Kobe's Earthquake

Kobe's Earthquake
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Unfortunately, Kobe became famous for the earthquake that destroyed the city about 10 years ago. Many lives and urban infrastructure were lost in that catastrophe.

Nowadays, the city looks completely new. But there is a place next to the port, called the 'Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Site' that reminds of the tragedy. It consists of an outdoors museum and a section of the destroyed port, left as it was after the earthquake. Difficult to imagine the whole city like that...

Shark Whale

Shark Whale
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Visit to Osaka's Aquarium (Kaiyukan), the biggest in Japan and one of the best in the world. I'm not very fond of aquariums, but this was really worth the visit.

The main atraction is that scary thing to the left of us, a real alive shark whale. There were many different environments from all over the world, which were artificially reproduced and gave a very realistic atmosphear to the place.

Sunset in Nara

Sunset in Nara
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

There nothing 'specially special' in this picture, but I like it :)

This pedestrian street is in the center of Nara, where many traditional shops and restaurants are located.

Notice the ubiquitous electric power lines and the kanji-katakana signs, things that anybody who visits Japan gets used to immediately. I think I'll miss it somehow after leaving the country in August.

Snowboarding in Nagano

Snowboarding in Nagano
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Since it's almost impossible to tell from our looks, we are Pablo, I and Rasa, snowboarding in Hakuba-Iwatake, Nagano prefecture.

As you can see, the weather was quite horrible this day... it was very cold, snowing, windy, foggy, the slopes were icy... But we survived like brave boarders and had a great time again!

PS: This time Tommi couldn't make it :(

Himeji Castle

Himeji Castle
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Cloudy, rainy and gray day in Himeji, west of Kobe.

This city is famous for its castle, which is one of the few originals that still remain, and considered to be the most beautiful in Japan.

It belongs to the list of UNESCO World Heritage List and it's definitely worth the visit. Apart from the main tower in the picture, the whole fortress was very interesting to walk around. There was even a Seppuku-Harakiri chamber!

Ride to NTT

Ride to NTT
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

Every morning I (try to) ride my bike to work. It takes about 40 minutes and if it rains or it's too cold it's quite tough... that's why I take the bus quite often too.

This is the street right in front of my apartment in Tomio - Nara, where Vladimir (NTT trainee from Kazakhstan) and I are just about to start our race to the lab.

I miss my inline skates.

Dotonbori at Night

Dotonbori at Night
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

This is one of the most famous sights in Osaka. It's one huge wall covered with neon lights advertising all kinds of stuff.

It can be seen from Ebisu bridge, in an area called Dotombori and very close to one of the hearts of the city: Namba station.

Mid-term Reporting Session

Mid-term Reporting Session
Originally uploaded by juanerubio.

More Kendo! :D

Last week, Rasa and I decided to make a joint presentation at the EU-Japan Centre for the reporting session. We talked, in japanese, about our traineeships at NTT Communication Science Labs, and our life in Nara.

At the end of it, and right after speaking about kendo lessons, we took our 'shinai' and, dressed in formal clothes, made a small performance in front of our friends and the staff of the Centre :)