Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Japanese Nurse Bar

Well with a title like that, I am pretty sure I will increase my traffic to my blog. Well, if anyone bothers to check it out, they will really see how boring things are for me. Or at least how boring I tend to write. Anyhow... we all know James' lust for Japanese nurses (He married one) so with his birthday passing the other week, we decided to take him out to a place that he could truly appreciate. We went to Alcatraz E.R. for a laugh. It was pretty good, all the staff were either dressed up as Nurses or Doctors. Have to say that the nurses were pretty cute... I can feel a slap coming from Kiyomi as I type. Sorry no pictures... Didn't have my good camera.

BUT I did get some pictures of the weird things they had there... Like how they bring a pitcher of beer:



Or how about the bed pan of fries... well no I know its not a bed pan, but I don't know what you call these things. I think on M*A*S*H (yes I was angry when they cancelled it) they put pretty much any kind of body part, gut, bloody rag into these things. But lets just call it a bed pan for simplicity sake.



Lastly... the cup of beer. Perhaps a little more mental hospital than anything else...



Oh... and yes... the nurses were pretty hot.

More Bike Pictures

Well I know it has been a while since I posted any pictures of my bike. This is the bike, with new tires (Michelin Pro 3's) which are really quick and have a great feel to them. The picture is taken in my indoor parking that we have at work. I'm one of the lucky few who can actually has a spot.

Domo Kun

Here is a little bit of Japanese culture for all of you folks out there. Domo kun (Mr. Domo) is the mascot for the national broadcaster NHK here in Japan. Can't remember where I snapped this photo, I think it was Narita. But sure enough to excite any Domo Kun fan.



Fraser... do you still have yours?

Monday, July 28, 2008

Harvest!

Check this out! So we were able to get about ten little tomatoes and a whole bunch of basil! Actually still have tons of basil, it is growing really well right now. It must be in a good spot, lots of sun. It smell great, much much stronger than anything that you get at the store. Tonight, I picked what I could from the plans, and Kiyomi made tomato, basil spaghetti. It was really tasty. Having fresh veg made the sauce very sweet. Much different from anything in the can, or from the store. If you have the space... give it a try.



Anyhow these are the tomatoes and the basil after I picked them...

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Roof Top Garden

OMG Pictures... yeah I know it has been a little while since I posted any pictures on the web site. Well... I'm not exactly getting paid for this :))) OK... I promise to try to post more. I've got a few pictures of the little bit of gardening that Kiyomi and I are able to do here in Japan. Just to be clear to those of you who have never visited. There are no lawns in Tokyo... no gardens for houses, and certainly no where you can grow anything... except on your rooftop balcony... if you are lucky to have one. Which, as it happens, Kiyomi and I are lucky!!

Here are some pictures of our plants. We've been doing well with the Tomato plants, and we have also had our own Cucumber and Egg Plants. We don't get a lot, but can usually eat something from these once ever week or so. The tomato plant has been the best, giving us a relatively large number. We've probably got ten or twelve that we can eat in the next day or two.



The herb garden is something that we just started. We got the planter at Ikea and some of the plants recently. The basil plant is doing really well and I look forward to trying fresh basil in some spaghetti or other kind of pasta. Should be pretty tasty. Anyhow... its kind of fun to do this... hopefully we can get some more going over the next little while.



We've got some hot peppers in there too... I am not sure what they are going to be like, but they aren't growing as well as they could be.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

http://www.japanesepod101.com/

This is a pretty good site with good audio for learning Japanese. I've started to download the podcasts and listen on my iPod and found it pretty helpful. I really like the stuff that they do on the four compound Kanji... pretty good sayings and quite useful.

悪戦苦闘 = did something with difficulty (use with suru)
意気投合 = to become fast friends, get along quickly with someone

Anyhow, overall very useful, and hey its also free!!!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Macau

On Sunday of my trip I after seeing Rohit off to the Airport, and Trevor to see off his hangover. (He also had to get out of the dog house). I hopped on a ferry to Macao. Its kind of interesting, they are high speed boats that take you right there. The place is now turning into a little vegas though. You can see many of the large Casinos in Vegas (the Wynn is EXACTLY the same building) in Macau that you can see in Las Vegas. Why? More money is now spent gambling there than in Vegas. Per table bets are higher... etc. Its really easy to get to for people in Asia... and I would say that the cultures out here love gambling more than any Canadian I know. We really don't have so many pachinko parlors in Toronto.... :)

Macau isn't just gambling and Casinos though. It is also boast some really great historical sights left over from when it was a Portuguese colony. I spent the day wandering around taking in the sites and seeing these... and eventually got soaked by rain... forcing me back to Hong Kong.

If you head out to Hong Kong I really do advise spending some time in Macau. Even if you don't gamble. Just keep in mind you will be leaving Hong Kong an will need to take your passport. Remember to check your visa status!




Sunday, July 06, 2008

Office Behavior

What is acceptable office behavior? In Japan... there are a number of people that cut their finger nails while sitting at their desk at work. My boss and I find this pretty disgusting and always want to go out and give the people who do this a massive (and well deserved) slap. In my previous roles I used to work some early shifts (starting around 7AM) and remember once hearing a clipping noise in the department heads office. I went to the office supply cabinet near his office, and saw that he had his shoes and socks off and was clipping his toenails into the garbage can. Is this something that is acceptable in Canada? England? Australia? Germany? I would really think not. In all the time working in Canadian companies I really don't recall ever seeing this behavior ever. I'm pretty sure that if someone wanted to do this they would go to the washroom and not subject their colleagues to them clipping their body parts. Anyhow, I'm sticking by my guns that this is inappropriate b
ehavior, and that Miss Manners needs get involved.