Back from a week away in Hangzhou, China, quite the experience! I arrive with the team from work on Sunday. Nice flight on JAL business class. After check in we went for a walk around the West Lake which is truely very beautiful.
The only thing about Hangzhou that is so very obvious is the air pollution. I was thinking how wonderful it would be on a clear day to find out today was a clear day! The murk that hangs in the air is just always there. Its very sad really as the city itself is really a garden city. I’ve been to many cities that make that claim, but after spending a week in Hangzhou I think it really does deserve that title, it really does have gardens and greenery everywhere. The lake is the centre of it all and is quite something. It took us three hours at a brisk walk to get around it all, and that was a brisk walk in 30+ degree’s so it was also a sweaty walk. I really wish I had changed into shorts for that.
I have the pics and will process them shortly. The meals out were amazing and course after course just kept coming. Odd one of the dishes I really like was the tripe, go figure that one huh. The one dish I really didn’t like was the west lake fish which tasted will like the lake. enough said once you see the pics.
The people there were really wonderul and very friendly. I had a great time meeting my team members and was really inspired by there enthursiam.
Well its about time some of that name game came out. Many of the readers of this will not be familiar it with Maori language – or perhaps my countries native language. I will confess I’m not a native speaker, nor even a good listener as I know from living in Japan.
There is something I do know very well. My home. Its a small little valley on the west side of the becoming famous Coromandel Peninsula. Its been so unworthy of notice that even today its just a small mention on the maps, well almost. Its beginning to get fame because its the beginning the prestine Pohutukawa Coast, and somewhere still untouched.
I know the valleys of it very well, not because of recent history where my family owns alot of it but rather because of its name. The name is Papa Aroha
Translation is (and this is very directly I dont’ need to look up and verify, since I grew up with these legend names)
Papa = Earth mother, her partner was Rangi sky (yes Papa in my real language means mother)
Aroha = Love (no different meaning for that either).
My home valley I live in is called Papa Aroha. Take the translations, it means the place that mother earth loves. Or a place where the ansectors felt her love and see it. When you see a picture of my valley you will understand. It really is where the mother earth created a place you will love. Come see, you are welcome!
So far this blog series doesn’t cover much of my previous travels as it was started when I arrived in Japan and I never quite worked out how to incorporate it all. In the first few weeks of 2005 I did a tour through part of the middle east. My main goal was to see Petra, which I did, the day of my 36th birthday, pretty cool huh!
A part of the that tour taught me through Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. We all had the option to do a day trip to Lebanon and down to Beirut for an extra charge. I wasn’t sure about doing it, and figure I would go with the flow. It ended up all of us were up for the trip (there were only 11 of us for the first leg of the Winter tour), it was an exceptional trip and something that now I thing back on it captured my heart as well.
You don’t realise when you leave Damasus to travel there just how high up you are, or rather the Lebonese mountains. Our first stop after crossing the boarder was Balbeck, and if you want breath taking ruins thats the place to go.
Just realised its been a while since I added anything to the foorsteps blog. All my efforts have been on the house site (click on Shimoda house above). Its been a totally mind blast working on this place. All the details are at the house site.
Just had to restore the site HTML from backup as the site just stopped working. I looked at the dates on some of the files and they were just wrong. Hopefully its all working now.!
Well its time (or rather was) for us to hit IKEA and pay for the kitchen, and also do a bit, or lot of shopping to kit out the house. Our plans all worked well and I also figured out the train system enough that we can get to Chiba IKEA with only one train change instead of three and alot of walking!
It was all starting so very well. We go there with loads of time and the lady at the Kitchen area recognised us both (umm not hard I guess) and was her normal usual incredibily helpful self. We finished off all the details of the kitchen, added to more doors for the laundy and got the bathroom basin thrown into the same shipping!.
They gave Di the ikea family card which if you buy one of there Kitchens gives you a big discount on shipping (within the shipping area). Unfortunately the back of beyond is not an area they ship to, and the just slightly closer that the back of beyond didn’t count either. But apparently nothing phases this lady! And in keeping with her incredibily helpful attitude she turned the ‘discounted’ shipping it $1000 dollars worth of points to use in the next three months shopping at IKEA.
I realise that its been quite a while since I wrote anything on this blog, thats because most of the entries are going to the Shimoda house blog. Things are really happening down there and its taking up most of my spare time. This is a good thing by the way! Since I got back from Australia its either been down to the house or shopping for house here in Tokyo.
We have started work on the house now. Instead of knocking things down its time to rebuild. Its been so far a great experince for me and I have learnt so much! Total fun doing all this planning and design! maybe i missed my calling. um well
Wow, what an experience this has been. The plans are all coming together now. Well just lost this whole post other than what I posted below from another writing!. Technology not quite working yet huh!
Have arrived back in Japan after two weeks in Austrlia for work. Was brillant down there, learnt huges amounts on my project and had a great time catching up wiht my friends there. Had a weekend in Canberra which was great, and it was so nice to be warm again.
Back now and just spent the weekend with Di working out the details of the build! All the details are on the Shimoda house site.
We have made huge amounts of progess on pinning down the idea’s over the last 8 months and turning them into actualy product. The idea book that Di is maintaining is growing all the time, and its such a huge benefit to the project. Everything now gets written down and illustrated. Follow along at the house blog (link at the top)
