It’s been a crazy few weeks. I was thinking that once the exams were over I’d have a lot of free time, but that’s not how it turned out at all! There were a couple of tough exams this semester but I put a lot of work into getting as familiar as possible with the material and I’m really hoping I can pull a perfect QCA for final year. I have a chance but I have a feeling Database Systems is going to pull me down.

Right now I’m writing this post while taking a few minutes away from some (non-personal) web development work. Microsoft development environments are so… Microsoft. In the few months since I last worked with ASP.net I had forgotten how clunky and sluggish the whole thing feels. I’m confident that I can get by with it though, and it’s really great to be given the opportunity to work! Many of the companies I’ve been talking to recently have been asking me to come back and talk to them when they know more about their funding… I guess I’m experiencing the recession personally!

I have a trip to Paris next week from Tuesday to Friday which should be really great fun but planning that has taken a bit of time.

And that trip will mean that I have to finish the scholarship application a few days earlier than I anticipated so that’s a little more coal in the fire.

Time to get back to ASP.net!

More out-of-date live J-Pop for you:

I’ve been playing with Inkscape to make some vector-based drawings.. mainly for icons. Below you can see a few icons I came up with for various projects.

I just found a document outlining a plan for my first trip to Japan. This was actually well before I knew that TheTravelDepartment.ie existed, but the plan I made actually ended up being more-or-less the same.

Japan 2006

All times are total estimates and might conflict.

5 nights:           Tokyo <-> Nikko
                      |
5 nights:  Nara <-> Kyoto <-> Osaka
                      |  Himeji (on the way)
2 nights:         Hiroshima
                      |
2 nights:           Tokyo

• Enter Narita — Daisuke/bus/train to Tokyo
• Tour Tokyo (4~ days)
• Take a daytrip to Nikko (1 day)
• Shinkasen to Kyoto (seeing Mount Fuji from the train)
• Tour Kyoto (2 or 3 days)
• Daytrip (or 2) to Nara (1 or 2 days)
• Daytrip to Osaka (1 day)
• Leave Kyoto early in the morning, some JR train to Himeji
• Tour Himeji during the day
• Leave Himeji on last Shinkansen (19:50) to Hiroshima
• Sleep in Hiroshima
• Tour Hiroshima (1 day)
• Sleep in Hiroshima
• Leave for Tokyo in the morning (4 hour Shinkansen)
• A few days to relax in Tokyo before back to Narita (2 or 3 days)

Ireland

• Book some accommodation (though Tokyo may be ok)
• Buy plane tickets (900-1000 EUR)
• Buy JR Rail Pass (310EUR)

Narita

• Get JR rail pass sorted before leaving.

Tokyo

• Daytrips
  • Nikko
• Accommodation
  • Capsule Hotels
  • Daisuke
• Touring
  • Akihabara
  • Tokyo Tower
  • Shinjuku
    • LOVE sign
  • Harajuku/Shibuya
  • Edo-Tokyo Museum
  • Studio Ghibli Museum (must investigate)

Kyoto

• Daytrips
  • Nara
    • See the Shika at Nara Kouen!
    • Daibutsuben at Toudaiji (biggest wooden building)
    • Yakushiji
    • Asuka (maybe a second daytrip)
      • Houryuuji (oldest wooden building)
  • Osaka
    • Osaka-jyou (Osaka Castle)
    • Doutonbori (Big street)
    • Tsuukonkaku (Kyoto Tower)
• Accommodation
  • Ryokan or Minshuku
• Touring
  • Aug 16th is O-Bon (with bonfire on Daimonji)
  • Kinkaku-ji
  • Ginkaku-ji
  • Kiomizudera
  • Nansen-ji
  • Ryouan-ji
  • Gion (old quarter — geishas, kabuki, etc)

Himeji

• Himeji-jyou (Himeji Castle)

Hiroshima

• Accommodation
  • No idea yet
• Touring
  • Genbaku Dome
  • Kouen around Genbaku Dome
  • Miyajima
    • Shika and Saru! (Deer, monkeys)
    • Torii (gate)

Tokyo

• Accommodation
  • No idea yet
• Touring
  • Finish anything missed the first time around.