View of the inner castle from one of the guard towers along the inner moat.

I’d write more, but I’m tired.

-Nick

One of the side temples at Chion-In. Pictures were not allowed in the main temple.

This morning, I got up early and rode the subway east to Chion-In, an active Buddhist temple that, according to my Lonely Planet guide, is like the Vatican for one particular sect of Buddhism. The temple is a sprawling complex, with several building connected by raised and covered walkways. Fortunately, the grounds are free and open to the public, although they do prohibit photographs inside the temple. I figured this wouldn’t be a problem, as the architecture of these places is usually just as captivating. I arrived, however, to find that the temple is in the middle of renovations….so the architectural views are all polluted with cranes, scaffolding, and construction debris, and the soundscape is infected with a lot of repetitive banging.

Nevertheless, I did tour the grounds and inside of the main temple. My first discovery inside was the Nightingale Floors.  I had heard of these while reading about Nijo Castle.  They were used to prevent assassins from sneaking through the complex at night, by announcing their presence.  Even the lightest foot step causes a high pitched song to ring forth, not too dissimilar from a song bird’s call.  I managed to pull out my audio recorder without drawing anyone’s attention or disapproval, so you can hear the floor for yourself.

While I was in the main temple, I was fortunate enough to hear a monk chanting. I managed to get an audio recording. Please forgive the noise in the early part of the recording, I tried to hold the plastic bag with my shoes still but ended up placing it on the ground.

After I left Chion-In, I went back to my hotel to change and drop off my camera, and then made my way to the conference in time for the morning session.

Thanks to Bob's selfless act of heroism, I passed both him and Peter on the final turn.

The conference was uneventful.  I stopped by Bob’s poster during the morning session, ate my bento box lunch outside with Peter & Bob, and then attended the afternoon sessions while everyone else skipped out to go sightseeing (I did my share of session skipping earlier in the week, and was really interested in the MIMO Radar session).  After the conference ended, I met up with Bob & Peter again.  We walked through the shopping arcades and ate dinner at a tiny restaurant (the shop owner was the only employee we could see).  While we were wandering, we noticed a video arcade and decided to poke our heads inside.  To our great surprise, they had a set of Mario Kart arcade games.  We had to play a match, there’s just no way around it.  Even better, the machine took a photo of each of us to use on the leaderboard at the end of the match.  I have to say Bob as Luigi turned out the best.  The three of us traded out the leading spot for 5 1/2 laps before I wiped out and was passed by both Bob & Peter.  Then, on the final turn, Bob used a bomb to knock out Peter…without realizing that he was too close and took out himself as well.  It was nice of him to do that so I could win.

And so ends my trip to Japan.  First thing tomorrow, Bob & I are going to walk through Nijo Jo (Nijo Castle — a block away from our hotel).  Then, I check out of my hotel at 10:00 and take the subway & train to Osaka airport for the long flight home.  It’s been a good trip, but it would have been nice to be able to bring Lauren.

-Nick

This is the prototypical photo of Kinkaku-Ji, the Golden Pavilion

This morning, Bob and I hopped on a bus to Kinkaku-Ji, in the North-West outskirts of Kyoto.  Kinkaku-Ji, the Golden Pavilion, was built in 1397 as a retirement complex for a Shogun.  Upon his death, he asked that it be converted into a Buddhist temple, so it was.  More recently, one particularly zealous monk decided to burn down the Golden Pavilion in 1950, presumably since he was so enamored with the pavilion.  It was rebuilt in 1958, according to the original specifications, but with one minor modification:  the gold leaf that originally covered the top two levels was extended down to the ground floor (and also covers the interior walls).  It was a pretty cool complex, and another UNESCO World Heritage site to check off the list of things to see.

After Kinkaku-Ji, Bob and I headed back to the hotel so that I could grab my poster.  We still had plenty of time (we had decided to skip the morning session, and it was still only 10:30), so instead of hopping on the subway, we walked north to the Imperial Palace Park, which is somewhat similar to Central Park…if there were a palace in the middle of it.  We walked around the park for a while, took some photos of the one blooming cherry blossom tree, and a small shrine at the southern edge, and then got on the subway to head up to the conference center.

Geiko-san

After my session, I attended a few talks in the 4:30-6:30 session, and then walked across the street to the Grand Prince Kyoto Hotel for the conference banquet.  This year’s entertainment featured a Geisha show with two full-fledged Geiko-san, and two apprentrice Maiko-san.  Their “madame”, called a Mamasan, was with them, standing in the back of the room to observe them (and probably to intervene if anyone got out of hand).  During dinner, the Geishas were walking from table to table taking photos with people and entertaining all the guests.  I thought it was neat to see a Geisha show and see them in person, but I thought it was pretty funny how absolutely engrossed some of the guests were with them.

After dinner, a few drums were rolled out onto the stage, and we were treated to a pretty invigorating drum show.  It was a nice send off to the evening.  Franz wanted to find a bar after we left, but I was too exhausted, and came back to the hotel to crash.

Still trying to figure out what temples/shrines to visit on my last full day here (before the conference schedule begins, of course).

-Nick

Zen garden inside an Izakaya

Today, the conference entered full swing.  As such, I did not do much sight seeing during the day.  The morning was consumed with opening ceremonies (presentation of a bunch of Best Paper and society awards) and the first plenary talk.  For lunch, I ventured to a local restaurant (i.e., not for foreigners) with June, Aurora, and Joao.  We managed to negotiate the language barrier thanks to my Lonely Planet’s menu decoder, Aurora’s digital pocket translator, and June’s partial knowledge of the written language.  After lunch, we headed back to the conference for the afternoon sessions, and then met up with Prof. Moura and the rest of the group at 6:00 for dinner, and that’s where the night began.

I don’t have many photographs from this evening, since I left my camera at the hotel and was operating on my cell phone (which I carried to the conference in the hopes of obtaining a wi-fi signal).  In any event, I met up with Prof. Moura, Markus, Franz, Aurora, June, Bob, Joao, and Katie.  Prof. Moura had enough Japanese food with his bento box lunch, so we found a nearby restaurant that advertised French cuisine (Venture de Paris).  We were delighted when we got there and found a French restaurant with a decidedly Japanese twist, the chopsticks rested against a cork.

We enjoyed a 3-course (salad, soup, entree) dinner, and then headed downtown to find another Izakaya (sans Prof. Moura, Joao, and Katie).  After a few rounds, and some more food, we all parted ways and headed to our respective hotels for the night.  Nothing too fancy.  Tomorrow morning, though, I’m planning on heading west to the Kinkaku-Ji (Golden Pavilion), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, before I hit up the conference at noon.

-Nick

It was expensive, but a nice place to have experienced.

After my mid-day nap on Monday, I rode the subway up to the conference center to check-in and attend the welcome reception.  There, I met up with Markus, a former CMU professor, and the rest of the CMU contingent (in the photo, clock-wise from bottom-left, we have: June, Peter, Franz, Markus, Qiuling, Joao’s girlfriend Katie, Joao, and Aurora).

The welcome reception was very nice, with amazing hors d’ouvres that, because this is Japan, could have served as a normal dinner.  There was sushi and sashimi, nakami rolls, and about a dozen kinds of sliced meat and fish, all designed perfectly for chop sticks, of course.  The only thing that would have made it an actual meal was more rice.

After the reception, we all hopped onto the subway to head towards Downtown Kyoto, hoping to have some drinks at an upscale Japanese bar (or restaurant, I wasn’t ever sure what to call it) Izakura.  Thanks to Franz’s Japanese wife (who told him where to take us), we had a round of drinks at an awesome venue (shown above).

When we arrived outside the venue, marked only by a small wooden sign above the door with a single Kanji character), Franz went inside to speak with the proprietor and ask if we could enter, even though we did not want to order any food, which is sometimes a requirement at these venues.  He eventually emerged and told us there was a 1000Yen cover charge (~$12), and each drink would cost ~1000Yen.  We debated for a moment, but eventually we all went in.  It was expensive, but the experience and atmosphere were quite worth it.

Katie (thankfully) knew Japanese quite well, and helped to translate with our waitress. This was not a place that catered to foreigners.

We all had to remove our shoes upon entering, and were led into a private room (with paper walls and sliding doors, of course).  In the room was a set of kneeling tables and pillows on the floor to kneel/sit on.  Men are allowed to cross their legs and sit, but women (traditionally) are required to kneel.  We didn’t observe the custom in that regard, but attempted to follow the rest of the rules, including a respect for quiet.

The waitress didn’t speak very much English, but thankfully Franz is partially fluent in Japanese, and Joao’s wife girlfriend, Katie, is almost totally fluent.  We ordered a round of drinks (mostly beer, with a tea and juice for two people) while we soaked in the restaurant.  When that round was complete, 4 of us ordered sake.  After a little over an hour, we settled the tab, and went for a walk.

We crossed the river and came to a small market street called Pontocho.  It’s a historical Japanese street, filled with bars (called Izakaya) and restaurants.  Unfortunately, we arrived after most of the establishments had shuttered for the night, so it was just a quick walk through before everyone parted ways for their respective apartments.

Tomorrow, the conference begins.

-Nick

I'm not fully sure what the routine for this was, but it seems pretty similar to intention candles in Catholic churches....drop in a coin, light an incense stick, and place it in the large jar full of sand.

I was uncertain how today would pan out, what with the whole 12-hour time change for myself.  I expected to have trouble waking up and getting out the door to do the sight-seeing I had in mind.  As it turns out, though, I did a pretty good job tiring myself out yesterday with a 30-hour day that ended around 9pm local time.  So, I was up and wide awake by 4:30am.

I spent the early morning planning out my day and taking care of some things on my laptop, with a strict 7:00 departure for the continental breakfast downstairs….talk about disorienting.  I don’t know why, but I was expecting some familiar food in the lobby, and I got anything but.  Nevertheless, I downed a breakfast of white rice, and two croissants (probably provided just for the comfort of foreign guests), and took the subway east to the base of the Higashiyama mountains that border Kyoto.

The first stop, was the Nanzen-Ji complex, which includes several sub-temples. The main temple and gardens are at the base of the Hishayama mountains. After walking through the free part of the gardens (I arrived around 8:00am, and they don’t open until 9:00), I walked along an aqueduct up the mountain to the first sub-temple, Kotoku-an, which opened at dawn. Kotoku-an was quite nice, just a small courtyard, but the combination of scenery, birds, and early sunshine made it very relaxing. Beyond Kotoku-an, I climbed a short but steep path up the mountain to the Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in, a subtemple that was built up around a waterfall. The waterfall was tamed by funneling it into a bamboo chute, to produce a single stream of water that falls through the air onto the rocks below.

After I left Nanzen-in, I walked a few km up to the actual Path of Philosophy, which is a small walking trail alongside a canal, that spans several kilometers. Around 9:00, I got to the Honen-in temple, which had opened by then. I was the only visitor, and most of the gardens were blocked off, but this was the first place where I saw a truly Japanese sand lake, and there were two of them next to each other. It’s quite impressive to see how straight and flat the sand has been combed. I only spent a few minutes at Honen-in before continuing my walk up to Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion.

These sand mounds are park of the Honen-In temple, and are quite impressive.

The name, Silver Pavilion, is not a reference to the mineral, rather it is a reference to Kyoto’s Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion. Ginkaku-ji was built as a second temple to mirror Kinkaku-ji, which is located on the western edge of the city, at the base of the Asashima mountains. I spent almost an hour in Ginkaku-ji, walking through the expansive garden and taking photos.

The name "Silver Pavilion" (Ginkaku-Ji) is more a reference to the "Golden Pavilion" (Kinkaku-Ji), on the other side of Kyoto, than it is to the mineral.

I had initially planned a second temple tour for the afternoon, but I found myself no longer interested in temples today….perhaps my appetite will return in a day or two. Instead, I decided to do something about the intense chill I had been feeling all day. Given the uncharacteristically warm winter we’ve been having on the East Coast, I figured that temperatures in Japan would be on the high side of the average for March, but we arrived to 40-45F weather. I had packed nothing but t-shirts, and a zipper hoodie (in case I got chilly in the evening), but no proper jacket. So, I set out for the shopping district, in the hopes of finding a reasonably priced jacket to wear.

I walked to the Sanjo shopping district, in central Kyoto, and found a lot of interesting boutique stores, but each one I stepped into was selling jackets that started at $300. Not in my price range, even for a jacket that I really want, let alone something that’s just fulfilling a utilitarian need. I recalled seeing a department store last night, so I headed in that direction. Men’s clothing is up on the 5th floor…so I rode the escalator up. When I got there, I immediately knew that I would have no luck. The first three displays were Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, and some European brand I hadn’t heard of. I walked around anyway, and had no luck….everything I wanted was more than $400 (and also more fashionable than I’d like). Not knowing where I’d find anything like a Target or TJ MAxx, I left and resigned myself to a cold week.

I decided to walk back to my hotel for a quick nap, and to relax my tired legs. When I got back to the hotel, I saw another shopping arcade (not marked on my Lonely Planet) map that started across the street. So, I headed in to kill some more time and see what wares they had for sale. After two blocks, I saw a grocery store, and decided to buy some snacks/drinks to stock up the mini fridge in my room. To my surprise, the grocery store had three floors. I saw a television at the top of the escalator and decided to check it out. On the third floor, I struck pay dirt. Discount men’s clothing. They were even selling some decent looking suit for about $50-60. I looked around for about 15 minutes and made my choice on a $30 wind breaker with a half-decent liner. I got gray, even though I liked the black one better…since Lauren has commented several times that all my outerwear is black. Maybe I’ll take a photo of the jacket later this week. Anyway, I went downstairs after purchasing the coat, and grabbed some Tim Tam’s (mostly so I could photograph them for Kacy), and then swung by the beer fridge to stock up for the week. I like trying local drinks, and I’ve found beer coolers at grocery stores are usually the best way to stock up on a variety for sampling. And yes, I’m wearing a hotel kimono in the final photo.

Anyway, I’m off to take a quick nap before I get up and go to the conference center to check-in.

-Nick

Lonely Planet published a new Kyoto city guide just 3 weeks ago. Great timing!

Well, it’s time for another set of blog posts.  I’ll be in Kyoto for the next five days, attending ICASSP 2012.

Travel was uneventful.  I arrived at the Pittsburgh airport, to discover that 3 of my colleagues from CMU were taking the same flight, but this was the PhD flight…all the current students somehow ended up together on a different flight.

I checked into my hotel around 7pm, then went around for a quick walk in the nearby area, followed with some authentic Ramen for dinner.  I got back to the room at 9pm and crashed.

The hotel room is pretty cool, too.  It feels like a boutique hotel downstairs (small lobby, they give you an actual key), but the rooms are crazy efficient, as you can see from the photos below.  It took me a solid 5 minutes to figure out how to turn on the lights, though….there’s a receptacle next to the door for the room key, and it acts as a kill switch for the room’s electricity.  Pretty smart way to keep you from leaving the lights on when you leave.

Instead of an instant coffee machine, there’s a hot plate and tiny kettle in the room, along with some tea cups.  In fact, I’m going to make myself some tea right now.

Tomorrow will be a much bigger day.  I’ve got a walking tour of North and South Higshiyama, the eastern edge of Kyoto.  It’s in the foothills of the mountains surrounding Kyoto, and is littered with temples and shrines.  I’m hoping to have a lot of nice photos to share tomorrow night.

Oh, and a bonus!  I’m thinking of doing some audio recordings during this trip, to relay what’s going on with a slightly more personal touch.

-Nick

The 4 of us at Heuriger

Our last day in Vienna was a nice one.  Lauren and I started the morning with a marathon museum session, Lauren and I hit the three museums we wanted to visit from the start: the Schatzkammer (State Treasury) at the Hofburg Palace, the Kunsthistoriche Museum (the Museum of Fine Art), and the Haus der Muzik (Music House), an interactive museum of musical history and interactive exhibits.  After a restful afternoon recovering from the museums, Lauren and I went to a Heuriger (something like a traditional Austrian vineyard-restaurant) with Andy and Uta.  All in all, a wonderful end to our Austrian vacation.

The Schatzkammer was very interesting, and thankfully short.  We spent an hour looking at the massive array of coronation and ceremonial robes for the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (seated in Vienna), and for various knights and officials in his court.  The jewels were quite amazing as well.  In the gallery below is the crown of the emperor.  It was made following the death of Charlemagne (who established the Holy Roman Empire) and is full of imagery intended to validate the legitimacy of that empire.  The 8-sides of the crown represent the 8 gates of the celestial Jerusalem.  The cross (obviously) is a reference to the Christian church, which the Holy Roman Emperor claimed to lead in a celestial sense.  There are 12 stones on the face on the crown, which allude to the 12 tribes of Israel, as well as the 12 apostles.  The plume across the top is a a reference to the Roman empire, it is meant to look like the plume on a Centurions helmet.

After our brief trip to the Schatzkammer, we walked across the street to the Kunsthistoriches, the fine art museum.  Although we did not have the time or stamina to see the entire museum, we did manage to make it through two wings before we succumbed to art overload.  We stopped at the 1516 Brewing Company for lunch (I was really hankering for their black & tan), and then headed to the Haus der Muzik for a quick tour.  The house was pretty interesting, and contained a lot of interactive exhibits (including some really weird ones) on the theories of sound and music, as well as a lot of historical information on the great composers of Vienna…Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn.  It was pretty cool.

After our whirlwind museum day, Lauren and I needed a quiet afternoon to rest and start packing our bags.  After Andy and Uta finished work, we all went to a Heuriger for dinner.  On the face of it, heurigers are much like restaurants, although they arise from the practice of vineyard’s opening their doors for the public to purchase glasses of the most recent vintage.  Eventually, people began packing picnics to enjoy while they sampled the wine.  Heurigers started staffing a buffet to provide food for the customers who didn’t bring their own, and eventually people stopped packing lunches.  It’s a charming idea, and seems something like eating dinner at a brewery tap room, although the gardens are a much more picturesque environment than a tap room.

This was how we ended our trip, and I’d call that a great cap.  It was a shame we had to leave, but life must go on.

~

Copy of the Order of Benedict

On Thursday, Andy and Uta had the day off for a public holiday in Austria, so they took us on an expedition to Stift Melk, a Benedictine monastery in the town of Melk, a one-hour train ride west of Vienna. The monastery was founded in 1089, and rebuilt in 1702 under a “Stift” which recently translates to “bequeath.” Emperors would donate the money to build a stift when they felt guilty about something they’ve done.

The baroque monastery was quite a sight, very old and grande, with a quaint town that sprung up at its base. I think my favorite find was a copy of the Rule of St. Benedict. The monastery belongs to the Benedictine Order, and at least one copy of the Rule of St. Benedict (the guideline for how the community was to live) has survived from its inception in 1076. There’s a photo in the gallery below. We stuck around for lunch at one of the cafe’s, and then boarded our train back to Vienna for a quiet evening at the apartment.

Make sure to stop and smell the roses.

This morning we took the train out to Schloss Schonbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace), where the Emperor spent his summers. It was originally built as a hunting grounds before becoming a complete summer palace. We spent pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon touring the inner halls and rooms, and walking the gardens. We were quite impressed with the well trimmed trees lining all of the paths. These trees were three stories tall, but the edges facing the paths were trimmed to a perfect vertical. We were lucky enough to see the ancient trimming rig still in use (a wooden structure that follows a string along the ground, and uses a plum bob to guide the workers).

Panoramic shot of the Schonbrunn Palace

After we’d had our fill of Schonbrunn, we took the U-bahn back towards town to the Naschmarkt, an outdoor market built on top of a section of a canal. We stopped for some coffee at a nearby cafe while waiting for Andy to join us. Andy was our capable guide to the Naschmarkt. He helped us pick out the ingredients we needed for the dinner that Lauren and I had planned (a thank you to our hosts). A hidden gem along the Naschmarkt is a woman named Helena.

Lauren and I with the amazing Helena, owner of a storefront near the Naschmarkt.

Upon learning that some impending repairs would force her to close her booth for a few years, Helena decided to buy a storefront nearby to sell her produce. This woman is quite a wonder. Despite running her farm, she manages to drive an hour (each way) into Vienna to open her store at 9:00 every day. She’s done so well at that location that many of her colleagues have asked her to feature their products (wines, fruit brandys, dried pasta, everything you can imagine). With all this, I’d expect the woman to be exhausted at the market, but she was quite the opposite. Buzzing from corner to corner, she was giving us samples of some of their wines while rushing to help other customers in between sips. Lauren and I were so impressed, that we had to get a photo with her.