w00kie's ramblings

Category: japan

  • iPhone on Softbank

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    w00kie
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    やった！ 「iPhone」について 2008年6月4日 – ソフトバンクモバイル株式会社 この度、ソフトバンクモバイル株式会社は、今年中に日本国内において「iPhone」を発売することにつきまして、アップル社と契約を締結したことを発表いたします。 SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple® to bring the iPhone™ to Japan later this year. Why am I so happy? Because my corporate phone is a Softbank, so I should legally be able to change my crappy Sharp phone whose battery cannot hold…

  • Contact Juggling

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    w00kie
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    Found this video on Digg, looks like Yoyogi Park. This guy is a million times more impressive than all those stupid jugglers and beanbag fanatics you find in such parks. Yes, there’s only one crowd I despise more than beanbaggers, it’s the drum players. That’s probably the main reason why I never hang out at…

  • Airport Aerobic

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    Taken from the Korean Air lounge at Narita Airport on my way to Thailand earlier this month.

  • Let’s leave 20 teeth at age 80!

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    More cool Dental Health info from my Japanese health insurance society. Coming back from Golden Week vacation, I find the following letter on my desk at work: Information for Dental Checkup and Treatment: Announcing the “Let’s leave 20 teeth at age 80” campaign Aren’t your decayed teeth or pyorrhea getting worse while you are unaware…

  • Welcome to my crib!

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    I’m not sure if they have Cribs on MTV Japan, but this guy would have a spot on the show for sure. From left to right: a Maserati Quattroporte, a Lamborghini Gallardo and an unknown Ferrari… More pics here and here.

  • Hanami 2008

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    w00kie
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    3rd year in Japan and each year I was on a busines trip somewhere for early April: the time of the 花見 parties. This time I was home and got to drink myself silly on a tarp under the cherry blossoms. On the border of the 目黒川, I got to take some nice photos with…

  • Hiroshima-ben senbei

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    w00kie
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    2 weeks ago I went to Hiroshima for the weekend with my girlfriend. We had dinner (and innumerable drinks) with a friend of hers on Saturday night in the 本通 area at what must be the restaurant with the most perfect レバー焼き鳥 I’ve ever tasted. Anyways, I received as omiyage the following which made me…

  • Deep Purple on the shamisen

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    Shamelessly stolen from Japan Probe, but it’s too mind-blowing not to spread the word about it.

  • Sand storm

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    w00kie
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    Last Saturday in the early afternoon, we had a huge dust storm all over the 関東 area. It started out as a very nice day, sunny 15°C, I went for grocery shopping in just a light sweater. Then around 2PM, the sky suddenly became dark, great gusts of wind started whistling around the corners of…

  • Omotesando Sunday

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    Walked around 表参道 yesterday visiting interior design shops, looking for cool lamps. Nice shops to check out: The brand new MoMA store in the Gyre building (from which I took the photo) with lots of funny gadgets. hhstyle just down the road from there with very very nice and very very expensive furniture.

  • JLPT Results craze

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    w00kie
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    The results for the 日本語能力試験, more commonly known as JLPT 2008, should be getting in everyone’s mailbox in the imminently and it shows: Visits to my blog post of receiving the results last year have been spiking in the past week. Good news: a colleague of mine got it in the mail this morning before…

  • Kick the demons out

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    Today, February 3rd, is the day of Setsubun in Japan. As we live in a new place, my girlfriends mother told her we had to start on the right foot and follow the good old traditions to bring us luck. On this day, which marks the turning point between winter and spring, you have to…

  • Address Power

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    Last July I wrote about a popular Japanese webservice that built an image of your brain out of your name. Everyone at work and on TV was talking about it. The concept was even copied overseas (replacing the kanjis with emoticons). This weekend I saw on TV another of those websites that you know everyone…

  • More tax fun!

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    January sees its share of administrative tasks for the new year that just started. So I received some new forms from my office’s executive assistant and as usual the English information sheet is of great help: Special Tax Credit Inform of special tax credit (deduction of housing loan) system like house loan etc. of residence…

  • Another tip about teeth

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    w00kie
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    I just received the new Health Insurance Bulletin from my company and we have a new installment of my favorite healthy advice series about dental hygiene: A tip about teeth Winter is here. Do your teeth feel sensitive when you bite into something cold? It might be a gapalong the line between your teeth and…