I went yachting for a day with my uncles' high school classmates south of Yokohama, in Misaki.
Now I'm all red and hurting - yeoow, sunburn!! It was really fun though. There was this extremely humorous and cheerful pilot (he flies the Pokemon plane for JAL!) that kept saying weird things in English and French to me, which made me and everyone else laugh like crazy. For example, he would add "..in the bed" after nearly every sentence, like "Co-pilot, in da beddo". Other quotes include "I'm Michael Jackson - do you know Michael Jackson?", "Do you trust me?", and "Sil vous plait.", which were all overused but funny nonetheless.
We sailed quite a distance in the morning, about a third of the way to Ooshima. While I was at the helm, 2 or 3 yachts passed us - yeah, I suck =P. At lunchtime, we came back near the harbour, and we had 3 yachts all anchored side-by-side and started to barbeque. I swam in the ocean a bit too, but accidentally swallowed a bit of sea water. Boy, was it salty!
Hmm.. tommorow is the first day of work. 頑張ります！ (ganbarimasu!) I hope this redness fades a bit by tommorow morning..
2005-07-31
2005-07-27
Hino 日野
I moved in yesterday under heavy rain, but I ended up going back with my relatives since I was missing many necessary things (including food!). So, I came back today at 2:00 pm, bought some stuff along the way, and started unpacking everything. Here are some pictures (some were taken vertically so you'll have to exercise your neck a bit =P) of Hino and my apartment:
Apartment - Outside:
(L) This is the apartment complex. (R) The parking spaces are small but well-paved.
Little space is wasted here -- look at the corn planted just behind the parking spaces.
(L) Bicycle parking area. (R) Apartment notice board, containing garbage pick-up dates.
(L) The name of the apartment complex is Leo Palace 21 (at least that's what I think), but apparently Libra (written in Katakana below the lion) is the actual name. (R) Stairs. Yup, really.
(L and R) My unit, 204.
Okay, let's go inside!!
(I photographed the inside first and then the outside, so that's why the file names are like that)
Apartment - Inside:
(L) The entrance. Shoes off! The pair of slippers there is a souvenir from my uncle, when he recently was in India for a business trip. (C) Closet is to the left, in the middle is a ladder to the sleeping quarters, and to the right is the door which opens into the hallway. (R) Mirror and closet.
(L) Sleeping quarters - nice and cozy. (C and R) Bird's-eye view.
(L) Microwave and fridge. (C) Scotty's place. 30 amps should be enough, right? The breakers are divided into 10A, 15A, 20A, 30A, 40A, 50A and 60A in Japan, all colour coded. The colours are red, pink, yellow, green, grey, orange, and purple respectively. So I con green, a decent challenge. We need more power Scotty! (R) The washing machine, which is right under the breakers.
(L) A toilet. To the right and up a step, is the bathroom. (C) The bathroom. To the behind lies the toilet. (R) A sink and an self-cleaning range.
Well, wondering how the view is like from the window? Here's a semi-panoramic view:
(L, C, and R) View from window. Go unnecessary comments! =P
To be honest, I can't think of a good name for the next section -- 'Miscellaneous' would be too boring and 'Things on desk' seems a little lame -- so I'll call it.. umm.. stuffy stuffies!
Stuffy stuffies:
(L) Things I bought on the moving day (yesterday). In Hino, special garbage bags must be used. The orange is for non-burnable trash and the green is for burnable trash. The key to the apartment is the metal card in the middle of the picture. To open the door, you insert the card and twist it 90 degrees to the left (refer to previous pictures of the front door).
(C) The pink book is the apartment manual (yes, there's a manual). The other booklets contain other instructions, warnings, and flyers.
(R) Other things I bought yesterday.
(L) Things I received from the Hino City Office after registering. Free garbage bags (alright!), an Engrish manual on garbage disposal, a Hino City guidebook, and a colour calendar containing the garbage pick-up dates.
(C) Groceries I bought on my way back from registering as an alien at the city office. Those peaches are delicious!! That boxed meal is my first meal at Hino =). Hmm, what else. That orange egg-shaped thing is actually a refill, not a real air freshener -- doh!
(R) Emergency escape rope ladder.
Hino City, Tokyo Capital （東京都日野市）:
These pictures were taken on the way from my apartment to the Hino City Office, in chronological order this time:
(L) Railway tracks. These are fairly close to my apartment it often gets a bit noisy. (C) Blueberries! (R) うぁー！ひろい！(uwaa! hiroi!) Guess the meaning on the comment page! Let's see who gets the closest answer! =D
(L and R) The closest station to my apartment, Toyoda.
(L) Fairly large park. To the left is the Hino City Office. (R) The Hino City Office.
Coming out of the city office, I took these pictures of the park.
Okay, that's it for now! It took 2 hours and 30 minutes for this post, whew!
Apartment - Outside:
(L) This is the apartment complex. (R) The parking spaces are small but well-paved.
Little space is wasted here -- look at the corn planted just behind the parking spaces.
(L) Bicycle parking area. (R) Apartment notice board, containing garbage pick-up dates.
(L) The name of the apartment complex is Leo Palace 21 (at least that's what I think), but apparently Libra (written in Katakana below the lion) is the actual name. (R) Stairs. Yup, really.
(L and R) My unit, 204.
Okay, let's go inside!!
(I photographed the inside first and then the outside, so that's why the file names are like that)
Apartment - Inside:
(L) The entrance. Shoes off! The pair of slippers there is a souvenir from my uncle, when he recently was in India for a business trip. (C) Closet is to the left, in the middle is a ladder to the sleeping quarters, and to the right is the door which opens into the hallway. (R) Mirror and closet.
(L) Sleeping quarters - nice and cozy. (C and R) Bird's-eye view.
(L) Microwave and fridge. (C) Scotty's place. 30 amps should be enough, right? The breakers are divided into 10A, 15A, 20A, 30A, 40A, 50A and 60A in Japan, all colour coded. The colours are red, pink, yellow, green, grey, orange, and purple respectively. So I con green, a decent challenge. We need more power Scotty! (R) The washing machine, which is right under the breakers.
(L) A toilet. To the right and up a step, is the bathroom. (C) The bathroom. To the behind lies the toilet. (R) A sink and an self-cleaning range.
Well, wondering how the view is like from the window? Here's a semi-panoramic view:
(L, C, and R) View from window. Go unnecessary comments! =P
To be honest, I can't think of a good name for the next section -- 'Miscellaneous' would be too boring and 'Things on desk' seems a little lame -- so I'll call it.. umm.. stuffy stuffies!
Stuffy stuffies:
(L) Things I bought on the moving day (yesterday). In Hino, special garbage bags must be used. The orange is for non-burnable trash and the green is for burnable trash. The key to the apartment is the metal card in the middle of the picture. To open the door, you insert the card and twist it 90 degrees to the left (refer to previous pictures of the front door).
(C) The pink book is the apartment manual (yes, there's a manual). The other booklets contain other instructions, warnings, and flyers.
(R) Other things I bought yesterday.
(L) Things I received from the Hino City Office after registering. Free garbage bags (alright!), an Engrish manual on garbage disposal, a Hino City guidebook, and a colour calendar containing the garbage pick-up dates.
(C) Groceries I bought on my way back from registering as an alien at the city office. Those peaches are delicious!! That boxed meal is my first meal at Hino =). Hmm, what else. That orange egg-shaped thing is actually a refill, not a real air freshener -- doh!
(R) Emergency escape rope ladder.
Hino City, Tokyo Capital （東京都日野市）:
These pictures were taken on the way from my apartment to the Hino City Office, in chronological order this time:
(L) Railway tracks. These are fairly close to my apartment it often gets a bit noisy. (C) Blueberries! (R) うぁー！ひろい！(uwaa! hiroi!) Guess the meaning on the comment page! Let's see who gets the closest answer! =D
(L and R) The closest station to my apartment, Toyoda.
(L) Fairly large park. To the left is the Hino City Office. (R) The Hino City Office.
Coming out of the city office, I took these pictures of the park.
Okay, that's it for now! It took 2 hours and 30 minutes for this post, whew!
2005-07-23
Earthquake brings pictures
A notable earthquake occured at 4:35 pm today! I was walking in the neighbourhood with my cousin when it happened. He was reading Azumanga manga, while I occasionally read some parts he showed to me.
My first sensation of the quake was of a rather peculiar sensation coming from my feet. It's hard to put into words, but it was as if I was walking on a gradually rotating high-pressure air mattress. The next sensation was a rattling noise mainly coming from garage doors. At that point, I asked my cousin, "Earthquake?" "Nope, it's the wind."
About 2 seconds passed since I first felt the quake.
After that, street poles and buildings started to sway slightly. My cousin though, was too engrossed in his manga so he never looked up. While the earthquake was still going on, we walked passed by an elderly man who was staring at the buildings around him and at us.
To me, the quake lasted about 6 seconds. It might be longer though. My aunt and uncle were in the house at the time and so the earthquake seemed to be more intense to them.
My cousin was supposed to go to Shanghai today, but due to a 3 hour or so shutdown of most train lines and the highway, we couldn't get to Narita airport in time. So, now he's staying at an airport hotel with my aunt and will leave today (the technical 'today' instead of the colloquial 'today' meaning 'the period of time starting when I awoke and ending when I sleep') at 3:00 pm.
The earthquake gave me something to post about and so now I'll get my lazy ass up and post some pictures! They weren't well taken but they show what it's like here. Okay, here goes!
June, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and the household noisemaker. His eyes aren't supposed to be shiny like that in the picture. He looks and acts like he's really stupid, which makes him very adorable.
A picture of my cousin sleeping, taken early in the morning while I was still in jet-lag mode =)
The kitchen and dining room.
Bath/shower temperature control. It's great not having to adjust the temperature manually, although it's somewhat a skill by now =P
A painting by my cousin, Yoshikazu. He apparently didn't hand it in, so he got 2 (out of 5) in visual arts on his recent report card.
Yoshikazu diligently doing homework while I ninja him - Muwahahaha!
Getting ready to go to the airport, after the quake.
I'll post some pictures of my 2003 stay in Japan soon. Also, I'll take pictures of where I'll really be staying once I move in on the 26th, though I don't know when I can post them by (gotta get internet there). sleeeeepy...
My first sensation of the quake was of a rather peculiar sensation coming from my feet. It's hard to put into words, but it was as if I was walking on a gradually rotating high-pressure air mattress. The next sensation was a rattling noise mainly coming from garage doors. At that point, I asked my cousin, "Earthquake?" "Nope, it's the wind."
About 2 seconds passed since I first felt the quake.
After that, street poles and buildings started to sway slightly. My cousin though, was too engrossed in his manga so he never looked up. While the earthquake was still going on, we walked passed by an elderly man who was staring at the buildings around him and at us.
To me, the quake lasted about 6 seconds. It might be longer though. My aunt and uncle were in the house at the time and so the earthquake seemed to be more intense to them.
My cousin was supposed to go to Shanghai today, but due to a 3 hour or so shutdown of most train lines and the highway, we couldn't get to Narita airport in time. So, now he's staying at an airport hotel with my aunt and will leave today (the technical 'today' instead of the colloquial 'today' meaning 'the period of time starting when I awoke and ending when I sleep') at 3:00 pm.
The earthquake gave me something to post about and so now I'll get my lazy ass up and post some pictures! They weren't well taken but they show what it's like here. Okay, here goes!
June, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and the household noisemaker. His eyes aren't supposed to be shiny like that in the picture. He looks and acts like he's really stupid, which makes him very adorable.
A picture of my cousin sleeping, taken early in the morning while I was still in jet-lag mode =)
The kitchen and dining room.
Bath/shower temperature control. It's great not having to adjust the temperature manually, although it's somewhat a skill by now =P
A painting by my cousin, Yoshikazu. He apparently didn't hand it in, so he got 2 (out of 5) in visual arts on his recent report card.
Yoshikazu diligently doing homework while I ninja him - Muwahahaha!
Getting ready to go to the airport, after the quake.
I'll post some pictures of my 2003 stay in Japan soon. Also, I'll take pictures of where I'll really be staying once I move in on the 26th, though I don't know when I can post them by (gotta get internet there).
2005-07-20
First week in Japan
I haven't got around to blogging lately, sorry! Internet access has been a problem, but I have a temporary solution: leeching off nearby wireless networks! Wheee. So, 6 days until I move into my real apartment; I know the address now. It's 3-18-4 Higashi Hirayama, Hino-shi, Tokyo-to, Japan.
In 3 weeks or so, I'll receive a landing card and will get a bank account. That means in 3 weeks I can also get a cell phone and an internet subscription!
So, what's been up these days? Hmm..
I've been helping my cousin prepare for some kind of English recital competition they have annually between 30 private schools in Tokyo. It's a 7-line prose piece about the Mona Lisa. That and his English homework, which takes him like 3 hours to do. I help him with math too, although his school doesn't seem to give much math homework.
We also watched Azumanga together and he seems to like it :) I also watch a lot of TV, especially the volleyball competition last week.
It's pretty hot here, about 31 degrees Celsius, but the sun isn't as strong as it is in Canada.
Lately, I've been checking up on the American Solar Challenge.
That's about it. I'll put some photos up soon.
In 3 weeks or so, I'll receive a landing card and will get a bank account. That means in 3 weeks I can also get a cell phone and an internet subscription!
So, what's been up these days? Hmm..
I've been helping my cousin prepare for some kind of English recital competition they have annually between 30 private schools in Tokyo. It's a 7-line prose piece about the Mona Lisa. That and his English homework, which takes him like 3 hours to do. I help him with math too, although his school doesn't seem to give much math homework.
We also watched Azumanga together and he seems to like it :) I also watch a lot of TV, especially the volleyball competition last week.
It's pretty hot here, about 31 degrees Celsius, but the sun isn't as strong as it is in Canada.
Lately, I've been checking up on the American Solar Challenge.
That's about it. I'll put some photos up soon.
2005-07-04
My first take on Windows x64
Windows XP Professional x64 went RTM (i.e. went gold, in Microsoft jargon) on April 25th 2005. For those with Windows XP Professional and a 64-bit capable system, you can order your x64 "upgrade" online. The reason for the quotes is because you must do a fresh install (it's evident if you think about it: 32 -> 64) rather than just upgrade on top of your existing install. Personally, I do fresh installs even when the option of upgrading is available.
I installed x64 yesterday. From installation to use, it feels identical to the regular 32-bit edition save the name. One might think this is fairly obvious, as the user interfaces and everything else should remain identical since it's still Windows XP, just that it's 64-bit. This is not true however; the x64 is built upon Windows Server 2003 code, not Windows XP.
Installation was fairly painless, but x64 did not install my graphics card (GeForce 440 Go) and audio chip (ADI 1981B). After searching around the 'net and settling for some beta release drivers, I finally got both these essential system to work. My laptop's fan seems to be going off a lot more frequently and some of the indicator lights act strangely. At least the video and audio drivers are stable..
Now, on a positive note, the performance thus far has been amazing. I used to run Guild Wars (GW) in 1280x800 on the lowest settings, and even then the framerate was less than adequate. However, now I run GW in 1280x800 on the highest settings and it's liquid smooth!
I was quite shocked: I expected a decrease in performance since GW does not support 64-bit goodness and instead is a native 32-bit application - meaning it has to be emulated. x64's emulator is named WoW64 no less =P. So far all my 32-bit applications have been running better than before, so this the first emulator I've seen that is more efficient at running applications than their native environment :) Keep in mind that I'm keeping the hardware capabilities constant.
Anti-virus software was a tad difficult to find for the x64 platform, but I eventually found one that had this funny registration message:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The free registration of avast! 4 Home Edition is performed by a robot which sends the message containing the license key to the email address you entered in the registration form.
Awesome, go robots! :P
Also, as I was looking for a new place to find torrents after the demise of suprnova.org, I came upon this site called "The Pirate Bay". The best part I've found about this site is their "Legal" section =P. Take a look when the mood is light.
I installed x64 yesterday. From installation to use, it feels identical to the regular 32-bit edition save the name. One might think this is fairly obvious, as the user interfaces and everything else should remain identical since it's still Windows XP, just that it's 64-bit. This is not true however; the x64 is built upon Windows Server 2003 code, not Windows XP.
Installation was fairly painless, but x64 did not install my graphics card (GeForce 440 Go) and audio chip (ADI 1981B). After searching around the 'net and settling for some beta release drivers, I finally got both these essential system to work. My laptop's fan seems to be going off a lot more frequently and some of the indicator lights act strangely. At least the video and audio drivers are stable..
Now, on a positive note, the performance thus far has been amazing. I used to run Guild Wars (GW) in 1280x800 on the lowest settings, and even then the framerate was less than adequate. However, now I run GW in 1280x800 on the highest settings and it's liquid smooth!
I was quite shocked: I expected a decrease in performance since GW does not support 64-bit goodness and instead is a native 32-bit application - meaning it has to be emulated. x64's emulator is named WoW64 no less =P. So far all my 32-bit applications have been running better than before, so this the first emulator I've seen that is more efficient at running applications than their native environment :) Keep in mind that I'm keeping the hardware capabilities constant.
Anti-virus software was a tad difficult to find for the x64 platform, but I eventually found one that had this funny registration message:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The free registration of avast! 4 Home Edition is performed by a robot which sends the message containing the license key to the email address you entered in the registration form.
Awesome, go robots! :P
Also, as I was looking for a new place to find torrents after the demise of suprnova.org, I came upon this site called "The Pirate Bay". The best part I've found about this site is their "Legal" section =P. Take a look when the mood is light.
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