Picking up the pieces: Final Reporting Session at the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation (26-08-10))

So here it is. The D-Day I thought would never come is finally knocking on the door...

Even before the show started, the day already looked like a tough one: the previous night I went with Hajime and Chun to Oedo Onsen in Daiba (there'll be a post somewhere about that too), and I managed to reach my house at 3am. True, the speech for the presentation was already written and checked (Thanks Hajime!), but the physical presentation didn't exist, hehehehehe... So I had to spend a couple of hours selecting pictures and videos for the final show... leaving me with something like 3h-4h of sleep for one of the longest (emotionally speaking) days of the program. Woke up at 7am, walk around in a winter suit with 30 degrees C and 70% of humidity, run back and forth from the station to my house a couple of times to pick up forgotten stuff...a typical morning to Hanzomon :)

Then, at 9am, lights out, and up and with the courtain. One by one, each of us (Vulcanus) would stand up and share with our fellows, the Centre, and the representatives of the hosting companies his/her year in Japan. Again, no surprises here: when Willy had to talk, he started to cry like a baby (sigh...). And the thing continued in Monika's and Davide's presentation, with also sporadic storms in Kuba's and David's (Davids' one is so good I attach it here. The music was composed by him). I must say, reviewing this whole year through the eyes of the other Vulcanus was a hard experience. It's not the first time that I say this, but even now it's difficult for me to describe my Vulcanus year with positive or negative adjectives: there's been so many things going on, the personal experience has been so big, so full, so complex, that it is going to take me a while to assimilate and understand all of the things which took place there.

(Remember the post about the guy who spent 1,5 million yens in 48 hours with the mobile phone? Here's your man...and the mobile phone bill!!)

But I'm diverting from the main topic here. So, to sum up, everyone of us brought her or his own Japan to the meeting. Wether the talk was only about work, or about his traveling, or a mixture of both, every participant gave his own personal stroke to the whole Vulcanus painting. I'm not going to get into details, but there was this one "presentation" (more of a failed attempt to make a round table) which I found simplistic and completely unfair towards the Japanese. The controversy of its topic was such that, in order to be fair enough with the topic of discussion, the speaker should have taken a much more mature approach. Instead, for the last time, the gaijin card was played, and the speaker preferred to take the role of European conquistador who looks above the poor and uncivilized aborigines (a.k.a. , all the non-Western cultures). Though I could have agreed to some extent with part of its discourse, the way in which the topic was treated, as well as the way it was presented forces me to be against such opinions. Plus, I also think it was very inappropriate and rude to talk about such topics in front of the Japanese representatives of the host companies. The attendants expected to hear about Vulcanus in Japan, not about old clichés from the Japanese culture.

Differences appart, the presentations were followed after by the cocktail party, with plenty of food and drinks, and of course, speeches (Japanese love speeches way too much for me). And, in order to keep the tradition and close the circle, the whole ceremony could only finish with a splash of music and lights such as the ones of A-Life...

I wish everybody a happy trip back home Vulcanus! You guys know how to make time worth...

The last supper (?)... with Hajime and Chun (27-08-10)

For the last bang in Machida, I wanted to try one of the last Japanese culinary frontiers which were left to me...Fugu!

Now, I couldn't find the occasion to go for a Kobe beef restaurant (shame on me, I know...), but I wouldn't be leaving Japan without trying their flagship fish. Fugu (河豚, フグ, or pufferfish) can only be eaten in Japan (as far as I'm aware of). Its meat is reputed to be among the tastiest and most delicious, at least for the Japanese. Unfortunately, there is this poison-related problem: Fugu fish has some glands whose poison ranks very high in Mr.Death's Wish List (just below listening to Britney Spears for 30mins.). You need a special license AND specific training in order to become a fugu chef and open a fugu restaurant.

It's fairly easy to convince Japanese people to go eat fugu. Yes, it's expensive (menu prices start around 4.000¥ or so), but considering how much they like it (and also the fact that it was really my last going out, I will not be seeing Hajime after that), it doesn't let that much of space for them to say no. The same goes for Chun, the Malasyan intern who had never tried fugu before, hehehehe... So the three of us headed for the fugu restaurant in Machida, with 300¥ discount tickets -Yuhu!- (even though it doesn't account for much, considering the price of the meal...)

The reccomended menu consisted in five main dishes containing fugu: a fugu-skin appetizer, fugu sashimi, fugu tempura, fugu BBQ, and fugu rice. Overall, the experience was interesting. Specially the fugu tempura and the fugu BBQ, where you could really feel how tasty is fugu's meat. Moreover, with the BBQ slices you could see that the fish was really fresh, since its flesh was still moving when they served it on the table (check out the vid!)



It's not the first time I get to eat moving food, but not being able to actually recognize where each piece of meat belonged to made me feel like staring at a living (?) cubist sculpture...

The skin's texture was OK, but its flavor is so subtle it's kind of complicated to figure out its taste.

All in all, I enjoyed the meal pretty much. All these "last things" that I've been doing for the last week have wore me down a bit. this supper, of course, was no exception...But on the other hand, who can cry when Chun and Hajime are both around?


Thank you guys for these past months...and the Fugu!

On the way back home...home?

It's been a long time since the last entry. Way too long. Many people have come, many have left. So many things have happened... And now, while I'm waiting to take the plane to Rome, I have suddenly felt this need, this urge to grab a pen and spill it all out. This year cannot fade away, I say to myself. It cannot become just one more year among a crowd of nameless years, undistinguished. It will not be fair. I'm already starting to feel the unreality of it, as if it had not been more than an unusually long dream, fading away as the sun rises... Just like a big parenthesis in my life, a bubble of feelings which seem to have never taken place in real life.

So, once again, I raise my pen. Against oblivion, against time. This year should always stay alive, somewhere...

Come with me Toto, it's time to move on again. Let's pay homage this wonderful dream called Vulcanus in Japan 09-10, and to all the people who took place in it...

Fighting against Japanese weather: Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Takayama

Hello Ozzies!

Been like, I'd say almost one moth since the last post, hun?Maybe less, I think. My apologies: the last three weekends have been chotto packed up (dunno why they called them weekends, I should get extra days off to recover from them). Plus, during Semana Santa (Spanish Holy Week), mum and dad came to pay me a visit. Which was kind of a relief for me, taking into account that I won't see them again until September...But that's another story, and a future entry in the blog.

Today's post comes to fill the void left by the weekend prior to the arrival of my parents. It happened that the weather was pretty much horrible around the area: wind, snow, rain. Pretty much of everything, I'd say. So why not go for a trip? This time, next to the sea of Japan: Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Takayama.


It didn't start well, though. One would have thought that in a country where earthquakes are pretty much like a cloudy day (meaning common), strong winds and rain wouldn't be such a big deal...well, the things is, it is a big deal. We managed to get to Kanazawa 3 hours later than expected, so oh!, surprise!, again running up and down to be able to get a decent view of the city, since we only had half a day for the whole lot.

In the menu: Kanazawa's garden and its Museum of XXI Art. The garden is one of the top-3 gardens in Japan, together with the one in Okayama (been there), and the one in Mito (will be there). Better to show in pictures:

The museum features a very impressive permanent exhibition. Obviously (and unfortunately), photos were not allowed inside, so I couldn't take shots from the one that I like the most, The Origin of the Universe, by an Indian artist whose name I don't remember know (and yes, I'm lazy and I don't want to check it up). A massive hole in a room completely made of concrete. the hole is in one of the walls, and the room has been conceived so that you cannot see the bottom of the hole. Really good....However, I could take pictures from Leandro's pool, the work of an Argentinian artist who plays with the eye. From the outside, the pool looks deep and full of water...but in fact it's not deep at all, there's a bottom glass which allows to get inside:

Of course, for the lucky ones who have more time to spend in Kanazawa, there are more things to do: Kanazawa is said to be the Kyoto of the North, and it has an interesting samurai district, and another one of temples.

The following day we woke up early and went straight to our next destination: Shirakawa-go. A UNESCO village containing typical rural Japanese houses. What makes this houses unique is the fact that not a single nail has been used to build them. Only ropes and wood has been used in their construction. We were very lucky to see it all snowy: a heavy snow took place the previous night. A typical Christmas postcard...in the middle of March.

Shirakawa-go is a remote place, true, but it's worth the detour. And if you have time, you should not hesitate to stay at least for one night in one of this houses. We didn't have time, but I'm sure it's an interesting experience. While we were wandering around the village, one could feel the peacefulness of the place. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place to be!

Our last stop was Takayama. This three places look close in the map (and in fact they are), but I think that because they belong to different prefectures (and not popular ones, neither), the connections are not as good as one would expect them to be. A pity...

Anyway, Takayama is famous for its matsuris: twice every year, the village gets packed up with huge three-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles, people dancing, and the lot. We couldn't get holidays for none of the matsuris, but you can see them in the museum (which is not the same, but at least it's something). There is also a couple of old streets very nice to walk around, with some museums and lots of souvenir shops...and of course, lots of people.

In the food section, I'm glad to say that Takayama shines brighter like no other: not only has a special and unique school of cuisine (similar to kaiseki ryori), but is also next to Hida, a region famous for its meat (not as famous as Kobe, but also not as expensive...and yes, really good meat). Unfortunately, the only place where you can still find taste the original food from the area was closed to the public due to a wedding, so...but we still could put our fingers on some wonderful food!

Enough! It's not as long as normal, but this time I'm not inspired...I should also add videos, but I think I will do the post with them later on. Too lazy, with this cold weather...and we're supposed to be in spring! en fin...


See you Ozzies!

"Shinkansensing" to Kyoto for the weekend

Hello Ozzies!

"Short" post for my last weekend: after the Intermediate Reporting Session for the Vulcanus Program last Friday, I went to Kyoto for a fast weekend there. Yes, very tirying...you should try partying until 5am, taking the train at 6am, sleeping for 2 hours and then kicking the road for a whole weekend of aggressive tourism. But that's the life of a Vulcanus, I guess...

So, as I said, it all started with a shinkansen...

...and 3 hours later, bing! Kyoto station. Drop the luggage at the lockers of the station, take a train and head for Arashiyama, a famous area in Kyoto with a bamboo forest and, surprise, surprise...temples. So here's the entrance to the bamboo forest:

And here a random shot in one of the temples, assaulted by a Japanese high school.

After some mochis (a special one, very tasty I have to say, but I forgot its name...)...

...one of the big stars of the area: the Daikaku-ji temple. So here's the entrance

...and the main entrance (nowadays, mere mortals like me and you go for another entrance, of course), plus a small video:

A detail of the garden (I just liked the contrast between the green of the ground and the red balustrade).

Another shot from the garden (inside, pics where a bit forbidden). Anyway, the platform there reminds me of Dragon Ball...but in a smaller version (guys in the manga really had to run a lot to get to the other side of the ring!)

Next to the temple, there is a big lake with the omnipresent carps and ducks that are so popular in Japan (well, crows are more popular, I'd say...I think there's a war going on between carps and crows, and we human beings are just in the middle of a battle for the control of the Earth. Penguins should keep their eyes opened!)

It happened that, starting from last weekend, a huge event started in Kyoto: The Kyoto Higashiyama Hanatouro. Basically, the northeast side of Kyoto gets special illumination at night, and there are some cultural events going on in the streets. No words are needed, you'll see in the pictures. The following one was right during dawn, and you could see lights starting to appear here and there.

Attraction n.1: The lucky (or patient) 100 firsts got the chance to get a photo with a maiko! Of course, huuuuuuge cue (even though only 100 got to have it at the end, lol).

On the way, special surprise: We got to see a strange procession, carryinf someone dressed like a Japanese bride with a fox mask. We later knew it was something like "The wedding of the fox". You cannot see much in the video, but you must agree, it was a cool surprise:

Attraction n.2: There was a traditional and contemporary ikebana exhibition in Maruyama Park, as well as some bamboo lanterns in the lake of the park that really made up for a special night...

This is the people praying in Yasaka Shrine...we will come back later to it, as the next day there was a maiko dancing exhibition taking place there. I like the picture because of it ghost-like appearance (I needed light because it was dark, which means more time of exposure...)

And this is one of the other big attractions: you could get to some of the important buddhist temples during the night (until 9h30pm), and get to see all of Kyoto illuminated. The #1 sport: Kiyumizu dera, where the views of Kyoto are just breath taking (and the place is really nice, I must say). So here's the queue at around 9. Not many, but you should see at 5h30, when we got the tickets...the line reached the end of the street!

So there you go, nice night pics from the temple!

...and of course, the city view. The orientation is not good for the sunset, but I guess it can be an interesting time to go, too.

No, it's not the Bat-signal. Just a beam of light coming out from the temple (I don't know why something like that would appeal to someone, but it gives the picture a special touch, and anyway, they are Japanese, you never know what to expect from their sense of aesthetics...)

It is said that if you drink from one of the water fountains of the temple, you get luck in (depending on which you drink from) money, love or health. I didn't know which one was which, so in order to prevent any problems, I drank from the three of them. I was a bit told off because off that...

Next day! After literally falling into a coma before even hitting the bed and sleeping for 8 hours without signs of rest from my body (which was demanding something like 14 hours of sleep), we went out for more of this sadistic tourism which I'm getting used to in Japan...

First stop: Nijojo (Nijo castle, the residence of the shogun in Kyoto). I was expecting a normal castle, pretty much like the one I saw in Matsue. Well, I was pretty mistaken...nothing of the sort, I must say. It was more like a biiiiig Japanese house, like the ones you see in ninja movies. Although it is a UNESCO site, I was impressed by the bad situation in which some of the paintings were. The place needs some serious restoration...

Another surprise was awaiting for us at the exit of the castle: just by the souvenir shop, there was a traditional Japanese wedding taking place. The guys must have been quite rich, I suppose not everybody can have his wedding in a UNESCO castle...

After the castle, more temples! Now it was time for the Nanzen-ji temple. The temple was beautiful. Really a good experience. Too bad that I prefer to put artistic pics, instead of boring but educational ones, lol

If you ever get to visit Nanzen-ji, I recommend visiting having a tea there. Why? Well, Nanzen-ji is not as famous as the Golden or the Silver Temples, so it gets less crowded, ALWAYS. And because it is less massified, the quality of the service is better. As simple as that. Plus, the views are beautiful: the tea room faces a waterfall and a big pond. So while you're there, enjoying your tea, you can relax yourself with the sound of the water...

In fact, Nanzen-ji is a compound, hosting more than one temple (apart from Nanzen-ji, of course). You can also visit other temples and gardens. This one, which I specially enjoyed, is Tenju-en. A balance between zen order and nature. You get inside, and you can forget that you're in a city (even if it is Kyoto). A perfect spot to go if you need deep thoughts! Here's some background relaxing music (sounds more like peeing,lol). Although Homer's sea sounds are far better than this, but this is what you get from a mono mic!

And, of course, a touristic video of the entrance to the garden:

Near the Nanzen-ji compound, there's an aqueduct where you can walk around. The day invited for a walk, so...They've told me this place is quite impressive during cherry blossom. I hope I can get here to see that!

Remember Yasaka Shrine? On Saturday we missed the maiko's show, but it was not going to happen twice...

But silence! the show is about to begin...

Thirty minutes of waiting for only ten minutes of show, but it was really worth it! Here it goes (part of it...)

...and the weird screeching sound (I'm joking, it really gave a mystical air to the whole thing, like travelling backwards in time) was this woman, playing I don't know what instrument:

And before saying goodbye, a last picture from Gion, the geiko/maiko district (geisha is sooooooooo outdated and old-fashioned, it is almost insulting).

After this weekend of magic, you get to see why the French put so much effort into sparing Kyoto from the Allied bombings. It only needs a bit of scratching to realize how close are Paris and Kyoto. A wonderful city...just a pity that, like Paris, is swarmed with tourists (like me!) and overrated like Paris (sorry Frenchies...).


To the next Ozzies!