Hola a tots! Estic viu :-) Simplement el bloc el tindré tancat durant uns dies. Estic a fora el Japó per feina i posteriors vacances aprofitant que hi haurà la famosa Golden Week !!(període vacacional més important al Japó, similar a la nostra setmana Santa ). Quan torni ja us posaré al dia. Cuideu-vos
Hi everyone! I'm alive :-) it's just I will close the blog for some days. I'm outside Japan for work and post holidays during the famous Golden Week (longest bank holiday in Japan, similar to our Easter)!. I'll update you once I'm back. Take care
24/4/11
11/4/11
I sí avui fa un mes del terratrèmol i com ja va sent habitual ho hem hagut de commemorar amb noves rèpliques que ens han portat el record del què va passar...sona estrany però diria que m'estic "acostumant" a aquests fenòmens i és que els japonesos ni s'immuten, avui n'hem tingut un mentre feia classe de japonès i el profe no s'ha ni aturat.
Ahir tocava dia de relax i res millor que aprofitar el dia de sol que feia tot fent un ohanami a Shinjuku koen, un dels parcs més macos que hi ha a Tokyo i això que ahir semblava la Rambla de Barcelona!
today is one month after the disaster and as it's being usual we had to commemorate it with new aftershocks to remind everyone what happened...sounds weird but I'd say I'm getting "used" of this situation and mostly because Japanese remain unperturbed, today one came while I was doing Japanese and my teacher didn't even stop the lesson!
Anyway, yesterday was a relax day and nothing better that going to a park on a sunny Sunday to enjoy the cherry blossom, so we did an ohanami at Shinkuku koen, one of the most gorgeous parks in Tokyo...even though yesterday looked like one of the main crowded places in town.
Ahir tocava dia de relax i res millor que aprofitar el dia de sol que feia tot fent un ohanami a Shinjuku koen, un dels parcs més macos que hi ha a Tokyo i això que ahir semblava la Rambla de Barcelona!
today is one month after the disaster and as it's being usual we had to commemorate it with new aftershocks to remind everyone what happened...sounds weird but I'd say I'm getting "used" of this situation and mostly because Japanese remain unperturbed, today one came while I was doing Japanese and my teacher didn't even stop the lesson!
Anyway, yesterday was a relax day and nothing better that going to a park on a sunny Sunday to enjoy the cherry blossom, so we did an ohanami at Shinkuku koen, one of the most gorgeous parks in Tokyo...even though yesterday looked like one of the main crowded places in town.
10/4/11
Yamathon 2011
Aquest dissabte vaig participar juntament amb uns amics al Yamathon 2011, una cursa benèfica organitzada per Oxfam Japan al voltant de la famosa Yamanote line (pels que coneixeu Tokyo la línia verda circular), la línia de tren més concorreguda de Tokyo i possiblement del món. Aquest any els beneficis obtinguts (gairebé un milió de iens!!) anirant destinats a les víctimes del terratrèmol-tsunami a la regió de Tohoku. El dia va començar molt d'hora i es va fer dur aixecar-nos a aquelles hores d'un dissabte, però al final va ser una gran experiència que ens va permetre veure la ciutat de forma diferent i descobrir nous indrets fins ara desconeguts. El punt de partida era l'estació de Harajuku, vàrem començar quan la ciutat encara dormia i sense gairebé ningú al voltant, passant per Shibuya on sols es veien quatre ànimes que tot just tornaven d'una llarga nit, a l'estació de Shinagawa que encara estava a mig gas, Shimbashi amb els seus restaurants amagats sota les vies, Ueno amb el seu mercat animat al carrer o Uguisudani sorprenenment ple d'hotels de l'amor. Després cap al nord amb uns aires molts més locals, Komagome ple de cirerers al voltant o Otsuka on per primera vegada vàrem veure tramvies a Tokyo. L'últim tram vàrem passar per Ikebukuro amb plena ebullició comercial, el barri coreà de Shin-okubo i acabant travessant el Yoyogi parc. Al final després de 28 estacions, gairebé 40km i unes quantes hores al darrera vem tornar on vàrem començar, a Harajuku que ja havia recuperat la seva imatge habitual amb els carrers a rebossar de gent, tots rebentats però amb un bon somriure de satisfacció!
This Saturday along with some friends I participated to the Yamathon 2011, a fundraising race organized by Oxfam Japan around the famous Yamanote line (those that know Tokyo is the green line loop), the busiest line in Tokyo and possibly in the world. This year, all funds raised (almost a million yen!!) will go towards the victims of the earhquake-tsunami in Tohoku. The day began very early and was tough to get up so soon on a Saturday, but at the end it was a great experience that allowed us to see a different side of the city and discover new places unknown so far. The starting point was Harajuku station, we started when the city was still sleeping and there was hardly anyone on the streets, then towards Shibuya where there was only few people that were just going home after a late night, to Shinagawa with the huge station half empty, Shimbashi with its restaurants hidden under the train rail, Ueno with its lively street market or Uguisudani, surprisingly full of love hotels. Then heading up to the north with more local neighborhoods, Komagome with many cherry trees around or Otsuka where we saw a tram for the first time in Tokyo. In the last part we passed by Ikebukuro, full of commercial activity, the Korean neighborhood of Shin-Okubo and finally we crossed the Yoyogi park. At the end, after 28 stations, almost 40km and some hours in our back we reached the place where we started Harajuku which had already recovered its usual view overcrowded of people, exhausted but with a huge smile of satisfaction!
This Saturday along with some friends I participated to the Yamathon 2011, a fundraising race organized by Oxfam Japan around the famous Yamanote line (those that know Tokyo is the green line loop), the busiest line in Tokyo and possibly in the world. This year, all funds raised (almost a million yen!!) will go towards the victims of the earhquake-tsunami in Tohoku. The day began very early and was tough to get up so soon on a Saturday, but at the end it was a great experience that allowed us to see a different side of the city and discover new places unknown so far. The starting point was Harajuku station, we started when the city was still sleeping and there was hardly anyone on the streets, then towards Shibuya where there was only few people that were just going home after a late night, to Shinagawa with the huge station half empty, Shimbashi with its restaurants hidden under the train rail, Ueno with its lively street market or Uguisudani, surprisingly full of love hotels. Then heading up to the north with more local neighborhoods, Komagome with many cherry trees around or Otsuka where we saw a tram for the first time in Tokyo. In the last part we passed by Ikebukuro, full of commercial activity, the Korean neighborhood of Shin-Okubo and finally we crossed the Yoyogi park. At the end, after 28 stations, almost 40km and some hours in our back we reached the place where we started Harajuku which had already recovered its usual view overcrowded of people, exhausted but with a huge smile of satisfaction!
9/4/11
Urayasu la ciutat del fang - Urayasu the mud city
més conseqüències del 11.03, l'altre dia vaig llegir un interesant article en un diari i vaig decidir informar-me'n millor, té tel.la...resulta que una de les àrees residencials més conegudes a prop de Tokyo està colgada de fang. Urayasu és una ciutat de la prefectura de Chiba a 20 min en tren de Tokyo ubicada a la banda de l'abadia, coneguda sobretot per haver-hi el parc d'atraccions de Disneyland el tema és que aquesta àrea no està assentada sobre terra natural sinó artíficial, sembla que a sobre d'un gran abocador....coses d'aquelles que es fan al Japó per guanyar espai. El dia del terratrèmol però no va resistir i la terra literalment es va obrir causant un fenòmen de liqüefacció que ha deixat tota la ciutat coberta de fang per tot arreu!! La ciutat encara avui està paralitzada i hi hauria molta gent que s'està plantejant abandonar l'àrea. A sota algunes fotos i un vídeo relat d'una dona que va viure aquest fenònem i es va emportar un bon espant...
more consequences of the 11-M, this week I read and interesting article in the newspaper and I decided to dig around...so it seems that one of most well-known residential areas nearby Tokyo is literally covered with mud. Urayasu is a city of Chiba prefecture, 20 min by train from Tokyo and located a the bayside, especially well-known to have the famous amusement park of Disneyland this area doesn't sit on normal ground but reclaimed land mostly from a landfill...yes, these things from Japan done to increase their available land. When the earthquake came, this land didn't resist it and literally started to open creating the phenomena of liquefaction and as a result the whole city is covered by sand and mud!! The city is still nowadays blocked and apparently many people would be thinking to move away from the area. Below some pics and a video from a woman who was there on this moment and got a good fright...
more consequences of the 11-M, this week I read and interesting article in the newspaper and I decided to dig around...so it seems that one of most well-known residential areas nearby Tokyo is literally covered with mud. Urayasu is a city of Chiba prefecture, 20 min by train from Tokyo and located a the bayside, especially well-known to have the famous amusement park of Disneyland this area doesn't sit on normal ground but reclaimed land mostly from a landfill...yes, these things from Japan done to increase their available land. When the earthquake came, this land didn't resist it and literally started to open creating the phenomena of liquefaction and as a result the whole city is covered by sand and mud!! The city is still nowadays blocked and apparently many people would be thinking to move away from the area. Below some pics and a video from a woman who was there on this moment and got a good fright...
7/4/11
Rèplica al metro! - Aftershock in the subway!
collons...aquesta nit tornant cap a casa, estava al metro i de cop que para i s'obren les portes...què passa? comencen a pitar els mòbils, senyal d'alarma de terratrèmols (al Japó hi ha un sistema d'alerta a través de mòbil)...i jo "hòstia que ja hi tornem a ser"!!! El conductor suposo que avisant per magofonia però el millor és que la gent com si res, el del meu costat ha continuat jugant a la PSP, l'altre dormint, una parella rient i passant-ho bé...i sí al final et trobes allà contagiat per aquesta aura de seranor i tan tranquil, el terratrèmol ha passat s'ha mogut tot una mica i au sant tornem-hi. Quan he sortit he sentit que s'havia tractat d'una altra rèplica del nord.
...tonight in my way back to home, I was in the subway and suddenly it stopped and the doors opened...what's going on? immediately the cell phones started to rang, the earthquake alarm system (in Japan they have a warning system through the cell phones)...and I "fuck the bloody quake again"!! The driver warning everyone through the loudspeakers but the best has been people's reaction...like nothing unusual was happening, the guy sitting next to me playing with his PSP, the other one sleeping, a couple in front chatting and smiling...and yes, I know is difficult to believe, but at the end you find yourself there surrounded by this feeling of security and you stay calm, the earthquake passed by shacking every thing a little bit and once done back again to the normality. When I left I heard it was a new aftershock from the north.
...tonight in my way back to home, I was in the subway and suddenly it stopped and the doors opened...what's going on? immediately the cell phones started to rang, the earthquake alarm system (in Japan they have a warning system through the cell phones)...and I "fuck the bloody quake again"!! The driver warning everyone through the loudspeakers but the best has been people's reaction...like nothing unusual was happening, the guy sitting next to me playing with his PSP, the other one sleeping, a couple in front chatting and smiling...and yes, I know is difficult to believe, but at the end you find yourself there surrounded by this feeling of security and you stay calm, the earthquake passed by shacking every thing a little bit and once done back again to the normality. When I left I heard it was a new aftershock from the north.
3/4/11
Documental sobre el sisme - Documentary about the quake
Hola seguint amb el tema del sisme us passo un parell de recomanacions que m'han semblat molt interessants. La primera és el documental que us adjunto a sota "How the 2011 Japan tsunami happened", fins a dia d'avui el millor recull informatiu i visual que he vist, són 46 min i en anglès però paga la pena.
L'altra recomenació és literària, aquesta setmana em vaig tornar a llegir el llibre "After the quake" (no sé si hi ha versió en català, vindria a ser "després del terratrèmol") d'Haruki Murakami (un dels autors japonesos més coneguts), que narra històries de diferents personatges després de l'altra gran terratrèmol que hi va haver a Kobe del 95. Quan el vaig llegir per primera vegada vaig pensar que estava bé i prou, ara un cop viscuda la mateixa experència la veritat és que l'hi he trobat molt més sentit i segons com m'hi sentit fins i tot identificat.
Hi, here it goes a couple of interesting recommendations about the quake. The first one is the below documentary "How the 2011 Japan tsunami happened", to date the best informative and visual document I've seen, it's 46 min but really worthwhile.
The second one is literary, this week I re-read the book "After the quake" by Haruki Murakami (well-known Japanese author) which tells the stories of different characters after the big quake of Kobe in 95. When I first read it I though the book was just good, now once experienced the same situation I must say I really found it has much more sense and I even felt identified with some parts of it.
L'altra recomenació és literària, aquesta setmana em vaig tornar a llegir el llibre "After the quake" (no sé si hi ha versió en català, vindria a ser "després del terratrèmol") d'Haruki Murakami (un dels autors japonesos més coneguts), que narra històries de diferents personatges després de l'altra gran terratrèmol que hi va haver a Kobe del 95. Quan el vaig llegir per primera vegada vaig pensar que estava bé i prou, ara un cop viscuda la mateixa experència la veritat és que l'hi he trobat molt més sentit i segons com m'hi sentit fins i tot identificat.
Hi, here it goes a couple of interesting recommendations about the quake. The first one is the below documentary "How the 2011 Japan tsunami happened", to date the best informative and visual document I've seen, it's 46 min but really worthwhile.
The second one is literary, this week I re-read the book "After the quake" by Haruki Murakami (well-known Japanese author) which tells the stories of different characters after the big quake of Kobe in 95. When I first read it I though the book was just good, now once experienced the same situation I must say I really found it has much more sense and I even felt identified with some parts of it.
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