Archive for May, 2005
May 31, 2005 – 1:54 pm
The weekly Far Eastern Economic Review, which has been around as long as foreigners, has ceased publication.
-> I loved this magazine. Together with the Economist it’s about the only news-type print publication I would spend money on on a regular basis.
Tsukiji let it be known it will no longer allow tourists to watch the daily tuna auction—they take too many pictures and even sometimes fondle the fish. (A prime tuna can go for ¥5,000,000 or more, so it’s not a plaything.)
-> Good thing I went 2 weeks ago. It was a real zoo.
-from Metropolis.co.jp
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May 31, 2005 – 12:22 pm
Irony has a twisted sense of humour. A late night conversation has left me with the distinct feeling someone up there is laughing at me. Surely nothing could be that neat? (Or messy, depending how you look at it.) And last night, as I walk home turning over in my head things left unsaid, I wonder if I am simply a coward, and if I have ever, since the age of five, been truthful about the way I feel.
I love my work and I am enamoured with my company, enough so that I don’t mind at all spending 2/3 of my day on it. The only thing that is starting to bother me is the lack of time to do other things like cook at home or meet friends for dinner. At this point, it would be so easy to simply throw myself into the excitement of tossing out ideas and designing systems that help people and let them work better together or get to know each other or exchange and grow information and draw it out and repackage it… It’s hard to put it into words, but it really does get me going, thinking that I have a real impact on the world and on people and the way they interact.
But the problem is, it becomes an even better excuse not to try on the social front. It’s an excuse to neglect real life relationships, to put off forming new ones. A combination of risk aversion and laziness?
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
And, dang it, get a review before you toss out major concepts and ideas into a client meeting! That was one big mistake.
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May 21, 2005 – 1:16 am
Can’t remember the last time I pulled an all-nighter and actually went to work the next day, on about 1 & 1/2 hours of sleep and a hot, hot shower. Hmm, actually it may have been the last time I did a super fast takeover announcement, back at HSBC.
Luckily, this time wasn’t work. A childhoon friend of mine had come to Japan for a two week vacation with her husband, and we wound up sitting in a restaurant talking crap about people and personalities and why people act the way they do or find certains annoying or stressful. Such as my friend who had started researching half a year before her trip, packing two weeks before, and stressing out completely the night before, vs her husband who tossed everything into his bag in two hours and slept like a baby on the plane.
After the restaurant tossed us out a 1am, we bought some more sake and headed to their hotel, and before I realized it was getting light out. So me, in my brilliance, forgetting somehow that I was going to die because I’ve been working 17+ hours every day for like forever, suggesting we cab it over to Tsukiji and see the tuna auction (which I haven’t seen before, was always meaning to see, but could never imagine getting up at 4am and making my way over for), and then eat sushi at Sushi Dai. Stupid. Must’ve been the alcohol stripping me of common sense.
Well, to be honest, it was pretty cool, and I took my first pics with my cellphone camera. Man, tech is really amazing. I wish I could implement something where I could send mail from my mobile in and it would dump the pics and mail as an entry into this blog.
Check this out.
Anyway, to work.
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May 17, 2005 – 7:29 am
My company builds websites and net-based systems integrating original technology. But we’re not an order house, we propose solutions.
That’s exciting, because it’s thinking work and you have the freedom to craft something which you believe would work best (within the guidelines of the client, of course). At the same time, it’s tough because to come up with a good solution and prove that it’s good, you need to be able to think clearly, grasp the big issues, see the opportunities and gaps and pitfalls, consider alternatives, and rethink and recheck. Consultants get paid big bucks for this (well, basically doing the dirty work for research and numbers). Me, I just want to get my thoughts organized.
So, here I am drafting an outline for an internet strategy and concept paper for a major newspaper company. And I’ve gone back and dug through my old INSEAD projects on marketing and strategy. Too bad our strategy prof sucked. And I wish I had my materials.
But, you know, looking back at those old papers, I remember those days of sitting in a cube and arguing with my groupmates, and I’m suddenly very nostalgic. I don’t think I miss the people as much as I miss the feelings I had then…
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May 14, 2005 – 4:06 am
In Japan, where the scholastic and financial year starts in April, many new employees encounter a fearsome debilitating illness known as “Go-gatsu byou” or “May Sickness”.
Basically, after one month of exuberant enthusiasm, you get the one week off for Golden Week, and *wham* there goes motivation and the will to do anything remotely productive.
I’ve never really had go-gatsu byou before, but this year it was bad. Horrible. Absolutely ick. So sleepy, my head didn’t work, I felt stupid and slow, and it was overall a very unpleasant experience for someone who derives much of life’s fulfillment from work.
Hopefully, it’s been cured. I’m on a new project, for a massive portal for a news company here. Big, big plans with equally big budget. Dude, I’m excited. It’s like being in a room with all-you-can-eat gourmet; I just gotta be careful not to bite off too much at once! Work is good.
However, I have to think hard on how to work. How to manage. How to deliver. What to deliver. Etc etc. Oh man, I’m so excited! Hard to believe I was so depressed only a couple days ago because I couldn’t produce this one slide overview of our marketing services menu.
Oh, I also bought the ¥19,800 pair of Shure earphones I had been eyeing forever. I needed it, as a pickup. Yep.
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May 7, 2005 – 2:00 am
I finally got curtains. I wanted blue, but settled for green. Dang these super-wide non-standard size windows :P
Sat down and took stock of my damage for moving:-
- Shikibuton (Seiyuu) ¥7,700
- Shikibuton, kakebuton, pillow set (Bic Camera) ¥31,290
- Sheets (Bic Camera, Seiyuu) ¥5,000
- Blanket (Seiyuu) ¥6,000
- Pillow (Bic Camera) ¥1,800
- Lace curtains (Seiyuu) ¥8,190
- Blackout curtains (Takeya) ¥10,100
- Clothes stick (Seiyuu) ¥1,200
- Towels (Seiyuu, Takeya) ¥2,600
- Socks hanger (Seiyuu) ¥800
- Racks (Seiyuu) ¥2,000
- Plastic chests (Muji) ¥1,890
- Wok (Takeya) ¥2,600
- Wok cover (Takeya) ¥600
- Pot (Takeya) ¥2,600
- Knife (Takeya) ¥3,500
- Wooden spatula (Takeya) ¥200
- Plastic ladel (Takeya) ¥300
- Bowl (Takeya) ¥315
- Toilet cleaner (Don Quixote) ¥800
- Small table (Don Quixote) ¥2,700
- Misc kitchen supplies (Seiyuu) ¥3,000
- Misc boxes and kitchen items (100 Yen Shop) ¥2,500
- Mobile phone V602T Nudio (Akihabara) ¥0
Total: ¥97,685
Plus slightly over ¥400,000 for key money, deposit, transaction fee, and first month’s rent.
So I’m like -$5,000 for living in a new place. And this doesn’t count the ¥6,000 or so I have to shell out for more plastic chests, ¥16,000 for vacuum cleaner, ¥7,000 for microwave, and figure about ¥20,000 for misc racks and stuff for CDs and books.
It could have been worse. At least I can get a second hand washing machine and fridge from people at work. And Takeya and Don Quixote are really cheap.
But ouch. That really hurts. Ugh.
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May 5, 2005 – 12:03 am
On April 29th (Friday), I came back to Japan with a brand spanking new 3-year work visa.
First thing Monday morning, I had registered myself with Bunkyo-ku, at 4pm I received the keys to my new place, and by 6pm my gas was turned on (thus ensuring hot water). That night, I grabbed a couple kids from work to go shopping for a futon and other essentials, and so that was my super speedy barebones move in.
Spent the next day moving my luggage out of my friend’s place and into mine, bought other essentials, and thoroughly exhausted myself. The futon set was expensive but well worth it; it feels great. I’m still missing blackout curtains (I only have a nice cream lace inner curtains at the moment, which means I’m up at with the sunrise, bleh), storage boxes for clothes, a small table, appliances and kitchen stuff. On the other hand, a trip to the nearby 100yen store yielded a pleasant mound of useful knick-knacks for cheaps.
There’s still a ways to go before I feel that the place will be adequately furnished, but it’s starting to feel better. Curtain and storage boxes are today’s priority, and this weekend I’ll go to Kappabashi to hunt for a high quality knife and wok. Don’t need a TV, and the stereo will have to wait until my cash situation replenishes. It’s ridiculous how much this is costing me – living alone is highly cost-inefficient, ugh.
Well, I also manage to buy a new mobile phone. Or rather, got it for free, based on a 2-year subscription with Vodafone and web/mail pack. The modelf is less than 6 months old, I think, and comes with a 1.3mpx camera and a built-in dictionary. Also looks cool. You can see it here. It’s the “metal” version, not the white ceramic which feels like cheap plastic.
First thing I did was sign up for Hekiru’s mobile content site. I now have Hekiru wallpaper for my mobile. Life is good.
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May 2, 2005 – 9:11 am
And oh my god, what a live.
Only 10 songs, but damn it was definitely the equivalent of any 23 song concert. Hekiru went all out, and I thoroughly absolutely utterly unbelievably and completely unexpected enjoyed myself 417%.
What was more amazing, or disturbing, is how different it felt from the day before. Same place, same lineup, same spot in the hall for me, more or less same friends around. But Day 1, I thought Motto Sweets sucked, and Black Money was an awful disappointment. Day 2, dang I was headbanging and super high like nothing. It’s been a real long time since I’ve ended a concert in such a good mood that I would have been singing and dancing in the streets.
I think it helped that on my left, I had a good dude who was really into the show, as opposed the cynical bitter friend I had the night before. Next, Hekiru spoke a lot, explained a lot, and paid a ton of attention to the audience. Then, we were also prepared, since we knew what was coming (sometimes a good thing, sometimes bad). And Hekiru was determined to give it her best shot, since it’d be the last time until summer, in August.
Rock and Roll Love Letter wouldn’t leave my mind. Dammit! Ugh, I’m starting to love that song! But Tabi Tachi no Uta still doesn’t do it for me. I like Neppu a lot better the second time around too – the first time, it sounded quite ordinary.
I love Hekiru’s concerts. But I’m getting spoiled! Too many front row spots… I dunno if I could go back to a hall setting with a seat in the back -_-
Hekiru rocks. I’ve decided she’s definitely still got it, even at 31. She is a very attractive, appealing, amazing 31 year old woman. But, only when she’s singing hard rock :P
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