2005

December 2005

24 Dec 2005

Time flies. We've been here for almost one year now, and it feels like we arrived yesterday. December is the month of parties back home, but here it's different. Yes, the shops are decorated for Christmas, but the atmosphere is missing. Lenette goes crazy in the 100 yen shop, one of the few shops that sells Christmas decorations, we are celebrating Christmas with our friends the Preustings. Read More...

Sinterklaas in Japan

03 Dec 2005

Working in Japan also means explaining about Dutch culture. One of the Dutch traditions is Sinterklaas. We sent an invitation to our colleagues, in which we explain who Sinterklaas is and that he might visit us in Japan. Read More...

Harley Davidson weekend

12 Nov 2005

The weekend of 11 and 12 November was dedicated to the Harley Davidson bikes. Tough guys in leather, rode their bikes to Nagasaki to join the fun. Read More...

Kirishima

05 Nov 2005

Our Dutch visitors have just left, but there is no time to rest. The first weekend in November is a long weekend, due to "culture day". We're happy, it gives us another chance to explore Kyushu. Read More...

Obon Festival & Vacation in Colombia

09 Aug 2005

August seemed to be the month in which people remembered the dead. On 9, August the atomic bomb remembrance was held, already sixty years ago. Despite the fact that people thought nothing would grow for the coming 75 years, is Nagasaki a very green city Read More...

Office life in Isahaya

07 Aug 2005

Although this story is old, and some things have changes: Carlos went to the hairdresser (and so did Thomas), the office has undergone a cleaning project and we now have a real meeting room, it just keeps being put off to write a new story. Because this story, and the movie, gives you an idea of what office life is like in Isahaya, we decided to publish it anyway. Maybe we will write an update in the future, but at least you've had an initial introduction. Read More...

Port festival and drago race

06 Aug 2005

It's festival time, two weekends in a row can half of the Nagasaki population be found in Seaside Park. First there's the harbor festival, with music and dance performances. You could register via internet, for a free boat trip on an old (restored) boat. Together with Thomas, a colleague, we were the lucky ones to win the trip. On a beautiful boat we were taken for a one hour trip around Nagasaki harbor. Read More...

Port festival and drago race

06 Aug 2005

Kyoto

17 Jul 2005

In July, Japan has a national holiday; Marine Day, hence a long weekend. Kyoto was on our list of places to visit, and since the Gion Matsuri festival would take place in this weekend, the decision was quickly made. We would take the night train to Kyoto, and fly back. That way we would make maximum use of our time. Unfortunately the action to actually book the transportation and accomodation was taken a little bit too late. So there was a festival, but that doesn't mean that all hotels would be full.... does it?! Read More...

Tokyo

23 Jun 2005

ASML sent us for a training to Tokyo. The decision to take two extra days off, wasn't so difficult. Tokyo: the big city, especially compared to Tokyo, Nagasaki is a very provincial town. The building where ASML has its Japan head quarters is beautiful and the view from the 22nd floor is great. Everything is modern and new, a far cry from our Isahaya office.
Read More...

Yofuin

11 Jun 2005

We booked two nights in a youth hostel, guided again by the Hiking in Japan guidebook. We thought sleeping in a youth hostel would be a nice way to meet other travellers. Usually there is a communal room, where you meet your fellow travellers to exchange experiences and tips. We leave straight after work on Friday and find the youth hostel pretty easily. It is located in a beautiful spot in the mountains with a beautiful view on Yufuin. They do have a shared living roomm, but we are the only guests Read More...

Hiko-san

29 May 2005

Friday, after work, we take the gamble and leave for Yaba-Hita-Hiko-san Quasi-National Park without having made hotel reservations. At first it looks like luck is not on our side, there aren't many hotels and the first one is fully booked. How is that possible, we're in the middle of nowhere. Luckily they can help us find an alternative, we can stay there for one night, because they are fully booked on Saturday. We had no idea it was going to be this busy, but at least we have a room for the night. Read More...

Uozu

20 May 2005

Uozu is close to the Japanese Alps, and we happen to have an office there. Luckily I got the chance to visit that office. Read More...

Hirado

15 May 2005

Japan has something with the Netherlands, and that is very obvious. Besides the "official" memories to the Netherlands, like Dejima in Nagasaki, there is Huis ten Bosch: a big park with copies of Dutch buildings like the Dom tower and of course Huis ten Bosch. This weekend we visited CAS Village, what, despite only being opened in March of this year, already has the nickname Holland Village. Read More...

Visiting the Preustings

02 May 2005

Here I am, on the couch with the laptop, after another near overdose of sushi, it is time for an update. It is "golden week" in Japan. Friday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are national holidays, so with 2 extra vacation days, one can enjoy more than a week of vacation. This means high season, where flights and hotel accommodation are priced accordingly. It is busy at work, so Carlos and I will enjoy our golden week some other time. Nagasaki has the tall ships weekend, and Saturday it was raining cats and dogs. Last night we had heavy thunderstorm, with lightning and heavy rains. We had to close the windows, since the rain was coming in. The gods were clearly not happy about something. What a pity for the organizers of the tall ships weekend and for the tourists that came to visit Nagasaki. Sunday the weather alternated between rain and drizzle.It is so misty, we can't see the station from our appartment, which is less than 200 meters away. On the internet we read that temperatures in the Netherlands are in the high twenties...
Read More...

Yokohama

27 Apr 2005

Yes, the time has come for Lenette to visit the big city. A colleague is leaving, and I have to take over some of his tasks. This means that he has to train me, so I took the plane heading for Yokohama. At Tokyo Haneda, you take the shuttle bus to YCAT (Yokohama Central Air Terminal). Read More...

Work work and more work, that is what we came here for

22 Apr 2005

It is about time for an update, we came here to work for ASML and that’s what we’re doing. It all started quite relaxed, start at 9am and going home around 6.30pm. Nowadays we start at 9am and are going home around 8pm. Last week was heavy, came home, made us some dinner and right after dinner the phone went, duty calls! The next morning I had just started breakfast, yes, you guessed right, the phone rang again. Last week Saturday, we had just gone to bed, the phone rings, I was up till 7am, working away. But I can’t complain, last week we had a problem with one of our systems, a Japanese colleague worked 48 hours straight!!! Read More...

Hanami

13 Apr 2005

The whole week we discussed at work when we were going to celebrate Hanami. Hanami is the cherry blossom viewing festival. That cherry blossom only blooms for a short period of time. Last week is was barely open, this week it is in full bloom. Read More...

100 Yen shop

07 Apr 2005

Saturday, and time to go grocery shopping. We got a tip that there is a big supermarket with small(er) prices. We found the place, Hyper Center Osada and the place sells everything from groceries to TVs, bikes, lights, you name it. We walked around for two hours and left the place with a full shopping cart.
Read More...

Lenette's first impresions

01 Apr 2005

Here I am, in Nagasaki. The “night before” was quite nice. Friday night I stayed at my parent’s place and the whole family came to visit. The plane was scheduled to leave at 11.45am left from Eindhoven Airport on Saturday, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast and left for the airport at 10.45am. The only thing I was nervous about was the 27 kg in my suitcase, where I was only allowed to take 20kg. Luckily they accepted the suitcases, otherwise I wouldn’t have known what to take out. My parents waved goodbye from the airport’s balcony, and I, as the proverbial blonde, waved back from the plane, dûh… Read More...

Carlos second week

16 Feb 2005

Grocery store story gets funnier; I thought I wouldn’t get tricked a third time, wrong…. This time is was salt instead of sugar. Coffee with salt is not something I would recommend, is tasted horrible! I do have a positive experience with the supermarket, they sell DUVEL, my favorite Belgian beer. I could only get 2 bottles, but experience taught me that is enough for me. So yesterday I enjoyed two lovely Duvels, all that is missing are the real glasses (hint).
I told you earlier that there are tunnels on the road to the office. It is in total 10 km. These tunnels are really scary. They are well lit, but two lanes with only small reflector sign separating them. Especially at night it is kind of scary, the tunnels are narrow, oncoming traffic sometimes has blinding lights and to make things worse, your brain refuses to accept that you have to drive on the left side. All in all, too little space and an uncomfortable drive, nowadays I take the long way home, with only one tunnel. Read More...

Carlos first week

09 Feb 2005

Here are my first impressions after one week in Nagasaki. It’s been said many times how different the shopping experience is, but you don’t get it until you had to do it yourself. I thought I’d bought cooking oil, it looked the same, but when I wanted to bake an egg in it, ti torned out to be something else. To this day I still don’t know what I bought… Two days later I went to buy ketchup. They weren’t going to fool me again. The bottle was transparent, the contents red, and there was a tomato on the lable: hence ketchup. Unfortinately it was a kind of tomato juice – you can’t win them all. Today I went to buy washing detergent, I took a photo of the old box that was left behind, and went to the shop. Picture me in the store, with camera in hand, looking for detergent. It did work though…. I am considering to turn grocery shopping into a hobby, it is very challenging. Read More...