Danny's Travel Blog

New Year's Resolutions / Happy 2012

2012-01-04T01:58:00.000-08:00

2011 has been a great year for me, and now its time to make some resolutions for 2012. None of these are very exciting, but I like a public record to encourage me to keep them:

1. I will learn Dutch to level A.2 of the European frame.

2. I will my improve my publication profile.

3. I will visit the gym at least 100 times this year (99 to go)!

4. I will properly train our new dog Penny.

5. I will fix up the garden and finish my vegetable patch.

Happy New Year!

Trip to Paris

2012-01-04T01:49:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break, I spent a couple of days in Paris with my sister who was visiting from the UK. I've been to Paris many times before, but I never get tired of it.

Kath arrived at Paris Nord on the EuroStar early in the afternoon on the 23rd and after a late lunch, we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. I've been up many times, but Kath had never made it to the top and wanted to challenge herself... and she made it!

Going up the Tower in Daylight

One of the Views from the Top

The Tower at Night

The next day was Christmas eve, and so we decided to do something really Christmasy: visit the Paris Catacombes, a consecrated former stone quarry that houses the skeletons of six million former residents of Paris. The bodies were moved there after the nieghbourhood cemertary filled up and began causing disease.

Stop! This is the Kingdom of the Dead

Endless Skulls and Bones

...and more skulls.

After the catacombes, we visited Sacré-Cœur, a beautiful hill-top church that was just 10 minutes from our hotel. There was a nice Christmas market on and a Christmas Eve mass. I think that the views from Sacré-Cœur are even better than those from the Eiffel Tower.

Sacré-Cœur Seen from Below

Looking out Over the City

...and towards the Eiffel Tower.

One of the great things about bieng in Leuven is that Paris is just 90 minutes away by train; I can't wait to go back.

Middleware 2011 in Lisboa, Portugal

2011-12-28T01:30:00.000-08:00

After NESEA'11 in Perth, I flew direct to Lisbon for Middleware'11, where I was chairing the Middleware for Sensor Networks (MidSens'11) workshop. For me this year's stand-out event was Future of Middleware (FOME), which featured 16 short talks from big names in the middleware field. It provided lots of inspiration.

I was pretty tired after my flight from Australia and unfortunately BA lost my bag in Heathrow (I know, predictable) and I came within minutes of having to open my workshop in my sweat-pants and hoodie. Thankfully, disaster was averted.

Interesting Statue Outside the Holiday Inn

Caren joined me on Thursday evening and together we had a long weekend of exploring Lisbon's neighbourhoods and restaurants. We had two particularly good meals; one at Tapas 52, a neat little tapas bar and one at Cravo e Canela (garlic and cloves). The latter was a little heavy on sweet flavours for my taste, but the meal was saved by an excellent bottle of fruity white wine called Quinta de Sao Francisco.

My favorite spot in Lisbon was the Santa Cruz do Castelo neighbourhood and the imposing Castle of St. Gerorge, which as panoramic views of the city:

A Rooftop Cottage in Santa Cruz do Castelo

There was a great sense of community in Lisbon and you can see a little of it, in the photo-art display of the older neighbourhood residents.

Photos of the Older Residents

Every part of Lisbon was covered in art, from traditional displays, to legal street decorations and illegal graffiti. Even though its a stencil, I particularly enjoyed the picture below. My new golden retriever pup certainly gives the orders.

Fun Piece of Graffiti

My favorite spot by far was the Castle, which has a pleasant garden feel ad great views of Lisbon.

I Pose by the Castle Entrance

St. George

Caren by the Castle

Garden-Like Castle Grounds

View of the City Squares

View of the Bridge

Perhaps the nicest part of my trip to Lisbon was the weather; for most of our day it was pleasant and warm; there were even oranges in December!

Oranges in December!

We Have a New Arrival this Christmas

2011-12-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Today I collected Penny, our Golden Retriever puppy from the breeder's. Here are some pics:

On the Train Home

Napping

Posing for the Camera

Playing Football

I'll post some more photos of Penny's adventures soon.

NESEA 2011 in Perth, Australia (2/2)

2011-12-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Here are the second batch of photos from NESEA'11 (this set were taken with my camera, whereas Kevin Lee took the previous set).

NESEA'11 was held at the same time as the World Sailing Championships and the conference venue was right on the waterfront, so it was easy to catch a race during the breaks:

Windsurfers Racing

One thing that travelling has taught me is that its a really small world. Caren's brother Killian is working in Perth at the moment, and he was able to join the conference social cruise:

Killian on the Boat

The cruise was really great and we had some spectacular views. We even saw a dolphin, but no one was quick enough to get a photo.

Sunset on the River Swan

Perth Skyline at Night

NESEA 2011 in Perth, Australia (1/2)

2011-12-10T05:05:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy few weeks. Last week I had work visitors from St. Andrews, Lancaster and Darmstadt as well as my Inaugural Lecture, all of which was good, but left me exhausted.

Then at 7AM on Saturday I hopped on a plane for Perth, Australia where I chaired the NESEA'11 conference. It was a busy week, but everything ran smoothly, which is a big credit to Kevin Lee, who was the local organizer at Murdoch University. The highlight was definately our cruise on the River Swan from Fremantle to Perth. Some photos follow:

Doing the Work Thing

The Attendees Walk to the Boat

Sailboats on the River Swan

The Setting Sun

After the conference, I had just one half day free, so I hit the beach and then explored Fremantle. Here are a few photos:

Playing Sharkbait

Conversing with a Stoic Fisherman I met

Perth was lovely, but 6 days just wasn't enough, especially as I spent five of them working 12-hour days. I am already planning my return.

Summer Holiday (3/3) New Orleans

2011-10-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

We reached New Orleans around 8PM and checked into the Holiday Inn near Canal Street, where we met Caren's friends Dee and Amanda. There was no rest for the wicked as we quickly changed and headed into town. Dinner was red beans and rice with some nice fruit beer from Abita (one of America's best micro-brews and local to Louisiana), and then we hit Burbon street for some drinks and music:

Left to Right: Amanda, Caren, Dee and Me

Flaming Pianos at 'Howl at the Moon'

After a big night out, we needed to recharge, so Dee took us on a short tram ride to a great little restaurant in mid-town called Katie's Sunsday Brunch. The food was excellent; especially the savory Beignets, and the bottomless mimosas weren't bad either!

Dee, Caren and Amanda on a Street Car

Katie's: an Excellent Spot for Brunch

We spent the rest of Sunday exploring the French quarter and walking along the banks of the Mississippi River:

A Mississippi Steam Boat

Jackson Square: the Heart of the French Quarter

Delicious Food at the French Market

French Quarter Streets (1/2)

French Quarter Streets (2/2)

We also visited the New Orleans museum near Jackson Square, which has an excellent exhibit on Hurricane Katrina. The exhibit does a good job of explaining the science of hurricanes and how and why so many people died when Katrina hit. Unfortunately, even now, many of the problems discussed in the exhibit remain unfixed. Perhaps the most poignant display was a real garage door covered with the paint marking of the rescue workers:

Sad Artifacts from Hurricane Katrina

On our next night out in New Orleans was all Cajun. First we had some pretty good Cajun food and more Abita Beers at Mulate's in the Business District, and then we went to watch some Cajun bands on Burbon Street. The music was great, and as you can see the audience got really involved:

A Full House for Cajun Food at Mulate's

A Good Cajun Band on Bourbon Street

Amanda and Dee Take Over the Washboard

The following day Amanda and Dee had to leave for Kentucky and Ireland, so it was just Caren and me for the next few days, which we mostly spent relaxing and taking in the sights, from cemeteries to historic architecture:

The Cemeteries are a Common Stop on New Orleans Tours

Due to Flooding, Everyone in New Orleans is Entombed not Buried

Historic Tombs, including Homer Plessy

Some Graves are used for Voodoo Rituals

Of course, we also spent a lot of time eating and drinking, including a fancy dinner and nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc at Emeril's in the Business District. The following day, we had an even better lunch at the historic Mother's restaurant, on the edge of the Business District, and of course, not trip to New Orleans would be complete without a hurricane at Pat O'Brian's, which is a lovely place to escape for a while from the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter:

Canal Street at Sunset on the way to Emeril's

Caren Has Steak with Shepherd's Pie at Emeril's

Pat O'Brian's Courtyard

One Last Hurricane for the Road

New Orleans was, as always, awesome. I can't wait to go back.

Summer Holiday (2/3) Amtrak Crescent

2011-10-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay between these posts! Since we arrived in Leuven we have had lots of stuff to arrange (but that will be the subject of a new post).

The second leg of our summer holiday was a 1,400 mile, 30 hour train journey from New York City to New Orleans on the Amtrak Crescent. I think that long distance American trains are very underrated. They may not be fast or punctual, but they are quiet, cheap and you get to see some spectacular scenery.

We boarded the Crescent in New York City at Penn station around 2PM. We had a 'Viewliner Roomette', which is a small two-person cabin containing two seats, table, power outlets, sink and toilet. At night the room converts to a pair of single bunk beds. Because the room is small and the angle tight, its really hard to take a good photo of, so here's Amtrak's stock images:

Day in the Roomette

Night in the Roomette

Along with the room facilities, there are also some communal facilities on the Crescent. Each sleeper carriage has a shower, ice machine, coffee machine and a drinks station (which meant that we were able to keep a bottle of wine on ice in our cabin sink) and the train also has a dining car and snack car. If you are travelling in a sleeper-cabin, then your meals are included with your ticket. Passengers are seated together so that you'll share a table with other diners, which I think adds to the experience of a long train journey. By early evening we were sitting in the dining car, for dinner and watching the Washington sights pass by while chatting with some fellow passengers:

Browsing the Menu in our Room

The Dining Car

Darkness fell as we rolled south through Virginia and one of the conductors made up our bunk beds. Despite the sounding of train horn, we fell asleep pretty quickly and woke up shortly after sunrise an hour north of Atlanta and one hour behind schedule.

Keeping People Waiting

After a cooked breakfast and a few strong coffees we returned to our room, where we read, worked and watched the scenery pass by. The further south we went, the more beautiful the countryside became.

Forests

Lakes

As we passed the Louisiana state line, it was growing late in the evening and the sun was setting as we reached lake Ponchatrain which offered the most spectacular views of the trip:

Sunset near the Louisiana State Line

Lake Ponchatrain (1/3)

Lake Ponchatrain (2/3)

Lake Ponchatrain (3/3)

I don't think that the photos could ever do the experience of crossing lake Ponchatrain at sunset justice; because its not just the view that is really cool, its the feeling. As you travel across the low causeway over the lake, you can't see any land, so it looks just like the train is flying across the surface of the sea, which is weird but very cool. Finally around 9PM and roughly an hour behind schedule we arrived at New Orleans Union station, ready for our first night out in the Big Easy.

Summer Holiday (1/3) Larchmont and NYC

2011-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Our holiday started in New York State, where we visited with Caren's cousin Julie and her husband Tucker for a few of nights. Unfortunately, our fight was late and we took the wrong train from Grand Central, so we arrived very late. The next day, we spent with Julie and little Lucy at the beach and then had a fantastic dinner with the whole family. Here are some pics:

Julie and Lucy

Freddy the Dog Enjoy's Baby Lucy's Play Matt

Swimming in the Long Island Sound

We spent one day in New York City shopping and walking. As we have both visited many times before, we didn't take many photos. Here are a couple of shots from Katz's Deli, a famous delicatessen in the East Village:

A Packed Lunch-Time at Katz's Deli

Caren Enjoys Pastrami on Rye beneath a Photo of

Anthony Bourdaine

Goodbye China

2011-08-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

I write this from my new flat in the Groot Begijnhof, Leuven where I will be staying for the next month until we find more perminant accommodation. Tomorrow, I start my new job as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at K.U. Leuven. It will be a big change of course, but I'm looking forward to it.

Here are some things I will miss from China: my friends, Family Mart veggie buns, speaking bad Chinese, great cheap restaurants, tofu, my students, 1000 year eggs, glorious autumns, cheap rent and my electric scooter (the hogcycle). The only thing that I won't miss about China is the blocking of Internet sites.

Our stuff is travelling to Belgium via the slow boat, here's a shot of it all packed up:

Our Posessions Ready for Shipping to Belgium

I hope that I will be able to return to China soon. Perhaps for IPSN 2012 in Beijing... I will have to start working on that paper.

Hiking Qionglong Mountain

2011-07-25T20:33:00.000-07:00

Our time in China is drawing to a close. From September 1st I will join the Computer Science department of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium as an Assistant Professor. In our last weeks, we have been trying to see a little more of Suzhou, and last week we went hiking on Qionglong Mountain near lake Tai where Sun Tzu is reputed to have written the art of war.

Most of Suzhou is flat as a pancake and densely populated, so it was nice to get away from the crowds for a while and see some nature. Qionglong Mountain has two small connected peaks that are covered in dense vegetation and bamboo forest. The trails are paved and well maintained and there are several Buddhist temples. It was 32 degrees, sunny and very humid, so the hike was hard going, especially considering I was carrying our lunch and water in my back pack.

Steps, Steps and More Steps

Hiking in China is quite different than hiking in Europe. Trails are paved and hills are terraced with steps. On the one hand this doesn't feel as natural, but on the other, it does make the hiking easier. Qionglong Mountain might have the largest forest in the Suzhou area, and certainly has some of the most spectacular natural views.

Bamboo Forest

Lush, Unspoiled Hillsides

The mountain trails are dotted with a number of temples, some of which are old, some of which have clearly been rebuilt. Below are a couple of my favorites.

Hillside Temple

Reclining Buddha Temple

The Giant Buddha

After a long hike and a delicious lunch on top of the mountain, we started to head home. Unfortunately, we got completely lost and spent another hour walking along service roads through little villages back to the base.

Lost in Jiangsu Province!

It was a long, hot day, but I had a great time and it was great to see some of the countryside around Suzhou.

Long Weekend in Hong Kong

2011-06-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Caren and I just returned from a long weekend visiting our friend Ka Lok in Hong Kong. We had a wonderful time. For the budget travellers in China, the route from Shanghai to Hong Kong is a little convoluted. First we flew from Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen, then we took a bus to the the border and walked accross the footbridge. On the other side you connect with the Hong Kong metro system. Unfortunately on both journeys, our China Eastern flights were delayed. The worst was the outbound flight where they kept us sitting on the tarmac for three hours while they "waited for clearance". I will try to avoid flying China Eastern in future!

Day 1 - Kowloon
We met up with Ka Lok at our hotel on the morning of our first day. The Eaton Smart is well presented with good facilities, though the rooms are a little small, and the location is great, between the Yau Ma Tei and Jordan metro stops. Best of all, they have a roof-top pool which is a great place to start or end the day. After a quick swim we set out to explore Kowloon. First off, we needed to buy a new camera, so Ka Lok took us to an electronics market area of Kowloon, where we bought a cheap Pentax waterproof camera. Ka Lok did a great job making sure we got the best price:

After that it we had wonderful Dim Sum at the Dragon King reseaurant. This was my first proper meal in Hong Kong and it was close to a revelation. I think the food in Suzhou and Shanghai is good. But the food in Hong Kong was much better. Especially the Dim Sum. Apparently the Dragon King chef is one of the top five in China, and after tasting his Dim Sum, I believe it!

After some more shopping, we met up with Ka Lok's family for dinner at a Roast Duck resaurant. As a vegetarian I couldn't try the roast duck, but Caren tells me it was delicious. The vegetarian food certainly was too. Another win for the food in Hong Kong.

Day 2 - Hong Kong Island
On our second day we walked to the ferry terminal and took the old Star Ferry accross to Hong Kong Island, where we visited The Peak, a 1000M mountain, covered in forest that towers above the Island city. It was a wonderful trip and along with the great views we saw exoitic birds and wildlife. Unfortunately I lost the SD card with those photos, so you will have to make do with some shots of the island from Kowloon. :-(

After seeing The Peak and having a drink in Lookout Bar, we went to the giant Times Square mall, where I managed to find a bottle of 12 Year Old Taketsuru Pure Malt Whisky from Japan for my little collection. Then it was time to test the waterproof camera in the hotel pool:

After our swim, we met up with Ka Lok's family again at a famous vegetarian resaurant called "Light Vegetarian" just off Nathan Road. I don't have any photos but it was the best vegetarian meal I have ever eaten. I now need to go on a diet to recover from how good the food was in Hong Kong.

Day 3 - Stanley Bay
Something that surprised me about Hong Kong, was just how green and picturesque some of the areas are. While Hong Kong is densely populated, only 30% of the land-mass is built-up. Wherever the buildings peter out there is lush green vegetation, and even a couple of beaches.

It was lunch-time when we arrived in Stanley Bay, so we began with fish and chips at the Boat House, which has a great view over the bay:

After lunch we walked along the Stanley Main Road market street to a pair of little temples.

Apparently in Stanley, there is also a temple containing the skin of the last Tiger to be shot in Hong Kong in 1945, but we didn't get time to go there because we were looking forward to swimming in the sea. The beach at Stanley is small but beautifully kept, with shark nets and floating rafts that you can swim out to:

After another delicious dinner with Ka Lok's family it was time of us to return to the apartment and pack. It has been a great trip thanks to Ka Lok's hospitality and I can't wait to return to Hong Kong. Maybe next time, we will see Macau too! Here's one last shot that I took while we were having a drink at 1881 Heritage, a beautiful bar in an converted colonial building down at the Kowloon Harbor.

Snowboarding in Hebei Province, China

2011-02-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

After Beijing, Caren and I arranged a trip to the Duolemeidi ski resort in ChongLi county of Hebei Province. A lot of people asked me what skiing is like in China, so I have provided some details below. I hope that the information is useful if you plan to ski in ChongLi and the usual photos follow.

Transport to/from Beijing: we arranged a shared car from Beijing with our resort contact and the transfer only took two and a half hours. If you can’t get a car, you can catch a train to ZhangJiaKou South followed by a local bus transfer to ChongLi itself, though this will take almost twice as long. From ChongLi it takes about 20 minutes to reach the ski resorts each morning. A 10RMB bus leaves for Duolemeidi at 7:30AM and returns at 5:30PM, or you can catch a taxi any time for 50RMB (note: you will have to negotiate a price). There was also a bus for WanLong, but I do not know the schedule or pricing.

Staying in ChongLi: heading to ChongLi from Beijing, you pass through spectacular mountain ranges, though when we visited, the unusual lack of snow made for a bleak vista. ChongLi itself is far from a picture-perfect resort town, but there are two good hotels, with decent restaurants: the iSnow and the RongChen. The iSnow is traditionally Chinese, offering good quality rooms at a reasonable price. The RongChen is newer, with a spa and karaoke bar, but it is more expensive. The Duolemeidi and WanLong ski resorts are both around 20 minutes from ChongLi. ChongLi is also surrounded by some spectacular hiking trails and the great wall is only a 30 minute taxi ride away. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little nightlife in ChongLi, so don’t expect much in the way of après-ski.

The Duolemeidi Resort: Duolemeidi covers two 2000M peaks and the maximum vertical descent is about 400M. The resort offers a total of seven major runs, each around 1500M long. There is one black run and five red runs, all of which connect to a 500M blue run leading back to the base. There is also a small snow park with a rail and jumps, but no half-pipe. One of the two peaks is served by a high speed chair lift and the other by a button lift. I was very impressed by the grooming and despite the lack of recent snow the slopes remained pristine throughout the day. We visited during peak period for the resort, but it was still not that busy by European standards. The standard of equipment is fairly good; however, beware if you are tall or have big feet, as the rental store tends to run out of large sized equipment during busy periods. While there is no group ski school, the price of private instruction is low enough to make this a feasible alternative. I was pleasantly surprised by the lodge at the base. You can get cheap beers and good value Chinese, Korean or Italian food. The pizza was actually one of the best I have eaten in China. While we didn’t visit WanLong, from what I heard, it is a little larger than Duolemeidi with similar facilities. On the ride back to Beijing, we shared a car with the lodge manager, who told us that the resort will soon add a condo hotel near the slopes and a couple of new runs from the chair-lift.

Recommendations: the Heibei slopes are similar to the Scandinavian resorts I have visited like Geilo, Hemsedal and Are, being small, but offering quiet, well groomed slopes and good facilities. Given the small size of the resorts, I would suggest spending a couple of days at each. If you have time, you could also spend a day hiking the trails around ChongLi and another day visiting the Great Wall. It is possible to book everything yourself, but if you don’t speak Chinese, I would recommend booking through an agent of the resort. Vivian from Duolemeidi speaks excellent English and arranged everything for us including transport, hotel, ski hire and lessons. You can contact her at (duolemeidi@gmail.com). I also found this site really helpful in planning our trip (http://www.chinaskitours.com/). The official Duolemeidi and Wanlong sites can be found here (http://www.duolemeidiski.com) and here (http://www.wlski.com/). Some photos of the trip follow:

Walking Along the Frozen River in ChongLi

Caren Takes her First Lesson

I Cruise Down a Blue Run

A Beautiful Day on the Slopes

Looking From One Peak to the Other

Ready for the Big Runs - Caren About to Try her First Red!

View from the Beginner Slope

Bar Blanc Near the Summit

All in all, we had a great time at Duolemeidi. Its not the alps, but I would highly recommend it for a short ski or snowboard trip. Hopefully I will get to try China's other big ski areas WanLong and Yabuli before I leave.

Spring Festival in Beijing

2011-02-07T05:02:00.000-08:00

On the first day of the year of the Rabbit, Caren and I packed our bags for a trip to Northern China. First was a city break in Beijing, then skiing at Duolemedi in Hebei province. During Spring Festival, we found it really hard to get a taxi in the Higher Education town, so we loaded two people, a big suitcase, snowboard bag and a couple of backpacks onto the electric scooter and headed to the high speed train station at Yuan Qu.

The Electric Scooter Loaded with Luggage

From Yuan Qu, we caught the train to Shanghai and from there a flight to Beijing. We arrived early in the evening and headed straight out for dinner and drinks..Chinese New Year celebrations don't stop on New Year's day (as I write this four days later, I can sill here fireworks going off), and Beijing was alive wih fireworks.

A Well-Stocked Firework Stall in Beijing

Afer a great Indian meal at Ganges, we headed down to Glen Bar for some Japanese and Scotch Single-malt whiskies. I would highly recommend both.

Good Whisky at Glen Bar

The following day, we walked from our hotel to Tianenmen Square, where Caren tried the legendary Peking Duck (now Beijing Duck). Afer a hearty meal, we toured Tiananmen:

The Imposing South Gate

Revolutionary Statues

South of Tiananmen, Portrait of Mao

Tiananmen is an imposing public space, in the middle of which is Mao's mausoleum, where it is possible to see the preserved body of the man himself. Unfortunately it was closed for spring festival. Leaving Tiananmen to the north, you walk straight into the impressive Forbidden City:

Entering the Forbidden City

The First Square

Heading North through the City

Royal Chambers

Pagoda on a Hill to the North of the Forbidden City

The following day we intended to visit the great wall, but unfortunately, we couldn't get a train ticket, so instead we visited the excellent Beijing art district, where we bought ourselves an orginal oil painting. Here are some of the more outlandsih highlights:

Want a Sports Car? Build your Own out of Bricks!

Angry Naked Westerner!

A Drunken Rabbit.

After two and a half hectic days we left Beijing for northern Hebei province... stay tuned for photos of our ski trip.

Escaping Winter on Sanya Bay

2011-01-19T19:20:00.000-08:00

Caren and I decided to escape the harsh winter of Jiangsu province and head to Sanya Bay in Hainan province. Hainan is a tropical island just accross the South China Sea from Vietnam. This trip, we stayed in the Howard Johnson Resort, which was really nice. Some photos follow:

The Pool Area

The Lobby Bar

Looking Towards the Sea from Our Balcony

We spent most of our four days relaxing at the resort, swimming in the pool or soaking in the hot tub or fish-nibble spa where lots of little fish eat any dead skin you may have:

Little Fish Nibble my Feeet in the Spa

Caren Warms Up on a Sunbed After Swimming

When we arrived in Sanya, the weather was a little cool - perhaps 18 degrees, but it soon warmed up and hovered around 25 for the rest of our stay. As well as relaxing in the hotel, we would take long walks along the beach. Heading west you pass picturesque and quiet beaches, eventually ending up at the Narada resort. Heading west, the beach becomes less picturesque, though you eventually reach Sanya bay's 'walking street', which is good for shopping.

Walking East Towards the Narada

I tackle a Refreshing Coconut at the Narada

One of Hainan's Many Small Islands

Looking West Towards Sanya City

Caren Cools her Heels in the Surf

There are three good restauraunts at the HoJo Resort: Chinese, Korean (my favorite) and Western. So, we mostly ate there during our stay. On the last night though we fancied something different, so we took a cab to the Paulaner Brewhouse at the Narada for German food and good beer. It was a great end to a great trip.

Our Little Banquet at the Paulaner Brewhouse, Sanya Bay

Christmas 2010 in the UK and Ireland

2011-01-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a nice Chirstmas break in the UK and Ireland. Luckily I arrived home just before the big freeeze, with an on-time flight to Heathrow and an on-time train to Wigan, but the snow fell that night and I woke up to deep snow the next day:

A White Christmas in Merseyside

After a couple of days at my parents house in Crank, I flew to Ireland to meet Caren for her PhD viva. Caren's incoming flight was diverted due to snow, but thankfully she still managed to get to Galway on time.

Nervously Waiting for the Viva Exam to Begin

After a lightening quick viva (1 hour, 45 minutes), Dr. Caren Crowley emerged triumphant (subject to the usual minor corrections of course).

Success! Champaign with the Examiners

After flying back to England I met up with Kev and Kiel, friends of mine from Lancaster University in Liverpool for a night on the town.

A Flaming Long Island Iced Tea

Heading Home on the Train after a Big Night Out

The following day, I collected Caren from Manchester Airport. That night we stayed at the historic Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, before heading down to Nottingham to spend the New Year at David and Zoe's house. We had a beautiful room in the Adelphi with a four poster bed, as you can see below:

A Delux Room in the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

Middleware 2010 in Bangalore, India

2010-12-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

I recently returned from the Middleware 2010 conference in Bangalore India, where I chaired the MidSens workshop and helped to deliver a tutorial on the Loosely-coupled Component Infrastructure (LooCI). It was also nice to see old colleagues from Lancaster University and K.U. Leuven.

I stayed in the Ramada near Indian Express Circle, right opposite one of the small Hindu temples that are dotted around Bangalore. Every morning I had to make a 5K trip accross town to the conference venue at the Chancery Pavillion.

The Bangalore traffic can be heavy, with cars, rickshaws, bikes and horses(!) so the best way to get around is by motorbike...

..like this family on their way to school, or by Rickshaw. Here you can see Nelson and Klaas from K.U. Leuven posing in a one (photo by Klaas):

The MidSens workshop went very well and it was great to see people getting to grips with the LooCI during the tutorial:

The conference banquet was excellent and featured Indian Dancing as entertainment. You can see a video of this below:

After the close of the conference, we got to see some of Bangalore's famous sites, including the great Hare Krishna temple, Iskcon. The Lalbach botanical gardens and the Bull Temple. There are some photos below:

The Iskcon Temple By Night

Climbing the Stone Hill in the Center of Lolbagh Park

Twisting Paths Through the Forest in Lalbagh Park

Wild Mokeys Outside of the Bull Temple

The Holy Bull Statue in the Bull Temple

Bangalore was excellent and I look forward to returning soon.

IEEE NESEA 2010 Conference Banquet

2010-12-07T00:49:00.000-08:00

Shortly after the first day of the conference closed, the attendees gathered for the group photo in the lobby of the XJTLU Conference Center Hotel:.

The Conference Group Photo

After the group session, we headed to the 5 Star Kempinksi Hotel, which hosted the conference banquet in a beautiful private room in the Wan Hu Ge resteraunt.

The Banquet at the Kempinski

After dinner, there was free flowing drinks at the Paulaner Brewhouse for all attendees. Thankfully our dedicated attendees were up bright and early for Friday's morning sesison.

Free Flowing Beer in the Paulaner Brew House

Suzhou was a great start to the NESEA Conference Series and I can't wait for NESEA 2011 in Perth, Australia. We hope to see you there!

IEEE NESEA 2010 Conference Sessions

2010-11-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Inaugural IEEE conference on Networked Embedded Systems for Enterprise Applications (NESEA 2010) just closed at XJTLU in Suzhou. It was a small, but tightly focused and high quality event with great discussion in all of the paper sessions.

The XJTLU Conference Center did a great job of hosting the event and made sure that everything was taken care of during the conference.

XJTLU's final-year Computer Science students were indispensible, manning the registration desk and helping the attendees. NESEA would not have been the same without them.

As local chair, I was honored to open the proceedings, and I even wore a suit for the occasion, which as you know, is very rare.

NESEA was a single-track event with ten academic papers and one keynote speech delivered over one and a half days. Papers were divided into four key themes: (i) application composition, (ii.) the tangible cloud, (iii.) secure routing and (iv.) hardware design. In the photo above, Dean Kramer from Thames Valley University, UK presents his work on MobDSL, a domain-specific language for developing mobile applications. This work won the best paper award in the DATICS-NESEA workshop.

It was extremely gratifying to see that the audience remained engaged throughout the event and that all of the authors got a good grilling on their work. I think that in-depth discussion is the hallmark of a good conference.

The main conference best paper award was given to Rabindra Bista from Chonbuk University, Korea for his paper "Assuring Integrity in Data Aggregation for Wireless Sensor Networks".

Of course, the conference banquet and social event were also a lot of fun. I will upload some photos of this next week when I return from Middleware'10 in Bangalore, India.

IWISA 2010 Conference in Qinhuangdao

2010-11-14T01:53:00.000-08:00

In late October my colleague Kaiyu and I flew to Qinhuangdao in the north-eastern Hebei province to attend the IWISA 2010 conference. The conference organizers were very hospitable and we had a great time at Yanshan University.

Kaiyu's Presentation on Context Aware SOA

After the conference, we had time to explore some of the Qinhuangdao sights and I was really excited to see the great wall for the first time.

Steps up to the Great Wall

The section of the great wall at Shanhai Guan near Qinhuangdao is the most easterly in China. At 'First Pass Under Heaven', the wall provides intimidating fortifications for the old city of Shanhai Guan.

Market Stalls Along the Top of the Wall

There are a series of towers along the top of the wall, inside of which are some historic artifacts. Below you can see a photo of me in front of Lin Lu tower, which dates from 1584 and an ancient tablet showing the progression of the animals in the Chinese calendar.

Lin Lu Tower

Chinese Animal Calendar: this is the Year of the Tiger.

A short taxi ride form First Pass Under Heaven is 'The Old Dragon Head' where the great wall meets the sea. This fortification was most recently to defend against Japanese pirates and it contains a number of Chinese naval relics.

Inside the Old Dragon Head Fort

The Old Dragon Head: where the Great Wall meets the Ocean

The Old Dragon Head is an impressive symbol of ancient China's achievemets. Standing on the wall and looking out into the Bohai Sea, it was possible to see dozens of huge ships waiting to dock. An impressive display of modern China's growing economic power.

The View Down the Coast to the Sea God Temple

Just down the coast from the wall, there is a small but pleasent shrine to the god of the sea, which was used by fishermen. Below you can see a statue of the sea god himself:

The God of the Sea

Tristan and Liv's Wedding in Changzhou

2010-10-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

Last Weekend, Caren and I were invited to a friend's wedding in Changzhou. Changzhou is about 90 minutes north of Suzhou, but Tristan and Liv had hired a bus, which made the journey really easy.

Heading to Changzhou

Our first stop was at the bride's parent's house, where according to Chinese tradition the whole wedding party collected the bride to take her to the ceremony. Lots of firecrackers were set off in celebration.

Collecting the Bride

Firecrackers!

After collecting the bride, the whole wedding party headed into Changzhou to the hotel where the reception would be held.

Tristan and Liv Greeting Guests at the Reception

The format of Chinese weddings is a little different to Western weddings, with the bride and groom taking to the stage at various times throughout the guests meal to make toasts.

Bubbles

Fireworks

The food and drink was all excellent. I tried my first good Baijiu (Chinese spirit) and also bird's nest soup, which I was assured is vegetarian, though I am skeptical. I think that even if I wasn't vegetarian, I wouldn't have tried the soft-shelled turtle. However, I'm told it was delicious.

Bird's Nest Soup

Soft Shelled Turtle

Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo

2010-09-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

Two of my Friends, Simon and Jenny were on honeymoon in Japan and invited me to join them for their last weekend where they were watching the Grand Sumo tournament in Tokyo. It sounded like fun, so I decided to join them.

I cashed in some air miles to pay for my plane ticket. There were no economy seats left, so I had to use my miles to fly business... but the generous measures of Glenfiddich persuaded me it was worthwhile...

Big Measures of Whisky in Business Class

As I was traveling alone, I decided to try one of Tokyo's 'Capsule Hotels' where you sleep in a coffin-like enclosure with its own alarm-clock, TV and radio. The capsule hotel had really good communal facilities and was very cheap for Tokyo at 25 pounds per night. You can see my room below:

My Capsule Hotel 'Room'

Before the tournament started I went with Si and Jenny to see some of Tokyo. Taking the lift to the upper floors of many high-rises affords fantastic views:

Tokyo Harbor

The City Skyline

The Sumo tournament itself was held at a stadium near Ryogoku subway station and it was really wierd to see Sumo wrestlers in full costume riding bikes, using the subway and generally just hanging out.

Mural at the Ryogoku Subway Station

The tournament itself was great fun. The early fights go very quickly, but by the end of the day, the biggest and best fighters get into some epic struggles:

The Wrestlers Square Off

Clashing Wrestlers

One thing I was surprised by was the McDonald's product placement. Is this the secret diet of sumo wrestlers?

Unfortunate Product Placement

All in all it was a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing Simon and Jenny again.

Visiting Research Position at K.U. Leuven, Summer 2010

2010-09-03T01:23:00.000-07:00

We spent this summer in Leuven, Belgium. Caren finished the first draft of her thesis and I was working with the WSN team in the DistriNet research group. We stayed in the Groot Begijnhof, a carefully restored religious community from the 13th century. The Groot Begjinhof is a UNESCO world heritage site and a wonderful place to live.

Inside the Begjinhof

Our Street (ours is the 2nd building on the left)

The View from our Loft Appartment

Caren Working in our Loft Appartment

I was working over in the Heverlee Campus of K.U. Leuven, which is right next to the Historic Arenberg Castle:

The Arenberg Castle

The Old Waterwheel

As we were working hard over the summer, we didn't get to make many trips, but we did make a trip over to Brugge, some photos of which you can see below:

Floating on the Canals of Brugge

The Bell Fort

The Chapel of the Holy Blood

My friend Kiel came to visit us for a weekend and he and I sampled a few Belgian beers at some great bars like Blauwe Kater in Leuven, Cambrinus in Brugge and Delirum Cafe in Brussels.

The Delirum Cafe, home of 2004 beers.

Kiel Drinking from a Skull in Le Cercueil (the Coffin in French)

Drinking in Cambrinus: Kiel has a Kwak and I have a Poirot

All in all it was a great trip. I hope to return to Leuven soon.

Sanya: "China's Hawaii"

2010-07-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

The next stop on my sister's visit was Sanya, a tropical island in Hainan province, which is sometimes referred to as 'China's' Hawaii.... and it was just that. Gorgeous tropical beaches, good infrastructure, friendly locals and cheap food and drink. Some photos follow:

Our Hotel - The Holiday Inn, Sanya Bay

Relaxing in the Pool

Relaxing on the Beach

And watching the Sunset. It's a hard life.

Chengdu

2010-06-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

My sister is visiting with me for two weeks. As I also had a conference in Chengdu, she accompanied me to Panda City.

Bizzarely, our five-star hotel provided every guest with a working gas mask! Your guess is as good as mine as to why.

The biggest attraction in Chengdu is the Panda Research Base, where you can see hundreds of giant pandas and red pandas.

The pandas seemed to enjoy human contact and posing for the camera.

It was a rainy day, but we perservered nonetheless. Here you see my sister on a rope-bridge.

The sites breeding program has been very successful including a pair of panda twins.

I think the best thing about the pandas was how human they looked while eating and playing.

Our next stop will be Sanya. I'll report in from there.

Visit to Ireland

2010-06-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a great visit to Ireland. Everyone was very friendly and I had a great time. Photos follow:

Saint Finbarre's Cathedral, Cork

A Nice Monument on the River Lee, Cork

Posing on the Lovely Campus of University College Cork

Chinese Wisdom, Cork Style (and how creepy is the fake sleeping cat)?

FutureTech 2010 in South Korea

2010-05-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I flew to Seoul in South Korea to attend the FutureTech 2010 conference. I really enjoyed my trip and found South Korea a pleasant and fun country.

In front of the steps of Seoul train station, there is a large display encouraging visitors to remember that the Korean war is not over, but is at an armistice. This is evident with tensions currently rising over the sinking of the Cheonan.

From Seoul, we took the high speed train south to the coastal city of Busan, where we stayed in a nice little motel that you can see above.

The conference was very well organized. I presented one paper and chaired two sessions at the DATICS workshop, as you can see above.

The conference center was in the beautiful Lotte hotel, which houses Busan's only casino (I lost about 20 pounds) and has great views of the city.

We had a free day in Busan, so we hopped on the subway and went to Hyundai Beach. I really wanted to swim in the Sea of Japan, but unfortunately it was raining, still we had a great day seeing the sights and tasting the local food.

Ka Lok and his Friends from Hong Kong

Walking to the Apex Conference Facility

The Apex Conference Facility

Rediscovering Old Suzhou

2010-05-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

Living in the ultra modern and international SIP area of Suzhou, its easy to forget that the old city of Suzhou has historic and picturesque areas. On Saturday, we took a much needed day off to relax and walk along the old road to Tiger Hill. Here's a few photos:

Traditional Canal Side Houses

View From the Bridge

Relaxing with a Cold Sapporo and a Glass of Wine in the Bookworm

In unrelated news, it looks like government regulations are being tightened up a big for the Shanghai Expo -- check out the changes to the terms and conditions for my apartment building:

Trip to Hangzhou

2010-03-14T04:21:00.000-07:00

It was my 30th birthday on Friday, which I celbrated with Mexican food and Margharitas at Casa Zoe.

For my birthday weekend, I took a little trip to Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou is famous in China as a scenic retreat, with lakes, mountain and forest. A few photos of my trip follow:

We Started at Longyin Village in the Mountains Above West Lake...

...had a quick a Snack...

...and walked down 18 Creeks trail...

...check out this cool water wheel...

...a dog in a Chinese coat...

...I loved the orderly terraces of tea...

...was surprised by some of the things hanging on a Chinese washing line...

Our walk ended by a beautiful waterfall and brilliant azure pool.

It was an excellent weekend. I look forward to returning to Hangzhou as soon as I can.

Research Visit to Brazil

2010-02-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a one month post as a visiting professor at the University of São Paulo at São Carlos, where I was working with my friend and former colleague Jo Ueyama. You can read about the work-side of our activities in Brazil here: http://www.sp-river.blogspot.com/. But it wasn't all work - I also spent a weekend on the São Sebastian beaches and went to Rio for Carnival weekend. Here are some photos:

The scenery on the drive between São Paulo and São Sebastian is spectacular, here you can see a forest waterfall in the Sierra Del Mar mountains.

Thanks to the hospitality of Jo's friends from USP, we were able to stay in a great little cottage in the forest, surrounded by forest, flowers and cool animals.

There was a creek behind the cottagee that you can swim in, here you see a swimmers-eye-view of Delano (our host, on the right) and Jo.

Here you can see some of the cool flora and fauna.

Compared to Rio the São Sebastian beaches were quiet and laid back, here's a shot of the beach at sunset.

In contrast, Rio was more glamerous and developed, though still very beautiful. Here is Copa Cabana beach where I stayed for the weekend.

Here is the younger, busier Ipanema Beach.

And here's a photo of me at the Ipanema Bloco parade with Alessandro, one of my hosts and other friends. What a great trip!

Visit to Shanghai and Brazil

2010-02-14T14:33:00.000-08:00

Wow, its been a long time since I posted here. I am currently on a research visit to the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and have been really, really busy. On the way to Brazil, I had a nice day in Shanghai, some photos of which are shown below:

Jade Buddha Temple

One of Many Impressive Statues of the Buddha

Monks Singing a Prayer

Caren Having a Beer in a Bar with Fishtank Tables

We had a great day shopping in Shanghai's art district, visiting the Jade Buddha temple and then having some drinks in this wierd bar with fish-tanks as tables.

Khalid the Droll

2010-01-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

I've settled back in here in Suzhou, China and (so far) I am sticking to my New Year's Resolutions (see last post).

I've wanted to post this for a while - during a great trip to New York in 2006 I caught a taping of the Daily Show with Calvin Trillin, an NYC 'deadline poet'... well it turns out, Calvin correctly predicted the Christmas Day 'Underpants Bomber' three years before it happened.

After spending 20 minutes finding, capturing and uploading this, it has just occurred to me that they probably played this clip on the Daily Show again this week (I catch-up on the Daily Show over the weekend over here in China).

We have nothing to fear except Khalid the Droll's sense of humor.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

This has been a good year for me. My six month visit to K.U. Leuven was very fulfiling from both a personal and a work perspective. My new job at XJTLU is working out well and China is starting to feel like home... so I guess its time for some New Year's Resolutions (in no particular order):

1. I will learn to speak Chinese.
2. I will see more of my friends and family.
3. I will balance my work and personal life better.
4. I will adopt a healthier life-style.
5. I will get a Chinese research grant.

I guess that's it! Now its blogged out, I guess I will have to keep my resolutions.

Visa Problem (!)

2009-12-29T05:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it had to happen eventually. I was supposed to head to India to present a workshop paper on my way back to China from December 27th - 29th, but I didn't have the right visa, and so I had to reroute my flight straight to Shanghai. I have no excuse either -- I should have checked whether I needed a visa, but after trips all over Asia without needing one I guess I got lazy.

It wasn't cheap re-routing my flight and worst of all it meant that I had left England early for no good reason (my classes don't start until next week) and could have spent more time with my friends and family. Ah well, c'est la vie!

Merry Christmas (from the UK)

2009-12-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

Well its Christmas day here in the UK and my week-long vacation is drawing to a close. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to India for a workshop, and from there back to China. Its been a great trip. I've spent time with my family and friends all over the north of England including Nantwich, Lancaster and Durham. I just wish I had a little longer to hang out and relax before flying off again. Here's a few shots and a route-map of my travels around the snowy English countryside:

My Tour (Nantwich > Lancaster > Carlisle > Durham > York > Manchester > Wigan)

Manchester Station

Durham Cathedral

Lancaster Station

Kuala Lumpur

2009-12-23T01:22:00.000-08:00

From December 12th to 16th I visited Kuala Lumpur for the ACM MOMM conferfence. The conference went well, and I presneted the first paper on LooCI, The Loosely-coupled Component Infrastructure, one of the main outputs of my research visit: you can check out the Sun SPOT port on Google Code. a Contiki port for more embedded WSN platforms is also coming soon.

Kuala Lumpur

I had a great time in Kuala Lumpur. Everyone was very friendly, and the resteraunts and bars were very good. It was only when I left for the airport on my last day that I realised how lush and naturally beautiful a country Malaysia is too. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned, so I don't have any photos of my own... Next stop, the north of England.

Urbana Champaign and Chicago

2009-12-13T14:23:00.001-08:00

Sorry its been so long since my last post. After Japan, I was super busy with teaching and writing papers, then two conferences... the first of which was MidSens in Urbana Champaign in Illinois. The workshop went very well with lots of productive discussion as well as good technical papers. It was also great to see my old colleagues and friends from Lancaster and DistriNet. There wasn't much to take photos of in Urbana, but here are a few shots from my day-trip to Chicago:

Union Station, Chicago

A Random Sky-Scraper

Looking down the 'Magnificent Mile'

Christmas Tree and Chapel on the Magnificent Mile.

No Use for a Name Gig in Fukuoka Japan

2009-11-06T03:41:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this blog entry from a brew pub on The Bund in Shanghai, where I am having a few beers while I wait for my train back to Suzhou. I had an AWESOME time in Fukuoka, Japan.

I flew in on Wednesday morning for a two-day break to see some of the 'real' Japan and watch No Use for a Name who were playing there at Drum-Be 21 the next day. I ended up running into the band the night before while I was drinking near the venue.

We hung out, they added me to the list and I had a blast the next night at the gig. No Use For A Name are all super nice guys, as are their crew. Photos follow:

On the Shanghai Mag-Lev heading to the Airport.

Fukuoka, from the Air.

A Crazy Chinese J-Pop Band the night before NUFAN

Drunken me, drunken band.

On the way back, some girls were chasing a Chinese pop star called August accross the airport.

A Lazy Saturday in Suzhou

2009-10-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

For once I didn't have a mountain of work waiting this weekend, so I took a ride...

...through Dushu Lake Higher Education Town (Soochow Uni. above)...

... along the shore of Jinji Lake...

...to Au Chan for some western food...

... and dog-sat for a friend.

I'm leaving for Japan next Wednesday to see No Use for a Name. Hopefully there will be some more interesting blog entries.

Day out in Shanghai

2009-10-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I took a day off and visited Shanghai with Michelle and Caren. Its changed a lot in the four years since I was last there. I seem to remember there is a Taco Bell there -- I must find it!

We took the 200KPH express train to Shanghai

One of many Impressive City Views

Wandering through the alleys of the French consession

A Shanghai Sky-Scraper

Busy Shanghai streets and the Peal Tower in the distance.

Sight Seeing and Dinner on Jinjihu Lake

2009-09-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Its a holiday week in China, but I'm still working on my teaching :-) still, today we escaped to do a bit of sightseeing at a nearby 'water village' before having a yummy dinner overlooking Jinjihu Lake. Photos below:

Enterence to the Water Town

Traditional Canals

Accross Jinjihu Lake to the Neon-Soaked City

Some photos of SIP

2009-09-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos of the Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park where I live:

My University as Seen from my Balcony

Times Square: A Neon Bathed Center with Reseraunts and Shops

Looking Along the Canal to the Lake

Coffin-Shaped Neon Sky-Scrapers

A Cheap and Awesome Thing I Bought

2009-09-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Working in Front of the TV now rules...

My New Office

2009-09-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

I moved into my office today, which I think it pretty nice. Here are a few photos...

Danny's View

Visitor's View

View from my Window

Beisi Ta and Xuanmiao Guan

2009-08-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I checked out some of the historic sights in Suzhou with some friends from XJTLU. We had a yummy lunch on the main shopping street, then checked out the Xuanmiao Guan (a Daoist Temple of Mysetery) and Beisi Ta (North Pagoda), which were both built during the 3rd century AD.

Offerings Outside of Xuanmiao

One Horned Cow Statue in Xuanmiao

Giant Stone Statue in fron of Beisi Ta

Beisi Ta (North Pagoda)

Budda Statue at the Base of Beisi Ta

View from the Top of Beisi Ta

Golden Budda in the Temple Adjacent to Beisi Ta

Drinking in Suzhou (on Shi Quan Jie)

2009-08-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

I had a good night out on Suzhou's main bar street Shi Quan Jie. The best pubs I tried were Pulp Fiction, a decent Aussie bar which claimed to have Delerium Tremens, though it was off when I visited.

I spent most of the night though in Quahog Rhode Island at the Drunken Clam! Check it out -- it looks just like the bar from Family Guy.

Awesome bar, good night.

First Day at Work / Extreme Window Cleaning

2009-08-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

I've begun to settle in. I had a good first day at work, went shopping and cooked my first proper meal in my apartment (tofu, chilli and seaweed noodles). Below are a few photos of XJTL University, and (for fun) I included a shot of how they clean apartment blocks in China -- its an extreme sport!

Another New Start

2009-08-23T07:09:00.000-07:00

I arrived in China today and moved into my appartment in Suzhou. Everything is very nice and I'm looking forward to my first day of work tomorrow! Here's some shots:

Danny's Travel Blog

New Year's Resolutions / Happy 2012

Trip to Paris

Middleware 2011 in Lisboa, Portugal

We Have a New Arrival this Christmas

NESEA 2011 in Perth, Australia (2/2)

NESEA 2011 in Perth, Australia (1/2)

Summer Holiday (3/3) New Orleans

Summer Holiday (2/3) Amtrak Crescent

Summer Holiday (1/3) Larchmont and NYC

Goodbye China

Hiking Qionglong Mountain

Long Weekend in Hong Kong

Snowboarding in Hebei Province, China

Spring Festival in Beijing

Escaping Winter on Sanya Bay

Christmas 2010 in the UK and Ireland

Middleware 2010 in Bangalore, India

IEEE NESEA 2010 Conference Banquet

IEEE NESEA 2010 Conference Sessions

IWISA 2010 Conference in Qinhuangdao

Tristan and Liv's Wedding in Changzhou

Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo

Visiting Research Position at K.U. Leuven, Summer 2010

Sanya: "China's Hawaii"

Chengdu

Visit to Ireland

FutureTech 2010 in South Korea

Rediscovering Old Suzhou

Trip to Hangzhou

Research Visit to Brazil

Visit to Shanghai and Brazil

Khalid the Droll

Happy New Year!

Visa Problem (!)

Merry Christmas (from the UK)

Kuala Lumpur

Urbana Champaign and Chicago

No Use for a Name Gig in Fukuoka Japan

A Lazy Saturday in Suzhou

Day out in Shanghai

Sight Seeing and Dinner on Jinjihu Lake

Some photos of SIP

A Cheap and Awesome Thing I Bought

My New Office

Beisi Ta and Xuanmiao Guan

Drinking in Suzhou (on Shi Quan Jie)

First Day at Work / Extreme Window Cleaning

*Another* New Start

Another New Start