Thursday, April 30, 2009

Flower Festival Frustration


Flower Festival Frustration

Every year, the Flower Festival, the biggest event in Hiroshima's calendar which attracts over quarter of a million people over three days, is held during the Golden Week holiday. And every year, the schedules is released about one week before the event.

As anyone has been to the festival will know there are about 30 stages and hundreds of stalls and booths. Spread over a large area, navigating the festival and the schedule is quite a challenge.

So, every year around this time GetHiroshima tries to pull out out a few things either worth attempting to. And, every year I end up feeling like I'm banging my head against a brick wall as the organizers insist on publishing the schedule as a series of difficult to read jpeg images on their website.
Above is one of the images listing the programs on some of the stages, the rest can been seen here.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Latest Places Reviewed on GH

Solholm bar and dining
"Great place to relax." 4.0
Anonymity Personified.Fri Feb 2009
I went there on a mini coffee date and really enjoyed the atmosphere.We sat on one of the sofas that face the large windows that have a view of the harbour and found that the time just slipped by as the sofa was comfortable and the atmosphere was very relaxing. The cafe au lait was very authentic- rich and in the traditional french bowl. The coffee is expensive but comes with lush snacks. All in all, I really felt that the atmosphere and quality of the coffee warranted the price.

Namaste indian and nepalese curry
"fantastic" 5.0
maki - Sat Apr 2009
it is a nice resturant, the workers are fast and polite. The chief Meghnath is a good person. I love to sit there listening to various songs and rock and roll eating delicious food and watching at nepali article. _I Just LOVE it

"Awesome" 5.0
Jun - Fri Apr 2009
I enjoyed the dishes served there. It was delicious

"Fantastic!" 5.0
Fritz - Mon Apr 2009
Megh really knows how to make a curry. I am so happy that he has opened his own place. His home made paneer is also delicious. I love the open kitchen and sitting at the counter.


R.Gerant
"Simple, yet elegant. Overall nice environment" 3.0
Anonymity Personified.Sat Apr 2009
The staff is wonderful and full of energy. Dinner was nice - presentation colorful and unique, however the food quality is okay to good. I personally didn't think the slightly expensive price matched the "quality" of the cuisine.

"Suspect pricing" 3.0
Anonymity Personified.Sun Feb 2009
OK, the food and service was wonderful but was shocked at the price. Having ordered a Y5000 dinner set, we assumed it was included when we were asked, "Would you like to choose some cheese" from the platter they brought. It wasn't until we received the bill we discovered Y4200 added to the bill!!
Bombay Indian Dining
"Spicy ambience" 5.0
Andy - Mon Mar 2009
We have been to all the Indian restaurants in Hiroshima and find that our family always wants to come back to Bombay. The flavor and spices come to life in the dishes, the atmosphere of the restaurant is very relaxing and fun. Watching Bollywood movies on the wall and getting to see the Tandori oven and Nan making....make us come back again and again.

"Just Perfect." 5.0
Junko - Thu Feb 2009
I found it just parfect and go there ofen.

"just ok" 1.0
Natsu - Sun Feb 2009
wish the taste of the curries were more nearer to real Indian food.
Jusco Department Store
"great place with fewer crowds" 5.0
Susan - Sat Mar 2009
We love this Jusco department store! As noted, it has a lot of different things in the mall like a Starbucks, a good bookstore, a 100 yen shop, and other fast food and sit down restaurants. There is also a kids play area and also a little merry go round for the kids (although they tend to close at 6pm). We really have found that we prefer this to Diamond City. The Diamond City mall has a lot of different shops, but if you are just looking to go to a mall and get a few things and don't need all of the variety, it is very low-key, much less busy, and has easy access.

Sumatra Tiger

"Totally At Home" 5.0
eric (ericmangion@gmail.com) - Tue Mar 2009
I went there and the atmosphere is exactly like a European Rock Bar great! You feel like home! great music knowledge and also great musicians.

Barcos
"not too bad..." 3.0
jamincivic - Tue Mar 2009
Been here a few times. Music is mainstream and always a crowd.

Ganesh
"Discriminatory" 2.0
Marc - Tue Mar 2009
A detailed account of strange discriminatory treatment by the management toward foreign university students can be found here: http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/2009/03/30/heading-to-hiroshima-and-the-western-way-of-honshuu-and-the-discriminating-indian-restaurant/ http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=9563 

Mac
"Free-thinking heaven" 5.0
John O'Connor (@) - Thu Apr 2009
I lived in Hiroshima in 1993 and this virtually became my living room. Everywhere else in Japan is clean and shiny but Mac's was dark, dingy, real and comforting. It's the only place I've ever been to where you can play a game of chess, break off to have a dance and then resume your game. I always think of The Clash and Ian Dury when I think of Mac's because that is what I missed at the time and so that's what he was kind enough to play. Wish I were there tonight and I hope to return again...

Backpackers Miyajima
"Best place to stay in Hiroshima !!!" 5.0
Backpacker_Stephan - Fri Apr 2009
Compared to many dormitory-style places I´ve stayed in Japan and the world this is one of the best !! The building is totally new (built last year autumn), so everything is in very good condition. The staff is super-friendly and helpful with any problem- This place is also an official Tourist Info, so all information available over there. Very convenient for planning your stay in Hiroshima and your further travels. Located almost directly at the sea (about 50 m), I´d like to come back in summer to hang out there at the seaside. It´s also only 3 min on foot to the ferry to Miyajima. All of the japanese staff speak fluent English, especially the manager, Hisa, who´s lived in the U.S. before. Every Sat the have Takoyaki-party with the guests. I had a great, cheap and fun time at Backpackers-Miyajima. Extraordinarily recommended !!!! Go and check it out....

Monday, April 20, 2009

Presentation Zen

Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the net presentationzen.com is presenting in Hiroshima on April 28 at Hiroshima Bunkyo Women's University. Here's his talk at Google from last month.




Get more details about the talk and find out where to sign up here.

Otis Revisited

Otis cafe-bar-restaurant-livehouse was one of our first reviews back in the day, since we have been there and re-reviewed it, I hope you will also take a fresh look at one of Hiroshima's longest running multi-purpose venues. It is a tiny little place, a bit run down, and yes the portion sizes are small- but the food is tasty (tex-mex, vegetarian food and great american style pies) and it is not expensive- we ate our fill the other night (for 2 plus little ones) for 6,000 yen including some drinks.
We hope the old Japanese hippy Saeki couple that run this place will be around for a while yet despite these hard times :-)
Updated review here (and a picture of their pecan pie just like my american nana used to make):
Otis!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Diary Of The Dead late show tonight

George A. Romero's Diary Of The Dead showing at Salon Cinema tonight at 9pm.





Diary Of The Dead continues until April 17 (but only at 17:10, 21:00 late show is on Saturday April 11 only)

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Nails and Cakes- New place reviews up in English

Nail Salon in Hakushima
Fantastic, New York style, high quality nail salon just outside the city center.

Excellent 30 year running cake and cookie shop in Ushita
Go-fufu couple started this shop with their passion for sweets and now almost 30 years later, they are still going strong. Worth a visit even if you don't live in Ushita.