Oxford
I was born in Oxford city. I didn’t realise how small, sheltered, and insular Oxford is until I glanced it on a map. I grew up there, which took about 18 years, and didn’t appreciate how beautiful it is until I moved away. It brings to mind Morris dancers, gargoyles, model aeroplanes, and cows. I go back frequently, and I’m always disappointed by the coffee: nobody in Oxford knows what a good flat white is. The bookshops and good-looking American imports are incomparable, though.

Reading
I went to university in Reading. Reading campus is rural, with a big lake with geese and ducks, and lots of green fields and trees. The town is adequate, but I always used to dislike that its shop front is a mundane row of Waterstones, McDonalds, GAP, and Starbucks. There is little personality, and a lot of, the phrase I liked at the time, emotional poverty. After three years, I was extremely restless.

Brighton
After graduating, I spent a few months back in Oxford before I ran away to Brighton. The time between making the decision to move to Brighton, and getting on a train, was about five days. I had a deliriously happy year and a half living in three different flats, as it worked out. I have no regrets. There is something about this place that transcends geography. I haven’t fallen out of love with it.

While there, I discovered a lot about good coffee (Red Roaster, Taylor St. Baristas—Oxford, please catch up), and had my first real taste of Japanese cuisine (E-Kagen). The culture in Brighton, and the wonderfully inspiring people I met, were fundamental in helping me figure out what I want to do in my life and work. Did I mention I love it. I do: as ardently as Julie Burchill. Julie allegedly lives in Hove, and I was disappointed that we never crossed paths in Tescos.

London
Um. Hold on. Why is that map there?

What? I’m moving there?

To that dense and horrifying spidernest?

It’s hard to believe, but yes. This week I’m moving to Hackney Road in Shoreditch, London. My flat is near Old Street roundabout, which was recently dubbed Silicon Roundabout.

I am looking forward to lots of things. Getting a better sense of London’s geography, or at least a portion of it. Figuring out where the best coffee is, and how I’ll pay for my daily habit. Attending events and parties in London without spending hours on a train. Being able to see friends at the drop of a hat. Checking out Columbia Road flower market…

And I’m really, really looking forward to being a student at UCL. I have a happy, persistent buzz that’s similar to the buzz I get when I’m in an airport. I cannot wait.

I’m back from dConstruct09. I left feeling very optimistic and excited about the future; I felt I got a little more out of it than I did in 2008. Especially interesting were the ideas of a shift from objects to services, as Adam Greenfield of Nokia suggested—he used specific example of car sharing—and an analogous shift from things to experiences was suggested by August de los Reyes of Microsoft Surface.

The shift from object to service is one I’d like to see implemented in a public transport context. I would passionately love to see a perfect public transport network and ecosystem where no vehicle needs to be personally owned. The dream becomes less impossible as urban places become beautifully networked; as more people gravitate towards living in cities.

We have broken your business, now we want your machines. — Russell Davies to the newspaper industry (the audience loved him even before he chucked Kinder Eggs at them). Photo by Matt Biddulph.

And now, a personal update:

The conference fell on decision day for me. So my decision: I’m moving to London to study MSc Human-Computer Interaction with Ergonomics (abbreviated as MSc HCI-E) at UCLIC, University College London. The induction week begins on September 28th so I’m hunting for accommodation near Bloomsbury now, hoping to move to London within the next couple of weeks. I’m happy that I’ll be close to family in Oxford, close to friends in Brighton, and a tube trip away from friends in London. I’m really looking forward to living in a big, stinky city.

Most importantly!

I want to keep one foot in industry during my studies, so I’m looking for internships and/or contract work at technology and design companies. If you know of something suitable, get in touch! — Rebecca

Undoubtedly the most notable aspect of Japan, for me, was the food. I’ve returned to the UK completely obsessed with two dishes, similar in fame: okonomiyaki and takoyaki. I think okonomiyaki might become my most tweeted word. But I’ll stop now.

Okonomiyaki is a kind of Japanese pancake made with special batter (with dashi, or fish stock), mixed with cabbage, and then cooked on a hot griddle, often right in front of you. The cooked pancake is then covered with okonomi sauce and mayonnaise, and with dancing bonito, which is shaved fish.

Needless to say, it is really, really good, and available all over Osaka. But apparently, only one restaurant in London—Abeno—makes them. If you have never tried okonomiyaki, you should find out if a restaurant makes them near you and try it. I’m not alone in my obsession: here is a website devoted to the dish and it even lists restaurants around the world that serves them!

See more slightly obsessive photos here.

Takoyaki is equally deserving of obsession, but I think they’re less main-meal food, more kebab-standard food—you know, a light snack after a shisha-pipe and margarita night in the pub. They are grilled doughballs filled with—among other tasty things—diced or whole baby octopus. They are covered with okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, and dancing bonito. The dancing bonito—fish shavings on top—is a really nice (and tasty) touch, like table fireworks, but more practical. I’m not surprised there are videos on YouTube.

They taste creamy and very, very good.

Clearly, the amazing food was a major point of interest. It was mind-boggling how many restaurants there were—on one night in Kyoto I found myself in a magic, never-ending, lantern-lit corridor of equally cheap and appealing places to eat.

But I was also interested in Japan’s culture of technology and gaming. I was brought up on the products of Japanese culture, mainly the video games Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda. I had an infatuation with Squall, the protagonist in Final Fantasy VIII, for a good number of months. I don’t know why, as he’s really sulky and says “whatever” a lot, but that appeals to teens. Anyway, wandering about Osaka, I noticed that there are many, many gaming rooms. Play is a large part of the culture, from Karaoke—very different from Karaoke as I know it in the UK—to the seedy pay-by-the-hour love hotels.

I was also very curious about the legendary Japanese mobile phone. Like an endemic Galápagos creature, they evolved in isolation, and in some ways, are years ahead. I look forward to being able to watch TV on my iPhone and use it as a credit card. Really: why can’t we do that yet?

I had a great time and I will certainly be back to explore Tokyo and Hiroshima (where I hear the okonomiyaki is the best in the land, made with noodles and extra ingredients). Japan seems to have retained the best of its culture and fused it perfectly with the most exciting of the new.

China—which I can’t avoid mentioning—seems to be having an identity crisis with clashes between cultural and commercial interests.