A bit quiet on the blogging front lately. Doesn't mean nothing's been happening, though.
The living room got some floor lists laid down, an industrial grade bookshelf is waiting for finishing touches, went to look at tiles for the kitchen walls and trying to figure out how to fill in the residence permit papers for Lisa. It's just that all this stuff isn't very photogenic.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Panda Phone
I have no idea from where this beauty has come to our office, but I do find it funny it's branded "Panda" written in the Prada font.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Last Night in Osaka
Had a bit of a Lost In Translation feeling over our last night in Osaka. Well spent at the top floor bar of the hotel. Now we're back in Helsinki, and it's about bedtime.
Aquarium Window Sample
The windows of the biggest tank at Kaiyukan, the "Pacific", is 30cm thick solid acrylic. A pretty cool fact is that the aquarium used about 1,5 times the average world annual output in weight of acrylic for it's windows.
Kaiyukan, Osaka
Highly recommended if you happen to be in those parts, even if it's crowded. Nothing beats spending an afternoon staring at odd sealife that's staring back at you.
Japan: 1, Norway: 0
I remember being suitably impressed with the retractable clothesline in my hotel room in Bergen way back. Of course Japanese engineers had to do one better, and the clothesline in Ramada Hotel Osaka featured a twist-lock as well. Can it get any better?
Monday, August 11, 2008
Graphic Warning
You don't really need to read Japanese to understand that leaving your fingers between the elevator doos will hurt like hell.
Escape
If you ever fall off a subway platform in Osaka, look for this sign. Means there's an escape route under the platform. Life saving knowledge in the jungle
Badly Parked DeLorean
I guess pocket parking isn't a priority when returning from 2015. Back to the Future was a cool ride with great sensory tricks, but about 5 minutes fun after 1 hour of waiting isn't really my idea of a good deal. Otherwise ok place.
Hollywood in Osaka
Ad hoc visit to Universal Studios Japan after a smooth Shinkansen ride to Osaka. Kitchy in a nice way only Hollywood can achieve.
Enoshima Beach Day
A day away from the hot city having a hot barbecue on a hot beach. Luckily the ocean provided some relief. I could get used to the kind of lifestyle, though.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
The Origin of Beer, Tokyo
Had a great escape from all the usual lagers and super dry's they pass for beer here tonight. Don't get me wrong, Japanese beers are not bad. Some are really good, like Sapporo Black Label and Ebisu. Just isn't much natural variety in the mass, and a lot of artificial hype.
T.V. Harbour Brewery near Shinagawa turns out a good variety of brews done in-house. Tasted their wheat beer and amber ale, and both had a nice character and lot's of flavour. The food wasn't half bad either. Recommended.
T.V. Harbour Brewery near Shinagawa turns out a good variety of brews done in-house. Tasted their wheat beer and amber ale, and both had a nice character and lot's of flavour. The food wasn't half bad either. Recommended.
47 Ronin (And a Few Others)
Noticed that our hotel was pretty close to the final resting place of the 47 ronin, Sengakuji shrine, so sweated my way there for a few blocks to say hello.
Navigating Shibuya
Pushing through the barhopping crowd back to the station after an excellent seafood dinner at a back-alley restaurant which would have been impossible to find without local guides. Big thank's to Minami and Aki.
When Rivers Are Highways
What to do when when there isn't space for a new highway through town? Build it on top of a river flowing in roughly the right direction.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Electronic Dictionary
A Casio Ex-word XD-GP9700 joined the family today. Holds (maybe) about a million or so different dictionaries in Japanese and English, and will hopefully help Lisa with her English and me with learning kanji. It's download ready through USB, has a writing interface (which requires a pretty steady hand for Japanese), and also a speaker so you get the correct pronounciations. Knows a surprising amount of bad language for such a small device.
Ueno Park
Lunch spot for today. +36 degrees in the shade. Moisture in the upper end of the scale. Good place for people watching.
UI Complexity
If removing the child lock from a massage chair is too much for a long term resident and a native, then I think it's fair to say that it's too difficult to use.
Cowboy Kim
Mr. Haataja solving the intricacies of a horse riding simulator. Of coure this is an item which should be in every respectable home, along with a heated toilet seat with wash function and a massage chair.
Quantity Over Quality
Unfortunately, this applies to a lot of the advertising turned out in Japan. Photo: Travel agency in Nagayama.
Matsuri Time
Sanroku festival in Asahikawa, last week. Mainly involved tents dishing out fried food and cold drinks, which was nice.
Not So Guerilla Gardening
The english speaking blogsphere's had a few items recently on Guerilla Gardening in Japan; People turning whatever little patch of dirt into veggie plots. It's of course pretty cool, but also a pretty common practice here.
Tokai Uni Open Campus
Spending a lazy morning in Tokyo after a slightly hectic week in Asahikawa. Getting married there meant quite a few visits to and by the local extended family.
Had a chance to drop by Tokai Daigaku one afternoon to say hello to all the staff and teachers, who were busy hoarding high school students on summer holiday through creative workshops, such as silkscreen printing.
Had a chance to drop by Tokai Daigaku one afternoon to say hello to all the staff and teachers, who were busy hoarding high school students on summer holiday through creative workshops, such as silkscreen printing.
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