Blogs from Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 80

Again, I apologize for the delay. I'm still alive, and have acquired quite a backlog of posts, but it won't be until this weekend that I have time to post them. Unfortunately, my otherwise-quite-marvelous apartment (will publish address in the next post) lacks the extremely necessary Internet connection, and if I paid I'd only be able to get a 56k modem connection. I shudder at the thought of returning to those days, for I've lived the rich life of broadband for far too long. Nay, say I - better to shun that bliss than to diminish it. Additionally bad, however, is that my workplace password-protects their Internet and refuses to give me an account. So, I'm left with the 24-hour-Manga-and-Internet stores that populate Japan in alarming numbers, but are less convenient than my own apartment. Thankfully, ... read more

We arrived at the Kyoto Tourist Information Centre to see a big sign reading ''NO VACANCY IN KYOTO, JULY 17''!!! Uh oh!! Dana, Linda, Zoe and I went through every possible scenario and decided the best option would be to stay up all night. It was the Gion Matsuri (festival), one of the biggest in Japan, therefore the city was maxed out with tourists from all over the country. It sounded too good to be missed, so we hit the streets. We spent the day on Sunday dodging rain drops, and visiting . We mostly took it easy knowing it would be a long night ahead. The streets filled with festival-goers around 6p.m. It is tradition to dress in yukatas for summer festivals...and just about everyone was decked out. The streets were lined with food vendors, ... read more

Evidence of bloglag here...sorry, too many journals to catch up on!! Saturday Shinkansen from Shizuoka to Kyoto only took 1hr 40mins. We hired bicycles and rode around Kyoto, making our way to Gion. Parked our bikes amongst the thousand others and went for a walk around the area because it was too crowded to ride. Found some really cute streets, and many traditional looking houses and bars. On our ride back, Amy fully staked it! It was pretty funny, but because the bikes were so small she had time to jump off, so she didn't get hurt - just her bike a little!!! Also on our way back, we spotted our first geisha! This time we all nearly fell off our bikes!!! She was walking by herself in the opposite direction we were riding, so couldn't ... read more

I have a few hours to kill, now, so I thought I’d do a post. Before I left Stanford, a lovely and brilliant lady by the name of Killeen Hanson mentioned that I should occasionally post some of the content in my temp file. This file, as I have mentioned to some of you, acts more as a semi-permanent repository for clipboard data than anything else, but often records my life to some extent. I was browsing through it the other day, and rediscovered a half-finished poem I had written when I finally could throw out my HATEFUL old Gateway computer. If you know me, you've probably heard me rant about this computer or seen the demonic rituals I was forced to engage in to convince the Dark Spirits to allow a boot-up. Entitled "Extempore Effusion ... read more

We visited Kyocera for the innovation class: you probably use some of their products, even if you don't know of it. The name - derived from "Kyoto Ceramics" - actually describes what the company does, but it's not ceramics as you usually think of them. These are products that are highly technological - everything from LCD technology to turbochargers in cars to kitchen knives. Silicon is considered a ceramic. Anyway, when we went there, I think we stumbled upon one of these world-domination corporations. But before I can go into Kyocera, I should talk a little bit about Japanese business. Most of what follows is pretty much a combination of rumor, hearsay, and valid Japanese business analyses we've studied, but it agrees well with what I've seen, and I've no reason to doubt it. Anyway, in ... read more