Last month we took the kids to an idyllic English countryside retreat: the Four Seasons Hampshire, where we stayed in two adjacent suites.
Not far from London, it has everything a kid can dream of for a wonderful countryside vacation: green hills, a fishing pond, clay pigeon shooting, indoors heated swimming pool, bicycles, a large collection of DVDs, library, a playground, a rope-adventure course, a crocket lawn, tennis courts, a kids playroom with videogames, foosball, pool table… even a resident black labrador dog called Oliver!
This summer we have enjoyed London and its surrounding areas as tourists with the kids.
Due to the personal nature of this post, I will keep it brief and pictures, as usual in this blog for privacy reasons, will not show my kids.
Places we went to:
Although some years ago we went to Legoland Billund, we wanted to check this one out. As expected, it was a lot of fun (especially if you are a Lego fan… and who isn’t?
This summer I have had several work meetings around London. Some of the most interesting, cool and fun:
At London Blackfriars Railway Station NHS Test Beds 2nd round event at the Kia Oval… with a live cricket match going on! (it was somehow distracting, if only because I don not understand this game) Handing out student awards at PwC At London BioScience Innovation Centre At Google
On Friday I acquired two very different works of Japanese fine art.
One was a very rare and wonderful find: an original Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose “Great Wave off Kanagawa” is one of the best-known works of Japanese art, titled “Wavy shadow of Mount Fuji” from the “One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, Vol. 2” Series, created in 1835. The “One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji” series was featured by the British Museum in 2001 and is part of the MET Museum collection in New York.
Anyone who knows me knows I am crazy about all things Japanese; so since it has been so long that I have been in Japan, I decided to attend the HyperJapan event taking place in London`s O2 arena.
It was a blast! Many booths with Japanese merchandise, videogames (with a huge Nintendo area), clothing (like Aoi or the supercool t-shirts of Askew Gaming), manga artists, publishers (like Kaori, or Kodansha), bookstores (like JP Books), jewelry (like LittleMoose or Jane Nevermore), designers (like Ayako Shirata), art galleries (like CelGa or The Japanese Gallery), tourism info and institutions (like Japan Foundation), Japanese schools (like Alpha), steampunk (like Mikie & Co.
On Thursday we (Carlos and Victoria from Kanteron, my wife and I) were invited, since we are members, to the TechHub 5th birthday party at an abandoned textile warehouse in London.
The party was expertly organized by the TechHub crew, and had everything you need to ensure a great party: two DJs, karaoke, photo-booth, grilled cheese sandwiches, ice-cream, cupcakes, booze, and cool tech (this time it was the HP Sprout).
Tuesday July 7th I was also invited, this time by Prof Tony Young (National Clinical Director for Innovation NHS England), to speak at the MedTech event held at University College London Partners.
The other three speakers also talked about different aspects of MedTech:
Jim Dawton, Director Great Fridays “Disrupting Healthcare through Design” Henrietta Hughes, Regional Medical Director, NHS England ‘Innovation From the Frontline of Primary Care` Prof. Jo Martin, National Clinical Director for Pathology, ‘eCPD and More’ It was also another great event for networking, with over 100 people there, all related to MedTech.
