Delayed

Should have been on the plane now to Jiuzhaigou. But flight has been delayed to 3 pm. So I have some time at hand to blog just a little.

Came back yesterday from Kyoto after attending (and presenting at) Sony Ericsson Creative Design Centre's Summer Conference. What an eye-opening opportunity! Sure there were butterflies in the tummy leading up to the presentation but well, actually it ain't too bad. The best part is, a bunch of Sony guys came to us after the presentation and said they were impressed and very interested in the presentation - that was dope :)))

Being amongst a bunch very creative (and some very cute) designers indeed was awe-inspiring. Attending one of the workshops, witnessing the sparks of ideas permeating the highly charged atmosphere - priceless.

Great too was the free day on the first day where my colleagues and I roamed the streets if Kyoto city, ending the night with a sumptuous meal of sukiyaki and shabu-shabu. The following, we jumped on the tour organised by SE. There were 3 that we could choose from - the first two would bring us to places that normal tour itineraries would to so we chose the third which included a Japanese tea ceremony ritual which we were highly interested in. But alas, time ran out and we missed the ceremony which was held at a temple that closed at 4.30 pm.

Nevertheless, we managed to visit 3 other temples - 1) the 1000-year-old Byodoin temple, 2) a temple which was dedicated to the fox deity, and 3) the 600-year-old Taizo-in temple at which we had dinner accompanied by live traditional Japanese music. The highlight of the meal was the Mustard Tofu - an unassuming ball of beancurd which stings the unaware with its wasabi core. Haha ... many fell into that pit! Not me though, cuz I took small small bites and saw the green core before it had the chance to do any damage.

The awesome dinner was followed by a short and simple green tea appreciation. Have a piece of sweet cake to kick-start, rotate the bowl of green tea in your hands two rounds clockwise, drink it in 3 and half gulps, rotate the bowl two rounds anti-clockwise.

After that, we pitted our skills at calligraphy. It was great fun seeing the Swedes have a hand at writing Chinese (or Japanese) and honestly, some of them weren't too bad! Almost as good as mine ... haha ... of course, I sucked at it. I wrote "LOVE".

The grand finale to this trip was a lavish dinner complete with geisha entertainment on our last day in Kyoto. What an art, being a geisha! A great trip through and through - shopping was amazing too ... love the tender, loving, care the Japanese put into presenting their goods so beautifully! And the handicrafts are just so irresistible. No doubt, I'll be back for more.

But now, I'm here ... waiting to jump on the delayed flight to Chengdu.

Pictures later - combo of Cairo, Kyoto and Chengdu/Jiuzhaigou.