1200 Tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu My thousand-yen pass doesn't include the ticket to the Nemuri Neko. Instead I have to pay for an extra ticket. But this part of Toshogu is not to be missed, as it leads to the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty.
This is the famous carving at the entrance to the tomb. The sleeping cat symbolizes world peace. But I wonder what happens when the cat wakes up...
To get to the tomb, you'll fist have to climb hundreds of stairs. Old Japanese cedar trees line up along the route.
This is the gate which leads to Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb, which is, of course, off limits.
But this is how it looks like from the outside of the walls.
And this giant urn is where the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu is kept.
Then, heading back outside... Guess what, it's a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony!
The last time I visited Meiji Jingu, there was a wedding ceremony. It seems that everytime I visit a shrine, there must be a wedding ceremony going on... But a wedding at the famous Toshogu? That's out of the ordinary!
At about 13.15, I take the steps down and head for the third shrine, Futarasan Shrine. Before leaving Toshogu, I try to take a snap of myself in front of the main gate. Upon seeing me struggling keep the camera pointed at the right direction, a tourist comes over offering his help. Unfortunately, those photos just aren't too satisfying so I decide not to post them here.
These, I've forgotten where I took but I call them the "Dancing Gods".
There's the Green guy and the Red guy.
See what I mean?
Then, this is the self-portrait I took with the tallest Japanese cedar tree in the compound.
1400 Futarasan Shrine Near the entrance to Futarasan Shrine, there's this tree where couples pray to.
They write their wishes on a piece of wood called an e-ma (絵馬), and hang it under the tree.
I'd been telling myself, "I'm going to Nikko. I'm going to Nikko," for quite some time. But everytime, I managed to come up with some sort of excuse and postpone the trip. Somehow, though, I eventually managed to get myself put it into action.
Since I wasn't staying overnight in Nikko, I had to squeeze all my plans into one day. Besides, it takes more than 3 hours to Nikko from home, so I decided to take the 0609 train from home. Heck, was I ambitious; thought of also visiting the Chuzenji area as well for the Kegon falls. Well, at least, that was the plan, as you shall see later.
0645 - Wha-what time izzit?! Oops, 2 hours late! 2 hours! Forget to set the handphone's alarm to ring on Sunday. (It only rings on school days.) But at least I wake up, even without the alarm. And that's something to boast about. Somehow, I manage to get ready in a mere 30 minutes (shower, pack the bag, gulp down glass of milk and chomp on half a piece of bread). Eventually leave from Ishikawadai station by the 0710 train.
0810 - Transit to Tobu line @ Asakusa Phew! At last Asakusa. I make it in time for the 0810 train. 1 hour behind schedule. Well, at least I make up for one hour. I take a Rapid Train, which is cheaper than Limited Express, but of course, slower. (1320 yen, 2 hours 04 minutes approximately)
1014 - Tobu Nikko Station, at last! Very, very, very good weather. See for yourself.
I buy a 1000-yen ticket which is valid for all the three shrines and temples, and a 500-yen World Heritage pass for unlimited bus rides within the designated route in one day. (Shouldn't have bought that, frankly.) My first destination is Rin-no-ji Temple; within walking distance from the station. I don't mind walking, but as mentioned earlier, I need to save time. So, I guess the bus is the better option. Damn crowded; "Oh, it's a Sunday, duh!"
1044 - First stop: Sanbutsudo, Rin-no-ji Temple (三仏堂、輪王寺) Getting off at bus stop 82, it's the entrance to the first temple, Rin-no-ji.
This guy over here, is apparently some big guy. He's the founder of the temples of Nikko who founded Rin-no-ji Temple around 766 and Chuzenji Temple in 782.
The giant urn with burning incense, in front of Sanbutsu-do (三仏堂). Unfortunately, the building is currently under maintenance. It is the largest temple in Nikko mountains; and represents the architecture of the Tendai sect. Inside the temple (photos not allowed), are the wooden statues of the Thousand-handed Kwannon, the Amida Buddha, and the Horse-headed Kwannon.
The Sorinto Pillar is built in 1643 by the reques of Shogun Iyemitsu. Measuring 15 meters high, it contains in it 1000 volumes of holy sutra. Behind the pillar is the Holy Fire Temple (大護摩堂).
1122 - World Heritage, Toshogu (東照宮) Now, this is the highlight of the day. World Heritage, Toshogu.
Pardon me, but this photo isn't taken well.
This is the Revolving Library (aka the Sutra Library). The place is off-limits but in the inside, there's a revolving book stack containing a complete collection of scriptures.
This is, uh, somewhere, somewhere, I don't remember...
And then you have this sacred stable. In every major shrine, there's always a stable.
Home to the sacred horse, presented by the New Zealand government as a symbol of goodwill. It's named Koha, which means "gift" in the Maori language.
But, what's more famous than the sacred horse is this.
The three monkeys on the lintels of the stable. "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil"; these are derived from the three major principles of the Tendai sect. It is said that the Japanese version is shortened from a similar phrase found in the Analects of Confucius. The proverb has nothing to do with monkeys; it is just a word play.
Another reason why monkeys were carved is because according to legend, monkeys protect horses from illnesses. In fact, there're more than these three monkeys; the eight panels of wooden carvings represent different stages of life. (Nikko Toshogu Official Homepage)
Now, this is the coolest part. The Yomeimon Gate （陽明門）.
Closer, closer...
The gate is one of the many national treasures in this area. Lavish and elaborated carvings, as contrary to the typical Japanese shrines which emphasize on simplicity.
A man painting his drawing of the tower in front of the Yomeimon Gate.
Entering the Yomeimon Gate (陽明門), there's the Karamon (唐門) right ahead. Comparatively small in scale, but also a national treasure. Beyond the gate is the Yakushi-do, with a huge sumi-e of a dragon on its ceiling. By clapping your hands right under the dragon's head (but not at anywhere else), loud echoes could be heard. A monk demonstrated this by clapping two pieces of cedar wood, drawing oohs and aahs from us visitors.
Took this photo during sunset by Tama River. Reflections in the eyes add a nice effect. To create a dreamy atmosphere, I applied Gaussian blur and changed the merge style of the top layer to Linear Dodge. After a final touch-up by strengthening the colours, I pretty much got the effects that I wanted. 10 points out of 10 for this one! Another masterpiece for the narcissistic collection of self-portraits.
A crowd of curious onlookers gathers at a safe distance in front of the main building. Muted whispers among the crowd.
Wispy smoke wafts from behind some columns near the main entrance. Someone must have set some mosquito coils on fire.
Cries for help coming from the rooftop. Crowd looks up. A guy up there is waving frantically and crying for help.
More whispers. Old Lady reaches into her handbag for her cellphone and takes a photo.
More cries. Then Guy disappears.
Sirens come wailing. Two fire engines arrive at the scene. Firemen rush down. One of them, presumably the captain, waves a Broken Radio Antenna (BRA), calling his men to action. His army of men rushes to him with a sense of urgency.
Get the hoses. Ready the suits. Retrieve the blue prints. Captain barks his orders.
Then comes the flag bearer. He secures a spot and begins setting up a pole for his flag.
Guy on the rooftop appears out of nowhere again, crying for help. Flag Bearer curses under his breath, "You can go to hell. Can't you see I'm busy setting up the flag?"
Guy disappears again.
Flag Bearer continues struggling with the flag. His buddy comes along to help Flag Bearer with the flag. Buddy and Flag Bearer struggles for another five minutes and eventually manages to set it up. "Ota-ku Fire Brigade," it reads in Japanese.
Guy yells again. Too bad because Flag Bearer and Buddy has another flag to set up. Let the others handle Guy.
Flag Bearer and Buddy gets better at their job now. This time they take four minutes to set up the second flag next to the makeshift table. "Headquarters," it says. Now it's time for action.
Three men gets into big clumsy suits loaned from Armageddon's movie props warehouse. They march into the building and moments later, come out with a couple of fire victims.
Old lady reaches for her cellphone again and takes more photos.
Guy appears again, this time on the other end of the rooftop. It occurs to Guy that the people down there can see him better on that end. Guy yells. Captain hears him. He points his BRA at Guy.
Another fire engine arrives. This one equipped with a hydraulic platform (HP). Without further ado, HP Fireman plays with the controls, directing the platform to the spot where Guy is. Soon, Guy and his buddies are rescued and brought to the ground. Crowd cheers.
It was actually a fire drill at our university, held yesterday. Funny drama with an important message: Never get trapped on the rooftop should there be a fire. But if you do, save your breath and pray hard instead.
One Ring to show our love, One Ring to bind us One Ring to seal our love, and forever entwine us
Well, not really. 'Cos I can't read Tengwar. The engraving on the ring is no other than the same script found on the One Ring.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
Still a far cry from my references (Reference 1, Reference 2) but come on, this is the first time I really manage to draw something by myself. It'd probably look better if I can get the map to reflect more on the ring.
(For a comprehensive guide on how to create a realistic eyeball, refer to The Gnomon Workshop.)
Was thinking of creating eyeballs of various iris colours. Unfortunately, Google image search didn't come up with satisfactory candidates (low resolution, iris partially covered by the eyelid, bad exposure etc). So, I skipped to the next step, which is to alter the shape of the iris and the size of the pupil.
In the first row, you can see that the first one has a convex irs, the second one more of a flat iris, and the third one with a concave iris. Next, in the second row, are eyeballs with varying sizes of the pupil.
The preliminary result of two nights' work. An eyeball constructed from scratch using Autodesk Maya with the help of a four-hour long tutorial (from Gnomon Workshop). Lots of topics covered, including image-editing in Adobe Photoshop. Recommended even for beginners. (Heck if I could do it, than anyone can. All you need is some patience.)
Be warned though, since image rendering may take a hell longer than you think. I left Maya to render this particular photo (1000px by 1000px, Production quality), and after I was done brushing teeth and getting ready to bed, it was only half-done. That's how long it took.
Shit, time for bed. Gotta stop playing with the eyeball. More tweakings later.
A few days ago, at my workplace, I bumped into the Japanese old man who owned a sushi shop on the opposite side of the station.
"Malaysia, eh? Your prime minister has a lot of-" he then made a gesture - rubbing the thumb over the index finger and middle finger.
I immediately registered what he meant. But just to confirm, "You mean the former prime minister?"
"Former?"
"The current one is Badawi. The former one, Dr M," I explained.
"Ah, Dr M. Yeah, yeah. The doctor."
Our prime minister has "a lot of money". And when a politician is said to have "a lot of money", it has only one connotation...
That's what Malaysia is known for, in the eyes of this Japanese old man. Funny that he wasn't aware that Dr M is no longer the prime minister. Perhaps, "our prime minister has 'a lot of money'" is more of a common knowledge, than "Dr M is no longer the prime minister". And from this foul impression the man has on Malaysia, one may take another step further and wonder how many others are sharing the same thought as him.
And oh, what is it with the recent scandals involving the big guys in the Malaysian government? (Pak Lah: ACA must probe those named in A-G's report - The Star, 14, September 2007) Youth and Sports Ministry paying RM224 for a set of RM40 screwdrivers?
And oh, what is it with the dog-catching competition by Selayang Municipal Council, which offers prize money up to RM15,000? (Selayang dog competition scrapped - The Star, 15, September 2007) It's a relief that it's scrapped following a public outcry but no one should be retarded enough to come up with the idea in the first place.
What's wrong with Malaysia nowadays? Almost everything! Oh yes, of course the government is very well aware of that. It just doesn't appreciate being told in its face that it's doing something the wrong way. Anyone who has the slightest concern about Malaysia would be shaking his head every time he reads the news. But a typical Malaysian knows it's better to keep his mouth shut because once you criticize the government, you're immediately being labelled as "unpatriotic".
"Uh-huh? You have complaints? Too bad, live with it! 'Cos we don't welcome feedback." That's why we have ISA (Malaysia: Detainees held without charge or trial - Human Rights Watch), remember? To protect our nation from idiots who make too much noise! It is only when occasionally, an outsider (like Michael Backman) stops by, and points out, "Hey, that's not right!", that we are jolted back to our senses. (Then, we jump at him crying, "Who are you to comment about us?")
Now excuse me but I'd like to proceed to complaining about the recent Merdeka celebration (or rather, non-celebration) in Tokyo.
Craving for some Malaysian food, I was looking forward to the Merdeka celebration at the embassy. There was a celebration last year (albeit at a small scale) so I presumed there'd be one this year too. Besides, oh god, it's the 50th anniversary. There should be something grand!
I mailed several seniors to find out about this year's celebration, but no one seemed to know anything about it. Aghast but still refusing to give up hope, I googled for the embassy's website. There was something about a 4000-yen Malaysian food buffet but what the heck, nothing about the Merdeka celebration! That was a day before national day; if there was any celebration, there should be news by then. Maybe there was a celebration. Maybe they thought, "Well, less people more share" and decided to keep it to themselves.
But I eventually convinced myself that there was no celebration. Otherwise, why, I ask, would there be no announcement even on the website?
My initial disappointment soon turned into bewilderment then into a boiling rage (for it invoked every bit of patriotic sentiment in me). Come to think of it, it was the 50th anniversary. The 50th! Malaysia gained independence exactly half a century ago on that day! It was the National Day! A day for celebration (and most importantly, for food), for crying out loud!
But what are those people doing in the embassy? Oh I forgot. As long as they sit in their offices, it's Malaysian law they're following - the Malaysian way of doing things.
Yeah, and we're told to be proud of being Malaysians. To be proud of our Malaysian way of doing things; the way we manage our government.
Tremble with fear, thou feeble mortals, for his dominion shall soon expand till the ends of the world. And then, upon the completion of his Holy Shrine, he shall rule man with wrath!
Nah. Just fooling around with some Maya tutorials...
Meguro Parasitological Museum is claimed to be the only one of its kind in the world. I'm not that surprised, considering that no one sane would possibly enjoy watching worms.
Well, I went, anyway. But that's no reason to question my sanity. Let's just say, I was curious.
The museum's kind of small. Free admission, for some obvious reason... Two-storeyed, but nevertheless houses plenty of specimens - gross worms pickled in jars... Eew...
(Scratch, scratch left leg, scratch, scratch right arm...)
And oh, on the second floor... The main attraction!
A 8.8 meter tapeworm retrieved from a Japanese guy in 1986. Said to have ingested the worm larva with sushi. (Make note, make note. No more sushi.) It was less than an inch in size at larva stage. (Notice the little circle in the photo.) The larva took merely 3 months to grow into 8.8m. Imagine hanging one end of the worm from the third floor; the other end would almost touch the ground. The guy only realized about his wormy companion when part of it, uh, slipped out when he was doing his business in the toilet. The worm was later flushed out of his intestines by some medicine.
Eew... Creepy worms. I'm still itchy all over the body after the visit to the museum.
(Scratch, scratch left knee...)
Okay, no more visits to the parasitological museum.
It's good to have the laptop back, with Windows XP up and running once again. Time to fumble around!
First project was to check out Radio Blog. Found Zendurl, a free web host that supports php and xml file types and got my radio blog running. But then, there's this issue with bandwidth (it takes quite some time to load). So, cool as it may be, the project is suspended indefinitely nevertheless.
So, instead, spent the morning editing some photos again. Photos of my room, taken from different angles but nonetheless, patched together.
It probably won't give you any better idea on how my room looks like but I call it a work of art because it actually reminds me of Picasso's drawings. (Everything's out of place as if you're viewing one object from different points of view.) The only thing I'm unsatisfied of is that, there's no way to fit in the photos of the kitchen and the toilet, as much as I'd like to. (The latter may not sound like such a good idea to some people but rest assured that I clean my toilet regularly. To begin with, the colour of the toilet bowl and the bath tub is such that any possible mold stain would easily go unnoticed to the untrained eye.)
PS: Uh-oh, sorry about the messy bed. Why bother to make the bed when you're sleeping in it again slightly more than half a day after waking up?
The man sitting next to me is struggling with the wrapper of an ice-cream. He gives it more than a couple of twists and tries to pull it apart but it just won't give way. He then bites it with his teeth to tear it open (reminding me of National Geographic documentaries). Finally, the wrapper gives in - but not without retaliation as it angrily squirts some of its content at the perpetrator. But, bad aiming; a couple of us unfortunate ones nearby fall victim. The lady next to me gives the man a quick, irritated look but couldn't be more annoyed when she's totally ignored. The man acts as if nothing happened and triumphantly sucks on his ice-cream, which retorts with obscene slurps.
Such was the episode I encountered on the train this evening.
If you're a tourist visiting Japan and would like to have a general idea of the Japanese society, what's a better place to make your observations, than on a train? It is after all the most convenient means of transportation; you meet people from all walks of life in the train.
There are oddballs...
If you've been on a train in Japan, you'd have noticed that out of ten persons, three would be listening to their mp3 players, three probably fiddling with the cellphone, two taking a nap and two reading. But, meeting someone who reads aloud his novel, I suppose, is a rare case.
Nevertheless, I met one. A rotund guy in chequered shirt, reading aloud the lines in rising and falling tones as if he was practising for a stage act. In fact, he was so absorbed in it that he was totally oblivion of the stares from the other passengers...
There are pathetic drunkards... For some reasons, nomikai's seem to be a favourite Japanese past-time. Friday nights especially, are spent in izakaya. More often than not, they tend to drink more than they can handle, turn red and start spouting nonsense. There was this apparently drunk old man who shouted at strangers, probably to entertain himself. Sometimes, the air in the train is so saturated with alcoholic breath that you can tell that someone on board had too much beer. Sometimes, you see a guy sleeping in one corner in the train station, a hand still clutching to an empty beer can. I once saw a guy who refused to leave the train at the last stop when someone woke him up from his sleep. He mumbled something unintelligible and just went on sleeping...
Then, there are otaku's... Most of the time, they look just like you and me but sometimes, you can identify one, normally by their sense of fashion. But some people can smell one. A friend of mine - ironically a self-professed otaku - complains that otaku's smell bad. Something in between a rotten egg and vinegar. You can't be too careful, he said, especially when you're in Akihabara - the famed Otaku-land - where it stinks so badly that you have to pinch your nose and risk suffocation when you're walking through the crowd. Though he has the uncanny tendency of over-exaggerating even the most minute of things, I thank god that I'm not endowed with such a sensitive sense of smell. Still, I did have a bad experience sitting next to a guy who stunk to the high heavens. The poor guy must have had an unfortunate accident in the toilet...
So the next time you take a train, look around and you'll see people from all walks of life, or even of all smells of life - you can never get bored. Every time taking the train may be a new experience.
Stupid things do happen - things that could have been avoided if I could have been less stupid.
First of all, the OS thingy problem. I've been using Ubuntu/Linux for more than a week now (See: Linux and Peanuts, Monday, August 06, 2007) and am going peanuts over it. I don't want GIMP; I want my Adobe Photoshop back! I don't want Open Office (which turns certain Japanese characters into incomprehensible hieroglyphs); I want Microsoft Office! I don't want the stupid Totem Player; I want WMP!
I'm suffering from Windows withdrawal symptoms!
I'm sorry to say this to the wonderful folks who developed Ubuntu. But I want to revert to Windows! Because I'm just a regular idiot who has totally got used to Windows and has no patience to spend time learning a totally new operating system.
But hell, after sneaking into my friend's room to retrieve his copy of Windows XP and had it reinstalled, I realized that the speakers and the modem weren't working... Oh great, the drivers! And they are were in the recovery disk that I wiped out!
Okay, I need to get the recovery disk restored.
So, I called up Toshiba customer service. After explaining at great length what I presumed was the stupid-est case the operator had ever come upon, "In that case, the warranty isn't valid. Kick yourself in the ass because it was you who were stupid enough to be capable of such an idiocy." Of course, she said it with such subtlety and politeness which are regrettably lost through my curt translation.
So, that's going to cost me five grand and a week, computer-less.
Then, there was this ridiculous episode with the vacuum cleaner.
It was a warm Thursday afternoon. After cleaning up the room, I decided to clean the keyboard as well, with the vacuum cleaner.
As I was inspecting at close scrutiny, determined to get rid of the tiniest speck of dust I could find...
Horror of all horrors! Where is my right arrow key?
Right at the bottom-right-hand corner of the keyboard - where the right arrow key formerly was - all that was left was some black thingy sticking up like a perched nipple.
Oh my gawd! It can't be... in the vacuum cleaner?
Okay, all I have to do is to sort through the bag, right?
But, uh... I then recalled that besides your typical household dirt and rubbish I had a couple of cockroaches in the vacuum cleaner as well (See: War Propaganda, Thursday, July 26, 2007). The mere image of them making themselves at home, having cookie crumbs as lunch and dust-balls as dinner was enough to stir up a certain uncomfortable feeling - as if you have some cockroaches writhing in the stomach...
Oh, holy nipples!
However much I hated to do it, there was no other choice. Found the missing key alright but also made an interesting discovery: cockroaches can't survive in the vacuum cleaner - I found the dead bodies (with some limbs going unaccounted, though) of the poor fellows I acquainted throughout the summer... Well, at least, another nagging question laid to rest!
And then, this morning, something else happened, which among the others, pissed me off the most. Left my bike near the train station before leaving for work this morning, came back four hours later in the noon, just to find that it was missing!
It was a scorching summer noon but the bike shouldn't have just evaporated into thin air. It was either stolen, or taken away... for illegal parking - the place is only meant for registered bikes. To hell with whoever took my bike! I don't care if the bloody fool stole it or stowed it away because of illegal parking. Whoever it was shall get a wart in his asshole for pissing me off!
Note to myself: Need to get a new bike...
I can't help but wonder if I'm hexed or is it just to make atonement for my karma. And I don't know whether to kick myself in the ass - though I'm not sure if it is physically possible; or to jump off from my balcony - uh, no, I need to get to somewhere higher than the first floor...
Anyway, stupid things do happen. But, had I not screwed up my computer, I wouldn't have tried out Linux; had the vacuum cleaner episode not happened, I wouldn't have discovered that the vacuum cleaner isn't such a cozy place for cockroaches after all; had my bike not disappeared, I wouldn't have got the excuse to get a new bike to replace the old junk!
You see, I had this crazy idea of installing an OS on the MP3 player. So that the next time I go to the computer lab, I can just plug in the player and voila! I have all my works with me! Now, this is portability.
So, is it possible to run an OS from the MP3 player?
Only one way to find out. This called for an experiment.
Firstly, the experiment subjects.
MP3 player: Creative Zen Vision: M, with 8GB partitioned Operating System: Ubuntu/Linux 7.04
A note for the not-so-enlightened: I know it sounds "Maorish" but Ubuntu isn't KOJA's long-lost sibling. In fact, the word is of African origin, meaning "humanity to others". It's a Linux distribution based on Debian. Okay, that's all I can tell you; because like most of the rest of the world, I've been using solely Windows and even the mere task of pronouncing "Linux" is an incredible tongue twister to me.
But, I digressed.
Anyway, quite to my expectation, the installation did work.
Now, the moment of truth: to see if it is possible to boot from the MP3 player.
If the installation took "almost an eternity", the startup took "an eternity"; I had to give up half-way before the player decided to explode due to overheating. And so, the experiment ended without a result.
Nah, big deal. As if I didn't see that coming.
But, things started getting worse after that. What I really didn't see coming was that I messed up the boot loader. For some reason, I could no longer boot the computer without connecting the player.
Shucks, that's ridiculous! I'm screwed...
Then, I started my feeble attempts to fix the computer.
The first attempt was to revert the to out-of-the-box settings but that failed because I couldn't call up Disk Recovery.
The second attempt was to format the disk and install a fresh copy; that should've worked but the problem is, the laptop doesn't come with an installation disk. Everything necessary for installation is backed up in hard disk partitions called HDDRECOVERY and DATA; as if those people from Toshiba didn't anticipate something stupid like this to happen.
The third attempt was to use the installation disk borrowed from J. In fact, that was the only thing that worked so far but I couldn't satisfy myself with an illegal copy of Windows, which was why I eventually decided to go ahead with installing Ubuntu instead. That took another few tries. And by the n-th try, I've effectively wiped out HDDRECOVERY; by the (n+1)-th try, I went, "What the heck!" and decided to wipe out DATA as well.
Hah, now no turning back. I'm stuck with Linux!
...Which was rather a bad idea for someone who can't tell apart Linux from peanuts: I have to start from scratch. Sigh.
I've made an important discovery. A discovery of great implications:
Vacuum cleaners just aren't made to contain roaches.
And that's bad news. Really bad news. Because I seem to be having a pest problem with cockroaches. And the only weapon that I have in my disposal to defend the fort against these ugly invaders is the vacuum cleaner. I don't feel like squashing them. Pardon my choice of words but they look "juicy". I don't want to do the clean-up after squashing them!
So, what I've been doing until now is to sneak up at them with the vacuum cleaner and, "Whoosh!" suck them away for good! I owe the idea to the Ghostbusters. The "ghost trap" works by sucking the evil spirits and containing them in it. My vacuum-cleaner-cum-roach-trap works with the same concept.
But alas! A vacuum cleaner sucks roaches well but not is as good in containing them. Wait, vacuum cleaners are for sucking up dust. Heck that explains it! Dust don't escape but roaches do! Make note, make note: Gotta call up customer support to tell them about this defect in their product...
I've been consulting my friends on ways to contain the situation but so far I only get cold responses.
"No, you don't kill cockroaches. You co-exist with them!" YY said in so calm a manner that almost makes me wonder if she has mistaken roaches as hamsters. "I have cockroaches in my room to and I talk to them!" Yeah, right, freak!
And as for my neighbour, J, who lives two doors next to me, he couldn't have been more blasé when he replied, "Cockroaches? Oh yeah, there are cockroaches, alright..."
What's wrong with these people? They're harrassed by invading roaches who are claiming territory over their rooms and yet they're not taking any action! That's the problem with people nowadays; they are just too lackadaisical!
That's not the attitude, boys and girls! You squash each and every one of the roaches that crosses your path. And yes, that's what I'm going to do after discovering the flaw with the vacuum cleaner. No more taking prisoners. Kill and ask questions later! No mercy for the roaches! (Waving sandals frantically) Roaches supposed to be hated because: One, they're ugly. Two, they've hairy legs (No offense towards people with hairy legs). Three, they're ugly. In short, it's the worst practical joke mother nature has ever played.
Here's what you do when you come across one of those ugly pests. One, squash it. Two, squash it again just to be sure. Three, you may choose to clean-up or leave the casualty behind as an example to his brethrens.
People! This battles calls for constant vigilence! We're dealing with one of the hardiest creatures in the world. We're dealing with monsters which survive up to two weeks after decapitation; monsters that can live for 45 minutes without air.
But, hear ye! Hear ye! Let us not be gripped with fear. And most important of all, never let your guard down! For this is war! May mankind prevail!
Vodafone Japan, after being taken over by Softbank March last year, launched a series of aggressive marketing plans to regain it's position in the Japanese market. After all, the mobile business is primarily monopolised by NTT Docomo and AU KDDI, the two mobile company giants in Japan.
In January, "White Plan" was launched. Customers under this plan are entitled to free domestic voice calls to other Softbank numbers from 1am to 9pm (well, that's virtually the whole day). The price? 980 yen. Which is like less than 50% of the basic payment charged by other companies, even under student price. Then, later, came "W White Plan" - voice calls to numbers of other companies at half price for an additional 980 yen per month. And, if that's not good enough for you, there's even a "White Plan Family Discount 24" - free calls between family members throughout the whole day, in addition to those benefits offered to White Plan subscribers.
"Now, what's the trick? How on earth do they make profit from free phone calls?"
No one knows. Of course, it could probably be a commercial geek: to attract customers. Despite the fact that I know nothing about business, logic tells me that when you start to have more than four million users subscribing to these call plans, the company's going to turn into a big charity organization.
The recent commercial on "White Plan Family Discount 24" kept me thinking. If you haven't already seen it, check it out on You Tube or better still, from Softbank's commercial gallery.
Basically, it goes like this.
Aya's brother (God knows why he's a Black while she's obviously a Japanese) comes over to the reception, asking Aya about the White Plan Family Discount 24.
"With the call plan, domestic voice calls to family members are free of charge 24 hours a day." Aya explains.
"But, why? I don't understand."
"Me neither... " Aya admits. Then, turning to the dog accompanying his brother to the shop, adds, "And why is it that dad is a dog?"
"There's a reason behind everything!" replies "dad".
"Reason? Then, what's the 'reason', dad?" asks Aya.
"It's too early for you to find out!" exclaims "dad".
Now, back to the question: Nothing's for free. So what's the catch? "There's a reason behind everything."
For a moment, I fantasized I might transform myself into a carton of yogurt so as to undergo the same process of being gently and thoughtfully accommodated by her into a shopping bag between a tin of tuna and a bottle of olive oil. ~Alain de Button
Some excerpts and quotes from Ellipsis, the last chapter of Essays in Love, by Alain de Button:
"There is an Arabic saying that the soul travels at the pace of a camel. While we are forced ahead by the relentless dynamic of the timetabled present, our soul, the seat of the heart, trails nostalgically behind, burdened by the weight of memory. If every love affair adds a certain weight to the camel's load, then we can expect the soul to slow according to the significance of love's burden..."
"The present held nothing for me, the past had become the only inhabitable tense."
"...Yet guilt accompanied this forgetting. It was no longer her absence that wounded me, but my growing indifference to it. Forgetting was a reminder of death, of loss, of infidelity to what I had at one time held so dear."
"The camel became lighter and lighter as it walked through time, it kept shaking memories and photos off its back, scattering them over the desert floor and letting the wind bury them in the sand, and gradually the camel became so light that it could trot and even gallop in its own crious way - until one day, in a small oasis that called itself the present, the exhausted creature finally caught up with the rest of me."
He summoneth the eldest of the crows and sayeth to him, "I shall now descend into the deepest Slumber. But be warneth, should I awaken before I intend to, which is at the end of Time, thou and together with thou, thy sons and daughters and wife shalt be punisheth."
And thus, He sleepeth, never intending to awake till after many a trip the sun didst make around the earth and after many a summer to come.
His Slumber, the eldest of the crows looketh on. And after he dieth, the eldest of his son looketh on. And again, after he dieth, the eldest of his son looketh on. And so it goeth on, till many a generation didst pass.
Then cometh one day, the youngest of the crows cometh by, and seeth Him in His Eternal Slumber, sayeth, "Hast he not passed on to the World Beyond?" for the youngest ones are always the most ignorant.
"No. He is not dead but sleepeth." sayeth the oldest of the crows. "For He is not alike the mortal beings that breathe the air. He liveth on as he willeth, till all the flowers whither and all the creatures that roameth the earth perisheth and the sun in the heavens burneth into ashes and raineth upon the earth."
"But, hast He not arisen since the days of our grandfathers' grandfathers? He didst walk but only in the folklores. Now, He is but dead. So let us rejoice, I say! I shall not keep the beak silent any longer for it tireth me not to crow. What good is a crow if crow it dost not?"
"Rejoice, my merry fellows! Rejoice, for He hast passed on to the World Beyond!" sayeth the youngest of the crows.
"No! You fool!" sayeth the oldest of the crows.
But alas, it dost no good. The words pass on from beak to beak and for a moment, there is silence. Then, the silence breaketh into the merriest celebration. They sing for the first time the sweetest tunes passed down by their grandfathers' grandfathers, but so long have their beaks remained not in use that their voice turneth so coarse. All creatures stuff their ears with stones and pebbles or whatever they can find for it paineth the ears to listen to so terrible an ensemble.
In the middle of the chaos, He awaketh from his Eternal Slumber and findeth that it is not yet the end of Time, for the flowers still bloom and the creatures still roam the earth and the Sun still burneth in the heavens .
"Woe is me!" sayeth He. "Behold your Lord, the all-benevolent God, who shall now strike thee with a bolt of lightning! And thou shalt be condemned to eternal damnation, for that, and that alone is the punishment befitting those who dare awaken Him from His Eternal Slumber!"
And the heavens crack open with the deepest roar and He delievereth His promise, sending a bolt of lightning at every crow that deserveth his punishment. Scramble they do but He spareth not their lives.
And in this manner, His wrath rageth on until every crow that didst roam the earth burneth into ash. Then only, He descendeth into another peaceful Slumber.
And thus, never will the world hear again about the crows. Only in songs shall they live on. And let it passe down for generations to come and serve as a reminder for the obstinates who believe not in His powers.
~Nonsense, Chapter 31:3-81, The Damnation of the Crows
* * * * *
Bloody crows. Can't they just let this poor guy sleep longer even just for the weekend?
Disclaimer: This is just some nonsense penned by a sleep-deprived crackpot, courtesy of the crows.
Tanabata (七夕), meaning "Seven Evenings") is a Japanese star festival, derived from Obon traditions and the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi. The festival is usually held on July 7, and celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year. This special day is the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. ~Wikipedia: Tanabata
"Another 15 minutes to Tanabata. Make a wish and you'll meet your true love. Come on, I'll make one on your behalf." her message read.
This is not just any Tanabata but one of significant meaning; it's 07 July of the year '07 and yet I wouldn't realised it's Tanabata if not for the message.
Make a wish. Make a wish.
Oh great. How do you make one?
I don't know. I don't know. Just make a wish for goodness sake.
Oh, no, no, no. I'm not going to screw this up.
Okay, okay. Don't panick.
0000 hours. Made a wish anyway. Though I can't recall exactly how I phrased it.
"Can't see any stars. It's too cloudy!" she complained.
Uh, am I supposed to have made my wish to the stars? Gosh, I just made one to the walls.
Shucks. I screwed up alright. There goes the 07.07.07 Tanabata!
Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. ~Tryon Edwards
Be it the "cheat-kansen" or densha, it was great how they took the effort coming all the way back to Tokyo, just for a small party. I'm usually not the party-goer type, but I'm glad I went.
Of course, not everyone could make it; only slightly more than ten of us did. Even though this isn't really the gang I always hang out with in gaidai, there's the feeling of attachment nonetheless. After all, there's no way of bonding better than by staying in the same dorm for a year. We were an international community in the small campus. We may be gaijins but we feel at home because we are a family, brought together purely by providence. We may be in a foreign land but at least there's a strong sense of belonging among ourselves.
Reunion and parting. The former reminds you of the fond memories: it's an emotional roller coaster ride that brings you back from the present to the past. The latter reminds you of how things are no longer the way they used to be: it's a depressing ride from the past back to the present. Then, you start wishing that you don't have to part again, even though you know that nothing in life is for an eternity.
Not long ago, I've just eventually tuned up to the rhythm of my new life in university, but now the reunion reminds me of the good old days we used to have. The feeling of nostalgia gnaws at the heart. I'm all lonely once more.
Q. Translate this into French: Pile of reports A. Tas de merde
And just to make sure, I doubled-checked with the ever-helpful Google Translate. "Heap (ie. pile) of shit", it said.
Whee! Rejoice, humans! I've finished another report! Yes, yes, thank you for the standing ovation!
Somehow, I managed to while away the whole weekend (exactly how, I cannot recall). But the point is, why waste your time when you have no idea on how to start your reports? Might as well just wait for inspiration to strike at the least expected moment and voila! You finish it in two hours' time. Now, that's what I call "efficiency"!
Holy cow. I think I've written more Japanese this few weeks compared to the one year I spent in the Japanese Language Centre (JLC). Oh, oh, oh! But there's more waiting to be done. I'm so "excited". At this rate, I'll probably become the next Natsume Souseki.
"What's that gibberish you're talking about?"
While you may be scratching that coconut of yours wondering why I'd rather not spend my time now finishing the remaining (four) reports or just chuck myself in the bed for a good night's sleep, let me tell you I've just hatched an ingenious plan. I'm going to set up a database to upload all my junk masterpieces (ie. bloody reports), followed by a Pay Pal account. For those gullible (or plainly stupid) individuals who wish to download them, any small amount of donation is greatly appreciated. Or alternatively, you may pay by cheque, crossed and made payable to "Help Kryptos Get Rich Charity Fund". (I'm trying to get enough money for a trip to Ur-anus (sic))
Oh, might as well let you in on a little bit more. Here's a list of the reports done for the last few weeks (and those yet to be done).
2007.05.04 コンピュータリテラシ－情報論理セキュリティためのガイド：感想文
2007.05.25 コンピュータリテラシ－情報論理の感想 (Don't ask me how is this supposed to be any different from the previous topic given)
2007.06.01 コンピュータリテラシ－ケプラー法則 (Power Point Presentation)
2007.06.08 コンピュータリテラシ－アンチウィルスソフトよりも、むしろユーザの意識
2007.06.15 コンピュータリテラシ－UNIX・Windows//ソフトウェアー・OS
2007.06.14 工学における創造性と論理 - 「学問」と「勉強」 (Finished this just now!)
2007.06.08 物理実験レポート：液体の表面張力 (56.67% completed.)
2007.05.21 宇宙地球科学Bレポート一 (Not started yet.)
2007.06.18 宇宙地球科学Bレポート二 (Another assignment received this morning. I'm a happy man!)
2007.05.14 健康科学レポート (Who cares, another 3 weeks before deadline!)
(Jeez. I just realized know what kind of meaningless reports I've spent my youth writing.)
If you think I'm probably going nuts, no, I'm not. I'm going berries.
Now, if you may excuse me, it's about time I retire to bed.
I've been watching a Japanese drama, プロポーズ大作戦 (Love Proposal, Monday 9pm, Fuji TV). There's one scene in this week's episode 8 that stirred a certain familiar feeling.
It's New Year's Eve. The gang is about to leave for the beach to watch New Year's Day sunrise (初日の出) like they used to do. Except that this time, Tada Sensei is going too.
"I'm not going," Ken says.
"Huh? Why?"
"I've something to do," he comes up with a lame excuse.
"What is it?" Hisashi asks quite innocently.
"It doesn't matter. Just leave without me."
Shrugging, the "gang" leaves without him.
"What's on that guy's mind?" Hisashi mumbles.
"Yeah, that kind of attitude..." Eri adds, obviously feeling irritated.
What's wrong? Simple. Because Tada Sensei is going along; and Rei's in love with him. That, she confessed to Ken. But she didn't have to tell him. Ken already knew. There isn't much he can do, is there? There's no reason for him to tag along, just to feel awkward and, more still, upset? So, he chooses to give up on her, together with his friends, who aren't of much help trying to make him feel better either.
At times, even the people closest to you tend to be insensitive. That's when they no longer feel as close as they seem to be. That's when you start to drift away from the rest. Happy together, sulk alone.
While Ken's undecisiveness usually gets on my nerves, this time, I cannot but resonate with him.
It's the last day of high school. After this day, who knows when your paths will cross again. With luck, perhaps soon; but then again, perhaps not. There' s one thing you've been wanting to tell her, but didn't have the courage. This is not the time to hesitate. You have to confess your feelings.
But, how?
Pull off the second button from your uniform and give it to her.
This is a common practice among Japanese teenagers. A guy offering a girl the second button on his uniform is an indirect way of saying "I like you". Similarly, a girl asking a boy for the second button (第二ボタン) is also a means of confession.
Romantic, huh? Question: Why the 第二ボタン?
That's because the 第二ボタン is the button closest to the heart. As such, it holds the significance as a little momento for/from the person you like.
This, is my cargo pants, with a missing button, if you noticed.
Question: Why?
Because, it's the button closest to my butt. I intend to give it to the person who pisses me off as a way of saying, "You're a pain in the butt".
It's Computer Literacy lesson again. I'm in the computer room, typing away while Mr Nkmr babbles on.
"All the computers in this room are linked to Tsubame. So, if there's anything that you don't understand, ask. Because, if the system breaks down, all of our researches would come to a halt." As usual, Mr N then allocates some time to brag about Tsubame, Tokyo Tech's supercomputer. The fastest in Asia, the ninth in the world.
Then, there'd be something about Natsume Souseki (夏目漱石, a famous Japanese author), something about Newton... Blah, blah, blah...
What does this have to do with "Computer Literacy", for goodness sake? Gah!
Anyway, who cares. Since he realized that not many are interested in listening to him and gave the green light to surf the net ("for academic purposes only," he stressed) as long as we already understood his lesson.
But, I'm just curious; why is it compulsory to take such meaningless lectures? For instance, there's another subject called 健康科学, which translates to "Health Science". What do we learn? Well, thing's like "sports personality" (who knows what's that), "image training", "destressing techniques" etc. Of course, I normally sleep through the lectures, until I hear something like, "I'm deciding whether to assign this topic as your report..." Gosh. Still, no one pays attention to the poor guy. I guess, he must have been really pissed off. However patient he may be, surely, we're driving him crazy.
Speaking of going crazy, we're having something like the following conversation a few days ago...
"I'm going crazy," Ansh claimed.
"Yeah, me too," Rshnth reciprocated. Then, pointing towards me with her chin, added, "But, he isn't getting any crazier... is crazy enough already."
Nah. Big deal. At this rate, who's not going crazy? Calculus mid-term exam's coming soon, followed by Physics and Industrial Dynamics. Things becomes worse when you don't understand the lectures. From time to time, He-Who-Copies-From-The-Notebook-And-Mumbles-To-The-Whiteboard doesn't understand his own notes, and eventually gives up, "Anyway, this is the answer." The textbook is more reliable than the lecturer, it seems. But, if you think you can catch up by reading the textbook when you don't understand He-WIth-A-Moustache-That-Resembles-Hitler's calculus lecture, you're out of luck - the author is none other than the lecturer himself.
But, well, that's what university life is all about, isn't it? Get sufficient sleep during lectures, and make sure you study enough after lessons.
It's Kanda Matsuri (神田祭) from yesterday till 15 May.
Oh, well then, what's the big deal?
Of course it's a big deal. After all, this has been one of the biggest festivals in Edo (now Tokyo). What's more, it's more worth a look especially in odd years. This year, 2007, for instance. Because the festival had been too extravagant in the olden days, the Tokugawa Shogun decreed that it should only be held at a grand scale during odd years but at a modest scale during even years. Anyway, I missed the main event, which was held on Saturday; didn't know about the festival until I saw the news report in the evening. Well, better than missing the whole event.
The Kanda Matsuri is held at the Kanda Myōjin Shrine (神田明神) in Ochanomizu, which is one station away from Kanda (神田) on the JR Chūō Line (JR 中央線). (Actually, Ochanomizu is also part of Kanda, the city centre of Edo. The shrine is also within walking distance from Akihabara, Japan's biggest town specializing in electrical goods, and also home to Japan's otaku sub-culture.)
As for some background history on Edo...
During the Edo Period when Japan was said to have three capitals, Edo was the capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate (while Kyoto was the residence of the emperor, and Osaka as the unofficial capital). Even till now, there's still dispute over whether Kyoto, or Tokyo is the official capital. For the same reason, Japanese from the Kansai region still hold pride over their Kanto counterpart.
Okay, I digressed. But before the photos, let's have a brief Japanese lesson.
Firstly, we have, 人. This is the kanji, hito, meaning "people". Then, there's this, word ごみ. Gomi, meaning, "rubbish". Combine these two words, and you get 人ごみ. Which means...?
... something like this.
Not "human rubbish" but "crowd".
Hongō Dōri (本郷通り), the main street which led to the shrine, was terribly crowded, as expected. (Any sane person who has better things to do would avoid visiting the place.) All you see is just heads and more heads...
Unless... if you climb up the railing by the sidewalk for a better view. The police were busy manning the "human traffic". They're not going to stop you unless you're trying to get onto the police patrol car. (A guy really did attempt to do that.)
Portable shrines, mikoshi (神輿) were brought to the Kanda Myōjin shrine. Photo taken while standing on the railing, leaning against the lampost, trying my best not to fall head first onto the road, and getting stomped by the mikoshi-bearing guys.
Note the delicate design of the mikoshi. It's normally designed as a miniature version of a shrine and has a golden phoenix "roosting" on the apex.
The festival wasn't much different from the Kurayami Matsuri I went to in Fuchū last year. But unlike the Kurayami Matsuri, there was no Taiko procession in the Kanda Matsuri. Perhaps they had it the day before. One thing special about this festival, though, is the two-wheeled dashi (山車). They used to be common design for dashi during the Edo Period but the floats nowadays have at least three wheels, for easier manouvring. I looked for the two-wheeled floats but unfortunately, couldn't see any.
One thing that I liked the most was the taiko (太鼓) performance. The stacatto beats, the energetic movements of the drummers; in a way, it gives me the same feeling as in watching summer firework displays (花火). (By the way, I hope I won't miss the Sumidagawa fireworks display this summer. 28 of July. Make note, make note...)
My first encounter with real-life geisha's (芸者). They were present for the ceremony.
This cute little soba monster (check out his "soba hair"), was brought into the shrine the day before. As mentioned earlier, the main even was held on Saturday. Looks like I really did miss the grand parade. Sniff, sniff.
Anyway, there's another matsuri coming up this weekend; Sanja matsuri (三社祭). This time it's in Asakusa (浅草) and it is no less grander than the Kanda Matsuri, for it's also another of the three main festivals of the city of Edo. Well, I guess I'll go and have a look if I managed to finish my revision for next week's maths exam!
新垣結衣 － 赤い糸 (06:24)
Click on "ZAP!" to start playing.
Me, Me, Me
Current Mood:
Nickname: Kryptos
Location: Penang, Malaysia
Who am I: Five feet seven inches tall. A member of a carbon-based bipedal life form descended from an ape.
He believes the cosmos has grand plans for him but whatever his calling is, it has not yet been revealed to him. So in the meantime, he spends the day working as a software developer, and whatever free time that is left, reading books. He attempted reading the bible a couple of times but could not as much as finish the first chapter of Genesis. He will continue again, one day.
He loves his camera as much as he loves his books. He picked up photography when he was studying in Japan. But now that he has started working, he can no longer spend as much time for photography as he used to. He is making a small amount of side income from his hobby and hopes to spend more time shooting again.
Snippets of Monologue
Mon, 1 Dec '08: Cold winter night. I was on my way home without an umbrella. Then voila. God pissed upon me.
Fri, 31 Oct '08: Geez, stupid HDD. Now my blog's template is gone too.
Fri, 05 Sep '08: Set up a photoblog. The link is added down there.
Wed, 20 Aug '08: Back from trip. Need to settle down.
Tue, 12 Aug '08: Mt Fuji yesterday, Home now, Kyoto tomorrow.
Wed, 23 Jul '08: Radio Blog's fixed.
Fri, 18 Jul '08: Sorry, the radio blog is not working. I haven't figured out why.
The blogger is a busy man who tends to form opinions before getting his facts right, just for the sake of saving time. He is also known to be too smart sometimes to understand what he says. A priori, he shall not be held responsible for any opinions posted in this blog. Should you be offended by his subjective and partial views, kindly send him a death threat via email.
ID number: 5405385703128197441
Permalink: http://escapist5.blogspot.com/2007/11/travel-log-nikko-toshogu-part-ii.html
This is the famous carving at the entrance to the tomb. The sleeping cat symbolizes world peace. But I wonder what happens when the cat wakes up...
To get to the tomb, you'll fist have to climb hundreds of stairs. Old Japanese cedar trees line up along the route.
This is the gate which leads to Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb, which is, of course, off limits.
But this is how it looks like from the outside of the walls.
And this giant urn is where the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu is kept.
The last time I visited Meiji Jingu, there was a wedding ceremony. It seems that everytime I visit a shrine, there must be a wedding ceremony going on... But a wedding at the famous Toshogu? That's out of the ordinary!
There's the Green guy and the Red guy.
See what I mean?
Then, this is the self-portrait I took with the tallest Japanese cedar tree in the compound.
They write their wishes on a piece of wood called an e-ma (絵馬), and hang it under the tree.
This is the famous carving at the entrance to the tomb. The sleeping cat symbolizes world peace. But I wonder what happens when the cat wakes up...
To get to the tomb, you'll fist have to climb hundreds of stairs. Old Japanese cedar trees line up along the route.
This is the gate which leads to Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb, which is, of course, off limits.
But this is how it looks like from the outside of the walls.
And this giant urn is where the remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu is kept.
The last time I visited Meiji Jingu, there was a wedding ceremony. It seems that everytime I visit a shrine, there must be a wedding ceremony going on... But a wedding at the famous Toshogu? That's out of the ordinary!
There's the Green guy and the Red guy.
See what I mean?
Then, this is the self-portrait I took with the tallest Japanese cedar tree in the compound.
They write their wishes on a piece of wood called an e-ma (絵馬), and hang it under the tree.
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