with origami cranes|maxwidth=480}}
+
+Also check the story behind the [[http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/crane.html|millions of paper cranes]]
+sent from all over the world in memory of the little Sadako.
+
+=== April 23rd -- Kyoto last day ===
+
+==== Morking: Arashiyama by bike ====
+
+In the morning of this sunny day, we biked to a few locations on the
+east side of Kyoto:
+
+ * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Dakakuji|Dakakuji]], an active Shingon Buddhist temple
+ * [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Tenryuji|Tenryuji]], another beautiful Buddhist temple with a beautiful Zen garden, next to a bamboo forest
+ * [[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]].
+
+==== Evening: a city I did not like ====
+
+At last, I've found a place I actually didn't like much in Japan!
+The first impression of Osaka's central station was that it was old and
+dirty. Of course one could still eat on the floor, and coming from
+[[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto|Kyoto's station]] might
+have compromised my judgement. There was big crowd of busy people
+everywhere, and if //you// bump into someone, //they// don't apologize
+for it.
+
+Our copy of the Lonely Planet highly recommended [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dtonbori|Dotonbori]]
+at night for its "Blade Runner views", so we headed there. They must have watched
+a version of the movie with bad special fx, because all I could observe in
+Dotonbori was a narrow street sided by neon signs of restaurants and pachinkos.
+Just above average, imho, and certainly not worth the time and the price of the
+train ticket. Unless you're a moth, perhaps.
+
+We granted our guide a second chance and choosing their highest rated
+restaurant in Dotombori, one specialized in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udon|udon]].
+There was no English menu and the only food I could order was a chest of cold
+spaghetti on a bamboo crate with no sauce but a cup of soy sauce, also cold of course,
+in which one could dip them separately. Or so I understood: the waiters were extremely
+kind but wouldn't speak English, which created even more confusion. //Dulcis in fundo//,
+the bill was much higher than usual and they wouldn't take credit cards.
+
+We rushed back to the metro to Shin-Osaka, JR train to Kyoto, local train to
+Arashiyama, where our bikes were still waiting for us for the ride back home.
+
+
+=== April 22nd ===
+
+==== Kyoto day 2 ====
+
+TODO: missing links to photos
+
+==== Food ====
+
+Eating in japan can a challenge for a vegetarian who also happens to dislike fish and crustaceans.
+The average menu has about 5% of veggie dishes, but many restaurants in tourist areas specialize
+in traditional food such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi|sushi]] and
+[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura|tempura]]. Imitations of Italian kitchen are close to
+perfection, of course: in Tokyo, we had perfectly reasonable spaghetti with eggplants.
+
+Even with my options severely limited, I could still find several exquisite dishes.
+I quite like soups, including [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso_soup|miso shiru]],
+[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen|ramen]] and others I ordered by pointing at the
+fake dish in the restaurant window without ever knowing their name.
+
+My favorite food so far is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice|Omurice]]. Yeah, perhaps
+it's not as sophisticated as the average Japanese recipe. Hmm... I guess learning to
+appreciate complex and delicate flavors takes some more time.
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ryoanji/00016.jpg|Omurice = omelet + rice|maxwidth=640}}
+
+As for beer, I still couldn't find one I like. The most popular ones, Asahi and Kirin,
+are just tasteless dry lagers. All the drafts I could find taste like Asahi too. The
+only good beers I had were at the [[http://www.deliriumcafe.jp/|Delirium Cafe]] in Tokyo,
+where I had a delicious [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauwel_Kwak|Kwak]] followed by a
+cherry flavored [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriek|Kriek]]. Too bad we had to stop at
+just two to make sure we could find the way back to the hostel :-)
+
+Now I'm looking for a place where I could taste vegetarian [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyaki|sukiyaki]],
+the favorite food of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataru_Moroboshi#Ataru_Moroboshi|Ataru Moroboshi]].
+
+=== April 21st ====
+
+==== Great temples everywhere ====
+
+Yesterday was rainy, but it didn't stop us from biking around and visiting quite a lot of stuff:
+
+ * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ninnaji|Ninnaji temple]];
+ * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Ryoanji|Ryoanji temple]], with its puzzling rock zen garden;
+ * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kinkakuji|Kinkakuji temple]] (aka golden temple);
+ * the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Nijojo_Castle|Nijojo castle]], which is actually two castles for the price of one;
+ * a quick tour of the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kyoto_downtown|Kyoto downtown]];
+ * the [[http://www.kyotomm.com/international/english/|International Manga Museum]] was closed already. Grrr....
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Kinkakuji/00012.jpg|the golden temple of Kinkakuji|maxwidth=800}}
+
+==== x264 goodness ====
I re-encoded all videos from MJPEG, the crappy native format of my Canon camera, to x264 (aka MPEG4).
Firefox 3.1/3.5 still doesn't grok it with the ##video## tag, but I didn't have a
[[http://theora.org/|Theora]] encoder installed.
-=== April 20th - Shinkansen tour ===
+=== April 20th ===
+
+==== Best hostel ever ====
+
+The [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/UtanoHostel|Utano hostel]] in Kyoto would rival many
+five star hotels I've seen. Sorry I couldn't take any photos in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen | Onsen]].
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Utano_Hostel/00005.jpg|the hostel provides a traditional goan too|maxwidth=800}}
+
+==== Impressive station ====
+
+The [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto|Kyoto station]] is an impressive modern building,
+worth a visit by itself.
+
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Kyoto/Shin_Kyoto/00015.jpg|Anime characters by Osamu Tezuka|maxwidth=640}}
+
+==== Shinkansen tour ====
In a jounery report, the details of transportation are usually left out as uninteresting.
Except if one takes the fastest train in the world! We took the
{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Shinkansen/00006.jpg|Shinkansen|maxwidth=800}}
+
=== April 19th - Hakone day 2 ===
-{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone2/FujiSanBernieSan.jpg|The Fuji-san (left) with Bernie-san (right)|maxwidth=1024}}
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/FujiSanBernieSan.jpg|The Fuji-san (left) with Bernie-san (right)|maxwidth=1024}}
We took the suggested touristic itinerary around the Hakone mountains which employs all sorts
of transportation means: bus, cable train, rope way, cruise boat and bus again.
beautiful [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_shrine|shinto jinja shrine]] of with its
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii|torii]] diving in the lake.
-Of course, I took plenty of [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone2|photos of the Hakone trip]].
+Of course, I took plenty of [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/Trip|photos of the Hakone trip]].
=== April 18th - Hakone ===
-{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/00008.jpg|Our japanese style room at the Senkyoro YH|maxwidth=1024}}
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone/Hostel/00008.jpg|Our japanese style room at the Senkyoro YH|maxwidth=1024}}
We arrived in a small town near [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone,_Kanagawa|Hakone]]. I'll publish photos later.
**Update**: [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Hakone|photos of the hostel]] are now available.
+
=== April 17th - Ghibli museum in Mitaka, Ginza ===
{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/GhibliMuseum/00005.jpg|Robot from the ancient city of Laputa|maxwidth=800}}
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