Buttons, Anyone?

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".

俺の「パンツのボタン」, anyone?

Or, someone can opt to sew it back for me.

Computer Literacy for the Computer Literate

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.

Logging out.

The Essence of Edo: Kanda Matsuri

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!

- May 13, 2007, Sunday -

秘めた思い

さわさんと食事をした。

いろいろ話してた。「授業にちゃんと出てる？」とか「バイトをやるつもり？」から、「東工大はきつい。だって女の子は少ないんだもん！」という話までに移った。もうセンターにいないけど、まだ僕らのことに感心しているよう。

「学科は違うけど、Aさんと会ってる？彼はおとなしいね。大丈夫かしら？」

「ハッハッ、おとなしい？ご心配なく。あいつは彼女もいるし。」言わないようにしたけど、彼は言ってしまった。

「あれ？彼女いるの？」びっくり顔をしてた。「○○さんと○○さんのことよく知ってるけどね。」

「で、君と○○さんは？けっこう親しいんじゃん？」いきなりこちらに訊いた。返事ができずに、言葉は途中にむせんじゃった。「あっ、いや。」気まずかった。

「そこまでいかなかったか？」僕の不安に気づいたよう。

平気。いくら平気ようにしても、結局苦笑しかできなかった。

否定してたんだ。でもなんで？いまさら気になる。君はわかってくれるだろう。もし君が訊かれたら、君もきっとそうじゃない？だって、あのことに対して、僕らの心の奥には同じ思いが秘めてる。

Collage: Yokohama

Voila! Kryptos has churned out another masterpiece. What we have here this time is a collage of four photos taken at various landmarks in Yokohama. They've been edited with Photoshop CS to mimick a lomographic effect.

The first photo is taken in Chinatown. Kantei Temple, to be exact.

One of the heroes in the romance of "The Three Kingdoms" , 'Kanwu', is enshrined as the God of Business in this magnificent richly colored temple. ~Yokohama Convention and Visitors Bureau

The second photo is one of the three famous towers in Yokohama, known as Jack. Unfortunately, I only have Jack in the collage and not the King nor the Queen.

The red brick clock tower of the Yokohama City Port-opening Memorial Hall represents the Jack. The Islamic like green dome of the Yokohama Customhouse the Queen. The square two-layered tower of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government the King. For a long time the towers have been affectionately known by these names because of their uniquely elegant appearance. ~Yokohama Convention and Visitors Bureau

There're three spots in the city from which the three towers can all be seen at once. Visit all the three spots, make a wish and it shall be granted. Or, at least, so it is said.

The third photo is taken at the Kanagawa Prefecture Museum (神奈川県立博物館). It is situated by Basha-michi. The building has a distinctive architectural style even though it's not as popular, relative to other famous spots in Yokohama.

The fourth photo is taken at Red Brick Warehouse (赤レンガ), Minato Mirai. The 100-year-old buildings are built from red bricks.

The collage is also available as a desktop wallpaper for a modest US$50. Cheques should be crossed, and made payable to "Help Kryptos Get Rich Fund".

Photo-Editing Mania: Yokohama

What's more fun than to visit new places and taking photos? Fiddling around, editing the photos you took, of course.

It's Golden Week. Being a nice sempai, I asked along the kouhais for a trip to 横浜 (Yokohama) on Friday. Frankly speaking, I'd have gone there, with, or without them anyway. Hah! It was my first time there.

Yokohama was devastated during the Great Earthquake and destroyed again in World War II. But it was then rebuilt, and till now, maintained its status as one of the largets ports in the world.

The 1,575-yen lunch in China Town wasn't too satisfying an experience - it was below expectation. Streets were crowded. The sun was scorching hot. (Okay, I exaggerated. But the point is, it was way too warm for spring.) The place reminded me of the streets in Penang road, with Chinese kopitiams and shops selling useless trinkets at ridiculously high prices. "Irasshaimase!" that's when I got jerked back to reality, that I was still in Japan.

This is the first authentic Chinese temple I've seen in Japan. "Authentic" in the sense that it's totally in Chinese style. In fact, this temple is of built according to Ming and Qing Dynasties' architecture. It is dedicated to 関羽, a Chinese deity, for the prosperity of the local business. The craftsmanship of the temple is especially mesmerising when the place is litted up at night. (More photos on that coming up later.)

When Yokohama was opened to foreign trade in 1858, foreign merchants were only limited to a small compound now known as 関内 (kannai), allegedly for their protection from anti-foreign sentiment. A famous spot in Kannai is 馬車道 (basha michi). It used to be a busy place where horse carriages used to past during the early days when the port was opened to foreigners. Old Western-styled buildings can still be seen along both sides of the road. The street lamp shown in the photo above is one of the first gas lamps brought in to Yokohama by Western merchants.

One station away from Basha-michi is みなとみらい (minato-mirai), a city of lights. It boasts the tallest buildings of Japan, high-class hotels and shopping malls. This 112.5m ferris wheel with a giant digital clock display is one of the world's largest. Night scene is especially beautiful. Recommended spot for dating. In fact, I like this place more than Odaiba.

Ōno Yama

Went hiking with 渓友会 (keiyūkai, a club that goes hiking and camping) last Sunday. The destination was 大野山 (ōno yama) in 神奈川県 (Kanagawa Prefecture, west of Tokyo).

But where the heck is ōno yama? Here's a satellite image of Japan. The boxed section is somewhere in between Tokyo and Kanagawa.

By zooming into this area...

This is what you get. Notice the grey zone on the east. That's where the cities in Tokyo and Kanagawa are concentrated in. Generally speaking, if you were to go hiking or camping, you'll need to get out from the grey zone into the green zone. Marked in the upper-right-hand corner in the satellite image above is exactly where I live in Tokyo. More than 100km south west, is ōno yama. Go for another 10~20km towards the west and you get Fujisan, which resembles Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings.

So, I guess you have a rough idea of how far is ōno yama away from Tokyo, then. That explains why I had to wake up at 5.30 in the morning and travel for more than 2 hours all the way there. Phew!

There was around 50 of us in the group. Departing from 山北駅　(yamakita station), it took us 20 minutes to get to the foot of the hill.

Ōno yama is known as one of the 富士見百景 (famous spots that offers a beautiful view on Fujisan). The day was 山開き (the first day of the official "hiking season". Each place has different dates.) And one top of that, the weather was extremely fine, after days of non-stop rain.

Going at a slow pace and taking frequent rests, the climb wasn't tough at all. So, let's fast-forward to 2 hours later, to 12.30. I volunteered to exchange backpacks with a senior. My less-than-1kg backpack with a more-than-15kg backpack. You bet it was a real workout. Even balancing myself was a challenge. Worse still, there was a ridiculously long stretch of steps at the last lap to the top of the hill. Gosh, even my buttocks hurt. Upon seeing this panting, half-dead guy gasping for breath, trying to make it up to the top, the ojisan ("uncles") and obasan ("aunties") who were on their way down, cheered, "Gambatte-ne! Mou sugu! (Keep it up! You're almost there.)"

Fast-forward for another 20 minutes ("Have I reached heaven yet?"), I eventually made it to the top, (though heaven was still a far way to go).

After having hayashi rice for lunch, took a walk around the place.

A panoramic view towards the western side of the hill.

Snow-capped Fujisan.

An idyllic spot to take a rest.

Valley.

Catching a glimpse at a small farm.

There were cattle in the pasture.

By around 16.00, we started our descend by a different route.

Beautiful scenery. Hate to admit it but my photographic skills are not good enough to capture the magnificence of the beautiful scenes the place offered.


We came to 谷峨駅 (yaga station) at the foot of the hill by 17.30. A really small train station which further illustrates the inaka-ness ("countryside-ness") of the place. No station attendant, ticket gates. And not even the familiar ticket machines.

(Warning: Don't try this!) Took a photo on the railway track for the first time!

Feeling totally ragged, I couldn't wait to head straight back home. 皆さん、お疲れ!

Sulky Mood

Sudden mood swing again. Shitty. A moment ago, I was thinking of blogging about the hiking trip last Sunday. The next moment, I'm no longer in the mood for blogging. That's how "sudden". Just to post a photo since I'm online.

A feeble attempt at photo-editing using Photoshop, frankly. (Oh, congratulate me. I finally got a copy of Photoshop after getting fed up with the over-simplistic-it's-almost-zen MS Paint.)

About the hiking trip, it was at Ōno Yama (723.1m) in Kanagawa Prefecture. Lucky that the weather was fine. (It had been raining for the rest of the week.)

So long for now. Going back to sulking.