Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo

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

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.