As of this moment, I have over 10,000 words written for my thesis and over 60 pages in material at 1.5 line spacing. I haven't been very liberal with spacing as of yet but the goal will be to hit 70-80 pages for the thesis once I am complete. I have inserted a lot of points that I haven't referenced yet and I still need to insert more figures and then to a check of the whole thing after finishing up. The thesis is due in 3 weeks and if everything goes well, I will have this thing done about a week in advance. I would have never imagined myself being on the ball for the thesis writing but this is most relaxed end stretch I've ever had for a large project, especially for one that I've been working on over the span of 2 years. Go figure, but I am pretty happy about it.
In other news, last weekend was a party for the lab members after finishing their job hunting efforts. We have all been placed. 3 will be going to Canon, 1 to Hirose-denki (connector manufacturing), 1 to Sony (me) and 1 to Hitachi. Everyone here has been placed into large corporations. We will see how things go from here, but we will have the opportunity to stay in contact as all of us will be based in the Tokyo area. Out of the group, I have the honor of being the first one placed after doing a one-shot application to Sony (no applications to other company), passing all 3 interviews and making it in. My fall back was the University recommendation system that would likely get me placed somewhere.
I spent the next day with a friend checking out a caldera in the mountain in a region called Zao. I'll post pictures later, but it was pretty nice and there was still snow up there, despite it being warm enough for me to walk around in shorts. I spent the afternoon in a hot spring and then headed home.
I still have much to do with my thesis and will look forward to getting it done. Then I will try and have this research published in a journal somewhere. First things first, finish the thesis and defend.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Grilled Apple
I hit the Apple store this weekend while waiting to meet up with a friend (as this friend of mine has chronic punctuality issues), so there I was looking at some MacBooks contemplating if I should ever get one. To summarize the story, I grilled 3 store clerks and was totally unconvinced about buying an Apple computer and left the store with them apologizing to me (well this is Japan) that they couldn't give me any real reasons to switch.
Now, let me tell you how did I come to that conclusion. While I was fiddling around with a MacBook, one of the store clerks came by and asked me if I had any questions, so I decided to chat it up with him to find out if there were any good reasons for me to switch over to an Apple computer.
Reason #１: You don't get viruses or spyware.
No, I am absolutely not buying an Apple computer just because it will protect me from viruses or spyware. I am already an experienced PC user that can handle my own against computer problems. This is seriously a weak reason to me because when I want to buy new hardware, I want a technical advantage.
Reason #2: Nice software that lets me do things.
The sales people basically pitched the photo album software (organization and printing software) to me that looked nice with smooth moving windows. I already have free software like google's Picasa that let's me to pretty much the same thing and I made my case out to them. Then they pointed out other applications like Adobe's Photoshop or Illustrator... which are terrible reasons for me to switch because there are Windows versions of the same software.
To add insult to injury, I asked them if I had a license to run these programs on my PC, would I be able to transfer it over to the Apple computer?
Their answer: nope, you'd need to buy a new copy.
Reason #3: It's got good hardware
They started telling me how they've got the Intel Core Duo 2 chips inside the laptops which are pretty good processors, but you can get them for any other laptops too. I don't buy that reasoning. Anything Apple branded generally costs more than if it were to come from some other laptop manufacturer for the exact/similar hardware configuration.
Reason #4: The OS is nicer
They told me that Mac OS is nicer because I can get to my applications in say 3 clicks instead of 5. Last time I checked, I can usually get to my applications in about 2 on my computer (it's called the toolbar). Then they told me that the OS looks nice.... then I asked them if the OS ran any faster than Windows... to which they didn't have an answer.
So after spending about 45 minutes in the Apple store, the main reason why I should shell out $1400+ for an Apple computer (or say $200 more than a similar, non branded Apple computer) is because I don't get spyware, have to rebuy software that I already own for the PC but have an opportunity to try software that isn't on the PC (which I can find equivalents to!) and use a nicer looking OS in a nicer looking box.
I'm kind of sad to say, but that's some weak reasons to me and I think Apple's computer market share reflects that.
Now, let me tell you how did I come to that conclusion. While I was fiddling around with a MacBook, one of the store clerks came by and asked me if I had any questions, so I decided to chat it up with him to find out if there were any good reasons for me to switch over to an Apple computer.
Reason #１: You don't get viruses or spyware.
No, I am absolutely not buying an Apple computer just because it will protect me from viruses or spyware. I am already an experienced PC user that can handle my own against computer problems. This is seriously a weak reason to me because when I want to buy new hardware, I want a technical advantage.
Reason #2: Nice software that lets me do things.
The sales people basically pitched the photo album software (organization and printing software) to me that looked nice with smooth moving windows. I already have free software like google's Picasa that let's me to pretty much the same thing and I made my case out to them. Then they pointed out other applications like Adobe's Photoshop or Illustrator... which are terrible reasons for me to switch because there are Windows versions of the same software.
To add insult to injury, I asked them if I had a license to run these programs on my PC, would I be able to transfer it over to the Apple computer?
Their answer: nope, you'd need to buy a new copy.
Reason #3: It's got good hardware
They started telling me how they've got the Intel Core Duo 2 chips inside the laptops which are pretty good processors, but you can get them for any other laptops too. I don't buy that reasoning. Anything Apple branded generally costs more than if it were to come from some other laptop manufacturer for the exact/similar hardware configuration.
Reason #4: The OS is nicer
They told me that Mac OS is nicer because I can get to my applications in say 3 clicks instead of 5. Last time I checked, I can usually get to my applications in about 2 on my computer (it's called the toolbar). Then they told me that the OS looks nice.... then I asked them if the OS ran any faster than Windows... to which they didn't have an answer.
So after spending about 45 minutes in the Apple store, the main reason why I should shell out $1400+ for an Apple computer (or say $200 more than a similar, non branded Apple computer) is because I don't get spyware, have to rebuy software that I already own for the PC but have an opportunity to try software that isn't on the PC (which I can find equivalents to!) and use a nicer looking OS in a nicer looking box.
I'm kind of sad to say, but that's some weak reasons to me and I think Apple's computer market share reflects that.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Web 2.0 vs ABC and CNN
I find it ironic that western news often complains about censorship in Chinese media, at least the Chinese are straight forward about it. In America, you don't get censored, you get ignored or manipulated. Which is worse? You tell me.
As of this moment the two most popular candidates making their rounds on the internet are Ron Paul (Republican) and Mike Gavel (Democrat) as a result from their excellent showing at their respective presidential debates. Unfortunately, it seems that because they aren't the main-stream media's favorite candidates, they have been getting less than fair treatment for reasons beyond me.
Ron Paul has been doing exceptionally well on the internet, thanks to sites like youtube hosting clips of him in action at the presidential debates. Though I have not watched much of the other candidate's performance at the debates, what I have seen so far pales compares to the brutal honesty and truthfulness of Ron Paul's comments. If you have not seen this man in action, I recommend that you watch one of his debates. There is plenty more material of him at youtube and I also highly recommend that you watch some of his other debates.
As a result of Ron Paul's excellent showing at the debates, Ron Paul's website has been fielding the most internet traffic to his website according to alexa, an internet traffic tracking page, as the figure below indicates (data current as of June 6th).
Despite his strong showing at the debates and the internet, the traditional media-sites such as CNN and ABC news have been actively trying to limit his success by deleting comments relating to Ron Paul on their websites. In addition to this, a CNN political blog is attempting to downplay his successes in online polls which have been hosted at CNN, ABC and a variety of other sites by mentioning that
"For the three GOP debates so far, Paul has won or placed high in most of the unscientific online surveys including ABC’s, MSNBC’s, FOX’s, and unscientific polls conducted on a number of blogs...
In virtually every scientific national poll — generally regarded as the best measurement of public support for a political candidate — Paul registers, at most, between 1 and 2 percent. Do the debate numbers reflect something different than the national polls? Is it too early to tell?"- CNN Political Ticker Blog
This is the first time I have ever heard the term of an "unscientific online survey" versus a "scientific national poll," it makes me wonder how is an online survey not national or how a national poll is more scientific. In so far as that I am aware, these sites have never mentioned the "unscientificness" of these poll until this circumstance and online polls on other topics are often included in television broadcasts. The slant these websites present to the news and the candidates that they subliminally support is disturbing.
As of this moment the two most popular candidates making their rounds on the internet are Ron Paul (Republican) and Mike Gavel (Democrat) as a result from their excellent showing at their respective presidential debates. Unfortunately, it seems that because they aren't the main-stream media's favorite candidates, they have been getting less than fair treatment for reasons beyond me.
Ron Paul has been doing exceptionally well on the internet, thanks to sites like youtube hosting clips of him in action at the presidential debates. Though I have not watched much of the other candidate's performance at the debates, what I have seen so far pales compares to the brutal honesty and truthfulness of Ron Paul's comments. If you have not seen this man in action, I recommend that you watch one of his debates. There is plenty more material of him at youtube and I also highly recommend that you watch some of his other debates.
As a result of Ron Paul's excellent showing at the debates, Ron Paul's website has been fielding the most internet traffic to his website according to alexa, an internet traffic tracking page, as the figure below indicates (data current as of June 6th).
Despite his strong showing at the debates and the internet, the traditional media-sites such as CNN and ABC news have been actively trying to limit his success by deleting comments relating to Ron Paul on their websites. In addition to this, a CNN political blog is attempting to downplay his successes in online polls which have been hosted at CNN, ABC and a variety of other sites by mentioning that
"For the three GOP debates so far, Paul has won or placed high in most of the unscientific online surveys including ABC’s, MSNBC’s, FOX’s, and unscientific polls conducted on a number of blogs...
In virtually every scientific national poll — generally regarded as the best measurement of public support for a political candidate — Paul registers, at most, between 1 and 2 percent. Do the debate numbers reflect something different than the national polls? Is it too early to tell?"- CNN Political Ticker Blog
This is the first time I have ever heard the term of an "unscientific online survey" versus a "scientific national poll," it makes me wonder how is an online survey not national or how a national poll is more scientific. In so far as that I am aware, these sites have never mentioned the "unscientificness" of these poll until this circumstance and online polls on other topics are often included in television broadcasts. The slant these websites present to the news and the candidates that they subliminally support is disturbing.
Mike Gravel, the Democratic presidential candidate has been facing similar issues with the media. After his good showing at the first Democratic debate (I also recommend watching his debate videos), he too also had a surge of traffic and publicity on the internet in May. CNN attempted to exclude Gravel from the debate which caused an online uproar and various online petitions to finally have him included in the New Hampshire debate hosted on June 3rd. Despite this, Gravel was shafted for debate and answering time from the 2 hour debate as indicated in the following graph.
I would find it rather suspicious that CNN is giving the most time to the tier 1 candidates instead of allowing all other candidates to have a equal amount of speaking time. It should be evidently clear about the bias and the control that the media on information and presidential candidates.
Fortunately, for us, we do have the internet, where the dissemination of information is not centralized and open to everyone that has an opinion to make it heard. It cannot be as easily filtered like the news that we see on TV. Despite all the filtering, video clips of Ron Paul and Mike Gravel have been making the rounds on the internet thanks to youtube and other video hosting sites, in addition to all the user aggregated news sites and blogs.
It is ironic to think that, the internet is far more democratic than the traditional democratic process. This is web 2.0, run by the people... and I believe, that this is the future of democracy.
Fortunately, for us, we do have the internet, where the dissemination of information is not centralized and open to everyone that has an opinion to make it heard. It cannot be as easily filtered like the news that we see on TV. Despite all the filtering, video clips of Ron Paul and Mike Gravel have been making the rounds on the internet thanks to youtube and other video hosting sites, in addition to all the user aggregated news sites and blogs.
It is ironic to think that, the internet is far more democratic than the traditional democratic process. This is web 2.0, run by the people... and I believe, that this is the future of democracy.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Oh Canada! Having some problems are better than others
I stopped by an interesting site just today regarding some points on Canadian politics. I am not a huge fan of politics because there is a whole lot of people that talk about things that they don't understand, and the discussions often go unmeasured and nowhere. Listening to conversations on important topics that go nowhere is a pet-peeve of mine, just because it's a waste of time. Sure, I don't mind banter as long as it is interesting (which is the point of banter after all), but when you've got important things to be decided, I don't want to waste my time running around in circles. But anyways, back to the interesting things I've read...
So, there is this article at the Seminal, which brands it's self as an "Independent Media + Politics" blog called "Oh! Canada?? Their Version of Liberal and Conservative vs. Ours," which has an interesting take on the problems that Canadian politicians deal from the point of view of an American. Considering that hot-topics in Canadian politics include, reducing wait times for medical treatment, improved gun control for a country with a low crime rate, debating whether if marijuana possession should be an offense where a person gets fined or sent to jail and same-sex marriage (where even Harper has gone in so far as to accept same-sex civil unions). As the writer of the mentioned article quotes from a friend:
"I wish we had those problems. Reducing wait lines for health care probably doesn’t even crack the top 100 problems facing America, and that’s just thinking about domestic policy."
It's interesting to think this way, but I would rather be facing these problems instead of a foreign war, weakening economy, poor international image and more. The author muses on moving to Canada and notes how easy it is to move North, which costs all of $200 to get Canadian citizenship after a 3 year permanent residency, which is listed at the Canadian government webpage. Of an interesting note, being born to a Canadian born parent automatically entitles the child to Canadian citizenship, wherever in the world was born (naturalized people, however need to fill out some paper work before the 28th birthday of the child, but these are minor details).
As annoying as it is listening to hot political problems, when compared to others, the ones we have in Canada isn't so bad at all.
So, there is this article at the Seminal, which brands it's self as an "Independent Media + Politics" blog called "Oh! Canada?? Their Version of Liberal and Conservative vs. Ours," which has an interesting take on the problems that Canadian politicians deal from the point of view of an American. Considering that hot-topics in Canadian politics include, reducing wait times for medical treatment, improved gun control for a country with a low crime rate, debating whether if marijuana possession should be an offense where a person gets fined or sent to jail and same-sex marriage (where even Harper has gone in so far as to accept same-sex civil unions). As the writer of the mentioned article quotes from a friend:
"I wish we had those problems. Reducing wait lines for health care probably doesn’t even crack the top 100 problems facing America, and that’s just thinking about domestic policy."
It's interesting to think this way, but I would rather be facing these problems instead of a foreign war, weakening economy, poor international image and more. The author muses on moving to Canada and notes how easy it is to move North, which costs all of $200 to get Canadian citizenship after a 3 year permanent residency, which is listed at the Canadian government webpage. Of an interesting note, being born to a Canadian born parent automatically entitles the child to Canadian citizenship, wherever in the world was born (naturalized people, however need to fill out some paper work before the 28th birthday of the child, but these are minor details).
As annoying as it is listening to hot political problems, when compared to others, the ones we have in Canada isn't so bad at all.
On my way to Graduating
This weekend was a 2-for-1 deal in terms of making presentations. I did my 4 month presentation on what I have been doing and at the same time, did my mid-term presentation for my graduate thesis. All in all, both presentations went well, with the mid-term going exceptionally well.
The annoying thing is that in reality, I am closer to graduating than I realize; I have to make my final graduation presentation at the end of July and after that, I am technically done. I still have some experimentation that I need to get done before that time and also produce a 50 page report on what I have been doing for the past 2 years. I still have yet to start writing this document.
I got contacted by Sony just recently about my start date and it seems that they want me to join them in April at *their leisure* since Japanese people typically graduate in April as opposed to me graduating in October... and for the fact that I am the only person out of the 400 people they hired that is graduating in October. In short, this means that I have 6 months of free time!
So, what am I going to do during these 6 months? The possibilities are numerous and I know for that I will be planning on doing some traveling. Where I will go and for how long has yet to be determined but rest assured that big plans will be made. I will be reporting in on those at a later date.
The annoying thing is that in reality, I am closer to graduating than I realize; I have to make my final graduation presentation at the end of July and after that, I am technically done. I still have some experimentation that I need to get done before that time and also produce a 50 page report on what I have been doing for the past 2 years. I still have yet to start writing this document.
I got contacted by Sony just recently about my start date and it seems that they want me to join them in April at *their leisure* since Japanese people typically graduate in April as opposed to me graduating in October... and for the fact that I am the only person out of the 400 people they hired that is graduating in October. In short, this means that I have 6 months of free time!
So, what am I going to do during these 6 months? The possibilities are numerous and I know for that I will be planning on doing some traveling. Where I will go and for how long has yet to be determined but rest assured that big plans will be made. I will be reporting in on those at a later date.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Some Humor
I was taking to a friend of mine, Hiroko on the phone yesterday and she was telling me about one of her mis-adventures in English. Apparently one day, she got an e-mail from a friend of hers that was pretty good in Japanese. He sent off an e-mail in Japanese to her and ended it with "talk to you soon" which she didn't understand at first. After doing a word for word translation, she thought that he was going to call, kept the phone near-by and patiently waited for the phone call that never came. I thought that was kind of cute.
I was also just reading a webpage recently with a funny piece of humor. A guy traveling to Australia was asked by the custom's officer if he had any past criminal records. The guy responded with "I didn't know that it was a requirement to get in." Haha!
I was also just reading a webpage recently with a funny piece of humor. A guy traveling to Australia was asked by the custom's officer if he had any past criminal records. The guy responded with "I didn't know that it was a requirement to get in." Haha!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The birth of multi-touch technology and a matter of application
This is post 300 of this blog, I am quite amazed at the number of posts I have made thus far over my 2 year span of running this blog. The amount of content I have written for this blog is likely sufficient to fill a book or two if it were ever printed. An interesting thought, but anyways, back to the main post.
Approximately a year ago, a man by the name of Jeff Han at New York University made his pioneering presentation of multi-touch technology in February of 2006 at the TED talks conference which blew the audience away. Interestingly, multi-touch technology is nothing new as known experimental work on this technology dates back to 2001 under the auspices of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, branded as DiamondTouch. Unfortunately, DiamondTouch never made the same level of impact as Jeff Han's presentation.
An important lesson to learn here is that technology is only as valuable as it's usefulness; and it's usefulness is defined by it's application (or it's perceived application, "coolness" counts as an application). Where Mitsubishi failed, Jeff Han has done an exemplary job of making multi-touch technology useful as it is cool, as witnessed by his TED presentation (which I highly recommend you to see). It's applications include fast manipulation of satellite images, planetary topographical maps and a variety of entertainment applications. Of course, a 5 year late start might have provided Jeff Han with an edge over Mitsubishi in computing power, in addition to the current availability of satellite data and CPU processing power.
The application possibilities for this technology is exciting and nearly a year after that presentation, Microsoft has moved into developing multi-touch systems christened Surface, which is pretty much a carbon copy of Jeff Han's technology. Perhaps they've got a licensing deal with Jeff Han? I'll leave that up to speculation.
The only drawback to the current state of multi-touch technology is that it can possibly somewhat unwieldy when it comes to manipulating data on a full screen. Considering that I can use a mouse to access the full range of my monitor on a surface area less than 1/5 of my screen, access time to manipulating data on a large screen will be significantly slower. I do believe that there are ways of speeding up how our ability to interact with these systems. I will predict that touch screen technology will become mainstream in the next 7~8 years.
Approximately a year ago, a man by the name of Jeff Han at New York University made his pioneering presentation of multi-touch technology in February of 2006 at the TED talks conference which blew the audience away. Interestingly, multi-touch technology is nothing new as known experimental work on this technology dates back to 2001 under the auspices of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, branded as DiamondTouch. Unfortunately, DiamondTouch never made the same level of impact as Jeff Han's presentation.
An important lesson to learn here is that technology is only as valuable as it's usefulness; and it's usefulness is defined by it's application (or it's perceived application, "coolness" counts as an application). Where Mitsubishi failed, Jeff Han has done an exemplary job of making multi-touch technology useful as it is cool, as witnessed by his TED presentation (which I highly recommend you to see). It's applications include fast manipulation of satellite images, planetary topographical maps and a variety of entertainment applications. Of course, a 5 year late start might have provided Jeff Han with an edge over Mitsubishi in computing power, in addition to the current availability of satellite data and CPU processing power.
The application possibilities for this technology is exciting and nearly a year after that presentation, Microsoft has moved into developing multi-touch systems christened Surface, which is pretty much a carbon copy of Jeff Han's technology. Perhaps they've got a licensing deal with Jeff Han? I'll leave that up to speculation.
The only drawback to the current state of multi-touch technology is that it can possibly somewhat unwieldy when it comes to manipulating data on a full screen. Considering that I can use a mouse to access the full range of my monitor on a surface area less than 1/5 of my screen, access time to manipulating data on a large screen will be significantly slower. I do believe that there are ways of speeding up how our ability to interact with these systems. I will predict that touch screen technology will become mainstream in the next 7~8 years.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Still got my poker skills
I have been meaning to make a post since last year that I have quit playing online poker, despite being consistently profitable every month. I have raked in over $2000 in a single month playing online poker at my peak, usually I averaged $400~$500 ish but I have since quit playing after making my move to Japan. There are people that can't walk away from a game after losing, but you'd think I would be crazy for walking away from a winning game, especially where I can make $20~$30/hr playing-- and there is a reason for that.
Since moving to Japan, I have dabbled with online poker from time to time, but I ultimately decided to drop it. I reasoned that I would be losing so much out of my Japan experience if I spent most of my free time inside my room just making cash online. Then it dawned on me, that there is more to life than just making money. Considering the adventures I've done and the people I've met, a few extra thousand dollars could not even come close to replacing these experiences. I spend most of my time outside now with people or traveling around. Money alone, does not bring a quality of life, though often is it only a tool to allow you to do things. Like many tools, it does not have to be necessary to realize your end product-- and I think that there are many that don't realize that.
But still, I do play poker from time to time just socially. The last time I played was in September where I had the opportunity to play with Matt in Calgary and walked out with a whopping $600 in profits, it was certainly a great poker game. Since my return to Canada on Tuesday, I have only ventured out to the casino just once to try my hand at the poker tables and after a 5 hour stint at Riverrock, I can say that I still have it because I played my cards and the people right.
I played at the $1/$2 no limit tables and made some great plays, (despite losing a few hands at first) where I put a player on nothing with my AK after a hefty preflop bet. The flop and turn was junk and I was betting the crap out of him and yet he still called to catch something on the river. Out of my $200 buy in, I managed to lose $120 and brought myself down to $80 in about 2.5 hours. Fortunately, I had a great QQ pocket pair and people were betting it up preflop (2 people at $30 and a few others at about $15 each and some extra cash in the pot) where I just took the remainder of my cash for an all in and took the pot down to bring myself to about $235.
I was thinking of quitting after a few more revolutions because I was back up and wanted to quite while I was ahead (and keep my record of never losing cash at a casino) . But then I was on the button and then I got Q9 suited hearts on big blind with barely over $200 at this point.The flop came out with a J74 with 2 hearts and I was on the flush draw. There were a few players left at the time and there was a $20 bet which me and a one other player called. The turn was an Ace of diamonds where my opponent decided to bet $40. I put my opponent on the J trying to force the other players and me out. I reraised to $80 to put pressure on the better and represent that I had something, like a J or just hit the A. The river came with a 5 clubs.
My opponent checks the bet to me and after considering that I had a tight image the whole game, I decided to take my remaining $140 and put myself all in on a bluff. My opponent had more than enough to cover my bet. Should he have called, I would have lost everything. He hummed and hawed at me and even called out that I was playing like I was on a flush draw but missed (which was exactly right), but everytime I got called that game, I had something pretty good, even when I lost. I shot back at him that I was reading him playing on the Jack pair, but he had to fear me playing on the Ace... and my gut knew that I was right about what he had. The problem was if this guy would back down and let me take the pot; my heart was racing.
Given my poker image and that he would have to risk $140 to make the call, he backed off letting me take an additional $100 in profits after that hand. I played one more hand which I immediately folded preflop, which was unfortunate because I would have hit a straight on the flop but hey, I was just happy to end the game in the black with an additional $100 in my pocket. I cashed out after 5 hours of play, putting my hourly rate at $20/hr and headed home.
Even after my poker exodus, it looks like I still have my skills.
Since moving to Japan, I have dabbled with online poker from time to time, but I ultimately decided to drop it. I reasoned that I would be losing so much out of my Japan experience if I spent most of my free time inside my room just making cash online. Then it dawned on me, that there is more to life than just making money. Considering the adventures I've done and the people I've met, a few extra thousand dollars could not even come close to replacing these experiences. I spend most of my time outside now with people or traveling around. Money alone, does not bring a quality of life, though often is it only a tool to allow you to do things. Like many tools, it does not have to be necessary to realize your end product-- and I think that there are many that don't realize that.
But still, I do play poker from time to time just socially. The last time I played was in September where I had the opportunity to play with Matt in Calgary and walked out with a whopping $600 in profits, it was certainly a great poker game. Since my return to Canada on Tuesday, I have only ventured out to the casino just once to try my hand at the poker tables and after a 5 hour stint at Riverrock, I can say that I still have it because I played my cards and the people right.
I played at the $1/$2 no limit tables and made some great plays, (despite losing a few hands at first) where I put a player on nothing with my AK after a hefty preflop bet. The flop and turn was junk and I was betting the crap out of him and yet he still called to catch something on the river. Out of my $200 buy in, I managed to lose $120 and brought myself down to $80 in about 2.5 hours. Fortunately, I had a great QQ pocket pair and people were betting it up preflop (2 people at $30 and a few others at about $15 each and some extra cash in the pot) where I just took the remainder of my cash for an all in and took the pot down to bring myself to about $235.
I was thinking of quitting after a few more revolutions because I was back up and wanted to quite while I was ahead (and keep my record of never losing cash at a casino) . But then I was on the button and then I got Q9 suited hearts on big blind with barely over $200 at this point.The flop came out with a J74 with 2 hearts and I was on the flush draw. There were a few players left at the time and there was a $20 bet which me and a one other player called. The turn was an Ace of diamonds where my opponent decided to bet $40. I put my opponent on the J trying to force the other players and me out. I reraised to $80 to put pressure on the better and represent that I had something, like a J or just hit the A. The river came with a 5 clubs.
My opponent checks the bet to me and after considering that I had a tight image the whole game, I decided to take my remaining $140 and put myself all in on a bluff. My opponent had more than enough to cover my bet. Should he have called, I would have lost everything. He hummed and hawed at me and even called out that I was playing like I was on a flush draw but missed (which was exactly right), but everytime I got called that game, I had something pretty good, even when I lost. I shot back at him that I was reading him playing on the Jack pair, but he had to fear me playing on the Ace... and my gut knew that I was right about what he had. The problem was if this guy would back down and let me take the pot; my heart was racing.
Given my poker image and that he would have to risk $140 to make the call, he backed off letting me take an additional $100 in profits after that hand. I played one more hand which I immediately folded preflop, which was unfortunate because I would have hit a straight on the flop but hey, I was just happy to end the game in the black with an additional $100 in my pocket. I cashed out after 5 hours of play, putting my hourly rate at $20/hr and headed home.
Even after my poker exodus, it looks like I still have my skills.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
It is nice to see my university in the news sometimes
I just read this article at Arstechnica today with the university I attend in Japan, (Tohoku University) in the news after developing technology that can improve the data density of hard drives. It's the first time to see my university in the news in an English site, so kudos to them.
Monday, May 14, 2007
You don't need reviews to tell if a movie is good
I noticed something interesting today while I was out with my friend, Kayo, at the movie theaters. We made plans to catch Spiderman 3 since last week since the both of us were rather busy and we like action movies.
Anyways not to give anything away, other than I would give a positive recommendation on the movie, that you can tell how good a movie is by the reactions of the viewers. By the end of the movie, there was plenty of reactions, especially from the girls whom were crying (but I am not going to say if they were happy or not). Actually, Kayo, who I was with ended up crying and had to run to the washroom before the end of the credits. I spent a while outside in the lobby watching people as they came out of the theater with the same reaction too. I do personally have to say that the story was well played and that you can probably tell how good a movie is by the reactions of the people leaving the theater.
Anyways not to give anything away, other than I would give a positive recommendation on the movie, that you can tell how good a movie is by the reactions of the viewers. By the end of the movie, there was plenty of reactions, especially from the girls whom were crying (but I am not going to say if they were happy or not). Actually, Kayo, who I was with ended up crying and had to run to the washroom before the end of the credits. I spent a while outside in the lobby watching people as they came out of the theater with the same reaction too. I do personally have to say that the story was well played and that you can probably tell how good a movie is by the reactions of the people leaving the theater.
Monday, May 07, 2007
On traveling and marrage
I started using this thing called Facebook just recently which is a social networking website where friends link to friends and share information. It's a rather fascinating webpage as I have found many old acquaintances I used to know dating back all the way back to my elementary school era. It's rather fascinating to see how many of my old friends are doing, all of them seem to be doing pretty well.
One interesting thing I noticed, is a growing number of acquaintances and friends getting married or have gotten married. I have a feeling in the next 3~4 years that there will be a boom of marriages within my circle of friends as people start heading towards the end of their 20's. As for me, I too have begun contemplating the idea of getting married but I am also cautious of not rushing myself to anything because everyone else is doing something. Things will happen, when or if there is a right time, but not sooner.
Living in a place like Japan with strong ties to a community of foreigners I have noticed that most people that travel aren't married. I have met countless numbers of foreign teachers and international students doing their masters, Ph.D's or postdocs out here and nearly none of them are married, despite many of them being in the latter half of their 20's. I doubt any of them are getting married anytime soon.
Life in Japan is incredibly interesting and fun, especially living as a foreigner. There is a sort of a character that many people become while traveling. It is the kind of outgoing adventurous character you become when you travel to a different country. It is, in effect a collection of your desire to make the best of your limited time somewhere. You say 'hi' to random people, sometimes you might get yourself into or start a random conversation with someone on street, you end up trying as many new things as possible or going to as many places as possible, you want to be nice and make friends while in a different place. This is what I call "the spirit of a traveler." I hope that when I do come back to Canada, I remain as a traveler for time to come.
The problem is that being a traveler has certain problems when it comes to relationships, that problem is not knowing where you'll be in the future. You might be living in a certain city for a few years before moving on to somewhere else, you might go home to your home country eventually. Obviously, it is a matter of knowing when you will be settling down. Travelers, unfortunately, won't be settling down for a while, but even if I end up marrying late, I will have no regrets about going off on my adventures, because it is something that I will likely never experience if I had done otherwise.
I wish I went traveling a little earlier, but it really depends on when you are ready to go.
One interesting thing I noticed, is a growing number of acquaintances and friends getting married or have gotten married. I have a feeling in the next 3~4 years that there will be a boom of marriages within my circle of friends as people start heading towards the end of their 20's. As for me, I too have begun contemplating the idea of getting married but I am also cautious of not rushing myself to anything because everyone else is doing something. Things will happen, when or if there is a right time, but not sooner.
Living in a place like Japan with strong ties to a community of foreigners I have noticed that most people that travel aren't married. I have met countless numbers of foreign teachers and international students doing their masters, Ph.D's or postdocs out here and nearly none of them are married, despite many of them being in the latter half of their 20's. I doubt any of them are getting married anytime soon.
Life in Japan is incredibly interesting and fun, especially living as a foreigner. There is a sort of a character that many people become while traveling. It is the kind of outgoing adventurous character you become when you travel to a different country. It is, in effect a collection of your desire to make the best of your limited time somewhere. You say 'hi' to random people, sometimes you might get yourself into or start a random conversation with someone on street, you end up trying as many new things as possible or going to as many places as possible, you want to be nice and make friends while in a different place. This is what I call "the spirit of a traveler." I hope that when I do come back to Canada, I remain as a traveler for time to come.
The problem is that being a traveler has certain problems when it comes to relationships, that problem is not knowing where you'll be in the future. You might be living in a certain city for a few years before moving on to somewhere else, you might go home to your home country eventually. Obviously, it is a matter of knowing when you will be settling down. Travelers, unfortunately, won't be settling down for a while, but even if I end up marrying late, I will have no regrets about going off on my adventures, because it is something that I will likely never experience if I had done otherwise.
I wish I went traveling a little earlier, but it really depends on when you are ready to go.
The Wii
It has been almost exactly 1 year since I first heard real news about the Wii. No one had a real clue what it was exactly like until E3 2006 last year where news of gamers lined up at the Nintendo booth addicted to the Wii console. I knew from the start that the Playstation 3 to be released by Sony would be a flop, despite that I decided to apply for a job with them.
I bought into Nintendo stock at about $20 USD after I read the reviews of the systems and what was going around the net. The X-box and the PS3 would be going head to head, but the Wii was cheap and something refreshingly different. I bought some more at $26 and the price has been on a steady climb since then. As of today, the stock stands at about $41 and I think it will continue to rise for a while longer.
I've never touched the Wii since buying stocks, not until yesterday while at a friend's house when I tried the system for the first time. The system is simple yet ingenious and I loved it to bits. I played bowling, boxing, tennis and all sorts of silly games on the system. Buying extra stuff like extra controllers for system will run a small change of cash and the games also run for about $50 each.
The prices for the games on the Wii are somewhat cheaper than those on the X-Box and the PS3 but still close to par, but graphics wise, they are incredibly simpler compared to the more serious gaming consoles; it is insane how beautiful the graphics are on the PS3 for example.
I do know from my gut feelings that Wii sales will be strong for a while since supply is still tight and they are selling out. Couple that with game sales that will also be turning a profit for Nintendo, I think that these guys will be in good shape and growing for a good time to come. I intend to at least double up on my stock with them.
That is not to say that every investment I have made was successful. I have lost approximately 50% of invested money in a company developing LED lighting systems which I felt that would be the future of lighting. LEDs are exceptionally efficient compared to their incandescent counter parts. However, they haven't taken off yet I still don't exactly know why.
I have taken a position with Apple on their upcoming iPhone. I watched Apple's stock ever since the iPod era and always though that they were going to max out at some point, but they kept on going. I do know for sure that I am not as confident on the upcoming iPhone as I was for Nintendo's Wii because there is a lot of built in hype in the iPhone and I already know that the iPhone is going to be expensive, in addition to the service costs to run the iPhone. But somehow, when I compare the iPhone to the expensive blackberry when that came through, they might still pull through, but I think their stock price is rather inflated.
I bought into Nintendo stock at about $20 USD after I read the reviews of the systems and what was going around the net. The X-box and the PS3 would be going head to head, but the Wii was cheap and something refreshingly different. I bought some more at $26 and the price has been on a steady climb since then. As of today, the stock stands at about $41 and I think it will continue to rise for a while longer.
I've never touched the Wii since buying stocks, not until yesterday while at a friend's house when I tried the system for the first time. The system is simple yet ingenious and I loved it to bits. I played bowling, boxing, tennis and all sorts of silly games on the system. Buying extra stuff like extra controllers for system will run a small change of cash and the games also run for about $50 each.
The prices for the games on the Wii are somewhat cheaper than those on the X-Box and the PS3 but still close to par, but graphics wise, they are incredibly simpler compared to the more serious gaming consoles; it is insane how beautiful the graphics are on the PS3 for example.
I do know from my gut feelings that Wii sales will be strong for a while since supply is still tight and they are selling out. Couple that with game sales that will also be turning a profit for Nintendo, I think that these guys will be in good shape and growing for a good time to come. I intend to at least double up on my stock with them.
That is not to say that every investment I have made was successful. I have lost approximately 50% of invested money in a company developing LED lighting systems which I felt that would be the future of lighting. LEDs are exceptionally efficient compared to their incandescent counter parts. However, they haven't taken off yet I still don't exactly know why.
I have taken a position with Apple on their upcoming iPhone. I watched Apple's stock ever since the iPod era and always though that they were going to max out at some point, but they kept on going. I do know for sure that I am not as confident on the upcoming iPhone as I was for Nintendo's Wii because there is a lot of built in hype in the iPhone and I already know that the iPhone is going to be expensive, in addition to the service costs to run the iPhone. But somehow, when I compare the iPhone to the expensive blackberry when that came through, they might still pull through, but I think their stock price is rather inflated.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
A unoffical 2 week holiday~
The one thing I enjoy most about being a grad student is that I work at my own pace; basically I get to come and go as I please. The good thing about this lab, is that so long as you have some results to present at the bi-monthly lab meetings, you won't get into any trouble. Fortunately for me, I have some spare results from working rather efficiently for the past month that I can use to take it easy for the next 2 weeks. Been working pretty hard for the past month that I need some time to wind down.
I have a feeling that it will be pretty tricky to take time off from work the way I can take time off from going to lab-- I just don't go and I like it like that.
I have a feeling that it will be pretty tricky to take time off from work the way I can take time off from going to lab-- I just don't go and I like it like that.
Where are the boundaries of your world?
While looking for a place to sit at the cafeteria today, a Bolivian friend of mine waved me down and I joined him for lunch. We started chatting about the world and his country. He told me that he used to work for the government in Bolivia but it kept changing so much... now Bolivia seems to be making a transition to socialism, which unfortunately doesn't seem like a good solution for a country with a wide disparity between the rich and the poor.
He told me that one of the biggest problems about Bolivia is that everyone in Bolivia thinks that Bolivia is the world. Though profound by itself at the time, I don't see the connection between that statement and solving their problems, but still sometimes I wonder for how many people, the boundaries of their world stop at the borders of their own country.
When I talk about boundaries, I don't mean just being outside of your own country, but really understanding what living in another country and culture is like. There is much to learn from people in different parts of the world, things that you or your people that might have never even thought of before.
I realize that sometimes making change happen can be incredibly tough. It could be inside the structure of an organization, a government or culture. Sometimes the system does not work and it is incredibly tough to change, as some systems are like bulky machinery running with a heavily in one direction. Why fight to change everything when you could also just go somewhere that suits you better? There will be, of course, times when you should fight for change... but only when you are in a position to make it happen.
He told me that one of the biggest problems about Bolivia is that everyone in Bolivia thinks that Bolivia is the world. Though profound by itself at the time, I don't see the connection between that statement and solving their problems, but still sometimes I wonder for how many people, the boundaries of their world stop at the borders of their own country.
When I talk about boundaries, I don't mean just being outside of your own country, but really understanding what living in another country and culture is like. There is much to learn from people in different parts of the world, things that you or your people that might have never even thought of before.
I realize that sometimes making change happen can be incredibly tough. It could be inside the structure of an organization, a government or culture. Sometimes the system does not work and it is incredibly tough to change, as some systems are like bulky machinery running with a heavily in one direction. Why fight to change everything when you could also just go somewhere that suits you better? There will be, of course, times when you should fight for change... but only when you are in a position to make it happen.
Sendai Art City Project
I am a sucker for city events and shows, whether it be an art show, music, dance whatever. Where ever there is a collection of people out together showing stuff off, I want to be there to take a look.
I really enjoy going to these events because I can learn a whole lot of things that I would never encounter in my normal daily life and it is always interesting to me to go out an experience new things. Who knows what you might learn!
And it always makes for interesting stories, like just yesterday, I had my portrait done by a street artist. The first time I ever had something like that done. While watching the street artist draw other people, I had a chance to meet a really nice lady who was very friendly and we ended up chatting for a little while. I even snapped some nice pictures of her getting her portrait done which I will be sending to her by e-mail.
I also managed to meet a couple, where the guy was from Vancouver hanging out in Sendai after his wedding that day, his wife is from Sendai and they were out visiting her family. I talked to the guy and he told me that he lived in Burnaby and worked in Richmond... at MDA, the company where I had an interview with right before coming to Japan. Had I not gotten the scholarship to come out to Japan, I would have likely been working there after I finished my contract job at some other company where I was doing really boring work. The world is really a small place sometimes. I have more stories to tell about how small this world is, but perhaps another time.
But for now, click on the photo to check out the album and enjoy the pictures.
I really enjoy going to these events because I can learn a whole lot of things that I would never encounter in my normal daily life and it is always interesting to me to go out an experience new things. Who knows what you might learn!
And it always makes for interesting stories, like just yesterday, I had my portrait done by a street artist. The first time I ever had something like that done. While watching the street artist draw other people, I had a chance to meet a really nice lady who was very friendly and we ended up chatting for a little while. I even snapped some nice pictures of her getting her portrait done which I will be sending to her by e-mail.
I also managed to meet a couple, where the guy was from Vancouver hanging out in Sendai after his wedding that day, his wife is from Sendai and they were out visiting her family. I talked to the guy and he told me that he lived in Burnaby and worked in Richmond... at MDA, the company where I had an interview with right before coming to Japan. Had I not gotten the scholarship to come out to Japan, I would have likely been working there after I finished my contract job at some other company where I was doing really boring work. The world is really a small place sometimes. I have more stories to tell about how small this world is, but perhaps another time.
But for now, click on the photo to check out the album and enjoy the pictures.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Hm, not too bad of a week!
Well things seem to be going fairly OK. My professors are currently happy with my work and I'll get to finally publish a research paper on my work and do a presentation somewhere. Right now, I am aiming for Copenhagen, Denmark. If I am doubly lucky, I might hit another, perhaps San Fransisco too for another conference. There are a few other things in the works as well, but I'll announce them when they become more solid.
I also passed my interviews with Sony Japan and it seems like I'll be joining them in doing R&D for display systems. Sony just recently put out a 3 mm thick display system that has many people drooling and it seems like that these guys want me to work on fine tuning their manufacturing processes. It will be interesting to see how things go. Unfortunately, I will be based in Atsugi which is about 50 km South and West of Tokyo (in other words, a 1 hour train ride in). I just called a friend asking her about the city and the first thing she said to me was think "Country side." Doh! But I hear that there is some decent surfing in the area too!
I told my professor about my new job opportunity and he quipped that "it seems that all the students are leaving the lab for work." My supervising professor is a really nice guy (exceptionally patient too) and it's pretty obvious that he would like more students to stick around to do their Ph.Ds. For me, I just want a change of pace outside of a lab and my Saturdays back instead of going to my lab meetings on the weekends.
This next year is going to be rather interesting!
I also passed my interviews with Sony Japan and it seems like I'll be joining them in doing R&D for display systems. Sony just recently put out a 3 mm thick display system that has many people drooling and it seems like that these guys want me to work on fine tuning their manufacturing processes. It will be interesting to see how things go. Unfortunately, I will be based in Atsugi which is about 50 km South and West of Tokyo (in other words, a 1 hour train ride in). I just called a friend asking her about the city and the first thing she said to me was think "Country side." Doh! But I hear that there is some decent surfing in the area too!
I told my professor about my new job opportunity and he quipped that "it seems that all the students are leaving the lab for work." My supervising professor is a really nice guy (exceptionally patient too) and it's pretty obvious that he would like more students to stick around to do their Ph.Ds. For me, I just want a change of pace outside of a lab and my Saturdays back instead of going to my lab meetings on the weekends.
This next year is going to be rather interesting!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The recent downturn in posts
According to my logs, my posting rate has gone down significantly for the past month. I'm probably down to a post once a week which is quite slow for my posting pace.
Lab life for the past few months have been quite busy, but it's more of a self imposed kind of busy. March was spring break where students at the University graduate and there is a month lull before the new students come in. During this time, I have free reign over all the silicon wafer processing equipment. It was great, I was up to the point where I was running several machines in parallel all at once while doing multiple experiments.
The electron beam microscope was available about 90% of the time and I'd even just pop in on a whim to take some pictures of new samples. Usually I'd have to put reservations in 1~2 days in advance to take data! What a difference in turn around time.
Unfortunately, all that hard work comes at a cost and I think I'm facing sort of a mild burn out. I've been pulling 8~12 hours at the lab and working in the clean room doing experiments straight. We also have weekend meetings on Saturdays from 9 am to 4 pm usually. As of this moment, I have fairly little motivation to do experiments. A chance of pace would be nice, and I will be having a chance of pace happening in the next few months!
If things go well, I might be able to head to Denmark for a few days to do a research presentation at a conference. I am crossing my fingers that I will get accepted (because the trip will be all expenses paid by the lab :)
Aside from that, I will be taking up a new hobby in my spare time, a little something called "Poi" which a New Zealand art were you spin tethered balls to strings. I saw a demonstration a few days back and it was pretty cool. Looking forward to picking up some gear in the near future.
Lab life for the past few months have been quite busy, but it's more of a self imposed kind of busy. March was spring break where students at the University graduate and there is a month lull before the new students come in. During this time, I have free reign over all the silicon wafer processing equipment. It was great, I was up to the point where I was running several machines in parallel all at once while doing multiple experiments.
The electron beam microscope was available about 90% of the time and I'd even just pop in on a whim to take some pictures of new samples. Usually I'd have to put reservations in 1~2 days in advance to take data! What a difference in turn around time.
Unfortunately, all that hard work comes at a cost and I think I'm facing sort of a mild burn out. I've been pulling 8~12 hours at the lab and working in the clean room doing experiments straight. We also have weekend meetings on Saturdays from 9 am to 4 pm usually. As of this moment, I have fairly little motivation to do experiments. A chance of pace would be nice, and I will be having a chance of pace happening in the next few months!
If things go well, I might be able to head to Denmark for a few days to do a research presentation at a conference. I am crossing my fingers that I will get accepted (because the trip will be all expenses paid by the lab :)
Aside from that, I will be taking up a new hobby in my spare time, a little something called "Poi" which a New Zealand art were you spin tethered balls to strings. I saw a demonstration a few days back and it was pretty cool. Looking forward to picking up some gear in the near future.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
How do you even begin to choreograph this!?
I came across this CG fight movie using the main Halo character and Metroid and damn it is so beautiful. I just can't explain the sheer awesomeness of the moves, how do you even come up with stuff like that!? I have no clue but the guy that put this CG movie together is pure genius and hilarious! Awww man, I've seen it 5 times over and I still can't stop watching it.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Thoughts of the day
I met some people the other day that I thought were kind of boring, all talk and no action. They told me that they were too busy to do much other than work. I vowed that I'd never want to be like them.
What is it that you live for?
What will you make time for?
Have you the guts to take a chance?
What is it that you live for?
What will you make time for?
Have you the guts to take a chance?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Lily and Richard was Here!
Last weekend I had the honor of Lily and Richard visiting me in Sendai while they were in Japan doing their tour. They arrived on Saturday at noon where I took them around for a packed day of events. I even skipped out on the later half of my lab meeting to meet up with them at the train station.
There were 2 different exits to the bullet train section and I was waiting at the wrong end exit and caught sight of them from across the station, (a good 200 meters?). Spotting them was easy... there was something distinctly Canadian about their appearance that made them stand out of the crowd. I don't know how to put it, but North American clothing is distinctly different from Asian style.
After picking them up at the station, the first thing we did was take a 20 minute walk back to my place to drop off their stuff. After a bit of unpacking, our first stop was my lab's sakura party at one of the local parks. The meeting was going to end a little early today and everyone at lab came out to the park with food and drinks to hang out. One of my labmates brought out a good bottle of sake to drink, pretty strong but really smooth. Unfortunately, it was a little strong for Richard and Lily.
The one thing I realized at that point about Japan is how prevalent their drinking culture. Back when I was in Canada, I would hardly drink at all. I'd have a drink probably 4~5 times a year. Since coming to Japan, I could easily do that in 2 weeks depending on the season (Christmas and New Year's is especially bad on the liver).
Labmates at the park for our Sakura party
Next stop on the list after the party would be some Yakiniku at a restaurant on a recommendation from a friend. I thought it was Japanese yakiniku but it was more like a Japanese-Korean style yakiniku restaurant. $25 for all you can eat fried meat! Ever thought that you could do that in Japan?
Me, Lily, Mari and Benoit (France) together at yakiniku
Richard and Joe on the other side of the table having a good time!
We totally gorged ourselves on food that evening, it wasn't funny how hard we were trying to finish all the meat we ordered. Of an interesting note, Japan recently started using all sorts of parts of an animal for their fried meat dishes. In Japanese, they call it "horu-mon." In the Osaka dialect "Horu" means to "throw away" and in standard Japanese "mon" means "thing." Put the 2 words together, you get "throw away things," in other words, parts of an animal that are usually thrown away, like intestines, stomach lining and etc.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of explaining everything too far in advance because apparently Joe, isn't a big fan of eating misc. meat parts. Ooops. Whenever I took friends to Chinese restaurants in Canada that have never been before, I had a policy of "eat first, ask later," because some people are grossed out too easily before trying something out! Ah well. We had a pretty good time eating all sorts of food... and way too much of it.
To top off the evening, a Venezuelan friend of mine was performing at the local Irish pub in Sendai, which is a hang out or many international students and Japanese friends of mine. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to introduce Lily and Richard to Japanese people and people living in Japan! We walked across the downtown from the yakiniku restaurant to the Irish pub where my Venezuelan friend was in the process of bringing down the house!
Javier and friend rocking it at the Irish Pub
The concert that evening was just great. Javier sent word out to all his friends and there were at least 100 people out there that evening listening, cheering, singing and dancing. This was the biggest crowd that I've seen at the pub and it was simply great to see so many friends out that evening. Actually, Lily and Richard was kind of surprised at the number of people I knew at the pub that evening as I was greeting lots of people that evening. I do drop in from time to time and know some of the regulars, the rest are either part of the international crew or friends of the group. It's small world in the Irish Pub.
The crowd hanging out up front.
As for me and my crew, we settled near the back of the pub where there was only but a single table open that we took over. We ordered a few drinks and hung out chatting with the people around. Mari invited a few of her friends out to hang out with us, namely Mayuko and Yukie.
Joe, Richard, Lily and Mayuko hanging out at the table
Of course, since I was at the Irish pub, I had to order some Guinness beer.
A nice tall one of Guinness
While at the pub I invited a few friends to come out and meet Lily and Richard, which was pretty cool. Actually, one of things I like most about the Irish Pub here is that the community of people that come out are incredibly open. I could sit down at the bar and say hi to someone while they're getting a drink and then get invited over to their table. Sometimes there are people at different tables just drinking and they'll say "hi" and start chatting. I personally love friendly environments like these. Perhaps the pubs in Ireland are just like this? One of these days, I'll have to go and find out!
We hung out at the bar for quite some time and I was playing around with my camera and came out with a few pretty good pictures. Unfortunately, my hand wasn't so steady and there is a bit of blur in these pictures. But I thought they came out pretty good anyways. I'll have to invest in some mini tripod one of these days.
Left: Lily Portrait
Right: Yukie and Lily
We wrapped up the evening at about midnight where I took them for a night stroll around the Arcade street of Sendai (sort of like an outdoor mall) where the night musicians were playing music (but there weren't many that evening).
While walking home, we saw some girls walking home along the streets at night and mentioned to me that girls back in Canada would at least think twice before walking home alone at night. I was caught somewhat off guard because after living here for 2 years, I had become quite accustomed to seeing girls walk home alone at night. It's interesting how I've gotten so used to living in Japan that it's become hard to for me make comparisons between Japan and home. I guess that is what 2 years does to you.
The next day was the Sunday and their last day in Sendai. It seemed that Rich and Lily were in need of some souvenirs so we went shopping during the day downtown for friends back in Canada. I hadn't gone shopping in forever but it was refreshing going into town to take a look at the stores. It's been at least a month since the last time I was downtown doing any shopping.
Lily and I at the entrance of the shopping arcade
Apparently her stay in Japan and looking at Japanese clothing, Lily was hooked onto getting a trench coat which was so prevalent in Japan. To be honest, a good trench coat on a girl is quite classy so I was all for that. We went from store to store looking for a good coat (they were some that were good and cheap too! Like $40 bucks cheap!) but we couldn't find one that suited her well enough. Hopefully she had the chance to find one in Tokyo before going back to Canada.
It was nearly time for them to head off to Tokyo where they would say for their last night in Japan. Lily really wanted to take a spin on my scooter but unfortunately we didn't have time for that. But the day before, we did take a picture of her and my scooter together. I hope she buys one, scooters are a lot of fun, especially in the spring and summer. Scooters aren't very expensive either!
Lily riding on my scooter. Her jacket matches with it pretty nicely!
We got to Sendai station with barely any time to spare. Actually we had to sprint from the subway station to the bullet train section, which was quite a sprint. I even ended taking Lily's backpack half of the way. My bad on the timing. As a result, we said our short adieus and then they were off. I hope they caught their train OK... I just got an e-mail from Lily yesterday, so it seems they made it back to Canada in one piece. And so, Lily and Richard was Here and had a great time. And so can you!
There were 2 different exits to the bullet train section and I was waiting at the wrong end exit and caught sight of them from across the station, (a good 200 meters?). Spotting them was easy... there was something distinctly Canadian about their appearance that made them stand out of the crowd. I don't know how to put it, but North American clothing is distinctly different from Asian style.
After picking them up at the station, the first thing we did was take a 20 minute walk back to my place to drop off their stuff. After a bit of unpacking, our first stop was my lab's sakura party at one of the local parks. The meeting was going to end a little early today and everyone at lab came out to the park with food and drinks to hang out. One of my labmates brought out a good bottle of sake to drink, pretty strong but really smooth. Unfortunately, it was a little strong for Richard and Lily.
The one thing I realized at that point about Japan is how prevalent their drinking culture. Back when I was in Canada, I would hardly drink at all. I'd have a drink probably 4~5 times a year. Since coming to Japan, I could easily do that in 2 weeks depending on the season (Christmas and New Year's is especially bad on the liver).
Labmates at the park for our Sakura party
Next stop on the list after the party would be some Yakiniku at a restaurant on a recommendation from a friend. I thought it was Japanese yakiniku but it was more like a Japanese-Korean style yakiniku restaurant. $25 for all you can eat fried meat! Ever thought that you could do that in Japan?
Me, Lily, Mari and Benoit (France) together at yakiniku
Richard and Joe on the other side of the table having a good time!
We totally gorged ourselves on food that evening, it wasn't funny how hard we were trying to finish all the meat we ordered. Of an interesting note, Japan recently started using all sorts of parts of an animal for their fried meat dishes. In Japanese, they call it "horu-mon." In the Osaka dialect "Horu" means to "throw away" and in standard Japanese "mon" means "thing." Put the 2 words together, you get "throw away things," in other words, parts of an animal that are usually thrown away, like intestines, stomach lining and etc.
Unfortunately I made the mistake of explaining everything too far in advance because apparently Joe, isn't a big fan of eating misc. meat parts. Ooops. Whenever I took friends to Chinese restaurants in Canada that have never been before, I had a policy of "eat first, ask later," because some people are grossed out too easily before trying something out! Ah well. We had a pretty good time eating all sorts of food... and way too much of it.
To top off the evening, a Venezuelan friend of mine was performing at the local Irish pub in Sendai, which is a hang out or many international students and Japanese friends of mine. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to introduce Lily and Richard to Japanese people and people living in Japan! We walked across the downtown from the yakiniku restaurant to the Irish pub where my Venezuelan friend was in the process of bringing down the house!
Javier and friend rocking it at the Irish Pub
The concert that evening was just great. Javier sent word out to all his friends and there were at least 100 people out there that evening listening, cheering, singing and dancing. This was the biggest crowd that I've seen at the pub and it was simply great to see so many friends out that evening. Actually, Lily and Richard was kind of surprised at the number of people I knew at the pub that evening as I was greeting lots of people that evening. I do drop in from time to time and know some of the regulars, the rest are either part of the international crew or friends of the group. It's small world in the Irish Pub.
The crowd hanging out up front.
As for me and my crew, we settled near the back of the pub where there was only but a single table open that we took over. We ordered a few drinks and hung out chatting with the people around. Mari invited a few of her friends out to hang out with us, namely Mayuko and Yukie.
Joe, Richard, Lily and Mayuko hanging out at the table
Of course, since I was at the Irish pub, I had to order some Guinness beer.
A nice tall one of Guinness
While at the pub I invited a few friends to come out and meet Lily and Richard, which was pretty cool. Actually, one of things I like most about the Irish Pub here is that the community of people that come out are incredibly open. I could sit down at the bar and say hi to someone while they're getting a drink and then get invited over to their table. Sometimes there are people at different tables just drinking and they'll say "hi" and start chatting. I personally love friendly environments like these. Perhaps the pubs in Ireland are just like this? One of these days, I'll have to go and find out!
We hung out at the bar for quite some time and I was playing around with my camera and came out with a few pretty good pictures. Unfortunately, my hand wasn't so steady and there is a bit of blur in these pictures. But I thought they came out pretty good anyways. I'll have to invest in some mini tripod one of these days.
Left: Lily Portrait
Right: Yukie and Lily
We wrapped up the evening at about midnight where I took them for a night stroll around the Arcade street of Sendai (sort of like an outdoor mall) where the night musicians were playing music (but there weren't many that evening).
While walking home, we saw some girls walking home along the streets at night and mentioned to me that girls back in Canada would at least think twice before walking home alone at night. I was caught somewhat off guard because after living here for 2 years, I had become quite accustomed to seeing girls walk home alone at night. It's interesting how I've gotten so used to living in Japan that it's become hard to for me make comparisons between Japan and home. I guess that is what 2 years does to you.
The next day was the Sunday and their last day in Sendai. It seemed that Rich and Lily were in need of some souvenirs so we went shopping during the day downtown for friends back in Canada. I hadn't gone shopping in forever but it was refreshing going into town to take a look at the stores. It's been at least a month since the last time I was downtown doing any shopping.
Lily and I at the entrance of the shopping arcade
Apparently her stay in Japan and looking at Japanese clothing, Lily was hooked onto getting a trench coat which was so prevalent in Japan. To be honest, a good trench coat on a girl is quite classy so I was all for that. We went from store to store looking for a good coat (they were some that were good and cheap too! Like $40 bucks cheap!) but we couldn't find one that suited her well enough. Hopefully she had the chance to find one in Tokyo before going back to Canada.
It was nearly time for them to head off to Tokyo where they would say for their last night in Japan. Lily really wanted to take a spin on my scooter but unfortunately we didn't have time for that. But the day before, we did take a picture of her and my scooter together. I hope she buys one, scooters are a lot of fun, especially in the spring and summer. Scooters aren't very expensive either!
Lily riding on my scooter. Her jacket matches with it pretty nicely!
We got to Sendai station with barely any time to spare. Actually we had to sprint from the subway station to the bullet train section, which was quite a sprint. I even ended taking Lily's backpack half of the way. My bad on the timing. As a result, we said our short adieus and then they were off. I hope they caught their train OK... I just got an e-mail from Lily yesterday, so it seems they made it back to Canada in one piece. And so, Lily and Richard was Here and had a great time. And so can you!
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