It has been a while...

...the resaon for that is simple; health issues. Last weeks I suffered from, apperantly, a virus infection in my left ear. Fortunately, this week I got medication for it and if everything goes well, by Friday I should be totally healthy again.
The funny thing though, Japanese hospitals are quite difficult since I don't speak Japanese. The first level is to explain to the nurses at the counter of the hospital what your problem is. Obviously, I started in English, then I simplyfied by saying some keywords in English and they seem to understand that. However, in the end, most Japanese people know how to speak English, they all had English lessons on high school. My guess is that they are too shy or uncertain to speak English with me. But if you are stuborn enough, they'll start to speak some English with you.
Once I cleared level 1, I was send up to the second floor to tell my story again. In the meanwhile I got a hospital-card with my name on it and all, very official. So, I was sitting at the second floor, and my name was called (Jaspah-san!!!) and I could go see the doctor. I expected that the doctor could speak proper English with me, but nope. He started in Japanese and I did not understand him. After a few minutes of Japanese and non-understanding-gestures from my side he said "yeah, let's change to English, this doesn't work"...woaah!! In fluent English, with an American accent. So it appears that most Japanese doctors got their degree in the US. So, was he as uncertain as the nurses, or was he fooling me... I guess I'll never know...
Anyway, Friday I have anonther appointment, and hopefully it'll be the last...

Nara

Yes, it a tourist attraction and was indeed full of them. I haven't seen so many gaijin since I left Holland. However, I think it is a place everybody should go to when visiting Japan. The town of Nara was an ancient capital of Japan (from 710 to 784) and houses many beautiful Buddhistic temples. I made a lot of photos and would like to let them do the talking.

The 5-story pagoda of the Kofukuji temple.


Tame deer that walk freely in and around Nara. It is said that the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu, descended from heaven riding one of these and arrived in Nara.


Todaiji temple, the largest wooden building in the world and housing of one big Buddha. Check the other photos I made for the amazing details of it.


The great Buddha. This bronze statue is almost 15 meters high and weighs 500 tonnes! Astonishing!


This mean looking guy is there for Buddha's protection


The view over Nara and surroundings from the Kasuga Taisha shrine


Bronze lantarns at the Kasuga Taisha shrine


As usual, more photos on my photo site.

Nature

After 7 exhilarating weeks of fast-living in Japanese cities it was time to get some sun and enjoy the country side of the Kansai area. Therefore I visited Ben (my internship supervisor) who lives in Sanda, north of Kobe. While the autumn already started in The Netherlands we couldn't resist to go outdoors and do a hiking trail with 26 degrees on the thermometer. It was quite nice to breath some fresh air for a change and get some exercise as well.

Sanda

Hiking trail


On our way to the hills we found some people fishing for small lobsters (at least, that's what they looked like for me, a complete layman regarding fish). The funny thing is that they were catching a freaking lot of them with only a string and a piece of dried octopus leg from this little stream of water! I tried it and it was dead-easy. Once you've spotted one you lower the string and they'll bite unconditionally. Fun, although I doubt whether or not I would have liked them on my plate...

Got one!


The hiking trail was great. Steep and challenging, but that's what keeps the heart going isn't it?!
At the top we were awared with a very nice view over the hills. We could go even higher, but that would require climbing gear and matching skills...so we skipped that.

View


Unfortunately, on our way back we came by the path up the hill again and saw a helicopter hovering above the hill and a couple of rescue teams who went up the hill to get to a guy who, aparently, fell from 15 meters... I hope he made it. The little boy inside of me could not resist the big red car with lots of flashing lights, so I made some photos...

Rescue team

Helicopter (check the guy hanging out!)


More photos of the weekend are on my photo site

It simply works!

As I worked the entire weekend to meet a deadline, I don't have any exiting news on the past weekend. Well, Monday was a national holiday and I played baseball at the Imperial Palace Park in Kyoto, Japan's nr. 1 sport.

However, after living in Japan for 6 weeks now, I learned some interesting things about the Japanese society during these weeks. The bottom line is: it works. Everything and everybody does what they are suppose to do. The trains go on time, people queue for the train, ATM or elevator, and they treat everyone with respect. And the best thing is the politeness which the Japanese turned into an art. Especially the Daimaru department store in Kyoto (similar to the "Bijenkorf" in the Netherlands). I will give you one example to illustrate the politeness that comes by default and is typical Japanese. Around 8pm, the Daimaru closes down. I happened to be at the Daimaru around that time once. All employees queue up along the counters and the doors. When you pass them, they open the door, greet you, say goodbye and bow for you (not just me, every customer gets that treatment). I almost felt guilty when this happened. Imagine that an employee of the Bijenkorf will do that. But remember, this is just one example. In general, I feel very comfortable and at ease in Japan.

Having written this little story, I cannot resist to draw the conclusion that the Japanese society is like a product made by a small, fruity company in Cupertino, California...called Apple. It simply works!

More posts & photos soon, I have a trip to Tokyo planned...that should result in some good experiences...

Skyhighatrism

Maybe the title doesn't say much, take a look at the photos of Osaka I took saturdaynight...then you'll understand (or you remember a line from the movie "51st state"...)
This city is amazing, the magnitude of it is unbelievable. Together with Tokyo, Osaka reflects the modern Japanese society. Especially notice the elevated highway...it's stunning.
Another stunning thing, the Yodabashi Umeda mega electronics store. It features 10 levels of every electronic product one can imagine. Mediamarkt, eat your heart out!

Osaka


Yodabashi Umeda


For 2 more shots, visit my photo website.

Partytime @ Osaka

We went to see Laurent Garnier (pretty famous French DJ) who was playing at a club in Osaka, the Grand Cafe. Through some connections with the manager we even got our own table reserved, which is always nice of course...
Well, for the rest I would like to let the photos do the talking. As you can see, we partied all night long and were able to catch a nice sunrise when leaving Osaka.

We zijn naar Osaka gegaan om Laurent Garnier (bekende franse DJ) te zien in Grand Cafe. Door wat connecties met de manager hadden we onze eigen tafel zodat we relaxed konden zitten om wat te drinken. Voor de rest laat ik de foto's het woord doen. Zoals je ziet zijn we doorgegaan tot de vroege uurtjes en konden we van een mooie zonsopgang genieten op de terugreis naar Kyoto.

Reserved table...sweet




First train back to Kyoto


For more photos of that night check my photo website.
Voor meer foto's van die avond, mijn fotowebsite.

Weekend

Foto's van afgelopen weekend. Voor de mensen die het nog niet wisten, ik heb ook een foto-website; www.flickr.com/photos/jasperdekker
Hier kun je al mijn foto's vinden. Vrijdag izakaya stijl gegeten, dit houdt in dat je op de grond in de kleermakerzit eet. hier kwam ik er achter dat ik niet gemaakt ben voor Japan, 1.90m zijnde. Maar het was erg goed eten en het interieur was ook...erg interessant.

Check the photos of last weekend. For people who didn't know yet, my photo website is www.flickr.com/photos/jasperdekker
Here you can find all my photos. Friday we had an izakaya style diner. This means sitting on the floor with your legs crossed. That moment I found out I wasn't really made for Japan...(being 1.90m tall) However, the food was very nice and the interior was very...interesting.




Saturday we had an even nicer diner. Our host was a very friendly lady who was very interested in us and, fortunately, through the help of another guest we had a nice conversation. Didn't know that being a robot designer in Japan was so much appreciated...sugoy!

Zaterdag zelfs nog beter gegeten. Onze gastvrouw was een erg vriendelijke dame die zeer geinteresseerd was in ons. Gelukkig met hulp van een Engels-sprekende gast konden we een gesprek voeren. Wist niet dat een robot ontwerper zo'n coole baan was in Japan...sugoy!


Sake from the Kyoto prefecture, nice!

The restaurant's walls were covered with details like this octopus caricature...


Maandag was ik vrij! Een nationale feestdag om het begin van de herfst te vieren...volgens mij...
Monday I had a day off! A national holiday to celebrate the beginning of autumn...I think...

On request : my ward / op verzoek : mijn buurt

As promised, a little bit more tourist-behaviour. This morning, on my way to work, I made some shots to show you how the area where I live looks like. Well, I'll let the photos do the talking. Noticable however, is the small rice field. As this area is pretty close to downtown Kyoto, there is still a small rice field left. They can be found all over the city (with exception of the downtown area of course). After WOII Kyoto wasn't this big yet, so these small rice fields are left-overs from the pre-WOII era.
A little after 9 o'clock my train stopped in front of me at Nishikyogo-ku station. As you can see, it was kind of crowded. Most - if not ALL - people go to work around this time. The way back home is usually a lot more comfortable since people usually work late so the morning-crowd gets scattered during the evening.
Any more requests?? Let me know!

Zoals beloofd, een beetje meer toeristengedrag. Vanochtend, op weg naar mijn werk, heb ik wat foto's gemaakt van het gebied waar mijn apartement staat. De foto zegt genoeg lijkt me. Wat wel opvalt, is het kleine rijst veldje op de foto, gezien de wijk waar ik woon (Nishikyogo-ku) vrij dicht bij het centrum van Kyoto ligt. Je vind ze wel meer in de stad, met uitzondering van downtown natuurlijk. Na de 2e wereldoorlog was Kyoto nog niet zo groot als het nu is, dus het zijn eigenlijk overblijselen van de periode van voor de 2e wereldoorlog.
Iets na 9 uur stopte de trein voor m'n neus, klein beetje vol, dat wel. De meeste - misschien wel ALLE - mensen gaan rond deze tijd naar hun werk. De terugreis naar mijn apartement is meestal wat comfortabeler, gezien de mensen hier vaak tot laat werken. Dus al die mensen van de ochtend verspreiden zich 's avonds wat beter.
Nog meer verzoekjes?? Laat het me weten!

Na 2 weken / After 2 weeks

Na 2 weken werken en leven in Japan kan ik zeggen dat ik aardig m'n draai begin te vinden. Vorige week was ik de gelukkige stage-student die door zijn baas op een lunch en diner werd getrakteerd, iedere dag! Nakatsu-san (a.k.a de Baas) heeft me aangeboden om verschillende Japanse gerechten uit te proberen. En gezien de Japanse keuken nogal divers is, duurde dit een week. De gerechten varieerden van, uiteraard, sushi, vis en verschillende soorten noodels (soba, udon en ramen) tot pizza-bier-en-honkbal op kantoor! Afgelopen vrijdagavond werd er een diner georganiseerd om Sylvain (Franse collega) en mij te verwelkomen.
Gezien ik de enige industrial designer ben tussen alleen maar robot ingenieurs, heb ik wel een andere manier van denken dan de rest. Gelukkig laat Ben (mijn stage begeleider die helaas in het ziekenhuis ligt vanwege een ski ongeluk waarbij hij z'n schouder heeft gebroken) me nu verschillende, nieuwe robots ontwerpen. Dus, ontwerpers mixen met ingenieurs kan best interessant zijn!
Qua uitgaan, kan ik zeggen dat ik de weg naar de kroegen van Kyoto en Osaka begin te vinden. De beste zitten goed verstopt. Gelukkig krijg ik goede hulp van mijn franse collega's om de kroegen te vinden zonder een overdaad aan buitenlanders en/of toeristen.
Helaas heb ik nog niet echt de tijd gehad om me als een stereotype toerist te gedragen, dus excuses voor het maken van maar weinig foto's...

After 2 weeks working and living in Japan I can state that I am beginning to get around quite well. Last week I was the lucky intern student who was taken to lunch and diner every day by his boss. Nakatsu-san (a.k.a. Boss) offered me to try and experience several Japanese dishes. And since the Japanese kitchen is very diverse, that took almost a week. The dishes varied from, of course, suhsi, seafood and different kinds of noddle dishes (soba, udon and ramen) and pizza-beer-and-baseball at the office! Last friday a diner party was organised to welcome me and Sylvain (a French colleague). Very nice!
As I am an industrial designer working with only robot-engineers, I have a different kind of mind-set. Fortunately Ben (my internship supervisor who unfortunately is in the hospital at the moment since he broke his shoulder during a ski accident in Chile) got me to explore and design different kinds of new robots. So in fact, designers mixed with engineers might be interesting anyway!
As for leisure, I am finding my way to the bars in Kyoto and Osaka, the best ones are sometimes pretty hard to find. But I get good guidance from my French colleagues to find the bars without the overkill of foreigners or tourists, which happen to be the best places to go to.
Unfortunately I haven't found the time to act as a stereotype tourist, so I apologize for the small amount of photos on this post...

Diner fridaynight


Thursdaynight


Nissan Cube (nice!)

Vrijdagavond / Fridaynight

Gisteren (vrijdag) uit eten geweest met een Franse collega (Florent) en een vriend van hem uit Kyoto. Mijn eerste biertje in Japan was een Hoegaarden...de tweede een Japans biertje (ben even de naam kwijt). Niet te vermijden is natuurlijk het proberen van de sushi-bar. Gezien ik zelden tot nooit vis eet toch een hele aparte ervaring. Ik moet zeggen dat ik het niet eens zo slecht vond en ik ga het zeker nog eens doen, maar of het ooit in mijn top-10 komt betwijfel ik.
Waar ik ook achter kwam, vrijdagavond, was het feit dat Kyoto juist een stad is vol met 'gaijin' (=buitenlanders). Erg veel Engels docenten hier en tevens camera-behangen toeristen. We zijn de avond geindigd in een klein kroegje met een gezellige mix van gaijin en Japanners. Helaas heb ik mijn camera niet meegenomen gisteravond en zullen jullie het zonder foto's moeten doen. (En of dat jammer is, laat ik even in het midden...). Volgende keer zeker weer foto's!

Yesterday (Friday) I went out for diner with a French colleague (Florent) and a friend of his from Kyoto. My first beer in Japan was a Hoegaarden (Belgium white beer), the second was Japanese brand (forgot the name...). Inevitably, I tried the sushi-bar experience. Given the fact that I rarely eat fish at all I must say it was a very interesting experience. It wasn't so bad at all, I will come back for sure, but I doubt whether or not it will end up in my top-10.
What I discovered yesterday evening as well, was that Kyoto is in fact a city filled with 'gaijin' (=foreigners). Many English teachers live and work in Kyoto and you will find many camera-equiped tourists as well. We ended the evening in a cosy little bar filled with a nice mixture of gaijin and Japanese people. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera yesterday, so you will have to do without the photos. (You may figure out yourself if that's a shame or not...). Next time I promiss to bring the camera!

Lunchtime

Vandaag geluncht op kantoor. De 'bento' (=lunchbox) kun je iedere hoek van de straat kopen in een kleine supermarkt en daar maken ze het warm voor je. Je hebt ze met vis of vlees en er zit meestal rijst en noedels bij. Na de lunch ben ik even naar buiten gegaan om wat foto's te maken van het prachtige gebouw waar ons kantoor in zit, gelukkig was het lekker weer vandaag. De begane grond en de eerste verdieping zijn gevuld met restaurants, cafe's en een bioscoop. Vanaf de 2e zijn er kantoren. Ook maar meteen wat plaatjes geschoten van het centrum van Kyoto waar het Cocon Karasuma gebouw (waar ons kantoor in zit) zich bevindt.

Today I had lunch at the office. The 'bento' (=lunchbox) is available at small convenient stores found all over the city, they warm it up for you so you can eat it right away. The 'bento' is available with fish or meat and usuablly contains rice and noodles too. After lunch I went outside to take some photos of the beautiful building I am working in, fortunately the weather was great today. The first and second floors consist of restaurants, cafes and a cinema. From the 3rd floor up it is all offices. I also made some shots of the centre of Kyoto where the Cocon Karasuma building (where I work) is located.

Mijn apartement / My apartment

Dit is mijn apartement waar ik de komende 3 maanden zal wonen. Het is klein, maar alles is aanwezig, inclusief airco wat erg welkom is in dit klimaat. Japanse televisie is nogal anders dan de Nederlandse, er zijn veel shows met spelletjes die wij erg flauw zouden vinden. Gisteravond was er ook honkbal op tv, erg populair in Japan.
Slapen doe ik Japanese-style. Dit houd in op deken op de grond. Mijn kussen is ongeveer 4x zo klein als in Nederland. Ik hoop dat het snel went, anders moet ik naar de Ikea die zijn eerste filiaal in Japan volgende week opent!

This i smy apartment where i will live the coming 3 months. It is small, but everything is present, including airconditioning which is very welcome in this climate. The Japanese television is pretty different then what I am used to. There are many game shows which we would consider pretty corny. A baseball match was on television as well yesterday, very popular in Japan.
Sleeping is done Japanese-style. This means a blanket on the floor and a pillow about 1/4 the size of a regular pillow. I hope I get used to it quickly, otherwise I should go to Ikea which opens it's first shop in Japan next week!

Reis / Journey

Op dit moment zit ik in "mijn" kantoor in Kyoto, even bij te komen van de eerste indrukken van Japan. Gisteravond om 11u aangekomen na 26 uur in vliegtuigen en treinen te hebben gezeten. Ben via Hong Kong gekomen, moest 5 uur wachten, maar dat was de moeite waard (zie foto's!). Ik zal binnenkort wat meer over Japan schrijven.

At this moment I am at "my" office in Kyoto, just relaxing after my first impressions of Japan. Last night I arrived at 11pm after being in airplanes and trains for 26 hours. I traveled through Hong Kong, had to wait for 5 hours but that was worth it (see photos!). I'll post more about Japan soon.