Sleepless in Bentenchou

Ummmm... It's 3:38AM on Wendesday, Japan time, as I write this and I have about 2 hours before my friend Victor will pick up Doug and I and drive us to Itami Airport. Doug's orginal task was to assist me in the bag carrying to the airport, which is a little far from here, but instead it changed to finding us a ride. In about an hour and a half I will wake up Victor with a phone call, and maybe he will drive us, maybe he won't.
This is actually pretty hard to write as I am rather drunk at the moment and expect to spend every minute of the 14 hour flight ahead of me, sick as a dog. Oh well, at least the flight attendants on ANA are cute…

Wisdom of the Day: Don't drink and fly.

Goodbye

Goodbye, my good land of Nippon. May we meet again.


Sayonara








Wisdom of the Day: Cheap flights aren't always a bad thing.

S-Party

Last night was my 'sayonara' party and what a party it was. I had bigger plans to move from restaurant to club to karaoke, but they didn’t quite plan out that way. Apparently most of my friends are getting old and have to go home early. Just kidding. And what happened to Doug?

Anyway I would like to say thank you to everyone for coming, personally. So, here I go:

Thanks to Noriko (your secret is safe with me), Shoko (met you for the first time last night), Karim (Lumines baby!), Midori (be nice to him! You know who!), Nick (you da man), Fumiko (looked great last night), Fumiko's friend (thanks for the penguins, actually those were from Fumiko too), Yuu, Aki (love the new hair), Tomotaka (why you always look so sleepy recently? Your girlfriend is the flight attendant not you!), Toshi (Jersey represent!), Michi (don't try to deny that Berlitz is lonely without me), Owen (good to meet you mate), Jessica (drink beer and run, huh?), Brian (we know you're really gay), Shizuka (loved the costume), Josh and Yuki (thanks for reading! Always remember the air mattress, ssssssssss......), Ben and Ben’s wife (it escapes me now, sorry!), Asami-chan (we had our doubts), Geoff (a little early), Devin (sexy legs, D), Julie (thanks for getting Dad home), Doug (where'd you go off to?), Tamon (you too?), Yuki and Shingo (see you soon), Kojiro (Midori is a wimp!), Tomiko and Greg (just a bite to eat huh?), Ryoko, Yuka, Mayu and Tomoko (thanks for taking Dad to dinner), Lee (great to see you man, but not online today?), Keita (mecha hisashiburine!), Hitomi (very cute), Yuu (yes, there were two), Michi (thanks for the translation!), Hayato (nice hat), Rina (looking very sexy last night), Dorota (I didn’t hit on the 90-year old woman! It’s just my normal flirty self), Miho and Aki (great to meet you man, Miho hold on to him), Kazue, Justin (drunk were we?), Andy (where'd you go off to as well?), Steve (random Catholic ramblings), Tetsuo (like pool?), Phil (mate!) and various friends, Hiromi (kept Dad company, thanks), Mayumi (meet a new man?), Mayumi's friend (cut me some slack), Matthew and wife (forgot her name too, sorry dude, it was dark!), Ian, Lincoln (never forgot the NOVA), Yuki (didn't expect to see you!), Baba-san (did you fall asleep there?), Son (tired as always) and Dave (sorry no showers there).

If I left you out, or you don't like what I said, email me ASAP! and I'll rectify the situation. Pictures will be on the homepage soon.

Wisdom of the Day: If you came last night, you should be drinking copious amounts of water today.

It's Over

They had quite a run this season, but on Wednesday it all came to an end. I speak of, of course, the Hanshin Tigers, who finished the post season with a whimper. While a great season for the Chiba Lotte Marines, who won their first Nippon Series victory in 31 years and were managed by Bobby Valentine, who is now the only non-Japanese manager ever to lead a team to victory, Osaka is disappointed.

Perhaps even worse is the fact that the Tigers were shut out 4-0 in the series. But still all is not grim for the Tigers. This season turned out to be one of their best in the history of the club, there’s always next year. Even more interesting is the calling for a true World Series by Valentine, pitting the Marines against the winner of the US World Series. He believes that the Japanese have reached the level of the American leagues and have a fair chance for victory.

Anyway, Good Luck to you Hanshin Tigers next year. I'll be following from abroad but not so far away.

Wisdom of the Day: We fall off the wagon so we can get back on.

Nara...again

Since I have been in Japan I have had the distinct pleasure of visiting the ancient capital of Japan: Nara, more times than I have fingers.
There are a few things you need to know about Nara: first off Nara was the original capital of Japan until the 9^th century when the capital was moved to Kyoto, where it remained until the middle of the 16^th century. Second, Nara city has become a very touristy city. It's many features include a large number of temples and shrines, most prominent among these is Todaiji temple, which houses the largest Buddha sculpture, measuring about 45 feet height, in Japan. The second is the great Buddha of Kamakura. Nara city also has a great museum of Nara history, some great restaurants, Nara station and a large amount of tourist shops where you can buy items like katanas.

Finally, and the thing many people don't realize about Nara is that Nara city is not a big city by any stretch of the imagination. Consequently, most of Nara Prefecture is rural farmland and suburban towns. So once you have done the city tour you are done. If you visit Japan sometime soon and head down to Kansai, I highly recommend you spend a day, maybe even two if you like. Thirteen times is not necessary.

Wisdom of the Day: Variety is the spice of life.

Into Arashiyama

Described as a lefty tourist suburb, Arashiyama is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful and picturesque sites in Kyoto. Situated north of most of the major sites in Kyoto, Arashiyama is home to many sites such as the Togetsu-kyo bridge, Tenryuji Temple, rickshaws, a lovely bamboo forest and ice cream.

If you visit to Arashiyama, you will find two groups of people: tourists and couples. Arashiyama is well known as common date spot and you can see many a couple walking together, eating ice cream and even row-boating down the Hozu River, which strangely enough usually had the women doing the rowing while the men were laughing.

I have had the distinct pleasure of visiting Arashiyama no less than 6 times, but still find it relaxing, calm, peaceful and delicious.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I’m tired from 4+ hours of siteseeing. I was also lucky enough to ride both the Midosuji line and the Hankyu Kawaramachi Limited Express during rush hour! Yatta!

Wisdom of the Day: Avoid the little green things.

Hangover and Quiz

Recovering from a hangover from the Berlitz Autumn party, I picked up Dad today at Kansai airport and then proceeded to drink with him and Doug at our lovely local Bentenchou 280 Bar. Not much to say today, But I will leave you with the quiz from our party last night. Post your answers in comment form and I'll get back to you. The winner will get to guest post here!

1) When was Oda Nobunaga was born?
a. 1878
b. 1563
c. 1979
d. 1675

2) Which of the following is not a prime number?
a. 2
b. 19
c. 8
d. 11

3) How many countries are there in the world?
a. 126
b. 193
c. 27
d. 1

4) What island chain is the focus of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia?
a. Hasegawa Islands
b. Adachi Islands
c. Niku Islands
d. Kurile Islands

5) Which of the following is not a continent?
a. Greenland
b. Australia
c. Antarctica
d. South America

6) Which actor is the youngest?
a. Brad Pitt
b. Johnny Depp
c. Christian Bale
d. Bruce Willis

7) The Japanese sword was to said to have originally emerged from an 8-headed dragon slain by which Japanese prince?
a. Susana ono Mikata
b. Susano ono Mikoto
c. Jimmu
d. Denshiko

8) Which is the capital city of Honduras?
a. Lima
b. Port Stanley
c. Tegucigalpa
d. Tenochtitlan

9) Which is the Pythagorean Theorem?
a. Tc=(5/9)*(Tf-32)
b. a2 + b2 = c2
c. tan(x-y) = [tan(x)-tan(y)]/[1+tan(x)tan(y)]
d. trapezoid = h/2 (b1 + b2)

10) Which of the following cities defeated Osaka in the latter’s first ever bid to host the Summer Olympic Games?
a. St. Louis
b. Munich
c. Beijing
d. London

11) Which is not a country?
a. Afghanistan
b. Uzbekistan
c. Turkmenistan
d. Mozibekistan

12) According to official population figures, Osaka is Japan's third largest city. Which two cities have a larger population?
a. Tokyo and Nagoya
b. Tokyo and Yokohama
c. Tokyo and Sapporo
d. Tokyo and Fukuoka

13) According to Roget's Online Thesaurus: of the four following words, one is not a synonym. Which is it?
a. complex
b. development
c. multiplex
d. compound

14) When was the first Berlitz in Japan opened?
a. 1952
b. 1878
c. 1968
d. 1979

15) Who was the first theatrical Batman?
a. Christian Bale
b. Adam West
c. George Clooney
d. Michael Keaton

Wisdom of the Day: Don’t always trust your instincts.

The Da Vinci Tour?

Say what you will about the Japanese, they certainly know how to market to themselves. The most recent example I have seen has to be this: the Da Vinci Code, in convenient to experience tour form. The book that has been on the New York Times best seller list for so many weeks I can't find out anymore, as been made into a tour by Japanese tour companies eager to throw their customers into a web of deceit and intrigue; which will result in approximately 876 photos, 45 hours of video and $200 in souvenirs.

I briefly glanced at the brochure and through the language barrier I was able to see that the tour will take you around Europe to Paris, London and Rome while visiting all the famous sites from the book that I have forgotten by now. And like all good Japanese products, it doesn't come in one or two tour types, but five!

Maybe then we can really break the DaVinci Code? Probably right after I break the Hankyu code, why are seven different types of service on the Kawaramachi Line? Do we really need four different types of expresses, two semi-expresses and a local? I won't even go into the harvest moon express... I think I'll just stay in my house and watch internet TV.

Wisdom of the Day: Go to Bermuda instead. It's sunnier.

Rainy Days

Do you like the rain? No, good. Yes, yes I know it's been raining cats and dogs in New York, but you guys have to understand one thing: we have it worse. Do you remember me complaining about the never-ending Osaka humidity that was supposed to end in the end of September? Well, it didn't!

Actually most days it's cool and comfortable, but recently, in the middle of and following a rainstorm we are hit with a lovely humidity wave that makes me sweat through everything. And since the few nice days are sandwiched in-between 3-4 days of rainy hell, it sucks! This must be because I have two weeks off, right? What did I do?

Also, the pictures section on Jedicraft.net has been updated with Matusyo's Japan collection. Check it out!

Wisdom of the Day: Don't forget your umbrella.

A Trip to Loft

It's hard to describe a store like Loft. Variety store would probably do it justice, but when we in the states here the term variety store, we usually think of some junk shop with crap that was made in China or Indonesia and costs usually less than 5 bucks.

Not the case with Loft. Loft is more of an "everything" store. I went shopping there today for wrapping accessories for my friend's birthday gift; they have a great selection of wrapping paper, boxes, bows, etc. Looking for something else? How about bags, furniture, decorations, Halloween costumes, clothes, jewelry, bicycles, housewares, hats? Whatever you might need they seem to have. People who have been to apartment and love the posters should note that I bought most of them at Loft.

The furniture and overall style are interesting because in many ways they seem to be a rip-off of Ikea. Perhaps this has some relevance since there are no Ikeas in Japan. Who knows?

Wisdom of the Day: Need something? Now you know where to go.

Last Day at Berlitz

Friday was my final day at Berlitz. That sentence pretty much sums up this post, but gimme a second to think and I will have something else to say. Hang on........wait.....almost there.........................okay!

Berlitz, as many of you know, is a language school originally founded by a German-American immigrant of the same name in Massachusetts in the late 19^th century. The success of his company was his no-nonsense teaching style (much different from mine, which is mostly nonsense and bad jokes). Simply put, the students were 100% exposed to the target language in the classroom. This, in ESL circles, came to be known as the Berlitz Method, and it looks nice on my resume too.

Okay, enough of the company history, this isn't an advertisement. I have worked at the Hommachi branch of Berlitz now for nearly two years and in many respects I'm sad to go. The students, on the whole, were lovely with only a few exceptions, the Japanese staff, management and teachers were all very friendly and many became good friends of mine. And now I get to host the seasonal parties (pictures forthcoming). Still like all things in life, we have to move on to something bigger and better.

I want to say thanks to everyone at Berlitz for making my life happy while I was there. I'll never forgot you guys. Okay, maybe one or two of you. Oh, and thanks for the goodbye note, Maki.

Wisdom of the Day: Don't say goodbye to people you will see again.

Miki's Okonomiyaki Party

Nick's see you Okonomiyaki party was held about a week ago at Miki's house in Awaza which is part of a big tri-area business district consisting of Awaza, Honmachi, and Yodoyabashi. I'm sure two questions have entered your mind, 1: Who is Miki? 2: What is Okonomiyaki?

First of all, Miki is one of the lovely students of Honmachi Berlitz. She owns a small bread factory which makes bread for local restaurants, cafes, and maybe a few convenient stores. The top floors of the factory are her and her husband Ryo's house. And it's huge, especially for Japan. Ryo, who is a very cool guy by the way, works in her family business as a manager. That business is also heavily involved in the food service industry, but I'm not sure in what fashion.

Secondly, Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food rarely seen in America and is usually referred to by Japanese people as Japanese style pizza or an omelet. In reality it more resembles, in both appearance and taste, a pancake. Dough and cabbage are the primarily ingredients, others vary depending on where you go. Kansai style okonomiyaki usually doesn't have noodles mixed inside, while Hiroshima does and usually has pork or beef added, where as the Kansai style seems to move more towards seafood. It's a popular, easy to make food which I have eaten fresh, frozen and in a restaurant.

Wisdom of the Day: Avoid the frozen stuff.

Kaitenzushi

Which is Japanese for the rotating sushi bars which so fascinate us Americans. On last Saturday night, after a disappointing trip to the SenseiSagasu.com International Pizza Party which was falling apart because of the rain, Geoff and I headed for a little dinner at a tabehodai (all-you-can-eat) Kaitenzushi Bar in Namba.

Contrary to popular belief, the restaurant doesn't simply serve fish, but also beef in a sort of sushi style, different kinds of flavored jellys, oranges and even desserts. The wait was a little long to sit down but the tabehodai part means you can stack up plates without fear of a high bill at the end.

My main question was how long do they leave the fish rotating if no one eats it. Geoff responded saying that there is always some stupid gaijin who will eat it not knowing better and he is convinced that one of the signs in the window means that they aren't liable for what happens to you.

The only other highlight of the trip was finding Santa Claus there. He's about 5'9" 375lbs, needs two stools to sit and could stack up the plates faster than the staff could rescue them. Non-red and green clothes were not much of a disguise when you're walking around with a two foot beard and long white hair.

Better luck next time.

Wisdom of the Day: Don't eat the darker fish.

280 Bar

In the past I have spoken about the Izakaya style of restaurant as well as the Yakitori house which specializes in and sells almost exclusively, chicken. Well on Monday night I had the privilege to be led to a new bar in Bentenchou that can only be called the love child that Yakitori and Izakaya never wanted. I'm taking about the 280 bar near JR Bentenchou station. 280, meaning of course that everything inside is 280yen or about 3 bucks.

Tomiko, Greg, Shizuka and Brian rounded the group that later integrated two groups of drunken locals in a free-for-all beer festival with 500ml Beers and 1ltr Happoshus. The food was also excellent, featuring many types of Yakitori, Edemame and even tabehodai (all-you-can-eat) cabbage.

I could go on and on about the restaurant's no nonsense, down to earth style, or perhaps the elegance and grace of the staff, maybe even a paragraph or two feeling that accompanies such an experience, but I prefer you go there and find out for yourself.

Wisdom of the Day: It's just down the block from 7-11.

Sayonara Meijo

Sad as it was, today was my final day at Meijo Gakuin High School. Meijo is a somewhat famous all girls High School located in the southern part of Osaka city near both Showacho and Fuminosato stations.

While Meijo has never really been known for its girls’ academic prowess, they make up for with one of the best marching bands in Kansai as well as some great sports teams. It also has some of the funniest and good hearted students in Osaka.

I was brought to Meijo in the spring of 2004 as a twice-a-week supplemental native English instructor and since then have taught over 300 different students for three different grades.

Teaching high school in Japan is similar, I imagine, to teaching in the states. It can be very rewarding at times, but it can also be very trying and energy consuming. For every laugh and good time I had, there were an equal number of times I left in a terrible and exhausted mood. Still my last few days were very enjoyable even though some of the girls were sad and angry at my departure. A few girls yelled in Japanese that I couldn’t leave and I had to stay. Others took the opportunity to get some pictures in with me or have me autograph a pencil case or textbook cover. I also took advantage and took many pictures of my own which are now part of the new Pictures section on Jedicraft.net.

I will miss teaching there more than I realize now. The girls were great to me and made me feel very special. Thanks for that and good luck to all of you in the future.

Wisdom of the Day: You can know it until you stick it out.

Holiday

Monday was a national holiday here in Japan, and just like in the states we were blessed with a three day weekend to enjoy some drinks, lie in the sun and nearly forget to post on my blog. It happens...

Anyway, Monday was Health and Sports Day (taiiku no hi), or the day during which the 1964 Olympic Games opened in Tokyo. This day was especially important for the Japanese as it symbolized the successful conclusion to their reconstruction efforts after the ravages of World War II. Like most non-Japanese and Japanese alike, I celebrated with friends and was completely oblivious to the meaning of the holiday. But I still enjoyed it.

Also, last Tuesday thanks to Phil, I attended a Hashin Tigers game at Koshien Stadium near Tomoko’s house. I'm in the process of adding a new pictures section to my homepage at Jedicraft.net and will have the pictures from the baseball game up there in a few days. Needless to say it was a great game with Imaoka and Kanemoto hitting back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fourth inning breaking a nearly 4 inning scoreless tie streak. In the end, unfortunately, the Tigers lost out to the Yokohama Baystars 6-4, but since they clinched the Pennant a week earlier, I think they couldn’t give a shit less.

Wisdom of the Day: Free up your schedule if you intend to run a regularly updated blog.

Census Day

October 1^st was Census Day. Yes, just like America and most of the other countries in the world, Japan has a Census. Who knew? Anyway, according to the sign everyone counts, and according to my building's management's sign in the elevator, if you have lived in Japan for 3 months or more, you have to fill it out.

The only other thing worth noting about this otherwise unpost worthy event is that the official poster includes a shot of the oh-so-lovely Aya Ueto.

Wisdom of the Day: Fill out your Census form

The Andrew Saga

The saga of Andrew is a tale few have heard in full but yet still merits mention here. Andrew's sayonara party was actually last weekend, that's where these pictures are from. Sorry to be late guys.

Andrew Tiberius Wright was born on ::this section Classified:: in the Australian town of ::deleted:: to parents ::deleted:: Wright and ::deleted:: Wright. Growing up, the young Andrew showed great promise in the field of English instruction, auto theft, rolling as well as the art of wooing Japanese women. Unfortunately for him, the Aussie-Mexican War would put his dreams on hold. Andrew, like many of his generation, was drafted into the Army and joined the elite 69^th Airborne Paratrooper Regiment.

Andrew distinguished himself on the field in the Battle of Byron Bay, where he single handedly defeated an entire platoon of the feared enemy Chimmichunga corps and cleared the way for the capturing of the Mexican Destroyer El Burro.

Later on, Andrew was given field command of the 69^th when his commander was killed by an enemy sniper. The 69^th continued with their mission to destroy three enemy SAM sites on the western Yucatan coast and then lead the charge into Mexico City, Andrew himself securing President Bell and ending the six year conflict.

Andrew returned home to find Australia a changed place, the war had been unpopular at home and war heroes, like himself, were shunned instead of venerated. Alienated and alone, his family having been killed in the atom bombing of Sydney, Andrew struggled to find himself as he went through job after job. This proved futile as he discovered that he was unsuited for Carpentry, Paleontology, Massage Therapy, Erotic Dance, Endocrinology, the Culinary Arts, Aviation, Engineering, Meteorology, Horticulture, Management, Neurobiology, Mathematics, Cryptology, Real Estate, Masonry, Interior Design, Mechanics, Graphic Design, Editing, Writing, Ballet, Horticulture again, Journalism, the Hospitality industry, Security, Telemarketing, Iridology, Hungarian Pre-History, Pharmacology, Immunology, Epidemiology, Macro-molecular Chemistry and Garbage Collection.

Struggling to make a new life for himself, Andrew tried one career after another until he met the woman who changed his life and would be his future bride ::deleted::. After a passionate affair, she was then married to his former commander, the two married and left Australia for the sunny shores of the land of the rising sun. Andrew quickly found himself at home teaching business English to Japanese businessmen, at ::deleted::, with no life left in their bodies. He also found a niche as a surveyor for future locations of Family Marts.

Over ::deleted:: years, and one son, later Andrew's life would collapse around him as he was framed and implicated in the Great Bentenchou Armored Car Heist of '05. As all the readers of this site know the details I won't waste space here. Andrew was unfortunate enough to have the controversial lawyer ::deleted:: successfully play the gaijin card in court and secure him a suspended sentence. He finally tied up his loose ends and finished his last night at the Old Town hangout of CitaCita, thought he felt himself being shadowed by a possible assassin under the disguise of a Japanese fellow teacher. With his affairs in order, he boarded a plane and has not been seen since in Japan.

Goodbye good friend, you will be missed. Safe journey.

Wisdom of the Day: Don't name your elite corps Chimmichunga

Welcome to Bentechou

To all those who have never been here, and I know it's quite a few of you, Bentenchou is a very intriguing place filled with all sorts of magical people and whimsical wonders. Most who visit Bentenchou find it a difficult place to leave and many are wondering how I can be moving away from such a place.

Well Bentenchou isn't all shits and giggles, but it's a fun place to live and very convenient for most of the hot spots in Osaka. Situated at the crossing of a major subway line and the JR Loop Line, any of the great places that Osaka have to offer are usually less than a 20-minute train ride away. Here are some of the more interesting places in Bentenchou should you have a chance to visit:

JR Bentenchou Station - easy access to the ORC200 leisure area and home to a delicious Udon shop as well as McDonald's. Also conveniently located from the gaijin quarter to allow quick drop offs of circus members.

Bentenchou Station (subway) - nothing much here actually, but I have some pictures anyway.

Only100 100yen Shop - easily the most amazing 99 cent store you have ever been in. All the items are surprisingly top quality and last a lot longer than one would expect. The staff is somewhat strange looking, but it's easily ignored as you'll never visit here more than once a month.

Gekiya - the best Izakaya for quality, service and price in the area. I highly recommend the French Fry/Onion Ring combo. The sushi isn't too bad either.

Tsutaya - easily explained as the Blockbuster Video of Japan. If they only rented video games...

World Video - Tomoko describes this place as the creepy video store since it's loaded with porn and all the staff are pushing the 300 pound mark as well as a little smelly. Still if Tsutaya doesn't have what you're looking for (and Tsutaya has a very nice Adult section, BTW), the New Release section here will make you happy.

Konami Sports Club - a lovely sports fitness experience. Has everything you need and they are not afraid to charge you up the ass for it. I recommend buying everything you need, protein drinks, gloves, shoes, etc., not here and only pay for your membership. Still the staff are quite cute and very friendly.

Yakiniku Oishii - just had dinner here with Justin and Yukiko. Great all you can eat style, good prices and an easy to order system makes this place a winner.

Minami Ichioka Shotengai - looking for strange food, Japanese food, ice cream or lots of old people? This is the place to go!

Family Mart - 2:30AM and you're still hungry? This is the place to go. Now two convenient locations which a five minute walk of my place and probably 3 more are coming!

Bentechou Minami Jitensha Hokanshou (Bicycle Impound) - lost your bike? It's probably not here.

Takechi Sangyo Building - also known as the Gaijin Quarter. Current estimates state that 35% of it's approximately 100 apartments are occupied by non-Japanese. But I may have made up those numbers based on an educated guess.

Bentenchou Walk - the main place if you are looking for sleeping old men or derelict palm trees. The declines make it ideal for late nice bike racing. Just watch out for the old women whose backs don't straighten anymore, they probably can't see you.

Justin's Apartment - little is known of this place which is sometimes referred to as a tear in the fabric of space time. This tear causes the occupants to be hopelessly addicted to earthly pleasures and spend most of the weekend sleeping. Recon units have noted that a large number of girls enter this area and never exit.

Nick's Apartment aka NickCorp HQ - known for dirt and noise, Nick's apartment has been home to no less than 10 parties of assorted sizes and themes. Intelligence suggests that you're better off avoiding this place.

Wisdom of the Day: Great vacation spots are never tough to find

Curry Upgrade

No trip to Osaka is complete without a trip to Den Den Town, a.k.a. Nippombashi. This area is well known for its huge selection of discount electronics stores, DVD/game stores and anime porno stores. There's even a sprinkling of duty free shops for those people who come from countries where electronics are more expensive then here.

Tristan and I were hunting for upgrade parts to my notebook. My two and a half year old Dell Inspiron 8500 is still pretty good, but I'm getting tired of fighting the 40GB hard disk and fighting Windows for RAM which is being used by it and my security programs. Okay, so it can run a little slower than it should, at least I never get a virus. The original configuration also included 512MB of RAM.

After about an hour of shopping and price comparing, I picked up a 100GB drive and a 1GB RAM chip for about 300USD. The RAM is already inside and giving me a small performance boost, I expect to see more when I do the windows reinstall to go with the new drive.

Another interesting fact was the discovery of a small but hardcore Dell community who like to rip apart notebooks and upgrade them. My system is currently running a GeForce 4GO 4200 64MB vRAM card, but thanks to that community I will soon be installing an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128MB vRAM card. While not top of the line by today's standards, it's a considerable increase over the older card and show make Half Life 2 look more pretty!

After shopping, we finished the afternoon with a hardy lunch of Japanese style curry rice. Japanese curry is much more thick than your more traditional Indian curry and is usually accompanied by fried chicken or pork strips. Den Den Town also has the usually assortment of fast food stops, gydon restaurants and noodle shops. So why are you still reading this? Go!

Wisdom of the Day: Don't trust your preconceived notions.

The 105th Post

Naysayers and doubters alike begone! This post marks the 105^th post on my blog and 6 months since the World of Jedicraft was restored to the internet new and improved. There isn't much more to say really.

I'd like to thank all my readers, most of which are my friends-thanks guys, for coming back day after day to read my sometimes mindless dribble about Japan, my life and whatever happens to be in my head at the moment. I can only promise bigger and better things. I will have some cool posts in October for the various parties I will be attending and am still planning both a redesign of my homepage and of this blog in the new future.

Until then, true believers, keep reading, in the meantime I leave you with another anniversary.

Wisdom of the Day: Creating 105 wisdoms of the day was easier than I'd thought