Today is one day before my trip to Kyoto. Got a little busy today... By the way, my Zire72 is... injured... :-(
Today is one day before my trip to Kyoto. Got a little busy today... By the way, my Zire72 is... injured... :-(
Went around Tokyo with Elaine again. Shinjuku, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Shibuya, Ikebukuro... I've practically visited all the tourist places in Tokyo! Yey! We had dinner at... SHAKEY'S! We ordered 4 kinds of pizza (a quarter of each kind)... One pizza was kind of like a sushi/seafood pizza. Sarap din! Of course, we had Chicken and Mojos.
Got home na around 10:30 or so I think. Quite tired na so I went straight home, with a very full stomach.
Today is my brother's birthday. I greeted him last night at around 1:30am local time (12:30 am in Manila).
Because I slept late last night, I woke up real late today. Plus I did the laundry today because I know tomorrow is lakwatsa day. Anyway, I planned on going to Atsugi to go to the 100-Yen shop but (Now I remember that I didn't go last night), it was too late already, I had to attend a seminar/lecture at the school at 3pm. So I went afterwards. Got on a bus with one of the students and had a little chat for the whole bus ride. So I did go to the 100-Yen shop, and I found out it closes at 1am pa!
I forgot na what happened on May 27, Friday. Most probably a boring day. I think I went to the 100-Yen store then... Ah, I slept quite late that night, maybe at around 2:30am already... And so...
Today, to Todai I went, along with Giang-san and Pillai-san. There, an interesting wind engineering research facility they have.
After Todai, we had some coffee and cake at a small coffee shop. 700 Yen for a cake and coffee!
Afterwards, I parted ways with the two guys, and went to Toritsu-kasei in Nakano-ku (ku=ward/district) in Tokyo, to meet with my mom's friend, Tita Arlene, who brought some Pinoy goodies from my mom.
Then I took the train back, this time to the Seibu-Shinjuku station. From there I managed to navigate my way on foot to the Shinjuku station. From there also, I saw, in daylight, where the Airport Limousine Bus Service dropped me (and other passengers) off. I traced my steps going to the Odakyu train line, reminiscing about dragging my big maleta down the stairs, and up and down some escalators. Still a very memorable night.
Got back to Hon-Atsugi station, went to TPU to check mail, and went home by bicycle. I dropped by the Lawson convenience store, where I got something which I thought was chicken again (tori-katsu)... When I got home, I found out it was tonkatsu! Pork! First time I ate tonkatsu here in Japan!
End of day. :-)
Quite tired today, because of the basketball last night. Our class under Prof Tamura extended also up to around 12:15 (supposedly until 11:00 only), but because we had to cover some topics and there might not be enough time next time...
Anyway, today, I was informed that my flight back home is (re-)confirmed for June 17, Friday. Estimated arrival time in Manila is 9:40pm, so hopefully I will be out of the airport by 10:20 or so. (Adrian, pasundo?)
Now, it's decision time: shall I go to the Expo or not?
I plan to leave "work" early to go to the grocery, and maybe the 100-Yen store na din...
i played basketball today, with the school's college varsity team! quite tiring (i did all these exercises with them), but man, i really like playing the sport! i ate two set meals for dinner afterwards! had class #3 under Prof Tamura in the morning.
today, i spent 12 hours at the school. ho-hum. nothing exciting. had some headache middle of the day actually - gutom lang yata yon. oh well. time to go home now. :-)
woke up early, met with Kawana-san and Giang-san at the Hon-Atsugi eki. Took a train going to Shin-Matsuda eki (first time I took a train in that direction). Transferred to JR Gotemba train line for Gotemba. Met with Katsumura-san at Gotemba. He brought us to his company's off-site laboratory, the Wind Engineering Institute (head office is, obviously in Tokyo). They had one wind tunnel there. Learned a lot during that visit.
Then we had lunch at this restaurant in a cool Japanese old-style building. We had "hoto" noodles, and this different kind of sushi. Oishii (sarap)! Vegetarian was the noodles though. And the sushi is actually rice wrapped in I think fried tofu. They served "Mt. Fuji" water. Haha, okay din. Katsumura-san treated us for lunch!
Then we went up Mt. Fuji. Yey! The weather wasn't so good though. Cloudy. When we were up at the 5th station (at around 2,300m elevation--Mt Fuji summit is around 3,700m elevation), we stayed at the rest-house there, took some pictures... I saw Elaine (my friend Rad's girlfriend, who is my tour-guide/friend around Tokyo!)! It was foggy there already and it was "raining" actually. Anyway, Elaine said there were climbing up Mt Fuji but they had to go back down because there were landslides already. There were still some snow (maybe its peak was 5% covered in snow.)
Nonetheless, I had a great time! Thanks a lot to Katsumura-san first and foremost! Thanks to Kawana-san and Giang-san also! And of course, thanks to TPU for making this trip happen!
Anyway, I will upload the pictures soon.
In the evening, I was so tired, I went straight home (dropped by 7-Eleven actually for dinner). What an awesome sight, Mt Fuji is. Too bad I haven't seen Mayon Volcano yet!
Alright, until next!
morning... class day #2 under Prof Tamura.
afternoon... wala lang.
evening... wala lang.
well i had 7-Eleven food for dinner. medyo mas-type ko ang food sa 7-Eleven kesa sa grocery kahit na mas mahal ng kaunti so...
i still felt very tired in the morning. i didn't have coffee pa pati so... spark plug ko ang coffee.
anyway, in the afternoon, two professors from the US gave some short presentations about research activities at their respective universities.
here's something interesting: At Colorado State University, there is one required course for ALL freshmen students (undergraduate of course): "NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION FOR FRESHMEN."
beat that.
also, copying from the Japanese (or from Prof Tamura's PhD students at least) as Prof Bienkewicz of Col. State U mentioned, they also did some "wind tunnel tests" with pre-schoolers.
beat that.
haha. ha. ay pilipinas kong minamahal... nakaka-inis ka dahil kaya mong umunlad pero ayaw mo, pero ganun pa man, miss na kita, pilipinas!!! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
nga pala, walang magku-kuwento sa akin ng star wars episode 3. kainis!!!!
busy day today. again. workout. again. but compared with yesterday, i got to go to the grocery for discounted meals... :-)
First thing in the morning, Prof Tamura gave us an introductory class. Then, I felt tired in the afternoon, must be because of the workout. It was also sunny in the morning, and then cloudy and colder in the afternoon. Maybe that had something to do with me feeling tired. The two other PhD guys from Vietnam and India felt a little tired in the afternoon also.
Ah, starting yesterday morning, I tried a different bike route going to the school. Mas madali dumaan don kasi konti lang dadaanan kong traffic light. Tsaka, it looks like a shorter route, although I'm not so sure about that. Yesterday actually, I kind of got lost, I mean, hindi naman. Yung kaibigan kasi natin e mali ang binigay na instructions. Well, trying to help lang naman siya. Anyway, basically I did not know which direction to go, where to turn, etc., but I was following some high-rise landmarks... On my old bike route kasi, it's following a line of transmission towers. And then, just before the last traffic light towards the school, there's this big place - I think it's a golf course - and since residential area ang paligid, may matataas na mga net along its perimeter. So sinundan ko lang din yon. It felt like a shorter route. But I think, the important thing also is hindi uphill itong bago kong route. Yung dating route, pawis ako palagi pagkadating ng school, and pa-easy-easy lang pagpa-uwi. Ngayon, pareho lang ang effort halos for both ways.
I left school early to go to Sofmap in Atsugi. Basically I bought memory cards for my cameras, and also a memory card reader for the laptop. Got into quite a conversation in Japanese with one of the salespersons there. Anyway, nagkamali ako ng nabili na Compact Flash memory card - Sandisk ang brand na nabili ko so halos pareho lang ng presyo sa Pinas. Anyway, magandang brand naman ang Sandisk. Nakabili din pala ako ng extra battery para sa Canon na camera ko...
Wellp, that's all for now! 'til next!
it's the first monday, first day of my second month here in japan. it's quite warm today, it was sunny since 5:00am! how did i know? i woke up at around that time, and boy, was the sun shining. remember japan is up in the northern hemisphere, and they have like 14 hours of daylight on months around the summer. sun rise today is actually at 4:35am, and sun set is at 6:39pm. and, they do not use daylight savings time here unlike in the US.
a little busy day though i got off to a slow start. next thing i know, it was lunch time already. i had two meals for lunch. hehe. i had "pizza" for breakfast, but it didn't quite satisfy my stomach though.
at around merienda time, there was this demonstration again of some software that processes digital video images to determine the flow of air (or water) around some building or obstruction.
next thing i know, it's 5pm already. i have been preparing this "country report" on wind data from the philippines, and i actually started preparing my powerpoint presentation already.
7pm, it was workout-at-the-gym time. quite a good workout. i followed my "trainor's" instructions. hehe.
i was late for the discounted meals at the Sekichu Home Center (grocery), so i settled for 7-Eleven. they have this meal that i like a lot: it has fish, squid, and chicken, and i really like the rice with the nori (seaweed) and stuff.
well that's all for today. jaa, mata ashita!
Almost everything went on schedule today... 10am meeting with the Professor. 2pm meeting with my friend, Mia... Got my cellphone na! Texted my brother. It seems that the Globe website (www.globehandyphone.com.ph) is not up-to-date. Supposedly, I have a local number. It doesn't seem like so. My brother texted back that it was my (Globe/Philippines) cellphone number which was displayed together with my text message.
Mia pala is in Chiba-ken (ken = prefecture ~ province), same prefecture as the Narita International Airport. Now I'm from Atsugi-shi (shi = city) in Kanagawa-ken. Imagine that the Manila International Airport is in Bulacan and I live in Los Baños, Laguna. Haha, anyway, I will be more at peace now, because I now have a cellphone! (A Nokia 6650 by the way, for rent from Globe for P75 a day.)
I had late lunch at McDonald's there, and did some window shopping, and some hyaku-en (100 yen) shopping. Now I finally got wasabi, and I also have this sake set. Hehe.
On my way back home, I dropped by Tokyo eki (eki = train station) which I took some pictures of. It's one big and old red brick building. Since my website free space is almost nil, I'll update na lang my photos website when I get back na to the Philippines.
I also dropped by the Shinjuku area, actually just to check what's up at the GAP store (hehe). Did some tambay but nothing really was happening at Shinjuku around that time. It was around 530pm na.
I tried contacting my friend, Elaine, but she wasn't at home. I was gonna ask sana kung may gimmick pa siya.
I also tried to text my friend, Danny, on his Japan-based cellphone. He didn't reply. I don't know if he received it.
Got back quite early to my home-eki, Hon-Atsugi eki. I was there a little past 7pm na yata. Dropped by the supermarket na din for some food. Ubos na yung mga okay na meals nila, so I dropped by the 7-Eleven na din. Mej napadami yata ang binili ko, I was so full, pero naubos ko naman. Hehe. Saya! :-)
Busy day again today. Tomorrow morning, Saturday at 10am I have to meet with my adviser here at TPU, Prof Tamura. Have to meet also with a friend in Tokyo, Mia, who brought a cellphone for me here.
Slept last night actually at watashi-no tomodatchi-no apaato-ni (at my friend's apartment). We were supposed to go to Miraikan also in Odaiba, but we had to cancel. Anyway, I got back to the Hon-Atsugi station at almost 1pm na.
Whenever I ride the trains here, I feel like I'm on the Amazing Race. I always try to think of how I could get somewhere faster! Sometimes, I take trains for another destination, and change trains na lang at some station. I saved 9 minutes on my trip from Shinjuku to Hon-Atsugi today! That could have been worth a lot to get to the pit stop first!
Anyway, I did not go home straight actually, because there's an "international tea party" for foreigners in Atsugi at 2pm. Ate lunch at... McDo again. Love ko 'to! Hehe.
At the party, there was this German, a Thai, Three Vietnamese (including Giang-san), one Indian (Pillai-san), one Filipino (me), one Bengal or Pakistani i think, some Chinese, and a lot of Japanese. Anyway, I was forced to sing in front! So I sang... Leron Leron Sinta. Unfortunately I forgot the lyrics, but fortunately no one there knew! They were clapping to the song anyway. Hehe
Afterwards, dinner with Pillai-san and Giang-san at the Indian Kitchen restaurant. Had some "nan", the Indian bread, with chicken curry.
Yeah baby!
Walked a lot today! Went to Tokyo eki (nice building but I forgot to get my picture taken there), and then to the Imperial Palace and Garden and the (small font) museum (/small font) where admission is free. Maliit kasi. Next stop was Hibiya Park. So-so, except that there's a bust of Jose Rizal there!
Next stop was McDo for lunch, then the convention center there... Amazing architecture!
Then off to... Odaiba! Spent practically the whole afternoon there. Saw the Rainbow Bridge, went to the "beach"... There was this nice looking mall that had a on-a-cruise feel to it. Went to Fuji TV headquarters - amazing architecture again! Some Nissan cars on display... Then off to the Toyota something there. Lots of cars on display! Very interesting exhibits. We probably took a long time there... We also rode an automatic car there, for 200 yen per person and 45 minutes wait. As in, it drives on its own! Accelerates, breaks, turns, turns on the turn signal, automatic talaga! Kaso, top speed: 15 kph. Small car lang.
Anyway, dinner at McDo again!
Check out the pictures sana, kaso wala nang space sa website ko!
Today is a "busy" day. My usual "work": downloading some references, and editing my "country report." Chatted with some friends in Manila, one of them will be coming here on a work trip next week. Exchanged some e-mails.
Cold day with some "showers" by the way! Yesterday and the past few days have been clear skies and sunny days!
I went to Yokohama today, although I also planned to go to Kamakura. Anyway, one day may not be enough to go around Yokohama really. Although, perhaps because I took some time at Motomachi - I dropped by the GAP store, and went to the Catholic Church, which is perhaps the nearest one to Atsugi.
Well, there is a lot to be said... Anyway, on the train trip between Atsugi and Yokohama, I saw a different kind of Japan; not very much like Atsugi, or Yokohama, or Tokyo. It's much like seeing a part of Oakland when travelling from Berkeley to San Francisco by the BART (train).
I saw the World Police (Band) Concert 2005 but I didn't watch the whole of it...
And lastly, I like Yokohama a lot, but maybe because it's a smaller city than Tokyo, and there are a lot more open spaces, and part of Yokohama's features really is the big body of water (that's why Yokohama is called the port city). I like what they've done with the Yamashita Park and all the other sea-side (or bay-side) attractions. There are maps and guides maybe almost every 500 meters or every kilometer which are also in Roma-ji or English as well as in Kanji/Hiragana/Katakana, of course. Perhaps, aside from being a port city, Motomachi explains why this is so. In Motomachi you could find plenty of European-style houses and buildings. It is also there where I found the Sacred Heart Cathedral. There are at least two other Christianity-based churches there.
Checkout the pictures: http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005yokohama
I've also updated: http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005atsugi and http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005food
The new photo site and the updated sites will be effective on Saturday, May 7, 2005 in the morning, Tokyo & Manila time.
Today, like I've previously mentioned is still technically a holiday, but anyway I'm here at the university. I want to finish the things I need to finish so that I could come clean come Friday, the first truly working day after this long holiday.
Anyway, today also marks the first time I am able to see an English show for a change. Wala lang. Saya!
The following photo sites are new or have been updated:
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005tokyo (new)
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005misc (updated)
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005atsugi (new/updated)
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005food (updated)
The following photo sites are still up:
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005nikko
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005tpu
http://ronjie.tripod.com/nihon2005apato
It is a legal holiday today in Japan; it's Constitution Day. Technically I
could go out and not go to the university.
Anyway, waking up, I still felt a bit tired from the long weekend. I was
planning on going to Yokohama today but, well that was one reason why I
didn't go. A second reason is that it was cloudy when I woke up, until
around mid-day.
At mid-day, it was all so shiny and clear! Truly, the weather here changes
quite drastically in a matter of minutes!
So I went to the university... Worked up some e-mails, downloaded some
reference materials, chatted with some friends from home, coordinated with
my brother for my roaming phone rental...
I wanted to stay there until I was finished with all the
reference-gathering, but I thought, I'll just go home early, get some
discounted food at Sekichu Home Center (the grocery), sleep early, and go
back early to the university the next day. Technically it's not a holiday
tomorrow, May 4, but because it is sandwiched by the May 3 and May 5
holidays, it is declared as a holiday. Thus starting from the April 29
holiday (Greenery day) upto May 5 (Children's day), it is called "the
Golden Week," which a lot of Japanese take as one long holiday. Some
companies however, mostly those based in Tokyo, and some researchers also,
do not take these holidays or all of them off. I guess, the same is true
for some people back home.
Anyway, it was 7:45 already when I left the university, and Sekichu closes
at 8pm! So I rode the bicycle as fast as I can, and I got there probably 2
minutes before closing time. That was a 13-minute bicycle ride; it was
actually one of my best record times (I think I previously made it in
12-minutes from the apartment to the school).
So I got my usual discounted meals. Oh, I had just instant noodles and a
small can of tuna for lunch so I ate a lot for dinner: 3 ulams and 3
rice! I didn't have any room for the strawberries I bought. Oh well, I am
very satisfied, now I really feel like sleeping early. So off to sleep I
go now! 'Til next!
Breakfast at Danny's, and at around 10am, off to Korakuen beside the Tokyo
Dome. It's a big Japanese-style garden (park).
Then we had an American lunch at Becker's (Burger, salad, and Cora, or
Coca-Cola for me).
Then off to Roponggi Hills we went for the Tokyo City View... And the Mori
Art Museum, and the Museum for the Future of Urban Infrastructure?
Last stop was Harajuku. Then I parted ways with Danny and his son Dalan at
Shinjuku station where they still had to get some more of Dalan's school
things. Got back to Hon-Atsugi at around 7pm na.
I was so very tired. I passed by the University pa to check lang for
e-mails. Then Pillai-san and Giang-san invited me for dinner and drinks at
their apartment. Pillai-san prepared some Indian food (I liked it a lot)
but it was vegetarian (but I still liked it a lot!). I only had a couple
of glasses of drinks, and got home na to the apartment at a little past
10pm na, very tired (rode the bicycle pa kasi). Then, ayun...