Japan Day 10 (Hikone)

We felt tired after all the walking around Kobe so had a lie in cuddling in bed before heading out.

Today we headed to Hikone to see the castle there. It was one of the few castle stops survive unaffected by the war and is mostly original construction. We took the Shinkansen to Miabara then changed trains to Hikone. Hikone city is on the shores of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan.

We followed the crowds of people which led us first to a temple so we had a Quick Look around then headed to the castle on the top of the hill. Constructed in the 17th century Hikone castle is a good example of the style and gives suburbs views out from its high vantage point. 

Like Osaka the castle is best viewed from outside inside it was crowd and cramped build for people in a different age. The grounds were well worth spending some time in though we enjoyed the woods.

I grabbed a fried squid from a stand in the grounds and we met the mascot a cute rabbet with a horned helmet. 

Next we stumbled upon a garden in all its Zen glory it was very beautiful. It was starting to grow cold and dark so we left Hikone heading for Kyoto.

Arriving in Kyoto late, we managed to grab a map a from the tourist information place. It had all the local subway and tourist places marked. Kasia fancied a pizza so we found an Italian restaurant on the 10th floor of a shopping centre connected to the railway station. 

The food was really good (if a little expensive) and we got a great view of Kyoto.

The station complex itself is a marvel of steel and glass. Saint lead up from the ground to the top. It had been a long day so we headed to our hostel for a snooze.

Japan Day 9 (Osaka Castle and Kobe)

Finally we reached the part of the trip where neither of us had clean clothes to wear fortunately the hostel had some laundry facilities. Afterwards we grabbed a breakfast at a nearby store then hopped on the train to Osaka castle. The weather was much better today.

Osaka castle grounds are a lovely the castle itself like many in Japan is a reconstruction the original having been destroyed in the war. It's tourist central with a lot of food halls and convenience stands. The outside of the castle is rather magnificent the inside is a little bit more like a hotel.

It was full of exhibits and stories which were interesting unfortunately a lot of the English translations were not well done. I came away a little disappointed.

After the castle we took the Shinkansen to Kobe. I sent to a card back home to my parents. We wondered around and found one of the best examples of a Japanese Garden of the whole trip. We were also fortunate that it was very quiet we had the place nearly to ourselves.  

Kobe is a small city it took only 40 minutes to cross from the garden through China town to the port area. The town was very pretty and well kept which was a marked difference to Osaka. 

Next we attempted to visit the memorial grandees getting quite lost in the process. So lost in fact that a local girl asked if we were lost and did we need any help, certainly we did. Her name was Aki and she was so kind walking with use chatting about Kobe.

The memorial gardens were for the 1995 earthquake which had a bad impact on the city. We walked around, its seems to be a place for couple as we saw several cuddling up on secluded benches. I really enjoyed Kobe but we had to leave on the train back to our hostel in Osaka.

Japan Day 9 (Osaka)

We awoke late again and went out to see that Bay Area. It was a cold grey day and Osaka was proving to be less full on than Tokyo. It isn't as vibrant here everything seems a bit cheaper dirtier and less exciting. 

The bay proved difficult to get to, we attempted to walk but got lost on the anonymous streets finally finding ourselves back where we started so decided to break for lunch before continuing. We eat at the complex, Japans is full of complexes with department stores and restaurants spanning several floors usually with pedestrian art and underground walkways to the station or subway.

There was a hotel with a sky view resultant which we tried to get a view but only one window had a view.

Defeated we took the railway out past universal studios to get a view of baseball sports island. We made it to the end of the line it felt like the end of the earth. We couldn't find where to cross and it started raining so we headed back. Taking the subway which was not covered by the JR Rail pass to the bay where the Maritime museum was. It was lovely here it even stopped raining so we had a great view.

Heading back two stops we found a park and the Osaka port, though the rain came back. We had planned to go to the castle but the rain put us off, we headed to the aquarium.

Despite the rain we walked to the Aquarium to save the subway fare. It turned out to be a bit stupid as it was further away than we expected.

The aquarium was fantastic spiralling down around a huge tank sectioned into different areas. Beginning as sea level you descend down. Passing through the ring of fire and the pacific. There was even a whale shark in the central tank.

Behind the aquarium was a museum we decided to pass on as it looked a little dull after the wonders of the sea. Instead we found a 9th floor restaurant which was too expensive and had a lovely view.

Returning to the centre we browsed the shops a little then went to Starbucks for a coffee, and to make a plan to get out of Osaka!

Japan Day 7

The end of the road for our stay at Ryokan Fuji. It had been a nice home for our stay in Tokyo, as we checked out the owner gave us some souvenir chopsticks.

We planned to head to Tokyo proper but the weather was still bad so we mooched around Koiwa finding a park and a shopping centre that we had previously missed.

We took the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. I have never seen such an organised train. On arrival with 15 minutes an army of pink suited cleaners jumped on board to clean and swap the seats around. Leaving 5 minutes to get on board the train leaving exactly on schedule. The journey to Osaka took 3 hours, flying past Japanese towns.

Arriving in Osaka we found it even more confusing than Tokyo. The subway signs were mostly in Kanji, so it was difficult to find our hostel in Fukushima. After some searching we finally found the J-Hoppers Osaka Central Guesthouse. It was a bit basic and small, very disappointing in comparison to the Ryokan. Even the view from the fourth floor was only of other buildings.

In the afternoon we walked around the shops eat dinner in a Japanese India restaurant, I had a pizza naan! We decided to try and get an aerial view of the city however not as many of these seemed to exist as Tokyo. Eventually the lonely planet guide lead us to the rather crazy sky garden. This was a twin tower with a bridge / observation deck running in between. The views were really good unfortunately it had begun to rain heavily so 3we didn't stay too long.

Below the sky garden was a love. themed area! There were people getting married and doing wedding shoots.

We had a bit more of a walk round then headed for home.

Japan Day 6

Rain and wind battered us from the moment we stepped out of the Ryokan. Today we had planned to go to Kanubura but the weather forbade this so instead we decided to go and see the bar from "Lost in translation" then head to a photographic museum. 

Taking the tram to Shinjuku attempted a quick round of the shops (I still needed a coat) it was to windy even to use the umbrella mine nearly snapped when I tried.

Riding the Toca line we made the walk to the Park Hyatt hotel battling the wind and cold. The hotel is part of a commercial building occupying floors 37-52 with the bar and restaurant at the top. Taking the lift to the lobby we walked past the rather grand dining hall and lounge to another lift which went to the top restaurant bar "New York". Unfortunately at this point we were greeted by a rather zealous concierge who informed us that the bar would not be open until 5pm and no we were not allow to go see the view.

The nearest subway station was located in the opera house complex with some shops and restaurants. After all the battles with the elements and hotel staff were a little tired and hungry. Finding a nice looking Japanese restaurant in the basement. Unfortunately after having some language barriers ordering they gave us the food to take away. With the bad weather that posed a bit of an issue, as all the places outside were soaking. The inside space is all corporate and we weren't allowed to eat! After failing to find somewhere  to sit we headed to the museum defeated.

Located in a "Garden" complex near to where the Yebisu beer museum.  Finally we could grab a bite to eat. I had seafood noodles and Kasia grabbed a pizza. Unfortunately they had set an early closing time because of the weather so we only had 35 minutes to whip around. There was an exhibition of surrealist photographs including some famous artists including Man Ray and Andre Kertesz. It was a really good exhibition Kasia really enjoyed it being somewhat a fan of surrealist art.

It had been a bit of a crappy day with the weather so to cheer ourselves up we headed back to Ginza up to the top of the Denska building which unlike the Hyatt don't mind about visitors who come for the view.

The wind (which at one point had been strong enough to stop at least one and delay several trains) had finally died down, the rain along with it. So we took the opportunity to walk from Ginza to Tokyo station. We stopped for a coffee en route just to people watch everybody in the Tokyo evening. You might think in a Starbucks you could be in any city of the world, but these scene was unruly Japanese.

Taking the train back to Koiwa we bought some drinks and had the food we bought earlier. It was actually pretty nice breaded chicken beansprouts rice and shrimp.

It had been an up and down day but we ended it on a high, happy.

Free umbrellas

We woke up both feeling unwell, it was a struggle to get out of bed. When we eventually made it to leave the Ryokan the manage ran out and said "Do you have umbrella", I did not so he said, "Today is very rainy here take these" and handed us too umbrellas what a nice fellow!

As it was raining we appreciated how many of the walkways in Koiwa (and Tokyo in general) are covered. Pretty sure they could not do this in the UK as they would be immediately vandalised. 

We headed to Ginza, it turned out that museums are shut on Mondays so we decided to go shopping. The first stop was the Sony centre. The home of Sony has a whole building dedicated to the TV's stereos and other electronics produced by the Sony corporation. They had an amazing TV hooked unto blu ray looked stunning. I bought myself a pair of noise cancelling headphones in the hope that I'll be able to hear some music on the flight home.

Exiting Sony we walked around two buildings with restraints on the 42nd floor, then with a. viewing platform on the 46/47th flloor. There were spectacular views over the city. We decided to splash out and eat there, however we had missed lunch as it was 2pm so we decided to grab a drink and return later.

Ginza is one of the most expensive and exclusive shopping areas in the world. Think Kensington in London or The Champ-Elysees in Paris. There were a lot of awesome clothes. I had borrowed a bag from Ian but the zipper on it broke so I got myself a little "man-bag" to cart around my bits and pieces. It looks great in red leather. K found a wonderful top in the sale but decided it was still a bit too pricy so after a lot of thought put it back.

Dinner was held at the Oregon diner on the 41st floor sat next to the window looking out onto Tokyo below. The food was excellent, life doesn't get much better than this.

Day 5 in Japan Ginza

 Woke up both feeling unwell, it was a struggle to get out of bed.

As I was putting on my shoes to leave the Ryokan the owner ran out exclaiming, "Do you have an umbrella?", "Nope" I responded. "Today is very rainy here have these" and handed us two umbrellas. What a really nice fellow.

As it was raining we appreciated Koiwa covered pavements. The walkways actually had roofs with complete lighting for the evening. I don't know how long something like that would last in Manchester. Its like the number of vending machines out on the street, they would be vandalised back home.

We headed first to Ginza. The art gallery and museums don't open on Monday so we decided to go and check out the shops. First stop was the Sony Building. The Sony building is part museum part showcase of the various offering of the Sony Corporation. From TV's too Stereos and Computers. As a self confessed geek this was very exciting to see. There was an amazing TV setup playing from blu-ray which looked amazing.

I bought myself a pair of noise cancelling headphones from the shop. Hopefully this will enable me to listen to music on the flight home over the drone of the engines.

Following the geek fest we walked around enjoying the cityscape eventually finding two large buildings with sky restaurants 42 in the Shoa, 46/47 in the Durai. We went up for a look at the view from both so got some magnificent views of the city. We decided to eat there but by the time we finished viewing it was already past 2 so they were closed. We made a reservation for later.

Ginza is one of the most expensive parts of Tokyo home to major brands, labels and upmarket stores. It is certainly an interesting place to walk around. Lots of clothes and accessories. I had borrowed a bag off Ian but the zipper broke so I treated myself to a man bag to carts my bits and pieces around int. It looks great in red leather. I was a bit worried it might make me seem camp but Kasia said it looked great. Kasia found a beautiful top in the sale but it was still close to £200 which on balance seemed a bit too much so we put it back. 

For dinner we went to the Oregon diner not he 41st floor, sat next to the window looking out across Tokyo eating grommet food life doesn't really get much better!

Japan day 4 Imperial Gardens and Mori building

Finally made it to the Imperial East Gardens on the 3rd attempt. Walked over from Tokyo station to the gardens. They are really nice but quite reserved.

Afterwards we gave in an bought subway cards as the train stations are not always near the places we wanted to visit. 1000 Yen for the Tokyo metro excluding the Toie lines (which is a separate subway system because Tokyo is so massive it needs more than one underground system!).

After the gardens we went for a walk around visiting the Mori are museum. Grabbing a great view of Tokyo at night and eating some rice balls.

Tokyo Skyline

Rice balls

Tokyo international forum

We woke up late after forgetting to set the alarm. I'd slept for 14 hours which is the longest I have slept in years, at least it cleared my jet lag headache.

We attempted to visit the Imperial Palace again, but while walking from the metro we noticed the international forum.

An amazing building in steel and glass, rising majestically from the street. The design is an oval shape with a huge expanse of atrium surrounded by a walkway rising around the edge.

We made it to the gardens at 3pm and there were closing at 4pm, there is a 45 minute stroll to the entrance so we gave up on the palace and instead headed to Asakusa. 

Our tickets were only for the railway not the subway so we had a long walk from the garden to the station then from the Ueno station to Asakusa. It was a pleasant stroll though, Asakusa is a bit less full on that Shinjuko. There were a lot of nice shops and restaurants. We stopped for dinner in one of the Japanese restaurants. I had the breaded squid and green tea. It was another point and choose affair. 

After the dinner we wondered around and found a shrine. Like the Baddest shrines in Shanghai outside there was a large market. Kasia bought a fortune cokie, she will have good fortune. The light was failing and it was getting chilly so we headed back tot eh train station and Koiwa. We sat in the Ryokan chatting and enjoying the evening.

Tokyo

Tokyo Tower

Breakfast was fun. We walked into a Japanese diner near to the Ryokan. They did not speak English and my Japanese is not great so it ended up being a point and choose affair.

I took a bento box with rice pork some sort of tofu and beansprouts. We weren't sure how to pay so I looked up the eating etiquette in the lonely planet guide and it turned out we had broken all the rules, oops.

We took the train into Tokyo centre, walked around the Imperial Gardens then strolled from grand to garden in the direction of Tokyo tower.

Near to the tower we found some steps that we followed down, finding a wonderful garden at the bottom.

After that we went out to the Bay Area which is mostly commercial but you get a good view of the skyline. Next stop was Ikiburi, then finally the evening in Shinjuku. A wild place!

Arrival in Japan

Ryokan Fugi

We arrived in Tokyo. Wow that was a long flight, I managed to have a sleep and watch 2 films, Kite Runner and I am Legend. We nearly fell asleep on the train out to Koiwa where our traditional Ryokan was located. 

It's quite overwhelming getting across Tokyo for a Westerner, its so colourful and bright. The scene from Lost in Transalation is about right the senses are assaulted, the sights the sounds and smells.

Tatami mat floor and low table

The Ryokan Fugi is a small lodging house with a. traditional Japanese room, and bath.

Ueno park cherry blossom

We managed to have a round of the Cherry Blossom in Ueno it was late in the day but it was very beautiful. Many people were picnicking under the trees enjoying the outside.

Paranoid Android

I woke up really early this morning, 6am. It was quiet strange given I stayed up late last night coughing and sputtering and full of a cold.

Sleep wouldn't return so I sat awake and read "On the Road (Penguin Essentials) ", in fact I got through about half the book as dawn broke on the world outside. Its an amazing read the story really moves along wrapping you up in the beat generation world of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they live out their crazy existence across America.

I would highly recommend this book, its hard to describe its got so many interesting narratives and characters but it draws you in so that you just want to see how it all plays out

New Soul

I am full of a cold. Yesterday was a difficult one for me, I sat through work my bones aching and flu filled it was difficult making it through work. I had arranged to go for some dinner with Nick and Ian.

Ian had to pul out as he had only just returned from London. Phil and Bruce were both out though. Bruce having just returned from a tour of work in Belfast.

We decided to go for a drink first as the Pizza express was full when we arrived. Enjoyed a pint in the Rectory while the crowds cleared, then feeling lazy we rode in Bruces car closer to Pizza express, in fairness it was pouring down.

I had, a mozarrelle and tomoato starter, and a pizza called Etna. It was a chilli and ham affair, very strongly flavoured on a thin crust base. I really enjoyed it. We all swapped slices around and the ham and chicken pizza Nick ordered was by far the best of the bunch.
After the food Nick made tracks while Bruce Phil and I went to the coach and four fora a few more drinks.

Diamond Hoo Ha Man

Back to work today, you would think after 4 days off I would be feeling refreshed but in fact quiet the opposite I felt sluggish. I managed just about to fix a several bugs and make inroads into some new data changes we needed though.
I was going to go to the gym after work but when Dad picked me up (I still don't have my car back, tomorrow always tomorrow) I chickened out. Which was a real shame as Kasia told me I have put on weight, very depressing. I suppose I have had a lot of meals out and not enough exercise recently. Two Indian meals over Easter was extreme overkill but being invited out by two separate sets of friend both of which I want catch up with and I do love Indian food. I love meeting up with friends too even though I mostly get drunk I love meeting people hearing their stories.
I received my Japan rail pass in the post this morning, it pretty exciting all I have to to now is get my travel money and pack. The only slightly unfortunate thing about that is that the exchange rate is currently terrible. The pound might be strong against the US Dollar but against the Euro and Yen its running at a huge discount. Oh well its very difficult to predict these trends, I am really excited about the trip I cant wait to go wondering around Tokyo taking in the sights.

Scary World Theory

Call me a glutton, but somehow I ended up getting talked into going out for another Indian meal last night. Endo arranged for himself, Jo, Martin, Charlotte, Adam, Steph, Phil and I to have a meal at La Quila Handforth.
Martin was on good form telling us all about the Delorean (he even took me for a ride in it, it sounds great!).
After the meal we headed for a few drinks at the Bulls Head, pictures here We were getting merry and talking about the time Martin accidentally threw a milkshake over his car. To celebrate this fact Phil poured wax onto Endo's leg.
After closing time we went back to Martins house. He didn't really invite us, I think partly because He still hasn't finished his living room. I guess he had other things to spend his money and time on...
I was very drunk and probably chatted incoherently a lot. I woke up this morning feeling like death, spent most of the day feeling sorry for myself. I went to watch a film this evening, we watched the Bank Job. Based on the real events the film focuses on a robbery of a London bank to recover incriminating photographs of a royal, I quiet enjoyed it.

Delorian

 
 
Martin Has bought himself a Delorian!

Seven Spices

After a rather dull day I had a very interesting evening. Hooking up with Nick, Ian, Phil and Gilly we headed out to the new(ish) Indian seven spices in Cheadle Hulme. The place is attempting to be an upmarket Indian restaurant. They have excellent decor and the food was a cut above the normal.
Poppadoms were scarce they server a kind of salt and pepper Poppadoms, not just the usual deep fried affair. They tasted great but there wasn't really enough to go round for 7 hungry people.
I started with Sheek Kebabs, which were excellently prepared, just about the right level of flavor. I swapped half for Phil's Afghan Tikka, I wish I had ordered his dish. The chicken was succulent and tender the preparation superbly flavoured.
My main course was akin to a Jalfrezi, chicken tikka with a green chilli onion an pepper sauce.
The drink service was pretty good the Polish girl serving us regularly asked us how we were doing. The food service wasn't quiet so hot, we had to wait for some time for our order to be taken and as I guess everything was cooked to order the waiting time was fairly long. The portion sizes were good all the food arrived server in deceptively sized copper pots.
Overall the food and surrounding were top notch, in fact some of the best I have tasted. The service was good in places but it took a good while to actually eat anything. The bill came to about £27 a head pretty expensive for Indian, and pushed up by the high cost of the drinks which due to the wait we ended up drinking quite a few of. I would say for connoisseurs is an excellent choice for people wanting a traditional Indian its a bit overprices and definitely not fast food.
After the meal we headed to the John Millington for a drink, then wen on to Bramhall for a couple of drinks at Graze. I was so full I found drinking a chore and got a lift back with Nick at one.

An end has a start

I am so lazy today, I have sat here for about 2 hours trying to psych up the energy to get dress and get to the gym.
I have really done much the holiday weekend either. Yesterday I fixed up the shed roof, the extreme winds had torn off the felt, fortunately we had a roll in the shed.
After that Phil came over to help me set up the new server, we got about 10 minutes into it when Martina turned up. She is going on a trip to the south west today. I must have bored her to death watching us play with the computers.
In the evening I went round to Phil's House to watch films and drink beer, it was nice to relax the cycle home was a bit chilly though. We watched John Rambo which was incredibly graphic even for Rambo. I quiet enjoyed it though I wasn't sure of some of the messages.
Tonight I am going for a meal with Jo, Holly, Phil, Ian, Nick and Sarah. We are planning to sample the new restaurant call the Seven Spices in Cheadle Hulme.
That said I better get to the gym!

Neko Rahmen

I have been watching Neko Ramen a Japanese animation about a cat running a noodle shop, its pretty good and available for free via bit torrent on Azureus Vuze.

The Cure

I am sure most people at some point get the feeling that they are merely pawns in some sort of great game, to which we dont really even understand the rules. I often feel that way, and every so often I see something whihc captures it, this is one of those things. It is a clip from Zeitgeist, the Movie To be fair its the sort of documentry film making which blends fact with clever filmmaking to labour a point sometimes bending things wildly out of their original context. Still a very interesting take especially given the current liquidity crisis in which some of the big banks have been scooping up rivals at exceptional discounts.

Remember me

I know, I have been terrible recently never posting blogs, I have several half written pieces that for one reason or another are waiting on completion.
In fairness to myself I have been very busy with work and various other things, perhaps I will get around to writing it up one day.
Today was quiet a good day really, work wasn't too horrible and I met Sarah for lunch at the rectory. We had a few drinks and both tried to shake off work stresses. I really enjoyed taking time out to just sit and talk about life the universe and everything. During lunch we also arranged to hook up with Jo, Holly and others on Saturday night for a curry.
I had a couple of drinks with lunch and I felt very relaxed and in control back at work, and in the afternoon I managed to get through a few little issues pretty well.
This evening was Emily's birthday and a Sandbox gig at the Night and Day Cafe in Town. Ian drove down and we picked up Danny on route. I hadn't seen him for a while so it was pretty good to catch up.
We arrived in time to hear the second Sandbox song, they sounded really good except Andy's bass drum was trying to make a great escape. He was getting pretty vexed by it, at one point lobbing his drum sticks away in disgust.
I caught up with Emily she seemed to be having a fun birthday, and K was also in a very good mood.
I must admit at first I found it hard to be communicative, I was feeling really tired and a little depressed from work but after a few beers I warmed to conversation. I had a long chat with K about her dissertation, she is writing about surveillance it all sounded very interesting.
Ian was showing us his dance moves, from the quirky "feeding the chickens" to the downright outrageous "sprinkler" we were very amused at his techniques.

Mr Brightside

I have been feeling really angry and upset the last week. The garage are really messing me about, they have had car for three weeks now and I still don't know what is going on. I have had so many stories, I think that they are covering up a complete lack of knowledge.
My house searching is not exactly going very well either, either my budget is just too small or I haven't yet seen the right property. I am getting a little fatigued searching though.
I think I am just generally fatigued, I realised that for nearly two years I have worked on one high pressure project after another, there have been so many deadlines and work its all starting to make me battle weary.
Today was Budget Day, and as typical for the New Labour nanny state beer is getting more expensive, as is fuel. More and more I feel that working people like me are paying a huge burden yet more and more people are excluded from life by the increasingly Byzantine system. Everything seems to be about complexity rather than transparency and fairness. I really think it it detrimental, I really think a simpler system would be fairer to all, at the minute the middle of society is screwed while those that can afford clever accountants (and non doms) avoid a great deal. I think my view is backed up by the fact that despite all the extra taxes the divisions in society are growing, quiet quickly.

Silence

Over two weeks and still I am carless. Its been sent to a difference "expert" today, still no concrete costing or date for getting it fixed. I feel totally powerless, when it initially broke down I thought its not worth fixing new car time but I allowed myself to be swayed by the mechanics, big mistake. It was of course in their interest to fix it and generate work rather than tell me to buy something new so at the minute I am caught no car and an expensive bill to come. Not exactly what I need, cycling can be a chore, especially with the bad weather.

I was really annoyed when my dad picked me up from work, its slightly unfair, but he sided with the mechanics and still does. I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill until my calves burned and my t-shirt was saturated with sweat. I felt an awful lot better walking out than when I went in.

I went to see my friend Ali. Its been a while so she invited me round for dinner, which turned out to be a rather tasty spaghetti bolognese. She has three kids, two boys and a girl. I really have no idea how she copes I think I would go crazy, I remember, just about, how much of a little bastard I was at their age. I think that she does a pretty good job on her own its kind of inspirational.

In Between Days

I went out with Nick this morning to look at a couple of houses in Shaw Heath. The first one was an ex council house on the edge of Shaw Heath, I didn't like it from the get go, the area looked unloved and the houses were that horrible council style so utilitarian and ugly. It also boded badly that as we parked up we were able to watch the police rapping on the door of a house further down the street.
Inside the decor was frankly awful I couldn't wait to get away, unfortunately the owner was keen to show us everything.

The second house was much better, a two up two down terrace on one of the little side streets. Nicely done up and maintained I liked all but two things about it, to the back over the passageway was a commercial building. Worse thought was the price, I think 10-15
more than I would want to pay.

Nick was reticent to talk about his absence from the comedy evening making only a dark comment about not being in the mood to laugh. I decided not to push the issue. He did however take me to see some of the houses he has been looking at, which was interesting.

After all the house hunting I took mum to the garden centre to look at plants and bought some pots. Then I went swimming to relax.

In the evening I headed round to Phil's to catch up with Lost, it made my head swim. I really am being to get very confused by the plot twists and turns, its gone from the sublimb to the ridiculous and beyond. Rather than parallel the man of faith versus the man of religion we are now firmly into the Sci-Fi realms.

"the cake is a lie"

I feel really tired today it has been a long week.

I had to work early Saturday morning and I felt tired that I just stayed home played portal and chatted to Kasia online. Portal is amazing, though nowhere near as hard as Bruce and John led me to believe.

Saturday morning was hard because I needed to be in work and my parents needed the car early morning I had to ask my dad nicely if he would give me a lift in for 6am, fortunately he said yes. The job actually went pretty well apart from the usual suspect not doing his bit.

Dispite the problems we managed to wrap up by 9, so I had enough time to rush home get changed grab my bike and cycle to Cheadle Hulme in time for the spring Yoga Morning. Yoga was relaxing but also quiet a work out. There were 3 guys including myself in the class of 36 people and the women were mostly a heck of a lot more flexible than me. I did feel really good if a little tired afterwards. Cycling home was really hard, feeling tired after three hours of Yoga and cycling into the wind.

In the evening it was the monthly Laugh at the Legion. I arranged to go down with Martina, Nick, Phil and Bruce. Ian gave Nick myself and Martina a lift down before toddling off to meet Gilly for some drinks. Nick was a bit quiet and said he forgot his wallet so disappeared again, strange thing was he didn't reappear. We all enjoyed the show there were a couple of really good comedians Martina was very amused by the singing grammar Nazi. We all got really quiet drunk, apparently she was making some strange comments in the car on the way home, I walked home in an effort to get rid of some of the alcohol.

When I arrived I was just making a snack in the kitchen when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought it was drunkenness. I made a double take at finally focussed on the field mouse sat under the chair in the dining room. For a couple of minutes we stared at each other, the mouse made the first move though darting like lightning across the kitchen then leaping to freedom in the depths under the sink.

3V

Here is an interesting idea. Bascially you buy vouchers at payments points which can then be used to buy goods and services online.

Each voucher you purchase has a visa number on the receipt the expiry data and cvt2 are sent to your email or mobile phone. These are the three details needed to make purchases online.

Unlike some other payment cards this can be used at any site that excepts Visa. While this does look like a coinvent solution for people whom don't have or cannot get a credit card there do seem to be a few little quirks. The actual physical card is only used to purchase vouchers each voucher has its own visa number and while you can move money from one to another there is a £1.75 charge. Some of the vouchers themselves have a charge to purchase and the maximum amount that can be used cannot exceed £200's

Further more like the pre pay mobile phone vouchers this scheme is clearly based around the vouchers have an expiration after which their value drops to zero.

You could use these for anonymous online payments couple with an unregistered pre pay mobile phone.

Over all I think this is an interesting but expensive and fiddly system which isn't worth it for the average person. Given one of the pay points local to me is a high school they are clearly targeting young people who are used to buying top up for they pre pay phones and cant yet get a real credit card. They might also be useful for people paranoid about fraud shopping online after all the maximum you can lose is the vouchers value.

One thing to note as these are not real credit cards you wont be protected by section 75 of the consumer credit card act so if you were buying items and they arrived damaged you would not have the credit card company to back you up.Here is an interesting idea. Basically you buy vouchers at payments points which can then be used to buy goods and services online.

Happy House

Sorry for getting all political but ID cards really annoy me. Labour MP Jackie Smith was on the Today program this morning talking about the plans for the introduction of ID cards. Initially they will be foisted on foreign workers in the UK, I guess Kasia and Martina will both need one. Apparently by 2010 the government will start offering these cards over to young people. She made one specific point about how ID cards would help them in particular because at the moment they need to take in 5 types of ID to register for a bank account. I couldn't help thinking that its the government which made registering for a bank account so difficult in the first place in a misguided effort to cut fraud (given the level of fraud hasn't changed I don't think it worked).

I wonder if this is government strategy, to help acts pass make life deliberately difficult and then pose the act they want to be passed as the answer. I think back to the rumours going round London about the congestion charge, that prior to the introduction of the charge the traffic system was slowed by reorganising of the traffic lights. So that immediate gains in congestion could be proven straight away. Is it paranoia is are we sleepwalking into a big brother state?

I really cannot see ID cards being anything other than an expensive and overreaching system. No matter how good the security measure I imagine there will be a cottage industry around fakes within a few months of their launch. On PM a security firm ridiculed the inconsistencies in the security and the many pitfalls in the system. In the end no matter how secure the system is the weak link are the actual checks done at ground level by staff. The same staff who for example who let a Brazilian cleaner get away because she ran, and the self same ones who allowed a male journalist to use a fake passport with Jackie Smiths picture on it.

I went for lunch with Sarah, the second time in a week. She seemed a lot more at ease today, last time I think her work had rather been taking its toll on her. We ate in the Bollin Fee, I had a cheese, bbq chicken and bacon panini it was really rather tasty. I feel a lot more relaxed with her now and we seem to have really enjoyable conversations, I am always sad we only get an hour at lunch.

This evening I watched the assassination of Jesse James with Martina and Phil. It was a very long film, beautifully shot but I found it a little drawn out and self indulgent. Martina really enjoyed it, Phil seemed so tired he barely concentrated.

An Ending

I got back from the Gym in time to catch the Japanese part of around the world in 80 Gardens. You can catch it on the bbc iplayer for the next 7 days. Kyoto looked so wonderful, I really cant wait to see it for myself. There is one scene where Monty Don is in a taxi driving past a bamboo patch and just has to stop and admire it, it looked like the scene in house of flying daggers!

Owners on the orange phone network get two tickets for the price of one at Cineworld cinemas every Wednesday night. As Martina is an Orange customer was indulged in an Orange Wednesday night.

We went to see Juno, a film about a teenage girl whose life is turned upside down after she becomes pregnant. Rather than aborting she decides to have the hild adopted, the film follows the emotional twists and turns. I found it a really touching and cute film. The dialogue and acting were excellent and the sound track is superb, well worth a watch.

50 faces of

When I blog I always write what I think at the time. Unfortunately like most people I am emotional and erratic and hypocritical. I say things I should, emote my frustrations, anger and temporary feelings. In the beginning it hardly mattered, my readership was limited to the odd Google whack. I saw a T-Shirt the other day which read "this slogan has more readers than your blog", which is eerily true. Over time though there are a few people who noticed and started following and I have had a few comments usually in the real world that gave me pause to think. I am not writing to upset people more as a release, for myself however given that its the internet plenty of people can read my output. So the choice is to stop, to moderate or to continue and risk alienating people, so far I have mostly chosen to moderate, I hope that is the correct course to take.

Today was really difficult, I found out my car is totally trashed and had to make a snap decision on whether to fix it or not. In the end I decided to fix it as it would be better the devil I know. I could have gone out and bought a banger but whats to say I wouldn't have faced the same problem next month. It just couldn't have come at a worse time, I just paid £300 for a service and MOT, and £400 for my gym membership. On top of an expensive trip to Japan I am forced to dip into my savings which in turn diminishes my house deposit.

I met Sarah for Lunch though I felt it wasn't the best of our meetings. She looked harassed from work and I after a couple of comments I came to the conclusion some of the tings I have blogged might have come across as negative. Sometimes I get so into writing that I almost forget the connection to the real world. Anyhow to set the record straight, I do shy away from contact, but I like hugs, I just shy away when I don't know people well. Anyway my rather rambling point is it has been most enjoyable to meet Sarah and swap our respective stories and take a break from the hustle of the office.

Wake Up Alone

Bit of a strange quandary this morning. I opened my email to find a message from somebody I had never heard of before at the client. He was asking for some rather sensitive information. He had actually forwarded me an email conversation from several people at the clients site discussing how they will work on a new version of something we currently provide them. I forwarded it onto my boss, he found it all very disturbing, me too.

This evening I went to the gym and spent 45 minutes on the treadmill then 15 minutes cycling. I then pretty much undid this all by eating two dinners and lots and lots of cake. I had arranged to go to Martina's to watch Eastern Promises. Martina said she had made cake and I was in a rush so I only half read her email, so not only cake but also a second dinner was waiting, I'll never be slim!

The film was pretty good, Naomi Watts tries to investigate the parentage of a baby girl after her 14 year old mother dies in childbirth. She is drawn into a London underworld of Russians, prostitutes and villains. It was a pretty entertaining film malevolent and violent (in a real not cartoon way) I really enjoyed it.

After watching Bruce text messaged me so we went to the March Hare for a quiet drink and a chat. Bruce has to go to Belfast for the rest of the week.

Z.N.S.

I had two main tasks to do today. The first was to work on a comments system for Phil. He wants a really simple comment page that he can use with some commercial system he has purchased. I knocked together a very basic script.

Tee second task was to go for another viewing on a house in Shaw Heath. I took Nick with me to capitalise on his knowledge, it was very interesting watching him work. Poking around seeing things I just didn't notice at all. Firstly he noticed there was a right of way across the back of the property, then that the wall at the back of the place was falling down, the vendor had put a wooden fence in front of it to cover it up. His advice was, if they are covering up that what other sorts of things where lurking below the surface. I trust his superior experience so I wont be buying.

We did however take a walk around Shaw Heath. It is a regeneration area and as such the council have been making various improvements such as replacing frontages, clearing up the passageways and improving security. Nick was impressed with some of the housing stock and the variety of different type of houses.

He in fact gave me a lot of advice, so while the house was a dead loss the experience was a positive one. I saw a couple of streets which I am going to try and target and see what happens.

This evening was not bad, I ate Chinese food with Phil then we met up with Nick and went to see Semi Pro which was quiet funny. From the same team as Anchor man and Talagdada nights it was another modern comedy. Set in 1970's Flint Michigan the jokes were pretty good very good period stuff and Will Farrell was at his dead pan best. I still think Anchor man is by far an away the best thing he has done, but if you like that you might like Semi Pro.

Virus alert

No not the insidious computer wreaking variety, rather the more modern viral marketing.
Recently logging onto Facebook or checking my email I have found more and more "Funny" video clips forwarded by my friends which are nothing but adverts for products. It bad enough the internet is chock full of advertising without my people forwarding more to me. I know some of them are funny but it sometimes feel like were are simply a frame to wrap advertising round (Maybe I should put in a link to Amazon here just to be ironic!).

Today is February 29th, quiet an unusual day, traditionally it the day women can propose to men. I haven't received any proposals this time though, maybe in 4 years time!

Infected Mushroom

It has been another busy week, made more difficult by the lack of a car. Unfortunately at first the garage was too busy too look at it, then since they did they are having difficulty locating a part. I feel really guilty taking so many lifts, my Mum has even been taking the bus to work so I can get to work. Thanks to the dire state of public transportation it is actually easier for my mum to catch a bus to Withington than for me to Wilmslow. There is a bus which runs from the end of my road into Manchester (passing through Withington and Didsbury on route). I would have to catch two buses and it would take longer for me to go a much shorter distance. I still feel guilty though even though she offered, my parents will do pretty much anything for me which is great but also makes me feel like a child, I can never be independent while I am here. Ill always be an ungrateful and underachieving person until I get some more independence into my life, get out of the comfort zone as they say.
Talking of comfort zones, last night I was just drifting off to sleep when the earthquake woke me. For some strange reason it made me think of the night I went out with Martina and the French assistants; I don't really know why my brain made the association, but it did. One think struck me, something I have realised meeting them and other people recently, I'm not a tactile person at all. The French girl did the European lets kiss as we great thing and I really found it very awkward. I have never felt comfortable at close quarters with people, it just wasn't part of my upbringing. I always feel awkward and flustered, I think it makes me appear standoffish and aloof, which isn't the case at all. I actually really like hugs, I just lack the confidence around people that I don't know well.

I Woke Up In A Strange Place

Today was the day of the Lan Party. It wasn't the best planned event I just have not been able to find the time to play games never mine set up game servers. So I spent last night tweaking the server to at least play the usual compliment of games. It took a couple of hours to update everything. After which I caught up on lost. I have reservations about what they are doing, this season they seem to want to try something different but at the same time not know where to take the story.

I woke up shutdown and packed up the servers then grabbed breakfast. While I was eating my mum needed to go out, she going to the hairdresser with my grandma. My dad offered to back out my car and let her out as I was eating. 10 minutes later he came in and told me it wouldn't start. We called the AA and the man arrived in about 25minutes. He poked around and suggested that the fuel pump isnt pumping anymore, so he transported it to a garage. Its probably going to cost £100's to fix, C'est La Vie.

I had to ring Bruce and ask nicely if he would pick me up. We mosied on over to Phils as they had arrange for the keys to be dropped off there. Phil had to take his parents to the Airport as they were off back to Deux Alps to see Tina again. Bruce and I waited while he left and came back, still noone bearing keys arrived. So Phil phoned the guy, and two minutes later found the keys, thye had been dropped off the night before :S

We squeezed the gear into the cars and headed to the legion. I opened the door, tapped the code into the alarm, it kept beeping. I shouted to Phil he tried, then the alarm went off. The noise was excruciatingly loud, I thought my head was going to explode. The club were burglarised recently, so two things happened, firstly they changed the alarm code secondly they added two extra loud sirens. Another phone call and we managed to get the code, it only went off for a few minutes but it felt like and eternity.

We finally got into the club with no sirens blaring, and had our first stroke of luck. Someone had left some extra tables. We set up the tables and chairs with the extra we were more than ready for a crowd. Unfortunately the setup was marred by the game server dieing. It has done over 10 lan's without a hitch the server for the games event broke. We tried a repair and managed (about 2 hours after people arrived) to rig up something but it caused a lot of disruption and meant we couldn't share files around easily.

After we got going the gaming went alright though and we dropped the £5 entry fee because of the disruption. After gaming, Pizza and a few beers everyone seemed to have a great day so despite everything we made a success of things.

C64 + Wii?

http://www.gameslave.co.uk/newscomments.cfm?news=7007&title=Commodore-64-Titles-Coming-to-Wii

When Under Ether

There was a hole in my logic this morning, I spent a stressful few hours trying to work out what is was. After I got to the bottom of the problem though today was relatively non-stressful and productive, a nice change.

It being Thursday I met Sarah for lunch. We chose a different venue this week trying out the rectory. It was pretty quiet and we were served really quickly. I think the food is a little better at the Slug but the service was certainly better at the rectory. I am afraid to say I made a very foolish error. I bought a card for her upcoming birthday and left the damn thing at home. I didn't even think about it until she was sitting opposite me.

We had a long chap about the house I am interested in, having worked in the rentals market she has a lot of experience so I was keen to hear what she had to say.

Afterwards we were having a general chat about past events. It was very strange in a way as her recollection is an oddly parallel one to mine. It felt vaguely like watching a news program where different people are being interviewed about the same event; they all describe the same general themes but there are subtle differences in their perception of the occurrence. I found it fascinating listening this alternate version of our shared reality.

This evening I managed to get a gym session in, I haven't been going very regularly because of work so I found it very difficult, Still I feel a lot better for going, as I walked down the stairs to get changed I was covered in sweat but I had the slightly euphoric feeling of having done myself good.

To celebrate I went to the pub to undo all the good work. Phil and I met Nick and Becky, for a drink in Bramhall.
It was kind of strange, like a return to the past. Its early days but they seem to have a more knowing and wise relationship now, I wish them all the best.

Giving up blogging

No not really I just was laughing at this

Im not the only one

Working with dead languages then this guy seems to have a made a career working with Cobol a something I always assumed was longer dead than basic.
I am not entirely sure I believe he wanted to get into Cobol programming, but I do enjoy the fact he has seen a gap in the market and learned the dark and ancient art in an attempted to fill the gap between modern and elder language.
On the same lines I found this article lamenting the loss of the older programming languages as a terrible loss as a teaching aide. In his mind one of the great things about the older languages like basic was they allow you to quickly put mathematical exercises into practise and actually see the logic in practise. The more abstract modern languages are so removed from the operation it is no longer possible to see the connection between the code and what the computers is actually doing. I certainly agree when I was a kid there was something magical about typing in code snippets from magazine and actually seeing something come to life on screen.

Halber Mensch

I have an early morning tomorrow I should be in bed already but I am tired and upset. I an really angry with myself it seems like all I can managed to do at the minute is screw things up. I have lost a little faith in myself to be honest. It hasnt helped that someone that I really felt were going to be a big part of my life have let me down pretty badly, I suppose I should have known better.
Work is not much better, today I overheard a conversation in which some new guy at the customer site was getting heaps of praise. Now that is great only a big part of what he was being cited for is actually partly my work on top of the whole award mess last week it really made my blood boil.
Japanese class was inteteresting this evening though I am worried its not strong enough for my travels, not long until I leave now. I aam really looking forward to it, in fact its one of the very few good things on the horizon.

I Feel It All

I went house viewing this evening, saw 4 Houses. 2 in Edgeley, one in Adswood and one in Shaw Heath. Amazing the differences really, all had major pros and cons, the first was next to a take away and due to the enlarged bath the occupants had put in it was impossible to open the door, answer remove the door to their bathroom.
Next place was OK in the reservoir area but was mostly un-modernised and struck me as far too much of a project for me to take on.
The third place I had almost dismissed before walking through the door. On a main road opposite a petrol station and next to a newsagents. We were joking about how much of a waste of time it was. Only when we actually walked into the place we we both pleasantly surprised. It was really spacious especially with both the cellar and attic converted, it also required next to no work to move in. Really the lounge is the only room that need attention. I was also toying with the idea of renting one room out to help fund the place [that is only an idea at this stage] There are some more details to be worked out yet but a promising prospect never the less.

Tupelo

Well last week was truly awful, work ate into my personal life to such an extent life away from work was virtually none existent.
Two very late nights and the general slog, pressure really got the better of me by Friday I was worked out.

Before I left work though there was one last kicker. Over the last months of 2007 there was a large reorganisation at the customers site. The ICT department (where I am based) all worked really hard and it seems the management realised this and came to commend everyone. Well everyone apart from me. Now I realise I am not an employee, but I do work there everyday and have don't for years, and I worked hard really hard getting things done, a word of thanks would have been nice. Plus the knowledge that the whole rest of the department get to go out on a company paid for piss up is rather galling.

I had arranged to go and see the new Paul Thomas Anderson film with Martina on Friday night. I enjoyed it, though I found it like all his films strong on acting and visuals but without a really strong story to back it up. I mean the general story was OK but to personally I really enjoy watching the charaters develop rather than just seeing them as they are. Either way though it was a well worth a watch even though I was so tired I found it difficult to concentrate.

Saturday I went shopping, I really wanted to buy a new coat to replace my aging leather one. The wares on offer were not to my tastes though so I ended up getting some new trainers instead.

Today I spent the morning looking at someones PC, it was pretty stressful as he likes to talk and not listen so sometimes its difficult to put a point across.
After that it was round to Nick's, his ADSL router had finally arrived so I attempted to install it. I failed at the first obstacle though, as the DSL service hadn't been enabled on the phone line.

I tried to sort out my accounts afterwards but ended up getting distracted, I am pretty useless at chasing money from people. There are at least 5 people that owe over 50 enough to keep the server running for months but I having been able to get them to hand over the cash.

After that defeat I helped my dad finaly get his site fully running. We had to experiment a lot but finally got the initial webservice running.

After finally getting it up and going I rewarded myself with a pint down at the Thieves with Nick, Phil and Bruce. It was the first alcohol I drunk this weekend. If I can start getting back to the gym next week and retake control of my life everything will be fine.

I have 4 viewing booked tomorrow, hopefully it should give me a better insight into Edgeley. My mum came up with some crazy scheme today for me to take over their house, but I don't think it would be possible unless I either shaft them or bankrupt myself so I think its a none starter.

Destroy Everything You Touch

This has been a very, very long week. Its gone so fast that its almost a blur. On Tuesday the address lookup system we used expired, it has a built in self destruct if new files aren't loaded within a cut off period. It isn't normally a problem, simple insert the update CD and run a script. The only problem was nobody could locate the CD. No problem though the customer has a support contract so they can download the update, just one quick phonecall... The tech who called up received a recorded message telling him to a download site. I thought this sounded a little suspect, and I really thought so when the download speed was so slow, only attributable to the number of people downloading.

Along side the lack of automated address lookups strange errors started to be reported. With a greater and greater frequency a rather weird "Unexpected operating system error" kept appearing all over the place. More and more users reported the error, I couldn't really explain it and contacted so of my colleagues. They all suggested either hardware going wrong or corrupt data.

The problems escalated at pace, the first reports came in the morning when I got in at 9 but by 1 the system had ground to a halt. That meant the entire companies main CRM system stopped running during the middle of a busy day. I was sat at my desk surrounded by a group of staff and managers peering over my shoulder and asking when it was going to be fixed. Only I didn't have a clue what the problem is.

Actually I am doing myself a disservice, I did manage to locate the problem within a reasonable time, the main data file for customer enquiries was corrupted. I also managed to convince a colleague to get me a copy of the address lookup software. A reboot restore and data copy later and we were able to get users back onto the system.

Unfortunately the backup system was broken, so after this frantic day I had to go home, then log in after hours and copy back the live system to the backup. It took until 3am, I was like a ghost coaxing the copy.

I got the morning off to recover, I even managed to go swimming. Unfortunately the problems well still reoccurring, though they were more isolated. I spent the afternoon looking into it on the phone to various people.

It bothered me all night, I went round to Martinas to watch a film. I was so tired i found it really hard to concentrate on the film. To be honest I didn't enjoy the film much at all. It was called a cock and bull story its based on some famous book. Martina and Annika seemed to enjoy it having read the book at university. I found it to knowing and too much packed full of the usual lovees of the British comedy scene.

Today I really hunkered down on the errors, and finally found another data file which had corruption for a number of cases. I felt really good about locating and finding a solution to the problem even though it meant more out of hours work.
I felt much better about going out for lunch having a solution under my belt. I met Sarah at the Slug and lettuce. We had a nice chat about houses
I stayed up tonight cleansing the data of all the bad records. I still have no real idea what caused the initial problem, it seems to have been the names software maybe corrupting memory space, but I cant prove it. I suppose unless it happens again I will never know, maybe that is best.

I got called into see one of the managers, he started by complimenting the way I handled the problems on Tuesday. It was nice to hear, though the overarching message was one of we have more work to do and we need you to concentrate to get it done. One moment was very pleasing he questioned the wisdom of putting me in the middle of the room, whether it was leading to me getting distracted.

I got a valentines card which was somewhat surprising to be honest. In fact I think its only the second one I have ever received. The thing is, the postal stamp is south east, I don't know anyone in the South East. Well at least no single women, at least that I can think of.

In Between Dreams

I went to look round a house this evening. It is a little 2 bedroom terrace in Edgeley near to Stockport rail station. I quiet liked it, apart from the decor the place is in pretty good condition.
I am not entirely sure about the area, there are a couple of tower blocks down the end of the road.
I also found out that one of the flat I look round in Handforth which was in the process of having a new kitchen now has the kitchen finished and has come down by a couple of thousand pounds. I have arranged another viewing for later in the week.
After the viewing I went to Rusholme for a curry with Martina, her friend from Germany and a trio of French assistants. We tried out Pink Garlic, its a pretty big restaurant on the first floor. They have a joint Chinese and Indian menu which is quiet unique. We all eat Indian though.
The place is pretty impressive they have spent a lot of time on the decor it looks the part. Unfortunately neither the service or the food lives up to the grandeur of the place. I was extremely underwhelmed by the food, it wasn't bad, just not as good as a lot of other restaurants I have tried.