Stenmark out in the world

Lannion, France, June 10, 2008

2008-06-22T11:31:00.003-05:00

The standardization meeting was held in Lannion, a small town close to the picturesque Breton coast line. We had the opportunity to travel out to the coast and following here are a few pictures from Lannion as well as the coastal line near Perros-Guirec. We were also fortunate with the weather, which helped to make the trip a memory for life.

Paris in France, June 8, 2008

2008-06-22T11:09:00.005-05:00

A 3GPP ETSI standardization work group meeting was held in Lannion, France in June. I did have some spare time to see also some major tourist sights in Paris, here are some pictures from the gorgeous town of Paris. As always in the major cities, walking the city streets I stumble upon the local Aston Martin shop... I was also fortunate to be able to meet some old friends in Paris; including a Swedish friend from my former University as well as a friend from my Spanish studies in Granada, Spain. I also spent one day touristing with a guy from Teheran, who lives and works in New Brunswick, Canada. Quite a coincidence!
Following this post will be some pictures from the smaller town of Lannion, France.

Kitchener (ON), April 19, 2008

2008-06-22T10:56:00.005-05:00

Spring has been filled with activities, both at work and in the personal sphere. The most recent activities that took a lot of time was the move from Waterloo to Kitchener. Here are some pictures to show from the new home, just before moving in. The new apartment is better equipped to receive friends who might be visiting...

Boston (MA), US, January 23rd

2008-01-27T12:31:00.000-05:00

We had the opportunity to work for a few days in the US, my trip went to Boston in Massachusetts. Known mostly for its Seafood Cuisine, the 2 major Universities MIT and (US) Harvard, the town boasts a nice city core where walking is possible and recommended (imagine that in the US!!!) and a beautiful harbour. We found a nice restaurant called Legal Sea Food for lunch, we visited a Kansas Steakhouse and we also dropped by the bar from Cheers, the old time comedy series from the 1980-1990 television. We dropped by Newbury Street, we visited the Faneuil Hall and the Boston Market but we never did have time to visit the site for the Boston Tea Party. We also drove by Harvard and MIT and looked at the old buildings and the large areas at least surrounding Harvard. The roads in Boston were easy to drive on, there was surprisingly little traffic (we were driving around downtown and on the Interstates I-90 and I-93 between 9 and 4 on Thursday) and the only small snag we experienced was the Magellan 4-/N/everlost GPS who kept saying we should drive onto road exits that did not exist on the roads we were driving on. Street signs in Boston are for US standards fairly clear and easily read and not as confusing as in many other places/states in the US, so we had little use of the GPS here. But we had 2 lovely days and recommend the town to anyone who has the chance to drop by, so far my best experience of a US city.

Christmas, Dec 24th

2008-01-27T12:23:00.000-05:00

Somewhat late, here is a Christmas photo to remind about the highlight of the year for all children, young and old. As a colleague pointed out, it is interesting that Santa every year remembers to bring his (clean) garden and garage working gloves out on his journey to visit all children throughout the world... :-) The Macintosh does not rotate the pictures as ordered, my apologies as I am new to the Mac and should most likely use a more professional tool than the default Mac picture viewing program Preview.

San Francisco, US, October 29th

2008-01-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

Late in 2007, we performed an Audio Quality Trip to the westcoast of the US; San Francisco was the designated city to visit. This was my first visit to the west coast of the US, we were lucky with the weather and found apart from work some nice restaurants as well. One to recommend for their excellent food, good service and simple yet elegant layout is the Zuni Café. There are plenty of blogs and reviews on the web so I wont write more about it here. A few pictures from San Fran has been added to show Alcatraz, the bridges in the area, the sculptures in one of the small green spaces and the famous downhill drop at the end of the Lombard Street. Enjoy!

Lion Safari Cambridge August 11th

2007-08-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

Just south of Cambridge lies a Lion Safari tour, which was established in the late 1960s. The lion safari features several different parts with different types of animals, from Lions and Cheetahs to the Monkey section to the Antiloops and Giraffes. If the weather is good, this is a pleasant day out in the wild and the park also features a small water park where you can bring children to play around. There is also a small railway as well as a boat tour through a small lake with several islands laden with monkeys. All in all a day well spent. :)

Niagara Falls July 24th

2007-08-21T20:10:00.000-05:00

An old time friend from Sweden came over to visit in July, so we took a day off and went down to Niagara Falls with him to see what people were talking about. The town itself was as expected a tourist trap, but the falls were surprisingly beautiful, wide, low but still not too expensive. The general feeling was good and the visit was a positive one, which was more than expected. We travelled out into the falls with the boat Maid in the Mist, but did not walk behind the falls as many visitors do. After a few hours and a quick lunch we travelled to Niagara on the Lake and took a walk in the small village and enjoyed the waterfront. Out in this region there are many small wineyards, but we did not stop to taste the local wine on this trip. Cant do all in one day...

Toronto Harbor July 12th

2007-08-21T19:39:00.000-05:00

In order to get a Chinese VISA we had to go to the Chinese embassy of Toronto, and this chance could not be missed to take a stroll along the harbourside and to enjoy a sunny day. I have posted anything for some time but will try to make amends for this during the fall time.
After having eaten a pleasant lunch among the boats in the harbour, we took some pictures of both the coastal guard and a large sailing ship which was chartered by a company for a late lunch. The weather turned cloudy but eventually cleared up again without any downpour
.

Moving weekends

2007-05-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

Most of present and past weekends were used either planning or moving our furniture and belongings from one apartment to another, so internet have on my behalf been forced to a temporary standstill. Here is at least one picture we took up at RIM Park in the north-eastern part of Waterloo on one of our pauses in the work. We have had smashing weather for 2 weeks now, and that is what my imagination provides me with right now.

Waterloo Park

2007-04-23T18:10:00.000-05:00

Waterloo Park is a decent park in downtown Waterloo. The park boasts a mini-zoo, and for small children it is nice to see the small animals present even though you run out of animals rather quickly. We had fantastic weather during the weekend and up to 25 degrees, so not at all bad. Seasons went from winter, skipped spring and went straight for summer. Some thunderstorms followed in the sunny weathers wake, but at least the thunder and rain came on Monday during working hours. Depicted is a picture of the pond in Waterloo Park which the residents insists on calling a Lake, a small pond of about 2x2 m with a bench placed in front of it and finally Tindra on a lawn mover.

Visit to Toronto

2007-04-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

The plan was to visit Toronto already last weekend, on the 7th of April. But due to poor weather, the trip was postponed and this turned out to be an excellent choice. 2 friends of mine were visiting from London (the UK town) in the last week, and they spent 2 nights in Kitchener visiting us and some days out traveling, as most people are eager to see the Niagara Falls while over here.
Anyway, this Saturday we took the car to Toronto and walked the city streets for several hours. We visited Chinatown, we walked Bloor Street and had lunch on a Subway restaurant before walking by the University of Toronto (several of the faculties, but not all...). Among the one we saw were Geology, Art, Civil Engineering, Music, etc. We also walked by the Market Hall to check out the wares and eat a quick snack before heading over to the CN Tower on Front Street. The CN Tower is about 550 meters high with two lookout floors, we went up the lower floor as the queue to go to the top lookout was too long. The view was nice and it showed that Toronto is a mixed town, both with high-rises and skyscrapers lined up in a north-southly streak as well residential low areas to the west and east, all very close to the downtown area.

On the pictures below is a really slim building on Front Street with the CN Tower and TD Canada Skyscraper looming in the background. Second picture show the NHL Hall of Fame building, which unfortunately was closed when we walked by. Third picture show an average Canadian Hummer vehicle parked in front of a Hotel next to Union station where a wedding party were taking pictures. The fourth and last picture show the view from the CN Tower looking out to Northeast (apologies for not yet rotating the top picture).

London upon Thames April 1st

2007-04-01T17:03:00.000-05:00

Imagine traveling from Kitchener to London and walking down to Covent Garden, or strolling across the Thames on a Sunday afternoon. This is exactly what we did today, but as you may guess there is a town called London also in Canada. The town boasts a cathedral and several churches, a really nice downtown area and a mixture of food and cuisine. After spending a few hours in the town you begin to wonder if this is not the most beautiful and most walker friendly of the two London's. We came the day after Team Surprise from Landvetter again won the World Championships in synchronized skating. Anyway, we spent the day in London and traveled back to Kitchener only in the afternoon. I highly recommend a visit to London, if only to have a coffee or a lunch and a walk in the small but comfortable town of roughly 34o 000 residents. Pictures shows the Cathedral, Covent Garden Market, Art Museum and New Courthouse and the main Church, in that order.

Kitchener Temporary Accommodation

2007-04-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

2007-03-31: On Saturday we drove to Guelph to see the town and to find out if the town was nice to walk in and if there was anything of interest accessible for a newcomer. In short, there was little of interest in the town and although it was possible to walk in certain areas, they were not very interesting or beautiful, at least as far as the downtown area is concerned (which is the thing that matters to us).

So instead of posting pictures of roads and concrete and the arboretum in Guelph, we will show some pictures from our temporary accommodation in Kitchener. The apartment is flashy and nicely furnished, but like most building here in Canada the builders did a poor job and no fancy furniture and all-covering carpets on the floor (ick!, the static electricity is killing me ) can cover all the crevices between wall / floor and between wall / wall. You would think it would be easy to carpet a floor, but the dividing lines have been placed in the middle of the room and doorways, directly visible to the eye. Newly built walls does not line up, and when the water pours from the bathtub into the receiving drain pipe, the water overflows and goes straight through the floor and down to the neighbor below. At least that was taken care of after only 9 days of nagging at the janitor to get a plummer, during which time we could not use the bath tub. Each day we were promised the plummer would come the next day. So in abstract, the grass is not greener on this side of the pool as far as housing goes, only dyed a bit different. Luckily we are only here a limited time.

Common working day

2007-03-26T19:43:00.000-05:00

One of the many to-dos here in Canada involves getting the Health Insurance program up and running. We visited the OHIP office this morning to hand in the papers, well prepared. Once there I was told by the screener lady that the papers I had was inadequate, but as I had prepared it by the book I did not give in but took a number and got in the line. When asked to present my case, the lady behind the counter looked at my papers, thanked me for a well prepare case and started preparing all the paper work. All went well and I could go to work with one thing less on my mind. For the application of permanent residency I needed information to proove that I had funds to support us in Canada, so I dropped by the bank office at 17.15 and got the papers I needed. I love banks who are actually there for you, I wish Swedish banks would learn even the tiniest from the Canadian TD Canada Trust. Well at home we ate before heading to the swimming pool for a swim to unwind. Peace.

Cambridge Town March -07

2007-03-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

In the area are many small towns, most of them unknown to me. The closest one is Cambridge, and below are three pictures from Cambridge / Galt on a cloudy day. Had the weather been better it would have been more fun to document the town, but this will be left for some other day. First picture depicts the Cathedral, second picture shows the Grand River that flows through the town and divides it in two parts and the last picture shows the Post Office (pretty imposing office). Cambridge holds about 150 000 people, Kitchener about 210 000 people and Waterloo roughly 110 000 people (possibly excluding the students, as not all of them are 'residentials' in the area). In Sweden or even in Europe this would be in an area of possibly 6x10 (=60) km2, but here the area is vastly larger, roughly 9x35 (=315) km2 (numbers estimated from GoogleEarth). This can also easily be understood when you see the towns (incl. town centres) in Canada, as people live in villas in the towns while townspeople in Sweden and Europe generally live in apartments or high-rises.

View from Apartment Window

2007-03-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

The picture is taken from the balcony of our temporary location in Kitchener, Canada. The below street is a back alley street, leading nowhere, but far away in the distance you can spot the Kitchener city center and also where Waterloo begins.

Cerdanya Februar 2007

2007-03-04T18:14:00.000-05:00

Assorted pictures from the Valley of Cerdanya in the north of Spain/ in the south of France. The fortress and church is from Mont Lluis while the architectural detail is from Lles and the cemetary picture is from close to Prats.

On request: Nikko best pics

2006-09-15T09:26:00.000-05:00

And as a tribute to my friend who joined me to Nikko for the tour of the Shrines and Temples, I need to post some of the best pictures from that trip. I hope you can also find some fun in the last picture, even though the term "money laundry" would have been more fun. :) I have also understood that most countries have only one embassy per foreign country, so I was quite amazed to see where France decided to place their embassy (Nikko). I guess this is where they stashed away Francois Miterrand and where they intend to place Jacques Chirac at the end of his reign...

Last weekend in Kappabashi

2006-09-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

My last Sunday in Tokyo this time was spent in Kappabashi, looking for an "otemai" (wooden water cup) for the Macha (green tea) ritual. I found everything else but an otemai, so I decided to upload some pictures for the guide of others who are interested in visiting Asakusa and Kappabashi, the map is taken from the public road and the stores depict a good knife store as well as a rather new and discounted plate and mug store. I recommend a visit to them both.

Hongkong Sept 4-6

2006-09-07T09:57:00.000-05:00

Auditing a vendor can have certain advantages, this time we went to Hongkong and Guangdong in China. Not far from Shenzhen I realised I had been in these parts before; in 2004 I went to a small (for Chinese standards) town called Zhuhai in the same area. Anyway, the weather was hot and terribly humid, the food good, the language impossible but the company great. And getting out of China is almost harder than getting in, believe it or not when you have all the papers in order and still get the wrong VISA from the Chinese embassy in Tokyo who claim the invitation SIGNED by the Chinese government was not correct.

Kegon Falls

2006-09-02T04:39:00.000-05:00

... is an almost 100 m vertical drop waterfall near Chuzenji Lake. Beautiful and quite powerful as well.

Three monkeys

2006-09-02T04:23:00.000-05:00

In Toshogu Shrine you find these small monkeys depicted on a building structure. Here is also a mausoleum of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first Tokugawa Shogun.

Nikko

2006-09-02T04:16:00.000-05:00

Nikko is a small town to the northwest of Tokyo. The town has many temples and is, in parts, listed as a world heritage. The most known locations include Lake Chuzenji, Futarasan shrine, Kegon Falls and Toshogu Shrine.

Ueno Science Museum

2006-08-27T09:47:00.001-05:00

Sunday was spent in the Ueno Science Museum where they featured Antartica, apart from the standard exhibition. The standard exhibition consists of the evolution of man (Darwinism, sorry all religious people who think otherwise), how all mammals and animals connects together, how man conquered space and also an interactive exhibition of physics for children, where they can play with the laws of physics and have fun. The drawbacks of the museum are twofold, one is the entrance fee (1300 yen!) and the second is the lack of English explanations. If you have time enough you can rent a considerably cheap audio guide, and then spend the day in the museum, but if you want the rapid version you have to make do with almost zero (maru) explanations. A bit tedious, considering they boost to be Japan's leading Science Museum. The architecture picture is from Ginza, I just had to show it.

Kurakoen Garden

2006-08-27T09:35:00.000-05:00

In the scenic park of Koishikawa Kurakoen I spent little more than one hour. It was relaxing to walk around and I stumbled onto a photoshoot with two Kimono/Yukata clad females and a bunch of guys with cameras. The park is really nice and I understand why they chose this place as their backdrop. There was also a cool bridge that was called "full moon bridge", the bridge is a half moon but the reflection in the water makes it a full circle.

Imperial Garden 060826

2006-08-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

It was time to see the Imperial Garden. A beautiful lamp post and the Ninomaru Garden are two of my memories. The main lookout post is where the old tower burned down in a great fire (Meireki) in 1657 if I remember correctly. I lost the informative leaflet, unfortunately.

Ryogoku Edo Museum

2006-08-27T08:52:00.000-05:00

Taken at the Edo-Tokyo Museum it displays a model of the old Tokyo, when it was still Edo. The interesting part of this museum is that it is a walkaround place where you really feel like you are a part of the history. The look-into booths they have, displaying real homes in the past, both in the 17th century as well as during the WWII (1940s), are really "alive" and gives you good insight into common people's lives in past ages.

Onomichi on Sunday

2006-08-20T04:27:00.000-05:00

Yay, what a weather! Checked out the Shukkeien garden in Hiroshima before leaving for Onomichi and its lovely seaside. Mount Senkoiji-san is not so high, ~170m, but you have to climb the bare stone to get to the top, and ropeways are for sissies... :-) Btw, did you know you have to buy an Entrance Ticket (140 yen ~ 10 SEK) if you want to leave a Shinkansen station in between switching trains... Cheap firm, almost like SJ.

Mt Misen w/o ropeway

2006-08-19T04:28:00.000-05:00

...renders you somewhat warm. But what a sight! When I got down I realized the tourist agency mentioned the way up was closed (could have fooled me!) due to landslides after the latest typhoon (Thursday). :-) 2.4 km of stairs and steep terrain takes the energy out of an office rat, tonite is time for Okii Okonomiyake Hiroshima-style...

On the road again...

2006-08-18T17:38:00.000-05:00

Tokyo was too quiet and sunny, so now I am heading to the southeastern Honshu and Hiroshima, where 24 hrs ago a typhoon created 'gale' strength winds.. A bit shaky weather system can be expected... This weekend will be spent in Hiroshima where the US dropped the first A-bomb (Genbaku) on August 6th, 1945. 200,000 casualities reported.

Architecture in Kamakura

2006-08-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

Upper left a business building, upper right a personal home in the forest (look above the yellow house to the left) and to the left a building that seemed a hotel. The name of the last read "Elsa Kamakura". A lot of interesting buildings, too bad it was dawning already when I left the beach.

Hase Arms Shop

2006-08-13T08:48:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for any type of knife or other (medieval) weapon (except guns), this is the place for you. Located not far from the Great Buddha of Hase in Daibutsu, I could not stop myself from taking a picture of one of the 3 walls covered in arms of all kinds.

Kamakura's many faces II

2006-08-13T08:40:00.000-05:00

Great Buddha of Hase is nothing else but a great (13m) bronze statue of Buddha. It has stood here since 1252, it survived a tidal wave in 1498 that swept away the temple surrounding the statue, and in 1923 the great earthquake shook and ruined the foundations of the buddha, yet the body of the buddha remained intact. Restorations have been made on the face and body (latest 1960), necessary as the statue is standing outside all around the year.

Kamakura's many faces

2006-08-13T01:53:00.000-05:00

Kamakura is more than just temples; enjoy the beach, go hiking in the low mountains, check out the bamboo groove, go shopping, etc... :-) Nice old town that used to be capital, but seems so be home to many wealthy Japanese and European both people and firms, who buy land and build interesting buildings in Kamakura. More on this subject to follow...

Evening fantasies

2006-08-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

Can be found in Roppongi...

Beach home

2006-08-12T05:37:00.000-05:00

Near the center of Tokyo, at Tamachi, I found this beach house amidst skyscrapers and asphalt. Terrible weather today, thunderstorm and heavy rain, typical on a day off...

Odaiba Actual Picture

2006-08-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

Here is the missing photo: Right in the heart of Tokyo you find Odaiba, the green island with the protective past. The fortresses were once used to protect from invaders from the Sea, but are in these days green, lush and pretty.

Repost: Odaiba 060726

2006-08-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

On most images you find Japanese people, so I decided to show something different. Why not the Statue of Liberty and young Tindra, overlooking Odaiba. :)

Repost: Odaiba 060726

2006-08-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

Funny little mistake, the picture is taken on Odaiba but is overlooking Tokyo central part. So what you see on the picture is not a part of Odaiba, really. :)

Shimoda White Beach

2006-08-05T04:25:00.000-05:00

A hard day at the beach with basking sun and lukewarm water. Nice snorkling with neon fishes in lava crevices. 3 Swedish friends to make the day go faster. Waaaait a minute, make the day go FASTER...?

Repost: Tsurugaoka Temple in Kamakura

2006-07-30T07:59:00.000-05:00

Yet another time the mobile network in Japan deceived me of my "sent" files. This is the main entryway to the Tsurugaoka Temple in Kamakura. Date was July 16th.

Repost: Nagano: Zenkoji Temple 060615

2006-07-30T07:52:00.000-05:00

This entry was prepared and ready to send, when the first trouble with the mobile network came about. Here is the picture I wanted to show, the Zenkoji Temple facing south, in town of Nagano.

Akasaka Aston Fredrik

2006-07-30T07:45:00.000-05:00

Akasaka is the new, western-style, part of Tokyo. High building, new and fancy companies and a lot of cafes and asphalt is the core of this part of town. It was hard to resist a photo at one of the car dealers.

Yasaka Shrine by Night

2006-07-28T20:27:00.000-05:00

Yasaka shrine was visited both in daylight and in the night, but the best picture was definetely this one, taken by the K800. The temple really stands out from the surrounding, and as this is still downtown it does not look odd.

Kiyumizudera Temple

2006-07-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

After some trouble with roaming the mobile network in Kyoto, here are some picture from Kyoto and the Kiyumizudera temple in the Hills of Kyoto. Featured on The Last Samurai, this temple is beautifully situated and it is built on high poles, engineered in an elaborate way.

Kyoto Wine and Spirits

2006-07-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

Why not enjoy both religion and food at the same time? Or maybe this is just a way for church with not so much money to co-exist with other businesses, sharing the building and maybe also some visitors. Found in Kyoto

Nijo Castle, Kyoto

2006-07-21T03:09:00.000-05:00

Nijo-jo, built 1601 as residence of the first Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu. Picture show Ninomaru Palace from the Honmaru garden.

Shinagawa backyard

2006-07-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

Neighborhood close-by can hide some surprises, luckily the phone is always with you.. :-)

Kusunoki Masashige

2006-07-16T23:57:00.000-05:00

Imperial Garden in Tokyo houses this Samurai warrior.

Bamboo forest tea session

2006-07-16T06:12:00.000-05:00

... in Kamakura, temple-dense town south of Yokohama. A green tea session was held in the bambooo forest of Hokokuji, and Jomyoji and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Templates were also visited before the stomach decided it was time for lunch. A shirt was also bought before heading back to Tokyo, having walked for most of the day and feeling rather sore in the feet. Beautiful weather in Kamakura, overcast in Tokyo.

Ueda backyard

2006-07-14T04:37:00.000-05:00

Friday was spent in a town to the north of Tokyo called Ueda. The town is 50 km short of Nagano, and its known for the hot springs with high sulphur content. These springs are quite pleasant to relax in, and the hotel Hanaya had a lovely garden with fishes in the small pond (depicted). A nice dinner followed in the hotel before we headed to downtown Ueda for a beer at some local bars. Saturday was spent in Nagano, host of the 1998 Summer Olympics, visiting the Zenkoji temple yard and seeing some of the 1998 Olympics Arenas.

Ebisu architecture

2006-07-09T06:58:00.000-05:00

Cool buildings are always fun, and this was one I found in the Ebisu (Yebisu) area. There are also a 'beer station' close by...

Shibuya

2006-07-09T02:32:00.000-05:00

New day, new people at the Shibuya crossing. The traveller might recognize the spot from where the picture is taken, and the iced caffe macchiato just right on a hot and humid day.

Green Tea ceremony...

2006-07-08T03:41:00.000-05:00

Ryokucha ochakai is the Japanese name for the ceremony. I could have gotten the spelling wrong, but I wrote it from the way I heard it. The ceremony involves 168 steps, but the version I took part in was shortened to roughly 40 to save time. Beautiful pot, apparently the original ones are fed with charcoal, but this version was electric and that is more likely better for the air in the room.

Pedestrian roadblock

2006-07-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

When they shut down parts of a street to repair the pavement, they do it properly. All cones are lit from within, and there is one every meter... There is also about 10 men standing with "light sabres" to keep you on the safe side of the fence... By the way, if you are a motorcyclist and not so happy about wire fences in the middle of the road, please go to the link below and sign your name on the list. You do not need to add your email address unless you want more information.

Link

Tokyo nightlife

2006-07-02T04:47:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when Koizumi listened to cab drivers more than the people and decided not to let the metro go all night. You see people sleeping everywhere, waiting for the first metro home...

Meiji shrine, Harajuku

2006-07-01T02:41:00.000-05:00

Meiji shrine is located in a calm park area between Shinjuku and Shibuya. If lucky, you might see a wedding ceremony here.

Would u eat here??

2006-06-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

All restaurants were fully booked already on Wednesday save this one... Go figure. ;-)

Restaurants aplenty

2006-06-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

At least the food is good and the sake cool. The noodles are 'soba', 'udong' and 'ramen', many names for popular items...

Tokyo Tower by Night

2006-06-24T08:13:00.000-05:00

A natural stop for the Nightcrawler is the Tower, which claims superiority over the Eiffel with a few meters... :-)

Asakura Neighbors

2006-06-24T04:45:00.000-05:00

Neighboring to Asakusa is the regular skyscapers that litter Tokyo. Apparently they are abundant in the city part of Shinjuku (close to Roppongi). Maybe that is a stop for next weekend, unless the weather is good enough to try it tomorrow Sunday.

Asakusa: Sensoji temple

2006-06-24T02:33:00.000-05:00

Asakusa [a-sock-sa] is a part of Tokyo preserved in the state it was in when Tokyo was called Edo. Low buildings and traditional architecture.

Torii

2006-06-21T08:39:00.000-05:00

Most (buddhi) shrines have a Torii in front of them. Torii means "gate" according to my sources. Picture has been taken, then zoomed and cropped by the W800 software.

Architecture

2006-06-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

This gem was found in one of the 12 main districts of Tokyo. Here, the bulk of the small and medium sized (Japan have those!) companies are located, thus the architecture is a bit "diversified".

Ueno Park in Tokyo

2006-06-18T03:06:00.000-05:00

Gateway leading to a buddhi shrine. Close to here they keep the flame from Hiroshima burning.

Ginza district

2006-06-17T04:36:00.000-05:00

These bandannas are so typical asian to me, not just the chars on them..

Night Vision

2006-06-16T10:23:00.000-05:00

Testing the night mode... Soon bedtime.

Compact living?!?

2006-06-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

Now I understand why ppl have to live in drawers... Space Design.

Ginza heaven...

2006-06-14T07:36:00.000-05:00

I found a Yoichi 12yrs... B-)

... and a lot of other stuff worth looking at.

Raw Food

2006-06-13T06:01:00.000-05:00

Naturally I couldn't go too long without sushi... Maguro, ebi, tamago and wasabi are among the chosen dishes. And Yebisu to drink for a malt lover, cold of course.

2006-06-12T08:39:00.000-05:00

After a long first day, I finished the evening by eating Pasta at a decent restaurant close to Shinagawa in Tokyo. Streets are bustling with activity but there is little noise and few beggars, a lot better than back in Sweden. I'll take it as my mission to learn a few words every day, added today is Sumimasen which I heard at the restaurant when someone wanted to get the attention of the waiter. Nighty night.

Sleeping corner

2006-06-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

And speaking of which... Zzz...

Wardrobe and working corner...

2006-06-11T09:44:00.000-05:00

So this is how you live in 26 m2. What I always wondered but never wanted to find out for myself live...

Stenmark in Japan

2006-06-11T04:53:00.000-05:00

Stenmark goes Japan! A visit to Tokyo should be interesting thought the publisher and decided to use his new phone (W800) for blogging pictures from Japan. He will try to update the site at least a couple of times per week, but it may be hard to find time to write a lot.