Hyper Japan madness

Earls Court London
Earls Court London

I had the day to myself so thought it would be good to find something interesting to do. We have been in a spell of hot weather recently but today things are a bit cooler. A quick look at http://ianvisits.co uk came up trumps there was an exhibition all about Japan at Earls Court. I have become very interested in all thing Japanese since Helen and I spend a week there a couple of Yeats ago.

I dropped Helen and Gladys off at church then headed straight for Berkhamsted station, but my timing was not great as I was between trains so had to wait 20 minutes for the 09:39 which was on time. Earls Court is easy to get to BT tube, Google maps offered a couple of options I went for Victoria then Piccadilly. Despite being cooler it was still hot and getting hotter. Entry was £15 and there were no queues.

Japanese pop stars

I was not sure what to expect but was quite surprised when I got into the hall. There was a food area which was expected, a gaming area, Japanese crafts and lots of demos. What really surprised me were the people taking part in Cosplay, lots of people (mainly late teens or early twenties walking around dressed as Manga/Anime characters. It was a bit like I imagined a Star Trek convention would be. I did a quick tour around to get the general layout of the place then started again but in more detail.

The games area was quite interesting seeing all the latest games from Nitendo and Sega, but that is not really my bag any more. There were some martial art demos and I hung around to watch some of the Kendo fighting, which was good. In another corner there was a professional wrestling ring which was fun to watch. Other spectacles weree Japanese pop artists singing their songs I was surprised at the number of your people singing or clapping along there is clearly a Japanese sub-culture going on in the UK I also so a Japanese male performer in a pink kilt, being very energetic on strange running up and down very enthusiastically which impressed me given the temperature in the hall,

Cosplay people

There was a good amount of stall but most of them were of no interest to me : Swords and knifes, Cosplay accessories, games etc,  of interest were some of the crafts, t-shirts, and food. Two stall in particular stood out the Bonsai stall which was next to a Bonsai exhibition, which had some trees that must have taken years of care to get them looking so good, and a Japanese puzzle box stall where you could buy wooden boxes that have panels that slide in various ways to eventually allow the box to be opened. I saw a couple of good t-shirts but noting that gave me the desire to part with money. I did buy some octopus balls or Takoyaki as they say in Japan, which I had some how missed when I had visited. They were very hot but tasted great.

By about 13:30 I had had enough so headed back to to Euston to catch the 13:54 back home to watch the Tour de France, but things did not quite work out well. When I got home I put on some washing then switched the TV on but we seemed to have no power or we had partial power I could not work out was was going on. Some appliances where on (or at least had a display) but other not. After some investigation I measure the voltage in a socket we only had 50V, and a quick check with next door they were out too. So I went up to Hillside for a coffee. It turns out the TDF was on live later as they wanted a time that suited TV viewing figures, so I got to watch it anyway.

Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey Studley Park Yorkshire

On K and R’s recommendation we headed back up the M1 heading for Foutains Abbey near Ripon, we were a bit worried that there might be a lot of traffic because the Great Yorkshire show was on near Harrogate. Fountains Abbey is a world heritage site and certainly deserves the accolade. Wikipedia says “Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately three miles south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield.”

We parked up in the two thirds empty car park, and walked to the entrance and information centre with National Trust shop. The site is vast and consists of the Abbey ruins a house and many acres of landscaped gardens with water features. The lanscapped gardens have large lakes with statues of greek gods. It was a short walk down hill to the abbey ruins, and we stopped at the mill cafe for a coffee and to grab some sandwiches for later. We wandered around the ruins taking it all in. There were plenty of people oj guided tours an I heard quite a few foreign languages clearly a popular tourist venue given the world heritage status.

The Cloisters Fountains Abbey Studley Park Yorkshire

Taking photo’s was quite a challenge even though I had my wide angled lens with me it is difficult to keep the verticals parallel whilst framing the picture well. I also took some panorama sets which I hope will prove popular on Google maps. We were also there in the middle of the day and the sun can prove to be a bit harsh and bright in July.

We wandered around the lakes stopping halfway for a rest and time to eat our sandwiches, sat on a bench while the world walked by. I left the GoPro on the bench arm taking a picture every 2 seconds for a timelapse to be stitched together at a later date. We stuck to the shade for the walk to the far end of the lakes as it was very warm in the sun. At the end we headed out the gates as we wanted to take the alternate route back via the church we had been recommended to us to take a look. We were not disappointed and I wished I had a tripod with me to take a panorama in the church. Note to self investigate good light weight and small tripods at a reasonable price.

I decided we should take the long way home across the dales. We headed west towards Pately Bridge, and drove through a heavy rain storm which saw torrents of rain running down the steep roads to the valleys at the bottom. The views after the rain had stopped were stunning, but we did not really have time to stop. I made a mistake and took the turn to Ilkley rather than Keithley which  mean that we had to drive through Brighouse and Bradford and Huddersfiled to get home, and it was the rush hour to boot. The journey home took 2 hours compared t one hour to get there.

K treated us to Pizzas for tea.

York and the Minster

York Minster

Day two of our  holiday, we decided that we should go and have a look at York, I had been there a long time ago but Helen ha never been. We headed out and up the M1 to the park and ride at Askham Bar. The bus into the city was only £2. We realised early on that we were a bit sore footed and tired from our previous days exertions so walking was a struggle. The first thing I noticed was that there were lots of geese in nurseries trying to cross the road.

We headed to the Minster area and found the the said named building. The entrance fee was £10 but given the cost of upkeeping such a grand building it seemed worth it. The building is very old and has many layers of  ages in it’s fabric. The space inside is vast, and a lot of skilled craft work goes into maintaining it. We had not paid the extra fiver to go up the tower but we did the undercroft which explains how in the 60/70’s they though the whole thing might fall down due to subsidence. I managed to take pictures and a couple of panorama sets despite the low light levels.

The Rocket National Railway Museum York

We needed and sit down so stopped for a light lunch at a Jamie’s restaurant, I had crab pasta and a primavera salad which was lovely, Helen has a broad bean bruschetta and some chips ( I had half of them). Next stop would be the national railway museum which is a gem of a museum. Where else can you see so many old trains in one place. We had a close look at the Mallard, and the Japanese bullet train. That done we had had enough so we got the £20 fake train back to the centre of the city then followed the appalling signage back to the park and ride bus stop which seemed to take us in a most circuitous route.

The drive back was pretty straight forward back down the motorway. A good day out despite having sore feet from the day before.

Le Tour de Yorkshire

Holme Moss climb Tour de France

When they announced that the Tour de France would be in Yorkshire this year we immediately arranged with my brother to stay with him, and were cheeky enough to arrange to stay for more than just the weekend. We decided against a rushed trip on a Friday night in preference of a relaxed drive on the Saturday morning. We arrived before lunch and spent the rest of the day chilling out. An old school friend joined us late afternoon with his wife and we spend a relaxed evening eating and drinking. The school friend is a professional commercial photographer and was interested in the panorama techniques I use as he had a commission that required such photo’s.

We were up early on Sunday as we had an appointment with the Tour de France. We had breakfast and made a picnic and headed out down the hill towards Holmfirth the plan was to dump some food for a late afternoon picnic at ones of K’s friends and then head out to find a spot to to get a good view of the race. In all there was about twenty of us who headed out of Holmfirth on the Honley road, about 50% adults and 50% children. We headed for a field owned by one of my brothers friends. By the time we got the the filed we had probably walked 5 miles so were quite welcome of the chance to sit down and wait for the race. There were lots of people lining the roads at the point we chose.

The Peleton Tour de France Yorkshire

The anticipation of the race to come was fuelled by the odd official car that would pass through the crowds. Slowly the frequency of cars increased and eventually the caravan publicitaire came past and threw the odd free gift. From that point of view we had chosen the wrong spot perhaps being just outside Honley and Holmfirth the staff were probably told to stop in the towns. There were enough of us to warrant a couple of the tshirt vans to stop for the opportunity to purchase an umbrella and tshirt. We knew that there would not be a three quarters of an hour gap before the race would pass.

We went back the field to eat our picnic the warm weather had made the cheese taste particularly cheesy. Back at the road side the crowds were getting more and more cheery every time a police or official car went past we would move out of the way then some of us would move out into the middle of the road. At one point a Gendarme van very aggressively pushed the crowd further and further back towards the edge of the road. I was surprised that no one got hurt, perhaps it was the same car that knocked someone out further down the road.

Gendarmes Tour de France Yorkshire

Eventually the team cars hurtled pas followed by the red car where the main referees travel, and the neutral service vehicle then quickly followed the race itself. We were all forced back the the edge of the road and the cyclists gesticulated and swore in foreign languages about the lack of road space that they had. It was all over in a moment but well worth the wait. We sat around for a little while and then packed our picnics away and walked back into Holmfirth. As we got into town the heavens opened but luck would have it there was a garage with a gazebo with a TV showing the finish of the race.  The rain stopped at about the same time and we headed back to to K’s friends to eat and drink some more.

At about 19:30 we were thinking about leaving when I checked the bus time table on google maps, only to find out a bus was due in 4 minutes. We rushed out and stood at the bus stop, then someone told us that the service we wanted was not running. We started walking home and annoyingly a bus went past where we were 100m from the stop. We were resigned walking home which was not good because it was about and hours walk and involved two steep hills. Luckily after the first smaller of the two hills we came across an friend of K who offered a couple of us a lift home, then I drove down (I had only had one bottle of beer all day) and picked up the rest of the party.

Once home we relaxed with a glass of wine and then slept very well after having walked about 8 miles and been on our feet for most of the 10 hours we had been out and a about. Certainly a day to remember.

Business trip to Poznan Poland

Strange hotel room at the Platinum Palace Poznan

A few of members of my team work out of our Poznan office, and although we manage to function as a team using email, phones and video conferencing there is nothing like meeting face to face. So the start of this week I will be spending my time in Poznan. The flights from Luton were a bit inconvenient, the flight there would be reasonable being at 0800 but the flight back would have meant a start at 0300 to catch the feeding flight of the 0800 out of Luton, I would prefer to avoid that. So I settled on flights from and to London Stansted, the flight out was at1235 then I would return late afternoon on the Wednesday.

i was in the office by 0730 to get two and a half hours in before having to leave for the airport. Unfortunately I could not get started straight away as there was a networking issue and I was the only person in to resolve it, I may have been better off working from home. The drive to the airport was pretty uneventful (around the M25 was clear) I did see a lorry on fire on the M11, there were flames and smoke and a driver stood well back on his mobile. I guess I may have been fortunate as there was the potential that the fire brigade would have shit the motorway due to the dark smoke.

The river that runs through Poznan

I had pre book Mid-term parking which came with the fast track service through security, which was good but did not save me much time as the queues were quite short. Air side was very crowded so they clearly shift a lot of people through so the low queues suggest to me that the airport is well run. The signs and queuing at the gate were a bit confusing and one queue were told to face the other way as they were the end not the front of the queue. Boarding was pretty smooth even though only the front door was being used to board us passengers.

The flight was pretty straight forward I used the time to catch up with emails and type up a few documents. At the other end we were quickly through security. I got the impression that Poznan is not a busy airport as there were not many people about. The taxi driver had a sign with my name on it, which is the first time I have had that, it made me feel more important than I am. It was a short drive to the Platinum Palace Residence my abode for the next two nights. The name is interesting as I could imagine that a marketing department or brand management company did some brain storming and came up with the three works and just strung them together. Platinum a rare metal so think exclusive, Palace is where monarchy live in luxury, and Residence is what they call posh hotels. The hotel was modern and all shiny inside with a big light fitting that draped down in reception. My room was very different, the door was the only black one on the first floor, and when you entered there was a shiny purple wall in front of you, with a 1m corridor down each site to the far end of the room where the bed was under the window. So essentially the room had a room within it like a Russian doll. The internal room consisted of a shower cubicle with glass doors an a W.C. with a glass door, beyond the glass doors there was a mirrored wall. The corridor around the inner and outer room was about 1m wide.

Market Square Poznan

The evenings are light so I took the opportunity to walk into the centre f the city, but not before catching up with my emails and reconciling a report. Walking into town took about 40 minutes the weather was sunny but I needed a light coat. I was heading for the old town but missed it and ended up at the river where not much happens so I turned around and headed towards to the old town using Google maps. The main square in the old town is full or bars/cafes/restaurants but there were also lots of stalls as a festival was going on. Complete with a singer and band on a stage.

I wandered around the square taking in the sites, and took the opportunity to take some hand held panorama sets, you may see the results here if they work out OK. I could not decide what are where to eat as Poland is not that vegetarian friendly, but then I spotted a restaurant that was selling Pizzas so I stopped for pizza and a beer. Suitable replete I walked back the hotel but took a different but parallel route so as to take I more of the sights.

I was in bed pretty early 09:00 I found I kept of getting woken up quite a bit as the hotel was near a main road and tram line and the trams are quite noisy as their solid steel wheels ground along the solid steel tracks. The room however although weird in its layout had air conditioning which worked so the temperature was just as I wanted it. I was up at 07:00 to give me time to have breakfast before the taxi arrived, to take me to the office in Rokietnica.

It was the first time in Poland so I was paraded around the offices and introduced to everyone before I could get a chance for a coffee. Once that was over I got down to some work with the team, the aim was fact finding and to find out what good stuff they do which could be shared across out division and suggest some of the good stuff we do in GB and Ireland that might be appropriate in Poland. The factory is in a fairly rural location and the IT guys office looks out on to a wheat filed and a scrubby but f land, I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted a Marsh Harrier quartering the scrub. Things are very civilised in Poland I was well looked after, for example in the UK if I visit a site someone will usually arrange a sandwich for lunch, in Poland you get a menu and a hot meal is delivered, on the Tuesday I had salmon and potatoes with a salad and on the Wednesday I had grilled trout and potatoes and salad, all delivered by a local company.

The guys had agreed they would take me out and show me the sights in the evening and they picked me up from the hotel and took me to an Italian restaurant that also did contemporary Polish food. I had spinach for a starter with Parmesan, followed by steamed Perch-Pike with apple and cabbage and spinach dumplings which was very nice. For dessert I has proper baked cheese cake. The guys suggested a special beer for me which contained honey in the brewing process, it was very nice. After the meal they wanted to go and try traditional vodka but I was not keen as I find it is very easy to get hangovers so I really do limit my alcohol consumption. Instead they took me a walk showing me some of the sites unfortunately I had seen most of what they showed me, although it was great to know what it was I had seen the day before, and nice to know that by just following my nose I had managed to see a lot of the things worth seeing. They insisted that we at least have one more beer and we ended up in a pool hall where we had a couple of rounds of pool. We eventually left the establishment and I was back at my hotel before midnight (just). I hope this does not become a regular thing when I got to Poland as I am not good at staying up late on school nights especially in a hotel where trams trundle by in the night.

The next morning the taxi was early and I was ready so I ended up at the office in good time 08:15 (or 07:15 UK time), my flight was at 16:05 so would have to leave at 14:00, but that would give me a chance to meet up with a couple of people in Finance and finish going through the things we had on our list, and have my chosen lunch of grill trout. The queues at the airport were reasonable long but moved long, and they opened a third x-ray machine as I got to the front of the queue. I was right about Poznan not being a busy airport there were none of the crowds that I had encountered at Stansted, there was plenty of room for everyone. Looking at the departure board there was only one screen of flights (15) between 15:30 and 22:15 which is not many.

The flight departed on time, once at cruising altitude I got out the Polish looking custard like pasty I had purchased which was very once and quickly consumed, then I settled in to the flight reading some articles I had downloaded before I departed the office, and caught up with a few emails. We used the Stansted shuttle to get back to the terminal once landed, which was interesting the shuttles are line horizontal list they arrive the doors open you get in the doors close then open again when you get to the terminal all without a driver.

The drive home was about an hour so all in all the flying and travelling was not too bad.