Visa Problem (!)

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!

Kuala Lumpur

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

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

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.

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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

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

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

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

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

Working in Front of the TV now rules...

My New Office

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

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)

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

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

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: