WCCC in Japan - Hans's Diary

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Harvey Williamson
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Re: Kanazawa Diary

Post by Harvey Williamson »

Graham Banks wrote:
Hans van der Zijden wrote:.....After a nice drink outside on the terras, where I finally can show off with the cube to Harry's daughter (and I got some pictures to prove it), we head off to the restaurant. We are a bit behind the group and hurry to cross the road before the lights turn red. Then Harry faints and falls to the ground in the middle of the road. His daughter seems not to panic at all. Apparently Harry gets dizzy from time to time. After 30 seconds he is conscious again and moments later he can walk to the other side. They decide it is better to go to the hotel, which luckily is just around the corner.......
Harry?
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Harry's Daughter
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Harvey Williamson
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Post by Harvey Williamson »

A few more photo's

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Remind you of anyone?

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Harry's daughter again

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All the competitors

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Hans gets his prize

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The entertainment

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A visit to the robotics museum - some are 250 years old.
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Hans van der Zijden
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Kanazawa Diary

Post by Hans van der Zijden »

3-10
Ok, couldn't resist. Had to write one more chapter, because so much happened on the flight back.

I was in the lobby with my suitcase a little before 6:00 am, the time that the breakfastroom should open. Johan came 5 minutes later. Without suitcase, which wasn't even packed yet and he still had to pay his bill. The bus to the airport was due at 6:42, so we wanted to quickly get some breakfast, but it still said closed. Of course real dutchmen ignore signs and try to conquer the breakfastroom. We were stopped by a waitress who told us we had to wait till 6:30. But they let us in when we told that the bus would come early and we just wanted a quick bite.

First flight of the day to Tokyo went ok. Then Johan and I got split up. He couldn't book on my plane and had to leave 15 minutes later. That would give us 1 hour and 55 minutes to get out of the plane in Heathrow, get our luggage, go through customs, find Harvey, drive to Stansted and check in.

I had a 20 minute delay before my plane landed on Heathrow and there we couldn't get out of the plane because another plane occupied our space. I sent an sms to Harvey who send me back that it must be Johan's plane, because he arrived before me. The bastard must have passed me because he flew AnaL (more tailwind). It took 40 minutes before I could get off. By that time Harvey suggested already that he would try to get Johan on the plane in Stansted (which he made although he was almost 20 minutes late checking in), and he gave me instructions to take the tube into London, to spend the night at his place. But first I tried to book another flight from Heathrow to Amsterdam. 469 pounds they dared to ask, so I declined.

Only had to wait 2 minutes at the subwaystation before Harvey arrived. We had some nice chinese food and then I went to bed for a few hours of solid sleep near the Hiarcs Cluster. Harvey told me I had to flip a switch if I wanted to shower, but there were two of them. A nice puzzle. One started the waterpump and the other could well have been shutting off the power in the whole building. I noticed that one of the switches was already on, so the right choice was not so difficult.

At 5:00 am, Harvey drove me to Stansted. I was very grateful for everything that he had done for me. I don't know what I would have done without him. Probably booked a direct flight from Tokyo to Amsterdam. To have less handluggage I squeezed some stuff into my suitcase. As a result it was slightly overweight now. So I quickly took out 2 bottles of wine, which I could fit into my laptopcase and my camera that I hung around my neck. That saved me 20 pound extra charges. What I didn't realise was that you cannot take drinks with you in your handluggage. So they were confiscated. A loss of 20 euro.

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly luckily and my cat was very happy to have me back.
Never do something today, that someone else can do tomorrow. (Confusedius)
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Bryan Whitby
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Post by Bryan Whitby »

Harvey
When you say about the visit to the robot museum, are you referring to the old bearded gentleman as being 250 years as he doesn't look a day over 200!!
Also who on earth designed those medals. Not too sure if I'd show them to anyone when I got home.
Bryan
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Harvey Williamson
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Post by Harvey Williamson »

Not sure about the medals maybe Hans can tell us more. I know they were made of clay. Meanwhile a few more Pics:

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The playing hall
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Hans takes his yearly shower

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Jaap the TD

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SMK won the World Chess Software Championship
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Clay medals.

Post by Hans van der Zijden »

Chessmaster Ireland wrote:Harvey
When you say about the visit to the robot museum, are you referring to the old bearded gentleman as being 250 years as he doesn't look a day over 200!!
Also who on earth designed those medals. Not too sure if I'd show them to anyone when I got home.
Bryan

One of the japanese organisers, who sat next to me during the closing dinner, told me he designed them. Don't know his name though.
Never do something today, that someone else can do tomorrow. (Confusedius)
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