Japan

According to Wikipedia, Japan is the land of the rising sun. A Google search reveals that the sun rises in the East. How come we had to travel west-bound to fly from Chicago to Tokyo?

Japan has a very interesting history. Please check out this video for a brief and very funny overview.

We decided to visit Tokyo and Kyoto. The two cities that couldn't be further apart from each other. One is a mega city with about 35 million people living and working there. It seems we saw each and everyone of them. They all navigated trains and other "obstacles" with ease.



Tokyo by Night

Kyoto is rich in tradition and made us feel warm and calm. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at a ryokan with an Onsen, which is a traditional Japanese guesthouse with a hot spring. For novices like us, the this guide was very enlightening. 

Instead of valet parking your car, our shoes were valeted when we arrived, since everyone leaves there shoes outside the guesthouse. When we went for a walk late at night, our shoes were ready for us. Don't ask me how they knew which shoes belong to which guest ... without a ticket.

 Most people have seen torii gates, a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of a shrine. One of the probably most photographed torii in the US is found at Epcot. However, there is no comparison what Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto has to offer. There are a vermillion torii gates that eventually lead to the shrine. A wonderful experience to walk all the way around. Tip: get up early in the morning and you won't see that many people, if you want to take a nice shot.

Torii Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine

On the other side, wait until late afternoon to visit the golden temple so that you can fully appreciate the colors of this magnificent structure when the sunlight creates a reflection in the pond.

Kinkaku-ji

Despite (or maybe because) of the dense population in Japan, it was our experience that they are very friendly, kind and absolutely organized. There are so many other sites that we didn't see, I doubt that this will remain the only time we go there.

A Universal Windows Application

Ever since I attended the Build 2015 conference last spring I was tempted to write a new Universal Windows Application, which runs on a potential huge number of devices that are all part of a humongous eco system supported by Windows 10.

I don't always watch movies on my PC, but when I do, I use DarkScreen!

Here was my problem: My setup consists of a desktop with 2 rather large screens. When I watch a movie on one of the screens the second screen still shows the desktop and is very distracting. This app runs in full screen mode and blacks out the second screen or any other screen for that matter. The screen turns completely dark after a period of no activity on the DarkScreen window.

DarkScreen screenshot

 

Publishing the application to the Windows store was a very easy process and after about 12 hours the application was available for download to all users.

It was very unfortunate that Microsoft decided to unpublish the application, after a while of inactivity. 

Napa Valley

One hears a lot about wine from Napa. We had the opportunity to join another couple to Napa Valley to enjoy life the way it was intended. Eating, enjoying good wines and good company. From sparkling wine over crisp Chardonnay to a red wine with a finish of blackberries we enjoyed every sip.

Ripe Grapes

Now we are back home and we have all these wonderful memories that make a typical day in the office seem to be almost pleasant again.

Paris

There is nothing wrong with going to Paris for a second or third time (or 4th or 5th), right? There are so many museums to see and the new Picasso museum just opened this year. I was floored to see one of my favorite painting in the flesh (actually oil) that I made a stained glass from - Grand Nature Morte au Guéridon.

Gargoyle at Notre Dame



The view from Notre Dame towards Sacré-Cœur is rewarding after standing in line for a couple of hours, but it is so worth it.

Train Ride in Switzerland

Not that I am a train buff, but riding the steam train of the Furka Oberalp railway was definitely one of the highlights of this year. The cogwheel railway was reopened in 2010 to the public during the summer, after a maintenance crew re-installs a bridge every spring (otherwise it would be swept away by avalanches).

Steam Engine of Furka Oberalp

The vintage engine gets a well-deserved rest at the entrance of the summit tunnel.

San Francisco

In spring I was fortunate enough to "have to go" to San Francisco to attend the BUILD conference from Microsoft, where they introduced Windows 10 to the developer community. We added a couple of days and spent time to explore one of the cities that have a very unique character.

Golden Gate Bridge

We rented bikes and rode them over the Golden Gate to Sausalito. I remember it was very windy, and the fog just added a little mystery to the experienced of the iconic bridge.

Arizona

It started with Ruth having to go to Tucson on a business trip. As I have not been to Arizona at all, we thought that we could spend a couple of days checking out the country side and drive up North to Page to see the Southern Antelope Canyon and bring home a couple of nice pictures.

Antelope Canyon

Being in the canyon and shoot pictures on a mandatory tripod was an experience that I will not forget for quite some time. Very unique, dusty and so colorful.
On the way back we visited the Biosphere 2 facility, one of those man-built structures that have fascinated me since it opened, but I never knew exactly where it was. It was definitely worth stopping.

Because the entire structure is sealed, the air pressure change must be handled somehow to adjust for the difference in temperature between day and night. The above dome contains a membrane that keeps the pressure constant. Pretty amazing what technical challenges they had to overcome.