Natsu yasumi Begineth

Well it’s about time I began to write up some of the wonderful experiences from the 14 days that my parents came to visit me in Japan. There were up’s downs (figuratively and literally), joys and jostles but I think overall a good time was had by all. As I said n the road I couldn’t really type to much so I went old school and kept a travel log. I’ll write these up a day at a time (with a few embellishments of course) Hope you enjoy them.

Day 1

The day started out pretty well. I’d packed the previous night, recognizing the fact I’m rubbish in the mornings, so I had less to worry about. Strolling to the bus stop I overheard someone playing ode to joy, badly, on a recorder. Doesn’t seem that significant but it actually completely paralleled an anime I’d watched that night so I decided it as a good omen.

Sadly not so. I phoned up the Hostel (J-Hoppers) I would be staying at during my time in Osaka and there had apparently been a double booking so I had nowhere to stay for two nights. Never mind I’d get over that hurdle when I came to it. On a plus though I’d sussed what was up with my phone and could now get in touch with the rents.

After a now all too familiar train Journey to Osaka I met up with my parents at Umeda and dropped off bags in their hotel at Tennoji. Our initial plan had been to meet up with my friend Yuko and all go to Osaka’s aquarium together. Sadly it was not to be. Yuko had hurt her hand playing volleyball and needed a trip to the hospital.

 

We headed for the aquarium anyway. Osaka’s aquarium is called　海遊館 (kaiyuukan) and is one of the largest in the world. The nature boy in me was very excited. On the way we also had a look at the giant  Ferris wheel next to it. Impressive though it was we decided not to ride, my parents had been on the Hep5 Ferris wheel the previous night and this one didn’t look quite so stable.

After a bit of faffing we settled don for some lunch at ‘famiresu’ (surprisingly meaning family restaurant). My dad got an entire set meal to himself, I don’t think he appreciated how big they where, whilst my mum and I split a plate of sushi. I forgot to ask about wasabi as they tend to a bit heavy handed over here, which was not to my mum’s tastes.  After my mum’s first, fishy Japanese sushi experience we headed to a building full of much more of he live stuff.

As I mentioned before I was very excited about visiting this place. Unfortunately this set me up for a big shock and a massive disappointment. I should have been better prepared after having visited Himeji zoo. Initially it seemed ok. The place was huge, 8 stories tall with lots to see on every floor. I also noticed that if you had a Nintendo DS you could sync it with the aquariums WiFi for extra info on the exhibits.

This is where the cool stuff ends sadly. When I looked at the contents of the exhibits my heart sank. Amongst the normal things you’d expect at an aquarium there was also Penguins, Sea otters, Seals, Dolphins and even a Whale Shark. Now this place was big but not that big and my heart began to sink. Sure enough we came across the aforementioned animals in what couldn’t have been more than 10 metres deep tanks. I just couldn’t take it, these things are used to roaming thousands of miles a day in the open ocean. As if to emphasize the totally different viewpoint to animal welfare I overheard one guy talking to his girlfriend saying “suita” meaning I’m hungry whilst looking at some of the fish.

 

I tried to distract myself by considering the amazing feat of architecture that this place represented. It really was very economically designed to get as much in as possible, representative of the lack f space in Japan I guess. I think someone once told me that the average Japanese person doesn’t travel too much so I guess they just try and bring as much of the world to them as possible.

There were some nicer parts of course. The deep sea crabs were particularly impressive and my mum and I marveled at the grace and ease of their movement. The easy grace with which they moved on their long slender legs was truly captivating. The jellyfish displays were equally impressive. I’ve got a lot of time for Cnidarians an could watch there translucent undulations for hours.

After about an hour and a half we decided to leave. I’d definitely had enough and I think the rents were echoing my feelings. We decided that we wouldn’t visit any more zoological establishments after that. I went to the souvenir shop to look for a pin badge but quickly changed my mind, I didn’t really want to be reminded.

After that we went back to their hotel so I could grab my gear and go check in. I got a a little lost on the way back but did manage to pick up a bottle of the new limited edition pepsi (Caribbean gold) that had not long been released. It was alright though it just tasted like kinda fruity pepsi.

I have to say right now that I really do love J-hoppers, the hostel I was staying at in Osaka. I’ve been there a few times and not only is it great value for money but the staff are great and I always seem to bump into interesting people. This time of note were two lovely Irish ladies, one called Karen and the other was called Eimear (I think though I’ve got no head for Gaelic names.)

They had been teaching English over in Korea and were visiting Japan before heading back to Ireland for a while. It was interesting discussing with them the differences in the ability of Korean and Japanese people to talk English. I think it’s to do with the limited sound pallete of Japanese, Koreans apparently just find it much easier and it is also drummed into them much earlier it would seem. What I find really interesting is that they thought Japanese was really difficult to grasp yet found Korean a doddle. I’m the complete opposite though I guess it depends on what you are surrounded by.

I met up with the rents again later in the craziness that is downtown Namba. We had a few issues at first due to agreeing to meet at exit 18, apparently there were about 3 different exit 18’s unhelpfully not very close together. Upon exiting my dad was taken a back by all the gaudy neon signs, he said it totally reminded him of blade runner.

We walked along Dotombori looking for some place to eat. I had to introduce them to an Osakan classic, “お好み焼き”(okonomiyaki). I’ve mentioned this one before and it’s one of my favorite Japanese dishes. After a little bit of struggling with the menu, my Japanese was nowhere near as good as I’d hoped, we managed to get our food ordered, my parents just got the classic belly pork whilst I went with a Kimchii one. The whole spectacle is one of the best parts as each okonomiyaki is mixed and then griddled in front of you.

I took a mental note of how they were prepared so I could give it a go back home. My parents were definitely happy with the order and we each cleared our plates, or rather respective section of the griddle. I then gave Mum and Dad their first Japanese lesson, “Mecha Oishii” (very delicious), which prompted a smile from the waitress. All in all a good end to our first day together.

Ja mata ne.

Natsu Yasumi

Well my summer holiday is now over and it's back to work hurray. I saw a lot of Japan and had a wicked time with my parents though sadly couldn't update very much due to being busy sightseeing/not really having internet access. But don't worry the blog was not forgotten. I kept a small logbook whilst I was out and about and also took a bucket load of pictures. So expect some updates from the vacation shortly but for now I have to wade through the pile of emails left over from my time away from the computer...ugh

Mata ne.

Jiken Jikan, and home visits

I think one word could easily summate the events of the past week and a half. Stress. Work has been truly incredibly hard, but I got through it, which is certainly something. It was decided last week that from now on I’ll be in charge of sample preparation for our experiments. This corresponded to a lot of time spent looking through a microscope at very small things. The joys of a PhD.

Our chosen targets were three-fold. The plankton Microcystis aeruinosa which is a major water pest in japan and therefore an interesting target. Next was condensed chromosome and finally the yeast Sacchromyces cerevisea everyones favourite yeast (it’s bakers and brewers yeast).

So I spent more or less the whole weekend practicing viewing and fixing samples to the thin, I’m talking 30nm thin, silicon slides that we use in imaging experiments. Whilst the process is theoretically straightforward it is of course practically very difficult. Micromanipulation is something I’ve always struggled with due to my innate clumsiness. I’m ok when I concentrate but it can be quite draining.

With that in mind I was very nervous by the time the beamtime actually started on Tuesday and the pressure was mounting. After about 8 hours of set up I departed the beamline to prepare samples whilst everyone else was aligning the equipment. We mainly focused on the plankton as a collaborator had given it to us and we were keen to get some new results.

I worked really hard but for some reason we just couldn’t see anything. The background from the samples buffer solution was just too great and we couldn’t see anything clearly. What didn’t help this was the fact myself and Daewoong where really struggling to figure out what was plankton and what was bubbles. Either way we needed to get rid of that buffer. I had a brainwave and using a handy centrifuge we’d found on the beamline I pelleted the cells, poured off the buffer and re-suspended in water.

We loaded another membrane and managed to get a couple of datasets though the samples seemed a bit small. Things weren’t looking too good after day to and it seemed like my first sample prep experience would be a failure. I worked my bum off for the next day and prepared a large number of chromosome samples. Unfortunately fatigue seemed to have set in as we were suddenly getting funny circles in our diffraction patterns, likely just the grease used to seal the membranes.

So 65 hours out of 72 spent awake, about 20 miles cycled between the ring and the lab where the microscope was located and not much to show for it. A massive disappointment but I had definitely learned a lot. It has also helped me feel more integrated within the group and I think everyone has a bit more respect for me now.

Suffice to say though it nearly killed me and actually made me a bit ill. “Mimi ga itai” (my ears hurt). I must have been looking pretty rough on Friday as Dr. Park insisted on taking me to the hospital. We went along after we’d had some ‘shabu shabu’ at a nearby restaurant with the rest of the lab group. This meal essentially involves dipping very thin slice of meat and vegetables into a boiling hot broth. It cook in a few minutes and is a pretty fun way of eating. A classic example of the communal ways of eating in Japan and “oishikatta” (it was tasty).

I was very thankful to have Dr. Park along at the hospital actually as I wouldn’t have been able to get past the initial forms. I live in quite a remote area so there is not very much English about. The doctor also did not speak very much English but I got the gist and Dr. Park helped to fill in the gaps. I was given a crazy nasal spray, wish I could have got a picture it was a bizarre experience, and about 4 kinds of medicine. It was a nice first experience of the Japanese medical service and I feel much better now.

Right work and my moaning out of the way I did get up to a few other things whilst not working my bum off. The Sunday before we started at the beam I went with Arnaud and Chihiro to a friend’s house in Himeji for dinner. She had kindly agreed to let me kip on her floor as getting back up the mountain is difficult late at night.

So onwards to Uchi no Emily we went. We popped into a conbini on the way to pick up some drinks and Arnaud’s keen eyes noticed a special promotion on a kind of Japanese alcopop. They came with a pair of silicon lips apparently molded from the lips of Japanese female Idols, pop stars, movie stars or models e.t.c. Bizarre I know but the premise was that you could feel as though you were kissing the idol whilst you drank. Even weirder right?

The dinner was delicious a kind of pseudo-Chilean chicken stew with rice cooked by Luis, funnily enough from Chile.  The whole night was a great laugh with great people and helped me to feel a bit more normal. Also in attendance were Gerard and his partner Kumiko whom I'd met previously, Damian, Hiroko and Joshua.

The conversation flitted all over the place but from what I seem to remember a large portion was devoted to talking about how to say particularly rude things in other languages. A very worthwhile topic of conversation of course. Actually due to the highly international nature of these gatherings language seems to be a recurring theme. Not a problem with me to be honest it always makes for good craic.

There were too many highlights to really pick one although Hiroko’s reactions to Joshua and Luis’s vulgarities. She is either very naïve or extremely candid. Either way she pulled some awesome facial expressions. We also had fun demonstrating our party tricks. I managed to shock and amaze a few with my weird body, hurray for stretchy skin, but I couldn’t compete with all the magic tricks Luis had learnt, I guess you need something to keep the kids attention.

It was a great night and I got a good night kip on Emily’s floor to boot. I really need to get a futon at some point I think. It was also cool seeing inside someone else’s house and realizing just how rubbishly small my flat is. Actually it's not that small really but not very well spaced.

Ok jump forward to the Saturday after experiments. I was still feeling a bit rubbish but I’d been invited, alongside Arnaud and Sam, to Gerard and Kumiko’s apartment for lunch, with a short hike in Aboshi beforehand. Well I was exhausted but it beat being stuck inside so I dragged myself out of bed and to the Bus.

The ‘hike’ itself was nothing really, more a stroll up one of the many mountains (read hills) in the local area. There was a nice Buddhist shrine at the top, which made for good photo fodder. To be honest I was totally shattered so it was a good thing really.

In fact I spent a good portion of our walk around Aboshi whining about how tired I was, though after the week I’d just had I feel it was justified. In saying that I did manage to take in a bit of the local area. It seems Aboshi is almost as out in the countryside as our home. There were many rice paddies across the district and it was very flat, not many apartment blocks either.

We got back to Gerrard’s apartment at around 1 o’clock where Kumiko was waiting for us having cooked a “oishii-sou” (tasty looking) Thai curry. Also joining us for lunch where Yuka and Oliver, Yuka was a good friend of Kumiko and Gerard’s and Oliver was visiting her from France.

Wherever I go I seem to be surrounded by French speakers so I guess I need to start learning the language again. Gerard is very into the French language and a keen student, taking every opportunity to cha with Arnaud and Sam it seems. Also Arnaud and Sam delight in introducing me as French so maybe I’d better learn a few key phrases.

Once again a lot of the conversation was focused on of course language. In particular this time the development of regional dialects. I’m particularly interested in Japanese dialects actually. It’s interesting as the Japanese lexicon is limited by the fact there are only 50 unique sounds used to compose words, meaning a lot of homophones. What this means is that dialects in Japan are characterized by the major differences in grammar and word placement where in English accent is much more important.

I was fairly overwhelmed to be honest. I was very tired and as conversations tended to jump between being held in Japanese and French I was constantly struggling to understand. It was kind of fun but not when I was so exhausted. Still I was very happy for the company and Gerard and Kumiko were lovely hosts.

Alongside the curry Oliver had brought some ‘confit de cunard’ to the great excitement of both Sam and Arnaud. This is preserved duck meat simmered in its own fat and, I’m told, is classic French comfort food. I must admit I wasn’t really old though it could have been the old anxieties about high fat food skewing my perception. Though in honesty I’m just not a big fan of duck really. After that Yuka had brought some taiyaki for dessert. Now these things are delcious. One contained anko and brown sugar the other “goma” (black sesame seed) paste and walnuts. “Umaa” they were very tasty.

Soon it was time to return home, Kumiko had to head to the gym to work and it was rapidly getting close to time of the last bus sadly. We washed the dishes and said our goodbyes. It was a nice day all in all and I’d happily go again, it’s nice to get off the mountain from time to time. Can’t wait for my “natsu yasumi” (summer vacation). I have ten days off and should get some good exploring done with the “ryoushin” (parents 

Mata ne minna.

P.S. I realise the last photo is random but how could I not include a pick of a sports drink called thorpedo?