I’ve always been awed by what Google Earth can do. Playing with it nowadays, brings about emotional stress… it’s making me terribly homesick! Especially if I look at the image below:
Archive for August, 2007
Yukatas and Paper Lanterns
August 30th, 2007
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Near Seishin Chuo train station:
Women and children donning their yukatas is the sight I love most here in Japan. Plus, seeing them dancing beneath the paper lanterns … what a refreshing sight! These are some of the “positive” indicators that I am really here in the Land of the Rising Sun. (I consider the unreadable signs and incomprehensible conversations as the “negative” ones).
I really would love to see people in the Philippines wearing the Baro’t Saya. Not just the politicians, politician’s wives and the celebrities… but ordinary people! How nice it would be to see almost everyone (not just the performers) wearing traditional dresses during fiestas and other special occasions. Unfortunately, I think these days the Baro’t Saya just represents a lady’s high social standing… do you think it’s high time we change this misconception?
There’s curry… and more curry!
August 29th, 2007
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What did I have for dinner? Pork curry! I also had curry for breakfast and lunch… then curry for the next 6 meals!
You see, I really don’t like cooking and curry is a bit easier to prepare, especially with the abundance of curry mix here. I usually prepare large quantities so that I wouldn’t have to cook for the next few days. I don’t have problems with eating the same dish consecutively but after I consume everything, I MUST not have the same food for at least a couple of weeks. (sumo pud biya kaayo…) Still have a food keeper full of curry here… want some?
Lunar Eclipse? Where?
August 28th, 2007
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Taken from Wikipedia:
We were supposed to witness this rare event but the clouds covered the skies and did not go away until around 10:00PM!
Indeed we saw the moon so round and so huge… but the lunar eclipse was already over. So, I have no choice but to wait for pictures and videos from those lucky enough to have a glimpse.
Men vs. Women
August 27th, 2007
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I saw this interesting article from Kerygma Magazine (May 2006 Issue):
A Closer Look at the Differences between Men and Women:
- Grapefruit scent will make middle aged women appear six years younger than men. The perception is not reciprocal and the grapefruit scent on men has no effect on women’s perception.
- Women blink twice as many times as men do.
- Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair.
- In adults, the average brain weight in men is about 11-12% more than the average brain weight in women.
- Tests show that women generally can recall lists of words or paragraphs of text better than men. On the other hand, men usually perform better on tests that require the ability to mentally rotate an image in order to solve a problem.
- Men produce twice as much saliva as women.
Better than Starbucks?
August 26th, 2007
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There are lots of cafes and restaurants near our apartment. There’s Starbucks and Yebisu Cafe which I usually pass by on my way home. Yebisu? Actually, it’s the only Yebisu Cafe I’ve ever seen but as I’ve expected, it’s a very good place to hang out… probably better than Starbucks. ^-^
The Yebisu cafe…
inside, there’s an aquarium of jellyfishes … cool, eh?
The music’s also good… at that time, they played Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust and other 1980′s rock. Pretty obvious that I’m an 80′s kid
However, they have nothing that beats Starbucks’ Java Chip Frappucino.
Done with the real HP7!
August 25th, 2007
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Yatta! I’ve just finished reading the real HP7 book early this evening! And I give it 5/5 stars! The best HP series book ever and I hope they would make the best HP movie from this!
I know I couldn’t make a good spoiler on this so I recommend Grace’s and I’ll just continue with recounting the different points of the fake one. ^-^
In the fake one…
- the Dursleys actually got a little involved in the Wizarding world
- Ginny played a major part in finding the horcruxes
- Percy died
- Grimauld place was their hideout until they found almost all of the horcruxes
- Narcisa and Draco Malfoy sought the protection of the Order of the Phoenix and both tried to teach Harry occlumency
- I think the final encounter between Voldemort and Harry happened at the Ministry of Magic
- The golden snitch served a different but more important purpose
I admit I was such a big fool for believing some parts of it but I like the fake one’s version of how they found and destroyed 2 of the horcruxes. ^-^
Still, I love every event in the real version… my most favorite part is the final battle. I would definitely buy the complete hard-bound Harry Potter series… soon… soon!
Always keep the door locked!
August 23rd, 2007
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It may appear safe here but I always make sure that the door is locked. And if everyone’s already inside, I always check if the door is chained. I got even more paranoid because of an incident which happened almost a year ago. A guy entered our apartment using a copy of our key! We had the agent replace the lock that same day.
Now, I have to make sure that the windows are locked, too because of the news report that a newspaper delivery man entered a woman’s apartment through the window and molested her. Am I being too paranoid? Well, it’s good to be cautious always.
What I failed to do
August 22nd, 2007
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The 9-day summer vacation is finally over and I am back here in the office fighting off the urge to fall asleep. Now, what have I accomplished during the 9-day break? Apparently, none of those career-beneficial things and zero personal growth attempts ^-^. So, I’ll just list the things I should have done but did not do.
- Study Nihongo! (as usual)
- Finish the other blog and a website
- Train station hopping. It’s always freakishly hot and the train station is about 10-15 minutes by bike.
- Work on something a friend asked me to do.
- Clean up my PC’s hard disk
- Bike beyond Yodogawa
Posting these here seems to be pointless but this serves as my sticky note.
Finally, the real HP7 e-book!
August 22nd, 2007
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Months before the official release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a friend gave me a copy of the supposed book. I was 100% doubtful of its authenticity but I still gave it a go. As I read through it, I was really bothered by how the book focused more on the intimate relationships between Ron & Hermione and Harry & Ginny. Still, I patiently read the book until I finished it.
Then came the official release of the HP7. I visited a bookstore in Osaka and flipped through the pages of the HP7. Right from the first few lines, I confirmed that the e-book I read was 100% fake. Well, that’s the price I paid for not waiting for and buying the real one.
Days ago, I was given a copy of HP7… arigatou, Ideru-san! It’s the real one, alright… finally! But it’s very funny because as I read through, I could not help but remember the story of the fake one. I even unconsciously expect those events to happen next! I definitely need a lot of memory-rework!
To those who doubt their e-book copy, watch out for these things before you do more damage to your HP memories:
- What happened to the Dursleys
Fake: The Dursleys did not get protection from the Order of the Phoenix. Sorry, but I forgot how the Dursleys and Harry parted… what a relief! And it turned out that Dudley’s a powerful wizard, too and he started to discover it when Dumbledore died! Though this might be true in the real one… have to find out real quick. ^-^ - How was Harry taken to safety
Fake: It was not that “complicated”. I think he just went straight to Sirius Black’s house alone. - What did Harry, Ron, and Hermione got from Dumbledore
Fake: I forgot what Ron and Hermione got, but Dumbledore gave Harry the pensieve, among other things. And, it was Mr. Weasley who handed those to them.
That’s all for now as I am still in the first few chapters.
Still doing these …
August 21st, 2007
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There are a lot of things I have been doing back at home that I still do here in Japan but for different reasons…
- At home, I would chain my bike to something stationary, or else I wouldn’t see my bike again. In here, I chain my bike to something stationary for fear that the city government will take it for illegal parking
- I always made sure that I don’t leave my bag open and guard it with my life or else I would walk my way home. In here, I make sure that I keep my bag closed for fear that others would have a glimpse of the chaos inside. I just dump everything inside my bag.
- At times, I had to walk because of traffic jam. In here, if I don’t have my bike, I just walk because there’s no jeepney and the taxi fare is so expensive!
- At home, I don’t just leave place my things in an extra chair at a restaurant or somebody else would claim it. In here, I don’t leave my things in an empty chair so that others could use it.
- At times, especially when in a hurry, I just leave the counter without waiting my change of 0.25 centavo. In here, I have to wait for my change even if it is 1 yen or else the cashier would call your attention… it’s embarrassing!
Shoutbox no more!
August 20th, 2007
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Weeks ago, I said my sayonara to GMail and Yahoo! Mail.
After over a week of summer vacation, I tried accessing my blog in the office… and the shout box was replaced with a disturbing display that it was blocked! I’m afraid that soon they’ll also block blogspot or even wordpress so I have to at limit access to these sites. After all, when I was a trainee at the company #1, I wasn’t this internet-access-spoiled. ^-^
So, from now on, I would be accessing more of wikipedia and less blog sites. Then I would be doing a lot more trips to the toilet, do some stretching, and thus, avoid falling asleep in my desk.
