In my (precious little) spare time I have been experimenting with Google Maps and Google Earth.

Things have gone well, except for working out how to embed the maps into my blog posts.

Now, if you happen to be using Firefox (I’m not sure about Internet Explorer), below is a map I made using Google Earth of the trips I have taken this year.

Unfortunately, for some reason it doesn’t display in the shipping version of Safari 3, though does in the Safari 4 preview.

Note: You can drag the map around inside its frame and use the zoom tool to see city names.

An idea I had was to make a similar map to show where my students come from (since we have a very international cohort).

If you have Google Earth installed, then clicking on this link will show the same data but wrapped around the planet.

Special thanks to Ben for his tips and examples on his own site (growlingfish.com).

When wandering through Kyoto I was part of a small scuffle of photographers capturing a small procession of Geishas heading to work. At they time I thought they might be traditional opera singers, as I noted in this post.

This is the photograph of one of them that I managed to capture. The ladies were really exquisitely made up. Rather endearing was the small collection of photographers I saw, who I suspect are systematically collecting photographs of all of them.

I have had a few additional moments to experiment with the high dynamic range software. The technique does make the photographs much more like the eye experiences (and compensates for the lack of dynamic range in my camera’s sensor).

This photograph was taken in Kyoto on a busy street corner. The red lights are from the taillights of passing cars. I call these Jedi moments. One of my favourite Jedi moments was taken in Athens. You can see that photograph here.

The second photograph is from the window of the Equatorial hotel in Shanghai. Again three photographs merged. This one was taken resting the camera against the window frame (with the window open).

It is possible to tweak the settings to get almost surreal effect.

While the clouds in the photograph above were impressive, they are accentuated somewhat here. The red on the tower is also stronger that it appeared to my eye.

I have some more detail on the technique here.

Yesterday afternoon, after arriving and settling in my hotel, I wandered the central city area and caught up on some necessary shopping — a rugby top because it is cooler here than I expected and a small card wallet to replace the one I lost in Shanghai, the cards will have to wait until I return to the UK.

I did my shopping in some of the famous Japanese department stores. The service was something to admire. It reminded me why Japan is an essential visit for anyone studying marketing, and retail in particular.

I tried my luck for dinner at a nice looking restaurant and tried my luck with a set meal and some sake. All went very well despite the lack of language. It seems my buddy’s convention that it is hard to find a bad meal in Japan may be true. The highlight was some sushi roll served a little warm with some warm, sweetish sauce.

The central city area is rather nice, a grid of small streets bounded by much bigger main ones. The small streets are quite narrow and pleasantly busy.

Today was spent mostly waking in the old town, on the edge of the modern central city and one of the only traditional city centres left untouched by second world war bombing.

The district is full of small, mostly wooden houses. People still live in some of there, others are restaurants. I also wandered around the grounds of a lovely hillside park overlooking the city and a temple. The temples have an important history here, being bases for fighting forces throughout the city’s long history.

Wandering through one narrow landway, I chanced upon a sudden scuffle of non-professional photographers (sorry, not sure how to spell the ‘a’ word. I stood back to see what the little crowd was interested in. It turned out to be a procession of female traditional Japanese opera singers in their full makeup and clothing. They entered the rear of a little traditional theatre. The photographers seem to have been waiting, and gave the impression of being quite dedicated fans. One, given his age, enthusiasm and old camera may have been coming each day to this spot for decades.

I also spent some time wandering the shops. I found two specialist second hand camera stores. Japan seems to have quite a vibrant second hand market for expensive but somewhat fashionable goods (as does Singapore). Cameras, watches, pens, etc. I’ve not got the energy to explore why this might be, enough to say its quite intriguing, and an education to see an almost museum quality collection of cameras.

More notable are the artisans’ stores, selling various fine goods developed by the famous merchants and tradesmen of the city over centuries. There include beautiful parasolls and umbrellas, some textiles and fine sweets (at least that I have read about and discovered so far). Given the refined nature of some of the goods I examined (and the price), I was not surprised to learn that, some artisans’ families have been in their field for upto 20 generations.