Conference and soccer world cup

Wednesday morning in Seoul-in morning tea break at the conference after fascinating keynote presentation from Thomas Wong from the Hong Kong Polytechnic about existing and future convergent devices including a non invasive infra red blood glucose monitor and BMI device for the shower-included a totally connected home for monitoring your health -great combination of western and Traditional Chinese medicine.Aftert he break I am off to a workshop on using podcasting, blogs and wikis -am very exicted about using podcasting -could use to put spoken material on our intranet for all to hearor to put link from our website to itunes for client material for public download eg how to take OCs. Will put more about conference here later.
Am going to download some photos from last night -literally thousands of people out on streets and in stadiums watching Korea play Togo -game started just after our gala dinner finished and we watched the first half on a screen in a park with several thousand young people all wearing red flashing devils horns -team is called the Red Devils and then went back to the bar opposite our hotelwhere i managed to get some photos after the koreans had scored. Heaven knows what it will be like here if they were to actually win!!

demilitarized zone in Korea

Sunday 2.15 pm and back in Soeul after visiting the border between North and South Korea.Left here at 7.30 am with about 12 other conference participants and hangers-on! and drove about 45 Kilometres north to the whole area just south of the DMZ - a 4 kilometre wide strip that extends rights across Korea at the 38th parallel. This has been an amazing and almost surreal experience.There is barbed wire and military check points and signs about minefields all across this area.Once we were inside the military zone a soldier came on the bus and checked everyones passports and from there on we were unable to take photos except in designated areas.
The two most amazing things that we did were firstly travelling down into the third tunnel via a little railway.. at 70 metres deep under the ground we walked nearly a kilometre to the point where there is a solid concrete wall to prevent Helen and I escaping into North Korea.! (North Korea has blasted 4 known tunnels under the DMZ to infiltrate troops into the south, and they suspect there are many more. It was like being in a Le Carre novel). Secondly we stood at the Dora observation point and looked over the border to North Korea , through the haze. You could see the river which was on the other side of the border and some UN observation posts. Unfortunately it was to rainy and hazy to see right up to Panmunjeom. Both these places we were forbidden take photos of the really interesting bits. So you will have to make do with, a pic of the barbed wire and sentry boxes just on side of motorway out of Seoul, Lyndsay by the Freedom Bridge with all the prayers, us in our hard hats by the little train, Helen with a Korean soldier at Dora observation post and the very flash new railway station that the South have built in readiness for unification and to link to the trans Mongolian and trans Siberian railways to acess China Russia and Europe. Two trains a day run from here to Soeul and back with few customers.The first train across the border was supposed to run 2 weeks ago but North pulled plug on that -so will be watching the news with interest to see when that happens. Picture here of George W with Sth president in 2002. Had Korean BBQ lunch on the way back-different from the one the other night -we have both decided kimchi will not be on the menu at Parituhu!! Pretty sharp and somewhat unpleasant taste. Altogether a pretty amazing tourist adventure. Quite a contrast from the Coex Mall which is rampant with consumerism.
Helens conference opens this evening and she gives her paper tomorrow. Off fo a nap and then back to the opening ceremony at 5pm.

Photos from Thursday in Tokyo

Here are the photos of Ruth, Marco, Lyndsay and I at lunch at the Press Club and the International Forum building and us at the approach to Imperial Palace.Also for Richard the first Subaru made which is in the Edo Museum. Then one of the local neighbourhood at Shimbaba and 2 exhausted tourists at the end of a hard day.

Kobe and back to Tokyo

After our time in Hiroshima we caught the Shinkansen to Kobe (pic) which was about an hour and a half on the train. We stayed at the Toyoko Inn a business Hotel which had amazingly convenient facilities. Coin laundry, internet access and a free Japanese breakfast. We were going to the destruction museum(actually reconstruction) but sense prevailed and we caught the cable car up to a beautiful garden and found a pretty amazing perfume museum. This had delightful displays of early perfume distillery equipment and antique perfume bottles (see pic) and the opportunity to "smell" fragrances. The gardens were fabulous (see the poppies) and we had a lavender icecream (as you do).
Off to Tokyo then to rejoin Marco and Ruth and it was like coming home. (see pic of the wonderful journalists living room) We are so fortunate to have such dear and welcoming friends. We visited the Sumo museum (really) and the Edo museum and of course Helen was in 7th heaven when we went to the Sony shop in Ginza where they display their new products and prototypes for the future.
The next day Ruth took us to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan for lunch and we were somewhat Starstruck! Quite an experience and we met up with Marco who had been there for a press conference with the EU ambassador. After lunch we went to the Tokyo International Forum building which is an architectual marvel and then we popped along to the Emperor's palace to say hello. Home to a fab tofu salad, souffle and a bottle of NZ pinot noir and Ruths special Tofu cheesecake.!! I am a total convert to silken tofu.
We then watched a DVD about the North Korean soccer team of 1966 who reached the semifinals of the world cup that year (very appropriate for the night before the 2006 cup start and our trip to the Demilitarized Zone tomorrow) and thats us up to date ..

Atomic Bomb survivors museum, Hiroshima castle and Visit to the Seibu Centre for Children in Hiroshima

Our time in Hiroshima was really interesting.. After our visit to Miyajima island Yoshi dropped us back at the Peace park for a couple of hours where we visited the Atomic Survivors museum. This was a salutory experience. The art work done by survivors was particularly poignant..and spoke volumes. For me (L) these were really meaningful. There is a pic also of elderly women who seem to be gardeners in the park. They were very old women. We understand that 20% of Japanese are over 65 and work well into their old age. Yoshi then picked us up to take us to Hiroshima castle where we played with some Samuri helmets!! as well as seeing early Hiroshima history.There are also some photos here of our visit to Seibu centre which I have written about previously. Colourful wheelchairs/pushchairs for kids! etc

Since photos in the previous post have sucessfully uploaded ( tho they show in the opposite order from what i had intended and are obviously not from saturday in Seoul!!)we thought we would put some more up now and write about them later.
firstly some from Kyoto and Nara
-the great Buddha at Nara and us out side the building housing it, the view of the graveyard from our hotel in Nara, Kyoto railway station and further shots from hiroshima especially the people in traditional dress on Friday night for the summer festival ( plus the odd goth or two) and a further shot in the Peace park.

Saturday in Seoul

Hi there its Saturday morning in Seoul and we are staying in the Samsung Cooperative Residence -sort of like a student hostel -and I am filling in some time while waiting for the washing to dry in the laundry-Lynds is upstairs reading - and have 5 minutes left on the computer in the lobby -camera is upstairs and I will try later to upload photos -yesterday it took us most of the day to get here from Tokyo ( where we were very sad to leave our friends Ruth and Marco who have been so hospitable and such fun to be with ). left their apartment and walked back to hotel Laforet to get the Airport Limousine bus at 8.20 am to airport which took about an hour, our Korean airlines flight left on time at 12.55 pm and arrived in Seoul 4pm -then took 3 hours in horrendous traffic to get to our hotel -will stop now to post this and come back later.
room is as I thought it would be -very small but quite well organised and as long as we are disciplined it wont be too bad for a week. We are just down the road from the convention centre and the first thing to do today is to find our way there and get familiar with the place.
Had great Korean BBQ meal last night at local place in the carpark opposite our Residence.
now 11.10 am and Imelda the maid(aka Helen) has finished the washing and ironing, we have found an ATM which produces cash from NZ credit card, found our way to the conference venue and I have registered, we have booked a tour for tomorrow at 7.30 am to go and visit the Demilitarised zone and tunnels( at South and North Korea border) and we are now in the conference free internet cafe ( on an English keyboard and English language praise the lord!! ) and behold some photos have uploaded -these are from the visit last weekend to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island.

Two days in Hiroshima

Earlier this year I was asked if some people from Japan could visit the Wilson Centre to see the services we provide for children. Yoshi and his wife and two other people (one was a physiotherapist) spent an hour or more with us..and when they left invited me to see their place of work the Seibu centre in Hiroshima when I visited Japan...nothing could have prepared me for their generous hospitality. Yoshi and his two daughters and his grand daughter picked Helen and I up from Hotel Flex on Sunday morning ..he had borrowed a friends Toyota Previa? so that we could all fit in and took Helen and I to the ferry to cross to Miyajima.
This has to be one of the worlds most beautiful places -breathtaking. We walked around the temple that was set over the water and were lucky to see a very traditional wedding ..It amazed us that this took place in front of tourists who were on the whole most respectful..couldnt help but be as it was so formal and solemn. We then walked up hundreds of steps to the Daisho-in Temple which is one of the most prestigious Shingon temples in Japan ( the Dali Lama visited there last year. )I am unable to describe the feelings and the beauty of this place..but have to say that two well travelled Kiwis were considerably moved!! I do hope we can show you the photos. Yoshi then took us back after the ferry ride to the Peace Park where Helen and I spent two or more hours absorbing the history and all the grief that went with rememberance of the bombing. The most moving for me was the art exhibition where people who had lived through the bombing were asked to draw their experiences and to write a description. These were most vivid.
Yoshi and his daughters Maiko and Yuriko and grand daughter 3 year old Rino took us to dinner at a fish restaurant before returning us to our hotel. They were so kind and hospitable.
The next morning Yoshi and Maiko took us to the Seibu centre where we were met by the Director and given a two hour tour of this centre. They provide a service for preschool children and was most impressive.Similar service to the Child Development service provided by Child Disability services at Wilson Centre..but the Seibu service was based at this very new building rather than the staff working out in the community. The facilities were very high tech and inclusive of families (mothers actually ) especially for the childs first year when the mother is required to be with her child at all times. There was a similar feeling to that where I work. Afterwards the Director who is a Paediatrician took us all to lunch at a restaurant where the staff had prepared a welcome to Japan icecream dish especially for us for dessert. We felt very special and quite overwhelmed. It was really hard to say goodbye to these kind and generous people and Helen and I hope to repay Yoshi for his kindness when he and Yuiko come to NZ later in the year.
And so to Kobe by Shinkansen which has to be the most luxurious way to travel at 300 ks an hour.As we said earlier this is a great hotel. H and I went department store sightseeing and then to dinner at Dinner Road where we had Tofu salad and tempura and two large glasses of Sake...off to the reconstruction museum as every good health and safetly person should do..this is about the 1995 earthquake here ..kia kaha L

Ｔｕｅｓｄａｙ ｍｏｒｎｉｎｇ ｉｎ Ｋｏｂｅ

8.20 am -have just had the free Japanese breakfast in the hotel lobby -miso, rice and pickles and green tea -very tasty but L says it wont replace Mr Hubbards muesli/freshfruit for the Parituhu breakfast!! Fortunately there is a Starbucks around the corner for what passes as a decent cup　of coffee in this neck of the woods ( but only just -I am hanging out for the coffee shop on Devonport wharf)
We see from stuff.co.nz that it was a very cold and miserable Queens Birthday weekend -also saw the QB hons -congrats to Marlene Shrubshall on her well deserved gong.
Hopefully the photos we were trying to upload last night will do so this morning and then we will do some of Miyajima island.
But no it doesnt want to do it and its quite difficult in Japanese trying to sort out problems and cant get it into English even with assistance from the very helpful girl at the desk. 　

Queens Birthday Monday in Kobe..continued

On Friday 3 June we went from Kyoto to Nara, ancient capital of Japan-along with about 10,000 schoolchildren, including a group who squealed and stampeded to see a film star when we were at the railway station. As well as school children and huge temples Nara also has a huge herd of fairly odorous deer who wander freely in the town and around the temples.Had a nice hotel room with superview of graveyard (Ruth had asked for a room with a nice view please when she booked it for us and so it was as you can see in photo!!)Visited the Todai-ji temple, another World Heritage Site completed in 752 which is the largest wooden building in the world with the great image of Vairocana Buddha-how they cast a 16 metre high bronze in the 8th century defies belief-also it is hard to be serene in this place with thousands of people there including lots of americans who seemed even louder and lumpier than us .Dinner at Mos burgers (japanese chain) -great infection control here -2 basins with flowing soap for patrons and pump pot handwash for staff which was constantly being used (great photos to bring home for Aggi!)Japan is very clean and hygeine is constantly encouraged -no one drops litter and if they do someone is there to pick it up.
Its starting to heat up -Mr Ｋoizumi the Prime Minister is heading a campaign for more casual summer wear for the salarymen, instead of the ubiquitous black suit and tie, when it is 30 degrees.This is to save electricity (by turning down airconditioners) -he is leading by example and wore a cool white Okinawan shirt in the Parliament the other day
Saturday morning back to Kyoto to get Shinkansen to Hiroshima -photo of Kyoto railway station which is huge and impressive structure and is controversial here.
Arrived in Hiroshima in late afternoon and found the Hotel Flex, on a pleasant riverbank site, without much difficulty.The cat would lose its head here if we swung it in the room; its a tiny but a well designed room with all mod cons.
Hiroshima is hazy too. People tell us its the summer heat but we think there is a lot of smog over Japan.Never the less Hiroshima is a really lovely city.
We headed out into a festival..how lucky we are to come to these things by accident (like the weddings in the temples) This was the summer Kimona fesival where the people of Hiroshima wear their summer kimonas and sashay down the malls and streets looking magnificent. See the pics of a family, a girl with her bike (and we did see her hike up the kimona a ride off) and by contrast some goth youths.
Well its about midnight here and even the computer is tired cos photos wont upload -will try again in the morning when we tell you about our wonderful day out with Yoshi and his family, including our trip to Miyajima Island.

Queens Birthday Monday in Kobe..27 degrees

You know its really amazing how Helen Mackenzie navigates her way around sites in Japanese..but this time it got her..she completely lost our last blog..so here we go again.
We are in the Tokyo Inn Kobe thanks to Ruth..nice free Internet connection..coffee.. and we are doing our washing in the lobby coin machines while we do this blog. Nice ! Another　great piece of advice from Ruth was to take her and Marcos small wheelie cases instead of our big case..there are so many stairs in Japan I cant imagine how it would have been with our huge (of course we are travelling ligh) suitcases.
here are the photos we werent able to upload in Kyoto-helen by the hydro station on the canal,Lynds by "homeless" neat and tidy homes on river bank,Lynds at world heritage site temple on island in river in kyoto and Lynds with Miyuki at Casa de Natu where we stayed in Kyoto.

Saturday evening in hiroshima

Sorry folks but no photos tonight tho there are lots to send -we are in a free internet site at the International Exchange Lounge in the Peace Park here in Hiroshima-pretty impressive place -will have to return to visit the museum which was closed when we got here.
Well the rest of　Kyoto was as good as the first bit -after we were at the internet place we returned on our bikes along the canal to the river and there was a really interesting little hydro plant right there in the middle of the city ( imagine photo) - back to Casa Natu via a World heritage site that Simon had told us about-amazing set in 800 acres untouched forest. Then to dinner at a neighbourhood restaurant -just like old DKD above the Civic with lots of young people.
In the room next door in the casa was Annetta, canadian geologist returning from prospecting for gold in the Gobi desert in Mongolia -you meet all sorts of interesting people when you travel!!
We have to stop now cos centre is closing -more another time -off to Miyajama Island tomorrow. Hiroshima is a really happening place .

Hot and sunny day in Kyoto

1.30 pm on Thursday 1 June -we have to look at our watches or calendars to see what day it is!!!
gorgeous here today -sunscreen needed for the first time -we have bicycles and are currently in an internet cafe at Kyoto International Community House which we can thoroughly recommend.
To update since Tuesday -slow start that day -headed off after lunchtime to visit the Sumo Museum and Edo Museum in Tokyo but got sidetracked in yet another large electronics store called Yogabashi looking at nurse proof laptops and a million other gadgets and toys and finally managing to buy a cover for my ancient iPod ( cos everything here is for 5th generation video etc ) -when we got to the museums they were closing so will return next week.But still managed to navigate our way across Tokyo sucessfully.
yesterday we crept out of the apt at 7 am to walk to Shinegawa station where we got on the Shinkansen ( bullet train) Hikari at 8.14 am ( on the dot !!) to whisk us smoothly to Kyoto in less than 2 1/2 hrs -caught a glimpse of Mt Fuji -top just above the clouds-amazed how big it was.
We are so enjoying Japan.
We transferred to the Subway to head to our accommodation.I had phoned Simon (Helen and Rod Cornelius's son who lives here) and he popped up on the train two stations on to surprise us. Simon gave us a great afternoon of guided sightseeing,shrines temples, geisha area with interesting commentaries as he is surely skilled with this. Later we met up with Mika, Simons fiancee and we had dinner together with lots of talk of weddings and Kimonas and much laughter and beer!! such a good day.
The Casa de Natu is a 180 year old Japanese private home with B & B accommodation. It is so 'fine" with genuine sliding screens, tiny doorways, heavenly japanese garden, in a tiny street with no names or numbers,but a plan an the wall on the corner with everyones name who lives in the street.
This is a marvellous experience,,but we do feel very "large and Kiwi" and clumsy.
The Breakfast this a,m, was beautifully presented..small soy drink with a stawberry in it and toast and green tea.We were able to hire bikes through the guest house and have very much enjoyed our gentle cycle along the river and through the streets of Kyoto. We loved the Irises growing in the river..the cranes(birds not machinery) and the cherry trees, people fishing,stepping stones across the river, children from kindergarten sliding down the river banks on cardboard as kids do down Mt Vic in Devonport.