Friday, July 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Too many earthquakes
There was a pretty big earthquake in Tohoku ...again. That region has experienced too many bad earthquakes in the past couple of months. Fortunately, the intensity of the earthquake wasn't so bad in Setagaya-ku but this was one of the longest tremors I have felt since I've been in Japan.
Really short notice, but I may head to Yonago this weekend for a few days to have my brother experience the countryside of Japan. If we do go, one of the things I really want to do is go camping. I've actually never been camping before, so I'm not sure where this desire came from, but I hope it isn't very difficult to do this. The Sakaiminato summer festival will also be held this weekend. One of the big attractions there is their fireworks. It isn't as big as the firework events in Tokyo, but since it is the countryside, there won't be huge epic-like crowds. Last time I've been there, back in 2004, I remember feeling the boom of every firework explosion. It would be really cool to have my brother experience that. Since this idea is really last minute, I will need to start analyzing different aspects like budget and see if this potential trip will conflict with any plans I had going on here in Tokyo.
Lastly, in my theme of jumping between totally different topics, I find it strange that in most murder crimes that Fuji TV reports, they use the anime background music of "Death Note".
Really short notice, but I may head to Yonago this weekend for a few days to have my brother experience the countryside of Japan. If we do go, one of the things I really want to do is go camping. I've actually never been camping before, so I'm not sure where this desire came from, but I hope it isn't very difficult to do this. The Sakaiminato summer festival will also be held this weekend. One of the big attractions there is their fireworks. It isn't as big as the firework events in Tokyo, but since it is the countryside, there won't be huge epic-like crowds. Last time I've been there, back in 2004, I remember feeling the boom of every firework explosion. It would be really cool to have my brother experience that. Since this idea is really last minute, I will need to start analyzing different aspects like budget and see if this potential trip will conflict with any plans I had going on here in Tokyo.
Lastly, in my theme of jumping between totally different topics, I find it strange that in most murder crimes that Fuji TV reports, they use the anime background music of "Death Note".
Monday, July 21, 2008
"Yeah~"
Met up with Jim and Akiko yesterday in what may be the last time we can hang out before they move to the U.S. We hung out at the Ebisu area to have dinner before they stopped over at my place to chill and hangout one last time with my dog. It was really cool laughing at old times and catching up with them. I definitely will miss them.
In other news my neighbors are being a pain in the ass again. Ever since I moved to my apartment, my neighbors have always been unreasonably loud especially late at night either yelling at their dogs (when I say yelling, I'm talking about those types of yells a drunk yakuza would say to another before they brawl) or singing opera, usually the female parts. The worst thing they have been doing lately though was smoke on the balcony while my freshly washed clothes are drying and they end up smelling like crap after wards. A month ago, I've complained about my neighbors to the management and they gave them a stern warning that if another complaint were to come about them, the management company would ask for them to move out. It has been good until just a few days ago when they started going back into his old ways. I'm debating whether to pull the trigger and complain again and force my neighbors to move out. This may sound naive but given the recent random violence going on in the news, there is a small fear lingering inside me that if I disgruntle them they may retaliate in one form or another. Is it worth to take that chance?
In other news my neighbors are being a pain in the ass again. Ever since I moved to my apartment, my neighbors have always been unreasonably loud especially late at night either yelling at their dogs (when I say yelling, I'm talking about those types of yells a drunk yakuza would say to another before they brawl) or singing opera, usually the female parts. The worst thing they have been doing lately though was smoke on the balcony while my freshly washed clothes are drying and they end up smelling like crap after wards. A month ago, I've complained about my neighbors to the management and they gave them a stern warning that if another complaint were to come about them, the management company would ask for them to move out. It has been good until just a few days ago when they started going back into his old ways. I'm debating whether to pull the trigger and complain again and force my neighbors to move out. This may sound naive but given the recent random violence going on in the news, there is a small fear lingering inside me that if I disgruntle them they may retaliate in one form or another. Is it worth to take that chance?
Friday, July 18, 2008
Best of the Bestest
I am really exhausted from the Bennie K concert at Zepp Tokyo. It was a great concert and I was really satisfied in my very first J-pop concert in Japan.
This was not my first time at Zepp Tokyo. I went there to see Jay-Z almost 6 years ago. I forgot how small this place was. Luckily, Japanese people are a lot tamer than the people you would find in similar over-crowded concert venues in the states. Going inside Zepp Tokyo was like boarding a Southwest airplane. Every ticket has a specific number and when they call the ticket's number range, that is when you are allowed to enter the venue and try to find any open space available. Even though my ticket fell in the higher number range, my group and I managed to get a good spot in the middle about 10 meters away from the stage. Start time for the concert was around 6:30pm but Bennie K took the stage about 10 minutes later. They rocked the stage for about 2 hours and it was crazy from beginning to end. I was really impressed in the performance quality of Bennie K especially Yuki's live singing ability and the energy they brought throughout the whole concert. I'm happy to say that everyone I went with had a good time and that we are all bigger fans of Bennie K.
Afterwords we chilled in Odaiba for a while which included riding the brightly lit Ferris Wheel. I'm not so good in dealing with heights so I had sweaty palms throughout the ride.
The Ferris wheel itself is pretty spectacular at night, but it looks even cooler when it is reflected off on the buildings across from it. As you can see above, I failed to adequately take a picture of the coolness from my mobile phone's camera.
This was not my first time at Zepp Tokyo. I went there to see Jay-Z almost 6 years ago. I forgot how small this place was. Luckily, Japanese people are a lot tamer than the people you would find in similar over-crowded concert venues in the states. Going inside Zepp Tokyo was like boarding a Southwest airplane. Every ticket has a specific number and when they call the ticket's number range, that is when you are allowed to enter the venue and try to find any open space available. Even though my ticket fell in the higher number range, my group and I managed to get a good spot in the middle about 10 meters away from the stage. Start time for the concert was around 6:30pm but Bennie K took the stage about 10 minutes later. They rocked the stage for about 2 hours and it was crazy from beginning to end. I was really impressed in the performance quality of Bennie K especially Yuki's live singing ability and the energy they brought throughout the whole concert. I'm happy to say that everyone I went with had a good time and that we are all bigger fans of Bennie K.
Afterwords we chilled in Odaiba for a while which included riding the brightly lit Ferris Wheel. I'm not so good in dealing with heights so I had sweaty palms throughout the ride.
The Ferris wheel itself is pretty spectacular at night, but it looks even cooler when it is reflected off on the buildings across from it. As you can see above, I failed to adequately take a picture of the coolness from my mobile phone's camera.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
トレイン・トレイン
In the 5th most peaceful country in the world, I saw the first train altercation last night. While passing Osaki on the Yamanote line, I heard shouting and a loud thump right behind me. I immediately turned back and saw a standing young man grabbing an older man's neck who was sitting pressing his head against the window. The young man started repeating in Japanese "What do you mean it can't be helped?". Soon after, a couple of passengers interfered very politely and asked if everything was fine and tried to quietly help the two men resolve their issues. The young man was surprisingly polite to everyone else and even started smiling and laughing with them. When the other people decided to back off, the young man continued to yell at the old man and took the old man's newspaper and ripped it up in front of him. A couple of new people crowded with the young man and again politely started to resolve the situation peacefully. This time they continued to be with them until everyone including myself got off at Shinjuku station. On the way out, I heard one man yell at them "Lets get along!".
Being the nosy guy I am, I had to ask the details of the whole commotion and what started it, because my Japanese is the same level as a 7 year kid. Apparently, the young guy was standing in front of the old man in the crowded train. The old man either kicked or stepped on the young man's foot. The young man who looked like a cross between a skater and a punk wearing sandals was a bit agitated and asked the old man "Why do you keep stepping/kicking me?" and the old man rudely replied "Its a crowded train, that's how it goes" and continued to read his newspaper. Obviously it wasn't a very smart answer in this situation and aggravated an over emotional guy which ultimately led to the old man having a bruised neck and an unreadable newspaper.
On a positive note to this matter was that even though the cause was pretty ridiculous and over dramatic, it was very encouraging to see other people interfering and not let the situation get out of hand in a peaceful matter. The Japanese society is usually depicted around the world and even in their own culture as being passive, sometimes too passive where people do not want to interfere in one's business even if a helpless person is in need. I'm happy to say that times are changing.
Being the nosy guy I am, I had to ask the details of the whole commotion and what started it, because my Japanese is the same level as a 7 year kid. Apparently, the young guy was standing in front of the old man in the crowded train. The old man either kicked or stepped on the young man's foot. The young man who looked like a cross between a skater and a punk wearing sandals was a bit agitated and asked the old man "Why do you keep stepping/kicking me?" and the old man rudely replied "Its a crowded train, that's how it goes" and continued to read his newspaper. Obviously it wasn't a very smart answer in this situation and aggravated an over emotional guy which ultimately led to the old man having a bruised neck and an unreadable newspaper.
On a positive note to this matter was that even though the cause was pretty ridiculous and over dramatic, it was very encouraging to see other people interfering and not let the situation get out of hand in a peaceful matter. The Japanese society is usually depicted around the world and even in their own culture as being passive, sometimes too passive where people do not want to interfere in one's business even if a helpless person is in need. I'm happy to say that times are changing.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Let's Matsuri!
Let the Summer Festivals (夏祭り) begin!
The above pictures was a 2 day matsuri at Asakusa. In other news, I have finally decided not to get the iPhone. Though it may be the best 携帯 in the market right now, I don't think the approximate 100 USD per month in basic voice and unlimited data plan for the next 2 YEARS in addition to the quality of carrier is worth it. As an alternative of mimicking me getting an iPhone without losing one of my arms, I will wait a couple of months and try to upgrade my current handset later in the fall, only if there are desirable ones released by AU. The current summer line has not appealed to me at all. I also plan to replace my old school non picture/video iPod with a newer generation iPod Touch that should come out either September or October of this year. Hopefully it will inherit some of the new goodies that the 3G iPhone has now.
The above pictures was a 2 day matsuri at Asakusa. In other news, I have finally decided not to get the iPhone. Though it may be the best 携帯 in the market right now, I don't think the approximate 100 USD per month in basic voice and unlimited data plan for the next 2 YEARS in addition to the quality of carrier is worth it. As an alternative of mimicking me getting an iPhone without losing one of my arms, I will wait a couple of months and try to upgrade my current handset later in the fall, only if there are desirable ones released by AU. The current summer line has not appealed to me at all. I also plan to replace my old school non picture/video iPod with a newer generation iPod Touch that should come out either September or October of this year. Hopefully it will inherit some of the new goodies that the 3G iPhone has now.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
We be burnin'..... cash
It has been a really hot weekend. I tried to man up this year and see if I could resist using the AC until at least the third week or so of July, but this weekend was just too unbearable. The news said that the past weekend broke record high temperatures in Japan. The AC got a month's worth of utilization in the past 24 hours. I know I'm going to see a big hit in the wallet when the electric bill comes.
Speaking of the wallet, this month and next will not be kind to the bank of "moi". I have been spending money like I'm drinking water. Not all my colorful bills have been spent frivolously. I have recently bought some household items that I managed to do without in the past year like a microwave/oven. Before, I used the fish grill below the gas range to toast my bread but 8 out of 10 times it usually resulted in my bread catching on fire and me eating a soggy piece of burnt dough at the end. I have been wanting to get a Blu-ray HDD recorder, but with the way I've been spending money, it will definitely have to wait at least another month. Also there is the iPhone I've talked about in my last entry and now I'm debating whether it is worth denting my monthly budget further. The reason why I need to pay attention to my budget carefully this summer is because my little brother will be here soon to stay for the summer so I definitely anticipate my spending to increase from eating out, shopping and going to places like Disney Sea, Hakone, and Summer Sonic music festival. I hear that people usually get a summer bonus in their salary during this time. I doubt I will get one, but I really really hope that the salary fairy will make a visit and bless my bank account.
Speaking of the wallet, this month and next will not be kind to the bank of "moi". I have been spending money like I'm drinking water. Not all my colorful bills have been spent frivolously. I have recently bought some household items that I managed to do without in the past year like a microwave/oven. Before, I used the fish grill below the gas range to toast my bread but 8 out of 10 times it usually resulted in my bread catching on fire and me eating a soggy piece of burnt dough at the end. I have been wanting to get a Blu-ray HDD recorder, but with the way I've been spending money, it will definitely have to wait at least another month. Also there is the iPhone I've talked about in my last entry and now I'm debating whether it is worth denting my monthly budget further. The reason why I need to pay attention to my budget carefully this summer is because my little brother will be here soon to stay for the summer so I definitely anticipate my spending to increase from eating out, shopping and going to places like Disney Sea, Hakone, and Summer Sonic music festival. I hear that people usually get a summer bonus in their salary during this time. I doubt I will get one, but I really really hope that the salary fairy will make a visit and bless my bank account.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Pondering whether to get the iPhone
So next Friday, Softbank will sell the iPhone in Japan. I actually have been waiting for the damn thing to get here since it came out in the states. I currently have AU and am debating whether to make the switch to Softbank to get it. My mobile work phone is Softbank and I have to admit that it doesn't get nearly the same reception as my AU phone. I haven't seen any current and upcoming AU phones that even competes against the iPhone. Docomo has a couple of options like the Sharp touch screen which doesn't look so good and the outrageously priced LG Prada phone (approx 980 USD). I remember when I first came to Japan 6 years ago to visit, I was really impressed with my friends' mobile phones. The full color screen, multi color lights and built in camera really made my monochrome Nokia 6520, which was the "it" phone back then look like crap. Now that I'm living in Japan, the tables have turned and the phones here besides the 1 seg television and mobile Suica functions seem to be less advanced than their U.S. counterpart. Anyways, there is still a chance that the iPhone may come to Docomo which I would be more comfortable in switching to but waiting longer for that to happen, if it does ever happen is harder said than done... This concludes my geek related entry.
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