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Easter Break 2011

April 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Paddleboarding at East Wittering

With the Easter break fast approaching and a forecast of hot weather, we decided to make sure of the time and take a short break somewhere in the UK that would be at a suitable location should I be required for work purposes. We also wanted to keep within a low budget so we would still go away during the summer so we plumped for a last minute caravan based stay at the Haven Church Farm Caravan Holiday Park. The Park is based near Chichester, which provides for a reasonably short drive to Brighton if I were to be called into a work office, and being on the coast meant we had easy access to the beaches at West Wittering and East Wittering.

We arrived at the Park in some trepidation since Mrs danyul had never stayed in a caravan before and things didn’t start well when we found that the lock was broken on our caravan so were not even able to get in. However, the on-site staff were fantastic and they quickly replaced the broken parts so we could unload the car and take a look round. My last caravan park stay was at least fifteen years back and the size and quality of holiday caravans had changed during that time. The caravan itself was large enough to include a living room with kitchen, two bedrooms (one with en-suite bathroom), and a separate shower / toilet room. My memories of staying in a caravan with my grandparents was of a tiny living room area that became my bedroom at night, a small kitchenette with cramped dining table, and a small bedroom at the end. Back in the day there was certainly no bath or shower, let alone a toilet, and all amenities were provided through a shared block.

The site itself included a small supermarket, some sports facilities (bowls, archery, and small football pitch), an indoor swimming pool, an outside swimming pool (sadly closed for our visit for an unspecified health and safety reason), and a bar / cafe / entertainment complex. During the check-in process we were advised to visit the sports booking area because a lot of the organised activities had limited places available so it was recommended to go book places straight away. Good advice but it turned out that nearly all the pool based activities were already booked and we were only able to get a single place on organised pool session (aquajets), which turned out to be the last available place.

With glorious sunshine waiting us as we woke on the Saturday morning, we grabbed our bags and set off for West Wittering  in the car. However, it seemed that all the surrounding area had the same idea as well as hundreds of people from not quite so near so we were soon stuck in a snarling traffic jam that queued miles from the actual beach. Fed up with inching our way to the beach we instead turned off and followed signs to the less popular East Wittering. Less popular than its neighbour since it has stone covered beaches rather than miles of soft sand but we soon realised that we’d discovered a gem of a town. Mrs danyul was soon off checking out the local shops (i.e. looking at estate agents to see how much houses were worth and if it might be possible to invest) while I took MiniMe around the town and along the beach. We discovered an equipment hire shack next to the beach and, although they had run out of our preferred twin canoes, we rented out a paddle board for a couple of hours. MiniMe took to it like the proverbial duck to water and I walked or swam beside him as he paddle around the calm water. With the evening creeping slowly into focus we boarded the car and headed over to West Wittering for a walk along the sands just as the majority of people were heading home for the day, which just showed the advantage of staying locally as we could stay out late and still get back to make dinner.

We had enjoyed going to East Wittering so much that we decided to forgo going to the beach at West Wittering during the day and decided to head back to East Wittering and rent a twin canoe for several hours. MiniMe took his seat at the front and with me sitting at the back we paddled our way out to the boats anchored out at sea, which formed the furthest boundary as stated at the hire shack, and then paddled back to shore. MiniMe wasn’t so sure about being so out to sea so we then spent the rest of our time paddling as fast as we could onto the waves hitting the shore and quickly picking up speed before turning to the side before we hit the beach. Again, we headed to the sand at West Wittering in the evening as the crowds were again leaving and we went for a stroll along the beach as the sun set.

West Wittering Beach

MiniMe enjoyed the activities back at the Park and each morning I would take him to the sports hire / booking facility just as it was opening, allowing Mrs danyul an opportunity to get some extra sleep, and we’d hire out a peddle kart for an hour and then ride around the Park. Our first foray out on the kart was on a shared vehicle with both of us peddling (or actually just me for most of the time) but on the second day we hired a small kart each and toured the Park again. MiniMe particularly enjoyed the road section near the car park as it had a speed warning system to warn drivers they were going above the Park speed limit by flashing up their speed. MiniMe took that as a challenge for us to measure how fast we were going and to then see which one of us could record the fastest speed.

The only pool activity MiniMe could book a place for was aquajets and he loved every minute of it. The inside pool was closed except for the small group of kids and each was given a face mask, a snorkel, and a motorised aqua jet (like the one pictured here). They were all soon zooming around the pool and taking part in games to race the length of the pool, to dive underwater to pass through hoops, or to retrieve items thrown to the bottom of the pool. It was a shame that each and every pool activity had been fully booked because MiniMe would have loved to have taken part in another session on another day. I did take MiniMe to the open sessions at the pool each day and he had a great time with me swimming around and using the water slides although at times it did get very busy in the water due to the amount of people.

It was soon time to pack our things and drive home but we had a great mini-break where we really enjoyed ourselves. We didn’t make use of the entertainment complex on the site, primarily because the immediate entrance took you through all the slot machines and arcade machine and we had no interest in those. We knew that MiniMe would be enticed by all the noise and flashing lights but we have no interest in exposing him to the gambling machines on offer. The surrounding area offered lots of places to visit so we did also take several drives around the scenic water side towns and villages as well.

In terms of the Haven experience? We enjoyed ourselves but decided that we probably wouldn’t go back again. The staff were really nice and helpful, the caravan was large and had everything we needed, and the site had lots of activities of offer if required. However, we found that the entertainment complex had lots on offer at night (disco, show etc) that meant lots of people were wandering back to their caravan late at night while making noise. There’s nothing wrong with that in the grand scheme of things but it’s not something we’re interested in and we found the noise of the revellers woke us up, especially the young kids who were being allowed to stay up late and were still running around the site still.

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Japan 2010/11 (part two)

January 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Kuru Kuru Sushi at Shimonoseki Fish Market

Our annual visit to Shimonoseki was soon over and we drove home more than satisfied by the food and stocked up with gifts for the family back in the UK and a good selection of books for Mrs danyul to read. We spent several days at ‘home’  preparing for the arrival of Mrs danyul’s brother and his family. MiniMe looks forward to this as it means his slightly elder cousin and slightly younger cousin arrive to play with him. Each come armed with their Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii games. The 3 of them become inseparable for the next few days and are busy running around the house, eating together, and playing all sorts of games. It’s always a shame to say goodbye to them each visit and MiniMe is always especially sad to see his play friends leave.

danyul and MiniMe Visiting a Shrine

A visit to Japan has to include a stop at a shrine or three and this trip proved no exception. It is traditional visit a shrine on new years day and this has come to be one of our customary trips. However, our first shrine visit was slightly further away as we spent a day at a fantastic onsen (hot spring baths) relaxing. I remember my first visit to Japan when I was not exactly very comfortable at the onsen since it involves full nudity (men separated from women of course) but these days I don’t think anything of it. It’s also a lot easier now that MiniMe is old / big enough to keep his head above water in all the baths so I am having to continually chase him as he throws himself around like the baths are a private swimming pool just for him.

MiniMe Carefully Counting 8 Dropping Beads

The nearby shrine is very picturesque and draws many visitors from the surrounding area. I cannot profess to know much or understand much of the religion followed but the shrine is a very welcoming place and we always make sure to stop at the small shrine within the building that is devoted to children. We are always thankful to have a healthy young MiniMe but realise that there are lots of people who are not as lucky so we will all say a little prayer and make a donation at the children section.

Each year MiniMe will carefully make sure to drop and count 8 large beads strung out in front of another section of the shrine. I have no idea of the significance of why 8 beads and why this would bring good luck and Mrs danyul is unable to provide much guidance as she was never big on Japanese religion.

After having several very warm days we then had a rain storm hit the area on New Years Day so we were not able to go kite flying as usual. There was still plenty to do and MiniMe made sure to spend his New Years money well at the local shopping mall. This year he wanted to buy himself a new game for the Wii and was determined to get Wii Sports Resort after his cousins brought along their copy and the trio then spent several days playing against each other. However, it seemed that Wii Sports Resort was a very popular choice for all the kids now rich with gifts of money from their family. Thankfully the very last electronics shop we visited had a single copy left and was offering a 20% discount on all Wii games so MiniMe even had some cash leftover. Being the Japanese version of the game it meant that MiniMe couldn’t take it home to the UK but he was quite happy to have it for the rest of the stay and to leave it behind ready for the 2011/12 trip.

Japanese Shrine

I have to admit that one of my favourite reasons to visit to Japan is to sample the wide range of divine food. Not only is the choice of food fantastic, it is nearly always reasonably priced compared the same food type that you would find in the UK. You can guarantee that we will visit the ANA Hotel Ube several times just to eat from their lunchtime Viking (buffet) lunch. The price is cheap compared to anything comparable back home and the selection is extremely wide and tasty.

For a little extra you can include all you can eat desert as part of the buffet but we tend to just stick to the main meal and then move ourselves into the cafe area if we want any desert. There is a whole selection of different cakes at the cafe and you can sit in relative peace and quiet although you do have to watch out for the smokers since Japan has not yet banned smoking in public places and you can guarantee that there will still be smoking only tables in most places.

During this visit we went to a new canteen style restaurant that I had never seen before and was absolutely amazed at. The layout is very simple in that it resembles a school canteen and you simply walk along with your tray and help yourself so the small dishes before someone rings up the total at the end. The food on offer was a very high standard and I was very cheap and I was stunned to find out that this is considered a ‘working persons’ restaurant where most of the local office workers will get their food. We visited twice and I can understand why my mother-in-law rates this as her favourite local place to eat. On both occasions we stood out, primarily because I was the only non-Japanese guest, because everyone else was either dressed for office work or was some sort of construction worker taking their lunch break.

Canteen Style Restaurant

Our 2010/11 visit to Japan was once again approaching its end and we would soon be making our way home. I did manage to fit in some runs while we were there so I didn’t lose all my fitness by being away. MiniMe had a great time with his Japanese family and improved his language skills while I caught up with a lot of reading and just relaxing by being away from work. Mrs danyul was glad to see her family and seemed to stock up on the contents of each and every Japanese book store we passed while still finding room in suitcase to get as much Japanese food product as possible stuffed inside.

Japanese Canteen Style Lunch

Unfortunately our return journey home did not go as smoothly as anticipated. The plane ticket prices to Japan were extremely high in 2010 so we left booking until the last possible moment in the hope of being able to get a slightly cheaper price. Sadly the prices didn’t fall at all and the flights we originally wanted were all full by the time we went to book our flights. This meant that we had to leave a day earlier than planned, which meant we just escaped a huge snowfall that would have kept us stuck in the UK for several days, and also that we could not book a direct flight home. We flew from Ube to Tokyo as normal but then had to take an ANA flight to Frankfurt. This leg of our return journey was heavenly as the flight was mostly empty, which meant we could spread out to take a row of 4 seats each. However, the change at Frankfurt did not go well as it took an age to clear German immigration, who especially did not seem to like my Kindle so proceeded to escort me to a separate room so that it could be fully scanned. We eventually made it onto our Lufthansa flight to London but sadly the majority of our luggage didn’t. It seems that everyone who transferred onto this flight at Germany also had their luggage left behind so we wasted a good hour queuing at Heathrow to register our lost luggage. Bizarrely my suitcase did make in onto the plane so a very tired danyul family found their taxi driver and arrived home. I had to then work from home for the next few days to make sure someone was home to accept delivery of the lost luggage once it made it back to London.

MiniMe Ringing Shrine Bell on New Years Day

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Japan 2010/11 (part one)

January 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

MiniMe Cooking Lunch

Our annual Japan trip took place once more in December 2010 although we were extremely lucky to make it this year due to the snow storms that covered the UK and blanketed Heathrow for several days. We were especially lucky because we delayed booking the flights so much, due to us hoping the prices might drop (they didn’t), and we could not get seats on our preferred date. We ended up having to book flights a day earlier and so the first snow started to fall at Heathrow just as we were waiting to board our flight at the boarding date. We were delayed for 30 minutes as de-icer was sprayed across the aircraft but that was nothing compared to the mayhem that followed in the following hours as the runways were closed and no flights arrived or departed. Our original flight of choice was cancelled and so were all the subsequent flights for the next week so we would probably not have made it to Japan in 2010/11 if we had booked our flights early. As I said; we were very lucky this time.

Our outbound flight from Heathrow to Heathrow to Narita International went very smoothly and MiniMe was kept well entertained by the movies and TV shows on offer. This time around we were arriving earlier in December so we avoided the scrum that is everyone in Japan trying to reach their family for the New Year celebrations. Our journey from Tokyo to Ube involves a bus service from Narita International to Haneda Airport and then a flight from Haneda down to Ube. This becomes quite a tortuous journey in the New Year period due to entire Japanese population seemingly trying to move themselves from one part of Japan to another.

As usual the parents-in-law were there to meet us at Ube airport and were there usual excellent hosts throughout our stay. Of course they were delighted to see MiniMe again and he was just as happy to be visiting his grandparents once more. One of our first excursions was for lunch at a local restaurant where a cousin of MiniMe was the head chef. The restaurant was of a Korean style where various meat and vegetables were provided for self cooking on a stove built into the table. The meal also included some Japanese style raw fish dishes and MiniMe loved acting as our chef and cooked all the food for us. MiniMe would continue to pursue his new found love for cooking dinner for everyone and so we had a whole series of meals cooking by MiniMe throughout the stay.

MiniMe at Tokiwa Park

A visit to Ube would not be complete for MiniMe without a trip to the rides at Tokiwa Park. Unfortunately our first attempt was accompanied by a big bag of fail because we arrived in the morning to find all the rides were closed until the afternoon, when we already had commitments. MiniMe was just a little grumpy but he did get to visit again a few days later when everything was actually open. However, it was sad to see that a number of rides had been retired, removed, and not replaced since we visited in 2009/10. Most notably the log flume ride was completely gone and MiniMe was a little disappointed since this was one of his favourite rides and was also a ride I had to accompany him on each year due to age / height restrictions. His grandmother did go on the ride with him once but then vowed to never repeat the experience following the terrifying drop down into the water.

MiniMe Cooking Dinner

Being away for the Christmas meant that Santa san had to be told of our whereabouts and extra care given to make sure that an appropriate bag was left out for Santa to leave presents. Also, we had to make a special trip to the local shops so that MiniMe could select the perfect carrots to leave out for the reindeer and some suitable cookies for Santa himself. MiniMe is still erring on the side of caution by making sure to write a nice letter to Santa but equally he has become quite persistent in asking us about whether Santa exists. We suspect that next year we move into non-believer territory but we’ve had a fun time over the years. This year Santa san brought nearly all the items requested by MiniMe but his favourite gift was a remote control car that he then spent hours with outside. An elaborate track was made at the front of the house using  various gardening items and MiniMe would send the car racing around.

Proud Owner of Remote Control Car from Santa san

Japan hasn’t quite dived into a full Christmas loving nation, with New Year being the prime holiday period of the year, and it doesn’t really fully fit since the normal Western Christmas holiday means time off work while the 25th December is a normal working day in Japan. However, I have noticed more and more Christmas related items sneaking into Japanese culture each year and this time around I really noticed the use of Christmas Carols and related songs in the local shopping malls. Christmas cards are available and so are Christmas themed cakes so it is becoming more common for gifts to be exchanged and some activities to take place.

Christmas Cakes

We again travelled to the nearby Shimonoseki for an overnight stay to use the onsen (hot spring baths) and to go shopping at the large shopping mall. For the first time our visit coincided with the Shimonoseki fish market so we made sure to visit and to eat lunch at the karu karu sushi (conveyor belt sushi) situated overlooking the fish market. The market itself is full of people inspecting the freshly caught fish or buying fresh sashimi and sushi from the brightly lit stalls while the stall holders call out for visitors to inspect their fish and to draw everyone in. The sushi looked fantastic although we didn’t buy any, quite a few would buy their lunch from the various stalls and go find somewhere to sit down, and we added our names to the lengthy waiting list for the sushi restaurant. We killed an hour or so walking around the market admiring the weird and wonderful types of fish although I did notice that quite a few stalls were selling whale meat, which I stayed away from based on my Western sensibilities. Finally our names were called for the restaurant although this was only the ‘outside queue’ and we now had to queue again as part of the ‘inside queue’ until a suitable table became available. Following another shortish wait there was a table available (seats had some and gone on the sushi bar but we preferred a table) and we settled down for one of the best sushi meals that I have had the pleasure of eating in Japan.

Shimonoseki Fish Market

We left MineMe with his grandparents and took a walk around the surrounding area. The area is known for its Fugu (puffer fish) catch and during popular seasons there will be a rush of Japanese visitors specifically to buy or eat Fugu. We found a nearby statue (pictured below) that shows how the market traders and fishermen used to trade their catch through various hand movements enclosed by a large glove like object so no-one could see how much each respective catch was being sold for.

Fugu Trading at Shimonoseki

Given the amount of times that we have visited Shimonoseki it is quite surprising that we had never visited the island of Ganryujima that sits between Honshū and Kyūshū via a short ferry ride from Shimonoseki Harbour. The small island is well known in the surrounding area for the duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō and has been setup as a tourist focal point to celebrate the fight. Japan has a rich history and the feudal period of swordsmanship is visited upon across popular media and is celebrated by the Japanese as well as the image visitors have from other parts of the globe.

Ganryujima Island - Musashi Miyamoto Fighting Sasaki Kojirō

Shimonoseki is also known for Buzenda, which is known as the most famous shopping area in Yamaguchi Prefecture. We always make a trip to the shopping mall for Mrs danyul to stock up on books from the very large book store while I wander around picking out some gifts to take back for family in the UK. I used to also look around for clothes for me, since the New Year period is a time where all the retailers hold significant sales, but I always suffer from my larger Western build and I’ve found that most of the clothes for Japanese men are a little on the small size for me. I am not significantly large by UK standards so I always wonder how the larger Japanese built gentlemen get on when they go shopping for clothes.

Our yearly Shimonoseki visit to was coming to a close and all that was left now was the relaxing use of the onsen back at the hotel. If I were able to export some products or services back to the UK then the proliferation of hot spring baths would certainly be in the top 3. I am pretty sure that reasonably priced good quality sushi would also make my top 3 as well, something that Shimonoseki has in abundance.

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2010 – danyul.net in review

January 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

danyul.net

Following on from my review of danyul.net in 2009, I proudly present the 2010 review. However, I have to hold up my hands and admit that my blogging during 2010 wasn’t exactly kept to a timely manner and a lot of posts were not published until January 2011. Bad, bad, danyul; I am determined to make sure that I write and publish during 2011 rather than starting a post but then leaving it as a draft.

My blog theme stayed as Streamline from Studiopress although there were some substantial updates under the hood, although these did not translate to any major changes to the site itself. We saw in the New Year from Japan where we were spending our customary Dec / Jan holiday with Mrs danyul’s parents, which is where I also sit as 2011 hits the world. MiniMe had a wonderful time spending time with his Japanese family, especially with his cousin, and we felt that his Japanese language skills really improved throughout the stay (not that they were too bad in the first place). I love to visit Yamaguchi Safari Land during our stay and once again I had a great time feeding the lions as Mrs danyul looking on shaking her head.

In January 2010 I posted on the Telehouse West build project, which was a location I walked past everyday on my journey to work so I decided to take a photographic diary of how the build progressed. I also posted about Pacific Plaza, a new food court in Wembley loosely based on the food court we previously visited at Oriental City in Colindale. I am glad to say that Pacific Plaza has remained open throughout 2010, despite the the odd food stall closure, and we are still regular visitors at the weekend. February was a landmark month as we replaced our ageing Toyota Corolla with a Toyota Verso Corolla and MiniMe was very happy as the new car included a DVD system so he could be kept entertained on long journeys. The car purchase came smack bang in the middle of a Toyota recall so this allowed us to negotiate a better price and I am happy to report that there were no Toyota related accidents throughout 2010 (nor any danyul related car accidents either). February saw the first karate course of the year as I took MiniMe to Swanley for the JKAE All Grades Kumite Course where we also took time to visit family. I spent the majority of my youth in Kent from initially living in Welling, moving to Bexleyheath, and a large chunk of my family still remain throughout Kent. This was also the first time that a family member came to watch us either training or competing.

March saw my first competitive race of the year as I ran the 2010  adidas Silverstone Half Marathon, which was my first attempt at running the half marathon distance. Although I completed the race, I was not happy with my time and I was not happy with the preparation I put in before the race: I was running a lot of miles but not running far enough on my long run. I hope to run at least one half marathon in 2011 before moving up to a full marathon in 2012. Our karate journey continued as I took MiniMe to the JKAE All Grades course at Bath University and we both had a great day of training and spending time together. Although we did not know it at the time, this would be the last of the JKAE standard courses that we would be able to attend during 2010.

The seasons had turned and spring was in full force as I captured our neighbours tree in full bloom and later in April we headed to Pacific Plaza to celebrate the Thai New Year. Our karate training took a new twist as both attend the inaugural SKCE black and brown belt course at the Queen Elizabeth Boys School in Barnet. Kilburn SKC decided to remove their affiliation with JKAE at the end of 2009 and a new association, Shotokan Karate Centres England (SKCE), was formed along with other former JKAE clubs. The course included training for black and brown belts and also included grading various dan grades. We were not attempting to grade but we did attend the training, which we both enjoyed and learnt from. It wasn’t long until I was back at another karate course, this time for the JKAE International Spring Course at Guildford, but for once I was by myself as MiniMe could not attend. I had been looking forward to this course for sometime since it marked the return of Osaka Sensei to the UK. I also had the pleasure of training under the guidance of Naka Sensei, surely the most photogenic karateka that I have seen in person, and star of the karate movies Hai kikku gâru! (High Kick Girl) and Kuro-obi (Black Belt). The day of training was fantastic and it was a pleasure to go out for lunch with friends afterwards but I did miss MiniMe and I would have traded the nice lunch to have MiniMe alongside me for the training.

With summer fast approaching we took a family day trip to nearby Oxford where we had an enjoyable lunch followed by a walk around the city. The summer then hit in full force and we had a sweltering day at MiniMe’s school fete where the highlight, for MiniMe at least, was the mayhem of a mass water pistol fight at the end. We loved the food on offer, although Mrs danyul had to work on the Japanese foot stall and the Japanese writing stall, and I even joined in for some of the water fight where MiniMe took great enjoyment from emptying a bucket of water over my head. The Japanese nursery school summer festivals were next on our summer festivities and again we enjoyed blazing sun and wonderful food. MiniMe was old enough to now take responsibility for his own money and to walk around the festival with his friends so he enjoyed the freedom to choose his own activities. We even managed to win one of the raffle prizes, a Brent Cross £100 voucher, which was later put to good use as part payment for a replacement DVD / hard disk recorder.

I even managed to sneak in a couple of posts related to my day job as a Tardis appeared at our Chalfont data centre site and I took the opportunity to have my picture taken as the next Doctor. I enjoy working the odd day from Chalfont as the drive is relatively easy, going against the rush hour traffic, and the site itself is very nice.  However, I returned to our London data centre the next day and faced a bunch of marauding cows mooing their way across the London Underground. They certainly brightened up my commute that day and I have been surprised that there has been nothing like this since.

We returned at Cornwall again this year for our summer holiday where MiniMe carried on with his l0ve affair with surfing and I tried (and mostly failed) to do the same without embarrassing myself. MiniMe seems to have a natural balance and being so light he can easily catch any sized wave and then manage an effortless journey to the beach. Meanwhile I fight to stay on my board and I am lucky to fall into the water with any modicum of grace. On this holiday we spent a lot of time cycling, especially along the Camel Trail, so we all enjoyed an active holiday with plenty of excuses to enjoy the nice food on offer. As summer started to crawl to a halt, we returned to Spitalfields Market for the 2010 Japan Matsuri. The 2009 event was heaving with people and although we thoroughly enjoyed the day, it did become difficult to navigate the crowd plus we were unable to buy any food from the stalls. Thankfully the organisers had expanded the space available for the festival and included additional food stalls.

October was a very busy month as I celebrated my birthday (sorry, not going to admit my age!) and MiniMe celebrated his 9th birthday. This year we organised a pool party for MiniMe and his friends at Hillingdon Leisure Centre, where we sometimes attend karate training, and the kids threw themselves on an inflatable obstacle course with wild abandon. Under the excuse of providing safety, in addition to the life guards on duty, I joined the kids in the pool and also lost a lot of races across the inflatable versus MiniMe. The busy period continued as we both successfully passed our shodan grading together under the guidance of SKC England. I am pleased that MiniMe has been able to make it this far with his karate training, especially as more and more academic demands have taken time we would previously have been training together. I continue to train at least twice a week, looking to maintain three sessions if possible, but MiniMe is only able to train once a week due to his extracurricular actives during the week and his attendance at the Japanese school at the weekend. I am sure things will change in the future and MiniMe will increase his attendance in the future.

My final blog post of the year saw me return to Brighton to run the 2010 Brooks Brighton 10K following my first ‘proper’ race at the same event in 2009. I had suffered from a knee injury sustained during our trip to Cornwall so my general training was lacking leading up until the Brighton 10K. However, I did complete in a fairly respectable time but I did then lose out against the majority of my fellow co-workers also running. That was the end of my blogging for 2010 and I managed to finish and publish a chunk of half finished posts while I was in Japan for the Christmas and New Year period.

So as a final look back at 2010 let’s have a look at the most popular parts of danyul.net. I use AWStats and a WordPress Stats plugin to analyse the logs of who visits my site. Here we go…

There were approximately 5,571 unique visitors to danyul.net in 2010 (an increase of 1,621 compared to 2009) which was made up of 9,180 visits (1.6 4visits per visitor). This equates to 43,390 pages visited (4.72 pages per visit) with a total of 113,686 ‘hits’ (12.38 hits per visit). A total of 3.376GB of data was transferred (384.38 KB per visit). June recorded the highest amount of unique visitors (617) and the highest number of visits (1,120) and the highest amount of pages (10,200). The highest amount of hits were recorded in June (18,078) as was the largest amount of bandwidth used in a month (520.19 MB).

The 10 top level visitors were:

  1. Unknown (IP address only)
  2. Commercial (.com)
  3. Network (.net)
  4. Yugoslavia (.yu)
  5. Poland (.pl)
  6. Republic of Serbia (.rs)
  7. Italy (.it)
  8. United Kingdom (.uk)
  9. Russian Federation (.ru)
  10. Israel (.il)
It is worth noting at this point that I exclude my home, work, and ‘other’ personal IP addresses from my stats package so everything recorded reflects actual visitors rather than me updating or checking the site.

The top 10 visiting browsers were:

  1. MS Internet Explorer
  2. Netscape
  3. Firefox
  4. Safari
  5. Google Chrome
  6. Mozilla
  7. Opera
  8. Unknown
  9. GranParadiso (Firefox 3.0 development)
  10. Sony/Ericsson Browser (PDA/Phone browser)

The top visiting operating systems were:

  1. Windows
  2. Unknown
  3. Macintosh
  4. Linux
  5. Sony Playstation
  6. Symbian OS
  7. Java
  8. Java Mobile
  9. Blackberry
  10. Unknown Unix System

Finally, the most interesting stats of 2010 (to me anyway!) were the top 10 search key-phrases used by visitors to find the site via a search engine. I have tinkered with the list a little from its original listing since a few in the top 10 were identical topic searches but the key-phrases were slightly different:

  1. hot 3ex
  2. mohammed salih karate
  3. fatal socket operation on non-socket
  4. pacific plaza
  5. jkae
  6. jka england split
  7. eric pich
  8. danyul
  9. mailman list password
  10. kilburn skc
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Cornwall 2010

September 1, 2010 by 1 Comment

Riding the Camel Trail

Our original plan was to return to Cornwall for our 2010 summer holiday based on the fantastic time we had last year and the feeling that we hadn’t explored the area fully so we had made a provisional booking to the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. However, events conspired against us  slightly as we were unable to take time off to match the week we had made the provisional booking for Bedruthan but we did return to Cornwall through a last minute booking at the Sands Resort Hotel.

The primary criteria for our hotel selection is always based on the availability of suitable child care and associated activities for MineMe and Sands does not disappoint on this front. Firstly, the hotel provides free access to the O-Zone Club for children 8-12 years old during the school holiday period, which the children can attend between 9am and 12:30pm and there is also a corresponding evening session. The morning session consisted of outside games using the wide range of facilities (pitch & putt golf, tennis courts, games room, maze, outside play area, maze etc) but also inside activities if the weather was bad. In the evening the club would meet to watch a movie together or join some of the younger groups for the larger activities (e.g. disco night). Sands also provides babysitting services and groups for younger children, which were chargeable but also very popular with guests that had young children.

In 2009 we plumped for half-board so breakfast and dinner were included at Bedruthan but we found that the dinner meal was far too much for us so this time we plumped for inclusive breakfast only with the option to pay for additional meals if needed. The breakfast at Sands was good; consisting of cereals, toast, cooked breakfast buffet, juices and yoghurt’s. We would load ourselves up with food at breakfast before depositing MiniMe at the O-Zone club while Mr & Mrs danyul split up for morning activities. Parents are required to stay on the resort site during the club so one of us would stay somewhere on site, with Mrs danyul making use of the gym and spa facilities while I made use of the on-site pitch & putt golf course or going for a run along the nearby beaches. I would normally drive into Newquay to buy some salad lunch to eat with Mrs danyul, our goal was to stay active and eat healthily during the holiday, and then let MiniMe pick some food from the lunch menu once he finished playing with his friends.

So what was great about Sands?

  • The O-Zone club was fantastic, was free, and also allowed MiniMe a semblance of freedom and the O-Zone children were allowed to dip in and out of the club themselves provided they stay on-site (MiniMe revelled in the responsibility of being allowed to visit the bar area himself to buy a drink or a packet of sweets).
  • Lots of free activities for all ages, including; on-site pitch & putt golf (free club hire but you have to provide your own golf balls, sold at reception if needed), tennis court (free use of rackets), lots of outside play areas for kids, a maze, outside swimming pool (MiniMe braved this), and an indoors heated pool (a daily activity for us). There was also free wi-fi within the main building although I tried to avoid this as the plan was to avoid working.
  • Staff across all areas were friendly, helpful, and went out of their way to make the stay as fantastic as possible.
  • Organised activities for kids and adults; visits from a local zoo or aquarium, disco one night a week for children, an activity centre for families to book off-site paid activities (e.g. surf lessons), and many more.
  • Free use of beach equipment, wet suits, body boards, and surf boards etc.

MineMe the Surf King

I had gone for the customary ‘pre-holiday’ hair cut before departing for Cornwall and struck up a conversation where he recommended hiring some bikes and riding the Camel Trail to Padstow. The staff at Sands advised driving to Wadebridge and the hiring some bikes at Bridge Bike Hire, so that’s what we did on one of the first days. We didn’t know what to expect but we found this to be one of our favourite activities of the stay and something that we would repeat again during our time in Cornwall. The Camel Trail between Wadebridge and Padstow provides an off road, near traffic free, route alongside the picturesque Camel Estuary. With MiniMe either racing ahead on his bike or dropping behind, plus various stops to admire the views (and a sneaky stop at the tea / coffee / ice-cream stall along the route) we took an hour to cycle this part of the Camel Trail.

On our first visit we arrived in the hugely popular town of Padstow just in time for the lunch opening at Stein’s Fish & Chips so we took the opportunity to have a delicious lunch before exploring the rest of the town. The weather was a little murky during our first visit so we didn’t stay too long and we were soon riding the reverse trip back to Wadebridge. Our cycling adventure wasn’t over though as we then carried on through Wadebridge and joined the trail again but this time heading towards Bodmin.  This section of the Camel Trail is not as picturesque and it a little cooler due to the shade thrown across the path by the overhanging trees but we still enjoyed the ride along to a convenient cream tea cafe before turning around and cycling back to Wadebridge. We would thoroughly recommend a cycle trip along the Camel Trail to anyone visiting Cornwall and there are hire bikes available for all age groups and abilities. We saw plenty of older cyclists on tandems or tricycles plus lots of young children being pulled along in buggies or tandems connected to their parents. We found the leg between Wadebridge and Padstow to be the easiest and most scenic (bike hire available at both ends) although we recommend starting at Wadebridge because car parking is a lot easier compared to the scrum for parking spaces in the centre of Padstow.

Crabbing at Padstow

We rode the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow again later during our stay and this time the weather was much improved so we stayed in Padstow a lot longer. MiniMe spotted lots of children crabbing around the harbour so after a quick crabbing kit purchase from one of the local shops, we were both sitting around the harbour trying to make a catch. Unfortunately (for MiniMe that is, and not the crab population) we didn’t catch anything but we really enjoyed sitting outside in the sun casting our line into the harbour water. Padstow is a wonderful town to visit and extremely popular with the tourist hoard so we thoroughly recommend a visit.

Our favourite activity during the 2009 visit was surfing and both me and MiniMe would be out on the waves at Mawgan Porth at every opportunity. MiniMe was too young to take lessons with the surf school in 2009 so we took lessons with an instructor based at the Bedruthan hotel or I went out with MiniMe to make sure he was safe. This time around I called the King Surf School in advance of the holiday and negotiated a lower rate based on 5 days of group tuition for the two of us. Pete and the gang were fantastic throughout our 5 days of surfing and I felt much safer knowing that there were other people watching out for MiniMe while giving him some instruction on how to improve his surfing skills. The only negative surfing experience this year was the pain caused by me standing on the poisoned fin of a Weaver fish. The pain was quite harsh but I was more upset at having to waste valuable surf time by walking back up the beach to stick my foot into hot water so that the poison is broken down and then making the walk back down to the surf again. MiniMe was also a little upset that I hurt myself and after a young girl in the group experienced the same thing, he was suddenly scared to go into the water. I would probably consider some suitable footwear if we visited again just to make sure that I didn’t miss any surfing.

Our final day trip of the holiday was a day in St Ives via the park and ride train scheme from Lelant. We seemed to have lucked out with the weather for most of our holiday and so had a bright sunny day to enjoy the scenic train ride alongside the golden sands of Hayle Towans, through Carbis Bay and onto St Ives itself. We managed to snag ourselves a balcony table overlooking St Ives harbour and ate our lunch watching the world pass us by. Mrs danyul then headed off to tour some of the galleries with a plan to buy some local art work while I took MiniMe for a walk along the harbour wall then down onto the sands below. We had a great time skimming some stones and walking around the boats beached in the harbour but MiniMe was not a happy bunny when a seagull swooped down and ‘stole’ his lucky stone. MiniMe had found a stone with some strange grooves cut into it and was lobbing it into water puddles but the seagull must have thought it was some sort of food. We then had to chase the poor gull across the harbour until it gave up with the stone before I washed the stone off and returned it to MiniMe. We completed our day in St Ives with a walk through the town where I bought MiniMe a couple of surfing t-shirts before we all met up to take the train back to Lelant.

 

St Ives

The holiday soon drew to a close and we were packing our bags and driving back to London. We wanted to explore more of Cornwall during this visit and we certainly did this via the bike trips, our visit to St Ives, and various other small journeys to towns and villages in the surrounding area. We really enjoyed our stay at Sands although we could not help but make comparisons to our stay at the Bedruthan Steps hotel in 2009. I would probably say the jury is still out on which hotel we preferred:

  • We preferred our room at Sands, which was larger and had a fantastic view of the local countryside.
  • We preferred the location of Bedruthan with the spectacular views across Mawgan Porth.
  • MiniMe felt the kids club at Bedruthan was a little better as the activities were more structured but equally he loved the freedom of the O-Zone club and we certainly appreciated the lower cost
  • Mr & Mrs danyul both missed the option of porridge at Sands but the healthy options were good. We decided not to eat lunch or dinner at Sands so we could force ourselves to keep a healthier diet so we can’t compare the food options.
  • Sands had more outside activities and we certainly appreciated the free hire or beach equipment, tennis equipment, and golf clubs.
  • Bedruthan had direct access to a much nicer beach and we drove to Mawgan Porth rather than walk down to the local beach (Mawgan Porth had much better surf…).

St Ives

Ultimately both hotels are going to target the same groups and we would recommend both to any families looking to stay in Cornwall and who want good quality child care. Bedruthan is slightly more polished and has a slightly more scenic location. Sands is slightly cheaper and has more free outside activities available. Both have fantastic caring staff and both provide excellent child care.

We won’t be going back to Cornwall in 2011 simply because we have now exhausted all the areas we want to visit so it is time to move on and find somewhere new for our next summer holiday. I would quite like to go abroad again and visit somewhere nice and sunny but Mrs danyul and MineMe favour going back to Center Parcs in the UK again this year. As a family we like to visit to keep active during our holiday and I suspect sitting around an outside pool all day in the sun would drive us crazy. We did have another wonderful break in Cornwall and hopefully we will return again one day in the years to come.

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Japan (part ni)

January 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Japanese Kite Flying

The Japanese New Year period usually sees a return to the more traditional Japanese games including the flying of traditional Japanese kites. This year we headed down to the nearby Ube beach armed with several paper kites to join small groups of other kite flyer’s. This year we also had the somewhat odd site of a group teenagers holding a barbecue while they all lounged in a heated inflatable pool. It was a bizarre site since early January is not a warm or sunny time in this part of Japan plus it was quite a cold breezy day: great for flying kites but not good for running your own portable hot tub on a public beach. Maybe I am not ‘down with the kids’ these days because it looked far from a fun activity to me but the group of teenagers looked like they were having a great time.

Japan has gone through a noticeable period of change in the 12 plus years that we have been making regular visits. I remember the first time that we saw homeless people asking for money or food in a train terminal based in one of the largest cities. It stood out for me since I had never seen any sign of homeless people at any point previously, although of course that did not meant that people were not homeless before, but seeing such an overt example of begging in a high profile location shocked Mrs danyul.

During our latest visit we saw real signs of the economic downturn in Japan;. Firstly, the number of people attending the shrines in a bid to win favour and blessing was astronomical compared to our previous visits. The area where we stay is quite rural and we would normally visit the local shrine on New Years Day and we might have seen 5-10 other people paying their respects. However, on this visit there was a long queue of families waiting to pay their respect at the shrine and additionally a large number of families donating extra to the shrine so that they could receive individual blessings.

During this visit we also attended second hand and antique fair for the first time, which very much resembled an English car boot sale but with the goods on sale from little stalls setup either by small businesses or families selling off unwanted goods. Again, this was not previously a common occurrence in the area of Japan where we stayed and it was a reflection of the economic situation in the country.

Japanese Second Hand Good Fair

Our final family trip this time around was to spend 1 night in Shimonoseki, which like Ube is also based in Yamaguchi Prefecture. We drove across to Shimonoseki with a brief stop at a motorway style service station / dining location for lunch. I had never stopped at any Japanese motorway style services before and it made a distinct change to the expensive food provided in British motorway stops. The food area was run as a small local business and provided excellent Japanese food at very affordable prices. MiniMe tucked into his favourite Japanese curry while I had some fantastic pork ramen that would put any English motorway food to shame. We were soon in Shimonoseki and settled into our hotel ready to spend some relaxing time in the hotel onsen (hot spring baths). Visiting onsen is big business in Japan and there are travel style TV shows that just show various bath locations around Japan with reviews of the facilities and the food on offer.

The hotel is located on the hillside overlooking the Kanmon Straits, which forms an important shipping line that runs between the main Japanese islands of Honshū and Kyūshū. The hotel makes good use of the outstanding view with the baths, with baths both inside and outside, looking directly over the river and the city while the hotel restaurant also utilises full window style walls looking over the city. The city itself is very well known for its fugu (puffer-fish) haul, which is the largest yearly haul in Japan, and all the restaurants specialise in fugu dishes. On this visit we took a local taxi to the Sea Mall Shimonoseki (largest shopping center in West Japan when it was built) and the driver told us that the visitor numbers were substantially down over the past year, especially during the fugu season when people traditionally flock to Shimonoseki, so much so that all the taxi drivers are now all members of the ‘silver fox’ generation. The younger taxi drivers are no longer able to make a full-time wage from their fares so only those that are retired and have other incomes available (i.e. a pension of some sort) can afford to remain as taxi drivers.

Shimonoseki: Hotel Balcony View

I enjoyed wandering around the shopping mall and trying to pick out some gifts for my family while Mrs danyul raided the huge book shop. We are fortunate to live in an age where Mrs danyul can order Japanese books from Amazon and get them delivered to the UK but it is much cheaper to haul some back in our suitcases compared to the shipping charges. I picked out the latest Pokemon movie DVD for MiniMe so he could have something to watch back in the UK when he would no doubt be wide awake with jet lag at an unreasonable hour. I found some nice gifts for my family and made good use of the gift wrapping services from all the shops, which put the UK firmly in the shade. All Japanese department stores will gift wrap something to a ‘basic level’ for free and their definition of a ‘basic level’ is what a UK based store would charge for as their ‘premium service’. Although Japanese stores do offer a chargeable gift wrapping service, I have never had to take up the additional services although I have wondered just how much better they could actually be compared to the fantastic free service.

Our last activity in Shimonoseki was to visit one of the large shrines based in the city. Again, the shrine was full of people and had some fantastic food stalls at the entrance to help warm everyone up in the cold weather. On this visit we decided to ‘donate’ an extra amount of money and receive a blessing from the priest. Neither of us has any strong religious views but we were interested in what happens so after making our donations we were shown into a private room within the temple where the priest discussed our goals and aspirations with the coming year (well… he discussed with Mrs danyul anyway) and then he began to recite various Japanese chants before waving a staff adorned with what looked like white paper chains above our heads. We both thought the blessing was over but were told to stay while the priest then started to play on a flute like instrument while a girl dressed in traditional robes performed a dance around the room. We did not (and still do not) understand whether the dance had any significance but it was certainly an interesting experience and a small view of traditional Japanese activities.

Shimonoseki Shrine

Our latest visit to Japan soon drew to an end  as the remaining time flew by with various family visits and MiniMe playing with his grandparents. We all had a fantastic time, as always, and I had a relaxing time of catching up on some reading while not being drawn into any work. As usual our family were extremely hospitable to us and I am sure MiniMe will have some more treasured memories of spending time in Japan.

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Japan (part ichi)

January 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Hinomaru ("sun circle")

We usually schedule a visit to Japan at the end of each year to stay with Mrs danyul’s parents and to visit other family in Japan. Unfortunately we were unable to make it in 2008/09 but this year we were able to fly out to Japan just before Christmas. Our normal schedule would be to spend Christmas in the UK with my family and then New Year in Japan with Mrs danyul’s family. This time around we faced restrictions with time off from work so had to leave earlier so no Christmas with my family this time around. They more than made up for it though by throwing a Christmas lunch for everyone before we left, where MiniMe could open all his presents as though it was Christmas Day.

We headed to Heathrow on the 23rd December with a hope to avoid long queues by going through the Virgin online check-in process beforehand. This seems to be a pretty standard procedure these days so we were straight into the queue for checking in our baggage and then straight through security to wait for our flight. Mrs danyul had some time for some last minute gift buying, which is very much a necessity if you are visiting Japan since it is customary to buy close family a friends a gift. I wandered around with MiniMe in tow and bought myself some JVC noise cancelling earphones for the flight. These were the cheapest on sale within the shops area and they turned out to be a reasonable purchase since they cut out a lot of the flight noise and I might consider an upgrade next time we fly.

Our flight was delayed by an hour since the plane had arrived later than schedule and then once everyone boarded, one of the passengers was taken ill and had to be taken from the plane so another hour was gone while their luggage was located and removed from the hold. Thankfully we were soon up in the air and MiniMe could sit watching some kids movies / TV while I watched some movies at well. Nothing of note occurred on the flight, which is always a good thing, and we were soon touching down at Narita International just an hour later than scheduled. I usually have to spend an hour queueing for passport control along with all the other Gaijin but for once everything was clear so I quickly had my body scanned for heat signatures via a camera checking for people with flu, I had my finger prints taken, and finally a digital photograph taken before my passport was stamped and I was free to go join MiniMe and Mrs danyul to collect our luggage.

We used to stay one night in Tokyo before MiniMe was born but then found out looking after a jet lagged child is not the easiest thing to do at 3am, even in a city like Tokyo, so we now catch a limousine bus across to Heneda Airport to take an internal ANA flight down to Ube, which is located in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The parents-in-law were waiting for us at the airport and thankfully it is only short drive back to their house. They were happy to see the three of us, especially MiniMe, and we were thankful to be able to visit them again.

Giraffe Riding, MiniMe Style

Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan and nor is there much evidence that it is celebrated although I must admit over the years I have seen more and more Christmas decorations dotted around whenever we visit. Mrs danyul’s parents bought a small Christmas tree this year so that MiniMe would have somewhere to put his Christmas stocking all ready for Santa san to visit. They also helped join in the fun by buying a carrot for the reindeer plus some cookies and milk for Santa san. MiniMe had a great time opening his presents with his grandparents and I think they had a nice time being part of MiniMe’s Christmas for the first time.

New Year is a public holiday in Japan and it is a time of wide celebration and also a time for families to get together once more. It is traditional for the ‘oldest son’ to host a dinner on New Years Day, which all the family are invited to. On our early visits to Japan this would mean a lot of visitors since Mrs danyul’s father is the oldest son in a large family so there would be a lot of people arriving at the house for lunch. It is also traditional to give gifts of cash to all the children so it is a very lucrative time to be a child in Japan! As the years have passed we have found that our New Year celebration has diminished each year, mostly because of older relatives sadly passing aways, but also from family members gradually moving to different parts of Japan. On our last visit we moved from a very large gathering at Mrs danyul’s parents house to a more smaller lunch (approximately 20 people) at a local hotel, although again it was hosted by the ‘oldest son’ within the family. This year we just had a visit from Mrs danyul’s brother and his son so we had a small family lunch at home although we did join the crowds at the local shopping mall and also at the local shrine.

Feeding The Lions

The shrine visit is a fundamental part of Japanese culture and a lot of people will celebrate the New Year by being at a shrine as the clock hits midnight; some of the large city shrines heave with crowds at midnight and form the location for live television across the entire New Year period. We went to visit the local shrine on New Year’s day and this time around it was packed with people and for the first time ever we had to queue to pay our respects. It seems that during a time of economic decline more and more people are returning to their local shrine to ask for good luck through the coming year.

We then took a day trip to the Yamaguchi Safari Land, which is just over an hours drive away. MiniMe loves to visit Safari Land every time we come to Japan and I must admit that I really enjoy visiting as well. Safari Land consists of a small theme park area that is free to enter, although you have to pay for tokens that are then valid across the rides, and the Safari Part itself where you could either pay to drive through in your own car or take a guided tour through on a bus. We always go for the guided bus since you also get to feed the various animals on the route through the use of some metal tongs that can be pushed through grills along the side of the bus.

Safari Bus

We arrived at the park to find the first available bus tour was already full so we signed up for the second bus and then took a walk around the theme park section. MiniMe went straight to the go-kart track where he was now tall enough to drive one of the ‘skid karts’ around the track provided that he had an adult sitting next to him. I drew the short straw and had several scary laps of the track with MiniMe at the helm while Japanese pop music blasted from speakers dotted around the course. MiniMe loved it although I hope his driving skills improve as he gets older.

We’ve been visiting the Safari Land for quite a few years now and it was strange to see MiniMe aiming for all the older kid rides this time when previously he would just want to sit on the little kid cars, which do not move anywhere and just resemble the small kid rides you find outside supermarkets in the UK. He did insist on riding the giraffe around, which has a small motor and wheels on the legs, but I suspect that will not be repeated on our next visit since he’ll deem it a ride “for babies”.

It was soon time for our bus tour so we grabbed some drinks from the plentiful vending machines (there are vending machines everywhere in Japan) before taking our bench seat on the bus ready for the tour to begin. This time we had the lion bus and we were soon being driven around the park. Our first stop was to feed some zebra and a camel by holding out some small pieces of bread with the tongs but on a first attempt one of the circling hawks dive bombed the side of the bus and helped itself to MiniMe’s bread. He was not happy with the birds so I had to let MiniMe use my bread while I kept a lookout for more cheeky winged beasts.

Japanese Shrine

The bus then moved through various security gates as we headed into the more dangerous animal sections; first stop was the cheetah enclosure where we have the opportunity to hold out pieces of meat from the side of the bus. Next we moved through the tiger enclosure and the lion enclosure where again small pieces of meat were dangled out of the side of the bus ready for the growling large cats to take their feed. I was once again on hawk duty since the somewhat suicidal birds would swoop down across the side of the bus trying to grab the meat before the tigers or lions could snap their jaws shut. It would not surprise me to find that the lions get an accidental bird lunch on occasion.

The tour pulls to a stop in a ‘petting zoo’ style section where the small goats, llama, and kangaroos seem even more aggressive in their pursuit of people to feed them. There is even a small enclosure where there seems to be hundreds of guinea pigs hopping about but the small furry fiends give Mrs danyul the heebie jeebies so we stayed away this time.

The final stop on the way back to the car park was at the elephant house where MiniMe had great fun holding out carrots and other vegetables for the baby elephant to snack on. Again, Mrs danyul keeps a distance from the elephant since it’s trunk sways around sniffing for food and it does not seem to discriminate between food and scarves if you get too close. This ended our visit to Yamaguchi Safari Land and we headed home with a very content MiniMe snoring in the back of the car.

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2009 – danyul.net in review

January 1, 2010 by 1 Comment

danyul.net

My very first post on danyul.net was published on the 28th May 2008 , which means that 2009 was my first complete blog calendar year. I am a sucker for any type of top 10 /100 list that reviews a year (or decade) or a review of the year type article so here is my guide to danyul.net through 2010.

I changed my WordPress theme in 2009 to the Streamline theme from StudioPress and I have been making various little tweaks all through the year. Our spring flowers started to appear in February 2010 and we visited Stanton House in the snow in the same month with some friends. The weather may have been cold and but with great company we had a really good time while enjoying the Japanese second hand goods sale. March 2009 saw us take our first karate grading of the year and we both took a fairly substantial step forward as we both successfully succeeded in gaining our brown belts (3rd kyu).

April was a lean month in terms of blog posting although it did see the post that generated the most search traffic to the site as I solved a technical problem with the FTP service on my server (more on that subject later). May 2009 saw myself and MiniMe continue our karate training by attending the JKAE Spring Course, where we really enjoyed the training led by Osaka Sensei. I can well believe that people travel long distances to have the pleasure of training alongside Osaka Sensei and his joy of karate and teaching shone through the whole course. I would love to see Osaka Sensei return to either the JKAE Spring or Summer course in 2010, where I would try to persuade Mrs danyul that attending all the course days does not make her a lonely karate widow.

July was a busy month for karate as we attempted to grade to 2nd kyu on the 3rd July, where MiniMe picked up a temporary pass instead of a full pass, and then two days later we were both competing at the JKAE National Champioship. I had no issues with MiniMe not passing his grading completely since his karate mojo had started to wane through 2009 and this was very much reflected in the quality of his karate both in training, in grading, and in competition. When we first started our karate training, our goal was not to race to a specific belt or win medals, but rather to train alongside each other in a martial art that MiniMe would find beneficial immediately (physical fitness, discipline etc) and also in the future (self defence). We had a great time competing at the Nationals and I am sure we learnt a lot more about our karate through the act of just being there rather than winning any medals.

August was a busy month as we took a family holiday to Cornwall where me and MiniMe developed a love for surfing and body boarding while Mrs danyul took to exploring the Cornwall coast and enjoying the hotel spa facilities. The JKAE Summer Course rounded off the end of the month as we returned to Guildford again to train alongside visiting Sensei’s from Japan and familiar friendly faces. In September 2009 we descended on Spitalfields market in London along with 30,000 other people for the first Japanese Matsuri. The 2010 event is already scheduled and firmly in our diary to attend once more, where we hope to see the stalls branched out even further across the market to accommodate all the visitors. The end of the month saw another karate grading although this time it was just MiniMe by himself to successfully clear the previous temporary pass gained at the 2nd kyu grading. I did not grade since it was never my intention to race ahead of MiniMe and it is fair to say that the colour of your belt does not necessarily reflect a persons dedication or skill in karate.

October saw me and MiniMe both get a year older although it’s not something that I blogged about (no idea why!) so instead we had to settle for attending the JKAE All Grades Course and for me fixing a technical problem with the VoIP system used at work. I have strong hopes that our office BroadWorks platform will be replaced in 2010 with the company standard platform and I can finally lose responsibility for our office phone system.

November saw a family outing to Brighton as I competed in the Brooks Brighton 10k and I hope to run the same event in 2010 as well as some other 10k and half-marathon events. Finally we reach December, which was another busy karate month as we attended a fun Brown & Black Belt Course and then both successfully graded to 1st kyu before heading off to Japan for a much needed family holiday. We are still visiting family in Japan as I type this and I haven’t made any Japan posts yet but so that will have to wait until early January 2010.

The most significant personal event of 2009 for me, the unexpected death of a friend and business associate, did not get a post but like a boulder dropped into a pond, the ripples are still fanning out into 2010. Our karate progress is also getting snagged onto some political maneuvering so it looks like changes are afoot in the year of the tiger.

So as a final look back at 2009 let’s have a look at the most popular parts of danyul.net. I use AWStats and a WordPress Stats plugin to analyse the logs of who visits my site although unfortunately the WordPress Stats plugin is only something I have recently installed so I will have to just rely on the AWStats report for the 2009 review. Here we go…

There were approximately 3,950 unique visitors to danyul.net in 2009 which was made up of 6,347 visits (1.6 visits per visitor). This equates to 23,988 pages visited (3.77 pages per visit) with a total of 74,550 ‘hits’ (11.74 hits per visit). A total of 1.37GB of data was transferred (226.17 KB per visit). July recorded the highest amount of unique visitors (401) and the highest number of visits (805) and the highest amount of pages (4,273). The highest amount of hits were recorded in March (10,752) as was the largest amount of bandwidth used in a month (166.30 MB).

The 10 top level visitors were:

  1. Unknown (IP address only)
  2. Commercial (.com)
  3. Network (.net)
  4. United Kingdom (.uk)
  5. Non-Profit Organizations (.org)
  6. Japan (.jp)
  7. USA Educational (.edu)
  8. Poland (.pl)
  9. Israel (.il)
  10. Germany (.de)
It is worth noting at this point that I exclude my home, work, and ‘other’ personal IP addresses from my stats package so everything recorded reflects actual visitors rather than me updating or checking the site.

 

The top 10 visiting browsers were:

  1. MS Internet Explorer
  2. Firefox
  3. Mozilla
  4. Safari
  5. Opera
  6. Unknown
  7. Google Chrome
  8. Netscape
  9. Curl
  10. LibWWW

 

The top visiting operating systems were:

  1. Windows
  2. Macintosh
  3. Unknown
  4. Linux
  5. Symbian OS
  6. RISC OS
  7. Unknown Unix System

 

Finally, the most interesting stats of 2009 (to me anyway!) were the top 10 search key-phrases used by visitors to find the site via a search engine. I have tinkered with the list a little from its original listing since a few in the top 10 were identical topic searches but the key-phrases were slightly different:

  1. proftpd fatal socket operation on non-socket
  2. spring flowers
  3. san agostino beach resort
  4. hot 3ex
  5. danyul.net
  6. sensei eric pich
  7. kumite
  8. gary stewart karate
  9. minime
  10. sensei
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Cornwall 2009

August 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Mawgan Porth beach

We spent a lot of time looking for a suitable holiday destination this year although as usual our search took so long that we ended up leaving the actual booking until quite late. Last year we visited the Mark Warner San Agostino resort in Greece where we had a fantastic family holiday and we considered visiting San Agostino again or visiting one of the other Mark Warner resorts but we decided that we would find somewhere with a more balanced climate this time around. I loved the hot sunny weather in Greece but for Mrs danyul it was a too hot and for MiniMe it was difficult trying to make him rest at times to make sure he was not in the sun all the time. So this year we looked at various options in France, Switzerland, and Austria before deciding to stay closer to home with a family holiday in Cornwall. Our selection criteria was based on finding a location with plenty of individual activities (such as sailing for me and spa like facilities for Mrs danyul and kids play for MiniMe) and having a dedicated kids club so MiniMe could be looked after and play with other children. After much deliberation we settled on the 4 star Bedruthan Steps Hotel on the North Cornish Coast.

We looked at the options of flying to Cornwall since the Newquay Cornwall Airport is very close to Mawgan Porth, where we would be staying for the week. However, we decided to tackle the 6+ hours it would take to drive and packed out our car with all the things we would need for a UK beach holiday. In true danyul family tradition we packed far too much under the rationale that we would need both summer and winter clothes given the English weather. The drive to Cornwall was pretty uneventful but we did stop at a great litle pub in the countryside for lunch and take in some of the scenary. Sadly we did not make a note of where we stopped since it was unplanned and based on ‘we’re hungry, next exit please’.

MiniMe with his sand castle

The exterior of the hotel looks a little dated and we were not sure what to expect when we pulled into the car park but thankfully the interior is everything that you would expect from a 4* hotel. The entrance to the hotel is a little strange in that you enter directly onto a stair case and the reception is down a small flight of stairs and then situated to the left. I would not really think to mention it here but since our holiday I checked out a number of online reviews for the Bedruthan Steps Hotel and a few people make negative comments regarding trying to find reception on arrival. However, the route to reception is clearly sign posted and is so easy to follow so I cannot understand why some reviewers make a big deal out of this.

The check-in process went smoothly thanks the very friendly reception staff and we were soon negotiating our way around the hotel to our room. We had left our booking very late so there were only 2 rooms available at the time; a double bedroom with attached kids room with bunk beds or a discounted similar room above the kitchen. Although we like the idea of saving money we equally do not want the sounds and smells of the kitchen hitting us plus all the noise from early morning deliveries. Our room did not have an ocean view but it was extremely modern, clean, and very spacious: everything we needed for our stay.

Mawgan Porth beach

The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the beach along a slightly steep winding path down the hill side and we soon wandered down to explore and make our first sand castle. We had paid for breakfast and evening meals although children were not welcome in the main restuarant at dinner time so either had to attend the kids evening meal or sit in the lower part of the restuarant with their parents. MiniMe was booked into the evening kids club so he ate at the kids supper before we took him to the ‘Dolphins’ kids club. There were various group names for the kids clubs (e.g. Dolphins and Sharks) and they were split by age. I cannot remember the age splits but initially we were a little worried that MiniMe would be bored in the Dolphins club since he was at the top age for the group. However, he was soon enjoying himself thanks to the wonderful staff and all the friends he was soon making.

There were plenty of other activities at the hotel for kids outside of the scheduled classes and MiniMe loved to play in the Jungle Tumble play area. When we could pursuade him to stop throwing himself into the ball pools we also used the inside and outside swimming pools, the assualt course, and the tennis courts.

MiniMe soaking up some sun before surf lesson

After a hearty buffet style breakfast we took some time to speak with the on-site surf instructor Nick and book a lesson for me and MiniMe. Surfing is big business in Cornwall thanks to the great conditions and the influx of tourists so there are surf clubs all along the coast. The hotel has its own surf shack on-site where you can book lessons and also hire equipment (e.g. surf boards, wet suits, and body boards) and there is also the King Surf School near by in Morgan Porth located at Betty’s surf shop. We did look at booking some cheaper group style lessons at the King Surf School but the minimum age was 8 and with MiniMe still 7 we stuck with some private lessons via the hotel surf shack. Neither of us had surfed before so we pass our thanks onto Nick and his team for the great tuition given. All the staff were well qualified and I had no hesitation in trusting them with the safety of a very fearless MiniMe. To say MiniMe took to surfing like a duck to water would be an understatement (pun not intended); we took 2 private lessons and then the both of us were out everyday surfing or body boarding by ourselves.

We took some time on a more miserable rainy day to visit the relativly nearby Eden Project. I think all visitors to Cornwall make a visit to the Eden Project at least once and although not cheap it is well worth the visit. MiniMe loved the kids area and was soon running around grabbing materials to build a tiny boat from ‘sustainable materials’. The aim was to build a small boat and then push it out to sail in a small pool like area where the boat would ‘dock’ at a small island with some playmobil figures on it. There was a helpful adult in waders to help the boats around and MiniMe took his task very seriously and was very proud when his boat made it to the island.

MiniMe surfing

The more educational aspects of the Eden project also kept MiniMe inspired and we had a great time walking around the domed areas and learning about various fauna and associated wildlife. Even on a very grey British day we had a great time exploring and learning so recommend to anyone visiting the Cornwall area.

We soon settled down to a activity driven schedule: MiniMe would race to reception every morning to register for the kids supper by picking from the days menu. We would all eat breakfast together from the extensive buffet before MiniMe raced off again to join the Dolphins group for their morning activity. I would then head off for some surfing or spend some time with Mrs danyul before we all hooked up for lunch somewhere. In the afternoon I would keep MiniMe in check, usually through surfing together, while Mrs danyul would spend time in the spa or taking a bus to one of the local towns so she could explore. MiniMe would join his friends at the kids supper and we would leave him there safe in the knowledge that the kids staff would be watching over them and then taking them all back for the evening Dolphins session. I would eat with Mrs danyul in the fantastic hotel restuarant before taking a walk down to the beach and back to the hotel again before settling down in the bar area. Soon it would be time to collect a very worn out MiniMe and get him to bed all ready for the next day.

MiniMe surfing... ?

I have briefly mentioned the food through this posting and it is well woth highlighting the standard of food available at the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. The hotel takes great pride in sourcing local seasonal produce and this is firmly reflected in the quality of food available. Each morning we were presented with a buffet style breakfast selection consisting of an English cooked breakfast using local produce, a choice of cereals, and a selection of fruits and yoghurts. MiniMe would dive into the cereal options while Mrs danyul developed a previously unknown liking for porridge. I stuck to the more traditional English breakfast option along with some toast in a bid to fill myself with energy for all the days activities.

There was a small cafe style area at the hotel offering lunch, although you had to have your wits about you if sitting outside since the seagulls had their beady eyes fixed on anything edible. We tended to eat in and around the Mawgan Porth area for lunch while for supper / dinner MiniMe joined the kids club for burger / nugget style food although we did make sure that he had equal amounts of vegetables on his plate as well. This left dinner for just the two of us in the hotel restuarant where a set menu was on offer each night consisting once again of local produce for staters, main, and dessert. The food was fasntastic and there was an extremely well stocked wine selection to go with your meal. However, after a few nights dining in the hotel we wished we had not paid / booked for a hotel dinner every night; not because of the quality of the food or the standard of the service, which were all excellent. We just found ourselves wanting something smaller some nights rather than a three course meal every time. If we return to the Bedruthan Steps Hotel in the future then we’ll probably go for breakfast each morning and dinner the first few nights and the last few nights of the stay with a gap in the middle to eat at other local restuarants. This isn’t a reflection on the food provided but just an acknowledgment that sometimes we wanted a smaller meal while it was hard to resist the fantastic three course meal at the hotel since it was all booked in advance.

MiniMe surfing

The hotel had plenty on offer for all age groups: there was a room for teenagers that had a TV and a Wii inside, there was a small gym (adults only), a snooker room, an adult room with pool table & TV, 2 outside pools and 1 inside pool, plenty of play areas outside, 2 tennis courts (although 1 is ‘undersized’ and has some interesting ‘bumps’ to make games interesting), and I am sure there is more that I cannot remember. Also, each room had a feed to a set of DVD players in the reception area and there was a timetable of adult and child movies showing through the day. This was very welcome to us because we would want MiniMe to take some rest occassionally and the kids movies proved a great distraction to either keep him out of the sun for a little while or to let him rest before we went out for our next activity.

The hotel also arranged various morning / afternoon / evening activities for both children and adults to attend. There were severl morning visits from local attractions to show some sea life or some other wildlife so the kids could interact with the animals and the parents could be pursuaded to schedule a trip to the visitor attraction they were advertising. The afternoon / early evening saw a varierty of kids entertainers; such as a clown or party games or a magician. We found these events were aimed at a younger age group than MiniMe so he was not really interested but the toddlers were having a great time. After dinner there were more adult themed events in the bar area with visiting musicians and one night there was a team quiz night for all those interested.

I mentioned that the majority of kids entertainment events were aimed at the ‘toddler’ age group but MiniMe and some of his friends from the Dolphins group were really looking forward to watching the magician. However, the magician seemed obsessed with everyone being quiet throughout his performance and was constantly telling the adult group in the bar and surrounding groups to be quiet. MiniMe and he friends were standing along the side walkway watching and were talking to themselves wondering how he was performing the various tricks. No-one was being particularly loud but the magician was constantly telling everyone around to be quiet even though there wasn’t much noise; he was clearly getting more and more aggitated and his attitude left bit of a sour taste so we ended up taking MiniMe away before the magician completely lost the plot. I don’t know whether we caught this guy on  bad day but we felt he was a bit weird and overly obsessed with anyone making any noise in the hotel public areas.

We tended to stay in Mawgan Porth for the majority of our stay although we did venture out to the Eden Project and also on a short visit to Newquay. We were not that impressed with Newquay as it seemed to be dominated by cheap and tacky souviner stores selling t-shirts or various kebab / burger stores. So we cut our visit short to Newquay and instead drove along the coast and stopped off at various little towns along the way and had a much better time. Mawgan Porth was enough to keep us happy for the week with Betty’s Newsagent & Surf Shop stocking everything we needed alongside the pub or nearby restuarants for food and drink.

MiniMe surfing

So it was a big thumbs up from the three of us for Mawgan Porth and the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. The facilities in the hotel were excellent, the kids activities and care was excellent, and there were plenty of adult activities to keep me and Mrs danyul happy. The weather was not great while we visited but it was warm enough for t-shirts and shorts and it was the perfect weather for Mrs danyul who doesn’t like to be out in the hot sun all the time.

The highlights of our trip:

The lowlights:
  • The weird magician
  • Newquay did not live up to expectation
We all had such a great time that we have already booked another weeks stay at Bedruthan Steps Hotel and we look forward to visiting again and exploring Cornwall in 2010.
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Return to Stanton House

February 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Church of St. Leonard

We first went to stay at the Stanton House Hotel in 2008 and enjoyed ourselves so much that we went to stay again but this time to coincide with a Japanese Bazaar, which was organised by the local Swindon based Japanese community. This time around we were joined by some friends who also wanted to visit the hotel so we arranged to all stay the night.

The snow had cleared in London but on the drive to Swindon we soon noticed that the snow had not melted from the fields alongside the motorway and gradually more and more snow began to appear on the roads. By the time that we reached the Swindon area there was still full-scale snow laying on the ground, which MiniMe loved as he was soon talking about organising a snowball fight and building a snowman.

Once we checked in and met up with our friends, we were soon all outside the hotel lobbing snowballs at each other. The snow was quite solid so it was difficult to get it packed together for a snowman but a concerted team effort finally got the base built and the rest of the snowman put together.

The Bazaar was taking place on both days across the weekend so we popped along to find things were reasonably quiet. MiniMe quickly vanished to check out the book sale while we looked around at the children’s clothes and the other items on sale. MiniMe picked out every available Pokemon book while we picked up some cheap Japanese cooking utensils.

We ate at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel where we all enjoyed the foot before retiring to the conservatory bar to play some games. MiniMe started off playing a form of the Guess Who game called ‘Guess That Pokemon‘. This was more of a 2 player game so MiniMe played with his friend until they were tired out of Pokemon then we all joined in with some card games. Things became a little competitive at this point with all the adults trying to beat everyone else – including the kids!

We returned to our room to find a leak was slowly dripping water through the ceiling, no doubt caused by melting snow on the roof, but we were too tired to try and change rooms at this point so we put a pile of towels on the floor and notified reception before we all quickly fell asleep. The next morning we took the kids to the local Oasis Leisure Centre to have fun in the swimming pool. MiniMe soon discovered the water slides and I barely kept up with him as he threw himself down the slides and quickly ran back up the stairs ready to do the same again.

We returned to the hotel to visit the Bazaar again and this time there were a lot more people wandering around. MiniMe enjoyed all the kids games and made good use of the free Origami table.

Console Graveyard

I spotted an old Sega Saturn games console alongside an old PlayStation and I was tempted to buy them for nostalgic reasons but both were Japanese models so would have needed extra power converters.  I probably would have had issues finding games for them as well so I left them both sitting forlornly on the table.

We finished our weekend break off by eating at the very packed Japanese buffet lunch in the restaurant before heading back to London.

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