Peter P Kavanagh

Dispatches from the back of the sock drawer of life

Geek #1: Solo in Dubai

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On March 23, 2017

In Trade Shows

Saturday 18th – Thursday 23rd

So, I return to Dubai for the first time in 15 years, and figured I’d put up some photos and a few random thoughts (my most popular kind!). I’m here for the Cabsat trade show, which is also what brought me here in 2002. That was our first ever trade show as Digital Rapids – and boy has there been a lot of water under the bridge since then.

First sight at the airport is a familiar and welcoming one – Costa coffee:

Yay! Coffee!

Welcome since I’d just come off a 9 hour overnight flight, it’s 7am, and I’ve had almost no sleep. Caffeine and sugar just what the doctor ordered. At first I thought it odd that Costa showed up in multiple places in Dubai – I later found out that the UAE franchise for the London-based chain is actually operated by Emirates Leisure Retail, part of Emirates Group – who also own Emirates Air and who’s CEO is Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (ruler of Dubai…)

Burj Khalifa

A lot of other familiar brands there as well – Tim Horton’s (Canadian coffee chain!), Yo! Sushi, Five Guys, TGI’s, WH Smith – even Waitrose!
So began my day by dropping bags at hotel and pleading for early check-in – not a hope. Rather warm out, about 28degC, so feeling a little sweaty. Hopped the monorail to visit the massive Dubai Mall, and for my 12:30 visit up the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa.

View looking along the coast

View from the top was pretty cool. Well, I say top but that would imply floor 154, I was actually at floor 124, the observation deck. Still a long way up. Seeing how Dubai has grown like crazy these last 15 years, I have to wonder if there is a bubble waiting to burst here. According to an old friend who’s lived here 10 years, many of the new buildings break ground and construct foundation and first few floors, then move on to start the next one – so there’s a lot of bets being hedged. It’s all about planning for an economy in the future once the oil has run out, and it seems Dubai sees this future in it being a free trade zone which encourages international investment. Good thing too as no-one pays any tax…

Balls of steel!

Oh, and in the image above you might just see a little line of dots along one of the floors – looks to be around the 135th. Here’s the enlargement. My ‘balls of steel’ award goes to these guys, hanging on ropes with climbing harnesses, washing windows…

I’ll leave this post now, with a selection of images from my visit. The aquarium in the mall is a 10 million litre tank, and is currently teaming up with Discovery Channel on their shark week. The only reason the divers aren’t being eaten is because they’re feeding the sharks well! Enjoy.

Return Of The Geeks – Goldfish, a Palace, and Beer!

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On October 8, 2016

In Japan 2016

Tuesday 23rd

Hello goldfish!

Hello goldfish!

We spent the morning exploring Yamatokoriyama. Goldfish motifs were to be found everywhere – the area has fish farms spanning an area of some 100 hectares,  and they produce 80 million goldfish and 2 million Nishiki-goi carp each year, the largest yield of such fish in the country. During the Oshiro-matsuri Festival (Castle Festival) held in April every year, competitive exhibitions of fish are held among the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Also, every August, a goldfish catching championship, in which the best goldfish catcher in Japan is decided, and a goldfish examination take place.

The town was also once known for the production of indigo dyed fabrics, and deep troughs run down the centre of many side streets – these would have been filled with running water, and used to rinse the fabrics after dyeing.

As we headed back to the station, two men walked past us looking a little like the

Air conditioned jacket...

Air conditioned jacket…

Michelin man (photo rather blurry as I was trying not to be noticed…). I noticed a whirring noise as they walked past – and then realised that their jackets had a fan mounted on either side of their waist, and were blowing air through to keep them cool!

We then took a stroll around the grounds of Koriyama Castle – the castle was destroyed in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) but several outbuildings remain.

Cell block Q

Cell block Q

Local train to Kyoto then shinkansen to Tokyo, and found our hotel – the wonderfully named Hotel Villa Fontaine Tokyo-Ueno Okachimachi. Reasonable room for Tokyo, however the middle section of the hotel did look a little… prison-like!

 

Headed to the Asahi Beer Hall and Tower while James went climbing, then met later – he was very pleased with his Pikachu phone wallet! Amazing views from the tower.

Wednesday 24th

Morning service

Morning service

Found a cool little café for breakfast near the hotel. Bread began to be part of the Japanese diet after the second world war, and forms the heart of what is known as ‘Morning service’. Thick sliced white bread, home made strawberry jam, coffee, and a small cup of a chicken soup stock – heaven!

Dinner time!

Dinner time!

We took a long walk through the eastern gardens of the Imperial palace – most of the year this is the only part of the palace grounds open to the public. There was something of a feeding frenzy going on by the Koi carp in the moat…

 

 

imag00412While looking for lunch we came across an “intriguing” menu item amongst the station restaurants. Ahem.

 

Gilded Kappa

Gilded Kappa

Later, James headed off to climb, and I made my first visit to Kappabashi – also known as ‘Kitchen Town’. The street’s name is believed to come from either the kappa (raincoats) of nearby residents which were hung out to dry on the bridge, or from a merchant named Kihachi Kappaya who funded the project to build Shinhorikawa River for water management. However, due to the homophone with the popular mythical creature, Kappa, the shops along the street have officially adopted the kappa as their mascot. Images of kappa appear frequently in the area, from merchandise to displays, even web sites about the district.

This street has everything you would need if you wanted to open a Japanese or Chinese restaurant – utensils, knives, uniforms, décor, even the ticket machines used at many Japanese restaurants. And the ‘model food’ that many use to show off their dishes is just incredible – the two examples below being utterly bonkers!

 

 

 

 

 

Return Of The Geeks – Churches, shopping and trains

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On September 4, 2016

In Japan 2016

Sunday 21st

Made our way via shinkansen and local trains to Koriyama, just outside Nara. En route saw a distinctly Western looking church near the shinkansen lines.

Further along the local track from Onomichi, saw the station with the Best Name ever – Bingo-Akasaka!

Grand Sunpia Hotel

Grand Sunpia Hotel

Arrived in Koriyama, checked into a wonderful hotel which was part of a church. Specialising in traditional weddings, quelle surprise… Nice big room by Japanese standards.

In search of coffee and cake, spent the afternoon in the local Aeon shopping mall. Had great fun trying to figure out what various products were. The area is known for goldfish production, and the mall had some impressive displays referencing this. James scored some awesome Neko (cat) shorts.

On tannoy in supermarket: “Victim of Love” by Erasure, circa 1987. Downloaded their first two albums, oh my the nostalgia. Also in supermarket – 4 litre (!) bottles of what seemed to be sake for cooking with. That’s a party right there.

 

Monday 22nd

Hellooooo...

Hellooooo…

Hopped a local express service to Kyoto for the day. It’s around an hour’s journey, and it showed just how built up Japan can be. Aside from some farmland and the odd stand of bamboo, there was housing along most of the line, often right next to it. Even a cemetery halfway along.

On the train we couldn’t help feeling we were being watched…

DSC02467Started our visit by going up to the top of Kyoto Tower. Perched on top of a hotel this gave great views of the city spread out around us – with high powered binoculars on stands to zoom in on detail.
The tower even had its own shrine.

 

All aboard!

All aboard!

Next we hopped a bus over to the Kyoto Railway museum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Railway_Museum). As you can see, our helpful guard at the bus station is clearly in no mood to retire!

The exhibits here gave a great view of how Japan’s railway networks grew and evolved, from steam right up to the latest Shinkansen. They even had Shinkansen driving simulators – sadly we didn’t manage to get a go…
Lots of assistance from England in the early days (a beautifully preserved steam loco from mid 1800’s was made in Leeds), and we also supplied rails for their infrastructure up until the early 1900’s. I think I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…

 

imag00397After lunch at a great ramen (noodle soup) and gyoza (dumplings) place, we headed over to visit the Ryozen Kannon, an impressive war memorial. Wandered through the streets around, some beautiful houses. We also saw a statue of a Japanese folk legend called the tanuki. As you can see from the picture, he has most impressive…er…. ‘equipment’!

“Daikaidan” or Grand Stairway

“Daikaidan” or Grand Stairway

On our way back to Koriyama, we explored the facilities above – and below- Kyoto Station. Kyoto Station is more than just a place to catch a train. A massive ultra-modern complex of glass and steel, it was designed by the award winning architect Hiroshi Hara, and houses an incredible range of shops, restaurants, and recreational facilities. We first headed up through a department store to find some great views of Kyoto. The “Daikaidan” or Grand Stairway runs from the 4th floor of the west wing of the station all the way up to the Sky Garden on the 15th floor. 

We then descended into the other shopping centre in the basement levels, and found an impressive, detailed Lego reconstruction of – Kyoto Station! Amazing reflections of sunset clouds from the façade, and a night-time view of the Kyoto tower, completed our photography for the day.

 

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