One Reason Why The Nintendo DS kicks arse

1. 漢字ã??ã?®ã?¾ã?¾ DS楽引辞典.

2. No, I don’t know what that actually says either, but that’s the name of a Japanese-English dictionary for the DS. Having dictionaries on game consoles aren’t exactly super exciting, but when you walk down the street and you can’t read anything it’s a very handy thing to have. And while you can get similar programs on the PSP, this has something no dictionary can match — you can use the touchscreen to write the kanji character and have the program look up the word. It’s brilliant! The biggest problem you face after memorising Kana is that you still can’t read the Kanji, and you can’t even look it up because you don’t know how the character should be read (with electronic dictionaries you have to type in how the word sounds, then choose the kanji character you are looking for). The dictionary will tell you how to read the word, and even if it doesn’t have the English definition (not all words in the dictionary have the English equivalent) you can use a better electronic dictionary (or the internet) to look up the definition.

3. My life here has just got that little bit easier. Rock.

The. Awesomest. Japanese. Band. Ever.

1. Check the synchronised hair twirling! Scratch that, just check the hair!

When Money Goes Out of Fashion

1. I’ve been failing my new years resolutions miserably.

2. Losing my wallet meant money went missing, weekends away meant more money spent, and last weekend saw the double strike of a new guitar (a beautiful and not so expensive solid top acoustic with a nice thin neck and body that fits me perfectly) and a day of snowboarding. On top of which were two birthday parties. It was one of those expensive weekends.

3. First, the guitar. Ahhh, I had not realised how much I missed playing until I decided to buy it. I’ve never owned a decent steel string acoustic, so I’m rather excited about my acquisition. When it warms up a bit I’ll be heading down to the river with my friend, who plays the harmonica, to bust out some tunes, and hopefully pick up girls. We’re gonna call ourselves “The Only Guys Here Who Sing in English”.

(more…)

So many reasons to love Japan… here’s one

“A certified chef, she appears to savor each bite she takes, even when she’s already taken a couple hundred of them. At a women-only contest in Okinawa last year, Sone was seen reapplying her makeup after finishing first, even as the clock was still ticking.”

1. Read more about her here.

January

1. Someone once told me what happens at the beginning of the year is a precursor to how it will end. Good January? Great December. Bad January? Uh-oh December. If that be the case, December ’07 is going to suck.

2. Well, that’s not totally fair. By and large January wasn’t so bad, if you discount losing my wallet (which had all my cards and 26,000 yen in it), getting my bike towed away by the cops, having to work on Australia Day (knowing full well all my friends back home were getting drunk) and coming down with a nasty fever laden flu (I’m currently suffering from said flu). And the various bouts of intestinal troubles, probably a left over from Indonesia. But, discount those and I had a pretty good January, filled with fun and frivolity. Really.

(more…)

Back from Holiday

1. It’s tough to be back in chilly chilly Japan, after a two week jaunt through the tropics… *brrrr*, it be cold.

2. The trip back was long, and mostly pretty boring. Airports have ceased to be anything more than a place to go to hand over your life for safe keeping with a bunch of people you’ve never met, and never likely will meet. Maybe my next holiday will be cars, trains and boats only — not that it’s necessarily safer, but at least there would be something to see when you look out.

3. I’m now busy doing all those things I should’ve done before I left, but forgot, and to sort through the luggage and photos and all the post trip stuff. Interesting material to come!

December

1. December already! Time goes so quickly — this time last year I was celebrating getting this job, as well as planning an elaborate NYE party. Which was kick-ass, might I add. Wish I was back in Sydney for this year’s NYE, but then I think it might’ve been too expensive to top last year’s effort anyway.

(more…)

Alcohol and Amnesia

1. I swear to God I’ve been busy and this month just flew by, but I’ll be damned if I could remember what I’ve been spending my time on. I should keep a diary not to tell me what’s coming up, but what I’ve done in the last week. Maybe I fell and hit my head and now I have amnesia but don’t know it. Ironic.

(more…)

I’ve been published!

1. Woooo! They like put my name on it and everything! This is an article I wrote about climbing Mt Fuji, based on what I wrote here on this blog. But different. Check it out!

Remembering one’s name, and future calamities

1. The strangest thing happened to me last week — I inexplicably remembered how to write my Chinese name. Out of the blue, all 50 something strokes of it came back to me. I can’t remember the last time I managed to write my full name in Chinese, must’ve been years. Now I’m practising like crazy, determined not to let it get away from me again.

2. I also have a secondary motivation to relearn my native language — I have recently met a very impressive Japanese woman who is not only bilingual, but she has a smattering of Cantonese as well. By comparison I would say I can speak a “sprinkling” of Cantonese. I just can’t stand people who are good with languages; especially when they are also fun to hang around with. *sigh*

3. The weather has really started to turn cold now, regularly dropping to low single digits at night. It has been raining a bit lately, and with the wind it’s getting very miserable out. I’ve had plenty of Brits and Canadians make fun of my inability to deal with cold weather (The bastards, I never made fun of them when it was hot…), but even they now concede that it is cold. I’ve had conflicting reports of how much snow to expect during January and February, but that doesn’t bother me so much as the fact that it snows at all. I’m kinda excited about living in a city that snows — since it’s been about 15 years since I’d seen snow — but even the thought wears off after a few minutes. Coming back from Indonesia into a white Hiroshima is going to be hell.

4. Speaking of which, I have finally paid for and received my tickets — rock! I’m am looking forward to this trip, dicing with death and all that. Really, it’s not that crazy to go climbing erupting volcanoes and all that, right? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?

5. Uh-oh. Jinxed myself good now.