Ippoippo

At last, something decent on TV.
Heroes has finally arrived onto Digital Terrestrial TV in the UK (after some showings on Satellite and Cable) over at BBC2.

First two episodes were last night. It’s quite amusing because there is a Japanese character, with some bits being in Tokyo (well, maybe not all bits… there were some rather onset shots of what was meant to be a Tokyo back-alley).
So, I’m having fun trying to understand a lot of it… not doing to bad at times. Of course, the character Hiro can speak some English too (the actual actor is very good at English… ).

Yuko enjoyed the show in general, as well as the Japanese segments. She was quite quick to point out that Hiro’s work friend though didn’t seem very Japanese, as his accent was wrong, and he looked Korean. Turns out she was right… that chap is a South Korean.
Doesn’t bother me too much, as I can’t pick up his fake Japanese accent… though now it’s be pointed out, I can see he isn’t Japanese.

Anyway, we’re both looking forward to the next episodes.

YATTA!!!

Ahhh, patio heaters. Absolute madness!

When I was out in Melbourne this time last year (so, during their winter)… the things were everywhere! I figured it was part of the culture, in that ‘being Australia’ there was a desire to be outside all the time. However, the reality of things in Melbourne during the winter is that it’s not THAT warm in the evening. It almost seemed like a stubborn attitude to take, like “Well, if those folks up in Queensland can stay outside at night… so can we!”. Perhaps I’m wrong.

Anyway, seems that attitude is coming over to the UK.

Haven’t seen it for ages. This years summer still continues to be rather pants… in fact for a lot of people, it’s quite awful.

Today is the first day for quite a while, where it hasn’t rained (… well, yet, the day is still young). Saturday wasn’t too bad, and it was a shame I was stuck in the office. Not so bad for Yuko and she came into Bath too, and did some window shopping.

Evening wasn’t so bad as we ate in one of our old favourite curry houses, from when we used to live in Bath. At last, 1 year after a kitchen fire, the Bengal Brassiere is finally open again. Hurrahhh!!!

Many years ago, I used to enjoy reading a satirical website called The Onion. This week, there I ended up there again reading this amusing story regarding the earthquakes Japan has just had. Ahhh, the stereotype that Japan is some kind of super advanced nation.
Whilst the website story was a pretty good joke, it does make me think about the stereotype. It seems to be quite common in the West, especially in the US it seems. I suppose if mobile phone networks are to go by, then Japan is decades (well, maybe not quite that much ) ahead of the US, and a little way ahead of Europe.
But some things in Japan are quite antiquated, such as housing design.
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Meanwhile, in Gavin’s obsessive Peak Oil news watch, here’s a couple of links. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Linky here and here.

or Tacoooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! (That’s Octopus for those of us who can’t speak Japanese)
We managed to get some from our Fish chappy down at Riverside Market on Sunday. A bit expensive though, so we’ll probably keep to the イカ (Ika – Squid) instead. We did enjoy it though.

Anyway, weekend was nice and relaxing. Saturday was a good day weatherwise (unusual!), and we spent the day and night over at my folks. It was good to see my niece who’s just turned 1 years old.

It was a bit of a pain to get up early on Sunday, so we could get back to Cardiff so we could get to the market… and when we got back it was well and truely pissing it down. Ahh well.

With the rain being so bad, Yuko and I just rented out two DVDs. We ended up getting Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters From Iwo Jima. The second was the better film by far, as had been said by critics before I watched them both. I also found it too be the most moving film, hoping that Saigo (one of the Japanese foot soldiers… who was a baker before being forced into the army) survives the whole thing so he can get home to his wife and child.
Actually, the scene when Saigo gets drafted into the army did make me laugh. It was so…. well Japanese! A desk-jockey soldier turns up with the papers, complete with two Obaa-san (old ladies) who then in typically politie enthusiasm proclaim that he has the great honour to fight (and probably die) for the country.

In Japan related finds on the net, I loved this latest Theme Onsen. Yuko and I are going back in December for a wedding. We’ll be visiting the folks as well, and Yuko and I have been saying that we really need to head off to an Onsen.
Must admit, feel guilty about taking the aeroplane to Japan… but since we need to go for this wedding, may as well make the most of it. Who knows, this may be our last chance to get there and back.

Japan Stuff

In other Japan related finds, apparently they need Geisha in Cumbria (UK). Hmmm, I find that strange. Yes, Japanese tourists have a tendancy to stick to what they know, and head off in droves to Mitsukoshi (a Japanese department store) in London to buy gifts to take back to Japan… but, when visiting Cumbria, surely they want to try tea the British way??!!??

In the last bit of Japan news… I see I have new border controls to contend with. There’s a video over at a Japanese Govt. Dept. website explaining it all (and being rather cheesy and crap at the same time).
In brief, it seems Japan is introducing the same fingerprinting, and photo taking that currently happens at US Immigration control. Great
When we lived in Japan, I used to be able to get through Immigration in the Japanese Nationals section, because of my Visa. However, this December, I’m going to be stuck in the queues with all the other foreigners. It was slow enough before… but now I suspect it’s going to be really slow to get through. In the video, I did notice something. Apparently, after showing your passport, the immigration officer will conduct a short interview, as the do currently. Ehhh?? That never happened to me before. None of them can speak enough English (or any of non-Japanese language) to do so. Mind you, the customs officials used to ask questions sometimes… pretty much in Japanese though when they saw I was a resident.

Peak Oil News watch

A few interesting things.
We’ve had a front page article by The Independant, and article in the FT… now it’s the turn of The Times yesterday.

Also, some people have made available some footage of an interview on George Galloways TV show. Now, George Galloway is an absolute ego-manical politician, who’s so far up his own *&^&**(%^&(()^((&&*^)*
Anyway, the guest on his show though was pretty good, even though it was pretty much a book plugging exercise. You can see the video here.

Finally, a US Organic Foods company is starting to open up over here in the UK. I must admit, I was pretty sceptical of them before… just another Greenwash company. After reading this, I certainly have no desire to buy anything from them.