doherty.net.au

This is a real big deal here in Japan.  Much to my amusement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6450861.stm

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070314p2a00m0na018000c.html

The Japanese equivalent of the Bureau of Meteorology has made a public apology for a slight mix-up in the forecasting of the date of the cherry blossom this year.

At least 2 separate TV channels are showing frequent analysis of the timing of the bloom, with experts & modelling showing the forecast date. (which by the way, is placed at 23rd March at the moment for Tokyo Prefecture) but that date could be altered slightly by a cold front coming through that may delay the blooming slightly.  This cold front is also causing some consternation, as the exact path of the cold front is not known, and also just how cold its intensity will be.

The result?
A tremendous amount of public discussion and a little bit more debate than there already was. The street in front of my office has quite a few photographers each morning taking photos of the enlarging buds, with lenses that would cost more than a small car.

Next week we have an official cherry blossom office party planned where we all go outside and drink sake under the trees to celebrate.

New photos have been posted in the gallery from weekend skiing in Karuizawa, Nagano – Japan.

We set out from Tokyo central station early on a Saturday morning (after a late & loud Friday experiencing the nightlife of Tokyo)
A rapid breakfast before jumping on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Karuizawa, which does indeed move like a bullet. FAST. Along the way we caught sight of Mt. Fuji in the distance, the perfect symmetry of Fuji-san made for a magnificant backdrop to our journey.

After a full day skiing, we headed to the nearby onsen, for a scorching hot soak in an outdoor bath, surround by snow. It was perfect, all the muscle aches soothed away

from the spring water.

View the photos here

and some moblog shots here

4 comments

Google has today released GoogleMaps for Australia.

http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html

This is amazing stuff.  Now you can obtain driving directions, maps and search for businesses or locations all from your mobile phone, for free!

Gone

are the days of carrying a street directory. Now you have the latest street directory in your mobile phone for every city in Australia (and some other cities worldwide)

Of course Google plans to fund the service through sponsored advertising.

You ought to check this out on your phone today.  It is amazing.

Seems someone at the Sydney Morning Herald

has got a bee in their bonnet over Sydney’s rail network.

See the following:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/despair-on-trains-with-no-loos/2007/02/01/1169919474130.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Sydney-train-services-getting-worse/2007/01/29/1169919238511.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/stand-and-sweat-on-the-sardine-express/2007/01/29/1169919274731.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/commuter-tells-of-trains-open-doors-scare/2007/01/30/1169919320488.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/commuters-express-scare/2007/01/31/1169919391640.html

Sure CityRail has problems, and they should be written about. But 5 articles in 3 days?  Has there really been a sudden surge of rail problems?  Has someone at the Herald made it a personal quest to take a torch to CityRail?

Or is there just no other news?

On a crisp autumn Tokyo morning in November, I arose early and made my way to visit the world’s largest fish market, Tsukiji.

The statistics of Tsukiji market are astonishing. With 900 seafood wholesalers under

one huge roof, 2000 tons of raw fish moves through Tsukiji each day.

Walking through the small alleys between the stalls pilled with tuna, squid, crabs & sea monsters, I often questioned if I was taking my life in my hands, trying to dodge the speeding forklifts as they zipped passed covered in fish guts and carrying a load of thousands of dollars of fresh tuna.

To see the icemen drag 2 metre blocks of solid ice, and then to cut it with a saw that would have been at home in a timber mill, was a real sight.  As was sitting amongst buckets full of writhing eels.

Crossing from one alley to another the glistening floor would alter in slipperiness and test my ability to stay on my feet.  One minute I would be sliding through 2cm of blood, the next minute ice, squid ink, brittle frozen fish, smashed styrofoam and huge red sucking octopus tentacles.

Often I saw massive tuna; frozen so solid they became brittle; being cut into segments with industrial bandsaws. Other times the frozen fish being chiseled aggressively, shards of frozen fish flying through the air as the workers chipped off sections of fish.

I finished my morning adventure at Tsukiji with sushi breakfast at one of the stalls just outside the market.  Probably the freshest sushi I’ll ever eat.

You can see some photos from my visit to Tsukiji here

3 comments

Photos from latest Tokyo visit have been posted to

the gallery.

– Yoyogi Park
– Streetscapes
– Tsukiji Markets

You can find them here: Tokyo November 2006 and also in the Moblog here