Nagoya TV Tower - by Night
Taken from crossing Sakura-dori/Hisaya-odori
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The blog is back
...because there is no way of saying no to a camel that has made up its mind.
But from now photo-blog is what I am aiming for...
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Ruhrgebit, Lakris and engine factory detention
Long time, more trains and planes.
I wrote something about not knowing if the updates here would be short and frequent or long and far apart in the first post. Well, I think we are starting to see a pattern. At least the blog is still alive, I think.
October consisted of more than three weeks in hotels. This had a reason, but we will get to that later.
To pick up where I left of last time, Yoggi did bring some licorice. Then he of course ate half of it himself, but nevertheless a nice gesture. He also did a very good job of generally bumming around in Japan. Good times with some general sight-seeing and a couple of very late nights on the town. Only downside to the visit was that he won the Pro Evolution series. Might be a while before I will get a chance to even that score. Hopefully I can squeeze a visit in around new years.
I've also been in the land of lederhosen and bratwurst. In the Ruhrgebit to be more exact. Reason was work of course, no person in their right mind would ever go to the Ruhrgebit for holiday, right? However, it is not really the dark, dirty coal pit that it is supposed to be. Still not holiday material, but charming in it's own right. While there I met a colleague from Russia who I somehow manage to keep running into. First Belgium, then Stockholm and now Essen. But the company only has 3000 employees, so I guess it makes sense as a statistical anomaly.
As always, these half week intercontinental adventures are pretty devastating when it comes to jetlag.
Soon after Germany it was time to leave Nagoya behind again for what should have been a nice and clean eight day operation installing systems in Yokohama. It however turned out differently and had me at one point wondering if I would be stuck in cheap business hotels for eternity. To cut a long story short, first six days went more or less according to plan. On the seventh day the customer did not rest, they instead ran into problems. This in turn meant that we got tied up in the factory first proving that our equipment was doing it's job correctly and then providing support in the form of hanging around looking concerned. I am all for being supportive to the customer, but also very much against spending resources where they clearly are not productive. This made the "detention" very frustrating, even more so because of a complete lack of schedule.
On the bright side, I got to try out a couple of hotels in Kawasaki, one in Shin Yokohama, one in Tatchkawa and then of course the capsule hotel in Tsurumi. Turtle Hills in Kawasaki was a bit original, and Tsurumi is one of these places you drive through without even thinking about it (didn't stop the train-station from being crowded in true Japanese fashion of course).
The above was actually written in the beginning of November, but I never had time to do the finishing touches and it was not posted. Lets jump to present time instead.
I was in Sweden last week for some meetings. Also had time to spend a weekend back in Småland. Nice meeting up with family and friends. Flew Finnair this time. Pretty ok, but Lufthansa is a little bit better overall. Next trip is coming up on the 22th ofDecemberr. Three weeks of vacation over the holidays. Will also be very nice. SAS will provide transportation.
Managed to find time for a night on the town yesterday. Met up with a Sebastian, a German friend for some dinner and beers. Following that more beers at aforeignerr hangout where my soccer-team was having a gettogetherr. Here, I met this girl that apparently used to work at my office. I say that I'm Swedish, she asks if I know about Atlas Copco, and I say that I sort of do. It is a small world.
After this we continued to what would become thehighlightt of the night, the club. This club is a members only, basically no foreigners allowed kind of place. But Sebastian has a membership, and was nice enough to introduce me. It turns out that the owner of the place has lived in Stockholm, so before long I'm also presented with a members card. Sweet, since the policy is that threerecommendationss are needed and they have a one year waiting list. Very nice place, looks like a winner this one. Funny how the Sumo-wrestlers all seem to get very pretty girls though.
Only in Japan, kids..
That will be all for now, next post might be from Sweden. It wont take three months anyway.
I wrote something about not knowing if the updates here would be short and frequent or long and far apart in the first post. Well, I think we are starting to see a pattern. At least the blog is still alive, I think.
October consisted of more than three weeks in hotels. This had a reason, but we will get to that later.
To pick up where I left of last time, Yoggi did bring some licorice. Then he of course ate half of it himself, but nevertheless a nice gesture. He also did a very good job of generally bumming around in Japan. Good times with some general sight-seeing and a couple of very late nights on the town. Only downside to the visit was that he won the Pro Evolution series. Might be a while before I will get a chance to even that score. Hopefully I can squeeze a visit in around new years.
I've also been in the land of lederhosen and bratwurst. In the Ruhrgebit to be more exact. Reason was work of course, no person in their right mind would ever go to the Ruhrgebit for holiday, right? However, it is not really the dark, dirty coal pit that it is supposed to be. Still not holiday material, but charming in it's own right. While there I met a colleague from Russia who I somehow manage to keep running into. First Belgium, then Stockholm and now Essen. But the company only has 3000 employees, so I guess it makes sense as a statistical anomaly.
As always, these half week intercontinental adventures are pretty devastating when it comes to jetlag.
Soon after Germany it was time to leave Nagoya behind again for what should have been a nice and clean eight day operation installing systems in Yokohama. It however turned out differently and had me at one point wondering if I would be stuck in cheap business hotels for eternity. To cut a long story short, first six days went more or less according to plan. On the seventh day the customer did not rest, they instead ran into problems. This in turn meant that we got tied up in the factory first proving that our equipment was doing it's job correctly and then providing support in the form of hanging around looking concerned. I am all for being supportive to the customer, but also very much against spending resources where they clearly are not productive. This made the "detention" very frustrating, even more so because of a complete lack of schedule.
On the bright side, I got to try out a couple of hotels in Kawasaki, one in Shin Yokohama, one in Tatchkawa and then of course the capsule hotel in Tsurumi. Turtle Hills in Kawasaki was a bit original, and Tsurumi is one of these places you drive through without even thinking about it (didn't stop the train-station from being crowded in true Japanese fashion of course).
The above was actually written in the beginning of November, but I never had time to do the finishing touches and it was not posted. Lets jump to present time instead.
I was in Sweden last week for some meetings. Also had time to spend a weekend back in Småland. Nice meeting up with family and friends. Flew Finnair this time. Pretty ok, but Lufthansa is a little bit better overall. Next trip is coming up on the 22th ofDecemberr. Three weeks of vacation over the holidays. Will also be very nice. SAS will provide transportation.
Managed to find time for a night on the town yesterday. Met up with a Sebastian, a German friend for some dinner and beers. Following that more beers at aforeignerr hangout where my soccer-team was having a gettogetherr. Here, I met this girl that apparently used to work at my office. I say that I'm Swedish, she asks if I know about Atlas Copco, and I say that I sort of do. It is a small world.
After this we continued to what would become thehighlightt of the night, the club. This club is a members only, basically no foreigners allowed kind of place. But Sebastian has a membership, and was nice enough to introduce me. It turns out that the owner of the place has lived in Stockholm, so before long I'm also presented with a members card. Sweet, since the policy is that threerecommendationss are needed and they have a one year waiting list. Very nice place, looks like a winner this one. Funny how the Sumo-wrestlers all seem to get very pretty girls though.
Only in Japan, kids..
That will be all for now, next post might be from Sweden. It wont take three months anyway.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
でも、京都がきれい/ But Kyoto is beautiful
The pressure has been on lately at work.
First a do or die meeting in a customer project that in some Japanese way ended without much being accomplished. Not a perfect outcome, but managed to put the brakes on a couple of requests that could have been costly. One advice, try not to be negotiating a new order with the same people that you are dealing with in a present project. It tends to mess things up when they use the new buy to put pressure on the project and vice versa. Then I had a presentation in front of some prominent people. That one went ok although being rescheduled to 08.00.
Football today was conducted in light rain. Very nice for sliding tackles, and the temperature was bearable for once.
Last weekend was Tokyo visit weekend. Five Tokyoites drove through the night Friday to be able to spend a weekend in the hotter region of Japan. The weekend continued with Bjorn ditching the rest of the gang in favor of some rock thing in Toyota. Mike then decided that the decision to drive to a beach was not for him, but luckily enough CF could stand in as guide in Nagoya while the rest of us drove to Mie. And drove is what we did. Seven hours in a car and one and a half hour on a beach. Nice beach though. Only let down was that there was almost no other people there. The drive back included some very intelligent conversations where the most important conclusions were that Kyoto is beautiful, so is Kinkakuji, and that great minds think alike. Back in Nagoya the Saturday was ended with one session at Sekkai no Yamachan eating all kinds of unhealthy food (and some sashimi), one visit to a club that did not quite live up to my expectations, and Sunday morning was welcomed with a rather sleepy karaoke session.
This weekend was slow. Some shopping.
Next weekend there are rumors about a visit from Sweden. I sure hope that Yoggi bring s some licorice.
On a side note; Check this Youtube clip out, awesome TV when two biased views clash on air regarding Israel and Hezbollah. And the poor Sky-news correspondent never stands a chance against the Scotsman.
First a do or die meeting in a customer project that in some Japanese way ended without much being accomplished. Not a perfect outcome, but managed to put the brakes on a couple of requests that could have been costly. One advice, try not to be negotiating a new order with the same people that you are dealing with in a present project. It tends to mess things up when they use the new buy to put pressure on the project and vice versa. Then I had a presentation in front of some prominent people. That one went ok although being rescheduled to 08.00.
Football today was conducted in light rain. Very nice for sliding tackles, and the temperature was bearable for once.
Last weekend was Tokyo visit weekend. Five Tokyoites drove through the night Friday to be able to spend a weekend in the hotter region of Japan. The weekend continued with Bjorn ditching the rest of the gang in favor of some rock thing in Toyota. Mike then decided that the decision to drive to a beach was not for him, but luckily enough CF could stand in as guide in Nagoya while the rest of us drove to Mie. And drove is what we did. Seven hours in a car and one and a half hour on a beach. Nice beach though. Only let down was that there was almost no other people there. The drive back included some very intelligent conversations where the most important conclusions were that Kyoto is beautiful, so is Kinkakuji, and that great minds think alike. Back in Nagoya the Saturday was ended with one session at Sekkai no Yamachan eating all kinds of unhealthy food (and some sashimi), one visit to a club that did not quite live up to my expectations, and Sunday morning was welcomed with a rather sleepy karaoke session.
The beach. Not bad, not bad at all.
A train station we found in the middle of nowhere. May seem like nothing special, but in a country that revolves around trains in general and with a life that involve them a lot, seeing this quiet train station with no people around and only one train per hour was an experience.
And to contrast, these are the shinkansen bound for Shin Osaka during a eleven minute interval on a Friday night.
This weekend was slow. Some shopping.
Next weekend there are rumors about a visit from Sweden. I sure hope that Yoggi bring s some licorice.
On a side note; Check this Youtube clip out, awesome TV when two biased views clash on air regarding Israel and Hezbollah. And the poor Sky-news correspondent never stands a chance against the Scotsman.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Walking up a mountain and coming down a hill
Train and plane count since last post:
Plane to Fukuoka. Shinkansen to Nagoya from Fukuoka and to Shinagawa a couple of times as well as one Kodama to Mishima. Not so bad. Maybe have to rename the blog.
Last time I had a chance to see Mt. Fuji up close from Shin Fuji the mountain managed to hide, but last weekend it had nowhere to run. Together with seven Tokyoites I went there, walked to the top and down again. The result, severe sunburn and hurting legs. But it was a lot of fun. We hiked from the base camp at 1800 meters up to 3200 meters during the first day and spent a couple of hours sleeping in a cabin, then got up at 01.00 for the last stage. Amazing how the last climb had a long queue at 02.00 in the morning. Lots of people wanting to see a rather disappointing sunrise. Actually only five of us really watched it. Three of us got hit with altitude sickness and slept it away. On the number of people on the top I have to say, Only in Japan, kids.
My camera is not really made for taking epic scenery pictures, but I took a couple of shots, and a video showing what it is like on the top of Fuji 05.30 at weekends during busy season, beginning with a sunrise scene, continuing displaying how many people are up there wondering why they made themselves climb the rock and ending with a display of the devastating effects altitude can have on Skaningar (half Danish people from the south of Sweden). That is too big to put up here though.
Tomo practicing his Marlboro man pose while Aki opts for the traditional Japanese V.
Plane to Fukuoka. Shinkansen to Nagoya from Fukuoka and to Shinagawa a couple of times as well as one Kodama to Mishima. Not so bad. Maybe have to rename the blog.
Last time I had a chance to see Mt. Fuji up close from Shin Fuji the mountain managed to hide, but last weekend it had nowhere to run. Together with seven Tokyoites I went there, walked to the top and down again. The result, severe sunburn and hurting legs. But it was a lot of fun. We hiked from the base camp at 1800 meters up to 3200 meters during the first day and spent a couple of hours sleeping in a cabin, then got up at 01.00 for the last stage. Amazing how the last climb had a long queue at 02.00 in the morning. Lots of people wanting to see a rather disappointing sunrise. Actually only five of us really watched it. Three of us got hit with altitude sickness and slept it away. On the number of people on the top I have to say, Only in Japan, kids.
My camera is not really made for taking epic scenery pictures, but I took a couple of shots, and a video showing what it is like on the top of Fuji 05.30 at weekends during busy season, beginning with a sunrise scene, continuing displaying how many people are up there wondering why they made themselves climb the rock and ending with a display of the devastating effects altitude can have on Skaningar (half Danish people from the south of Sweden). That is too big to put up here though.
The female part of the group believes in the importance of stretching. They are right, in principle.
Tomo practicing his Marlboro man pose while Aki opts for the traditional Japanese V.
Into the clouds. This was the last we saw of the color green.
Fuji is a beautiful mountain because it is smooth and symmetric. Well, when you are on it it is kind of hard to notice this. Instead we got treated to this moon-like lava landscape. Hard to complain about the view though.
As any volcano, of course Fuji has a crater. A rather symmetrical one actually. This Is Tomo and Naoto standing pretty close to the edge with the sun acting as spotlight.
Two shots of the sunrise. The first one is better by far.
And the gang of eight. In back-row: Walking stick with Japanese flag (battle-flag), Tomo, Petter, Yours truly and Naoto. And in front Aya, Miwa, Aoi and Aki.
Highlights of the climb were:
Me and Petter joking around and greeting people we meet in Swedish, only to get a perfect "God dag" (hello in Swedish) back from a Japanese guy. Smash...
Fuji-san's soft gravel the whole way down. Pretty fun sliding in that stuff.
Tiger Balm, the universal medicine for anything. Cured both mine and Tomo's headaches within minutes. Amazing. Also good for practical jokes involving underwear.
Oxygen on a bottle. And since some members mabye overdid it a little bit we also got answer to the natural question if you can get high on the stuff.
The prices for water on the top. One liter - 1000 yen (70 SEK, 7 Euro). Supply and demand.
And of course meeting some great people.
Ok, on to other things. Had a week of vacation, which meant the compulsory vacation cold. Don't know why, but I never fail to catch a cold when on vacation.
Living in Japan is ups and downs. But returning to Nagoya on Wednesday night seeing the neon of the station area as I stepped off the Shinkansen I found myself thinking how beautiful the scene was and how lucky I am for getting the chance to do what I am doing and see the things I get to see. Otherwise project management in a weak matrix organization can be very much an exercise in rolling with the punches and having the ability to get up on the count of nine. But that is what I'm paid for, and it can be very nice when things work out.
Looks like there will be a small class reunion here next weekend. Tomo and Mike (and Bjorn, but he is just hitching a ride and has other plans) is coming from Tokyo. And my former classmate, now colleague, CF is flying in for work. That is almost half of the old class, pretty good turnout.
Ok, until next time don't do anything I wouldn't do!
Highlights of the climb were:
Me and Petter joking around and greeting people we meet in Swedish, only to get a perfect "God dag" (hello in Swedish) back from a Japanese guy. Smash...
Fuji-san's soft gravel the whole way down. Pretty fun sliding in that stuff.
Tiger Balm, the universal medicine for anything. Cured both mine and Tomo's headaches within minutes. Amazing. Also good for practical jokes involving underwear.
Oxygen on a bottle. And since some members mabye overdid it a little bit we also got answer to the natural question if you can get high on the stuff.
The prices for water on the top. One liter - 1000 yen (70 SEK, 7 Euro). Supply and demand.
And of course meeting some great people.
Ok, on to other things. Had a week of vacation, which meant the compulsory vacation cold. Don't know why, but I never fail to catch a cold when on vacation.
Living in Japan is ups and downs. But returning to Nagoya on Wednesday night seeing the neon of the station area as I stepped off the Shinkansen I found myself thinking how beautiful the scene was and how lucky I am for getting the chance to do what I am doing and see the things I get to see. Otherwise project management in a weak matrix organization can be very much an exercise in rolling with the punches and having the ability to get up on the count of nine. But that is what I'm paid for, and it can be very nice when things work out.
Looks like there will be a small class reunion here next weekend. Tomo and Mike (and Bjorn, but he is just hitching a ride and has other plans) is coming from Tokyo. And my former classmate, now colleague, CF is flying in for work. That is almost half of the old class, pretty good turnout.
Ok, until next time don't do anything I wouldn't do!
Saturday, August 05, 2006
And two random pictures from Nagoya
You are looking down Sakura dori from the Fushimi dori intersection, going east.
And going west. JR Nagoya station Tower no. 1 (or no. 2) in the background.Brazilian-style soccer and a new toy
Busy week. I'm getting used to them. Four Nozomi rides and a devastating mid week Karaoke session was what happened this week. Managed to have all three credit/cash cards bounce also because of some weird technical mishap.
Got my first paycheck this week. Because the bank had some issues accepting my business it took a while to get a bank account. Can't blame them really, I would have done the same thing if a foreigner that:
1. Only has a temporary address (which he claims to be moving from shortly)
2. Can only show that he has applied for the foreigner card, not the actual card
3. Do not have a new address to give
would come asking to open an account. With those small issues sorted it was all happy faces.
Getting two months pay plus signing bonus in one payment means that there is now more money than what is healthy in my account. So, what to do? Buy a toy, naturally. The latest addition is a Ipod Nano 4gb with an add on FM transmitter. So now I can harass our sales force with Swedish music when traveling somewhere by car. I have no idea how I have managed to survive without an Ipod...
I have started playing soccer every Sunday. Or well, I went there last Sunday and I plan on going tomorrow. Last Sunday was a three hour kickabout session in 30+ degrees. Drank three liters of fluid and still lost 1 kg (yes, I did weigh myself before going there and after. Why is a good question.). Good mix of people. 30% Japanese 35% Brazilian and the rest people from random parts of Europe with the British iles dominating. Because of this the game was very strange. The Europeans played British style, the Japanese in the characteristic Japanese way and the Brazilians was mainly playing around. Some of those Brazilians can play. I got treated to (or humiliated with) three tunnels and one back-heel flip over my head. Stuff I never ever saw when playing in Sweden. On the other hand the South Americans can hardly be accused of being effective or to have any larger interest in defense.
Without doubt this mix of people for a friendly soccer match exists only in Japan , kids!
Got my first paycheck this week. Because the bank had some issues accepting my business it took a while to get a bank account. Can't blame them really, I would have done the same thing if a foreigner that:
1. Only has a temporary address (which he claims to be moving from shortly)
2. Can only show that he has applied for the foreigner card, not the actual card
3. Do not have a new address to give
would come asking to open an account. With those small issues sorted it was all happy faces.
Getting two months pay plus signing bonus in one payment means that there is now more money than what is healthy in my account. So, what to do? Buy a toy, naturally. The latest addition is a Ipod Nano 4gb with an add on FM transmitter. So now I can harass our sales force with Swedish music when traveling somewhere by car. I have no idea how I have managed to survive without an Ipod...
I have started playing soccer every Sunday. Or well, I went there last Sunday and I plan on going tomorrow. Last Sunday was a three hour kickabout session in 30+ degrees. Drank three liters of fluid and still lost 1 kg (yes, I did weigh myself before going there and after. Why is a good question.). Good mix of people. 30% Japanese 35% Brazilian and the rest people from random parts of Europe with the British iles dominating. Because of this the game was very strange. The Europeans played British style, the Japanese in the characteristic Japanese way and the Brazilians was mainly playing around. Some of those Brazilians can play. I got treated to (or humiliated with) three tunnels and one back-heel flip over my head. Stuff I never ever saw when playing in Sweden. On the other hand the South Americans can hardly be accused of being effective or to have any larger interest in defense.
Without doubt this mix of people for a friendly soccer match exists only in Japan , kids!
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