タッチパネルでデジタルサイネージな自販機

Palm Top Theater (2010)

Worlds Largest Handheld Yo-Yo v.2.0

My little cousin[S]

How To Make Fire Balls - video powered by Metacafe

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

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Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi

Farewell dinner for Hiroshi, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7582.JPG

白神 ramen

白神 ramen, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

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白神 ramen

白神 ramen, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7599.JPG

白神 ramen

白神 ramen, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_7599.JPG

白神 ramen

白神 ramen, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

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FOOD POISONING >"< (AGAIN)

Well I think I've never really had food poisoning before in my life until I came to Japan.

The first time (I think) is from a KARAOKE place.
So one night, we went to karaoke. I had some UDON there and sang till 5 or 6 in the morning
Later that day, I went to work as usual but bought coffee cuz I need to keep myself awake.
But man, I was feeling so awful by the end of the day. Throwing up, sweating, etc.
When I got home, I just laid in bed. The next morning I finally got better.

So yesterday, I made a sandwich when I got home. I think that's the cause of my 2nd food poisoning
After i was in bed for about 2 hrs? I woke up. Then I felt something is wrong.
I went to the bathroom and started throwing up. So I thought i was better at that point.
I drank some water and got right back in bed to rest.
But to my dismay, I threw up all the water that I've drank and kept on throwing up.
Sigh i think im better now. =,=

Mac ROCKS

Man, this is the reason that I love Apple!!

Fishing

Wicket Kid

Cool Videos

Screaming Frog

http://view.break.com/386631 - Watch more free videos


World's Smallest Car



Freaking Weird Jap Commercial - once again... japan.. But seriously WTF....



Pen Spinner

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

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10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

10 great iPhotos

10 great iPhotos, originally uploaded by porc-epic bleu.

IMG_6202.JPG

World's Tallest Ferris Wheel

Man i thought Japan is the only country that is obsessed with Ferris Wheels, BUT....... i guess not

Today, construction began on the Great Wheel of China, a $99 million Ferris wheel that will tower over Beijing at a stupendous 680 feet when construction is complete in 2009. This is not just any Ferris wheel, though.

You won't be sitting in swinging and swaying benches on this baby. Each one of its 48 cars is like a gondola, air-conditioned and holding 40 passengers, for a total of 1920 stomachs pressed against the top of their abdominal cavities as the big wheel keeps on turnin'. Nobody's talking about how long it'll take to load this beast. Too bad there was so much bickering over the design of the gigantic wheel, because originally the plan was to complete construction in time for next summer's Beijing Olympics

Delicious

Boy, doesn't this look frickilicious

really weird dream

well me n some my tw friends were in the building and then we went to the top floor and somehow there's a shop and they want the ice cream n one of my friend stole the ice cream cuz no one was there my other friend asked the security guard to come up and wana buy the ice cream n the security guard were being and ass and refused to sell it to him. So i got mad and start cursing well just arguing and he got mad and got the ppl in the buliding together and wanna kill me

IPOD

YEAH!! my new baby came

yup the iPod TOUCH!!! WHEE~~~~~

im loving it ..... not McDonald's but my new pod

Ah the long waited Nagoya

Well I went to Nagoya yesterday and ..........

yes i bought it.

sigh EXPENSIVE but... i like it

XBOX Commercial

Man, this just shows u why the XBOX isn't popular

World's Tallest Elevator

Man this is just too scary. >"<

This elevator is in China 中国Bailong（百龍）、湖南省(Whonan province) Zhangjiajie（張家界）The elevator is 300 meters tall. Man i wanna ride that elevator

Japan

what else can i say

陣內's funny videos

這兩個影片真的超好笑的
from 陣內 which is 藤原紀香's hubby

cool videos

check these out

http://view.break.com/365214 - Watch more free videos




http://view.break.com/365214 - Watch more free videos

Thursday 情緒轉變還蠻大的一天

Man Today is not really a good day for me >"<

In the morning, I didn't really realize that my train pass has expired. So the train conductor later ran after me and was really mad. He thought I was intentionally gonna cheat. GOSH!! i thought japanese people are POLITE!!! so im like okay im gonna go to the next station to buy it. I guess he didn't understand me. ARGH....~~!! Im sure they won't do that to an old japanese person.

However, then my day got a little better because I didnt have a lesson till 4pm. Also, I went out for lunch with my student hehe =) We had good sushi.

Then i had classes all the way till 9 >"< The bad thing is that I lost my key (#,#||) I dun really know where I lost it. I had to find it tomorrow somehow ~.~"

Shinjuku construction

Crazy Headache

Ya so I am having this really crazy headache >"<

WHY?? WHY?? WHY??? you may ask

well, needless to say, it is because of the

NEW IPOD!!

for those of you who guessed, I now announce you have enough intelligence to be my friend.  For those of you who couldnt guess the reason, um.....,  buy me the evisu jeans!! ^.^

Anyway, im really torn about which ipod to get >"<>

doshiougana~~!!

Crazy Icelander

This is a video of a guy who was denied entry into a club in Iceland.  Take a look of what he did after he was denied entry.

Icelandic Drunkenness from heavylift and Vimeo.

Special Apple Event on September 5th!!!

Whee!!~~~~~~  The new ipod is COMING!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sigh~~ my wallet >"<

Monday

So Monday, i went out exercising, biking to apita, then to SEKI!! then back to Minokamo.  It took about 40 minutes to bike to Seki, not as long as I thought it would be.  At night, I asked Masao to go with me to buy my piano at Apita.  We ate ramen at Apita afterwards.  So, now I am a happy camper with my newly bought piano whee~~!!  i was pretty beat that night, and slept like at 11 on Monday night O.O"  hehe

Sunday - CoCo ichiban

So Sunday night, we went to CoCo Ichiban's to try out their curry.  I tried the hottest curry that they had.  LEVEL 10!!!  It was really spicy when you first ate it.  However, after a few minutes, the spicyness kinda died, and it was not spicy at all anymore!!  I was pretty shocked ="=  It wasn't really spicy at all.  I was pretty disappointed.  But, when I first ate it, it was really really spicy.  I loved it  <[^,^]>

Parties

we had party on thursday for the teacher before michael, ken.  He's going back to Sydney.  I wasn't going to the party, but yumiko came to my apartment and dragged me to go to the party because they also planned a little something for me because of my bday.  They actually bought black hair japanese beef instead of cake and put candles on it.  The steak was rather thin, and it wasn't kobe, nor hida, nor maezawa?, nor matsuzaka.  sigh =,=||  The party was all right, well i guess i came too late.

Saturday, we had a small together to eat all the food that's left from the party on Thursday.  We cooked kimchi pork with bean sprout, karaage (fried chicken), somen, salad, natto omelettes, and this weird combination of natto, cabbage, and bunch of other crap together >"<  The food was good, and I think ppl had a good time

Volkswagen Bus

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/groovy-man/pool-table-modded-volkswagen-bus-is-pointless-absolutely-brilliant-291662.php

Japan crazy building

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/japan/japan-wants-man+made-mt-fuji-building-to-be-tallest-in-the-world-291810.php

SUNDAY

sunday, we had the welcome party for my co-worker.  and actually my student bought a cake for me, and i had a pretty good time.

Minokamo Fireworks

天下沒有不散的宴席阿  All things have to come to an end.

Today was the last fireworks for me this year >"<

It was the Minokamo fireworks.  It was a pretty good fireworks, but i think because it's such an open space, we couldn't really hear the fireworks.  Afterwards, we went to check out Shin's place. Pictures will come later? maybe

諏訪湖花火

So we went to Suwa lake to see probably was the biggest fireworks in Japan.  It has about 42000? fireworks and lasts for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

K, so Masao told me that he was coming to my apartment at 530 to pick me up, and we would go to school to meet up with Miyuki and headed for Ena.  As some of you know, I wake up really early >"<  But, 530 is a little too early for me, so I set my alarm clock at 430 and get things ready.  However, soon after my struggle to try to get up, I got a call from Masao.  He told me he was already outside my apartment!!! O.o"  So apparently, he had mistakenly told me about the time, and we should have met at 430 >"<  I had to get into a frenzy mode, super drive to get everything ready and drove to Ena.  From Ena, Suwa lake was actually not all that far.

Boy was it hot!! we pretty much were waiting from 10am till 7pm.  The fireworks as a whole was really good.  BUT.... BUT.... BUT........  the gaps between the fireworks were kinda long, and they had some weird music.  ALSO......... the worst thing about the fireworks was that there was no FINALE!!! no finale whatsoever.  It was the most horrible, terrible that I've ever seen.

After the fireworks, Ehara san and Ari kun went to get the car, and we were planning to go to karaoke because if we had left, we would be ending up stuck on the road anyway.  However, it took them pretty much 2 hours to go back to the car and drove back.  o.O  YES, 2 hours!!  So, we just went home afterwards.  When I came back to my apartment, the whole area smelled like shit.  Man it was the worst smell I've smelt.  And it was SO MUGGY.  SO HOT and SO HUMID.

Anyway, suwa lake was pretty good, and I hope I can go again despite it was pretty tiring >"<

Monday 8.13.07

So Guess waht I did on Monday?! Well, yes, hopefully you've guessed it. I went to yet another fireworks festival in 関, the city that I teach in. I went with マナミ、江原さん、ゆみこ、and my student's family. The Seki fireworks wasn't a really big fireworks festival, but it was still very nice. It was by the river, so the view was gorgeous. You get to be really close to the fireworks, and experience it. So far my rating for fireworks in Japan is : 岐阜長良川　＞　関　＞　八百津　＞　川辺
# note: not that 川辺(kawabe) is bad or anything, but it's just that the fence was blocking the view, and also there were too many things going on at once.

So 2 more left to go 諏訪湖 and 美濃加茂


After 関花火, we (me ehara, yumiko) went to 郡上八幡 to see the famous お踊り, where people dance pretty much all night (8pm to 4am?). When we got to 郡上八幡, it was so cool there =) I guess it is because it is kinda to the north and maybe high up in the mountain? Anyway, and the good thing about gujo is that almost everyone there wears 浴衣. I was disappointed when I went to the fireworks, not a lot of people wear 浴衣. Well some girls wear it, and boy arent they cute. hehe =p

So the お踊り was very interesting. However, since I have ADD, or at least I think I do, I got bored after about 5 minutes. I can't believe that people actually dance for that long even though they change the songs throughout the night. Also, it is a little hot since it's a little crowded =( However, if you haven't been there, it would be a great experience!!

Saturday

So today was another fireworks event. Today was the Kawabe fireworks festivals. The Kawabe fireworks finale was terrific, but i didn't really like it that much. Some of the fireworks were blocked by the fence >"<>"< However, it was still fun.

Friday

Today, we (Tazuko, Manami) went to ohsho, a really big Chinese potsticker chainstore that started in Osaka.  We had ramen, potstickers, and fried rice.  It was good food. >"<  I shouldn't keep doing this, but the food is so tempting >"<  SIGH~

During the day, my student's mom came and discussed about the upcoming fireworks festival in Seki.  Also, she gave me some yogurt and prune extract for me.  Im really greatful

Thursday

So Thursday I went out for lunch with Tazuko.  She took me to Akikatsu, a famous miso katsu shop next to Mago in Seki.  The miso katsu was SO.... delicious.  I was so full afterwards.  Then we went to a little cafe.  The cafe will literally put u in Europe.  You wouldn't really think the cafe is in Japan.  After I walked into the cafe, I felt the time was slowed down immediately, and it was really relaxing.  They also had a little rose garden, but it was too hot to sit outside.  I think it was 35 or 36 degrees on Thursday.  GOD, it was hot >"<  I was actually too full to drink anything.  But, Tazuko still told me to drink the rest of her coffee.  I warned her that I would not be able to sleep at night if I drank it.  And guess what happened, I was so awake till 230AM!!  sigh.  caffeine~~   On the way back, Tazuko went to buy the okonomiyaki for my co-worker and me.  The okonomiyaki was really good!!  And my student went to Universal Studios and gave me a Snoopy cellphone strap.

Monday 8/6/2007

As you know, this is a sad day in history.  62 years ago, America dropped the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima on this very same day.  Well, what ever happened had already happened.

Okay, anyway, so today, Yumi asked me if I have any plans, and I told her that I would like to go to the new AEON shopping mall in Kagamigahara.  So we went there.  It is really huge.  But, they didn't really have a lot of stores.  The parking lot is completely packed due to summer vacation.  After the mall, we went bk to Noru's house because i needed to see my love, PINE.  Gosh he's so cute.  I think I need a dog.  Then, later, we went to Yumi's house to eat dinner.  Yumi's sister actually cooked spaghetti for us.  It was good food.  Yum~~Yum~~  =k="

Cookies that can enlarge your boobs

This is just so Japan.  They have a candy/cookie/snack that you can eat to increase your breast size.  How crazy is that!!

Building that got demolished from the ground up

It's pretty cool how they did this. Right in London!  And they are going to build the new building below in place.

Dream Cellphone

Man take a look at this bad boy.  3 screens!!!

Sunday Aug 6th - Yaotsu

So I wen to the Yaotsu fireworks festival on Sunday.  Yaotsu is the "town" 町(jo) that Naru lives.  The fireworks festival is pretty small tho.  It has only 500 fireworks >"<  But it was still very good.  When we first got there, we saw a bunch of people dancing.  I think it was a competition.  Then we went to the yatai屋台 to get foods.  The corn dogs are called "American dog" in Japan.  Cotton candy is called  ワタカシ(wool snack) They even sell helium.  It's pretty interesting.  The fireworks is actually not as small as I had thought.  Although in the middle of the fireworks festival, I was a little bit bored because they kept on repeating the same pattern.  However, some of the display was fabulous.  The finale was absolutely gorgeous.  Man, I love fireworks!!!!

Saturday Aug 4th

Today, a bunch of us went to the Gifu fireworks festival.  It was better than the one last Saturday.  It was really great.  The 5 of us had so much fun. (Tazuko, Manami, Emi, Yumi)  It is said that the Gifu fireworks is the best one in Japan.  After the fireworks, we went to Tazuko's friend's house to use the restroom, and she actually offered some refreshments for us.  She seemed like such a nice lady.  Actually she IS a very nice lady.  Since it is just very crowded, we decided to take a stroll in gifu park.  They had some "illumination" set up in the park.  It was kind of like X'mas lights, but it's more childish.  They had many different topics, and seemed a little too unprofessional.  I think it's done by maybe students or someone.  Anyway, so after the traffic has died down a bit, we headed back to Seki.  We went to Custo family restaurant, NOT JOYFUU anymore.  After dinner, tazuko n manami went bk home, and emi, yumi, and i actually went to naru's house.  We chatted for a bit and slept in the garage >"<  I duno why.  It was very interesting to see Naru's house and all those chickens.  Naru's dog, PINE, was so cute.  I am in love with him.

Tallest Building in Latin America

This Building will soon to be the tallest building in Latin America.  It will be built right in the center of Mexico City.  Pretty weird looking, eh?

Tallest Building

The tallest building in the world is no longer the Taipei 101.  The Burj Dubai has officially reached higher than Taipei 101.  It's crazy the buildings they plan to build in Dubai.  These middle eastern wickedly loaded princes just have nothing better to do than to compete who can build the highest building.

Japanese Pizza

Here's a picture of a new pizza from Japan.  One slice of this pizza contains 646 calories.  Shocking right?  Sigh, it's crazy Japanese people can eat this kind of stuff and not get fat.  Argh I hate them

Crazy Guy

Man, there's this really weird guy who got the blue screen of death tattooed on his arm..... I have no idea what that man's thinking... = =

Monday

So Monday, I went to Kani because I needed to do the health checkup.  Not really to my surprise, that I found out I pretty much gained 10 pounds since I got here.  i just have been eating WAY too much. T.T  I really needed to start dieting and exercising. sigh >"<  So anyway, when we first got to the hospital they asked me to fill out my name and stuff.  But supposedly, I should put my last name on the form.  The form wanted me to put the katakana on there, but after they found out that I am a gaijin, they wanted me to write my name in English.

Anyway, after that was done, they took my body temperature. Then, we were pretty much just waiting outside in the lobby area.  Later, they called us to a smaller waiting room, but i thought it was so stupid.  I just couldn't understand Japanese people sometimes.  We talked to the doctor so he could ask me if I had any chronic diseases, and he checked my heart beat and stuff.  Then we checked blood pressure.  it was weird that I had to lay down for them to check my blood pressure. sigh~~  Then they took my blood sample, X-ray, checked eyesight, hearing, and ECG!!  I was not really supposed to have a blood test and ECG, tho.  But I duno what will happen.

After we finished the checkup, we went back to the school.  Later, we decided to have a dinner party .  We cooked okonomiyaki, bean sprouts, mushrooms, garlic fried rice.  We also had souvenirs from Masao's Nara trip.  Tazuko also brought some sweets for us.  There was so much food yet AGAIN.  Sigh, it is going to be hard for me to lose my weight >"<  The party was good tho however, as expected, as always.

Sunday

Today I went to Yumi's house, and we cooked lunch.  Today was also RJ's bday party, but I couldn't go.  We had so many parties at Seki school this month, so I didn't really have enough money to go.

So Naru picked me up from my apt, and we went to Apita to buy food.  It was so hot on Sunday T.T and the real summer is going to be much hotter.  Sigh, I seriously will die.  So we went to Yumi's house and cooked lunch.  Then we sat around feeling a little bored, well, at least me.  But then we went with Yumi because she was going to vote.  The voting place was a small area inside a elementary school?  They had 8 people working there!!! OMG.  sigh, that's the japanese way i guess.  After Yumi finished voting, we went playing in the playground.  It's been so long since I last played in any kind of playground.  Then I was telling them to try the boomerang at the playground, but they didn't think it's big enough.

So, we went to Yumi's old elementary school to throw boomerang.  We tried a few times, but we couldn't do it.  I think it is because there was no wind.  So, we finally went back to Yumi's house and cooked dinner.  When we got back to the house, Yumi's dad was talking to me and offered me shochu.  Then later, I poured some for him, but it was 100% completely shochu.  He couldn't really drink it, so I drank some.  i mixed it with water and honey again to mask the bitter taste of the shochu.  I can't really handle bitter stuff at all >"<  After i finished the shochu, I could feel the alcohol starting to work its magic!! hahaha.  I felt I was starting to get hot already, my body getting red and stuff.  And this time, my hands, feet, arm, face were all getting really BRIGHT red.  It was kinda funny.  i knew after the alcohol evaporates from my body, I'd be fine.  I think I drank a little bit too much cuz I could feel my veins popping and my heart pumping really hard.  So I laid down on the tatami mats and rested a bit, and slept for a little bit.

I had a great time, and it was fun.  I really wanted to know what would happen when I get drunk.  i think I would just collapse and fall asleep when I get drunk tho.  I guess that is a good thing?? .... MAYBE~~~  I think we will find out someday

Saturday 7.28

Today, both tazuko and manami was absent from the class, so we went to the Gifu hanabi(me and manami)  Tazuko reserved a spot on a small boat on the river, and they could eat dinner and watch the fireworks at the same time.  SO NICE!!  I gotta do that next year!!  It was one of the biggest fireworks festival across Japan.  And there were about 300,000 people there.  Crazy! right?  Anyway, by the time we got there, the fireworks has already started.  We finally found a safe parking spot at 8:35, but the fireworks ends at 845!!!  Well, at least we got to see the last part.  The fireworks is amazing!!  But, after the fireworks, it was so crowded EVERYWHERE!!  We were stuck on the bridge for an hour.  So we were out for like 4 hours on the car and saw about 10 minutes of fireworks >"<  Sigh, well, it will definitely be better next year!!  After we got back, we met up with naru, yumi, and yu's sister.  We went to JOYFUU again!! hahaha.  It's like the place to go these days.  We hung out until and finally got back home at 3AM O,O||  Manami looked like she was about to die >"<  Hopefully, she got back home aite.

Tuesday

It turned out, I forgot my yukata in Naru's car >"<  well, actually, I "LEFT" my yukata.  hehe =p  So Naru was so kind and brought my yukata.  We chatted a bit and I was so hungry.  We decided to go to Joyfuu, the family restaurant.  Before we headed for Joyfuu, Naru was trying to unlock the lock placed next door since it was empty now.  He is a total picklock.  He actually successfully found the combination that could unlock the lock!!  It was pretty wicked. O.o''  So we went to Joyfuu, and i ordered the hottest curry they offered for summer special.  However, not really to my surprise, the curry was not spicy AT ALL!!!!!  I was so disappointed. sigh.  And we actually got back home at 3AM!! lol  It was funny that both yumi and naru overslept on wednesday!! haha

Monday 7.23

Today, we had another party!!  haha, there are just so many parties. ^v^  I went to Mago and bought a set of Yukata.  It was really cheap.  Less than 5000 yen!!  But the quality is not all that great since it's only 5000.  Then we went to have our farewell party for Rina.  She had to study for college so she couldn't really study at Gxxx anymore. >"<  We had our party at takahashi 高橋商店.  It was also an Okinawa izakaya.  It was much smaller in size compare to Nanpuu.  In my opinion, the food was not as good as in Nanpuu >"<  Maybe because it was cheaper, but still.  I wasn't really impressed by the food.  In addition, everyone was just talking to themselves at the party. IN JAPANESE!!!  sigh. it was too difficult for me to understand.  I needed to study harder!! sigh  So the Monday party was soso for me.  However, we went bowling after the party.  Though, we played for two games, it was pretty fun.  

Saturday - 7.21

On Saturday, we had a farewell party for my co-worker, Ryota.  He is the sub teacher for the Japanese teachers in Chubu area.  We finally got a new teacher for my school, so Ryota will go back to head office and maybe head off to another school.  Anyway, so we had a party at Nanpuu 南風; they serve Okinawa沖繩 cuisine.  I think it's not really authentic and is tailored more for people not from Okinawa.  However, the food was still VERY good!!   We had so much food, but we pretty much finished all the food!!  I helped a lot, of course >"<  We stayed at the restaurant/izakaya until they closed (1am), then we headed to Karaoke!! WHEE~~~  We sang until 5AM because the place closes at 5 >"<   It was definitely not enough T.T  I finally got back home at 630ish?  I think this was the best party by far

oops

it's happening.  i kinda stopped blogging.  I knew this day would come.  Anyway, let me kinda update what has happened lately.

We had a farewell party for Seiji on Thursday? the 19th.  Because Seiji was about to leave due to his part-time job.  He was going to go to Sendai, which is maybe about 8 hours away from where we live.  However, later we found out that he was going to Mie prefecture, which is the prefecture next to the prefecture that we live in. O.o"  Anyway, so we ate shabu shabu and talked until..... 2? You know, the usual.

New PSP

Sony has announced that the new PSP is coming out in Septer.  Septer 20th to be exact!  The price tag will be just under the 20,000 yen mark.

pictures can be found:

Cairns!!

Well i guess i should write about my Cairns trip.

so saturday we had a party for yumiko because it was her bday.  We were in engiya(izakaya) till i think 1am?  Then we went to yotsuba and stayed till 4 something.  By the time I got home, it's 5am.  The sky was already getting bright.  I shouldn't have gone to yotsuba since I didn't really drink or eat anything , but I still had to pay.  Also, when I decided to go to yotsuba, I was not tired at all.  However, just when we got to yotsuba, I was tired >"<  Anyway, after I got back home, I had to quickly to pack all my things and take a quick shower because I needed to catch the 5:06am train from minooota.  I was so tired on the train that I overslept.  Thank god, I woke up in time and was able to get to nagoya in time.  The reason that I wanted to get to Nagoya that early is because I wanted to ride the newest N700 Shinkansen.  This time, since I thought the company is paying, i might as well take the green car.  Man was the green car sweet.  The new N700 car was just amazing.   It was like riding in business class.  The bad thing is that later I found out I had to pay the ticket out of my own pocket >"<  But, it's worth it.  

Well, so I arrived in Tokyo like at 830AM.  I was tired and didnt know where to go.  So, I hopped on the yamanote line, the line that circles around tokyo, and kinda slept on the train. lol :p.  Then Masao suggested to go to Akiba.  I couldn't decide if I should go to Akiba or Harajuku.  I wondered if I go to Harajuku, I probably go bankrupt haha.  So, I went to Akiba and checked out prices for computers, getting a estimate of how much I would need to spend to build a computer or buy one.

After Akiba, I went back to Tokyo station and checked out Maruzen, the bookstore, for Japanese study books.  I was just killing my time before it was time to go to Narita airport.  I was really exhausted and overslept on the Narita express again!! hahaha.  So It was a good thing that I took the earlier train to the airport.  So i had to catch the train from terminal one back to terminal two.

The flight was really nice, and we got the emergency exit seats.  It was very nice!!  The flight was 8 hours? but we only got a dinner >"<  We dont have those personal screens either for playing games and stuff.

Well after we got to Cairns airport, I found out that I lost my passport on the airplane.  I told the trainer who was in charge of us that.  And she thought I was kidding.  HAHA  It was pretty funny.  So the airport staff had to look for my passport and luckily it was there.  After we got out of the airport, we went to the GEOS wellness center.  The house was nice.  The weather was beautiful in Australia.  Although it's winter, Cairns is actually in the tropical zone.  The highs are around 24 everyday, but at night, it's quite chilly.  After we got settled down a bit, we made some breakfast.  We had heaps of food around the house, but it was almost gone by the time we left.  The JETs all went back to sleep and all of us NETs just hung around and chat.  I was tired and was zoning out during the conversations because I didn't really sleep on the flight.

We were really bored cuz we pretty much had 5 hours of free time before we go visit the Cairns school.  By the time we get to the school, I was like a zombie.  It was so hard for me to keep awake listening to the manager talking >"<  Then we had some fun talking to the students, looking around the school.  I was really impressed by the school.  And i really think my students would greatly benefit from it if they study there.

At night, we had a barbecue party back at the house.  I thought we would cook the meat ourselves, but to my surprise, we actually had caterers who cooked for us.  The food was amazing except the steak>"<  It wasn't steak at all.  It was more like some pieces of meat.  And the guy cooked them so well >"<  It wasn't medium at all.  Later during the party, this woman, Gynette, was just absolutely hilarious.  She was really drunk and was the best fun ever.

The next day, Tuesday, we went to Green Island.  I tried scuba diving there.  Boy, was that wonderful.  I saw a sea turtle during our dive.  It was amazing.  After the island, we got back to Cairns and went to the night market and shopped around.  On the streets, we met two Korean girls and ate their pizzas.  Later, when we were walking on the street, Scott, another GEOS teacher, and I met the girls again.  We went to a mexican restaurant and had a good time.  The crazy thing was that after we went back to the night market to shop around, the girls actually came back looking for us.  However, the other teachers didn't really tell them to stick around >"<  Well, they were much older than me, and were not really my type anyway.  But still, Argh...

The last day, we had to leave for school at 8AM for inspection.  But, that's usually for the managers.  In addition, since we got a really detailed tour of the school, we didn't really have to go back to the school.  So, we pretty much had a hour to ourselves.

Our flight was delayed for about an hour and a half, but we were only a half an hour late when we got back to Narita.  The food for the returning flight was much better.  We had hot chocolate and also ice cream between the meals!!  Oh, when I was passing through customs, the Japanese officer only asked me "is that all ur luggage? and where did u go?"  The security was so loose.

After we got out of customs, we had to take the narita express to shinagawa.  The hotel that GEOS booked for us was really nice.  It was the Shinagawa Prince Hotel.  It was a lot nicer than the one I had to stay in Nagoya.  It was on the 33rd floor, and the view was just spectacular.  We could even see the Tokyo tower.

After we got settled down a bit, we headed out for dinner.  We found this ramen shop that had a special going on that night.  The ramen cost only ----- are you ready for this?    The ramen only cost 200 yen.  Yes!! 200 yen.  So that was pretty much the end of the night.  I was planning to go to shinjuku , but I didn't really have the energy to party all night.  The next morning I had to take the 6 o'clock Shinkansen from Shinagawa back to Nagoya, then back to minooota.  I finally got back to my apartment at 920ish.  I went back to my apartment, left my things, and take the 950 train to Seki to get things ready for my classes.

Overall, the trip was good thought it's a bit tiring.  But, the thing is IT'S ALL FREE!! hehe.  well, i had to pay for scuba diving and souvenirs.

台風4号

Typhoon No. 4 (Mina? I think)

Everyone was making such a big deal about this typhoon.  It was a pretty destructive storm , but it did not really do any real damage to our area.  Man, i'm so disappointed.  i was so ready to see some flood or really strong winds.  sigh~  But, nothing happened!!  It was sunny all day today.  Grrr...

With such a nice weather like today, it just made me wanna go for a ride >"<  Driving a convertible, a nice sports car.  Sigh i miss driving >"<

Friday Dinner

Yes, it's been a long time since our last party, so we decided to just have a random party today.

Nah, I was just joking. The reason why we had a party was because なるwent to 飛騨[HIDA]area last Sunday for his soccer game, and he bought some chicken there. He says the chicken is very good, and he always buys the chicken whenever he goes to 飛騨. It wasnt a really special party, but we still had a good time. I also brought all the お土産[souvenirs] that I bought from 神戸[KOBE].

The cheesecake from 神戸 was really good. There were only 6 cheesecakes, but there were 7 of us there. I was teasing 弓子 that she can't eat the cheesecake because she didn't get me my Evisu jeans. Later, I asked her if she wanted the cheesecake as her birthday present, and she said no. Oh well, that's too bad =,= So, I devoured the cheesecake and savored the taste.

[side note]: pictures will come later (as always) hehe :-)

Kaitei Sushi for Dinner

So today after class, my student's grandmother asked if I had time to have dinner with them.  Of course, I said yes!!  Food is always NICE!!  So they took me to a Kaitei sushi restaurant to eat sushi. YUM YUM~~  So First I had hotate (Scallop)  It's really fresh and tasted very very good!!I also had this "Ebi Mayo" slightly torched shrimp with mayonnaise.  Man, it was delicious.  I couldn't find anything wrong with it.  The shrimp was not dry like regular shrimp sushis.  I think the mayo added some moisture to the sushi.
I think this is some oil from some fish.  Or it could be the fish skin?  Anyway, it tasted very oily, but it's all good.  I love those creamy, oily texture in my mouth.  This sushi was very GOOD!
This is ume with jellyfish and shiso.  The texture is really interesting.  The combination of the three ingredients have taught my taste-buds a completely new taste.  It was a little bit too salty, but that could be because I dipped it in soy sauce before I ate it. 
This is a small squid sushi.  Very nice.  But kind of usual.
Ahh... How can you eat sushi without Otoro.  One of my fav!!  I actually ate uni too, but after I got the uni, I just devoured it right there.  There was no time for pictures.  I realized before it was all too late T.T
This is marinated nasu (eggplant), which is one of Japanese people's favorite.  It was rather good, but kind of plain.  Not very exciting sushi.
The girls are really funny and ate like eggs and corn. sigh~ kids.  But I also had um miso clam soup.  Gosh, I love seafood.  i wish I was a little hungrier at the time we ate.  I knew I shouldn't have eaten that much before my lesson >"<

iPhone Guide

I know I shouldn't really be watching this..... BUT.... sigh I just can't resist the temptation!! sigh~~

So apple released a 20 min (i think) quick guide to the iPhone although apple's products generally don't need any guide because it just works so seamlessly. duh!! it's Apple

Anyway, after watching the video has made me..... okay I know I shouldn't complete that sentence. I just want to say it is a GREAT thing that I am not in the US now. Even though I know the 2nd gen would be a lot better, but I'd be one of the sucker dropping $499 USD for that "Jesus" phone.

Okay I should stop talking and just let you go ahead and watch the videos if you haven't already... So here are the videos







Oh and one more thing (snickering), this is the new commercial about the 12th application on iPhone. OMG, what could it be? that's right, it's youtube!! Wow, you can watch youtube videos on iPhone!!!!!! How amazing!!

Naruto Whirlpool + Kobe Trip

After the training, I went to see the Naruto whirlpool. I thought the whirlpool would be one giant whirlpool, but instead it was a bunch of small whirlpools that were formed from time to time. It was kinda disappointing. After the whirlpool, I took the bus to Kobe. After I arrived at Kobe, I ate ramen for dinner. Then, I was heading to the hostel. The hostel was really good AND CHEAP!! I met this guy from guma ken. It was nice talking to him.

The next day was my vacation in Kobe. I thought Kobe would a fairly big city, but it wasn't at all. You pretty much can see everything in one day. I liked the fact that you can pretty much walk to anywhere in the city. First, I took the train from the hostel to Sannomiya, which is kinda like the downtown area with all the department stores. After I arrived in Sannomiya, I went to the big shopping street something "center street" After that, I went to motomachi street, which is like a continuation of that center street starting from sannomiya. The motomachi area has lots of izakayas because of the horse racing place. Then, I went south to Harbour land to the mosaic park and saw the kobe tower, marine museum. Then, I went back up to Motomachi area to see the Chinatown, which is in Nankinmachi. After China town, I went around kyukkichi? This is where the first settlers stayed. It had some really old western style buildings and is loaded with high end shops. I walked around the area and ended back to Sannomiya area. Then, I headed north to the Kitano area. That area has lots of old foreign style houses because this is where the foreigners settled. After that, I went back to the harbor land area to see the spectacular nightview of kobe. I think the Kobe night view was one of the best 3 night views in Japan. After that, I went to see the shopping street under the bridge between motomachi and sannomiya. I also saw the ikuta area, I believe, which is loaded with Izakayas. I bet that area has at least 1000 different clubs, restaurants, fast food places, izakayas. After a full day of walking around Kobe, I was exhausted and was ready to head back to the hostel.

At the hostel, I talked to this cool guy, ryan, from Australia. I wish i had talked to him the night before, then we could have gone out partying. >"<>"<>"< I think I will build my own PC if my ibook dies sigh~~ I can't believe i will switch back to PC. After, I went back to find the girls. We shopped around for the last 30 mins before the department store closes. Hiromi found a pair of Prada sunglasses that fit her REALLY REALLY well, and she pretty much just bought it on the spot and dropped 30,000 yen. I was surprised that she didn't really have to think that long before deciding buying them.

For dinner, we went to the Irish bar. The salad there was REALLY good, but the scrap steak and the fish n chips were really so so. I finally got home at about 12 and was absolutely exhausted by that time. And that concluded my naruto/kobe trip!!

Naruto Training

So last thursday and Friday, I went to Naruto for training. I took the Hida express train from Minooota to Nagoya, then the Nozomi from Nagoya to Shin Kobe. After I arrived at Shin Kobe, I took a bus from there to Naruto. The whole commute took 5 hours. The Nozomi was great. It waas very fast and had much bigger leg room than the slowest Kodama Shinkansen. When I took the regular train from Minoota to Osaka, it took a little more than 3 hours, but the Nozomi only took one hour to get to Shinkobe. We got to the Naruto wellness center about 1:40pm. It was kinda like a mansion. It was really great. It had a pool, a piano, a tennis court, and big screen TVs. After a short lunch break, we started our training.

The training was pretty relaxing and ended at SEVEN. hehe :) For dinner, we had temaki sushi. It was kinda okay, not amazing food. I heard the group before us had yakiniku >"<

Nagoya

We went to Nagoya again today, me and Yumiko. Well, actually, I should have said, Yumiko and I went to Nagoya today? I had to picked up my key chain, and Yumiko had to exchange shoes at Birkenstock and buy a new pair of shoes from strippen, if I remember the name correctly. The strippen or trippen shoes were very cool. I thought she has made a good decision. After that, we entered the dangerous section of town, Osu. I didn't get close to Evisu today because I know I just don't have that much money to buy the jeans although I really want it. The only thing I bought today were blank CD-R's. They were pretty cheap, but I think it is still cheaper back in the States. I also played piano at the big second hand shop in Osu, and I realized that how bad I have become. q(T.T)p

Allright, moving on the important part. Yes, that's right --- DINNER! Well, we went to this buffet style restaurant at LACHIC because I kind of sensed Yumiko wanted to eat there. They serve lots of vegetable dishes, and some of the vegetables are organic! They are "SUPPOSED" to be really healthy, but the way it is prepared made it to be not healthy at all. I was not impressed at all, and I think it was the worst dinner I've ever had in Japan. I wish I could have thrown up all the food that I've eaten and get a refund. It was that horrible. Well, I shouldn't say it's all that horrible, but comparing the price and the food being served....... It was just very very ordinary [>"<] sigh~~! Okay, I have really decided. I need to become really healthy from now and save money because I have a shopping list now. Piano Computer : (iMac/Macbook pro/Windows Desktop) Evisu Jeans Raid Tower Camera is that all? well, I am sure that I will come up with more very very soon. Meanwhile, I really need to save money. I guess I won't eat at all from now on =,=||  So in Osu, I saw this clothing store, and immediately thought of one of my students.  If Chris you are reading, then You should definitely know who I am talking about.   She must have gotten all of her clothes from this place.  It looked 1000% completely identical to what she would wear.

Also, I saw this all suited up minivan, which is really really unusual in America since no one would suit up a minivan.  However, in Japan, people do!!  Some of them have really crazy minivans too, all painted purple or yellow with wings and stuff attached to them.

Oldboy

I just finished watching the Korean movie Oldboy at Mike's apartment. It's 3:32AM right now, and boy, am I tired today. The movie was quite interesting. It was totally messed up though. The movie overall is very interesting, but some parts of the movie could put me to sleep. If you love movies that are not really understood by the general public/movies that win awards, then this would be a great movie for you. I was surprised I kind of liked it. Oh I guessed also because the bad guy is so cool. He just seems so evil!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy