The blog called for attention a few weeks ago when Seth reminded me that I had to pay the yearly maintenance fee. To feel that I’m not wasting money (I really am but I don’t feel like killing it yet) I decided to write an update post while stuck in a long traffic jam on the 1200km journey back home from Slovakia.

Well, the most important thing that's going on at the moment is the wedding planning. Back in the time when I used to scout for new and interesting blogs, the first mention of the word wedding (or kids) used to be enough to skip the blog. Blogs of this kind usually meant either a post for each invite sent and each flower chosen, or detailed accounts of each nappy change for the kid. In turn I promised myself to keep my wedding prelude as quite as possible. I'm allowing myself one tiny outlet for the record, just to prove that I this thing actually happened.

In a simple sentence I can sum up my wedding planning experience like this:- it's not half as complicated or troublesome as most people make it out to be. Perhaps I'm saying this because I'm lucky enough to be with a sane and most practical woman, or perhaps it’s also because I'm not having the wedding in a wedding crazy country where the wedding has to be planned more than 2 years in advance. Another thing that definitely helps is treating the whole thing as a project for two, biting into it a bit by bit, together. Cooperation from parents on both sides, with the right level of interest and without being too intrusive doesn’t hurt either.

In effect, planning a wedding is like throwing a big party. All you have to do is find a place, get some food and drink (sampling both before and playing God with dish decisions - perhaps one of the most satisfying parts of the planning), get some cool clothes (= shopping for the ladies), get some music and outsource your pictures while throwing in a couple of decorations and an exclusive afterparty - a cracking honeymoon. I’m happy to say that I helped in almost everything from the wedding hall to choosing the bride dress (and yes I saw the dress cause we’re practical). We planned and organized this in 3 intensive weeks over a period of six months, with remote administration in between. With one month to go I think we've covered most of the ground that we needed. I still need to get a pair of shoes, decide on the suit and send off the last couple of invites (to those lazy buggers who haven't sent their home addresses yet) but everything is under control.

It's not all wedding bouquets and wedding cakes though. Last week I was in Beijing for a business trip. Luckily I had some free time to see a couple of main sights and buy half of the tea in china. The most impressive was the forbidden city. To think that the emperor build this magnificent playground (with 9999 rooms and 100,000 eunuchs) for his wives is mind blowing in itself. Even more mind blowing is the mind behind the great wall, another must see which I managed to slot in between meetings. I was surprised at the cleanliness of the place, or rather the lack of dirtiness, although smog was a real killer on some days. The traffic is crazy both in the amount of cars and the rackless driving (people in Beijing seem to drive with their hands fixed on the horn). Anyone who cycles in Beijing must be a stuntman. One surprising thing were the body temperature machines, that scan your body temperature as you pass by (I think this was introduced after SARS).

Surely someone is going to want to know about food. Yes, the food is different from "European" Chinese food, although it’s mainly because of the ingredients more than the style. The style and idea is similar but the diversity of ingredients is considerable. From my limited experience the Beijing cuisine was quite dry i.e. not soaked in soup like sauces like some takeaways. Also, I never found typical Chinese takeout dishes like sweet and sour pork or lemon chicken. Peking Duck (a must in Peking) is served identically to restaurants here and the taste is also very close. My culinary regret was that I didn’t try the sea cucumber (expensive). I found a few turtle dishes but due to moral reasons I didn’t order any. I had no problem having shark fin and shark lip soup, and intestines with chilli, but I didn’t find any dogs that I could eat (no moral objection as long as it’s not a pug). The Chinese beer that we tasted was quite watery, but the green tea is wayyyyyy better than the tea-bagged green tea you can get here. The difference is huge.

I gave up hope that I'll be updating the blog before the end of summer and/or before I move to Luxembourg. I'm posting interesting links every once in a while on twitter, so if you want you can follow me there.

For those addicted to visiting the site, here's my twitter feed.

I've uploaded some pictures of Columbus (Ohio). Now you can see for yourself how interesting the place is.

After lunch I was wandering aimlessly around the hotel, and I happened to meet a random stranger. He started talking and I started chatting with him. He was complaining that he's going to have the most boring 7 hours, packing candy for tomorrows hockey match. I pricked my ears, "what hockey match?", I asked. He told me that the blue jackets were playing, so I asked if tickets would still be available today, just 1 day before the match. He made a quick phone call to check for me, and confirmed that tickets were still available. While he was walking with me to show me where the ticket office was, I asked who they were playing. They were playing the NY Rangers! How cool is that!

The only other time I came to the States (also for a conference), I had got a ticket to see the NY rangers, even before getting to NY. That time I had a major screw-up with flights and missed the match. This time with the greatest serendipity possible, I got a ticket for tomorrows match between the Blue Jackets and the NY Rangers. Woooooohooo!!!

Yes, him! He sneaked out of a seedy ally while I was walking to the hotel yesterday night after the banquet. He crept slowly from behind, jabbed me in the ribs and screamed, "LADDDDYYYYYY". Did you guess now? I met Seamus!

I had to come all the way to this godforsaken state in the US to meet him again. I think the last time I saw him was after I hooked up with the chick. There was that little story with him and bob the ghost, the one who used to live in Rathmines. Been quite a while since then. He was still 13.

Well I must say the kid is alive and well. Ok, maybe not so well, living like a parasite in the side streets of Columbus, but hey, he got here and we met. What else do you want. He found out that I was coming over and decided to make an effort to meet.

The other great thing was that Thomas Brown's lately adopted pet wasn't there. Apparently the 3 legged dog was held at customs when the two stooges tried to sneak him in the US. Now you tell me, who tries to sneak a rabbis infested, 3 legged dog in the US. I mean you can try to sneak in a bottle or two of explosive liquid, but the dog. Come on. Btw, Thomas Brown was detained too.

After all the effort Seamus went through to meet up, I couldn't even be pissed off at him. Not even after what he did. It was like the good old times. Maybe even better. He could get a Dr. Pepper here, instead of Pepsi.

We spent the night chatting away, browsing through the channels looking for an episode of family guy. At night he slept in the shower, and by morning he had already vanished again.

Yes the inevitable had to happen. I'm back from Japan. It was a wonderful holiday, everything went according to plan, and we got to see as much of Japan as possible in two weeks. We started out with a couple of days in Tokyo, then went on to climb up Mt. Fuji. Luckily the weather was cooperative on the mountain, after the torrential rain we previously had in Tokyo.

After Fuji we went to the cultural capital, Kyoto, with a side trip to Nara. From there to Hiroshima and the island of Miyajima. Finally in the end we visited Beppu in the South Island (Kyushu) and Yudanaka near Nagano to see the snow monkeys.

Hopefully I'll have some time to write a bit for meaningful comments about Japan, instead of a list of place. At the moment though I'm having a sever attack of post holiday blues.

Just before leaving to Japan, here's a presentation I made for the Misses about Japan. It's a fun sort of presentation, with facts and curiosities about this weird and wonderful country.

Japan from A to Z

For credits for the pictures in the presentations click on the pictures