The two big themes of this week are: Kafka and the 2025 World Expo. Both have been prompted much thought.
Kafka is a technology I’ve used indirectly a lot over the years. A deep dive this week helped me understand it better, and so I’ve been reimagining how some big systems might work if built on Kafka with Event Sourcing, which has been very exciting.
A big dinner during the week turns out to be a big miss, which is a good thing because it reminds me just how good the service and food is in most places. Important not to take anything for granted!
Friday night karaoke is pretty good. We start at dinner and end up in a booth where I discover Pendulum is on the docket and that it is possible to do Karaoke to Drum ‘n Bass.
My subsequent adventure to find hard techno starts on a high note: I meet interesting people and have eclectic conversations. But one interaction brings me vividly back to a night in Germany, which raises the question: Is this still fun?
Over the week I also go on another mission: While I use my kettle, fridge and oven nearly every day - something about buying the full outfit of kitchen equipment (eg pots and pans) felt a bit final. But I now have the complete set.
Marking a long weekend I head up to Osaka for the 2025 World Expo for a few days. This is the final few weeks before it closes and after a brutal summer the weather is basically perfect.
The Expo involves a lot of queuing - to get in, to get to pavilions and even to leave. So my strategy is to spend as little time queuing as possible.
Despite the queues there’s an electric energy in the air and an aura of optimism which is refreshing given the news cycle.
Two pavilions I absolutely wanted to see were the UK and Bulgaria. Both meet my expectations in a good way - The Bulgarian pavilion talks about the Cyrillic alphabet, John Atanasoff and then yoghurt before pivoting into microbes as a metaphor for unity - and while walking the UK pavilion I’m made homesick by seeing the clear design-by-committee best captured by W1A. So obviously I buy a water bottle in the gift shop.
I also see the Indian, Italian, Czech and Nordic pavilions as well as a lot of pop-ups. Some serve food, so obviously I get some Kulfi. The Czech pavilion is probably my overall favourite - it’s very tastefully done.
The Grand Ring is impressive to look at and to walk, as are all of the spot events and fireworks which end with drones displaying a massive QR code. The midnight rainbow is loud and spectacular - I see it twice!
