index.xml (216383B)
1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?> 2 <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"> 3 <channel> 4 <title>Posts on Chris Bracken</title> 5 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/post/</link> 6 <description>Recent content in Posts on Chris Bracken</description> 7 <generator>Hugo -- gohugo.io</generator> 8 <language>en</language> 9 <lastBuildDate>Fri, 22 May 2020 14:55:23 -0700</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/index.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> 10 <item> 11 <title>Thoughts on Licences</title> 12 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2020/05/thoughts-on-licences/</link> 13 <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2020 14:55:23 -0700</pubDate> 14 15 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2020/05/thoughts-on-licences/</guid> 16 <description><p>Software licences are probably the single most boring aspect of software 17 development, but it&rsquo;s important to carefully consider the terms under which the 18 stuff I hack on is shared to ensure they&rsquo;re consistent with my values. Despite 19 my general dislike for all things legalistic, the most unambiguous way to state 20 those terms is through a licence. So a couple days ago, I tossed LICENSE files 21 into any of my public <a href="https://chris.bracken.jp/code">repos</a> that didn&rsquo;t already have one.</p> 22 <p>So how did I settle on which licences to apply? Jump on into the DeLorean and 23 let&rsquo;s set the dial back to the late 1980s.</p> 24 <p>It&rsquo;s 1986 and I&rsquo;ve got a 1200 baud modem wired up to a beat-up 286 with a steel 25 case that would easily allow it to double as a boat anchor if needed. Armed 26 with a dot-matrix printout of local BBSes with names like Camelot, Tommy&rsquo;s 27 Holiday Camp, and Forbidden Night Castle, I fire up PC-Talk. A series of 28 <a href="https://www.windytan.com/2012/11/the-sound-of-dialup-pictured.html">high-pitched squeals and tones</a> fill the air, then text 29 flashes across the screen. I&rsquo;m online.</p> 30 <p>BBSes were a treasure trove of information, filled to the brim with zip archives 31 full of downloadable programs, source code, patches for existing programs, and 32 all manner of text files with names like <a href="https://insecure.org/stf/smashstack.html">Smashing The Stack For Fun And 33 Profit</a>. You could find everything from how to crack copy-protected 34 software, to details on phone phreaking, to how to make nitroglycerine from 35 commonly-available household items. It was through BBSes that I first downloaded 36 an I&rsquo;m sure <em>totally legitimate</em> copy of Borland Turbo C++ and took my first 37 baby steps writing <em>real</em> programs. No more BASIC for me.</p> 38 <p>This culture of open sharing in the online world has had a huge impact on me. 39 From those early experiences with BBSes to my first forays onto the Internet a 40 few years later, seeing people openly sharing code and patches and helping each 41 other solve problems over Usenet seemed almost revolutionary to me at the time. 42 In some ways, it still does. I feel lucky to have been a part of it from such an 43 early age.</p> 44 <p>The end result is that I try to publicly share all the work I do. So when it 45 came time to chuck licences on stuff, I sat down to work out a personals ad for 46 my ideal licence. Aside from enjoying long walks on the beach, it should:</p> 47 <ol> 48 <li>Allow free use, modification, and distribution both of the original 49 work and any derived works.</li> 50 <li>Require that people distributing the work or any derived work to 51 give appropriate credit.</li> 52 <li>Disallow suggesting that I in any way endorse any derived products 53 or whoever produces them.</li> 54 <li>Gently encourage a culture of open exchange and sharing of 55 information and techniques.</li> 56 <li>Be short, clear, and easy to understand.</li> 57 </ol> 58 <p>On the software side, there were lots of options, but the best matches in my 59 mind are the <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT">MIT</a> or <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause">BSD</a> licences. The 3-clause 60 &rsquo;new&rsquo; BSD licence has an advantage in that it required written permission from 61 the author to use their name in any endorsement/promotion of a derived work. 62 That happens to be what we already use for <a href="https://github.com/flutter/flutter">work</a>.</p> 63 <p>On the content side, I&rsquo;ve always posted my web site&rsquo;s content under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative 64 Commons Attribution-ShareAlike</a> licence. But I don&rsquo;t believe that&rsquo;s 65 actually the ideal match based on my priorities. Why is it that I&rsquo;ve elected to 66 use a licence that requires that derived works also be licensed under the same 67 terms rather than under whatever terms someone feels like, so long as 68 acknowledgement is given? In the end I settled on the more permissive <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative 69 Commons Attribution</a> licence.</p> 70 <p>This feels to me a bit like the difference between <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause">BSD</a> and 71 <a href="https://opensource.org/licenses/GPL-3.0">GPL</a> terms, where the latter requires that derived works also be 72 GPL-licensed. This &ldquo;viral&rdquo; nature has always rubbed me the wrong way: rather 73 than gently promoting a culture of sharing by example, it legally <em>requires</em> 74 sharing under the same terms whether or not you want to.</p> 75 <p>Personally, I&rsquo;d like for people to do the right thing and share their work for 76 everyone&rsquo;s benefit not because they <em>have</em> to, but because they <em>want</em> to. If 77 they don&rsquo;t want to, why should my reaction be to disallow their use of my work? 78 Isn&rsquo;t that contrary to my stated goals of sharing as much and as broadly as 79 possible?</p> 80 <p>While I <em>hope</em> that more people share more of their work, it doesn&rsquo;t bother me 81 if you don&rsquo;t. If anything I&rsquo;ve written is somehow useful to you, I&rsquo;m glad. Use 82 your knowledge to help others and make the world a better place, and if you can 83 find time to do so, share a bit with the rest of us.</p> 84 <p>Got thoughts and opinions on licences? Fire an email my way at 85 <a href="mailto:chris@bracken.jp">chris@bracken.jp</a>.</p> 86 </description> 87 </item> 88 89 <item> 90 <title>Hand-decoding an ELF binary image</title> 91 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2018/10/decoding-an-elf-binary/</link> 92 <pubDate>Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 93 94 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2018/10/decoding-an-elf-binary/</guid> 95 <description><p>While recovering from some dentistry the other day I figured I&rsquo;d have a go at 96 better understanding the ELF binary format. What better way to do that than to 97 compile a small program and hand-decode the resulting binary with a hex editor 98 and whatever ELF format spec I could find.</p> 99 <h2 id="overview">Overview</h2> 100 <p>Below, we&rsquo;ll use <code>nasm</code> to build a small assembly Hello World program to a 101 64-bit ELF object file, then link that into an ELF executable with GNU <code>ld</code>. 102 Finally, we&rsquo;ll run the resulting object file and binary image through <code>xxd</code> and 103 hand-decode the resulting hex.</p> 104 <p>The code and instructions below work on FreeBSD 11 on x86_64 hardware. For 105 other operating systems, hardware, and toolchains, you&rsquo;re on your own! I&rsquo;d 106 imagine this should all work just fine on Linux. If I get bored one day, I may 107 redo this for Mach-O binaries on macOS.</p> 108 <h2 id="helloasm">hello.asm</h2> 109 <p>First we&rsquo;ll bang up a minimal Hello World program in assembly. In the <code>.data</code> 110 section, we add a null-terminated string, <code>hello</code>, and its length <code>hbytes</code>. In 111 the program text, we set up and execute the <code>write(stdout, hello, hbytes)</code> 112 syscall, then set up and execute an <code>exit(0)</code> syscall.</p> 113 <p>Note that 64-bit FreeBSD, macOS, and Linux all use the SysV AMD64 calling 114 convention. For calls against the kernel interface, the syscall number is 115 stored in <code>rax</code> and up to six parameters are passed, in order, in <code>rdi</code>, <code>rsi</code>, 116 <code>rdx</code>, <code>r10</code>, <code>r8</code>, <code>r9</code>. For user calls, replace <code>r10</code> with <code>rcx</code> in this 117 list, and pass further arguments on the stack. In all cases, the return value 118 is passed through <code>rax</code>. More details can be found in section A.2.1 of the 119 <a href="https://software.intel.com/sites/default/files/article/402129/mpx-linux64-abi.pdf">System V AMD64 ABI Reference</a>.</p> 120 <pre><code>; hello.asm 121 122 %define stdin 0 123 %define stdout 1 124 %define stderr 2 125 %define SYS_exit 1 126 %define SYS_write 4 127 128 %macro system 1 129 mov rax, %1 130 syscall 131 %endmacro 132 133 %macro sys.exit 0 134 system SYS_exit 135 %endmacro 136 137 %macro sys.write 0 138 system SYS_write 139 %endmacro 140 141 section .data 142 hello db 'Hello, World!', 0Ah 143 hbytes equ $-hello 144 145 section .text 146 global _start 147 _start: 148 mov rdi, stdout 149 mov rsi, hello 150 mov rdx, hbytes 151 sys.write 152 153 xor rdi,rdi 154 sys.exit 155 </code></pre> 156 <h2 id="compile-to-object-code">Compile to object code</h2> 157 <p>Next, we&rsquo;ll compile <code>hello.asm</code> to a 64-bit ELF object file using <code>nasm</code>:</p> 158 <pre><code>% nasm -f elf64 hello.asm 159 </code></pre> 160 <p>This emits <code>hello.o</code>, an 880-byte ELF-64 object file. Since we haven&rsquo;t yet run 161 this through the linker, addresses of global symbols (in this case, <code>hello</code>) 162 are not yet known and thus left with address 0x0 placeholders. We can see this 163 in the <code>movabs</code> instruction at offset 0x15 of the <code>.text</code> section below.</p> 164 <p>The relocation section (Section 6: <code>.rela.text</code>) contains an entry for each 165 symbolic reference that needs to be filled in by the linker. In this case 166 there&rsquo;s just a single entry for the symbol <code>hello</code> (which points to our hello 167 world string). The relocation table entry&rsquo;s <code>r_offset</code> indicates the address to 168 replace is at an offset of 0x7 into the section of the associated symbol table 169 entry. Its <code>r_info</code> (0x0000000200000001) encodes a relocation type in its lower 170 4 bytes (0x1: <code>R_AMD64_64</code>) and the associated symbol table entry in its upper 171 4 bytes (0x2, which, if we look it up in the symbol table is the <code>.text</code> 172 section). The <code>r_addend</code> field (0x0) specifies an additional adjustment to the 173 substituted symbol to be applied at link time; specifically, for the 174 <code>R_AMD64_64</code>, the final address is computed as S + A, where S is the 175 substituted symbol value (in our case, the address of <code>hello</code>) and A is the 176 addend (in our case, 0x0).</p> 177 <p>Without further ado, let&rsquo;s dump the object file:</p> 178 <pre><code>% xxd hello.o 179 </code></pre> 180 <p>With whatever ELF64 <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19120-01/open.solaris/819-0690/index.html">linker &amp; loader guide</a> we can find at hand, 181 let&rsquo;s get decoding this thing:</p> 182 <h3 id="elf-header">ELF Header</h3> 183 <pre><code>|00000000: 7f45 4c46 0201 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000| .ELF............ 184 |00000010: 0100 3e00 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ..&gt;............. 185 |00000020: 0000 0000 0000 0000 4000 0000 0000 0000| ........@....... 186 |00000030: 0000 0000 4000 0000 0000 4000 0700 0300| ....@.....@..... 187 188 e_ident[EI_MAG0..EI_MAG3] 0x7f + ELF Magic 189 e_ident[EI_CLASS] 0x02 64-bit 190 e_ident[EI_DATA] 0x01 Little-endian 191 e_ident[EI_VERSION] 0x01 ELF v1 192 e_ident[EI_OSABI] 0x00 System V 193 e_ident[EI_ABIVERSION] 0x00 Unused 194 e_ident[EI_PAD] 0x00000000000000 7 bytes unused padding 195 e_type 0x0001 ET_REL 196 e_machine 0x003e x86_64 197 e_version 0x00000001 Version 1 198 e_entry 0x0000000000000000 Entrypoint address (none) 199 e_phoff 0x0000000000000000 Program header table offset in image 200 e_shoff 0x0000000000000040 Section header table offset in image 201 e_flags 0x00000000 Architecture-dependent interpretation 202 e_ehsize 0x0040 Size of this ELF header (64B) 203 e_phentsize 0x0000 Size of program header table entry 204 e_phnum 0x0000 Number of program header table entries 205 e_shentsize 0x0040 Size of section header table entry (64B) 206 e_shnum 0x0007 Number of section header table entries 207 e_shstrndx 0x0003 Index of section header for .shstrtab 208 </code></pre> 209 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-0-null">Section header table: Entry 0 (null)</h3> 210 <pre><code>|00000040: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 211 |00000050: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 212 |00000060: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 213 |00000070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 214 215 sh_name 0x00000000 Offset into .shstrtab 216 sh_type 0x00000000 SHT_NULL 217 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 218 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 219 sh_offset 0x0000000000000000 Offset of section in file image 220 sh_size 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of section in file image 221 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 222 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 223 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000000 Alignment 224 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 225 </code></pre> 226 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-1-data">Section header table: Entry 1 (.data)</h3> 227 <pre><code>|00000080: 0100 0000 0100 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000| ................ 228 |00000090: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0002 0000 0000 0000| ................ 229 |000000a0: 0e00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 230 |000000b0: 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 231 232 sh_name 0x00000001 Offset into .shstrtab 233 sh_type 0x00000001 SHT_PROGBITS 234 sh_flags 0x0000000000000003 SHF_WRITE | SHF_ALLOC 235 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 236 sh_offset 0x0000000000000200 Offset of section in file image 237 sh_size 0x000000000000000e Size in bytes of section in file image 238 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 239 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 240 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000004 Alignment 241 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 242 </code></pre> 243 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-2-text">Section header table: Entry 2 (.text)</h3> 244 <pre><code>|000000c0: 0700 0000 0100 0000 0600 0000 0000 0000| ................ 245 |000000d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 1002 0000 0000 0000| ................ 246 |000000e0: 2500 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| %............... 247 |000000f0: 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 248 249 sh_name 0x00000007 Offset into .shstrtab 250 sh_type 0x00000001 SHT_PROGBITS 251 sh_flags 0x0000000000000006 SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR 252 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 253 sh_offset 0x0000000000000210 Offset of section in file image 254 sh_size 0x0000000000000025 Size in bytes of section in file image 255 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 256 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 257 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000001 Alignment 258 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 259 </code></pre> 260 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-3-shstrtab">Section header table: Entry 3 (.shstrtab)</h3> 261 <pre><code>|00000100: 0d00 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 262 |00000110: 0000 0000 0000 0000 4002 0000 0000 0000| ........@....... 263 |00000120: 3200 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| 2............... 264 |00000130: 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 265 266 sh_name 0x0000000d Offset into .shstrtab 267 sh_type 0x00000003 SHT_STRTAB 268 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 269 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 270 sh_offset 0x0000000000000240 Offset of section in file image 271 sh_size 0x0000000000000032 Size in bytes of section in file image 272 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 273 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 274 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000001 Alignment 275 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 276 </code></pre> 277 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-4-symtab">Section header table: Entry 4 (.symtab)</h3> 278 <pre><code>|00000140: 1700 0000 0200 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 279 |00000150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 8002 0000 0000 0000| ................ 280 |00000160: a800 0000 0000 0000 0500 0000 0600 0000| ................ 281 |00000170: 0800 0000 0000 0000 1800 0000 0000 0000| ................ 282 283 sh_name 0x00000017 Offset into .shstrtab 284 sh_type 0x00000002 SHT_SYMTAB 285 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 286 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 287 sh_offset 0x0000000000000280 Offset of section in file image 288 sh_size 0x00000000000000a8 Size in bytes of section in file image 289 sh_link 0x00000005 Section index of associated section 290 sh_info 0x00000006 Extra info about section 291 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000008 Alignment 292 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000018 Size in bytes of each entry 293 </code></pre> 294 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-5-strtab">Section header table: Entry 5 (.strtab)</h3> 295 <pre><code>|00000180: 1f00 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 296 |00000190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 3003 0000 0000 0000| ........0....... 297 |000001a0: 1f00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 298 |000001b0: 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 299 300 sh_name 0x0000001f Offset into .shstrtab 301 sh_type 0x00000003 SHT_STRTAB 302 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 303 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 304 sh_offset 0x0000000000000330 Offset of section in file image 305 sh_size 0x000000000000001f Size in bytes of section in file image 306 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 307 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 308 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000001 Alignment 309 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 310 </code></pre> 311 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-6-relatext">Section header table: Entry 6 (.rela.text)</h3> 312 <pre><code>|000001c0: 2700 0000 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| '............... 313 |000001d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 5003 0000 0000 0000| ........P....... 314 |000001e0: 1800 0000 0000 0000 0400 0000 0200 0000| ................ 315 |000001f0: 0800 0000 0000 0000 1800 0000 0000 0000| ................ 316 317 sh_name 0x00000027 Offset into .shstrtab 318 sh_type 0x00000004 SHT_RELA 319 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 320 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 321 sh_offset 0x0000000000000350 Offset of section in file image 322 sh_size 0x0000000000000018 Size in bytes of section in file image 323 sh_link 0x00000004 Section index of associated section 324 sh_info 0x00000002 Extra info about section 325 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000008 Alignment 326 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000018 Size in bytes of each entry 327 </code></pre> 328 <h3 id="section-1-data-sht_progbits-shf_write--shf_alloc">Section 1: .data (SHT_PROGBITS; SHF_WRITE | SHF_ALLOC)</h3> 329 <pre><code>|00000200: 4865 6c6c 6f2c 2057 6f72 6c64 210a 0000| Hello, World!... 330 331 0x000000 'Hello, World!\n' 332 Zero-padding (2 bytes starting at 0x20e) 333 </code></pre> 334 <h3 id="section-2-text-sht_progbits-shf_alloc--shf_execinstr">Section 2: .text (SHT_PROGBITS; SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR)</h3> 335 <pre><code>|00000210: bf01 0000 0048 be00 0000 0000 0000 00ba| .....H.......... 336 |00000220: 0e00 0000 b804 0000 000f 0548 31ff b801| ...........H1... 337 |00000230: 0000 000f 0500 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 338 339 0x00000010 mov edi, 0x1 340 0x00000015 movabs rsi, 0x000000 (placeholder for db hello) 341 0x0000001f mov edx, 0xe 342 0x00000024 mov eax, 0x4 343 0x00400029 syscall 344 0x0040002b xor rdi, rdi 345 0x0040002e mov eax, 0x1 346 0x00400033 syscall 347 Zero-padding (11 bytes starting at 0x235) 348 </code></pre> 349 <h3 id="section-3-shstrtab-sht_strtab">Section 3: .shstrtab (SHT_STRTAB;)</h3> 350 <pre><code>|00000240: 002e 6461 7461 002e 7465 7874 002e 7368| ..data..text..sh 351 |00000250: 7374 7274 6162 002e 7379 6d74 6162 002e| strtab..symtab.. 352 |00000260: 7374 7274 6162 002e 7265 6c61 2e74 6578| strtab..rela.tex 353 |00000270: 7400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| t............... 354 355 0x00000000: '' 356 0x00000001: '.data' 357 0x00000007: '.text' 358 0x0000000d: '.shstrtab' 359 0x00000017: '.symtab' 360 0x0000001f: '.strtab' 361 0x00000027: '.rela.text' 362 Zero-padding (14 bytes starting at 0x272) 363 </code></pre> 364 <h3 id="section-4-symtab-sht_symtab">Section 4: .symtab&rsquo; (SHT_SYMTAB;)</h3> 365 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-0">Symbol table entry 0</h4> 366 <pre><code>|00000280: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 367 |00000290: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 368 369 st_name 0x00000000 370 st_info 0x00 371 st_other 0x00 372 st_shndx 0x0000 (SHN_UNDEF) 373 st_value 0x0000000000000000 374 st_size 0x0000000000000000 375 </code></pre> 376 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-1-helloasm">Symbol table entry 1 (hello.asm)</h4> 377 <pre><code>|00000298: 0100 0000 0400 f1ff| ........ 378 |000002a0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 379 380 st_name 0x00000001 381 st_info 0x04 (STT_FILE) 382 st_other 0x00 383 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 384 st_value 0x0000000000000000 385 st_size 0x0000000000000000 386 </code></pre> 387 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-2">Symbol table entry 2</h4> 388 <pre><code>|000002b0: 0000 0000 0300 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 389 |000002c0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 390 391 st_name 0x00000000 392 st_info 0x03 (STT_OBJECT | STT_FUNC) 393 st_other 0x00 394 st_shndx 0x0001 (Section 1: .data) 395 st_value 0x0000000000000000 396 st_size 0x0000000000000000 397 </code></pre> 398 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-3">Symbol table entry 3</h4> 399 <pre><code>|000002c8: 0000 0000 0300 0200| ........ 400 |000002d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 401 402 st_name 0x00000000 403 st_info 0x03 (STT_OBJECT | STT_FUNC) 404 st_other 0x00 405 st_shndx 0x0002 (Section 2: .text) 406 st_value 0x0000000000000000 407 st_size 0x0000000000000000 408 </code></pre> 409 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-4-hello">Symbol table entry 4 (hello)</h4> 410 <pre><code>|000002e0: 0b00 0000 0000 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 411 |000002f0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 412 413 st_name 0x0000000b 414 st_info 0x00 415 st_other 0x00 416 st_shndx 0x0001 (Section 1: .data) 417 st_value 0x0000000000000000 418 st_size 0x0000000000000000 419 </code></pre> 420 <h3 id="symbol-table-entry-5-hbytes">Symbol table entry 5 (hbytes)</h3> 421 <pre><code>|000002f8: 1100 0000 0000 f1ff| ........ 422 |00000300: 0e00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 423 424 st_name 0x00000011 425 st_info 0x00 426 st_other 0x00 427 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 428 st_value 0x000000000000000e 429 st_size 0x0000000000000000 430 </code></pre> 431 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-6-_start">Symbol table entry 6 (_start)</h4> 432 <pre><code>|00000310: 1800 0000 1000 0200 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 433 |00000320: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 434 435 st_name 0x00000018 436 st_info 0x01 (STT_OBJECT) 437 st_other 0x00 438 st_shndx 0x0002 (Section 2: .text) 439 st_value 0x0000000000000000 440 st_size 0x0000000000000000 441 Zero-padding (8 bytes starting at 0x328) 442 </code></pre> 443 <h3 id="section-5-strtab-sht_strtab">Section 5: .strtab (SHT_STRTAB;)</h3> 444 <pre><code>|00000330: 0068 656c 6c6f 2e61 736d 0068 656c 6c6f| .hello.asm.hello 445 |00000340: 0068 6279 7465 7300 5f73 7461 7274 0000| .hbytes._start.. 446 447 0x00000000: '' 448 0x00000001: 'hello.asm' 449 0x0000000b: 'hello' 450 0x00000011: 'hbytes' 451 0x00000018: '_start' 452 Zero-padding (1 byte starting at 0x34f) 453 </code></pre> 454 <h3 id="section-6-relatext-sht_rela">Section 6: .rela.text (SHT_RELA;)</h3> 455 <pre><code>|00000350: 0700 0000 0000 0000 0100 0000 0200 0000| ................ 456 |00000360: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 457 458 r_offset 0x0000000000000007 459 r_info 0x0000000200000001 (Symbol table entry 2, type R_AMD64_64) 460 r_addend 0x0000000000000000 461 Zero-padding (8 bytes starting at 0x368) 462 </code></pre> 463 <h2 id="link-to-executable-image">Link to executable image</h2> 464 <p>Next, let&rsquo;s link <code>hello.o</code> into a 64-bit ELF executable:</p> 465 <pre><code>% ld -o hello hello.o 466 </code></pre> 467 <p>This emits <code>hello</code>, a 951-byte ELF-64 executable image.</p> 468 <p>Since the linker has decided which segment each section maps into (if any) and 469 what the segment addresses are, addresses are now known for all (statically 470 linked) symbols, and address 0x0 placeholders have been replaced with actual 471 addresses. We can see this in the <code>mov</code> instruction at address 0x4000b5, which 472 now specifies an address of 0x6000d8.</p> 473 <p>Running the linked executable image through <code>xxd</code> as above and picking our 474 trusty linker &amp; loader guide back up, here we go again:</p> 475 <h3 id="elf-header-1">ELF Header</h3> 476 <pre><code>|00000000: 7f45 4c46 0201 0109 0000 0000 0000 0000| .ELF............ 477 |00000010: 0200 3e00 0100 0000 b000 4000 0000 0000| ..&gt;.......@..... 478 |00000020: 4000 0000 0000 0000 1001 0000 0000 0000| @............... 479 |00000030: 0000 0000 4000 3800 0200 4000 0600 0300| ....@.8...@..... 480 481 e_ident[EI_MAG0..EI_MAG3] 0x7f + ELF Magic 482 e_ident[EI_CLASS] 0x02 64-bit 483 e_ident[EI_DATA] 0x01 Little-endian 484 e_ident[EI_VERSION] 0x01 ELF v1 485 e_ident[EI_OSABI] 0x09 FreeBSD 486 e_ident[EI_ABIVERSION] 0x00 Unused 487 e_ident[EI_PAD] 0x0000000000 7 bytes unused padding 488 e_type 0x0002 ET_EXEC 489 e_machine 0x003e x86_64 490 e_version 0x00000001 Version 1 491 e_entry 0x00000000004000b0 Entrypoint addr 492 e_phoff 0x0000000000000040 Program header table offset in image 493 e_shoff 0x0000000000000110 Section header table offset in image 494 e_flags 0x00000000 Architecture-dependent interpretation 495 e_ehsize 0x0040 Size of this ELF header 496 e_phentsize 0x0038 Size of program header table entry 497 e_phnum 0x0002 Number of program header table entries 498 e_shentsize 0x0040 Size of section header table entry 499 e_shnum 0x0006 Number of section header table entries 500 e_shstrndx 0x0003 Index of section header for .shstrtab 501 </code></pre> 502 <h3 id="program-header-table-entry-0-pf_x--pf_r">Program header table: Entry 0 (PF_X | PF_R)</h3> 503 <pre><code>|00000040: 0100 0000 0500 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 504 |00000050: 0000 4000 0000 0000 0000 4000 0000 0000| ..@.......@..... 505 |00000060: d500 0000 0000 0000 d500 0000 0000 0000| ................ 506 |00000070: 0000 2000 0000 0000 | .. ............. 507 508 p_type 0x00000001 PT_LOAD 509 p_flags 0x00000005 PF_X | PF_R 510 p_offset 0x00000000 Offset of segment in file image 511 p_vaddr 0x0000000000400000 Virtual address of segment in memory 512 p_paddr 0x0000000000400000 Physical address of segment 513 p_filesz 0x00000000000000d5 Size in bytes of segment in file image 514 p_memsz 0x00000000000000d5 Size in bytes of segment in memory 515 p_align 0x0000000000200000 Alignment (2MB) 516 </code></pre> 517 <h3 id="program-header-table-entry-1-pf_w--pf_r">Program header table: Entry 1 (PF_W | PF_R)</h3> 518 <pre><code>|00000078: 0100 0000 0600 0000| ........ 519 |00000080: d800 0000 0000 0000 d800 6000 0000 0000| ..........`..... 520 |00000090: d800 6000 0000 0000 0e00 0000 0000 0000| ..`............. 521 |000000a0: 0e00 0000 0000 0000 0000 2000 0000 0000| .......... ..... 522 523 p_type 0x00000001 PT_LOAD 524 p_flags 0x00000006 PF_W | PF_R 525 p_offset 0x00000000000000d8 Offset of segment in file image 526 p_vaddr 0x00000000006000d8 Virtual address of segment in memory 527 p_paddr 0x00000000006000d8 Physical address of segment 528 p_filesz 0x000000000000000e Size in bytes of segment in file image 529 p_memsz 0x000000000000000e Size in bytes of segment in memory 530 p_align 0x0000000000200000 Alignment (2MB) 531 </code></pre> 532 <h3 id="section-1-text-sht_progbits-shf_alloc--shf_execinstr">Section 1: .text (SHT_PROGBITS; SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR)</h3> 533 <pre><code>|000000b0: bf01 0000 0048 bed8 0060 0000 0000 00ba| .....H...`...... 534 |000000c0: 0e00 0000 b804 0000 000f 0548 31ff b801| ...........H1... 535 |000000d0: 0000 000f 05 | ..... 536 537 0x4000b0 mov edi, 0x1 538 0x4000b5 movabs rsi, 0x6000d8 539 0x4000bf mov edx, 0xe 540 0x4000c4 mov eax, 0x4 541 0x4000c9 syscall 542 0x4000cb xor rdi, rdi 543 0x4000ce mov eax, 0x1 544 0x4000d3 syscall 545 Zero-padding (5 bytes starting at 0x000000d5) 546 </code></pre> 547 <h3 id="section-2-data-sht_progbits-shf_write--shf_alloc">Section 2: .data (SHT_PROGBITS; SHF_WRITE | SHF_ALLOC)</h3> 548 <pre><code>|000000d8: 4865 6c6c 6f2c 2057| Hello, W 549 |000000e0: 6f72 6c64 210a | orld!. 550 551 0x6000d8 'Hello, World!\n' 552 </code></pre> 553 <h3 id="section-3-shstrtab-sht_strtab-1">Section 3: .shstrtab (SHT_STRTAB;)</h3> 554 <pre><code>|000000e6: 002e 7379 6d74 6162 002e| ..symtab.. 555 |000000f0: 7374 7274 6162 002e 7368 7374 7274 6162| strtab..shstrtab 556 |00000100: 002e 7465 7874 002e 6461 7461 0000 0000| ..text..data. 557 558 0x00000000: '' 559 0x00000001: '.symtab' 560 0x00000009: '.strtab' 561 0x00000011: '.shstrtab' 562 0x0000001b: '.text' 563 0x00000021: '.data' 564 Zero-padding (3 bytes starting at 0x0000010d) 565 </code></pre> 566 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-0-null-1">Section header table: Entry 0 (null)</h3> 567 <pre><code>|00000110: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 568 |00000120: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 569 |00000130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 570 |00000140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 571 572 sh_name 0x00000000 Offset into .shstrtab 573 sh_type 0x00000000 SHT_NULL 574 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 Section attributes 575 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 576 sh_offset 0x0000000000000000 Offset of section in file image 577 sh_size 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of section in file image 578 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 579 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 580 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000000 Alignment 581 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 582 </code></pre> 583 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-1-text">Section header table: Entry 1 (.text)</h3> 584 <pre><code>|00000150: 1b00 0000 0100 0000 0600 0000 0000 0000| ................ 585 |00000160: b000 4000 0000 0000 b000 0000 0000 0000| ..@............. 586 |00000170: 2500 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| %............... 587 |00000180: 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 588 589 sh_name 0x0000001b Offset into .shstrtab 590 sh_type 0x00000001 SHT_PROGBITS 591 sh_flags 0x00000006 SHF_ALLOC | SHF_EXECINSTR 592 sh_addr 0x00000000004000b0 Virtual address of section in memory 593 sh_offset 0x00000000000000b0 Offset of section in file image 594 sh_size 0x0000000000000025 Size in bytes of section in file image 595 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 596 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 597 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000010 Alignment (2B) 598 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 599 </code></pre> 600 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-2-data">Section header table: Entry 2 (.data)</h3> 601 <pre><code>|00000190: 2100 0000 0100 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000| !............... 602 |000001a0: d800 6000 0000 0000 d800 0000 0000 0000| ..`............. 603 |000001b0: 0e00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 604 |000001c0: 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 605 606 sh_name 0x00000021 Offset into .shstrtab 607 sh_type 0x00000001 SHT_PROGBITS 608 sh_flags 0x0000000000000003 SHF_WRITE | SHF_ALLOC 609 sh_addr 0x00000000006000d8 Virtual address of section in memory 610 sh_offset 0x00000000000000d8 Offset of section in file image 611 sh_size 0x000000000000000e Size in bytes of section in file image 612 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 613 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 614 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000004 Alignment (4B) 615 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 616 </code></pre> 617 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-3-shstrtab-1">Section header table: Entry 3 (.shstrtab)</h3> 618 <pre><code>|000001d0: 1100 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 619 |000001e0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 e600 0000 0000 0000| ................ 620 |000001f0: 2700 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| '............... 621 |00000200: 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 622 623 sh_name 0x00000011 Offset into .shstrtab 624 sh_type 0x00000003 SHT_STRTAB 625 sh_flags 0x00000000 No flags 626 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 627 sh_offset 0x00000000000000e6 Offset of section in file image 628 sh_size 0x0000000000000027 Size in bytes of section in file image 629 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 630 sh_info 0x00000000 Extra info about section 631 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000001 Alignment (1B) 632 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 633 </code></pre> 634 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-4-symtab-1">Section header table: Entry 4 (.symtab)</h3> 635 <pre><code>|00000210: 0100 0000 0200 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 636 |00000220: 0000 0000 0000 0000 9002 0000 0000 0000| ................ 637 |00000230: f000 0000 0000 0000 0500 0000 0600 0000| ................ 638 |00000240: 0800 0000 0000 0000 1800 0000 0000 0000| ................ 639 640 sh_name 0x00000001 Offset into .shstrtab 641 sh_type 0x00000002 SHT_SYMTAB 642 sh_flags 0x00000000 No flags 643 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 644 sh_offset 0x0000000000000290 Offset of section in file image 645 sh_size 0x00000000000000f0 Size in bytes of section in file image 646 sh_link 0x00000005 Section index of associated section 647 sh_info 0x00000006 Flags 648 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000008 Alignment (8B) 649 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000018 Size in bytes of each entry (24B) 650 </code></pre> 651 <h3 id="section-header-table-entry-5-strtab-1">Section header table: Entry 5 (.strtab)</h3> 652 <pre><code>|00000250: 0900 0000 0300 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 653 |00000260: 0000 0000 0000 0000 8003 0000 0000 0000| ................ 654 |00000270: 3700 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| 7............... 655 |00000280: 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 656 657 sh_name 0x00000009 Offset into .shstrtab 658 sh_type 0x00000003 SHT_STRTAB 659 sh_flags 0x0000000000000000 No flags 660 sh_addr 0x0000000000000000 Virtual address of section in memory 661 sh_offset 0x0000000000000380 Offset of section in file image 662 sh_size 0x0000000000000037 Size in bytes of section in file image 663 sh_link 0x00000000 Section index of associated section 664 sh_info 0x00000000 Extrac info about section 665 sh_addralign 0x0000000000000001 Alignment (1B) 666 sh_entsize 0x0000000000000000 Size in bytes of each entry 667 </code></pre> 668 <h3 id="section-4-symtab-sht_symtab-1">Section 4: .symtab (SHT_SYMTAB;)</h3> 669 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-0-1">Symbol table entry 0</h4> 670 <pre><code>|00000290: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 671 |000002a0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 672 673 st_name 0x00000000 674 st_info 0x00 675 st_other 0x00 676 st_shndx 0x0000 (SHN_UNDEF) 677 st_value 0x0000000000000000 678 st_size 0x0000000000000000 679 </code></pre> 680 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-1">Symbol table entry 1</h4> 681 <pre><code>|000002a8: 0000 0000 0300 0100| ........ 682 |000002b0: b000 4000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ..@............. 683 684 st_name 0x00000000 685 st_info 0x03 (STT_OBJECT | STT_FUNC) 686 st_other 0x00 687 st_shndx 0x0001 (Section 1: .text) 688 st_value 0x00000000004000b0 689 st_size 0x0000000000000000 690 </code></pre> 691 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-2-1">Symbol table entry 2</h4> 692 <pre><code>|000002c0: 0000 0000 0300 0200 d800 6000 0000 0000| ..........`..... 693 |000002d0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 694 695 st_name 0x00000000 696 st_info 0x03 (STT_OBJECT | STT_FUNC) 697 st_other 0x00 698 st_shndx 0x0002 (Section 2: .data) 699 st_value 0x00000000006000d8 700 st_size 0x0000000000000000 701 </code></pre> 702 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-3-helloasm">Symbol table entry 3 (hello.asm)</h4> 703 <pre><code>|000002d0: 0100 0000 0400 f1ff| ........ 704 |000002e0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 705 706 st_name 0x00000001 707 st_info 0x04 (STT_FILE) 708 st_other 0x00 709 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 710 st_value 0x0000000000000000 711 st_size 0x0000000000000000 712 </code></pre> 713 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-4-hello-1">Symbol table entry 4 (hello)</h4> 714 <pre><code>|000002f0: 0b00 0000 0000 0200 d800 6000 0000 0000| ..........`..... 715 |00000300: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ................ 716 717 st_name 0x0000000b 718 st_info 0x00 719 st_other 0x00 720 st_shndx 0x0002 (Section 2: .data) 721 st_value 0x00000000006000d8 722 st_size 0x0000000000000000 723 </code></pre> 724 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-5-hbytes-1">Symbol table entry 5 (hbytes)</h4> 725 <pre><code>|00000300: 1100 0000 0000 f1ff| ........ 726 |00000310: 0e00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ................ 727 728 st_name 0x00000011 729 st_info 0x00 730 st_other 0x00 731 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 732 st_value 0x000000000000000e 733 st_size 0x0000000000000000 734 </code></pre> 735 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-6-_start-1">Symbol table entry 6 (_start)</h4> 736 <pre><code>|00000320: 1800 0000 1000 0100 b000 4000 0000 0000| ..........@..... 737 |00000330: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 738 739 st_name 0x00000018 740 st_info 0x10 (STB_GLOBAL) 741 st_other 0x00 742 st_shndx 0x0001 (Section 1: .text) 743 st_value 0x00000000004000b0 744 st_size 0x0000000000000000 745 </code></pre> 746 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-7-__bss_start">Symbol table entry 7 (__bss_start)</h4> 747 <pre><code>|00000330: 1f00 0000 1000 f1ff| ........ 748 |00000340: e600 6000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ..`............. 749 750 st_name 0x0000001f 751 st_info 0x10 (STB_GLOBAL) 752 st_other 0x00 753 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 754 st_value 0x00000000006000e6 755 st_size 0x0000000000000000 756 </code></pre> 757 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-8-_edata">Symbol table entry 8 (_edata)</h4> 758 <pre><code>|00000350: 2b00 0000 1000 f1ff e600 6000 0000 0000| +.........`..... 759 |00000360: 0000 0000 0000 0000 | ........ 760 761 st_name 0x0000002b 762 st_info 0x10 (STB_GLOBAL) 763 st_other 0x00 764 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 765 st_value 0x00000000006000e6 766 st_size 0x0000000000000000 767 </code></pre> 768 <h4 id="symbol-table-entry-9-_end">Symbol table entry 9 (_end)</h4> 769 <pre><code>|00000360: 3200 0000 1000 f1ff| 2....... 770 |00000370: e800 6000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000| ..`............. 771 772 st_name 0x00000032 773 st_info 0x10 (STB_GLOBAL) 774 st_other 0x00 775 st_shndx 0xfff1 (SHN_ABS) 776 st_value 0x00000000006000e8 777 st_size 0x0000000000000000 778 </code></pre> 779 <h3 id="section-6-strtab-sht_strtab">Section 6: .strtab (SHT_STRTAB;)</h3> 780 <pre><code>|00000380: 0068 656c 6c6f 2e61 736d 0068 656c 6c6f| .hello.asm.hello 781 |00000390: 0068 6279 7465 7300 5f73 7461 7274 005f| .hbytes._start._ 782 |000003a0: 5f62 7373 5f73 7461 7274 005f 6564 6174| _bss_start._edat 783 |000003b0: 6100 5f65 6e64 00 | a._end. 784 785 0x00000000: '' 786 0x00000001: 'hello.asm' 787 0x0000000b: 'hello' 788 0x00000011: 'hbytes' 789 0x00000018: '_start' 790 0x0000001f: '__bss_start' 791 0x0000002b: '_edata' 792 0x00000032: '_end' 793 </code></pre> 794 <h2 id="effect-of-stripping">Effect of stripping</h2> 795 <p>Running <code>strip</code> on the binary has the effect of dropping the <code>.symtab</code> and 796 <code>.strtab</code> sections along with their section headers and 16 bytes of data (the 797 section names <code>.symtab</code> and <code>.strtab</code>) from the <code>.shstrtab</code> section, reducing the 798 total binary size to 512 bytes.</p> 799 <h2 id="in-memory-process-image">In-memory process image</h2> 800 <p>FreeBSD uses a memory superpage size of 2MB (page size of 4kB) on x86_64. Since 801 attributes are set at the page level, read+execute program <code>.text</code> and 802 read+write <code>.data</code> are loaded into two separate segments on separate pages, as 803 laid-out by the linker.</p> 804 <p>On launch, the kernel maps the binary image into memory as specified in the 805 program header table:</p> 806 <ul> 807 <li>PHT Entry 0: The ELF header, program header table, and Section 1 (<code>.text</code>) 808 are mapped from offset 0x00 of the binary image (with length 0xd6 bytes) 809 into Segment 1 (readable, executable) at address 0x400000.</li> 810 <li>PHT Entry 1: Section 2 (<code>.data</code>) at offset 0xd8 of the binary image is 811 mapped into Segment 2 (readable, writeable) at address 0x6000d8 from offset 812 0xd8 with length 0x0e bytes.</li> 813 </ul> 814 <p>The program entrypoint is specified to be 0x4000b0, the start of the <code>.text</code> 815 section.</p> 816 <p>And that&rsquo;s it! Any corrections or comments are always welcome. Shoot me an 817 email at <a href="mailto:chris@bracken.jp">chris@bracken.jp</a>.</p> 818 </description> 819 </item> 820 821 <item> 822 <title>Moving to the US: Importing a Canadian Vehicle</title> 823 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</link> 824 <pubDate>Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 825 826 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/moving-to-us-letter-of-compliance/</guid> 827 <description><p>A big difference between the last time I moved to the US and this time is that 828 this time, I&rsquo;ve got a lot more stuff. One of those things is a Nissan Rogue 829 that&rsquo;s been quietly living its life in Canada. Faced with the prospect of 830 selling the car and buying a new one, I chose instead to import the one I know 831 and love. Here is my story. But be forewarned, it is not for the faint of 832 heart.</p> 833 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-05-10-futile.jpg" 834 alt="Scrawny kid vs sumo wrestler"> 835 </figure> 836 837 <p>To import a vehicle to the US from Canada, you need to undertake a series of 838 quests. These are detailed on the <a href="http://stnw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/">NHTSA website</a> under the heading 839 <em>Vehicle Importation Guidelines (Canadian)</em>. As of May 2011, you need the 840 following items in increasing order of difficulty:</p> 841 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> The following information about your car:</p> 842 <ol> 843 <li>VIN</li> 844 <li>Make/Model/Year</li> 845 <li>Month/Year of manufacture</li> 846 <li>Registration &amp; ownership information</li> 847 </ol> 848 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> <a href="http://www.epa.gov/oms/imports/">EPA Form 3520-1</a>. You will likely be importing your 849 vehicle under <em>code EE: identical in all material respects to a US certified 850 version</em>.</p> 851 <p><strong>[easy]</strong> <a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/">NHTSA Form HS-7</a>. You will most likely be importing your 852 vehicle under box 2B, for vehicles that complied with Canadian CMVSA 853 regulations at their time of manufacture and where the manufacturer attests 854 that, with a few exceptions, it meets US regulations; see final item.</p> 855 <p><strong>[medium]</strong> A letter on the manufacturer&rsquo;s letterhead from the Canadian 856 distributor, stating that there are no open recalls or service campaigns on the 857 vehicle. I&rsquo;m not sure if this is required, but Nissan Canada thought it would 858 be.</p> 859 <p><strong>[hard]</strong> A letter from the vehicle’s original manufacturer, on 860 the manufacturer’s letterhead identifying the vehicle by vehicle identification 861 number (VIN) and stating that the vehicle conforms to all applicable FMVSS 862 &ldquo;except for the labeling requirements of Standards Nos. 101 <em>Controls and 863 Displays</em> and 110 <em>Tire Selection and Rims</em> or 120 <em>Tire Selection and Rims for 864 Motor Vehicles other than Passenger Cars</em>, and/or the specifications of 865 Standard No. 108 <em>Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment</em>, 866 relating to daytime running lamps.&rdquo;</p> 867 <p>Items 1-3 are left as an exercise to the reader. I will focus here on items 4 868 and 5 to save you the 14 hours of accumulated hold time and multiple phone 869 calls. Prepare yourself friend, for here begins a journey of hurt and 870 frustration, but you will prevail.</p> 871 <p>Let&rsquo;s start with item 4. I gave <a href="http://www.nissan.ca/common/footer/en/contact.html">Nissan Canada</a> a ring at 872 1-800-387-0122 and managed to make it through the phone navigation system to a 873 human operator. I told them I was importing a Canadian Nissan into the States 874 and needed a <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. After a bit of digging, they stated that 875 such letters are only provided by <em>Nissan North America,</em> but they would 876 instead mail out two other letters on Nissan letterhead:</p> 877 <ol> 878 <li>A letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle has no pending recalls or 879 service campaigns on it.</li> 880 <li>In place of a <em>Certificate of Origin</em> (which Nissan Canada does not 881 provide), a letter stating the VIN and that the vehicle was manufactured for 882 sale in the Canadian market and complied with all safety and emission 883 regulations at the time of manufacture.</li> 884 </ol> 885 <p>We&rsquo;re almost there, but your next and final mission is also the most 886 challenging: the <em>Letter of Compliance</em>. Call <a href="http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/contactus">Nissan North 887 America</a> Consumer Affairs Department at 1-800-647-7261. Navigate 888 through the phone system to an operator - get their name and extension. They 889 may ask for your VIN only to find it&rsquo;s not in their system. Canadian VINs are 890 not in their system. Some operators thought they were, others were sure they 891 weren&rsquo;t. They&rsquo;re not. Many operators tried and failed to find it. Ask them to 892 open a file, give them the vehicle information and your info and get the file 893 number. Use this number whenever you call.</p> 894 <p>Here are the five steps to success:</p> 895 <ol> 896 <li>Tell the operator that you&rsquo;re importing a Canadian Nissan vehicle to the US 897 and that you need a <em>Letter of Compliance</em> stating the VIN and that the 898 vehicle was built to conform to Canadian and United States EPA emissions 899 standards and all US Federal motor vehicle standards except for daytime 900 running light brightness. There is a very good chance they&rsquo;ve never heard of 901 this. Get them to talk to their supervisor, and their supervisor. Anyone. 902 Someone will know.</li> 903 <li>They will tell you that the vehicle needs to have its daytime running lights 904 disabled before they will issue the letter of compliance. All the government 905 rules seem to specifically exclude the daytime running lights, and the 906 letter they issue even states that the vehicle doesn&rsquo;t meet that standard, 907 but for whatever reason they want a copy of a work statement showing the 908 work was done. Remember to get the operator&rsquo;s name and extension and the 909 fax number for the work statement before you hang up.</li> 910 <li>Get the daytime running lights disabled. It&rsquo;s a setting change in the 911 on-board computer; your local dealer will do this in under 30 mins for $50 912 or so. </li> 913 <li>Fax your the work statement and put your name, return fax number and a 914 request for the <em>Letter of Compliance</em> on the cover sheet. Phone Nissan 915 North America Consumer Affairs back. The phone navigation system will give 916 you hope that you can input an extension directly, only to find it only 917 accepts 5-digit extensions but your rep has a 6-digit extension. You&rsquo;ll end 918 up back in the queue. Ask whoever you get to put you through to your 919 previous rep, by extension. When you get through, say that you sent the fax 920 and request the letter. Ask them to phone you back when they&rsquo;ve faxed it.</li> 921 <li>You&rsquo;ll get the fax eventually - <em>check the information!</em> On my letter, the 922 year, model and VIN were all incorrect, though they got my name right. If 923 it&rsquo;s incorrect, try again.</li> 924 </ol> 925 <p>You now have everything you need to import your Nissan to the States. Good 926 luck my friends, I don&rsquo;t envy you, but know that I am with you and that victory 927 will someday be yours too.</p> 928 </description> 929 </item> 930 931 <item> 932 <title>Job Search, Search Job</title> 933 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/job-search-search-job/</link> 934 <pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 935 936 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/05/job-search-search-job/</guid> 937 <description><p>After close to seven years with <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com">Morgan Stanley</a>, I&rsquo;ve turned in my badge 938 and exited the world of finance. I first joined Morgan Stanley in Tokyo in 2004 939 working in the Equities Technology group focusing on scalability in the trade 940 processing plant. Throughout my career at Morgan, I&rsquo;ve had the pleasure of 941 working alongside a lot of incredibly bright people on some very interesting and 942 challenging problems, mainly focusing on scalability, parallelism and system 943 architecture.</p> 944 <p>After being made the offer one sunny Kyoto morning, and giving it some serious 945 contemplation, I&rsquo;ve accepted a position with <a href="https://google.com">Google</a> in <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/gxWf">Mountain View, 946 California</a>. While there&rsquo;s no question I&rsquo;ll miss working with all the 947 people who made my time at Morgan Stanley such an awesome experience, I&rsquo;m 948 excited about joining Google, and looking forward to working on some tough and 949 interesting problems in a very unique environment.</p> 950 </description> 951 </item> 952 953 <item> 954 <title>Winter Sounds in Japan</title> 955 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/04/winter-sounds-in-japan/</link> 956 <pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 957 958 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/04/winter-sounds-in-japan/</guid> 959 <description><p>There are a lot of uniquely Japanese sounds. But the two I&rsquo;m writing 960 about today appear on cold winter nights, and echo eerily through the 961 dark, empty streets between dinner and bedtime.</p> 962 <p>Japanese winters are cold. They&rsquo;re not -30C cold, but what they do have on 963 Canadian winters is how drafty Japanese houses tend to be, and the distinct 964 lack of central heating. All across the country the appearance of convenience 965 store oden and yaki-imo wagons mark the arrival of winter.</p> 966 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-04-25-yakiimo.jpg" 967 alt="Yaki-imo wagon"> 968 </figure> 969 970 <p>Yaki-imo are sweet potatoes roasted over flames in wood fired ovens in small 971 mobile carts or trucks. They&rsquo;re served up wrapped in newspaper, and are not 972 only delicious, but keep your hands warm too. But the most distinctive thing 973 about yaki-imo is that the sellers sing a very distinct <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P9yctE9_hQ">yaki-imo 974 song</a>. They typically make the rounds until just after dinner time, 975 and I always found their song a bit eerie drifting though the dark streets.</p> 976 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-04-25-hinoyoujin.jpg" 977 alt="Hi no Yōjin"> 978 </figure> 979 980 <p>Central heating is near non-existent in Japan, one result of which is the 981 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu">kotatsu</a>, but another is that kerosene and gas heaters are still 982 commonly used for heating. Every year, housefires result from people 983 forgetting to shut of their heaters before bed. As a reminder to shut off the 984 heaters, people walk through town late at night, carrying lanterns and clacking 985 wooden blocks together, calling out &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFqRIKoVckA#t=20s">hi no yōjin</a>&rdquo;: be careful 986 with fire. The sound of the blocks typically carries for many blocks, and you 987 often hear their calls echoing through town, coming and going for up to half an 988 hour as you lay in bed.</p> 989 </description> 990 </item> 991 992 <item> 993 <title>Installing Mozc on Ubuntu</title> 994 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/04/installing-mozc-on-ubuntu/</link> 995 <pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 996 997 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2011/04/installing-mozc-on-ubuntu/</guid> 998 <description><p>If you&rsquo;re a Japanese speaker, one of the first things you do when you install a 999 fresh Linux distribution is to install a decent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_IME">Japanese IME</a>. 1000 Ubuntu defaults to <a href="https://sourceforge.jp/projects/anthy/news/">Anthy</a>, but I personally prefer <a href="https://code.google.com/p/mozc/">Mozc</a>, and 1001 that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m going to show you how to install here.</p> 1002 <p><em>Update (2011-05-01):</em> Found an older <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfgjTCXZ2-s">video tutorial</a> on YouTube 1003 which provides an alternative (and potentially more comprehensive) solution for 1004 Japanese support on 10.10 using ibus instead of uim, which is the better choice 1005 for newer releases.</p> 1006 <p><em>Update (2011-10-25):</em> The software installation part of this process got a 1007 whole lot easier in Ubuntu releases after Natty, and as noted above, I&rsquo;d 1008 recommend sticking with ibus over uim.</p> 1009 <h3 id="japanese-input-basics">Japanese Input Basics</h3> 1010 <p>Before we get going, let&rsquo;s understand a bit about how Japanese input works on 1011 computers. Japanese comprises three main character sets: the two phonetic 1012 character sets, hiragana and katakana at 50 characters each, plus many 1013 thousands of Kanji, each with multiple readings. Clearly a full keyboard is 1014 impractical, so a mapping is required.</p> 1015 <p>Input happens in two steps. First, you input the text phonetically, then you 1016 convert it to a mix of kanji and kana.</p> 1017 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2011-04-22-henkan.png" 1018 alt="Japanese IME completion menu"> 1019 </figure> 1020 1021 <p>Over the years, two main mechanisms evolved to input kana. The first was common 1022 on old <em>wapuro</em>, and assigns a kana to each key on the keyboard—e.g. where 1023 the <em>A</em> key appears on a QWERTY keyboard, you&rsquo;ll find a ち. This is how our 1024 grandparents hacked out articles for the local <em>shinbun</em>, but I suspect only a 1025 few die-hard traditionalists still do this. The second and more common method 1026 is literal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapuro">transliteration of roman characters into kana</a>. You 1027 type <em>fujisan</em> and out comes ふじさん.</p> 1028 <p>Once the phonetic kana have been input, you execute a conversion step wherein 1029 the input is transformed into the appropriate mix of kanji and kana. Given the 1030 large number of homonyms in Japanese, this step often involves disambiguating 1031 your input by selecting the intended kanji. For example, the <em>mita</em> in <em>eiga wo 1032 mita</em> (I watched a movie) is properly rendered as 観た whereas the <em>mita</em> in 1033 <em>kuruma wo mita</em> (I saw a car) should be 見た, and in neither case is it <em>mita</em> 1034 as in the place name <em>Mita-bashi</em> (Mita bridge) which is written 三田.</p> 1035 <h3 id="some-implementation-details">Some Implementation Details</h3> 1036 <p>Let&rsquo;s look at implementation. There are two main components used in inputting 1037 Japanese text:</p> 1038 <p>The GUI system (e.g. ibus, uim) is responsible for:</p> 1039 <ol> 1040 <li>Maintaining and switching the current input mode: 1041 ローマ字、ひらがな、カタカナ、半額カタカナ.</li> 1042 <li>Transliteration of character input into kana: <em>ku</em> into く, 1043 <em>nekko</em> into ねっこ, <em>xtu</em> into っ.</li> 1044 <li>Managing the text under edit (the underlined stuff) and the 1045 drop-down list of transliterations.</li> 1046 <li>Ancillary functions such as supplying a GUI for custom dictionary 1047 management, kanji lookup by radical, etc.</li> 1048 </ol> 1049 <p>The transliteration engine (e.g. Anthy, Mozc) is responsible for transforming a 1050 piece of input text, usually in kana form, into kanji: for example みる into 1051 one of: 見る、観る、診る、視る. This involves:</p> 1052 <ol> 1053 <li>Breaking the input phrase into components.</li> 1054 <li>Transforming each component into the appropriate best guess based on context 1055 and historical input.</li> 1056 <li>Supplying alternative transformations in case the best guess was incorrect.</li> 1057 </ol> 1058 <h3 id="why-mozc">Why Mozc?</h3> 1059 <p>TL;DR: because it&rsquo;s better. Have a look at the conversion list up at the top of 1060 this post. The input is <em>kinou</em>, for which there are two main conversion 1061 candidates: 機能 (feature) and 昨日 (yesterday). Notice however, that it also 1062 supplies several conversions for yesterday&rsquo;s date in various formats, including 1063 「平成23年4月21日」 using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_era_name">Japanese Era Name</a> rather than the 1064 Western notation 2011. This is just one small improvement among dozens of 1065 clever tricks it performs. If you&rsquo;re thinking this bears an uncanny resemblance 1066 to tricks that <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/ja/ime/">Google&rsquo;s Japanese IME</a> supports, you&rsquo;re right: Mozc 1067 originated from the same codebase.</p> 1068 <h3 id="switching-to-mozc">Switching to Mozc</h3> 1069 <p>So let&rsquo;s assume you&rsquo;re now convinced to abandon Anthy and switch to Mozc. 1070 You&rsquo;ll need to make some changes. Here are the steps:</p> 1071 <p>If you haven&rsquo;t yet done so, install some Japanese fonts from either Software 1072 Centre or Synaptic. I&rsquo;d recommend grabbing the <em>ttf-takao</em> package.</p> 1073 <p>Next up, we&rsquo;ll install and configure Mozc.</p> 1074 <ol> 1075 <li><strong>Install ibus-mozc:</strong> <code>sudo apt-get install ibus-mozc</code></li> 1076 <li><strong>Restart the ibus daemon:</strong> <code>/usr/bin/ibus-daemon --xim -r -d</code></li> 1077 <li><strong>Set your input method to mozc:</strong> 1078 <ol> 1079 <li>Open <em>Keyboard Input Methods</em> settings.</li> 1080 <li>Select the <em>Input Method</em> tab.</li> 1081 <li>From the <em>Select an input method</em> drop-down, select Japanese, then mozc from 1082 the sub-menu.</li> 1083 <li>Select <em>Japanese - Anthy</em> from the list, if it appears there, and click 1084 <em>Remove</em>.</li> 1085 </ol> 1086 </li> 1087 <li><strong>Optionally, remove Anthy from your system:</strong> <code>sudo apt-get autoremove anthy</code></li> 1088 </ol> 1089 <p>Log out, and back in. You should see an input method menu in the menu 1090 bar at the top of the screen.</p> 1091 <p>That&rsquo;s it, Mozcを楽しんでください!</p> 1092 </description> 1093 </item> 1094 1095 <item> 1096 <title>Ride to Okutama-ko and back</title> 1097 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2008/10/ride-to-okutamako/</link> 1098 <pubDate>Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1099 1100 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2008/10/ride-to-okutamako/</guid> 1101 <description><p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1qLR0za_apX5qMJi32cqDoNYESRI&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=35.67441532772013%2C139.44887900000003&amp;spn=0.214689%2C0.47083&amp;t=p&amp;source=embed&amp;z=9">View map</a></p> 1102 <p>I haven&rsquo;t ridden a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_ride">century</a> since I moved to Japan but with a bit of 1103 spare time on my hands before baby number two is due, I decided I was going to 1104 get back into decent enough shape that I could pull one off. I&rsquo;ve been using 1105 mornings and weekends to get back into riding longer distances, and slowly 1106 building up toward the goal of 160 km by riding further and further up the Tama 1107 river every weekend.</p> 1108 <p>Five minutes looking at Google maps yesterday morning at 6 am convinced me that 1109 Lake Okutama was exactly the necessary 80 km away, so without a minute to lose 1110 I got dressed, headed out the door and rode north up the Tama river. Here&rsquo;s 1111 the <a href="https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/18311395">activity report</a>.</p> 1112 <p>The ride along the river is gorgeous, one of the few places in Tokyo you can 1113 ride uninterrupted through a green belt that runs from the ocean at Haneda 1114 airport all the way into the mountains in the northwest corner of Tokyo. The 1115 bike path ends at the south Hamura dam, but by then it&rsquo;s pretty <a href="http://www.ehimeajet.com/inaka.php" title="Inaka: rural Japan">inaka</a>, 1116 so you can continue by road from there without much worry about traffic. At 1117 the north Hamura dam, I crossed over to the west side of the river, to pick up 1118 Route 411 through the towns of Oume, Sawai, and Mitake before leaving the city 1119 completely and starting the climb up into the mountains.</p> 1120 <p>The trip on from Mitake is a long, slow ascent along a narrow, winding road 1121 through small towns and villages while criss-crossing the river. Particularly 1122 this time of year with the leaves changing colour, the trip is visually 1123 spectactular, with the mountainsides lit up bright orange and red. Okutama is 1124 the last major town before the final hill-climb up to the lake. At its 1125 westernmost edge is the world-famous Tokyo <a href="http://web-japan.org/nipponia/nipponia19/en/feature/feature05.html" title="Conbini: Let's enjoy convenience store life!">Conbini</a> Shuten—the final 1126 convenience store of Tokyo. Complete with latitude and longitude figures on its 1127 sign out front, it is a site of pilgrimage for cyclists headed up to the lake 1128 and the border of Tokyo and Yamanashi prefectures. Too bad it&rsquo;s a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Yamazaki">Daily 1129 Yamazaki</a> and not a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FamilyMart">Famima</a>, but either way it&rsquo;s got 1130 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocari_Sweat">Pocari Sweat</a>!</p> 1131 <p>From the town of Okutama to the lake is a 13 km hill climb up through tunnel 1132 after tunnel to the dam at the edge of the lake. My the one route change I&rsquo;ll 1133 make the next time I do this is to go <em>around</em> the tunnels instead of <em>through</em> 1134 them. I can&rsquo;t possibly imagine why someone felt the need to put (very 1135 expensive) tunnels in on this road given that almost every single one can be 1136 bypassed on the road. I can only assume that this has something to do with the 1137 government trying to buy the powerful rural vote with thousands of unnecessary, 1138 environment-destroying <a href="http://www.iwanami.co.jp/jpworld/text/publicworks01.html" title="The LDP and pork-barrel politics">construction projects</a> per year.</p> 1139 <p>The good news is that once you hit the top, the views are spectacular, the 1140 roads are flat, and you&rsquo;re back in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68908288@N00/141327403/" title="Jidohanbaiki: Let's vending machine!">jidohanbaiki</a>-land where 1141 Pocari Sweat and Aquarius are available in abundance! I&rsquo;d accidentally left my 1142 cycle computer off for a 3km stretch out of Okutama, so I cycled 3 km down the 1143 road to make up for it and be able to claim a <em>recorded</em> 160 km. I ran into a 1144 German cyclist named Ludwig who&rsquo;d also ridden in from Tokyo; he had a 1145 drool-worthy Canyan carbon-fibre bike, and interestingly, it turns out he&rsquo;s 1146 part of the <a href="http://positivo-espresso.blogspot.com/">Positivo Espresso</a> cycling group whose blog I&rsquo;d 1147 been reading for a couple months.</p> 1148 <p>Ludvig continued on up towards Yamanashi-ken with the plan of packing up his 1149 bike and taking the train back when he got as far as he wanted to go. Good 1150 plan, and something I&rsquo;ll give a try next time. I turned my bike around for the 1151 long trip back home. The best part of that trip was the 30 minute descent back 1152 down out of the hills at car speed, before hitting Mitake, and heading back out 1153 to the flat cycle path along the Tamagawa.</p> 1154 <p>All in all, a pretty awesome day of cycling and a trip I&rsquo;d definitely do again. 1155 While the trip included a nice hill-climb, it wasn&rsquo;t severe, and didn&rsquo;t last 1156 more than 15 km. I&rsquo;ve included the GPS map—there are a couple errors where I&rsquo;d 1157 accidentally switched it off for 3 km near Okutama, and for about 5 km near 1158 Hamura on the way back.</p> 1159 </description> 1160 </item> 1161 1162 <item> 1163 <title>Monkey Madness</title> 1164 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2008/08/monkey-madness/</link> 1165 <pubDate>Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1166 1167 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2008/08/monkey-madness/</guid> 1168 <description><p>How many police does it take to catch a monkey in one of Tokyo&rsquo;s busiest train 1169 stations? Apparently a lot more than the <a href="https://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1LbhEJ2NUxE">40 or so that 1170 tried</a>.</p> 1171 <p>The monkey was first spotted around 9:45am on top of the Tokyu Toyoko Line 1172 schedule display, possibly one of the best choices for people-watching in 1173 Shibuya Station, strategically positions between the exit of the Tokyu 1174 department store and the entrance to one of Tokyo&rsquo;s busiest train lines.</p> 1175 <p>It hung around for close to two hours while commuters, shoppers, news crews and 1176 a posse of net-wielding cops showed up, before finally deciding to 1177 <a href="https://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=AKFh-Wc7KSE">make a break for it</a>. Police never did catch the cheeky 1178 monkey, and its current whereabouts are unknown.</p> 1179 <p>Apparently this is the third incident of a monkey getting into a train station 1180 in Tokyo in the last few weeks.</p> 1181 </description> 1182 </item> 1183 1184 <item> 1185 <title>PR#6</title> 1186 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/06/pr6/</link> 1187 <pubDate>Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1188 1189 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/06/pr6/</guid> 1190 <description><p>According to <a href="http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/06/0028246">Slashdot</a>, this month the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II">Apple 1191 II</a> turns 30. It was in production for 18 of those 30 years, 1192 which likely makes it the longest-selling personal computer of all time. It was 1193 the computer I wrote my first program on, and spent countless hours banging in 1194 and editing code from <em>Compute</em> magazine—including page after page of raw hex 1195 code when a program included graphics.</p> 1196 <p>In tribute, I ran a Google search on PR#6 to see what turned up. For those who 1197 don&rsquo;t know or don&rsquo;t remember, PR#6 was the command that kicked off the 1198 bootloader code for slot 6, the drive controller. The search turned up two 1199 relevant links: an <a href="http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=197&amp;coll=ap">Apple TechTip</a> on a simple copy-protection scheme, 1200 and a fantastic <a href="http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/08/22/c600g">blog entry</a> that covers a bit about the Apple 1201 ][&rsquo;s boot process, which brings back a lot of memories of old Shugart drives, 1202 including the terrifying sound of a track 0 seek – a process wherein the drive 1203 head was moved across the disk very quickly until it physically couldn&rsquo;t go any 1204 further, resulting in a loud alarm-like buzz from the drive when it hit the 1205 limit of its reach.</p> 1206 <p>Anyway, in celebration of the Apple ][&rsquo;s 30th birthday, I recommend grabbing 1207 your nearest <a href="https://www.scullinsteel.com/apple2/#dos33master">emulator</a>, and banging in a <code>call -151</code> for old time&rsquo;s 1208 sake.</p> 1209 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2007-06-06-happy_birthday.png" 1210 alt="AppleSoft BASIC program"> 1211 </figure> 1212 1213 </description> 1214 </item> 1215 1216 <item> 1217 <title>Google Reader</title> 1218 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/05/google-reader/</link> 1219 <pubDate>Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1220 1221 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/05/google-reader/</guid> 1222 <description><p>For years, I&rsquo;ve been a fan of <a href="http://inessential.com/">Brent Simmons&rsquo;</a> OS X-based feed 1223 reader, <a href="http://www.newsgator.com/Individuals/NetNewsWire/">NetNewsWire</a>. It&rsquo;s a fantastic application, and I&rsquo;ve definitely 1224 got my money&rsquo;s worth out of it. After partnering with <a href="http://newsgator.com/">NewsGator</a>, I 1225 started using their online feed-reader on and off, with mixed 1226 results. I like that it keeps my feeds in sync between my computers, 1227 and that I can browse articles at lunch, but the interface is still not on par 1228 with NetNewsWire itself.</p> 1229 <p>While NewsGator&rsquo;s implementation was lacking, I really did like the idea of 1230 dropping the desktop app altogether and going with a fully online solution, so 1231 I started exploring other options. The obvious free alternative is <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/">Google 1232 Reader</a>, and I have to say, I&rsquo;m impressed. While the 1233 presentation isn&rsquo;t as customizable as NetNewsWire, the functionality that I use 1234 is all there, and in fact, it has some extra search features that I miss on the 1235 desktop. It was only when I launched NetNewsWire today and saw 290 unread 1236 items, that it hit me I hadn&rsquo;t used it in almost a month. So while I look 1237 forward to <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hicksdesign/210309912/">NetNewsWire 3</a>, I&rsquo;m sticking to Google Reader for the time 1238 being.</p> 1239 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2007-05-30-google-reader.png" 1240 alt="Google reader graph of usage by hour of day"> 1241 </figure> 1242 1243 <p>I also discovered that my prime news reading hours are apparently 6:30am to 1244 7:30am and 9pm to 11pm, with a strange local maximum straggling out around 1245 12:30am. I&rsquo;d be curious to compare this to <em>before</em> I had a baby that woke me 1246 up around that time.</p> 1247 <p><em>Update (2007-06-06):</em> NetNewsWire 3.0 is now out.</p> 1248 </description> 1249 </item> 1250 1251 <item> 1252 <title>Apple Reinvents the Phone?</title> 1253 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/01/apple-reinvents-the-iphone/</link> 1254 <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1255 1256 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2007/01/apple-reinvents-the-iphone/</guid> 1257 <description><p><em>Update (2009-02-28)</em>: Alright, guilty as charged. &ldquo;No wireless. Less space 1258 than a nomad. 1259 <a href="https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/Apple-releases-iPod">Lame</a>.&rdquo;</p> 1260 <p>After watching the Steve Jobs iPhone keynote, I have to say I&rsquo;m a little 1261 disappointed. While this phone has a slicker GUI than any other phone I&rsquo;ve 1262 seen, it&rsquo;s not so much the $499 US price-tag, but the stone-age functionality 1263 of the phone compared to what we have here in Japan that makes my jaw 1264 drop.</p> 1265 <p>Here in Japan, 3 years ago in 2004, for 1 yen, I had the following in a 1266 cellphone:</p> 1267 <ul> 1268 <li>3G download speeds of 50 Mb/s.</li> 1269 <li>Two-way video-phone.</li> 1270 <li>Built-in fingerprint scanner (for security checks).</li> 1271 <li>MP3 player and download service.</li> 1272 <li>Edy BitWallet (like Interac, except you swipe your finger on the 1273 phone&rsquo;s scanner to accept the transaction).</li> 1274 <li>Can be used as a <em>Suica</em> train pass.</li> 1275 <li>Can buy movie tickets and scan in at the theatre, bypassing the 1276 lineup.</li> 1277 <li>Can wave it at vending machines for food and drinks.</li> 1278 <li>Will figure out train routes, transfer locations and times, and 1279 ticket prices.</li> 1280 <li>Can scan barcodes which take you to websites – eg. scan at the bus 1281 station to pull up the schedule or scan a magazine to order a 1282 product.</li> 1283 <li>MP3 player and download service.</li> 1284 <li>Decent email (+ attachments), SMS, calendaring, notepad.</li> 1285 <li>Automatic location triangulation (by determining which antennae are 1286 nearby) and location-aware mapping, shopping/restaurant listings.</li> 1287 <li>Interactive mapping of current location with zooming and scrolling.</li> 1288 <li>Integrated graphical web-browser.</li> 1289 <li>1 megapixel Camera, Video camera.</li> 1290 <li>Display/graph your phone usage to the day.</li> 1291 <li>Can write and deploy your own Java/C/C++ applets.</li> 1292 </ul> 1293 <p>If you go for a high-end phone with more than the above (e.g. built-in TV 1294 tuner), you&rsquo;ll need to pay more than one yen, but the price range is normally 1295 below ¥20,000 ($200 Canadian). In its current state, the iPhone won&rsquo;t sell in 1296 Japan even if it&rsquo;s free; Apple is going to have to do some major work if it 1297 wants to compete with even the bare-bones models on the market in Japan.</p> 1298 </description> 1299 </item> 1300 1301 <item> 1302 <title>A Mystery Solved</title> 1303 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/09/mystery-solved/</link> 1304 <pubDate>Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1305 1306 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/09/mystery-solved/</guid> 1307 <description><p>One of my biggest complaints about Japan has always been the complete and utter 1308 lack of garbage bins in this city. There are none to be found.</p> 1309 <p>If you buy a (most likely seriously overpackaged) snack, you either have to 1310 carry all the wrapping and leftovers around with you until you get home, or 1311 toss it on the street. But the streets are impeccably clean here, which had led 1312 me to believe that like me, the other 12 million people out for a walk this 1313 afternoon, will be carrying their litter around in their backpacks and shopping 1314 bags.</p> 1315 <p>But it turns out this is not the case: an article in <a href="http://www.metropolis.co.jp/">Metropolis</a> 1316 unveils the answer to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190222191348/http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyorantsravesarchive349/315/tokyorantsravesinc.htm">The Big Tokyo Trash Mystery</a>.</p> 1317 </description> 1318 </item> 1319 1320 <item> 1321 <title>Happy 139th Birthday!</title> 1322 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/07/happy-139th-birthday/</link> 1323 <pubDate>Sat, 01 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1324 1325 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/07/happy-139th-birthday/</guid> 1326 <description><p>Canadians in Tokyo got a head start on the Canada Day celebrations, kicking 1327 things off at 8:30 am with a pancake breakfast at the <a href="http://www.maplesportsbar.jp/">Maple Leaf Bar &amp; 1328 Grill</a>, followed by a Canada Day barbeque at Yoyogi Park including 1329 hot dogs, yakitori, a massive Canadian Flag cake, and imported Canadian beer. 1330 By 6pm things, as started to wind down at the park, people started the long 1331 trek back to Shibuya and into the Maple Leaf, where it was standing room 1332 only.</p> 1333 <p>Some <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cbracken/sets/72157594183420453/">pictures of the event</a>.</p> 1334 </description> 1335 </item> 1336 1337 <item> 1338 <title>Canadian Medical Research</title> 1339 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/06/canadian-medical-research/</link> 1340 <pubDate>Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1341 1342 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2006/06/canadian-medical-research/</guid> 1343 <description><p>Don&rsquo;t let anyone tell you that Canada never contributed groundbreaking research 1344 to the medical field. First, the discovery and isolation of insulin by 1345 researchers at the University of Toronto; now <a href="http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7378/1445" title="Ice cream evoked headaches: randomised trial of accelerated versus cautious ice cream eating regimen">this paper</a> published in the 1346 British Medical Journal, co-authored by a Grade 8 student from Hamilton, 1347 Ontario.</p> 1348 </description> 1349 </item> 1350 1351 <item> 1352 <title>麻酔お願いします!</title> 1353 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/10/masui-onegai-shimasu/</link> 1354 <pubDate>Sat, 08 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1355 1356 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/10/masui-onegai-shimasu/</guid> 1357 <description><p>Yesterday was my first trip to the dentist in years. The last time was just 1358 before moving to Mexico, in the summer of 2001. As you might imagine, I was not 1359 entirely expecting a clean bill of dental health. The fact that I had once 1360 again ignored my dentist&rsquo;s advice to floss daily was not improving my outlook 1361 one bit.</p> 1362 <p>So it was with some trepidation that I went to see Dr Nakasawa yesterday 1363 afternoon at 3 o&rsquo;clock. I stepped into the office, swapped my shoes for 1364 slippers, filled out some forms, and took a seat in the waiting room, 1365 attempting to pass the time by reading ads in Japanese for Sonicare 1366 toothbrushes.</p> 1367 <p>Eventually, I heard the receptionist call out &lsquo;Bracken-san!&rsquo; The door swung 1368 open, and I was escorted to a chair and told to have a seat and wait for a few 1369 moments with nothing to do except stare at the assortment of torture 1370 instruments laid out on the table in front of me.</p> 1371 <p>Now, in Canada, this is the point where the hygenist comes in, cleans your 1372 teeth, tells you what a poor job you&rsquo;ve done of brushing your teeth over the 1373 last six months, asks you whether you&rsquo;ve actually bothered to floss even once 1374 since the last time you came, then takes off and the dentist comes in and pokes 1375 around. In Japan, it goes only slightly differently. The dentist comes straight 1376 in, cleans your teeth, tells you what a poor job you&rsquo;ve done of brushing your 1377 teeth, asks you whether you&rsquo;ve actually bothered to floss even once since you 1378 last came in, then starts poking around. Normally, that is.</p> 1379 <p><em>Chotto akete kudasai.</em> I opened my mouth. Dr Nakasawa looked around for a 1380 moment, poking at things with his tools, then paused.</p> 1381 <p><em>Kono chiryou wa Nihon de moraimashita?</em></p> 1382 <p>&lsquo;No, didn&rsquo;t get &rsquo;em here. I got all my fillings in Canada.&rsquo;</p> 1383 <p>Another pause. <em>Aah, Canada-jin desu ka? Daigakusei no jidai, Eigo o benkyou 1384 shimashita kedo, mou hotondo wasurete-shimaimashita.</em></p> 1385 <p>&lsquo;That&rsquo;s ok, I&rsquo;ll try my best in Japanese.&rsquo;</p> 1386 <p>Dr Nakasawa takes another glance in my mouth, does a bit more poking and says 1387 to the hygenist &lsquo;Number 14 looks like an A. 18 looks like a B. 31&hellip; is A-ish.&rsquo; 1388 Dr Nakasawa sits back in his chair. Another pause.</p> 1389 <p>&lsquo;These fillings&hellip; the grey ones,&rsquo; he says, &lsquo;how long ago did you get these?&rsquo;</p> 1390 <p>&lsquo;I don&rsquo;t know, maybe when I was in middle-school. A long time ago. I haven&rsquo;t 1391 had a filling in years.&rsquo;</p> 1392 <p>&lsquo;They&rsquo;re really old. This one here looks like it&rsquo;s chipped away on the edge and 1393 the tooth underneath has a little bit of discolouration that may well be a 1394 cavity. We don&rsquo;t really do this style of filling in Japan anymore, but what I&rsquo;d 1395 suggest — it&rsquo;s up to you — is that we remove these, check for cavities 1396 underneath, do any cleanup you need, then replace them with modern fillings.&rsquo;</p> 1397 <p>&lsquo;Sure, the last dentist I talked to mentioned these were getting pretty awful 1398 too, so sure&hellip; sounds good. Let&rsquo;s do it.&rsquo;</p> 1399 <p>&lsquo;Okay, I&rsquo;m particularly worried about this one here, so let&rsquo;s start with this 1400 one.&rsquo;</p> 1401 <p>&lsquo;Sounds good.&rsquo;</p> 1402 <p>&lsquo;Would you like to book a time next week, or if you have time I could do it 1403 today?&rsquo;</p> 1404 <p>&lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got no plans for the rest of the day, let&rsquo;s just get it over with.&rsquo;</p> 1405 <p>&lsquo;Alright. <em>Masui wa dou desu ka? Hitsuyou desu ka?</em>&rsquo;</p> 1406 <p>Now here I want to remind you that although I can get by in day-to-day life and 1407 carry on a conversation in Japanese, one of the unequivocal facts of gaijin 1408 life is that there are some words you simply don&rsquo;t know, and to keep the flow 1409 of conversation going, you skip them and pick up the general idea from context. 1410 So when someone says to you &lsquo;What about <em>masui</em>? Would you like it?&rsquo; in a tone 1411 that suggests that really, you probably wouldn&rsquo;t, your instinct tends to be to 1412 say &rsquo;no, no.&rsquo;</p> 1413 <p>One of the wonderful things about living in another country is that 1414 occasionally you&rsquo;re pleasantly surprised by turn of events that leads to an 1415 experience that you&rsquo;d almost certainly never have stumbled your way into back 1416 home. These experiences often upend long-held, fundamental beliefs that you&rsquo;d 1417 have never even thought to question in your life.</p> 1418 <p>However, I am going to tell you right now that there is no question at all that 1419 getting your teeth drilled with no freezing hurts almost exactly as much as 1420 you&rsquo;d imagine it does.</p> 1421 <p>The full meaning of Dr Nakasawa&rsquo;s question, and of what was about to transpire, 1422 became crystal clear as he picked up the drill, looked me in the eyes and said 1423 &lsquo;Open wide, and put your hand up if at any point you can&rsquo;t handle the pain.&rsquo; I 1424 swear I detected just the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he said this 1425 to me, but I didn&rsquo;t have long to think about it because it was it was at this 1426 point that I began focussing my entire being on keeping my hands clamped in a 1427 death grip on the armrests of the dental chair.</p> 1428 <p>I walked out of the office that day with a shiny new hole in my tooth and a 1429 temporary filling while they create the permanent one. I managed to do this 1430 without once raising my hand, but Dr Nakasawa&rsquo;s lucky his chair has still got 1431 its bloody armrests attached.</p> 1432 </description> 1433 </item> 1434 1435 <item> 1436 <title>Look At All The Pretty Pictures!</title> 1437 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/08/look-at-all-the-pretty-pictures/</link> 1438 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1439 1440 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/08/look-at-all-the-pretty-pictures/</guid> 1441 <description><p>So I moved my webpage and was all of a sudden faced with a deluge of emails 1442 from people who I never even knew read the thing. Among those emails was a 1443 request from my amigo Chaffee requesting more pictures. Seeing as I&rsquo;d always 1444 wanted to play with the <a href="https://flickr.com/services/">Flickr API</a>, I requested an API Key and 1445 started hacking away at some <a href="https://php.net">PHP</a>. The end result is that on the left side 1446 of this page, you now get to see whatever happens to be the latest picture I&rsquo;ve 1447 taken on my mobile phone.</p> 1448 <p>The moment I take a picture with my cellphone, it gets emailed to the magical 1449 servers at <a href="https://flickr.com">Flickr</a> and tagged with a title, some keywords, and a 1450 description. The next time someone loads this page, a small PHP script in the 1451 innards of this site makes a <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/soap/">SOAP</a> request to Flickr&rsquo;s servers and 1452 retrieves an <a href="https://www.w3.org/XML/">XML</a> response. This response is then parsed out and a URI to 1453 the thumbnail image on Flickr&rsquo;s servers is generated which is then inserted 1454 into this page. To improve performance a tiny bit, I avoid the overhead of the 1455 SOAP call every time this page is loaded by caching the response for five 1456 minutes and reading the cached XML if it&rsquo;s available.</p> 1457 <p>For those of you who are into <a href="https://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html">RSS</a>, I&rsquo;ve added a <a href="feed://flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?id=37996625178@N01&amp;format=atom_03">Flickr 1458 feed</a> to my pictures in the HTML headers on this site.</p> 1459 <p>My goal—and this is entirely for you, Chaffee—is to take at least one 1460 picture a day, which is far more ambitious a schedule than my posting to this 1461 page. We&rsquo;ll see how that works out.</p> 1462 </description> 1463 </item> 1464 1465 <item> 1466 <title>結婚してくれますか?</title> 1467 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/07/kekkon-shite-kuremasu-ka/</link> 1468 <pubDate>Sun, 31 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1469 1470 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/07/kekkon-shite-kuremasu-ka/</guid> 1471 <description><p>The big news is that Yasuko and I will be getting married in November at 1472 Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto. For the desperately curious, I &lsquo;officially&rsquo; proposed 1473 in February at <em>Souvenir</em>, a French restaurant down the street.</p> 1474 <p>In Japan, getting engaged isn&rsquo;t strictly just proposing. You&rsquo;re really not 1475 truly engaged until you&rsquo;ve &lsquo;officially&rsquo; proposed, which means not just deciding 1476 to get married, but getting together with the finacées parents and proposing to 1477 them. A long time ago, one might typically say <em>O-jou-san o boku ni kudasai.</em> 1478 &ldquo;Please give me your [honourable] daughter.&rdquo; I decided I&rsquo;d pass on that line.</p> 1479 <p>In any case, after a few trips back and forth to Kyoto, we settled on a 1480 Japanese ceremony just before noon, followed by a party with friends and family 1481 at a restaurant. The <em>nijikai</em> party in Tokyo will be western-style, but we 1482 haven’t even begun to think about when or where yet.</p> 1483 <p>For those questioning the sanity of a November wedding, keep in mind that in 1484 Japan, this is <em>kōyō</em> season, when all the leaves turn red and Japan is at its 1485 most beautiful. As Fall and Spring are the two most beautiful seasons in Japan, 1486 we were lucky to reserve when we did, back in April. Even then, some 1487 restaurants we talked to were already booked solid until mid-December.</p> 1488 <p>In any case, with the shrine and restaurant out of the way, all we have left to 1489 figure out is wedding rings, kimonos, invitations, flowers, food, gifts, 1490 speeches, photos, &hellip;</p> 1491 </description> 1492 </item> 1493 1494 <item> 1495 <title>Bonjour, Bon Vespre!</title> 1496 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/05/bonjour-bon-vespre/</link> 1497 <pubDate>Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1498 1499 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/05/bonjour-bon-vespre/</guid> 1500 <description><p>Just how far can you travel in a week and a half? It turns out pretty far. 1501 Combining planes, trains, ships, and automobiles, Yasuko and I travelled, all 1502 told, roughly 22,100 km over the Golden Week holiday.</p> 1503 <p>From Tokyo to Avignon, on to Marseille, then Arles and Nîmes, followed by 1504 Carcassonne, Perpignan, and Barcelona, before heading back to Paris and home to 1505 Tokyo in 12 days wasn&rsquo;t bad… Especially considering the car was a Fiat.</p> 1506 </description> 1507 </item> 1508 1509 <item> 1510 <title>桜吹雪</title> 1511 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/04/sakura-fubuki/</link> 1512 <pubDate>Sat, 09 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1513 1514 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/04/sakura-fubuki/</guid> 1515 <description><p>Last weekend, the temperature shot up to 23 degrees, and in the space of two 1516 days, the cherry blossom trees erupted into bloom. The Japanese take this 1517 opportunity to throw impromptu picnics, dinners, and random sake-drinking 1518 events under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom">sakura</a> trees all across the country.</p> 1519 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2005-04-09-sakura.jpg" 1520 alt="Cherry blossoms near Naka-Meguro"> 1521 </figure> 1522 1523 <p>The street behind my building is lined with sakura for as far as you can walk, 1524 so it’s been packed with everyone in the neighbourhood until almost midnight 1525 every night this week. With the cherry blossoms falling like snow since this 1526 morning, the whole thing will be over with by early next week, so Yasuko and I 1527 plan to get in one last hana-mi event tomorrow evening before heading back to 1528 work on Monday.</p> 1529 </description> 1530 </item> 1531 1532 <item> 1533 <title>Huh?</title> 1534 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/03/huh/</link> 1535 <pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1536 1537 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/03/huh/</guid> 1538 <description><p>As I stared blankly out the window of the train on my morning commute, 1539 something caught my eye. As the train flew along its raised track, whizzing 1540 past the rooftops of Gakugei-daigaku at 80 km/h, I swear I saw a guy 1541 standing on the roof of a building alongside the track, dressed in a red cape 1542 and wearing a giant fish on his head, wailing away on a guitar.</p> 1543 <p>He was gone from my view before I was able to catch a second glance, though.</p> 1544 <p><em>Update (2008-03-20):</em> I’m glad he’s <a href="http://jiyugaoka.keizai.biz/headline/171/">not just a figment of my imagination</a>.</p> 1545 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2005-03-29-gakugeidai.jpg" 1546 alt="Man with fish on head playing guitar"> 1547 </figure> 1548 1549 <p><em>Update (2011-04-27):</em> Found a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DbvxgmEAtE">YouTube video</a>.</p> 1550 </description> 1551 </item> 1552 1553 <item> 1554 <title>明けましておめでとうございます!</title> 1555 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/01/akemashite-omedetou/</link> 1556 <pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1557 1558 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2005/01/akemashite-omedetou/</guid> 1559 <description><figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2005-01-05-yasaka.jpg" 1560 alt="Buddhist monk ringing bell"> 1561 </figure> 1562 1563 <p>今年も宜しくお願いします!Jumped on the Nozomi Shinkansen from Shin-Yokohama 1564 station on the 31st to arrive in Kyoto two hours later. It was dumping snow 1565 from Nagoya onwards; and by the time we hit Kyoto, about 10 cm had 1566 accumulated.</p> 1567 <p>After stopping by friends’ for the traditional osechi-ryouri and soba dinner, 1568 Yasuko and I did hatsumoude at Yasaka shrine from 11 at night until 2 in the 1569 morning in the midst of the blizzard.</p> 1570 <p>Spent the next few days shopping in Kyoto, visiting more friends, and 1571 re-visiting shrines and temples before heading back to Tokyo on the 3rd—though 1572 on the return trip, I had to stand from Nagoya onwards since the trains were 1573 booked to 120%.</p> 1574 </description> 1575 </item> 1576 1577 <item> 1578 <title>Fresh Snow</title> 1579 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/12/fresh-snow/</link> 1580 <pubDate>Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1581 1582 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/12/fresh-snow/</guid> 1583 <description><figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2004-12-30-fuji.jpg" 1584 alt="View of Mt. Fuji from Ebisu Garden Place"> 1585 </figure> 1586 1587 <p>I came into work to a nice surprise this morning. Sipping on hot green tea, we 1588 all crowded around the windows to check out the view.</p> 1589 <p>With the recent cold snap, the views this morning are incredibly clear. A 1590 little less so when passed through the tiny lens of my cell-phone camera. To 1591 see it in person, it really does dominate the horizon; and at over 100km away, 1592 that’s a pretty big feat.</p> 1593 </description> 1594 </item> 1595 1596 <item> 1597 <title>寒い!</title> 1598 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/12/samui/</link> 1599 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1600 1601 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/12/samui/</guid> 1602 <description><p>With the last days of 2004 upon us, it appears the weather has taken a turn 1603 from the relative warmth of November and December to plummet sub-zero 1604 overnight. What started as a light flurry this morning has progressed to a 1605 full-out blizzard, and it’s still coming down like crazy as I write 1606 this.</p> 1607 <p>In unrelated news, I’m off to Kyoto for Oshogatsu from the 31st to the 3rd. 1608 This time, I swear I’ll post pictures!</p> 1609 <p>Hope everyone had a happy Christmas. See you in 2005!</p> 1610 </description> 1611 </item> 1612 1613 <item> 1614 <title>Apartment Hunting</title> 1615 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/11/apartment-hunting/</link> 1616 <pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1617 1618 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/11/apartment-hunting/</guid> 1619 <description><p>Through a stroke of luck, I think I may have actually found a permanent place 1620 to live in Jiyugaoka close to Toritsu Daigaku station.</p> 1621 <p>I have my current apartment in Ebisu until the 30th, so the plan is to move the 1622 weekend of the 27th. In the meantime, to placate people asking for pictures, 1623 here’s the view from my balcony here in Ebisu. The upside is that Ebisu is an 1624 incredibly central location in Tokyo with a ton of great restaurants; the 1625 downside is that tea costs 735 yen at the coffee shop across the way.</p> 1626 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2004-11-04-balcony.jpg" 1627 alt="Tokyo Tower viewed from Ebisu Garden Place"> 1628 </figure> 1629 1630 </description> 1631 </item> 1632 1633 <item> 1634 <title>東京に引越しする!</title> 1635 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/tokyo-ni-hikkoshi/</link> 1636 <pubDate>Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1637 1638 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/tokyo-ni-hikkoshi/</guid> 1639 <description><p>After two years back in Canada and several trips back and forth to Japan, I’ve 1640 signed a full-time contract as a software developer with a firm in Tokyo and am 1641 permanently re-locating to Japan. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can get 1642 around to it.</p> 1643 </description> 1644 </item> 1645 1646 <item> 1647 <title>New York, NY, USA</title> 1648 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</link> 1649 <pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1650 1651 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/09/new-york-ny-usa/</guid> 1652 <description><p>Flew out to New York for interviews with Tokyo via videoconference on the 9th 1653 and 10th. More details later, but I’ll post pictures now.</p> 1654 </description> 1655 </item> 1656 1657 <item> 1658 <title>Summer 2004 in Japan</title> 1659 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/08/summer-2004-in-japan/</link> 1660 <pubDate>Fri, 20 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1661 1662 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/08/summer-2004-in-japan/</guid> 1663 <description><p>I had originally planned my summer vacations for May, then July, and finally, 1664 in an effort to match my summer vacations with those of friends in Japan, ended 1665 up shuffling them back to August. Aside from the scorching heat, August is a 1666 fantastic time of year to visit. The heat this summer was more than a little 1667 bit scorching though, it was the hottest summer in ten years.</p> 1668 <p>It turned out, however, that I would have something more pressing than the 1669 weather to keep my mind busy though. In the middle of the night, somewhere over 1670 the Pacific ocean I woke up from my sleep in a cold sweat. My heart was 1671 pounding. The airplane cabin was surprisingly silent; everyone around me had 1672 dozed off to sleep and all that was left was the low drone of the jet engines 1673 and the gentle hiss of the air vents. Slowly, I reached for the back pocket of 1674 my backpack. My hands trembling, I unzipped it and slowly pulled it open. With 1675 a huge sigh of relief, I pulled out my wallet. I hadn’t forgotten it at home 1676 after all. Dropping it back in, I turned back toward the window and fell back 1677 asleep. It wasn&rsquo;t until the next day in Osaka, as I opened my wallet to pay for 1678 my hotel that I realised I’d forgotten my bank card at home.</p> 1679 <p>This would not have been a problem, except that in a flash of brilliance, I had 1680 decided to forgo the usual traveller’s cheques and use post office bank 1681 machines to withdraw from my accounts back home. This had worked fantastically 1682 last year and would save the hassle of cashing traveller’s cheques at a bank. 1683 Fortunately I had a credit card on me. Unfortunately, Canadian credit cards 1684 can’t be used to withdraw more than 20,000 yen a day, and then only at special 1685 Visa bank machines which tend to be incredibly hard to find. Or, as I would 1686 find out, impossible to find outside of Osaka or Tokyo. Fortunately I was able 1687 to get hold of Mum on the phone relatively quickly, and she FedEx’ed the card 1688 to Yasuko in Tokyo. By my math, I had just enough cash to buy Shinkansen 1689 tickets to Shizuoka, then Tokyo. All I had to do was ensure that I reserved a 1690 hotel in Shizuoka that accepted Canadian credit cards. No problem.</p> 1691 <p>I spent the first night in the Umeda ward of Osaka, mostly because it’s so 1692 close to Osaka station, and I was planning to catch the train first thing next 1693 morning out through Kyoto, then Otsu, to Imazu-cho to meet Annie. Aside from 1694 spending most of the next day in Osaka desperately seeking out Visa ATMs, I 1695 can’t say I had that bad a time. Well, the weather was alright anyway.</p> 1696 <p>Annie put me up for a few days in Imazu-cho, where I had the chance to meet up 1697 with some friends from last year, and do a little exploring of nearby bits of 1698 Shiga-ken. Caught the ferry out to Chikubushima, an island just 30 minutes out 1699 from shore into Lake Biwa. The amazing thing about Chikubushima is the temples 1700 and shrines you find in this remote location. The wood for the buildings did 1701 not come from the island itself, but was ferried out by hand hundreds of years 1702 ago. Chikubushima is one of several locations in Japan where the godess of 1703 artistic inclinations, Benzaiten, is worshipped. Benzaiten, or Benten as she is 1704 more often called, is the only female among the Shichifukujin¹ and is often 1705 depicted as a woman carrying a lute. As she is a river godess, temples and 1706 shrines dedicated to her often appear on lakes or near water.</p> 1707 <p>After a few days in Imazu, I decided to head to Shizuoka. The best way to get 1708 there was to catch local trains to Maibara station, on the other side of the 1709 lake, then take the Shinkansen from there to Shizuoka. As I was running a 1710 little late, I ended up sprinting through Imazu, suitcase in tow, to the train 1711 station. With 100m to go, I saw the train pull into the station, so I threw it 1712 into high gear. I quickly bought the 900 yen ticket from the ticket agent, who 1713 told me to run for track 3, and remember to change trains at Nagahama station. 1714 I sprinted up the stairs, and threw myself headlong through the train doors 1715 seconds before they closed. 20 minutes later, the train driver called Nagahama 1716 station over the crackly radio, and I hopped off. I was the only one. The train 1717 pulled away, and I was left standing on the train platform with nothing but the 1718 scorching heat and humidity, and the chirping of cicadas. It was then that I 1719 read the station name: Nagahara. I’d misheard the name. There would surely be 1720 another train in ten minutes though, so I staggered down the stairs and noticed 1721 the utter lack of automatic ticket gates.</p> 1722 <p>An old woman sat in the station-master’s booth. She looked up at me with a 1723 half-surprised, half-worried expression and asked me for my ticket. I handed it 1724 over. Noticing the apparent discrepancy in train fare she asked, “where are you 1725 headed?” I answered “Maibara.” She said, “that’s on the other side of the lake. 1726 You’re at Nagahara.” I said “I know. I’d meant to change at Nagahama…” at which 1727 point she started laughing. ”The next train’s in three hours.” Three hours. I 1728 asked when the next train to Oumi-Shiotsu station was. It was one station to 1729 the north, at the junction of two train lines, so there’d be a much better 1730 chance of catching an earlier train. She said ”That&rsquo;s the one. The next train 1731 anywhere is three hours from now. There’s a bus in two though. Or I could call 1732 a taxi, if that would help.” Maibara had to be at least 80km from here. No way 1733 I could afford a taxi. But I could probably get a taxi to Oumi-Shiotsu, which I 1734 did. And was laughed at some more over my mistake.</p> 1735 <p>Turned out I wasn’t the only one. When I arrived at Oumi-Shiotsu, I was greeted 1736 by three Japanese backpackers from Kyushu who’d apparently gotten off at 1737 Nagahara the day before, and decided to stay the night at a nearby hotspring 1738 and continue on to Maibara the next day. We sat for an hour, jumped on the 1739 train, and eventually arrived at Nagahama, changed trains, and completed the 1740 journey to Maibara. From there, it was the Kodama Shinkansen to Shizuoka.</p> 1741 <p>I crashed the night in Shizuoka, then spent the next day exploring town. I 1742 visited Sumpu-jou, a small castle in central Shizuoka, and Sumpu-jou Kouen, a 1743 nearby park where I was invited in to try a whole series of green teas. 1744 Shizuoka is famous for green tea, and as I had been the only foreigner that 1745 week, I was treated to a detailed history of tea cultivation in the area, an 1746 explanation of the many varieties and styles of green tea, and a pile of free 1747 desserts! They asked if I had some spare time, as they’d love to take me on a 1748 guided tour of the rest of the teahouse, and show me the private gardens in the 1749 back. It was pretty spectacular.</p> 1750 <p>After Sumpu-jou Kouen, I tried to find a bank machine that would allow me to do 1751 a cash advance on my credit card, but finally gave up while I still had my 1752 sanity. I bought a Shinkansen ticket for Tokyo with the plan to meet Setsuko at 1753 Tennodai station at 9pm.</p> 1754 <p>On the train, I met a professor with the Shimizu Univeristy Naval Engineering 1755 school, and we ended up chatting the entire way to Tokyo. He was originally 1756 from Kyoto, but had lived in Holland for years, and half-way through the 1757 conversation, I discovered that he also spoke flawless English. He was 1758 incredibly polite and put up with my fairly dodgy Japanese the entire way. It 1759 was pretty good practice for me, though we did switch to English as the 1760 conversation got into ship-building and a few other topics I knew nothing about 1761 in Japanese.</p> 1762 <p>In the end, I got to Ueno station a little bit early, stuffed my suitcase in a 1763 locker, and ended up exploring the park for a few hours. I ended up doing a 1764 huge survey on what I thought of Ueno Park, which was also great Japanese 1765 practice, and I got a free pen out of the deal, to boot. I also discovered a 1766 big festival going on at the far end of the park, near a temple that Yasuko and 1767 I had visited last year. I wandered past the booths selling onigiri² and 1768 kaki-kori³, listened to the music, took some pictures, and stopped by the 1769 temple for a bit. It sits in the middle of a large pond full of blossoming 1770 lotus flowers, and combined with the smell of incense wafting over the pond, it 1771 makes for a very peaceful experience.</p> 1772 <p>Eventually, I grabbed some onigiri and headed back to the train station to 1773 catch the next train for Tennodai, in Chiba. Got there just in time, sat down 1774 and waited on the platform for Setsuko, who arrived 5 minutes later. It was 1775 crazy to see her again on the other side of the world. We headed off to the 1776 supermarket, grabbed some food for dinner, and headed back to her apartment to 1777 eat.</p> 1778 <p>The next day, we did some shopping around Kashiwa station in Chiba, and I ended 1779 up ordering a hand-made traditional futon. They measured me, we selected 1780 fabrics and they said to come back in ten days to pick it up. Grabbed some 1781 chinese food for lunch and some snacks, and did a bit more shopping. Eventually 1782 we headed back, and I went to sleep. I remember being woken by an earthquake at 1783 about 2am, but falling back asleep before it was even over. I can’t stay awake 1784 for long on futons; they’re incredibly comfortable.</p> 1785 <p>Yasuko and I arranged to meet at Shinagawa station early the next morning under 1786 the big clock by the central ticket gates. It was great to see her again, and 1787 we immediately bolted off to drop my gear at the apartment in Shinagawa she’d 1788 rented and head out for lunch at an Italian place nearby. The rest of the week 1789 was spent eating some of the most amazing sushi, soba, French, and Italian food 1790 you can imagine, and checking out two huge fireworks festivals. Aside from all 1791 the eating, we also visited art galleries in Ueno park, and did a bit of 1792 shopping in Jiyuugaoka and Ginza. I got to visit Apple’s flagship Ginza store 1793 which is a noble goal for any true Mac fanatic. Well, technically I also needed 1794 a new AC adapter, since I’d accidentally destroyed mine earlier in the day.</p> 1795 <p>After a week in Tokyo, it was off on a business trip to Oita, on Kyushu. I’d 1796 never been to southern Japan before, and I was looking forward to meeting some 1797 of my Japanese counterparts for work after many email conversations. Not only 1798 did I get to visit a Japanese shipyard and see firsthand the incredible 1799 precision with which they manufacture their vessels, but I also got to visit a 1800 rural Japanese town, and meet Matsumoto-san and Kato-san, who treated me to 1801 some of the most memorable karaoke of my life. After the business trip to 1802 Nagasaki, we headed out for one last night together, with an amazing 1803 traditional Kyushu-style sashimi and sushi dinner, and karaoke until two in the 1804 morning.</p> 1805 <p>For my final day in Japan, I was scheduled to fly out of Oita airport, arriving 1806 at Tokyo Haneda airport at 12:15. At 5pm, my return flight to Canada departed 1807 Tokyo Narita airport. In the intervening 3 hours, the brilliant plan was to 1808 jump from train to train at breakneck pace and make it to Togoshi-ginza station 1809 to meet Yasuko for lunch, then jump straight back on the train and make it out 1810 to Narita just in time for my flight. I made every single train as the doors 1811 were closing. Literally, with under two seconds to spare every time&hellip; but we 1812 did have a fantastic Italian lunch, and make it to the airport with such 1813 impeccable timing that by the time I arrived at the gate, everyone had boarded 1814 but ten people. You can’t cut it much closer than that.</p> 1815 <p>Once again, one of the most memorable trips of my life. The best part is that 1816 I’ll be permanently moving back to Japan within a couple of months, so I’ll be 1817 even closer to all the places I’ve been looking forward to visiting. Thanks to 1818 everyone who put me up again this year: Annie, Setsuko, and Yasuko! I can’t 1819 wait to be back.</p> 1820 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 1821 <ol> 1822 <li><em>Shichifukujin:</em> The seven gods of good luck.</li> 1823 <li><em>Onigiri:</em> Rice balls, often stuffed with pickled plum or fish.</li> 1824 <li><em>kaki-kori:</em> Shaved ice covered in flavoured syrup such as strawberry, 1825 blueberry, or green tea.</li> 1826 </ol> 1827 </description> 1828 </item> 1829 1830 <item> 1831 <title>End of Season</title> 1832 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/04/end-of-season/</link> 1833 <pubDate>Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1834 1835 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/04/end-of-season/</guid> 1836 <description><p>Two last ski trips for the year. The first, at Mt. Washington, saw a beautiful 1837 attempt at a forward flip by Kevin, and Pippa ripping it up. For the second, I 1838 burned off on the 10 hour trek to Nelson, where Trav skiied until he dropped 1839 and I tried out the new Rossignol B2s.</p> 1840 </description> 1841 </item> 1842 1843 <item> 1844 <title>Mt. Washington</title> 1845 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/03/mt-washington/</link> 1846 <pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2004 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1847 1848 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2004/03/mt-washington/</guid> 1849 <description><p>Put a group of idiots together on skis and boards, and you’ve got a guaranteed 1850 recipe for a good time. Tom managed a sweet 360 and Matt successfully pulled 1851 off half a backflip.</p> 1852 </description> 1853 </item> 1854 1855 <item> 1856 <title>Biking Japan 2003</title> 1857 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/08/biking-japan-2003/</link> 1858 <pubDate>Sun, 17 Aug 2003 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 1859 1860 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/08/biking-japan-2003/</guid> 1861 <description><figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2003-08-17-cycling-in-japan.jpg" 1862 alt="Brodie bike parked beside vending machines in front of restaurant"> 1863 </figure> 1864 1865 <p>The plan was to travel from Osaka north to the Japan Sea, northeast along the 1866 coast to Joetsu, south through the alps to Nagano, then southeast all the way 1867 to Tokyo — a total distance of close to 1200 km, entirely by bicycle.</p> 1868 <p>Unfortunately for me, disaster struck just over half-way, in the form of 1869 150km/h winds and torrential downpours. Typhoon Number 10 ploughed straight 1870 through Japan, following a track from the island of Shikoku through Nagano 1871 before it died out, dumping up to 650mm of rain a day, and flooding out every 1872 town and village in its path.</p> 1873 <p>I arrived in Osaka the night of July 28th and promptly hauled my bike, 1874 panniers, and tools through customs and immigration, across the airport, and 1875 into a hotel. I’m not entirely sure how happy they were to have a 1876 grotty-looking guy assembling his bike in his hotel room overnight, but no one 1877 said anything, and I snuck out around 6am anyway.</p> 1878 <p>It’s unbelievable just how slowly you start and stop when your bike is loaded 1879 with 40kg of gear. Sort of the cycling equivalent of driving an 18-wheeler. The 1880 weather was a scorching 36C, with the humidity hovering around 85%. Over the 1881 first 70km from Osaka Itami Airport to downtown Kyoto, I consumed 8 litres of 1882 Dakara, Boku, Miu, and the oh-so-deliciously named Poccari Sweat, crashed 1883 twice, and got lost every 5 minutes. Took a break in Kyoto, stopping by to take 1884 a look at Sanjuusan Gendo, take some pictures, and chat with Taxi drivers, the 1885 police, and anyone else who wanted to know just what the hell I was doing.</p> 1886 <p>Eventually, after a few more Poccari Sweats and some ramen for lunch, I jumped 1887 on my bike and started the trek to Otsu. Half an hour later, winding my way 1888 slowly uphill, along a narrow shoulder on a bridge 30m above a cemetary, I had 1889 the first major close call of the ride. Fortunately, through a combination of 1890 luck and skill, I deftly avoided flying over the railing and plummeting 30m to 1891 my death. Unfortunately, I did so by launching myself headlong into a traffic 1892 barrier, failing to release my toe-clips, breaking the seat right off the post, 1893 and trashing both my leg and pannier on the pavement in the process. Pretty 1894 sure my leg was broken, I lay there for a few minutes contemplating the 1895 resounding success of my bike trip thusfar while the last of the Poccari Sweat 1896 drained out of my water bottles into my shoes.</p> 1897 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2003-08-17-fireworks-in-fukui.jpg" 1898 alt="Fireworks in Fukui"> 1899 </figure> 1900 1901 <p>Suffice to say that the rest of the day went uphill from there (both literally 1902 and figuratively) and I arrived in Otsu, on the edge of lake Biwa, in one 1903 piece. Annie met me at the JR train station, we ditched the bike in a parking 1904 lot, and rode the train back to Kyoto, where we met up with the entire 1905 complement of Shiga JET Programme teachers at The Hub, an Irish Pub in 1906 Karamachi. After a few beers, some fish &amp; chips and edamame, Annie and Brent 1907 hauled me back to their apartment in Imazu, where they (and I am forever 1908 indebted to them for this) put me up for three days.</p> 1909 <p>Although I didn’t get to go to SummerSonic in Osaka, I did get to pick up my 1910 bike in Otsu, ride 95km back north to Imazu, and spend the evening at Imazu’s 1911 Natsu-matsuri¹ with friends of Annie’s and Brent’s (Josh, Yo, and Hatsumi). 1912 Natsu-matsuris involve many elements, but some of the most important factors 1913 are: fireworks that put ours to shame, music and dancing, traditional Yukata², 1914 and vast quantites of food and alcohol. After the festival, we dragged 1915 ourselves to Bumblebee Twist, a local bar, and had a few more before eventually 1916 hauling ourselves off to bed to recover.</p> 1917 <p>The next day, we were all invited to a barbeque. The one thing that any 1918 foreigner will immediately notice about a Japanese barbeque is that you can’t 1919 just light the barbeque using zip-lights or lighter fluid. No&hellip; the correct 1920 way to light a barbeque in Japan is for one person to heat the coals with a 1921 torch while the rest stand around fanning the flames with uchiwas³ until the 1922 barbeque, in a moment of glory, bursts into flames and the cooking begins. We 1923 had music, more food, beer and Chu-hai (a sort of cider), snacks, and more 1924 fireworks. It was totally great, even though I was beat over and over at some 1925 kind of pirate game by a three-year-old.</p> 1926 <p>The next morning, I said bye to Annie and Brent, then hurled myself off 1927 northwards up the highway towards the north coast. For 30km, the road winds up 1928 through the mountains over a narrow pass toward Tsuruga. In the scariest 1929 downhill of the entire ride, I plummeted down the winding road, drafting behind 1930 semi-trucks at 70km/h, flying in and out of tunnels and around hairpin turns 1931 for the 8km down into Tsuruga.</p> 1932 <p>Tsuruga sits on the ocean at the edge of the Sea of Japan, at the beginning of 1933 the long road leading northeast to Fukui and Kanazawa. Unfortunately, it also 1934 sits at the beginning of a 95km-long leg of straight uphill running along the 1935 edge of a cliff with no shoulder. Fortunately, it’s some of the most beautiful 1936 riding you could possibly hope for. Even more fortunately, midway through the 1937 ride, as I sat at the side of the road huddling in a tiny corner of shade at 1938 the edge of a cliff, two motorcyclists from Osaka pulled up and offered me 1939 something to drink, a look at their road maps, and some encouragement in 1940 Kansai-dialect. This was reinforced over and over throughout my ride by 1941 children hanging out of car windows waving and shouting &ldquo;ganbare!&rdquo; at the top 1942 of their lungs.</p> 1943 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2003-08-17-lining-up-for-okonomiyaki.jpg" 1944 alt="Lining up for okonomiyaki"> 1945 </figure> 1946 1947 <p>Eventually, I wound my way up through the mountains to Fukui, where I almost 1948 had to spend the night camped on a park-bench by the river. Just when I’d 1949 almost given up hope of finding a hostel, someone walked up to me and in 1950 perfect English, asked if I needed a place to stay for the night. Turns out her 1951 family ran a hotel downtown, and she and her sister had spent several years 1952 living in Australia. Their mom invited me in for tea and snacks after dinner 1953 and we all stayed up late with their little boy, Ryu, yakking about travelling 1954 and good Japanese food.</p> 1955 <p>The next day it was off to Kanazawa, which it turns out has a lot in common 1956 with Kyoto. While it’s much smaller, there were many beautiful old sections of 1957 town. There are temples and shrines everywhere, Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen — 1958 probably the most famous Japanese garden in the world. There’s also a crazy guy 1959 dressed in a cape and John Lennon glasses who runs around dragging people to 1960 convenience stores. Too embarassed not to buy an ice cream treat from the 1961 shopkeeper, I grabbed some ice-cream mochi balls, borrowed the phone and set up 1962 reservations for Nagano.</p> 1963 <p>Because of the typhoon, I ended up doing the rest of the trip by train. I found 1964 a bike shop and spent the day yammering away in pseudo-Japanese to the little 1965 old grandma and grandpa who owned the shop. Turns out that he had done almost 1966 the exact same bike trip about 40 years ago! He had also cycled across 1967 Australia and much of the rest of Japan. Pretty amazing! If I hadn’t found 1968 them, my bike would probably be lying in a crumpled heap in a landfill right 1969 now. It took hours, be we did manage to pack everything into an unbelievably 1970 small bag that I could haul onto the train with me.</p> 1971 <p>From Kanazawa, I caught the train to Nagano, taking local lines and limited 1972 express trains the whole way. Nagano was the site of the 1998 Winter Olympic 1973 Games, but has since reverted to its pre-Olympic small-town feel. It was a 1974 beautiful place to visit, hidden away in the Japanese alps, surrounded by 1975 Japanese hot springs and ski hills. I can’t wait to visit in winter. Nagano’s 1976 biggest feature is probably Zenkouji, a Buddhist Temple which houses the first 1977 Buddhist images to come to Japan from the Asian mainland. Underneath the temple 1978 is a pitch-black maze of tunnels that you can wander into, pushed along by wave 1979 after wave of school-children on field trips, people on pilgrimmages, and 1980 curious tourists. It’s almost impossible to tell just how fast you’re moving, 1981 or how far you’ve gone&hellip; just disembodied voices in the dark. Eventually you 1982 arrive at the “key to salvation”, which you can’t see, but you can feel. A few 1983 shakes and rattles, then you’re swept away down the tunnels again.</p> 1984 <p>From Nagano, I caught the Asama Shinkansen into Tokyo. At 280km/h the trip 1985 takes just about two hours. The train tore through the edge of the hurricane at 1986 breakneck speed and we were in Tokyo on schedule to the minute. You can’t help 1987 but love the Japanese train system.</p> 1988 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2003-08-17-akasaka.jpg" 1989 alt="Akasaka at night"> 1990 </figure> 1991 1992 <p>Met up with Yasuko in Tokyo, and we spent the week bumming around town and 1993 catching all the sights: Akasaka, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Odaiba, the Tsukiji fish 1994 market. Took a side trip to the art gallery a few hours away in Hakone 1995 Prefecture where a mix of European and Japanese art is on display. There were 1996 some absolutely amazing pieces of Japanese pottery in their collection. Back in 1997 Tokyo, we had the chance to see a Kabuki play. I wasn’t entirely sure what to 1998 expect, but it was great. The most striking thing is perhaps the movement. It 1999 was absolutely incredible. I wish I were able to describe it, but the best I 2000 can do is recommend that if you’re even in Tokyo, you go see a Kabuki play!</p> 2001 <p>I returned home on August 17th. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo, 2002 jumped on the plane at 6pm and had another breakfast and lunch. Arrived back in 2003 Canada 8 hours before I left, and had lunch and dinner again, for a total of 2004 seven meals on the 17th. Not bad! It was a pretty wild and crazy trip, but it 2005 was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I can’t wait to go back.</p> 2006 <p>Thanks to everyone who put me up along the way! In particular, Annie &amp; Brent, 2007 and Yasuko! You guys are the best!</p> 2008 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 2009 <ol> 2010 <li><em>Natsu-Matsuri:</em> every village’s traditional summer festival, usually in 2011 early- to mid-August, near Obon, the Day of the Dead.</li> 2012 <li><em>Yukata:</em> traditional light cotton kimonos that come in a variety of colours 2013 and patterns.</li> 2014 <li><em>Uchiwa:</em> Large, flat traditional Japanese fan.</li> 2015 </ol> 2016 </description> 2017 </item> 2018 2019 <item> 2020 <title>Site Update</title> 2021 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/04/site-update/</link> 2022 <pubDate>Tue, 01 Apr 2003 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2023 2024 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/04/site-update/</guid> 2025 <description><p>I finally got around to updating and re-organizing the site. It should render 2026 properly in everything from the latest browser to lynx or a text-based browser 2027 on a cell phone. All the reports from Mérida are now up, including links to 2028 photos at the top of each page. The trip home is still a work in progress.</p> 2029 </description> 2030 </item> 2031 2032 <item> 2033 <title>I am Canadian</title> 2034 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/02/i-am-canadian/</link> 2035 <pubDate>Fri, 28 Feb 2003 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2036 2037 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2003/02/i-am-canadian/</guid> 2038 <description><p>Since the original <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMxGVfk09lU">I am Canadian</a> ad, Molson has released a slew of 2039 others, but until recently, I haven’t been too impressed; however, the 2040 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y7fHQiGkH0">I Am Canadian Anthem</a> is a hilarious 90-second snapshot of the 2041 cultural history of this country.</p> 2042 </description> 2043 </item> 2044 2045 <item> 2046 <title>Back in Canada</title> 2047 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/05/back-in-canada/</link> 2048 <pubDate>Sun, 26 May 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2049 2050 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/05/back-in-canada/</guid> 2051 <description><p>Back in Victoria, B.C. after a two month return home to Canada by land beginning 2052 in Mérida, Yucatán and continuing through Cuba, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, 2053 then all the way back up through Guatemala, México, the U.S. and finally 2054 across Western Canada.</p> 2055 </description> 2056 </item> 2057 2058 <item> 2059 <title>Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México</title> 2060 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/04/chetumal-quintana-roo-mexico/</link> 2061 <pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2062 2063 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/04/chetumal-quintana-roo-mexico/</guid> 2064 <description><p>As we stepped off the Cubana Ilyushin Il-62 plane at the Cancun airport, I 2065 literally kissed the ground in happiness. The airport was crowded with people 2066 snacking on good Mexican food and the sound of shouting and laughter filled the 2067 air. After all the episodes of trouble, dengue fever, and trying to figure out 2068 what the hell was actually going on, it was easy to lose sight of just how 2069 great a country México is, and after Cuba, coming back to México felt like 2070 coming home.</p> 2071 <p>After arrival, the first challenge is getting from the airport to the Cancún 2072 bus depot. The shuttle bus drivers&rsquo; union has a strangle-hold on travel from 2073 the airport in Cancun. They charge 75 pesos per person one-way from the airport 2074 via the major hotels along La Zona Hotelera to the station. If you happen to be 2075 living on a wage of 50 pesos an hour, this is practically highway robbery. 2076 However, it turns out that the shuttle bus drivers only have a monopoly on 2077 travel from the airport; travel to the airport remains entirely unrestricted. 2078 Those who take a few minutes to sit and relax out front of the airport for a 2079 few minutes will notice that there is a clever way around this racket.</p> 2080 <p>Following the example of the locals, we hauled our backpacks across the parking 2081 lot, headed out the gates of the airport, and started down the highway in 36 2082 degree heat. Within moments a taxi skidded to a stop, and the driver, nervously 2083 glancing out the rear window, motioned to us to get in.</p> 2084 <p>We didn&rsquo;t. Instead, we stood at the window asking &ldquo;cuanto cuesta?&rdquo;, to which he 2085 shouted &ldquo;no importa! vamos amigos!&rdquo;.</p> 2086 <p>Still we didn&rsquo;t get in. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll pay 50 pesos&hellip; for the two of us.&rdquo;</p> 2087 <p>Looking insulted, he replied &ldquo;Are you crazy?! I won&rsquo;t do it for less than 70 2088 pesos each!&rdquo;</p> 2089 <p>Glancing back toward the airport we told him &ldquo;That&rsquo;s ridiculous, the bus is 75 2090 pesos, and besides we don&rsquo;t have that kind of money. We live in Merida; we&rsquo;re 2091 not rich turistas norteamericanos.&rdquo;</p> 2092 <p>A shuttle bus flew by honking its horn while the driver shook his fist at the 2093 taxista.</p> 2094 <p>&ldquo;Bueno! 110 pesos para los dos! Vamos!&rdquo;</p> 2095 <p>At 110 pesos, we were still overpaying by Mérida standards, but given that we 2096 were a 16km walk in scorching heat from the city, I was pretty sure we weren&rsquo;t 2097 going to get much of a better deal.</p> 2098 <p>At the bus depot, we bought tickets for Chetumal, 5 hours to the south, then 2099 made a dive for the nearest yucatecan restaurant. After weeks of oil-drum 2100 pizzas and roast ham &amp; cheese sandwiches in Cuba, I savoured every last bite of 2101 my poc-chuc. We finished our horchata, then climbed into the bus for the trip 2102 to Chetumal.</p> 2103 <p>Confined by the jungle to the southeast corner of Quintana Roo state, and 2104 squashed between the sea and the Belizean border, Chetumal is the last outpost 2105 of civilisation before crossing into the jungle to the south. Until the end of 2106 the 1970s, like much of pre-Cancun Quintana Roo, it was essentially a free zone 2107 in relatively lawless territory. Trade with British Honduras (now Belize) was 2108 the foundation of the local economy, and earned it the title of the territory 2109 (now state) capital. The historical importance of trade gives the city a 2110 distinct feel from colonial Merida. You can still spot the occasional 2111 wood-frame house, and the city has a relatively modern atmosphere.</p> 2112 <p>Previously named <em>Chactemal</em>, the city had served as a Mayan capital since 2113 pre-Columbian times. The first Spanish missionaries arrived the 16th century, 2114 and the Conquistadors followed soon after. By 1544, the city had fallen to the 2115 Spaniards and the remaining Maya fled into Belize, leaving the city all but 2116 abandoned for the next two centuries.</p> 2117 <p>At the turn of the 20th century in 1898, Porfirio Diaz, then President of 2118 Mexico, ordered the establishment of a port at the mouth of the Rio Hondo in 2119 order to quell the flow of arms across the Belizean border and into the hands 2120 of the Maya. To this end, the city of Payo Obispo was founded by Othon Blanco 2121 with the help of Mexicans from the surrounding areas. The economy developed 2122 quickly and the city grew into the territorial capital by 1915. In 1936, the 2123 city renamed itself to Chetumal, which it remains to this day.</p> 2124 <p>All along the waterfront of Chetumal is a gorgeous walkway. Unlike the 2125 shimmering blue waters of the north-eastern coast of the Yucatan, the water 2126 here was more reminiscent of the murky green ocean back home on Vancouver 2127 Island. The locals are adamant that the water is horrifically ugly, but I 2128 suppose when your bases for comparison are Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and 2129 Cancun, that you can afford to be picky.</p> 2130 <p>After sunset, as we wandered through the town, snacking on fresh tamales, we 2131 were stopped by a couple of old men sitting in chairs on the sidewalk in front 2132 of a saddle shop. They stopped us to ask where we were from and what brought us 2133 to Chetumal. We explained we were taking a trip to see Guatemala and part of 2134 Honduras before returning back to México.</p> 2135 <p>&ldquo;Why do you want to go to Guatemala? It&rsquo;s a dangerous. It&rsquo;s poor. They have 2136 nothing. Pickpockets are everywhere, and the people have no dignity left. Life 2137 is cheap in Guatemala, they&rsquo;ve been surrounded by civil war and death for 30 2138 years. It&rsquo;s a beautiful country with a terrible history.&rdquo;</p> 2139 <p>That night, we checked into an 80 peso hotel. The employees were huddled around 2140 the television furiously debating México&rsquo;s loss to the USA in fútbol.</p> 2141 <p>&ldquo;The giants defeated us midgets! Look at the size of their players. And the 2142 Americans don&rsquo;t even care about fútbol! Can you believe this?! This is an 2143 insult!&rdquo;</p> 2144 <p>We tried to console them by mentioning that Mexico would be guarateed to put 2145 Canada to shame. It was the best we could manage. It didn&rsquo;t help much.</p> 2146 <p>They shut off the game, and we got to sleep early. Just after the stroke of 2147 midnight I woke up and, in a final farewell to the bugs I had picked up in 2148 Cuba, I threw up (in order) the dinner tamale, followed by the entire plate of 2149 celebratory Poc Chuc I had eaten that afternoon. I felt surprisingly better, 2150 and fell sound asleep excited about the next day&rsquo;s 12 hour trip down a narrow 2151 dirt track road through the jungles of Belize and into northern Guatemala.</p> 2152 </description> 2153 </item> 2154 2155 <item> 2156 <title>Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba</title> 2157 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/03/trinidad-sancti-spiritus-cuba/</link> 2158 <pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2159 2160 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/03/trinidad-sancti-spiritus-cuba/</guid> 2161 <description><p>Looking down on the ocean from the rolling hills a kilometre away, Trinidad is 2162 a small, traditional town whose population of 50,000 takes great pride in its 2163 home. Founded by Diego Velásquez in 1514, Trinidad became a stopover for 2164 explorers and trading ships travelling to and from México. During the 17th and 2165 18th centuries, its economy largely depended on trading contraband with 2166 pirates. The buildings are in incredibly good shape for their age, most of 2167 which are at least two centuries old. It’s not too tough to see why Trinidad is 2168 now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p> 2169 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-21-trinidad-street.jpg" 2170 alt="Street in Trinidad, Cuba"> 2171 </figure> 2172 2173 <p>Trinidad is about five hours from Havana by bus, and as with everything in 2174 Cuba, there are two buses: one for Cubans, with a several hour long line-up, 2175 and one for people with dollars, with basically no wait at all. Upon pulling 2176 into Trinidad the bus was swarmed by masses of locals offering a room in a casa 2177 particular. We ended up being shown one house, but it had been freshly painted 2178 that afternoon and the fumes were pretty rough, so we set out wandering down 2179 the streets in the dark. By sheer chance, we ran into an old grandfather 2180 carrying a bucket and pushing his bike up the rickety cobblestone streets and 2181 when we asked him if he knew of any places to stay he said that in fact, we 2182 could stay at his house. This is how our planned two-night stay in Trinidad 2183 ended up turning into a week-long stay in paradise.</p> 2184 <p>Roberto and Elda, their daughter Mercedes, her husband Eddy, and their 2185 11-year-old son Saúl made our stay in Trinidad one of the most relaxing visits 2186 we had to anywhere in our travels. We would have breakfast every morning in a 2187 little courtyard off to the side of the house, spend the mornings wandering the 2188 cobblestone streets in search of pizza, and the evenings falling asleep to the 2189 sound of Cuban salsas, merengues, and cha cha chas drifting through the window 2190 from La Casa de la Trova across the street.</p> 2191 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-21-horse-cart.jpg" 2192 alt="Horse-drawn cart driven by man and boy in Trinidad street"> 2193 </figure> 2194 2195 <p>While most of the old town is centered around the main plaza, cathedral, and 2196 clock tower, most of the action seemed to center around the plaza in the newer 2197 part of town down the hill. Old men sitting on park benches sharing a bottle of 2198 rum, school children eating peso ice cream, and the occasional black market 2199 cigar salesman trying to pass off some cigars smuggled out of the local factory 2200 all milled about the plaza in the hot, sticky heat. A bunch of us sat on our 2201 park bench watching the old men on the bench across from us get progressively 2202 more drunk from their homebrew, before eventually falling asleep. One thing 2203 that anyone visiting Cuba can be assured of is eventually being offered a taste 2204 of homemade rum. My guess is that neither the recipe nor the distilling of this 2205 rum has changed much over the past few centuries, so you can be assured that 2206 your experience will be as blindingly nerve-wracking as that of the colonial 2207 sailors plying the waters of the Caribbean in the 1600s. Following the initial 2208 jolt of fermented cane sugar hitting your stomach like a rock is the slow 2209 nauseating feeling of vertigo creeping over your body; after that, a strange 2210 queasiness, and finally recovery and swearing it off for life&hellip; or at least 2211 the next day.</p> 2212 <p>A few days into our stay in Trinidad, as we walked down a dark street off the 2213 plaza, we heard music pouring out through a half-open gate. Peering inside we 2214 were greeted with the sight of thirty or so people packed into a small dirt 2215 courtyard, and a small band of grizzled 80-year-old men playing salsas on their 2216 guitars and trumpets. People had pulled up some old wooden benches and were 2217 serving mojitos made (I swear) straight rum, some sugar, and crushed mint. A 2218 woman named Blanquita invited us in, offered us some mojitos and yanked us up 2219 off the bench to teach us some salsa while chickens scuttled around our feet. 2220 It was probably my most vivid memory of Cuba.</p> 2221 </description> 2222 </item> 2223 2224 <item> 2225 <title>La Habana, Cuba</title> 2226 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/03/la-habana/</link> 2227 <pubDate>Tue, 19 Mar 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2228 2229 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/03/la-habana/</guid> 2230 <description><p>Havana is a city of contradictions. It’s simultaneously one of the most 2231 beautiful and most run down cities in the world. It’s hard to imagine how 2232 things could be any worse, or any better given the Cuba’s political past and 2233 present.</p> 2234 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-19-old-havana-street.jpg" 2235 alt="Run-down street in Old Havana"> 2236 </figure> 2237 2238 <p>Havana, along with the rest of Cuba, is the way it is almost purely because of 2239 politics—some of the most complex politics on the planet. If you like history 2240 or politics, Cuba is for you. Cuba’s troubled history begins long before the 2241 Cuban Missile Crisis, or even before the Revolution of 1959. Ever since 2242 Christopher Columbus set foot on the Isle of Cuba on October 29th, 1492, one 2243 nation or another has been fighting over the country. For over half a 2244 millennium now, politics have affected almost every aspect of life in Cuba. 2245 It’s amazing that despite all this, Cuban culture is felt worldwide through its 2246 music, dance, and artistry.</p> 2247 <h3 id="fast-facts">Fast Facts</h3> 2248 <p>Before we get started, here are a few quick facts to clear up a few common 2249 misconceptions about Cuba:</p> 2250 <ul> 2251 <li>The US embargo was put in place on October 19th, 1960, two years before the 2252 Cuban Missile Crisis. It was the result of the US Eisenhower Administration’s 2253 plan to overthrow Castro. This was the result of Cuba nationalizing a lot of 2254 property sold to the US by Cuba’s former dictator, Fulgencio Batista. In 2255 1963, after the end of the Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Administration imposed 2256 a travel ban on US citizens, preventing them from visiting Cuba. Here’s an 2257 <a href="http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/embargo.htm">Economic Embargo Timeline</a>, if you’re interested.</li> 2258 <li>In 1959, a group of Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro and Che 2259 Guevara, led a popular uprising to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the 2260 totalitarian dictator who led Cuba from 1934 to 1959. Under Batista, more 2261 than a third of the land in Cuba was sold off to US interests. In several 2262 cases, teachers who worked to alphabetize rural villages were tortured and 2263 killed by Batista’s private police force, for fear that a literate population 2264 of farmers would be more likely to favour local land ownership, and oppose 2265 the dictator. Cuba is now a communist country, and Castro is the elected head 2266 of state. Elections are supervised by international monitors. They work very 2267 differently from other western electoral systems, however, since there is 2268 only one party. Like Canadians, Cubans elect local representatives, who 2269 select a party leader. In practise, Castro has been re-elected President by 2270 party officials in every election since the Revolution. Here’s some more 2271 information on <a href="http://dodgson.ucsd.edu/las/cuba/1990-2001.htm">elections in Cuba</a>.</li> 2272 <li>Today, Cuba’s population is highly educated. The current literacy rate is 2273 approximately 97%—the same as Canada’s. Before the revolution, the overall 2274 literacy rate was 23.6%. Castro’s guerrilla manifesto of 1957 included an 2275 immediate literacy and education campaign, with the slogan &lsquo;Revolution and 2276 Education are the same thing.&rsquo;</li> 2277 <li>It’s illegal to form a party other than the Communist Party, and people live 2278 under fairly strict supervision by the government compared to most western 2279 nations. The movement of Cubans is restricted by the government. The 2280 Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs maintains a <a href="https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/cuba">fact page</a> 2281 on Cuba, as does <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html">the CIA</a> in the United States.</li> 2282 <li>Cuba’s media is not entirely restricted, and Cubans can tune in to Miami and 2283 Mexican radio stations. The national newspaper, Granma is published by the 2284 Communist Party and is <a href="http://www.granma.cu/">available online</a> in several languages.</li> 2285 </ul> 2286 <p>I was going to include a quick whirlwind tour of the history of Cuba here. I 2287 started on it, but by the time I got to the late 19th century it was already 2288 ten paragraphs long. Instead, if you want an excellent point-form history, have 2289 a look at <a href="http://www.historyofcuba.com/">A History of Cuba</a>. If you want something more in 2290 depth, specifically focusing on US-Cuban relations, the multi-volume set <em>A 2291 History of Cuba and its relations with The United States</em> by Philip S. Foner is 2292 excellent.</p> 2293 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-19-old-havana-door.jpg" 2294 alt="Crumbling doorway in Old Havana"> 2295 </figure> 2296 2297 <h3 id="arrival-in-havana">Arrival in Havana</h3> 2298 <p>The flight to Cuba was probably the craziest flights I’ve ever experienced. We 2299 boarded the ancient, Soviet-built Cubana Yak-42 jet in Cancún and took our 2300 seats. The first thing we noticed as we sat down was that the safety 2301 instruction cards were printed in Russian. The second, and more alarming thing 2302 we noticed was that smoke was slowly filling the cabin. The flight attendants 2303 assured people that it was just steam, and that it was totally normal. By the 2304 time we landed in Cuba, The cabin was filled chest high and we couldn’t see our 2305 knees anymore. We got off the plane as quickly as possible, were packed into a 2306 rickety old East-German bus and carted off to immigration. Once in Havana, we 2307 checked into Hotel Flamingo where we stayed for our first two days while we 2308 explored Havana. Across the street were a bunch of featureless, utilitarian, 2309 crumbling apartment buildings, which are apparently identical to the ones that 2310 were built across the Communist Block countries during the Soviet era. You’re 2311 surrounded on all sides by relics of the Soviet era: East German and Polish 2312 buses, Russian radios and record players, and tons of North Korean equipment. 2313 It’s fascinating to see a country that exists almost entirely apart from the 2314 US. When it comes to the States, it’s as though time stopped in 1959. The only 2315 Chevys and Buicks to be seen are 1950s models. All new cars are Ladas, Yugos, 2316 Polski Fiats, or Chinese and North Korean imports. Supposedly push-by shootings 2317 from Ladas aren’t as big a problem here as they are in Russia.</p> 2318 <p>Old Havana La Habana Vieja is something amazing to see. Walking down the 2319 streets of Old Havana, you’re surrounded by some of the most incredible 2320 architecture you’ve ever witnessed. What’s even more incredible is that it’s 2321 crumbling all around you. Ornate gargoyles and balconies have decayed and 2322 collapsed with age; the paint is peeling, and everything is covered in a thick 2323 layer of dirt and grime. Broken windows are everywhere, and yet people continue 2324 to live in these buildings that elsewhere in the world would have long since 2325 been condemned.</p> 2326 <p>Another thing not to be missed in Havana is sitting in the park in front of the 2327 Museo de la Revolución and eating freshly roasted peanuts out of a rolled up 2328 newspaper. For one peso, you can buy salted peanuts from street vendors, rolled 2329 up in an old copy of a page from <em>Granma</em>, and sit back and watch kids play 2330 baseball in the street.</p> 2331 <p>Baseball is everywhere in Cuba. You can’t turn around without seeing a game 2332 going on. Baseball equipment, on the other hand, is hard to come by. This 2333 doesn’t stop anyone from playing the game, however. A rock wrapped in rubber 2334 bands makes a pretty decent baseball, and we saw a lot of kids who could hit 2335 some amazing runs with a broom handle baseball bat. If you visit Cuba, 2336 something that’ll make any kid’s day is a baseball. Pencils and pens make nice 2337 gifts too.</p> 2338 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-19-vintage-american-cars.jpg" 2339 alt="Vintage American cars"> 2340 </figure> 2341 2342 <h3 id="dollars-and-pesos">Dollars and Pesos</h3> 2343 <p>There are two things that everyone who visits Cuba should do. The first is to 2344 experience live Cuban music, which you can read about in the Trinidad section. 2345 The second is to convert some dollars to Cuban Pesos. Cuba has three official 2346 currencies: Cuban Pesos, US Dollars, and Cuban Convertible Pesos. The Cuban 2347 Convertible Peso was introduced to reduce the dependency on actual US dollars, 2348 but are worth exactly one dollar in Cuba, and exactly zero dollars off the 2349 island. Cuban Pesos are a soft currency, and as such, have no practical value 2350 as an exchangeable currency; however, exchanges do happen at wildly fluctuating 2351 rates. We got 26 pesos to the dollar. Cuba has two economies that don’t 2352 overlap even remotely. Hard-currency stores charge US prices in US dollars and 2353 sell high-end items. Bottled water is about $1.00 a bottle, soap is $0.50 a 2354 bar, and meat and cheese are similar in price to what they would be in Canada 2355 or the US. However, Cubans are paid in pesos at a rate of about 200-400 pesos a 2356 month — about 8 to 16 dollars. That makes a bottle of water worth somewhere 2357 around 10% of your monthly paycheque. Try the math with your paycheque. Soft 2358 currency shops sell local goods, such as fruit and vegetables, for pesos.</p> 2359 <p>The reason you should convert some money is that finding a place to spend your 2360 newly acquired pesos will force you to discover a whole part of Cuba you might 2361 otherwise never have seen. Cubans buy things in soft currency at markets or 2362 shops that sell in pesos. The items you can buy for pesos are universally 2363 locally produced items such as locally farmed foods, small pizzas baked on the 2364 street in oil drums converted to wood ovens, and some ice cream. A pizza, which 2365 is basically a piece of bread with a little tomato sauce, some oil, and bit of 2366 salt on it, sells for 3 pesos, which is about 12 cents US. The reason it’s so 2367 cheap is that peso goods are subsidised by the work you do for the state. Basic 2368 food staples such as beans and rice are part of your government supplied 2369 rations, and can be obtained with your ration card at certain shops. When you 2370 can find it, food sold on the street is usually in pesos. Food in paladares¹, 2371 hotels, and touristy places is almost universally in dollars.</p> 2372 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2002-03-19-camelo.jpg" 2373 alt="Camelo bus"> 2374 </figure> 2375 2376 <h3 id="the-rich-and-the-poor">The Rich and the Poor</h3> 2377 <p>The one thing that struck us immediately was the uniformity of income in Cuba. 2378 In México, there are two extremes: the extremely rich and the extremely poor. 2379 The middle class is tiny compared to Canada, where the middle class is the 2380 norm. In Cuba, almost everyone lives in something that is not exactly poverty, 2381 but at the same time they have basically no buying power. They have what the 2382 government gives them, and little else. The income difference between a street 2383 sweeper and a specialist doctor is about $7 a month vs. $15 a month. No matter 2384 how you cut it, the $8 difference doesn’t buy much. It’s hard to get imported 2385 goods no matter what, and what you can get is often on the black market. 2386 Although under communism employment is universal and housing is provided by the 2387 state, there are still people who turn to begging because it can be far more 2388 lucrative than work in a factory for $8 a month. As a result of the incredibly 2389 tiny incomes in Cuba, jineteros² have become more numerous, and will follow you 2390 wherever you go, trying to drag you to a restaurant or shop where you’ll spend 2391 your money. A lot of people on the street beg for soap or toothpaste when the 2392 police aren’t watching. One man told us he’d do anything, even get down on his 2393 knees and beg if it would make a difference.</p> 2394 <p>Given all this, was the trip to Cuba worth it? Without a doubt. We met some 2395 absolutely wonderful people, and learned a ton about Cuban history and 2396 politics. The government isn’t the oppressive dictatorship many people would 2397 like to believe, and it’s certainly an improvement over Batista’s brutal 2398 dictatorship; however, things could certainly be a lot better than they are, 2399 and Castro isn’t exactly known for his spectacular record on civil liberties. 2400 The Cubans we met were friendly and welcoming, not to mention incredibly good 2401 dancers. When we ran into difficulty getting cash out of our Mexican bank 2402 accounts due to the embargo, one family we stayed with offered to reduce our 2403 room rate, and give us a cheap ride to the airport so we didn’t have to pay the 2404 taxi fare. Falling asleep to live Cuban music every night was worth the trip 2405 alone.</p> 2406 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 2407 <ol> 2408 <li><em>Paladar:</em> a small independent restaurant. One of the allowed forms of 2409 capitalism in Cuba.</li> 2410 <li><em>Jinetero:</em> Literally a &lsquo;jockey.&rsquo; Jineteros will approach you and offer to 2411 show you a restaurant or store. In exchange, the restaurant charges you 2412 extra for your meal and the jinetero gets to keep the surcharge.</li> 2413 </ol> 2414 </description> 2415 </item> 2416 2417 <item> 2418 <title>¡Feliz Navidad!</title> 2419 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/01/feliz-navidad/</link> 2420 <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2421 2422 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2002/01/feliz-navidad/</guid> 2423 <description><p>Took a two week trip through southern México for Christmas. Starting in Mérida, 2424 southwest into Campeche, Tabasco, Veracruz and then Chiapas. Stopped to visit 2425 the Mayan ruins at Palenque, followed by some of the villages around San 2426 Cristóbal de las Casas. From there, it was northeast back onto the Yucatán 2427 peninsula, to Tulúm, then onwards north again to spend Christmas swimming in the 2428 Caribbean on Isla Mujeres in 30 degree weather. After a few days, it was 2429 westward again to Chichen Itzá and Valladolid before finally returning home to 2430 Mérida.</p> 2431 </description> 2432 </item> 2433 2434 <item> 2435 <title>Valladolid, Yucatán, México</title> 2436 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/valladolid-yucatan-mexico/</link> 2437 <pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2438 2439 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/valladolid-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 2440 <description><p>In 1543, Francisco de Montejo (the nephew of Mérida’s famous Francisco de 2441 Montejo) descended on the ceremonial centre of the Zací (Hawk) Maya, waging war 2442 on the <em>Cupules</em>, a group of Maya that hadn’t taken kindly to the Spanish 2443 conquistadors. When the battle was done and the town had been razed, he renamed 2444 it Valladolid in honour of the Spanish city of the same name. Today, Valladolid 2445 is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the Yucatán, with a mix of 2446 Spanish and Maya influences. Maya from local pueblas and from the city sell 2447 traditional <em>huipiles</em> near the plaza downtown. The city is still roughly 2448 centered on the <em>Cenote Zací</em> that was the ceremonial centre of the original 2449 Mayan settlement.</p> 2450 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-27-cenote.jpg" 2451 alt="View of Cenote Zací. Stalactites and vines hang from above. A few swimmers can be seen near the edge of the pool. A path leads upwards through the trees."> 2452 </figure> 2453 2454 <p>The cenote is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. To get to it, you hike 2455 down a passage into a cavern, then wind your way down the side to get to water 2456 level. The water is a deep turquoise colour, and is absolutely crystal clear. 2457 In the shallow areas, you can easily see fallen stalactites lying 30 metres 2458 below on the bottom. In the deep parts, you won’t see the bottom—it’s more than 2459 100 metres deep. The same little blind fish that are present in the cenote at 2460 Dzibilchaltún will nibble your toes in this cenote as well.</p> 2461 <p>Above the cenote is a little zoo with spider monkeys, who spend most of their 2462 afternoon playing with toys, and getting fed potato chips by laughing groups of 2463 kids. What was more interesting, however, was that they had a raccoon in the 2464 zoo. You don’t see them in México at all, and most people we asked didn’t know 2465 what the Spanish word for it was, until an old man we ran into told us it was 2466 <em>mapache</em>.</p> 2467 <p>The main plaza of the city is gorgeous. With ornate lamp posts, hanging baskets 2468 full of flowers, and beautiful hedges, it was the Yucatán’s answer to Victoria. 2469 The streets downtown are kept immaculately clean by a crew of street cleaners 2470 who run through the streets every morning at 5 am. The government of Spain has 2471 apparently deemed Valladolid to be one of the most Spanish cities in the 2472 Americas, and donates money to help in its preservation.</p> 2473 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-27-cenote-top.jpg" 2474 alt="View from above, looking down into Cenote Zací. Vines hang down to the water from above. A stone staircase leads up from the dark blue-green waters. A few scattered fallen leaves litter the surface of the water."> 2475 </figure> 2476 2477 <p>Probably the most exciting thing that happened while we were there was the 2478 rain. We had gone off in search of what is supposed to be an absolutely amazing 2479 cathedral and graveyard somewhere in the southwestern part of the city. In 2480 typical Mexican fashion, everyone we talked to was able to tell us in 2481 approximately what direction it was, so we were able to slowly make our way 2482 there stumbling randomly from one Vallisoletana to the next. We never did find 2483 it, but not for any lack of determination, but because it started to rain. Now, 2484 when I say rain, I don’t mean the rain we get in Victoria. I don’t even mean 2485 Vancouver rain. To fully appreciate a Yucatecan rain storm, you really need to 2486 experience one. Imagine the streets filling with water, then overflowing onto 2487 the sidewalks until the whole city is two feet deep in rainwater. We did the 2488 only thing we could do: jump into a corner store. The guys in the store reacted 2489 the same way any other Mexicans all over the country would react: toss over a 2490 couple chairs and invite us in to watch some TV. We bought some cookies and 2491 juice and sat for 45 minutes or so, watching the water level in the street 2492 outside rise closer and closer to the edge of the door before we finally 2493 decided that we were going to make a break for it, only stopping once for a 2494 slice of cheesecake in a bakery along the way back to the hotel.</p> 2495 <p>Valladolid is also famous for the cenote at Dzitnup, about 10 km out of town. 2496 While we never did make it there, we heard some amazing stories about it from 2497 Nick, an Irishman from Cork we met in San Cristóbal de las Casas. What is so 2498 incredible about it is that it’s at the bottom of a dark cavern, with a small 2499 opening in the roof. At the right time of day, the sun shines through this 2500 opening and into the turquoise waters of the cenote, making it apear as though 2501 you’re bathing in light. The actual name of the cenote is <em>Kiken</em> which is 2502 Yucatec Maya for &lsquo;pig,&rsquo; because the cenote was originally discovered by a farmer 2503 whose his pig had fallen in through the hole in the roof.</p> 2504 <p>Valladolid is also famous for its uprisings. What transpired in Valladolid in 2505 June of 1910 helped to spark the Mexican Revolution that erupted in the rest of 2506 the country that November when Francisco Madero flew across the border into 2507 Piedras Negras, Coahuila. The revolution wasn’t over until 1920; but as they 2508 say, the opening chapters were written in blood, here in Valladolid.</p> 2509 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-27-truck.jpg" 2510 alt="The rusted carcass of a truck parked on the side of the street. Painted across the front: Duele mas andar a pie (it hurts more to walk). On the bent and twisted remains of the bumper: Asi como me vez te veras (one day, you&#39;ll look like this too)."><figcaption> 2511 <h4>&#39;It hurts more to walk&#39;</h4> 2512 </figcaption> 2513 </figure> 2514 2515 <p>Unhappy with Spanish control of a land they considered their own, a small band 2516 of revolutionaries had worked together for months, planning the overthrow of 2517 governor Moñoz Aristegui. On the night of June 3rd, 1910, all those committed 2518 to the plan met in the Plaza de la Santa Lucia at midnight. Under the command 2519 of Ruz Ponce and José Kantún, one group stormed the police quarter, killing the 2520 guard outside and taking everyone else prisoner. Another group, led by Claudio 2521 Alconcer and Atilano Albertos took the office of the Mexican Guard, killing the 2522 Sergeant of the Guard, Facundo Gil. The governor, Felipe de Regil, asleep in 2523 bed at the time, woke up to the sound of gunfire outside in the streets. He 2524 immediately jumped out of bed and, a gun in each hand, ran into the street 2525 firing on the revolutionaries. He fought bravely until the end, when he was 2526 finally killed and left lying in the street.</p> 2527 <p>At this point, there was no turning back for the insurgents. They now had the 2528 support of nearly the entire city, and within three days had amassed an army of 2529 no less than 1500 men, armed with guns and machetes. Most had no military 2530 training. Local landowners provided weapons, ammunition and food.</p> 2531 <p>In Mérida, this uprising had not gone unnoticed. While the locals were 2532 preparing in Valladolid, the government had sent a column of 65 men eastward 2533 with 300 guns, recruiting villagers along the way. Under the command of Colonel 2534 Ignacio Lara, they marched easward to Tinum, 12 km outside of Valladolid, where 2535 they waited for reinforcements to arrive. The cannons of Morelos arrived in 2536 Valladolid on the 7th. On the 8th, Lara led his men to the outskirts of the 2537 city, where, at dawn on the 9th of June, they began the assault on Valladolid. 2538 A batallion of 600 federal troops arrived on the 10th. Poorly equiped, 2539 untrained, and out of ammunition, the rebels fell under the three ferocious 2540 onslaughts. The death tolls were high on both sides: more than 100 2541 revolutionaries and over 30 government soldiers had been killed. This was the 2542 highest balance of deaths of any battle ever fought in México, and would remain 2543 so until the Revolution began that November.</p> 2544 <p>The leaders of the revolt were eventually rounded up, tried and sentenced to 2545 death. In the courtyard of the Shrine of San Roque, Kantún, Albertos, and 2546 Bonilla faced the firing squad. That November, Francisco Madero launched the 2547 Mexican Revolution, and by the following April, 17000 people had taken up arms 2548 against Porfirio Diaz and his government. The rest is <a href="http://history.acusd.edu/gen/projects/border/page01.html">history</a>.</p> 2549 </description> 2550 </item> 2551 2552 <item> 2553 <title>Chichen Itzá, Yucatán, México</title> 2554 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/chichen-itza-yucatan-mexico/</link> 2555 <pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2556 2557 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/chichen-itza-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 2558 <description><p>Somewhere on the old highway between Cancún and Mérida lies Chichen Itzá. The 2559 ruins at this site cover over 15 square kilometres, with <em>El Castillo</em> alone 2560 taking up 0.4 hectares. At 83 metres in length, the Ball Court is the largest 2561 in Meso-America. The close proximity of the ruins to Cancún and the size of 2562 some of the structures have made these the most famous Mayan ruins in the 2563 country.</p> 2564 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-26-el-castillo.jpg" 2565 alt="A view from the ground below the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itzá. Visitors climb the steep staircase leading up the centre of the face of the pyramid. A few people stand silhouetted at the top, looking down on the surrouding jungle."> 2566 </figure> 2567 2568 <p>The image that most people associate with Chichen Itzá is <em>El Castillo</em>. The 2569 pyramid rises more than 23 metres above the ground, with steep staircases up 2570 all four sides, leading to a small building at the top. What’s so spectacular 2571 about it is the fact that this pyramid is actually a huge Mayan calendar built 2572 of stone. The four staircases leading to the top have 91 steps each, which 2573 when added to the platform at the top, make 365. On the sides are 52 panels 2574 representing the 52 years of the traditional Mayan calendar round. The pyramid 2575 is composed of nine terraced platforms on either side of the two primary 2576 staircases, for a total of 18, the number of months in the Mayan calendar. If 2577 you’re still not convinced of the Mayans’ astronomical prowess, you can easily 2578 convince yourself by visiting on either the spring or the fall equinox when, as 2579 the sun rises over the jungle, the form of a giant serpent is projected onto 2580 the sides of the two primary staircases, each of which has a giant stone 2581 serpent head at its base. This illusion is created by the precise alignment of 2582 the terraces in relation to position of the sun.</p> 2583 <p>In a corner in the shade of one of the giant staircases leading up the side of 2584 El Castillo is a door. Once or twice a day, the door is opened, and groups of 2585 20 or so are allowed inside. A narrow passage leads to a steep staircase that 2586 runs up the side of another pyramid inside El Castillo. It’s narrow, cramped, 2587 hot and humid, not to mention dark, but the climb is worth it. Eventually, at 2588 the top of the staircase, if you’re lucky or pushy enough, you can catch a 2589 glimpse of a jewel-encrusted jaguar altar, used by the Maya for sacrifices.</p> 2590 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-26-ball-court.jpg" 2591 alt="The ball court at Chichen Itzá. Large, perfectly flat stone walls rise above the grass. Two stone hoops protrude, one from each wall, facing sideways. A crowd of people stands at the far end of the court."> 2592 </figure> 2593 2594 <p>The Ball Court is another feat of engineering. The walls are each approximately 2595 8 metres high, with structures at the top for viewing the game. At either end 2596 of the court is an elaborate stone temple. But what is so amazing about the 2597 Ball Court is its acoustics. A whisper at one end can be clearly heard at the 2598 other end, 135 metres away. In fact, the sound reflection at the centre of the 2599 court is so incredible, you can hear at least nine echos if you clap or shout.</p> 2600 <p>The following excerpt, by one of the supervising archaeologists restoring the 2601 ruins, describes the acoustics:</p> 2602 <blockquote> 2603 <p>Chi cheen Itsa’s famous &lsquo;Ball-court&rsquo; or Temple of the Maize cult offers the 2604 visitor besides its mystery and impressive architecture, its marvellous 2605 acoustics If a person standing under either ring claps his hands or yells, the 2606 sound produced will be repeated several times gradually losing its volume, A 2607 single revolver shot seems machine-gun fire. The sound waves travel with equal 2608 force to East or West, day or night. disregarding the wind’s direction. Anyone 2609 speaking in a normal voice from the &lsquo;Forum&rsquo; can be clearly heard in the &lsquo;Sacred 2610 Tribune&rsquo; five hundred feet away or vice-versa. If a short sentence, for 2611 example, &lsquo;Do you hear me?&rsquo; is pronounced it will be repeated word by word&hellip; 2612 Parties from one extreme to the other can hold a conversation without raising 2613 their voices.</p> 2614 <p>This transmission of sound, as yet unexplained, has been discussed by 2615 architects and archaeologists &hellip; Most of them used to consider it as fanciful 2616 due to the ruined conditions of the structure but, on the contrary, we who have 2617 engaged in its reconstruction know well that the sound volume, instead of 2618 disappearing, has become stronger and clearer&hellip; Undoubtedly we must consider 2619 this feat of acoustics as another noteworthy achievement of engineering 2620 realized millenniums ago by the Maya technicians.</p> 2621 <p><em>—Chi Cheen Itza by Manuel Cirerol Sansores, 1947</em></p> 2622 </blockquote> 2623 <p>Aside from the Ball Court and <em>El Castillo</em>, there are dozens of other sites of 2624 interest. There are no less than three cenotes around the site, one of which 2625 was filled with tens of thousands of artifacts, from neclaces and jewelry to 2626 the bones of human and animal sacrifices. The Hall of the Thousand Pillars is 2627 also incredible to walk through, with each pillar featuring unique carvings and 2628 inscriptions; on some, traces of red and blue paint are still visible.</p> 2629 <p>The site was originally populated by the Itzáes around 500 AD, and slowly built 2630 up until 900 AD, at which point it was completely abandonned. No one knows why 2631 the Itzáes left so abruptly, but it appears that the city was re-populated 2632 about 100 years later, and then attacked by the Toltecs, a tribe known for its 2633 brutality at war. Structures from the period between 1000 and 1300 AD show 2634 marked Toltec influences, including numeral reliefs of Toltec gods, including 2635 Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent. The city was abandonned once again around 2636 1300, this time permanently.</p> 2637 </description> 2638 </item> 2639 2640 <item> 2641 <title>Tulúm, Quintana Roo, México</title> 2642 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/tulum-quintana-roo-mexico/</link> 2643 <pubDate>Mon, 24 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2644 2645 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/tulum-quintana-roo-mexico/</guid> 2646 <description><p>Between San Cristóbal and Tulúm is a long, empty road. The overnight bus works 2647 beautifully for this trip, winding its way through the mountains, jungle and 2648 the vast plains of the Yucatán. The only major stop along the way is Escarcega, 2649 Campeche. By major, I mean a couple of comida corrida places, a papaya tree, 2650 and a dusty bus stop on a long, empty stretch of highway. By six in the 2651 morning, we were in Tulúm, a slightly bigger collection of restaurants and bus 2652 stops along a long, empty stretch of highway. We grabbed a plate of 2653 <em>huevos motuleños</em> and some coffee, which (I swear that I am not making this 2654 up) was blue. Sort of an off-grey blue. It tasted like milk mixed with 2655 dishwater.</p> 2656 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-24-tulum.jpg" 2657 alt="Mayan ruins sit on a bluff of rock covered with low scrub overlooking the Caribbean. Below, waves crash against the rocks."> 2658 </figure> 2659 2660 <p>The best time to see the ruins is, without a doubt, sunrise. The ruins at 2661 Tulúm, while not spectacular except for the two-metre rock wall surrounding the 2662 site on three sides, have one of the best views you could possibly hope for. 2663 The structures sit nestled amid the rolling green grass and white sandy 2664 beaches, hovering over the turquoise Caribbean. As the sun rises, the whole 2665 place is bathed in a warm orangey-red glow. Sitting on ruins watching the waves 2666 is pretty relaxing.</p> 2667 <p>Since Tulúm is so close to Playa del Carmen and Cancún, the number of visitors 2668 is absoutely huge compared to a lot of other Mayan ruins, and especially given 2669 the small size of these ruins. Because of that, most of the structures are 2670 off-limits to the public, so you can’t climb up on them as you can at most 2671 other sites. In the end, it’s nice to see that these ruins are being protected, 2672 but Palenque, Uxmal and Chichen Itzá are a lot more fun. That said, if you look 2673 hard enough, you will find a couple structures you can sit down on.</p> 2674 </description> 2675 </item> 2676 2677 <item> 2678 <title>San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México</title> 2679 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/san-cristobal-de-las-casas-chiapas-mexico/</link> 2680 <pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2681 2682 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/san-cristobal-de-las-casas-chiapas-mexico/</guid> 2683 <description><p>San Cristóbal is, without question, one of the most beautiful towns in Mexico. 2684 It’s also the ideal temperature for visiting Canadians, with the temperature 2685 hovering around 10 °C, and the humidity close to 100% during the daytime in 2686 winter. It’s cold, damp and cloudy. After months of scorching heat and 2687 humidity, I was in heaven. San Cristóbal makes an ideal base from which to do 2688 day-trips to the surrounding villages of San Juan Chamula and 2689 Zinacantán—indigenous villages comprising the Tzotzil and Tzeltal indigenous 2690 groups respectively.</p> 2691 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-21-plaza.jpg" 2692 alt="The bright yellow façade of a catheral faces the main plaza in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Pedestrials mill about the square in groups."> 2693 </figure> 2694 2695 <p>In town, we met a law student named Luís who took a group of us to the 2696 villages. In San Juan Chamula, we first visited the shaman’s hut for the 2697 village, where we learned about the mix of Catholicism and traditional beliefs 2698 practised in the village. We then continued on to the village church which was 2699 probably the highlight of the visit. Seeing the mix of beliefs being practised 2700 there was incredible: everything from prayers to the Catholic saints to burning 2701 incense to chicken sacrifices and ceremonial purgings. Photography isn’t 2702 allowed in the church and out of respect to the Chamulans, we won’t describe 2703 everything in detail on the web, but suffice to say that it was an incredibly 2704 worthwhile visit.</p> 2705 <p>Zinacantán is only a few kilometres away, but the villagers speak an entirely 2706 different language, Tzeltal. Here, the church is much more traditional, 2707 although most villagers still maintain strong ties to traditional indigenous 2708 beliefs, such as worshipping the Earth Lord and placing a strong emphasis on 2709 the interpretation of dreams. For a more detailed look at the beliefs and 2710 culture of the people of Zinacantán, we’d suggest <em>Dreams and Stories from the 2711 People of the Bat</em> by Robert Laughlin. This book is a collection of dreams and 2712 their interpretations as told by the villagers of Zinacantán, as well as a 2713 series of short stories passed from generation to generation in the village.</p> 2714 <p>The town also produces many traditional handicrafts typical of Chiapas: 2715 blankets, clothing, dolls, etc. The villagers take these to San Cristóbal to 2716 sell them at the markets and on the street. The textiles are all made from 2717 hand, from the thread, to hand-weaving and embroidering. Typically, a 2718 medium-sized blanket takes two to three weeks to produce.</p> 2719 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-21-beans.jpg" 2720 alt="Dozens of varieties of dried beans in many colours arrayed for sale in bins and large sacks for sale at the market"> 2721 </figure> 2722 2723 <p>Back in San Cristóbal, we spent a few days visiting the markets and wandering 2724 around town trying out the local food before heading back north for Palenque 2725 again. On our way out of town we noticed a small shanty-town suburb in a gravel 2726 pit. On a big yellow arch, bold black letters declared the name of the colonia: 2727 <em>Sal Si Puedes</em>, &lsquo;Get Out If You Can&rsquo;. Just past this is the massive military 2728 encampment that has been in place since 1994 when the EZLN (Zapatista 2729 Liberation Army) overthrew and occupied the town before being driven out by 2730 reinforcements sent in, causing a bloodbath. There is a lot less tension now 2731 than there was then, but the Zapatistas still have incredibly high support in 2732 the villages just outside of town. The Mexican government under Vincente Fox 2733 has been much more responsive to indigenous peoples than previous governments 2734 have been, although in recent months this seems to be less and less the case. 2735 There’s still a lot of work to do before the indigenous groups in Mexico are 2736 able to live in conditions similar to the rest of the population. Most people 2737 in the villages still lack food, clothing and (non-dirt) floors in their 2738 houses, let alone running water and electricity. And although Chiapas produces 2739 more electricity than any other state, less than half the population has 2740 electricity in its home.</p> 2741 </description> 2742 </item> 2743 2744 <item> 2745 <title>Palenque, Chiapas, México</title> 2746 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/palenque-chiapas-mexico/</link> 2747 <pubDate>Tue, 18 Dec 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2748 2749 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/12/palenque-chiapas-mexico/</guid> 2750 <description><p>For Christmas, we decided to take a trip to the state of Chiapas, about an 8 2751 hour bus ride from Mérida. Although Chiapas has been a somewhat politically 2752 unstable state during the past 10 years, it is also home to some of the most 2753 incredible scenery, archaeological sites and indigenous culture in the 2754 country.</p> 2755 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-12-18-temple-of-inscriptions.jpg" 2756 alt="The Mayan ruins of the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque towering over a courtyard surrounded by jungle. A large staircase leads up the main face of the pyramid. Rain pours down in torrents."> 2757 </figure> 2758 2759 <p>The town of Palenque sits only a few minutes by bike, foot or bus from the 2760 ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Palenque. The ruins themselves extend over a 2761 huge area and are composed of many smaller groups of structures situated around 2762 plazas. The most impressive of these are probably the main plaza—which is 2763 surrounded by the Temple of the Inscriptions and the palace/observatory 2764 tower—and the Sun Temple Plaza.</p> 2765 <p>The Temple of the Inscriptions is well-known for housing the sarcophagus and 2766 jade death mask of Pakal, former ruler of the city. Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s no 2767 longer possible to visit the inside of the Temple of the Inscriptions without a 2768 research permit. In theory, that involves applications via your university and 2769 submissions of your research to the government; in practice it involves 150 2770 pesos to the right people.</p> 2771 </description> 2772 </item> 2773 2774 <item> 2775 <title>Dzibilchaltún, Yucatán, México</title> 2776 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/09/dzibilchaltun-yucatan-mexico/</link> 2777 <pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2778 2779 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/09/dzibilchaltun-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 2780 <description><p>About halfway between Mérida and Progresso lie the ruins of Dzibilchaltún, an 2781 important centre in the ancient world of the Maya. The name means &lsquo;The place 2782 with writing on the stones.&rsquo;</p> 2783 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-11-munecas-door.jpg" 2784 alt="View framed by the doorway of the of Templo de las Siete Muñecas looking out over the ruins of a stone building and four-sized stone stela on a raised platform. A path leads past the ruins, through the low jungle, and towards the horizon."> 2785 </figure> 2786 2787 <p>Dzibilchaltún covers an area of about 16 square kilometres, in which there are 2788 about 8400 structures. The central part of the site covers three square 2789 kilometres, which includes several temples and pyramids, as well as a cenote of 2790 unknown depth, one of the largest in the Yucatán. Many of the structures date 2791 back as far as 500 B.C.</p> 2792 <p>From downtown Mérida, you can catch a colectivo that stops down the road from 2793 the temple. A 10 minute hike from there along a trail through the jungle gets 2794 you to the entrance to the site, where they charge 50 pesos per person ($7.50 2795 CDN) to get in. The day we arrived, it was a scorching 40-something degrees, 2796 with 100% humidity, so the fact that the small museum on the site was 2797 air-conditionned was worth the price of admission in itself.</p> 2798 <p>The site is divided into two parts, separated by a one kilometre long road. At 2799 one end is the Temple of the Seven Dolls, named after seven ceramic dolls found 2800 there as offerings to the gods. At the other end is a courtyard, a pyramid, a 2801 ball court and the cenote, as well as an open chapel that was constructed 2802 during the Colonial era, in the late 16th and early 17th century.</p> 2803 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-11-munecas-outside.jpg" 2804 alt="View of the Templo de las Siete Muñecas from the path. In the foreground, a hiker walks toward a large worn stela on a raised platform."> 2805 </figure> 2806 2807 <p>The Temple of the Seven Dolls is probably the most interesting part of the 2808 site. At least it was to us. At one time, the temple was adorned with plaster 2809 friezes, molded to the shapes of intertwined serpents, hieroglyphs, and masks, 2810 though these friezes are no longer on the structure itself. The building is 2811 thought to have served as an astronomical observatory, and during the Vernal 2812 and Autumnal Equinoxes, an interesting phenonmenon can be seen at sunrise. 2813 During the Equinoxes, the sun is perfectly aligned such that the morning 2814 sunlight passes directly between two sets of opposing doors on the temple, 2815 casting the light down into the courtyard facing the structure. Many people 2816 pile into Dzibilchaltún between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning to witness the 2817 sunrise, then run back out and pile into a bus to Chichen Itza to watch the 2818 more spectacular effect of the sun casting light in the shape of a giant 2819 serpent slithering up the side of the temple there in the afternoon. If you 2820 don’t happen to be a teacher who has classes on these days, this is apparently 2821 the thing to do.</p> 2822 <p>The cenote on the other side of the site is open for swimming, if you don’t 2823 mind thousands of little fish chasing you around the whole time. What’s 2824 curious, of course, is that there are any fish at all in the cenotes, since 2825 they’re fed by a series of deep, underwater channels of water that snake 2826 beneath the entire peninsula. There are no rivers or streams connecting them on 2827 the surface, so the fish have to descend to incredible depths (over 100 m) to 2828 move between one cenote and the next. From what people have told us, the fish 2829 that live in the cenotes are blind, which is kind of cool.</p> 2830 <p>We hiked back out to the road after a few hours of wandering around, the sat 2831 waiting for a colectivo to drive by and pick us up. For 30 minutes we sat 2832 around, the air totally still and boiling hot, with only the sound of the 2833 mosquitos and the cow in the field next to us. I’m not entirely sure what was 2834 wrong with it, but the way it hollered made it sound demented and insane. I 2835 honestly hope I never drink any milk from that one; no way that’s safe.</p> 2836 </description> 2837 </item> 2838 2839 <item> 2840 <title>Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, México</title> 2841 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/09/isla-mujeres-quintana-roo-mexico/</link> 2842 <pubDate>Thu, 06 Sep 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2843 2844 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/09/isla-mujeres-quintana-roo-mexico/</guid> 2845 <description><figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-06-lancha.jpg" 2846 alt="A small &#39;lancha&#39; boat floats in the crystal-clear blue waters of the Caribbean, moored a few metres offshore a white sandy beach."> 2847 </figure> 2848 2849 <blockquote> 2850 <p>Lo que tu eres, yo fui<br> 2851 Lo que yo soy, luego serás<br> 2852 <em>—Inscription on the pirate Mundaca’s Tomb</em></p> 2853 </blockquote> 2854 <p>Many, many years ago, a pirate by the name of Fermin Antonio Mundaca de 2855 Marechaja landed on Isla Mujeres and fell in love with a young lady whose name 2856 has been long forgotten. Today, she is known only as <em>La Trigueña</em> (The 2857 Brunette), the name by which he referred to her. In order to win her love, 2858 Mundaca built an elaborate hacienda, erected archways and laid paths throughout 2859 the gardens. He had trees and plants brought from all over the world to plant 2860 in the gardens. Unfortunately, before he finished this masterpiece, she ran off 2861 with another islander and got married. Today, his house lays in ruins in the 2862 middle of what remains of his fortress. And if you look carefully, you can 2863 faintly work out the words <em>La Trigueña</em> carved into the stone archway. Mundaca 2864 eventually died of the plague in Mérida, but his small tomb can still be seen 2865 among the headstones of the small cemetary near the north beach of town. 2866 Adorned with an eerily grinning skull and crossbones, it bears no name, but 2867 carries the inscription: &lsquo;As you are, I was. As I am, you will be.&rsquo;</p> 2868 <p>With a couple weeks before school and work starts, we decided to visit Isla 2869 Mujeres (lit. The Island of Women), a small island that sits about 11 km off 2870 the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in Quintana Roo. A few hours east of 2871 Mérida, the island is surrounded by the turquoise, bathtub warm, crystal clear 2872 waters of the Caribbean, and is the site of some spectacular snorkeling and 2873 diving.</p> 2874 <p>Isla Mujeres is tiny—about 8 km long and between 300 and 800 metres wide—and 2875 has a population of 7000 residents. The main part of the town sits on the 2876 north-west tip of the island, but there are some smaller <em>colonias</em> in the 2877 central Salinas area, as well as on the south end. Although it was once a 2878 fishing town, the main business today is tourism. Unlike Cancún, however, Isla 2879 Mujeres has a much more relaxed, laid back pace of life, and it hasn’t yet 2880 turned into a party town full of drunken gringos. The locals appear to want to 2881 keep it this way, and the local San Francisco store stops selling alcohol at 2882 8:30 or 9:00 in the evenings.</p> 2883 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-06-sunset.jpg" 2884 alt="In the distance, the silhouette of a lancha passes through the shimmering reflection of the setting sun&#39;s light on the ocean."> 2885 </figure> 2886 2887 <p>From the downtown Cancún bus station, we grabbed the Route 13 bus north along 2888 Avenida Tulum to the Puerto Juarez ferry terminal, then hopped on a boat for 2889 the 30 minute ferry ride to the island. We spent the whole ride locked in a 2890 psychological battle trying not to jump off into the gorgeous blue water; it 2891 was sheer torture. Apparently we weren’t the only ones—as soon as the boat 2892 pulled alongside the Isla Mujeres dock, one 40 year old passenger jumped 2893 overboard and swam to shore.We spent the next few days wandering around the 2894 island on foot. Like a lot of touristy places in Mexico, there are thousands of 2895 people trying to sell you anything and everything on the street. Fortunately, 2896 the city is small enough that all the hawkers seem to be packed into two blocks 2897 along Avenida Hidalgo between Av. Abasolo and Av. Lopez Mateos. Unfortunately, 2898 that’s the easiest way to get to the beach. Fortunately (yet again), it’s 2899 easily bypassed by taking the scenic route.</p> 2900 <p>The best times of day for the beach are sunrise and sunset. The boatloads of 2901 tourists from Cancún aren’t there, and the beach is nearly empty. The water 2902 stays warm 24 hours a day, and the sunsets and sunrises are spectacular. During 2903 the afternoons, the beach is packed with people and the sun is intense enough 2904 that if you don’t fork over the 60 pesos ($10 Canadian) for a beach umbrella, 2905 you’ll fry like bacon, even with the SPF 50 they sell at the super market. 2906 There’s a reason most Mexicans swim in shorts and a t-shirt.</p> 2907 <p>There are a lot of other things to do on the island. One of the most 2908 interesting is the Sea Turtle conservation park. This is the only facility in 2909 Mexico dedicated to preserving endangered sea turtles, such as the Hawk’s Bill 2910 Turtle, which grows to over 100 kg, and lives to around 120 years old. The sea 2911 turtles have been hunted to near extinction because of world-wide demand from 2912 for their meat and shells. At the conservation facility, the turtles are bred, 2913 cared for, then released back into the wild. There are no railings on the 2914 walkways above the huge walled off section of ocean where the largest of the 2915 turtles swim, and according to the guy who showed us around, if you fall in, 2916 &rsquo;te comen!&rsquo;, &rsquo;they eat you!'.</p> 2917 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-06-skeletons.jpg" 2918 alt="Four small hand-carved wooden skeleton toys playing musical instruments and wearing sombreros sit on the step of a storefront with their feet on the sidewalk. A small wooden armadillo wanders by."> 2919 </figure> 2920 2921 <p>The ruins of Mundaca’s fortress are in the central part of the island, and if 2922 you want to be eaten alive by mosquitos (there are Dengue Fever warnings all 2923 over the place on the Yucatán Peninsula, by the way) it’s a great place to go. 2924 No wonder the object of Mundaca’s affections ditched him for another man. Any 2925 sensible pirate would have built his fortress on the beach or at least within 2926 walking distance. Mundaca built his in the marshiest, grottiest, most densely 2927 jungled part of the island. On the bright side there is, however, a sort of 2928 small zoo in his gardens, with alligators, monkeys, a deer, and apparently a 2929 jaguar, though we never got to see it, because the mosquitos drove us out 2930 first. By the twentieth or thirtieth bite, we’d had more than enough of 2931 Mundaca’s place.On the south side of the island, there’s Playa Garrafón, which 2932 is part of a national park, but seems to have been recently turned into an 2933 expensive tourist trap, complete with all-you-can-eat restaurants, zip lines, 2934 &lsquo;underwater adventure&rsquo; and more construction, all for the low, ubeatable price 2935 of $35 US a day! I believe they even translated that price into pesos 2936 underneath in small type. We actually went next door, paid 20 pesos (about $2 2937 US) and had the whole beach to ourselves. We snorkeled around the wharf and a 2938 small reef, then Pablo and Armando, who ran the place, took us out to a reef 15 2939 minutes out by boat, where we saw sharks, a sting ray, and a ton of live (and 2940 dead) coral. Unfortunately, it seems like a million and one other people go out 2941 to the same reef, and most don’t know how to swim. This means you’ll end up 2942 spending an hour getting your head kicked in by screaming hoardes of 2943 life-jacket wearing, water spitting drowners. I did get rammed in the legs by a 2944 nurse shark though. It felt like sandpaper and was among the creepier 2945 sensations I have experienced in my life.</p> 2946 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-09-06-nativity-scene.jpg" 2947 alt="The gazebo at the centre of the Isla Mujeres plaza decorated in an underwater-themed nativity scene. The virgin mary stands at the centre, her hands in prayer. Fishing nets filled with starfish, tropical fish, and multi-coloured Christmas lights surround the gazebo."> 2948 </figure> 2949 2950 <p>There are also some Mayan ruins at the south tip of the island, though there’s 2951 very little left of them. Most of the ruins have been hurled into the ocean by 2952 various hurricanes, but what’s left sits on a small point overlooking the 2953 crystal clear blue water. My favourite part was the hand painted sign that 2954 reads &lsquo;IGUANAS-No los tire piedras-Cuidelas&rsquo;, &lsquo;Please do not throw rocks at 2955 the iguanas-take care of them!&rsquo; Two English ladies who now live in Kentucky 2956 were kind enough to pick us up on their rented golf cart and haul us back into 2957 town, saving us a taxi ride/sunburn.During our stay on the island, we ran into 2958 a small herd of beach cats. They appeared to be completely starving, which I’m 2959 sure is all part of their little ploy to get food from unsuspecting tourists. 2960 In fact, I’m sure that if a study were done, they’d probably find that this is 2961 a behaviour that beach cats have evolved over centuries of tourism, sort of 2962 like pigeons that pretend to be one-legged to get sympathy points from old 2963 grannies in parks. In any case, these poor things ended up rounding up enough 2964 sympathy to get some canned tuna… twice. Most of the time, though, I we watched 2965 it digging holes on the beach, which I don’t really want to think about too 2966 much. We also saw it kill and eat cockroaches, which no matter how disgusting 2967 it is, I have to admit is actually sort of mezmerising.</p> 2968 <p>All in all, it was a great vacation before everything gets crazy here. We hope 2969 we’ll have time to go back at some point for another visit. The place to stay 2970 is definitely the Hotel El Marcianito; the guy who runs it is totally friendly, 2971 and gave us a ton of advice on places to see.</p> 2972 </description> 2973 </item> 2974 2975 <item> 2976 <title>Chelem, Yucatán, México</title> 2977 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/chelem-yucatan-mexico/</link> 2978 <pubDate>Fri, 31 Aug 2001 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 2979 2980 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/chelem-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 2981 <description><p>Grabbed a bus north to Progreso to go to the beach. While it was beautiful 2982 weather and the ocean looked great, there were no palm trees on the beach, so 2983 it was impossible to find any shade. We’d heard that in the next town over, 2984 Yucalpetén, there were some great beaches, so we asked around and finally found 2985 a colectivo headed out in that direction. The one we found stopped 2986 by a bathing centre and the town of Chelem. Now right now I’m going to come 2987 straight out and say it: if someone ever tells you a story about the amazing 2988 beaches at Yucalpetén, just back away slowly and do not make any sudden 2989 moves—the person you are talking to has probably escaped from an asylum.</p> 2990 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-08-31-chelem.jpg" 2991 alt="Main street of Chelem"><figcaption> 2992 <h4>The main street of Chelem?</h4> 2993 </figcaption> 2994 </figure> 2995 2996 <p>We wandered around for a few hours, but we never did find a beach in decent 2997 condition. In the end we sat on a grass embankment close to the ocean, 2998 observing what appeared to be the remains of a house that had been bulldozed 2999 across the beach and into the ocean; there still were big chunks of concrete 3000 wall strewn all over the place. It was sort of post-apocalyptic looking. On the 3001 bright side, there was a nice cool breeze.</p> 3002 </description> 3003 </item> 3004 3005 <item> 3006 <title>Progreso, Yucatán, México</title> 3007 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/progreso-yucatan-mexico/</link> 3008 <pubDate>Fri, 31 Aug 2001 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 3009 3010 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/progreso-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 3011 <description><p>Half an hour north of Mérida is the port town of Progreso. Though it’s on the 3012 gulf side of the peninsula, the water is still a beautiful turquoise-blue; it 3013 puts Canadian beaches to shame. On a hot weekend, Progreso makes a fun day 3014 trip. The wind keeps you cool, and as long as you keep ordering drinks, the 3015 food comes free at the palapa huts on the beach.</p> 3016 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-08-31-palapa.jpg" 3017 alt="Three beach chairs sit in the shade of a palm-thatched palapa on the beach overlooking the ocean. A small &#39;lancha&#39; boat is pulled up on the beach. On the left, Progreso&#39;s long pier extends over the water towards the horizon."> 3018 </figure> 3019 3020 <p>The one thing that is impossible to miss in Progreso is the pier. At its 3021 original length of 6 km, it was the longest in all of México, and with its new 3022 3 km extension for cruise ships, it’s now the longest in the world. The reason 3023 for its size is that the Yucatán Peninsula is in essence a huge, flat limestone 3024 shelf that continues to extend long past the waterfront. At 6 km out, the 3025 water is still only 7 or 8 metres deep. As a result a 3 km extension was added 3026 in 2001 to allow cruise ships to dock safely.</p> 3027 <p>When we asked friends in Mérida about the beach in Progreso, they mostly told 3028 us that it wasn’t that nice. When we got back, I told my class that in Canada 3029 we put beaches like that in beer commercials. I guess when Cancún is only a few 3030 hours drive away, you can afford to be picky. The only downside is that most of 3031 the palm trees are tiny. The previous ones were all ripped out during Hurricane 3032 Gilberto a few years ago. As a result there’s very little shade, so your only 3033 option is to hide under a palapa.</p> 3034 </description> 3035 </item> 3036 3037 <item> 3038 <title>Izamal, Yucatán, México</title> 3039 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/izamal-yucatan-mexico/</link> 3040 <pubDate>Thu, 30 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 3041 3042 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/izamal-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 3043 <description><p>Took a trip a few towns to the east this morning, to Izamal. While Mérida is 3044 known throughout México as the White City, Izamal is referred to as the Yellow 3045 City due to the preponderance of yellow buildings. With a population of 15,000 3046 or so, it’s much quieter than Mérida, and horse-drawn carriages are still used 3047 as transportation by some of its residents. The two big tourist attractions 3048 here are the ruins of Kinich-Kakmó, one of 12 Mayan temples that originally 3049 stood at the site of this town, and the Franciscan Monastery, one of the first 3050 in the New World, built from the stones of the largest Mayan temple in Izamal 3051 after it was torn down by the Conquistadors.</p> 3052 <p>The Convento de San Antonio de Padua sits on one side of the Plaza Principal, a 3053 block from the city’s bus station. Climbing up the ramp in front brings you to 3054 a large flat terrace and the entrance to the buildings themselves. From there, 3055 you can enter the chapel, visit the arboreum or climb up to the top levels of 3056 the monastery. If you look carefully, some of the stones in the walls and 3057 arches have Mayan designs on them—these were part of the temple that originally 3058 stood at this location. Facing away from the monastery, you can see 3059 Kinich-Kakmó towering over the jungle six or seven blocks away.</p> 3060 <p>Kinich-Kakmó, which is about 200 m x 180 m, was built between 300 and 600 A.D. 3061 and was recently restored. From the top levels, the temple provides a great 3062 view of the city. Following a narrow dirt path around the back affords a 3063 spectacular view of the surrounding jungle and the vast, Saskatchewan-like 3064 flatness of the Yucatán peninsula. All over the place, big, lazy iguanas 3065 sunbathe on the rock walls of the temple. Just beside the entrance, at the base 3066 of the front side of the pyramid, is a great-smelling tortillería.</p> 3067 <p>We ate at the Kinich-Kakmó Restaurant, and it was delicious though a little 3068 pricey. We each had a Montejo beer and lime soup, followed by Poc-Chuc¹ and 3069 Rellenos Negros², along with some fresh handmade tortillas. As with many 3070 restaurants, homemade tortilla chips and salsas are served with the meal. The 3071 total came to about 160 pesos, which is enough to buy you several days worth of 3072 groceries at Wal-Mart or San Francisco in Mérida. The main dining area is 3073 outdoors under a thatched Mayan style roof (and yes, lots of people still live 3074 in traditional Mayan huts—some have corrugated metal roofs these days, but just 3075 as many use the traditional palm fronds). The waiters even offer bug-spray if 3076 you need it. Fortunately, due to some creative engineering by the staff, you 3077 don’t need it. Clear plastic bags of water dangle by threads from the roof and, 3078 in the words of the waiter, &lsquo;when the bug sees his reflection as he gets 3079 closer, he sees himself reflected so big and ugly that it scares him away.&rsquo; It 3080 seems to work—we didn’t see a single fly or mosquito during lunch, and there 3081 were tons outside. Royal Thai in San Rafael, California does the same thing, so 3082 there’s got to be something to it.</p> 3083 <p>Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the memory card for the camera, so no 3084 pictures, but it was well worth the trip.</p> 3085 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 3086 <ol> 3087 <li><em>Poc-Chuc:</em> A Yucatecan dish made with pork marinaded in orange juice.</li> 3088 <li><em>Rellenos Negros:</em> A spicy, black Yucatecan soup made from beans, with 3089 pieces of chicken and a hard boiled egg bathing in it.</li> 3090 </ol> 3091 </description> 3092 </item> 3093 3094 <item> 3095 <title>Quest for a Hammock</title> 3096 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/quest-for-a-hammock/</link> 3097 <pubDate>Tue, 28 Aug 2001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 3098 3099 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/quest-for-a-hammock/</guid> 3100 <description><figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-08-28-old-door.jpg" 3101 alt="A worn-down wooden door lies framed by a crumbling building façade in Mérida. Traces of faded lettering remain where the paint has not flaked away."> 3102 </figure> 3103 3104 <p>In Mérida, most people sleep in hammocks. Walk down any residential street and 3105 look in the windows and you’ll see hammocks strung all over the room. What I’m 3106 getting at is that I finally caved in and bought a hammock. Now sit back and 3107 listen, ’cause here’s my advice…</p> 3108 <p>If you’re in Mérida, you’ll be approached every five minutes by someone wanting 3109 to sell you a hammock off the street. Do not buy it! That man is crazy! The 3110 quality of hammock you get from a wandering hammock guy is a mystery until you 3111 try it out. And you’re not going to be trying it out until after you’ve paid 3112 for it. Generally speaking, they’re pretty bad. Locals refer to them as 3113 ‘hospital hammocks’ because that’s where you end up if you use them. Go to a 3114 hammock shop with a good reputation. If they can show you a photo album of them 3115 and their grandparents chopping down sisal (henequen cactus), stripping the 3116 fibre, and making hammocks, it’s a pretty safe bet that the hammocks are 3117 good.So Julio Armando pulled out a few hammocks, strung them up, proudly 3118 displays the threading to show there were no flaws, and got me to jump in and 3119 take it for a spin. Hammocks come in lots of sizes: single, double, 3120 matrimonial, and matrimonial especial. The difference is the number of pairs of 3121 end threads. Matrimonial has about 150 pairs of end threads, whereas a single 3122 has about 50 and a double has about 100. Keep in mind that these sizes were 3123 designed for people of Mayan stature, which is a lot smaller than your typical 3124 Canadian, or Mestizo Mexican.</p> 3125 <p>Unfortunately, the walls in the apartment must be the only ones in the whole 3126 city that doesn’t have hammock hooks! Even a lot of hotels in Mérida provide 3127 hooks! I ran across the street to the Tlapalería¹ and using hand signals and 3128 pantomime, bought exactly five metres of nylon rope. Using those engineering 3129 skills I spent so much effort learning at UVic, and some knots I learned in Boy 3130 Scouts, I rigged up a makeshift hammock hookup. Unfortunately, the only 3131 available post to string a rope around was the chunk of wall between the 3132 balcony door and the window, which meant that both the door and the window had 3133 to be open to use it, and I had to pull the mosquito screen out of the window 3134 anytime I wanted to use the hammock.</p> 3135 <p>About Mérida’s weather: Maybe you people back home have looked at the 3136 temperatures in Mérida and thought &lsquo;Wow! They spend the whole summer in the mid 3137 to upper 30s! It’s just like Cancún!&rsquo; True, but it’s also insanely humid, which 3138 means you’re covered in sweat 24 hours a day—imagine waking up sticky and 3139 sweaty every morning; that’s why most people use hammocks. What’s more, unlike 3140 Cancún, there are thunderstorms every afternoon between about four and seven. 3141 You can set your watch by them. During these thunderstorms, it rains. A lot. So 3142 much, in fact, that having the window or door open even a centimetre spells 3143 certain doom. In short, the hammock is no longer up. Back to the drawing board.</p> 3144 <p>A curious side note here. If you wander the streets of Mérida enough, you’ll 3145 notice an inordinate number of people with one or both eyes missing. The reason 3146 for this is quite interesting. Mérida is famous around the world for its 3147 hammocks. And to make hammocks you need henequen fibre. The sisal cactus from 3148 which you get it has very, very sharp, needle-like barbs. You get the point.</p> 3149 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 3150 <ol> 3151 <li><em>Tlapalería:</em> A sort of little roadside hardware store.</li> 3152 </ol> 3153 </description> 3154 </item> 3155 3156 <item> 3157 <title>Mérida, Yucatán, México</title> 3158 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/merida-yucatan-mexico/</link> 3159 <pubDate>Fri, 17 Aug 2001 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 3160 3161 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/merida-yucatan-mexico/</guid> 3162 <description><p>Arrived in Cancún on Friday at about 6 pm, took out some money from the bank 3163 machine, and hopped into a colectivo¹ for Ciudad Cancún—the city itself—a 3164 twenty minute drive from the long strip of hotels between the lagoon and the 3165 ocean that the outside world refers to as Cancún. By the time the colectivo got 3166 to the bus station, it was 9 pm, so after checking out the schedule and booking 3167 tickets, there was just enough time to grab some dinner and get some sleep 3168 before heading off to Mérida first thing the next morning.</p> 3169 <figure><img src="https://chris.bracken.jp/post/2001-08-17-cathedral.jpg" 3170 alt="Façade of the Mérida cathedral in the evening light. Groups of pedestrians pass along the sidewalk in front as Volkswagen Beetles drive by."> 3171 </figure> 3172 3173 <p>Sitting in a Mexican bus station is an activity in itself. Drenched in sweat 3174 and surrounded by hundreds of other sweaty people carrying bags, backpacks, and 3175 cardboard packages held together with twine, in heat and humidity well above 3176 what any sane person would tolerate, you gain an appreciation of just how 3177 patient a people the Mexicans are. Buses come and go as they please; to the 3178 Mexican bus driver, the posted schedule is only a guideline. Buses are 3179 notoriously late, and ours is no exception.</p> 3180 <p>When it does arrive, the bags are loaded, everyone climbs into their seats and, 3181 once the bus driver has got his drinks and snacks ready for the trip, he throws 3182 it into reverse and we´re off. After a four hour ride through the Yucatecan 3183 jungle, we arrived at the Fiesta Américana terminal in the north end of Mérida. 3184 From there, we grabbed a taxi into town and unloaded everything at Hotel Mucuy, 3185 on calle 57 between calle 56 and calle 58, where we stayed while we searched 3186 for jobs and a place to live.</p> 3187 <p>This might be a good time to explain the mysterious numbering system for the 3188 addresses in Mérida. Odd numbered streets run east-west and even numbered 3189 streets run north-south. For streets that run diagonally, the ones that run 3190 from SE to NW are even, the rest are odd—usually. Another challenge is that 3191 street addresses are not often consistent; number 499 might be three or four 3192 blocks from 498. Because of this, addresses are usually given as a street 3193 number and a cross street (for corner addresses) or a street number and the two 3194 cross streets between which the address lies.</p> 3195 <p>Mérida is the capital city of México’s Yucatán state and, centuries ago, was 3196 the capital of the Mayan empire as well. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived 3197 in the city in the mid-16th century, led by Francisco de Montejo, they 3198 discovered the Mayan city of Tihó. Its temples and limestone architecture 3199 reminded them enough of Mérida, Spain that they promptly renamed the city and 3200 began dismantling the Mayan structures. While you won’t find any of the 3201 original Mayan buildings remaining today, the cathedral in the Plaza Principal² 3202 contains blocks from the Mayan temple that once stood in the same location.</p> 3203 <p>In any case, the city today is gorgeous. Its narrow streets and colonial 3204 architecture give it a traditional feel. Every Sunday, all the streets within 3205 several blocks of the main plaza are shut down to vehicle traffic while 3206 musicians play live music near the Plaza Principal, and people dance in the 3207 streets.</p> 3208 <h3 id="glossary">Glossary</h3> 3209 <ol> 3210 <li><em>Colectivo:</em> a communal taxi, usually a VW van, into which the driver packs 3211 as many people as the laws of physics will allow. For example the last one 3212 we used had 16 people stuffed into it.</li> 3213 <li><em>Plaza Principal:</em> the main square found in almost every Mexican town.</li> 3214 </ol> 3215 </description> 3216 </item> 3217 3218 <item> 3219 <title>¡Hola México!</title> 3220 <link>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/hola-mexico/</link> 3221 <pubDate>Fri, 17 Aug 2001 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate> 3222 3223 <guid>https://chris.bracken.jp/2001/08/hola-mexico/</guid> 3224 <description><p>After a year and a half in San Francisco, California, we’ve moved to Mérida, 3225 Yucatán, México. So far so good! The heat is scorching, the humidity is 3226 sweltering, and the mosquitos are biting. But Mérida is a beautiful city, and 3227 the people are wonderful.</p> 3228 </description> 3229 </item> 3230 3231 </channel> 3232 </rss>