Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
Visit to Tunisia (1): introduction
October 4th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
I love to visit new countries but, north of the equator, the only places in Africa that I’ve been to are Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya. Now though I’m off to Tunisia with my partner Tess on a trip provided by the company Jules Verne. It will be the 91st country that I’ve visited. Tunisia is […]
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A narrative account of a fascinating trip to Japan
September 4th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
It was April when I went to Japan for a two-week trip, but only now have I pulled together and edited all my blog postings of that time into a continuous narrative. Reading over my account now, I’m reminded of how much we visited, how much we saw, and how much we learned about this […]
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The sadness and the beauty of Ha Long Bay
July 19th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
I was saddened to hear the news of the loss of life in Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam. The location is a spectacular one and I have fond memories of my time there in 2006.
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It’s time that I came to terms with AI
June 16th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Like many men in now their 70s, I came late to computing – and I would probably have come even later if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was asked to become Head of Research when the Communication Workers Union (CWU) was created in 1995. This made me head of a team of […]
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The explosive growth in tourist numbers in Japan
April 22nd, 2025 by Roger Darlington
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that, following a professional visit to Japan in 1998, I’ve just made a return visit as a tourist for a more extensive trip. In 1998, there were 4.1M foreign visitors to Japan. By 2014, there were 13.4M. By 2024, the figure was 36.9M. This is […]
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Holiday in Japan (13): reflections
April 18th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
How to summarise such an exciting and varied holiday? We all agreed that the highlight of our trip had been the day viewing the majestic Mount Fuji. Often the sight of the volcano is hazy or poor or simply impossible. We could not have had better weather and clearer views. For me, the other highlight […]
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Holiday in Japan (12): return
April 18th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
Thursday was a day of departures with different members of the Great Rail Journeys group flying off to different destinations. Those flying to London had the day free in Osaka. Four of us joined together as a Northern Brigade: Dave & Jen from Grimsby, Jenny originally from Huddersfield, and me originally from Manchester. The weather […]
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Holiday in Japan (11): Arashiyama & Osaka
April 16th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
It was the last day of the official part of our tour (Wednesday). Leaving Kyoto after three nights, we first journeyed to the nearby town of Arashiyama. We were there to see a bamboo forest. The company’s description of the location suggested: “Listen out for the soothing sounds of trunks creaking and knocking together and […]
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Holiday in Japan (10): Nara
April 15th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
On the penultimate day of the official part of our tour (Tuesday), the pace slackened, when we did not leave our hotel in Kyoto until 9.30 am and we were back at 3.20 pm. We were out of the city all day. At a place called Fushimi, we visited a sake brewery called Kizakira. This […]
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Holiday in Japan (9): Kyoto
April 14th, 2025 by Roger Darlington
We spent the whole of Monday in Kyoto. The city is most famous for its fabulous temples and, in the morning, we visited two of them. On my visit to Kyoto in 1998, I saw four temples: Kiyomizu Temple, Sanjusangendo Temple, Nijo Castle and Nanzen-ji Temple. Today we went to a new location for me, […]
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