Yesterday Marty got a day older and I got to spend the day reassuring him that life is really only beginning…

He didn’t want me to make his birthday into a big event so we went away together for a few days and finished our trip with a great meal at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant in Tokyo.

 

It was cold and dark at the train station in Osaka and I didn’t want to get lost on the way to Universal.  Mind you, the train that arrived after I asked the question, “are you sure this is the right platform”, certainly removed doubt.

 

We are going to Osaka this evening. It’s been nearly 10 years since we were there.  It’s also been nearly 10 years since I started this blog and I was pleased to see posts about my previous trip.  I don’t remember liking Osaka much, but I think that part of that was the dodgy hotel we stayed in.  This time was are going to stay near Universal Studios and I’ve been researching food as some do claim that Osaka is the greatest food city in the world.

I’m excited about the journey as we will be travelling on the N700.  I realise that makes me sound like a train spotter but really the train is amazing. It has a top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), though I’m not sure that it reaches that speed on this journey.  But it does mean that the 500 or so kilometer trip can be done in less than 2 and half hours.

I’ll try to blog about our adventures but I may end up being offline for around a week.

 

Perl Oasis takes place in Orlando this weekend.  I had hoped to attend but I decided in November that I probably wasn’t well enough to attempt the journey.  I have been once before and I really enjoyed the workshop.  Actually, I’ve enjoyed all of the Perl workshops that I have attended.  They tend to be smaller than the YAPC conferences and while I am happy that more people are attending YAPCs I’m not fond of crowds.

At the minute it looks like the first conference I’ll attend this year with be YAPC::NA in Madison.  Looking at my travel schedule I should have been able to make the German Perl Workshop in March but I only noticed the dates of that workshop yesterday.  It’s too late for me to change my plans but it’s a bit annoying that I will arrive in Europe on the day the workshop ends.  I am flying to Ireland but I could easily have stopped over in Germany.

I read so many things about Perl every week but I haven’t found a good way to know when Perl events are taking place.  The other summer conference I’m hoping to attend is  YAPC::EU but there are no dates for this conference yet.  I hope they are available soon as my other commitments are beginning to need attention and may eat up my summer.

I called into the bank yesterday to get my cash card replaced as it was damaged by a magnet somewhere on my travels.  As I was leaving the bank I was given a good luck charm.  I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to do with it.  I know that sometimes charms are burned at the end of the year, but since this one contains a coin, I don’t think that will work overly well.

I have been asked a few times in the past couple of months about money and my role in The Perl Foundation (TPF).  I’m not fond of discussing money so I’ll make this brief.  I am not an employee of  TPF, I am a volunteer.  I don’t receive any money for my work with TPF nor does TPF pay my expenses for travelling or attending conferences.  This is true for all TPF volunteers.  The only people who do receive money are grant recipients and those who are paid for professional services like accountants and lawyers.

I am very fortunate that I am able to volunteer and get to work with a great community filled with volunteers.

I was once asked what we do in the West to ensure that all our Christmas cards arrive on time.  I wasn’t quite sure what I was being asked.  Arriving on time usually means arriving before Christmas Day and that’s not that difficult to do.  But the person who asked the question was Japanese and they were referring to the fact that in Japan New Year’s cards are meant to arrive on New Year’s Day.  To facilitate this the post office will have a special box for the cards and an army of postal staff who work on New Year’s Day.  But we don’t expect Christmas cards to arrive on Christmas Day and we wouldn’t wish the task of rushing around to deliver them on anyone other than Santa.

I don’t even think that the cards need to arrive before Christmas.  I received another card in the post today and it’s lovely having the part of the holiday that involves hearing from friends and family extended.

Last year we decided it would be fun to have a traditional Japanese KFC Christmas dinner.  This year McDonald’s has started to offer a Christmas box set, though we weren’t tempted to try this.

Last year I hunted for parsnips to roast for Christmas dinner, but I couldn’t find them.  This year I’ve found them at Nissin World Delicatessen but I’m not going to buy them.  I do love roasted parsnip but they were 280 円 (€2.70 EUR, £2.20 GBP, $3.58 USD) per 100 grams! If I was making dinner just for myself I may consider a special parsnippy treat, but would my guests really like it that much?  I’m just back from Europe and I find myself converting currencies when I look at prices.  You can imagine how horrified I was when the one parsnip I picked up was 691 円 (€6.80 EUR,  £5.60 GBP, $8.81 USD).  Who would expect the vegetables to cost more than the turkey?

I’m waiting to board a flight, which is a dull way to spend an afternoon.  Given how often I do this you’d think I’d be good at it, but I keep watching the clock wishing time would move faster.  I have another couple of hours to wait in the airport before boarding a plane to wait about 11 hours for it to land in Tokyo.