Ippoippo

Interesting to see that a Japanese actress (and an unknown one at that back in Japan) has been nominated for an Oscar. I doubt she’ll get it though. I must get around to watching that film too (Babel). Looks pretty interesting.

Whilst here in the UK, TV is pretty crappy at times. A bit like Japanese TV. Mind you, you do get some gems. One of my mates sent me a link to some footage from a Japanese Krypton-Factor-type show, over at You-Tube. Mind you, the better ones were always the special editions of these shows, when they had comedians (and other Japanese ‘tarento’, or ‘Talents’) doing them. Much more of a laugh when they made idiots of themselves.

In serious news, there was an interesting article over at the Asia Times. Basically, Indonesia has gone into decline with it’s oil and gas reserves. Now, Japan imports a lot from there, and the Indonesians are less likely to want to export the stuff and keep it from themselves. That leaves Japan in a bit of pickle

Finally, you may be noticing that I’m doing updates. I’ve updated the Wordpress software up to 2.1 now. Just need to find time to upload the latest theme updates (so, in the meantime, I’ve disabled the old theme in readiness).

Well, I’m in the middle of upgrading my blog theme, and it looks like a new version of Wordpress is out too now.
I suppose, I’ll just do a big update in the next week or so. The website will look a bit different then, and Yuko’s content will then be online too.

Shabu-shabu. One of those great meals. My friends who came out to Japan loved it when we went out to a shabu-shabu place in Kabukicho.
Now, the place we went to was a sensible place, with people drinking and eating… despite it’s location in one of the ‘entertainment areas’ of Tokyo.

However, it seems, one Shabu-shabu place has come up with a restaurant, that’s maybe more in fitting with being set in the Kabukicho district, ahem!

After weeks and weeks of near constant rain (and weather that’s far too warm for this time of year), it’s all changed. Since the weekend, we’ve been having sunny weather, but much colder (especially yesterday and today). Despite it being bloody freezing, it’s much nice this way.

Despite the sun coming out, a lot of people are getting pretty grumpy at the moment in the UK, what with the current state of the trains. Since, I’ve been back, I’ve hardly ever been on a train that’s on time.
Also, all trains have been running at over 100% capacity (don’t forget though, UK trains are typically less crowded than a Japanese time, so not a problem for me as such anymore). Now, in Japan, if a train is so full you can’t get on, no problem, just get the next one 3 to 10 minutes later (in rush hour). Hmmm, not really an option here is it. So, really, the issue is not so much that the trains are overcrowded (that’s just people here being pampered and used to having seats)… it’s the lack of regular services and punctuality.

Gas

I suppose the only thing I’m concerned about is how the UK gas reserves are going to hold up… with the cold weather, there will be extra demand and wholesale prices will go up again.

Talking of gas, interesting (though worrying) to see that Oman is in a bit of a tizz regarding it’s gas reserves.. Quite where they are going to go looking for more oil and gas, I don’t know. But it smacks of desperation, as does this little statement…

Ahmad Makki, the Minister of National Economy of the sultanate, said his Ministry was looking for new sources of gas for its LNG projects. He added that Oman was currently carrying out negotiations with Iran and Qatar with the aiming of covering Oman’s needs.

In short, Oman has long term export comittments made, and it needs to buy from outside to meet those!! That’s crazy.
It should be mentioned that national gas reserves in Oman had been downgraded in recent years…

Damn right they should be downgraded. Along with the rest of the M.E., they all upgraded their reserves for no reason (well, they did have a reason, a bigger slice of the OPEC distribution quotas).
So, now, we have the Kuwaiti’s quietly admitting that their reserves aren’t what they told us there were, and Oman too. How long before Saudi admits it?