John Hawkins

Monday: [Monday 15th May]
Maybe it's just because it was a Monday, but I think I was starting to feel a pang of home sickness today. I think I've caught a bit of a cold, so I wasn't feeling 100% at work. Lunch was nice though - I took the leftovers from the previous night's meal and heated them up in the microwave at the office. Even reheated the previous day's dinner tasted rather good.

Anyway, I left work "early", and felt kind of out of sorts on the train ride home - very concious for the first time in a while that I was a foreigner. I got back home and found myself wanting to listen to BBC radio over the web. Yes it all smacked of home sickness. I have experienced this before just after seeing someone from the UK, I suppose it is easier under normal circumstances to just not think about it...

Well I'm sure tomorrow will be a brighter day!
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Hello Tastebuds My Old Friend...: [Sunday 14th May]
Whilst Japanese food does have its highlights, the limited scope for vegetarians means that for me at least, living in Japan is hardly the culinary thrill ride that other people seem to find it.

This weekend, however, I have really felt like my tastebuds have been switched back on again, after a long period of disuse. This was largely due to George's visit - and the truly fantastic presents he bought with him from England. It was late on Friday night (or early Saturday morning really) that the "reawakening" began - after returning from an evening out, we sat in my lounge drinking the tremendous Talisker 18 Year Old and eating this truly excellent Islay Cheddar - both gifts which George had brought with him.

The next day I thought it might just be the effects of the alcohol (or simply that I hadn't had any decent cheese for a while) that had made the Islay Cheddar seem so out of this world. So Saturday night, entirely sober, I nibbled at it a bit more, and it was still utterly fantastic.

Today included more culinary treats, which I feel I've been deprived of for some time. Recently I've really struggled to find a decent espresso (partly because all I ever seem to see is Satrbuck's), so in the afternoon we popped into a Segafredo cafe. OK, it's probably not the world's greatest coffee, but the significant difference in taste between this and that Starbuck's shite I have recently grown accustomed to was a real eye opener.

Dinner was another culinary adventure - the heavenly Cheddar came out once again to make some rather superb macaroni cheese. It's a dish I make quite often in Japan as a kind of comfort food I suppose. I had got used to making it with the sort of bland crappy cheese you can buy here - it was almost a shock today when the cheese sauce actually tasted of something. In fact, it didn't just taste of something, it tasted absolutely bloody fantastic. It was so good I was getting quite teary.

I also made up a dish on the spot to go with it - a sort of Mediterranean stew - a tomatoey affair with olives, capers and "Fagioli Borlotti". Although I say so myself, this was rather good too.

British food may be the butt of all the world's culinary jokes, but as far as I'm concerned it just doesn't get any better than a hunk of crusty English bread, a lump of really decent cheddar, and a glass of fine malt whisky.
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There's A Scotsman in My Flat!: [Saturday 13th May]
Slept fairly late, and so it was about midnight by the time we all surfaced. As George (see yesterday for details) would be busy with the football in the evening, and was flying back to the UK the next morning, we were only left with this afternoon to do a bit of sightseeing. Actually we didn't really see that much! We needed to head over to Suidobashi so George could pick up his ticket for the game, and we decided we should find something for lunch around there. We went to a slightly posh tempura place in the Tokyo Dome Hotel, and by the time we'd eaten it was gone 3. So we had to pick a random tourist attraction to whizz round for about 10 minutes, and settled on the controversial The Yasukuni Shrine, as it was nearby. The weather wasn't all that marvellous, a kind of constant drizzle reminiscent of England, so a quick 10 minute walk round was probably about as much as was necessary.

In the evening while George was at the football, Chie's sister came round for dinner.
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An Unusual Visitor: [Friday 12th May]
So here's an odd thing. The managing director of my previous company came to stay in my apartment this weekend. Football was at the root of it - he's an avid Scotland fan who has travelled all over the world to watch them play, and this weekend they were playing Japan in a friendly (the "Kirin Cup"). So I'd had an email from him a couple of weeks back saying he was thinking of coming from the UK to Japan for the weekend. Yes, 12 hours or so each way on the plane for 90 minutes of watching men run around a field. As someone who isn't really that into football I can't really understand it, but hey, whatever floats your boat! Almost as a formaility I had offered a makeshift bed on the floor of my apartment, and to my surprise he actually took me up on it - I think he doesn't like staying in hotels that much. It was a pleasure to have him stay though - not just was it nice to see an old friend in a foreign land, but he also came bearing some rather excellent gifts - two very nice bottles of whisky (Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old and a Talisker 18 Year Old), three boxes of Jaffa Cakes, and a huge block of really, really excellent Islay Cheddar. I think he may well have spent more on these gifts than he would have done on a hotel for the two nights!

So he arrived this evening, and we had a very pleasant night out, eating, drinking, and chatting. Chie joined us for the first part, in the area around where we live, where we went for a quick first drink at a bar near the station, then dinner and more drinks in an izakaya next door. After that Chie headed home, whilst me and the boss headed into Shinjuku, for more drinks and to allow me to demonstrate my karaoke prowess (I don't think he was that impressed!). We stayed out until about 3AM, then rounded off the evening back at the flat with a whisky and cheese session (both of which were fantastic).

It felt so natural to be back socialising with one of my former colleagues that it occurred to me I might not really have left that company yet, in my mind at least. Maybe I never will. It was always a very special atmosphere at that place, and I met a lot of great people there, many of whom I'm still in touch with. That environment has undoubtably had a significant role in shaping who I am today, not just in the context of my job, but also outside of the office.

As I've said a couple of times now - you can take the guy out of Softel, but you can't take the Softel out of the guy.
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Knackered: [Thursday 11th May]
After two late nights (and entertaining can be surprisingly hard work) I was absolutely knackered. I was really busy at the office, and despite wanting a very relaxing evening, couldn't really get away until about 8pm. So by the time I got back home I barely had the energy to do anything - made a very simple dinner and set about trying to get up to date with neglected housework and stuff on the computer. Nothing much to report really, I was just very, very tired!
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Entertaining Again: [Wednesday 10th May]
Same sort of thing as the previous thing - I'm not entirely sure how I got signed up for it, but tonight again I was on entertainment duty for our visiting colleagues, albeit this time a slightly different group. As it was entirely up to me to plan the evening, we went on a tour of the only area I know well - Ikebukuro. We started off with nibbles at Rohlan, then went for a main course at Great India, and finished off with a wee dram at Quercus Bar. It's hard to say for sure if these places really suited my guests for the evening, but at least we didn't have to endure lots of aimless wandering as we tried to choose somewhere to go. Well, I did my best.
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Entertaining: [Tuesday 9th May]
A couple of guys were over from our US office, and in the evening it fell upon me to go out and entertain them. We started off the evening with a bite to eat at a place near where I work, and then headed into Shinjuku after that. It turned into a very late night somehow or other, and by the time I got home it was well into the wee small hours of the morning.
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A Very Sad Day: [Monday 8th May]
I heard some very sad news today, a friend from my previous company had passed away after a long illness. He was a lovely guy and he will be sorely missed by everyone who ever knew him.

I am never sure if a blog is an appropriate place to talk about this sort of thing, so I'm really sorry if this upsets anyone. At the same time, to write about today as though nothing had happened would also seem wrong.
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Back to Tokyo: [Sunday 7th May]
Today was the last day of Golden Week, and therefore also our last day in Hiroshima. After having a late lunch with Chie's parents, we headed over to Hiroshima station, did a spot of shopping, and then got on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo around 5. The four hour journey was pretty uneventful, a good book helped to pass the time.
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Family: [Saturday May 6th]
Spent the day with members of Chie's wider family in Hiroshima. Nothing much to report.
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Miyajima: [Friday May 5th]
Spent the daytime in Miyajima. Started off in the morning, and paid a quick visit to Chie's aunt, uncle and cousins. Whilst there we also met the newest addition to the family - baby Hana who was only a couple of months old.

After that we headed over to the beach for a bit of a laze around, and then in the afternoon went for a walk part way up the mountain. It was hot, but not too hot so as to be unbearable, and we made sure to take plenty of fluids... So in the end it was a very nice stroll.

Headed back towards the end of the afternoon, and had dinner back at Chie's parents house. Chie made okonomiyaki for me - another thing which is becoming a tradition whenever we visit Hiroshima.
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Chie's Birthday: [Thursday May 4th]
The day started with the usual present opening ceremony - I think this is now the third time I've been with Chie at her parent's house on her birthday (also last year and in 2002), so this has now become a very familiar experience.

When asked what Chie wanted to do for the rest of her birthday, it seemed to consist largely of going back into the centre of Hiroshima and doing more shopping - so today was a bit like the previous day really. The Flower Festival takes place in Hiroshima during Golden Week, so we also went to see a bit of that. I managed to catch a brief glimpse of HG - a very famous Japanese comedian (although I suspect his popularity is now dwaining a bit - you can't expect to be famous for long in Japan).

In the evening we had dinner at the "Greasy but Tasty" American style grill place called The Shack, which both Chie and I had been having a bit of a craving for recently.
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Out and About in Hiroshima: [Wednesday May 3rd]
Given that the next day was Chie's birthday, I needed to do some last minute present shopping in Hiroshima. Funnily enough this is almost exactly the same as this time last year. Whilst I was shopping, Chie was catching up with an old friend, and I met up with Chie and her friend a little later on in the afternoon for some refreshment at Pinkerton's Souk, a cafe we'd been to in July last year.

We stayed in the city centre for dinner, and were joined by Chie's parents and her sister Yuka for a now traditional trip to Sushi Tei - the sushi restaurant we seem to end up going to every time I am in Hiroshima.
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Off to Hiroshima: [Tuesday May 2nd]
Being "Golden Week" here in Japan meant only two days in the office - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all national holidays. It seems a lot of people quite wisely use a couple of days vacation and extend this to a full week, as I was one of only a small handful of people in my office today.

I left the office very punctually, stopped off at the flat to get my things together, and then headed over to Tokyo station to meet up with Chie and get on the Shinkansen. We got on just before 8, and it is a four hour journey from there to Hiroshima. This ought to highlight just how far apart the two cities are - if it takes four hours on one of the world's fastest trains, then I guess in UK terms that would probably translate to the distance between London and Inverness. Anyway, I passed the time by browsing the internet on my phone (although the tunnels etc make this a tad frustrating), eating a rather nice vegetarian bento, and having a few beers (it would be rude not to!)... but still four hours is a long time, and it did seem to drag towards the end.

So it was around midnight when we arrived in Hiroshima. Chie's parents had waited up for us, which was really nice of them, so this meant a few more beers before bed, and I think it was probably about 2AM by the time my head hit the pillow.
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Leftovers: [Monday 1st May]
As we were going to be heading to Hiroshima for "golden week" the next evening, I was loathed to buy any new food, that would inevitably go unused and just sit moulding away in the fridge during our absence. So instead I decided we should use up some odds and ends - the remainder of last night's red wine stew, and some leftover boston baked beans that had been lurking in the freezer for a week or so. The results were surprisingly good - both dishes seemed to have benefitted for a bit of maturation, and went down very well with some leftover crusty bread (which, being in Japan, wasn't particularly crusty). That's pretty much it for today really. Just eating, and a bit of preparation for our five nights away.

Today marked one year since we came to Japan, to start looking for work and have a go at living here. Looking back it's been a pretty eventful twelve months, and it is weird to think that this time last year I really had no idea what the future would hold - where I would be working, etc. All I had was one interview arranged. I keep meaning to write a sort of "year in review" article to chronicle all the major events of this period, which has been like a kind of project in many ways... but never quite seem to get round to it. Maybe some time soon!
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Gadgets: [Sunday 30th April]
I'm not a nerd, honest. I'm a media person really - the reason I like technology is because of what it can do with media - images, music, video... Look at the software I've written, and the industry I work in. At the end of the day what realy matters to me is the content - the photos, the songs, the telly... The technology side of it just means that you can enjoy and appreciate that content in new and interesting ways. So yes, I'm an engineer, but what I really enjoying doing is engineering things that allow people to enjoy interesting content, be creative, and even, dare I say it, be artistic. By definition that makes me more of meta-artist than just a simple technician or engineer. Honestly, I'm not a nerd!

Right, having got that disclaimer out of the way, I spent today being (what might superficially look like) a total nerd. Chie went out with a friend of hers for most of the day, leaving me in by myself to do all those odd jobs on the computer that I keep meaning to do, but never quite get round to. Having bought a lovely new external hard drive the day before, I decided it was high time to back up all of my photos - many of which were rather precariously only existing in one place before yesterday. It is great to have everything safely backed up in one place on one handy portable device - a little digital memory box of my life over the last few years.

I also spent a fair bit of time doing odd bits of maintenance on the website. The blogging engine we use is a little old and tired, but we're in a position now where it really isn't that easy to move to anything else*. One unfortunate side effect of this is that our server has a nasty habit of deleting any CGI process that takes too long to complete, and so for me at least, having quite a lot of posts now on my blog, any update that needs to be applied across all entries generally fails part way through. This has been bugging me for some time now, so I finally decided to see if I could have a fiddle with the scripts and fix it. It took a fair while, but I got there in the end. It's one of those thankless tasks, behind the scenes, that no-one would even know about had I not just mentioned it... but it's all about enabling content on the site, and helping people to enjoy themselves. I told you - I'm not a nerd!

Oh and I also spent some of the evening making a DVD, using the DVD writer I bought a couple of weeks back. Most of my family have internet access, so can keep up with my exploits via the miracle that is the web. My grandmother Vera though, being 86 and all that, funnily enough does not own a computer. However, I noticed on my last visit that she now has a DVD player, so it occurred to me I could make a slideshow DVD and send it to her instead. I was pretty impressed with the software that came with the DVD writer (Ulead something or other). Not only did it make it embarassingly easy to put together a slideshow DVD, it also rather superbly let me add an audio commentary to each picture. This really brought the experience to life - a silent slideshow would have been a little bit empty and meaningless, but with the commentary I'm hoping it will be more like a "virtual me" in Vera's lounge, looking through the pictures with her. Oh and it also let me make some flashy menus and stuff. Whilst I doubt Vera will care so much about those, I thought they were kind of cool.

* Rob/Lox - none of the usual "Why don't we move to PHP?" comments please! Unless, that is, you are personally volunteering to undertake all the required work of rewriting scripts and transferring content to a completely new site - I reckon you're looking at about two man months, full time.
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