My kitchen sink currently has two tap water temperatures: warm water and hot water.
(1+)
It is just mind-boggling how many Japanese have come away convinced that I must be a US citizen, on account of my shirt having a tiny US flag shoulder patch (right above where it proclaims in large gold stitch letters that I am a “Boy Scout of America”).
On the other hand, this lack in the whole irony concept, puts some of the clothing commonly spotted through the streets of Japan in a radically new, slightly scary, perspective…
Softbank iPhone connection issue with iOS 4
July 22nd, 2010 | Filed under Blogging for Google, KeitaiAfter spending 30 minutes figuring out what needed fixing on a friend’s freshly updated (and no longer working) Softbank iPhone, I figured I would commit the instructions to this blog, for all the hapless gaijin out there, trying to figure out why their iPhone suddenly stopped working.
This post is purely intended for a Google audience, so please skip if you are a regular reader with none of the aforementioned iPhone issues.
I don’t usually embed YouTube videos, but a friend pointed me to this talk that features some of my absolute favourite things in life: travels stories, evolutionary biology, Douglas Adams and lemurs!!!
Ninety minutes of the funniest, wittiest and most insightful rant you will ever hear on Parrots the Universe and Everything:
Dear local Kyoto-fu LDP candidate for the upcoming upper-house election:
True: I cannot cast a vote in this election and sway your chances either direction.
But let me assure you that, if you keep insisting on circling my block multiple times, every morning between 8 and 8:30, inane election slogans blaring from your van’s speakers at top volume, I will be more than happy to contribute to your historical legacy by setting post at the closest grassy knoll with whatever long-range weapon I can get my hands on.
Thanks.
Kyoto Weekend: Rain or Shine
July 5th, 2010 | Filed under Japan, Life of a Starving Genius, Pictures
Back from Hawaii
June 30th, 2010 | Filed under Friends, Islands, Life of a Starving Genius, Pictures
Shortly after my arrival yesterday, Fred&Co mentioned they were off skydiving today. Having enthusiastically accepted an offer to join, I found myself this morning at 7am, mildly jetlagged and ever-so-slightly hangover, riding a mini-van to a small airfield 1 hour away from Honolulu and subsequently jumping off a moving plane, 10,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean.
Among other observations, in no particular order:
- WOOOOOOOOOT. This was absolutely awesome. Perhaps not to the point of instant addiction, like I have seen a few friends get into, but definitely to the point of doing it again next time I get a chance.
- As a cousin of Natalie pointed out: if you are gonna pop your skydiving cherry somewhere, Hawaii is definitely one of the best place to do so; in addition to the great (and warm) weather, the view going down only adds to the awesomeness of the free fall… Cloudy mountains on one side, ocean on the other.
- There were 4 of us jumping. I went third and, having seen Anne’s departure, assumed ours would be similar: a nice jump off the ledge, followed immediately by the regular downward-facing, arched-back position… My (otherwise rather laconic) instructor must have mistaken my lack of comments during preparation for jadedness, because he decided to go a little more special, with no notice or forewarning: if jumping off a plane is bad enough as it is, doing so with a backflip, followed by half a dozen flips and summersaults in every possible orientation of space, is enough to test the most hardened digestive system (mine definitely wasn’t at its best, but luckily held on long enough).
- The whole time waiting at the skydiving place for our plane ride, the music playing was, I kid you not, a compilation of James Bond theme songs. I badly wanted to ask if a Union Jack parachute, with landing on skis and AK-47, was an option.
- Did I mention: WOOOOT…?
Leaving for Honolulu in a couple minutes…
Japanese cell won’t be on, but email will be checked occasionally (I hear they have Internet there, but don’t tell my advisor).
Back on Tuesday. Enjoy tsuyu, suckers!
