After ALife

My colleague and I travelled back to Tokyo on the bullet train this morning.  I had quite a bit of time before my flight, so he suggested we visit Electric Town.  We took a local train, then searched for some empty luggage lockers so we wouldn't have to wheel suitcases around.  All the coin-operated ones we found were full.  But we did find an alternative.

A very nice gentleman took our bags and gave us a ticket.

Divested of luggage, we walked around, marvelling at the sheer variety of stores selling everything electrical, electronic, technical, cutesy twee, and much that was unidentifiable.

A huuuge multistorey shop sold large expensive items, including mega-sized TVs, bicycles, telescopes, and sharks.

I've been to specialist telescope shops with fewer items on display.

Difficult to get a scale, but this was several feet tall.

At the other extreme, there were alleyways and arcades with tiny shops selling all kinds of electronics, from small boxes full of individual resistors and transistors, to crates full of old laptops.  Everything for the hobbyist.

One shop among hundreds.

It was lightly raining and getting dark: the combination of weather and goods made me feel like I was on the set of Bladerunner.  

After that, we retrieved our luggage, and I caught a train to the airport, to wait for my just after midnight flight home.  

I like the simplicity and clarity of the airport shop names.

The end of my third trip to Japan.

travelling to Kyoto

I caught a Japanese Airlines flight from Heathrow early Saturday morning, to arrive in Tokyo early this Sunday morning.  The view as we were arriving had an interesting cloud.

We landed at Haneda airport after a 14 hour flight just a little late (due to a slightly delayed takeoff), to profuse apologies from the flight crew.  The next two hours shuffling slowly back and forth in the immigration queue with about 1000 other people were not fun.  But at least my luggage was ready for me after that.  

I next figured out how to buy a ticket for the monorail (I needed to pay cash for this, although every other type of ticket could be bought with a card).  I travelled to Hamamatsucho station, changed line, then on to Tokyo station.  I found a locker to hold my luggage, and had a coffee while I waited for a colleague who I had arranged to meet up with in Tokyo and travel with to Kyoto.  We explored a bit around the station, had lunch, then went and caught the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto.

The train was roomy, clean, busy, quiet, and on time.  It was also fast, but that was difficult to tell, as it was all so smooth.  

It is supposed to be possible to see Mount Fuji from the train, but it was too cloudy.

Not Mount Fuji, in the clouds.  Look at that blur in the foreground!

We arrived in Kyoto early evening, checked in to our hotel, then went out for a meal.  Sunday evening, many places were full.  But my colleague, who had been to Kyoto before, and knew some Japanese, found a lovely little place in a backstreet, where we ordered a set menu.  They kept bringing us lots of little plates of wonderful food, and I discovered I like wasabi, in small quantities. (I seem to have missed this staple on previous trips.)  The meal ended with a lovely desert of a variety of not-too-sweet ices.

Yes, I photographed my desert.

Back to the hotel, to recover from the journey, and prepare for the conference starting tomorrow.  Only an eight hour time difference, the "wrong" way; I'm sure that won't be a problem!

time to go home

The view from the breakfast bar on the 25th floor, just before I check out to catch the airport bus.

Goodbye, Tokyo!  I had a great time.  An excellent conference, interesting new experiences, lovely people, and a marvellous city.

boat and dinner

The conference outing and dinner was combined as a boat tour.

Prior to embarkation, we get a good view of the Tokyo Skytree.

As we turn back at the mid-point, we see we are not the only boat on the river.

The view of the Skytree on disembarking.

DIY dinner

Guessing what a menu item might be from a small, interestingly cropped photo, and an ambiguous English translation, can lead to unexpected meals.

a tad undercooked?

The staff helpfully showed us how to cook it all.  And it was very good!

view from a skyscraper

I’ve arived in Tokyo, after a 12 hour flight, ready for the Unconventional Computation conference starting tomorrow.

Rather than the traditional “view from a hotel window”, I was recommended the “view from a nearby skyscraper”.  So this is the view from the (free) Observation deck in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, on the 45th floor, over Tokyo on a slightly hazy Sunday afternoon.

There are other skyscrapers around here

There is also greenery.  My hotel is the mere 25-storey white block in the centre, the one with the loads of teeny square windows.

One of the many raised roadways.  We have Spaghetti Junction, but Tokyo must be Noodle City!

(Relatively small) tower blocks receding to infinity.  Is this Trantor?

Later on, we went down past the famously huge Shinjuku station (which we will have to navigate tomorrow!) to find a place for dinner: there were plenty to choose from.

A warm Sunday evening in downtown Shinjuku