I survived the hectic week! Phew. And the trial went beautifully … Everyone loves it so much so that only 1 person return the phone on the last day, altho we have a long waiting lists of people wanting a set. Anyway, we will publish the results of the trial soon.

APEET have a quick meeting this morning. We got lots of requests to repeat our trial at some other events. I wish we could handle all of them but some are probably going to be disappointed. But anyway, we agree to do it again at some future APAN or IETF so watch out for it :-).

We also learn a lot from the trial and we already have ideas how to improved the system. Really, obtaining the handsets isn’t the most difficult part. Making it “just work out of the box” is the most challenging part :- e.g. the infrastructure, the base station network design, seamless base station handover, etc etc.

After stealing some lunch from APNIC, I finally have some private time. More exactly, Mao Wei, Xiaodong and myself went up Kurama Onsen, a really beautiful outdoor hotspring in the middle of the mountain. After the nice hot dip, we have dinner at this Yakikinu (japanese grill meat) in Kyoto downtown which I always wanted to go but my wife refused to go. Too bad for her..their special marinated beef was, lets just say we couldnt stop ordering!

Took the last train to Tokyo arriving here at midnight…only to discover the only thing I know about my hotel in Tokyo is an URL: rph.co.jp. No name, no phone nothing. Tried to make some calls to friends but no answer (it’s past midnight). Tried to call back home but couldn’t. Went to the police post but the guy on duty couldn’t speak any English. *faint*

Wandering around in Tokyo Station in the middle of the night, a young policeman who spoke a little English come to my rescue. He was really patient and helpful and eventually helped me figure out which phone can be used to make IDD calls (the KDDI ones). A quick call back home give me a name: Royal Park Hotel. Phew.

If not for him, I would still be wandering in the cold dark night in Tokyo Station. Thank you!