April 2005 Archives

It turns out this web service I signed up for doesn't fulfill what I wanted. Therefore, I am moving onto another web service which requires a little bit more work but more flexible.  The layout and design won't change at all but I am sure it will be more convenient for me and for you.  I will make an announcement once it gets done.  This blogging thingy wasn't originally my ideas to start.  A friend of mine suggested me. I am not sure if this has been alright so far.  Anyway, I will come back hopefully, on May 1st.  Until then, see ya!

Shigeki


Yup. This is my diploma. Bachelor of Information Technology with Summa Cum Laude (GPA 4.0!). I was a college student last year technically. I didn't commute at all. I did this distance learning degree program. You can earn a degree via Internet exclusively. If you finished a college program previously, you could get a degree in 14 months. But it was very tense. Just only 2 weeks off for Summer, 2 weeks off for Christmas. It was very hard to deal with work and study at the same time. Obviously, my time to enjoy personal time was very limited while I was a student... I wouldn't do this again. The reason why I did this is I wanted to get basic training in my specialty which I didn't get any formal academic education for. I just wanted to understand what I am doing at work better. However, I like the traditional learning style a lot better. But I could not quit my job and study as a college student. Now, I have a path to study further in IT. Was this worth it I do not know. But I have more options available. It wasn't all bad but seriously, dealing with assignments every week was tough! Anyway, my last class was finished in February. It took me two months to get this... damn. Now I am a official IT program graduate. :-)

I didn't have anything small so I handed 10,000 yen bill at cashier for the amount of 540 yen when I was picking up Evian, and other little items.. The clerk didn't seem annoyed by me giving her 10,000 yen. Of course, I nicely excused myself that I didn't have any small change. I got nine 1000 yen bills and coins back. Last year, all the bills (we only have 3 kinds; 10,000 Yen, 5,000 Yen, and 1,000 bills) have been renewed, and the character on each bill was replaced as well. (oh, the same character on 10,000 yen bill...) 1,000 Yen guy was Souseki Natsume; my favorite Japanese author, who was a professor and a novelist. His works are considered "masterpieces". Many of us have read his book one or two at some point. My favorite is "Kokoro". I like his works and like him, the person. I know he was way too sensitive but he couldn't have written things beautifully if he wasn't. He went to study in London and got mentally unstable a little bit while he was there. That tells me he was just a human being like ever body else. But he was one of the reasons why I wanted to start learning English. Sadly, he got replaced with this doctor, Hideyo Noguchi. His research is widely famous. But he always lived with pain. His life looks miserable to me. The right one is my guy. The left one is Dr. Noguchi. Which do you think more handsome? My answer is obvious; though, I don't have any crush on him. :-) Shift it back.... I got nine 1,000 yen bills back. Soseki is being faded out though one of 9 was Soseki! I felt I was lucky. Seriously, Dr. Noguchi seems to be having a bad hair day. Please bring him back!!!

It was rather chilly today. 12 degrees Celsius, 53 degrees Fahrenheit at noon. It was absolutely a slow day. I went out a little bit after 3 and grabbed something for snack time. Hot green tea and dried Japanese apricots (Is my translation right?) These dried Japanese apricots have a sour taste but they are slightly sweetened at the same time. Non-dried ones are very popular at breakfast. I can live without them but I like them at a normal amount. If you take one of them from the bag, yeah... it doesn't look great. It doesn't look a pleasant snack. For those of you who are not familiar with Japanese foods, just give it a try. It's not as bad as Natto (fermented soy beans) is. Natto is a different story... I love Natto! It is smelly and I am sure it looks creepy. It's like some creepy beans gone really bad. But I eat them almost every morning. Come to think of it, why didn't I take a photo of it? Maybe, some other time. Anyway, I like something Japanese that looks disgusting but tatstes good. (ahem, well.)

Okay, the left one of two photos below is my lunch for today. How sad is that? Perfect Plus (kind of like a powerbar but the taste of it isn't sucky at all. Real chocolate.) and Shanghai Cold Tea. (See, we drink cold tea) There was a problem at work and I had to be an errand boy for the people working on it for some reason. Acted as a liaison between two offices. Pretty boring. I've had a long term relationship that lasted....never mind... anyway, I used to talk with him more than 3 hours when I was madly in love with him but I have never had a call that lasted 9 hours in my life. It's all work related so not that exciting phone talk at all...Anyway, I couldn't afford my time to go and eat this nice Vietnamese lunch.... I read somewhere that there was statistics showing that lunch break is rather short in Japan and the States. American people spend the least time among several countries that this magazine researched on. I am not sure if this can be generalized...

On the bright side, a friend of mine brought this cute tiger from Disneyland in California. It's too freaky for an almost 30 year old guy to have it attached to the bag so I put him on my desk at work. I am sure I could get one at Tokyo Disney Resort but I liked the nice gesture she made. Thank you!

Nope. I am not reconsidering the cliche "I wish I were straight..." crap. Life is always hard but not that hard. But I love it...

Anyway.... I didn't have to get up with my clock's alarm going off as an earthquake hit the Tokyo area around 7:30a.m. It was a mild earthquake so no worries. Oh! it has been raining. Obviously, it made my day a perfect blue Monday. I didn't have a lot of things to do at work so I just tried to wait for the time to pass... I think I went for smoking more than I usually do because of less tasks to do on a blue Monday. This is the photo of a cigarette vending machine. Yeah, it's everywhere. You can easily get fags (cigarettes) without having to show your ID. All you need to do is insert a bill/coins and push a button for the fags you want. Cigarettes are supposedly very cheap considering it is being said everything is very expensive here in Tokyo. It's equivalent of U.S. $ 3.00 = €2,20. That may be why I can't quit smoking!! (yeah, yeah. excuses.) But a friend of mine messaged me today saying "that answers my question why you are single." Breath which smells like an ashtray is nasty. I agree. I know she was joking but it hit me badly... But seriously, somebody, please get rid of those vending machines!! They are all over the place. I am going to quit but not today

Okay, I bought these sunglasses when I went to Hawaii. It was a compulsive purchase obviously. These were when Tom Ford was a chief designer then. I like some of his philosophy by the way.

Anyway, It is too bright out as it is a clear fine day. I went to a hair salon to get my hair cut this morning. I had sunglasses on. It takes some courage to wear these at least for me because not many people wear them here even if the sunlight is very strong. If you are in Tokyo or wherever in Japan, did you notice there are less people wearing them? I wonder why... So wearing sunglasses would make me more visible, and I don't want that much attention to myself for some reason but I couldn't help so I put them on. Some friends of mine who are Caucasians sometimes say "Oh no" or something when they don't have sunglasses on and when it's too bright. Does the sunlight literally hurt their light colored eyes? Maybe, Asians like me have dark colored eyes so it's not as painful or harmful as it is to them? I don't know as my eyes are always brown....By the way, iTunes Music Store didn't have a listing for Ray of Light so I can't add a link to the music. Thanks

I got up early at 5 in the morning to prepare my lunchbox. I think I had way too many drinks last night... Though a friend of my friend's who went there with me brought some hunk. I hope I didn't drop my jaw at him. Unfortunately, he was very straight and had clothes on. But I requested him to wear a tank top next time when it's warmer.  A lot of people here have very strong uncomfortable reactions when "gay" is mentioned. However, he was a very nice guy.

I went out for Hanami. Hanami is a big event in Spring. People have a picnic under cherry blossoms. We get drunk or enjoy conversations under the trees. If you are in Tokyo around this time of the year, you see more drunk people who have forgotten everything you are not supposed to do in public at night. We do this Hanami as if we celebrate it's the end of winter and we move onto something hopeful. Too bad for those who are allergic to pollen of Japanese cedars. I went to Hanami today just like everybody else. The area was very crowded. I fixed finger foods and brought a bottle of Sake (Japanese rice wine). My friends brought some more. :-) We had absolutely great hanami although it was a little bit colder.  Petals of cherry blossoms in drinks are very beautiful. :-) Well, petals themselves don't taste anything though. Just for the decoration.  Off to taking a looong bath to sober up. Damn, I had a lot this morning.

Apparently, it's another warm spring day here in Tokyo. Feels like it is already early summer though. I have a difficult task done in the morning so I feel pretty good. I just got back from lunch. I had Udon. What is Udon? It's a kind of noodles.

Ramen noodles aren't the only Japanese noodles. Since it is warm today, I had a cold one. Cold noodles? Sounds weird? We eat 'em in the summer. Very good. The yellow stuff you see in the photo (click to zoom) is "Yuzu" um... I don't know what would be the word is.. some kind of Japanese citrus. Very aromatic. I had side orders. This was 560 yen = US$ 5.00 = €3,60 Now, I will pretend to be working so hard in the afternoon and head off to fabulous places. I am so ready to get drunk. You guys have a happy Friday!! So will I.

Air pollution is a very concerned issue here in Tokyo. However, we have more and more efficient vehicles and less pollution is expected. I believe if I remember it right, Tokyo Metropolitan office has implemented very rigid restrictions for diesel vehicles. My throat at least doesn't hurt when I walk downtown like I could experience it in Bangkok. (no offence).  It's just beautiful. I know there are chemical substances in there that may be harmful to our bodies and we absorb them. Regardless of how much air is polluted, it is still beautiful. It was a warm day with soft breezes. I wish I had a day off.

Today's theme song is The weekend by MIchael Gray.  Seriously, "I can't wait for the weekend to begin..."

I seriously started working on the issues I had yesterday at 6 in the evening. It took me 12 hours to complete. However, the service got back online. Because I wanted to have it done by the next business day started, all night-er... (If I didn't finish it, users would've killed me.) My boss nicely told me to take a day off so I got out at noon. Although I was extremely sleepy, I didn't wanna hit the sack as my body clock would be screwed up. I went out and walked around to get a sense of what Tokyo had to offer today.

Yes, Spring is officially here. Cheery blossoms are beautiful. A gentle warm breeze, sunshine, and flowers in bloom. I sat at Cafe and watched people going by.  What a luxurious thing to do it is on a business day. Just sipping coffee and seeing people passing by.  I wish I could finish a book or two there but I would fall asleep... Almost a perfect spring day.

Hi. My name is Shigeki and I am workaholic...One of the servers at my work has some issues.  I set it up three years ago.  I am not primarily assigned to manage servers; however, since i built it, I am almost forced to work on the issues. I was going to get out at 6 sharp today.. Damn.  It is said we, Japanese, tend to devote our time to work as much as possible.  I guess I am not an exception in this case.  I wish I could say "My contract says I should work until 6.  That's it."

I am not complaining. I just don't appreciate the fact I have to work overtime today when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go to this fabulous bar. Darn. I guess I won't get drunk with a happy thought tonight and a possibility of seeing a gorgeous future husband (who knows where I will run into him) um.. yeah, I guess I am complaining after all.

I just went out for a tea break and had some tea.  What a beautiful day it is...

This is a photo of the inside of the elevator at my work. (weird?) You obviously press the "close" button for the door to be closed. The door closes right after pressing the button. But I noticed many elevators in Japan closes the door slightly faster than the ones in the States and Europe. I feel that the door doesn't really close right away from my personal limited experiences in the States. It has some certain pause or a moment before closing the door. A button even doesn't work unless you wait for the door to be closed for a few seconds. If I were in a hurry, I would get stressed with that. Some may say "what's the big deal? a second difference." But I like the door to be closed right after pressing the button as I am used to that way. So I am pretty much happy with elevators here in Tokyo. Does this have to be called "ethnocentrism"? I hope not...


Once the door closes, the world changes if you take it with other passengers here.  We tend to keep quiet and stare at the ceiling or the floor indicator. Social interaction inside the elevator is almost none. Even if I know one of the passengers, I may say hi to the person but that's it.  I wouldn't start a little chat in there. Though I would start to talk to him/her after getting off it. Subconsciously, I don't want others to hear what I have to say.  It's very very quiet and it's like a unwritten rule to keep it that way. I assume that's because some of the elevators in Japan are not spacious. OH!!! That may be why the door closes right after pressing the button to make one of the most uncomfortable moments minimal. (stupid guess?)

I am not a religious person. However, it is our family thing that we visit a shrine and a temple every first Sunday of the month. I didn't know Pope John Paul II passed away until I got up this morning. (By the way, I didn't know there was the embassy of Japan in Vatican City...Can the embassy of Japan in Italy cover its job?) I am not Catholic anymore.  According to them, I will go to hell... (oh, come on. ) Although I am not Catholic and enjoyed reading "Da Vinci Code" very much, I still think he had done tremendous jobs in some areas.  Is my prayer from different religious buildings valid? May he rest in peace.

Spring has come in Tokyo. It's been colder than usual over the last couple of months. I don't mind but it was darn cold. Many people are struggling with hay fever. That is this is the season that pollen of Japanese cedars are spreading all over and some people are allergic to it.  I am not an expert so I cannot explain on it in detail. However, everyone has her/his own limit where s/he will become allergic to it. If you hit the limit, you will start struggling. It's a matter of time when it starts. Isn't that scary? 

Anyway, I was shopping at a local supermarket and picked up some bottled Japanese green tea.  There are many kinds. Some of them are exclusively produced for making pollen allergy reactions easier.  I wonder how effective they are.  Anyway, it just hit me.  A coworker from China once told me it was strange for him to see us having ICED bottled tea.  Chinese people never drink tea cold according to him (I am not sure if that's totally true coz I've seen some iced tea in Hong Kong but then he is from the south part of China.) I think this is way cool. It tastes good and it's widely sold anywhere.  When I am on the road to some country, I start missing this.  Iced green tea. Sure, you can find it in the States but it tastes different. sweetened. even. I like it just straight. (hehe, how ironic that is) Coca-cola, Pepsi and other things are sold as well but Green tea is always happening here in Tokyo. May I say "VIVA Green tea!" ?

Happy New Year!!! I didn't go insane.  I do know how to count things. It's just a new fiscal year in Japan. School and business years start in April unlike the majority of this world.  Thus, we start a school/business year in April and graduate in March. I am not a school boy anymore, but that's how it is. I thought I was going to start something new. Weblog. It's not necessarily my intention to reveal my secret life or anything. I am sure this is not as interesting as some weblogs I see out there. But it would be nice to remind of myself a little small thing I find every day. Why not give it a try? It's a new (fiscal) year day.

Cheery blossoms are very cliche here in Tokyo around this time of the year but they are not quite yet in bloom due to a colder winter.  This is a photo of plum trees near my home. They are supposedly fallen by now but they are still in bloom. I wonder how cool / hot it gets later in the summer....