Digital Portfolio

Now I have uploaded online my digital portfolio. Its been a long process to get my portfolio to this stage... definitely something that could not be rushed. However I have a problem... the digital online version lacks the intimacy of the physical version I created.

Open publication - Free publishing - More architect

This brings to me to the whole 'tablets will kill the book' argument. I agree that tablets will likely take over certain reading markets, but I disagree that it will take over the entire market. I find my portfolio online looks too sharp and crisp, lacking the softness that paper instills. Right now its difficult to duplicate that softness through a screen. Yes we have the 'Epaper' replacement for a lot of eReaders, but its not yet here for the standard computer screen. Epaper will have the image quality I achieved with a physical portfolio, but unless the screen is in the format of the paper, it will still be missing the feel I am trying to achieve.

Now I could format my entire portfolio to mimic the formats found on tablets, but which tablet do I choose. The popular Apple format? The dozens of other formats that range from 7" to 12" screens... OR do I just go for the phone app market...

This is why the portfolio as a physical object will and must continue on. The physical portfolio provides my own definition and not an imposed definition by technology. Taking experience from Japan I've developed a physical portfolio that lacks a centre groove, a key feature taking my portfolio from two demarcated pages to a single wide format.

Next week I'll be producing my portfolio in a physical format and will document the process of creating a grooveless book.

Digesting Japan

I have now been back to Canada for 2 and half weeks and I have been able to digest a little of my experiences in Japan. Reflecting back on Japan has been much different than it was when I looked back on things when I returned from China.

When I left China I was stressed and tired of the the conditions that I was living in and the work I was doing, not to count that I was attempting to prepare for a thesis more than 7000km away from school. However, I left Japan grudgingly. I did not want to leave Japan and did a lot to try to remain in the country.

I applied to more than 20 firms in Tokyo and the surrounding area in the hopes that I could land a decent job. A few firms replied to my applications with mostly the same answer, they had no positions at the time. One firm wanted to hirer me immediately, but could not pay me anything. One would think that due to the events in the north of Japan that there would be a boom for construction, it was not the case. While construction was taking place, Japanese complicated system of corporations took the majority of the work. This left smaller firms out of luck. Unable to get the architectural job I was looking for and having an expiring entry permit, it was time for me to leave Japan.

I miss Tokyo. It has been hard to process things in Japan while I reside in my hometown. The juxtaposition of the dense urban environment of Tokyo and the familiarity of my rural hometown has left me feeling lost. I was only gone for exactly 3 months and while everything in Japan was new to me, return home in that short time to see a world I left the exact same. What felt like many months of living in Tokyo was only a short period of time felt back home. Many times my family and friends would not see me for periods of time longer than 3 months with school, work and living hundreds of kilometers from home.

I miss Japan. Anyone who have traveled to Japan for any extended period of time always feel a longing to return. Its a world completely opposite to ours, but opposite in a wonderful way. Its a world that many of us could replicate on some scale social, politically, and architecturally way. The density of Tokyo provided me an almost comforting claustrophobia. You were never far from many amenities and if you had a distance to travel, it was easily reachable. Now living in my rural hometown, vast distances and open space feel frightening.

I miss structure. I have been swimming in the Ottawa river near my hometown and I see it in a totally different perspective. My time in Japan has altered my perception of the space around me. I appreciate the openness I have here, but miss the proximity that I had with people and places. I was altering my lifestyle in Tokyo and was starting to enjoy the living style I could have there. To be back I have longed to continue that lifestyle, but have been having a hard time pushing myself back into it. I fear that I may slump back in to the routine I had before I left.

I miss my friends in Japan. I met many people in Japan, many more than I did when I was in China. My friends in Japan folded me into their groups where I was able to meet many more friends. Not counting my friends in Canada, but the friends I made in Japan was far easier to make than here in Canada. I found that I could make friends with vastly different types of people in Japan while in Canada I find that people lump themselves into tight social groups. The social structures in Japan seem to be a bit more fluid, where the work social structures could be abandoned for a different social structure. But what I miss most of all about my friends was the eagerness to remain friends. Many of my newly made friends would continuously follow up with me when I hadn't communicated for a couple days and others would urge me to come join them for parties and events.

I miss the unknown. Tokyo presented me with an almost continuously changing landscape to explore. I would never be able to see all of Tokyo, and even if I could the turn over of spaces in Tokyo would render my previous explorations useless. Tokyo is a massive organism that is continuously changing, rebuilding, collapsing and modifying itself. My fondest memory of Tokyo is my train rides to work where I would stair across the never ending urban landscape. The city went on forever and so could my explorations.

I will be back to Japan. I has changed me to the core and I must get back to Japan.

Higashiizu Onsen

So this past weekend I journeyed south of the Tokyo to Shizuoka prefecture to the town of Higashiizu; a town of about 17,000. The day started off with a trip to Ikea (or as the Japanese pronouce it ee-kay-ah, which confused me as a town or something before I realized it was EYE-kea). The reason for the trip to Ikea was to save some $$$, jump the free shuttle from Tokyo to Yokohama's Ikea, and then the free shuttle from Ikea to Yokohama-shin station... At the Ikea I grabbed some breakfast, which turned out to be not bad, and the coffee was really great help.

Ikea waiting for the Shuttle Bus to Yokohama-shin

The next stage of the journey was some train hoping to get south to Shizuoka... we were a little held up by taking the wrong train, but cleared it up and only lost 30mins or so. The journey was entertaining, the terrain changed from the flat urban sprawl of Tokyo to the ever steepening mountains to the south. If I was to travel a little more south east I would have been in the region of Mt. Fuji. Its nice to see even though Japan is highly urbanized, its a very lush island.

Steepening Terrain

The station in Higashiizu was quite rural with only one gate, though luckily my metro pass worked all the way south of Tokyo. We found our short bus driver and ended up waiting in the van until the driver knew there was no one else coming (which there wasn't, we were the only people heading to that onsen).

Waiting in the Shuttle Bus in Higashiizun

The first thing you notice when arriving into Higashiizu is these towers similar to old oil drilling towers, but this are markers for the hot spring wells. This region was know for hot springs of high mineral content, so this region had a bit of a fart smell of the sulfurs in the waters. Waiting in the van I noticed the place was very rough around the edges, and would not be the last of noticing that.

The bus ride was a short tight turning journey through the town, which from the windows didn't look overly entertaining with most store-fronts locked up with metal shutters. The onsen hotel was located on a dead-end bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It appears this onsen was an amalgamation of 3 separate onsens. We were greeted by a nice heavyset receptionist couple that told us about the hotels amenities and the times for the onsens. The times were a little confusing for me as I couldn't follow along with all what they were saying. 

The room was much much bigger than I expected. It was a large multi room space with a nice bathroom with tub and shower, an anti room, a reception space, and the main room that included a dining space, beds, sitting area and balcony. The balcony had a nice view of the gloomy day, but the sound of the ocean on the rocks was really soothing. 

As soon as getting settled we were off to the onsens to relax. After figuring out how to put on the robe (which I forget its proper name) I was off to the onsen. The onsen has a few conventions that should be done. When entering the change room you choose your basket, disrobe and put your belongings in basket. Grab a glass of water (which I would find out later why). Just before entering I noticed a elderly gentleman (fully naked at that) weighing himself and I decided to do the same.... before entering the onsen I was 73kg.

When in the onsen you choose one of the many showers to clean yourself before entering the waters. This isn't like showers in public pools in Canada, this is fully outfitted shower spaces with mirrors, an array of soaps and shampoo and other skin care products. After that you grab a small bucket and scoop up some of the onsen waters... you douse your feet to chest as to relax your body to the 'shock' of the waters (as I was told). 

The waters were amazing. The onsen waters were naturally ground heated to 85C and then tempered to an acceptable temperature with sea water. What you are left with is a really smooth feeling water. I boiled away in the onsen for a long while... and then I chose to go outside to the outdoor onsen. I was along and had a great view of the shoreline. The outdoor onsen was much hotter than the indoor waters... I alternated roasting in the waters and relaxing on the cedar lounge chairs.

Lounging I was able to take in the details of the onsen. This onsen had seen some better days. Its obviously the product of the 1980's boom period of rapid construction. The soffit and large chunk of the roof had rotted away from the outdoor waters... there was many areas where the salt waters had not be kind to the building. It baffles my why steel and aluminium was utilized in a climate of salty air and steamy waters. Made me want to think of ways of designing an onsen that can pass the test of time.

After roasting a long long time in the waters I left to dry off and get ready for dinner. Just before leaving I weighed by self again, 71kg!!! I lost 2kg from just sweating and would soon notice those effects, my thirst for water all night was insatiable. 

The dinner was really really good and I ate and ate from the buffet of sashimi and other treats. One of the highlights was chunks of pineapple that I could not believe could be so sweet. Usually I do not like pineapple, but this was almost like eating candy it was so sweet tasting. 

After dinner my friend urged me in my bloated state to go try a special onsen that had healing properties... so I joined and roasted some more. After returning to the room to restock on some water we headed to the reserved onsen room to chill. Was very disappointed to find that the brochure showed a nice view from the room and when entering the room the windows had been masked with film for privacy. We pried open a window for cooler air and found that we faced the parking lot and a giant rusting expansion tank for the onsen waters... 

Natural Onsen Waters returning to the sea

After that roast is was off to bed... and slept amazingly to the sound of the ocean. Waking up for breakfast was rough as the breakfast was from from 7-8:30am... after chowing down on some authentic Japanese and western breakfast treats I returned to my room. My friend chose to go to the onsen after breakfast, but I was too full and slept some more to the sound of the ocean, very very relaxing...

After that we checked out of the hotel and decided to walk back to the train station. On the way we stopped off a souvenir shop to pick up some traditional gifts.  I bought some treats for people at work and for family back home. After that it was the long journey back to Tokyo.

In all it was a great weekend, but obviously too short. I would love to do a tour of Japan's onsens, especially at the right time of year... fall and winter... nothing better than cool air and hot waters. Hope to get to another onsen very soon.