not much news, been man down with this weird flu for the last 5 days...first thought it would go away, then did some wiki reading and thought it could be meningitis, after which the GP confirmed that it definitely wasnt...and ive been kocking back these antibiotics. grrr, feels like my head is going to explode.

 

other than that, been tending to some admin and looking for apartments in Moscow. seems like an interesting city though I dont know much about Russian culture, history or art at this point, will need to do some reading.

 

was reading about ZYB, and their approach to backing up mobile phone data. using syncml and their sync servers http://sync.zyb.com/, they get pushed all data on a phone. now... this is very interesting. ZYB has 250,000 users. ZYB was just bought by Vodafone for US$49mil. Nice number. Now let me try put this into perspective, being a neutural and external buystander to smsBug these days. smsBug was a great little platform, well timed for the market when it hit the street. Mid 2007 the platform had 150,000 signed up users and millions of messages of sms history. It further had an internal address book into which users had to load their own contacts. More modern phones allowed the MIDP applicaiton to access the phones internal memory to retrieve a number. Fine. So smsBug had two things: 1) a large community of members who with fair probability were messaging each other using the platform, 2) some limited virtual addressbook manageable from the web. Now this is where it struck me: smsBug actually had the opportunity to adopt syncml (like ZYB has now done it) to get a complete phone book off each modile device. Firstly, the smsBug platform database could have easily stored these client records for 1) phone-transfer or recovery, 2) to allow users to manage/organise their phonebook online and 3) build a social network (with names) on the back of the sms volume. It would then have been quite been easily possible to have who-knows-who, you-have-X-friends-in-common-with SMS recipient-Y and even do-you-want-to-connect-with-Z, all using sms. consider the value proposition: existig business with online platform, billing systems, backend databases, sms gateways simply extending the service by adding syncml; and then 2 billion GSM phones on the globe with a substantial portion now (then) supporting the sync.

 

look, im just putting it out there and will definitely agree that this post might be 20-20 hindsight...take it or leave it.

beautiful beautiful kyoto, the capital of Japan from 12th century till 1868 *when it was transfered to Tokyo*.... over 1000 shrines in the area, and a city built much like the Tang dynasty layout ... 9 x 9 grid with Imperial Palace at the far end.... many lovely walkways, and my attempt at braving the countryside in my sturdy (yes, partially rusted) rent-a-bike...

 

  

 

took a ride along the Path of Philosophy back down into the city.

 

   

 

Lol, had a great night out... wanted to find my way to a restaurant, got pulled asside by a peep-show-pimp, whom after repeatedly explaining that I had no interest in his girls, directed me to a fabulous Kamo river side barbeque restaurant. seeing as it was my last night, really enjoyed the cuisine together with sake and Japs all around. Seeing as there was not much point in keeping to myself all evening, tried to find this place recommended by the hostel...Rubber Duck.... which turned out to be called Rub-A-Dub, a reggae bar on B1.... funky, new guy sits down in middle of the bar, has a friendly 24 year old second-hand-car-sales-man-to-be on the left, and two cute young girls on the right. Needless to say, the language barrier made for a very fun night with these honest friends! It started with Smirnoff Ice, the drink now longer produced in South Africa but oohhh sooo tasty ... and then ended up with parking my trusted (yes, rusted) bike on a random street corner as not to hurt myself on the way home... which fortuitously was still there the next morning =)

 

Had lunch today then with Haruno, one of the cute masters-student-in-textiles-in-kyoto-who-is-23 girls from Rubber Duck ...erm, Rub-A-Dub... at her favourite place here in town... wow, local is lekker and indeed far more tasty (and reasonable) that some of the placed I ended up at =)

 

On the roof of the hostel, surfing wirelessly as the city moves below, saddended to be leaving this place, back to Tokyo and heading home...*sigh* I was just starting to settle in.

  

  

  

 

 

needed to get to see a bit more of Japan, other than the main streets of Tokyo, and caught a train down to Kamakura. This place is a spritual region lined with temples and shrines, tucked away from the busy streets and somewhat comparable to Gyeongju in South Korea (and temples such as Bulguksa). The gardens are imaculately kept, often reflecting a Zen style in their arrangement and setting.

 

   

 

  

 

Even the beautiful flowers (no idea what kind) are sheltered from the rain.

 

  

 

The small streets of Kamakura lead down to the train station, and a flurry of umbrellas decorate the street as it starts to drizzle. The shops are quaint and interesting, often far cheaper than Tokyo and more unique. 

 

  

 

The big Daihatsu slightly outside of Hase, a short walk from the local train station. Incredibly peaceful though the tourists spoil the scene as usual =) It is refreshing to be in thie environment where people put real effort maintaining such a site and something so integral to their history.

 

 

 

Met up with some friends from Goldmans and TradingScreen that evening, and went touring through the city. We started with dinner, a plain social meet and greet at which they allowed me to try some of the local delicacies.... chicken cartilage, mushrooms, tofu etc ... yeeek! We moved onto another ang moh venue in Rappongi, a mixed crowd of people, subseuqent to which we moved to Heartlanders. It was fabulous seeing Celestine again, and Shaun, Locky and Lewis were great. They're a mad bunch, partially cause their from Oz, Canada and other, and seem to be incredibly honest, open and crude =) We had some good laughs and a night out like I will never forget. They had a name on the VIP list to Unit, a freaky underground dance club in a district I can not recall...actually, no idea how we even got there. A taxi, walked a few blocks and then entered this sub-culture club two floors below ground listing to heavy beats of DJ Krush. The music was unbelievable, pressuring and mezmorising... the crowd moving in unison in the pure-black darkness of a hectic party scene....until it was time to go home on the first morning train... at 5:27am.

 

 

Posing in traditional dress as ordinary ladies make their way through the streets, and a tucked away shrine in Shinjuku. The business district of Shinjuku is quite dry, plain; while the activities around the station certainly bring the area to life. The many shops, game acrades and restaurants make for an unbelievable variety of themes, colours and sounds... Actually, the arcades are near defening as people of all ages play and gamble on their way home.

 

  

 

 

ok, day 1 started after 4 days in Singa, meeting up ex work colleagues and tending to some business. it seems there are some prospects of tunring an idea into a worthwhile venture, lets see if that can develop.

 

   

 

  

  

 

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, unbelievable to say the least... mature, established and imaculately kept.

 

 

 

  

 

The first day lent iself well to touring the city, finding some time for myself to roam the streets and neighbourhood. Indeed, this trip to Asia has given me the headspace to reflect on the somewhat akward situations that exist at home. The city is amazing to say the least. It does not compare to what I know and have grown up with, the streets are lined with beautiful shops and cafes, pavements bring a flood of bodies busily looking at everything on display. Unlike to what I expected, the Japanese are far less likely to make eye contact, often keeping to themselves and avoiding interactions with foreigners.

 

Landed safely in the morning, checked into the Courtyard by Marriott in Ginza, and moved north-west through the city to Nijubashi Gate, then through the Otemon Gate into the Imperial Gardens, out over to a shrine in the north, and over to Akihabara (Electric Town). Ohh so very free at this beautiful, lovely time of year.