On my Shikoku 88 temple visits, I have a tradition of photographing the temizuya (purification stations). Here’s the crop from my most recent trip to Japan.
Applying a Large Language Model to Travel
These days, navigating a massive Japanese train station with its multi-level tracks feels less like studying a map and more like following a personal guide. Google Maps provides step-by-step instructions, delivered straight to my wristwatch. A gentle vibration tells me when to turn, making the journey to the exit for my hotel less stressful. This… Continue reading Applying a Large Language Model to Travel
When Google Maps Knows Ramen
A craving for ramen hit me as I stood outside Hakata Station in Fukuoka. The drippy, gray weather just amplified my desire for a steaming bowl of Hakata ramen—perfect for a day like this. Now the challenge was to find a decent ramen restaurant. Google Maps came to the rescue.
A Surprise “Sea Cruise”
I’d been looking forward to the lovely views from the 8-mile Great Seto Bridge crossing the Seto Inland Sea from Shikoku to Honshu. The thought of my first bullet train ride on this trip to Japan gave me joy. But it was not to be… .
A Month in Honolulu
So we finally did it: a month in Honolulu, Tourist Central. Mostly our stay was not about visiting interesting places. Ma, the space between, the quiet moments, made this a fine experience. But interesting places there were: There were some disappointments. The Byodo-In Temple is not a practicing Buddhist temple, a good visit nonetheless. The… Continue reading A Month in Honolulu
Unwinding the Mystery of Strandbeests
Dutch kinetic sculpture artist Theo Jansen’s wind-powered strandbeests are the inspiration for my next LEGO project. From 1990 onwards, he has taken these strand (Dutch for beach) creatures through twelve periods of evolution. Inspired, I want to build thematically similar creatures using LEGO.
Japan 2024: Plan for a Plan
I don’t do bucket lists or trips of a lifetime. Places are not to be consumed like products; the journey is not an inconvenience. Travel is iterative: each trip is a prototype for the next time I visit an area; there’s no pressure to tick off all the boxes.
A Day for Selling Vacations
When I was growing up in England, the day after Christmas was a day for relaxing and eating leftovers. Television advertising, finally freed from promoting the excesses of Christmas consumption, switched to hawking packaged vacations.
12 Months of Microposts: 2023
I celebrate the little details of every day in my Microposts. In this post I somewhat arbitrarily chose one micropost for each month of 2023.
In the Footsteps of Border Raiders, a Saint, and Vera
Next week, my partner, two friends, and I will be hiking a section of the Reivers Way in Northumberland, England, from inn to inn over five days. The Border Reivers were notorious for terrorizing communities in the area around the border between Scotland and England from the 13th to the 17th centuries. Some of them… Continue reading In the Footsteps of Border Raiders, a Saint, and Vera