A Week in Tokyo 34
Another late installment of A Week in Tokyo - got a load to go through to make up for it. The usual drill - article contains photos more than a week old.
Met up with Billy and his manager before din dins to go over some stuff. Brought along Shosira who helped take photos for the evening.
At the Roppongi Gonpachi which was filled with fellow gaijin. Heard a lot about the restaurant but never been before. Food was delicious.
Japanese 101: At the end of a meal, one should say "Gochisou sama deshita" and should say it especially to the person who pays for the meal at a restaurant.
many folks hold their hand in a prayer while saying this.
Japanese 101: At the end of a meal, one should say "Gochisou sama deshita" and should say it especially to the person who pays for the meal at a restaurant.
many folks hold their hand in a prayer while saying this.
Some gifts from fans for Billy.
Folks who were total strangers became friends on the way home. Some university students. Why don't uni students wear Sailor-fuku anymore?
Travel on the public transport is never a ronery journey for a trooper - chatting to people for most of the way home.
Dinner at the German embassy with the folks at CScout - all photos in this article.
At the GSC offices for the GSC Live Broadcast. Huge increase in traffic from Japanese users - they are still a quiet bunch though ^^;
Will launch the News Items in Japanese language too hopefully by the end of this week - will require quite a few backend changes. The gone fishing page will be up for an hour or so.
Will launch the News Items in Japanese language too hopefully by the end of this week - will require quite a few backend changes. The gone fishing page will be up for an hour or so.
Have always taken off shoes when entering the home since I was a kid and obviously took to the Japanese custom easily when I got here. Do you wear shoes at home or take em off before you go in?
Since the broadcast, an entry for Danny Choo (in Japanese) cropped up in NicoNico Pedia ^^;
Some gorgeous katsu for lunch.
This weeks desk. Mirai Saber now dons her gauntlet with sword and Aoi-chan is back in her slip with rifle.
The old PowerBook is connected to the external Optic line to monitor and control the image servers.
Been interested in how much electricity I'm using so got one of these Ecowatt devices. It plugs in the wall and you just plug in your electricity into the front socket. No buttons or settings involved.
The display changes every few seconds and shows how much CO2 is being let off together with cost per hour and how much has been used up until now.
The desk area in the previous 2 pics uses up 4 yen per hour.The air conditioner which acts as our heating device uses about 50 yen per hour. Vacuuming for a few mins uses up 1 yen. Still need to measure how much the server rack uses up.
The desk area in the previous 2 pics uses up 4 yen per hour.The air conditioner which acts as our heating device uses about 50 yen per hour. Vacuuming for a few mins uses up 1 yen. Still need to measure how much the server rack uses up.
Our monthly electricity bill of late costs about 15000 yen but costs much less in Spring or Autumn when we don't need the heating or cooling devices. Are you aware or how much is being paid for electricity in your household?
Folks interested in this device can get it at Amazon for 2980 yen.
Helping the fire brigade recruit the brave. Whenever I see the brigade this image always pops up in my mind ^^;
Veggies for lunch. 680 yen.
On the roads on the way to somewhere or other.
Bowl O dead cow for lunch.
Rainy day in Ikebukuro for meetings.
After meetings go exploring around whats has kinda become a "second Akihabara" what with all the otaku related shops.
At Toranoana. The text on the red strip says "Japanese Cultural Heritage Moe."
Just the usual public oppai.
Networking with a load of Internet related folks at the Tech Crunch Meetup in Ebisu. Met a load of folks here who came along to Tokyo CGM Night.
Grabbing some snacks for tea time.
Sushi din dins with Nendopuchi Runa Edomae from Seto no Hanayome. I think this Nendopuchi comes as a DVD exclusive. Some Seto no Hanayome action below which I never got to finish.
Eco poster to promote the use of bringing your own bag to supermarkets and refusing to use the given plastic ones.
I heard that its actually more harmful to the environment for one to use their own reusable bags as the amount of CO2 produced to make them does the environment more damage?
I heard that its actually more harmful to the environment for one to use their own reusable bags as the amount of CO2 produced to make them does the environment more damage?
Lunch with the boss and engineer at Hobby Search. Hmmmmm.
Some deep fried goodies for Saturday lunch at home.
Been guest blogging at BoingBoing over the past two weeks and you can see all previous posts under Guest Blog. Its been a tough but fun schedule and it looks like many BB readers enjoyed what they saw and decided to stay on at dannychoo.com ^^
The gorgeous Seto Sun Figma and some pasta lunch. 880 yen. Her eyes are quite big which I didn't notice before.
Tis the jolly hayfever season. Japan has a load of Sugi trees which give off a ton of pollen every year that leave much of the Japanese population with red eyes and snail trails running from the nostrils down the sleeves.
Most folk here wear white masks but I use this Respro and get weird looks all the time ^^;
Had hayfever back in the UK but not this bad.
Had hayfever back in the UK but not this bad.
Some curry udon for dinner. 700 yen.
Om Rice with some fried chicken on the side. 900 yen.
Having some Ishiyaki Oyakodon with some ramen - this set meal was 990 yen. Bit too much.
Got another Mac Mini to deal with image serving on dannychoo.com. All avatars and static images are being served from one of the Mini's and the new Mini will serve the CGM (Consumer Generated Media) images - your news items. I know that image loading is a bit slow right now but thats because I still need to do some optimization.
How is the site loading time for you lately?
How is the site loading time for you lately?
Currently looking for a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) which will continue to power the server rack in the event of a power failure. Am thinking about the APC ES 500 BE500JP. Don't have much knowledge about UPS but know that some come with a phone jack and USB to boot servers remotely. Any recommendations?
Had power failures back in the UK from time to time and experienced them a lot when visiting folks back in Malaysia - has never happened in the 3 years living in this house though.
Lunch again with my Seto Sun who's my fave figma of late.
Stroll on a warm afternoon. Suddenly became very cold though.
Some shabu shabu for din dins.
The rest of the shabu shabu set which cost about 5500 yen for two. Comes with a load of dead animals and vegetables which are dipped in the hot soup boiling away in the middle of the table.
Which is more tasty - Seto or Icecream?
A load of old houses are being torn down and new houses being completed every day in this area. The price of land in this neck of the woods is going up quite a bit too.
BTW, the roof of this house is sloped not for aesthetic purposes but because of Japanese building regulations - the Nichiei Kisei (日影規制(にちえいきせい)) is a restriction to ensure that the surrounding buildings get a certain number of sunlight hours. For example, A building within X meters has to receive X number of sunlight hours per day during the winter season. This restriction also affects the height and shape of the sort of house you can build.
More about Japanese building regulations in the Tokyo Property Purchase article.
More about Japanese building regulations in the Tokyo Property Purchase article.
Some health food is good for a change.
This weeks Mc Dees kiddy meal goodies are Dragon Ball and Herro Kitty.
Some Musubi and Miso soup for din dins. Total 660 yen.
Aoi-chan gets a new prezzie - the transplant was quite painful.
Time saving tip - make a jug of tea (PG Tips) once instead of making 3 cups ^^;
Still need to review Kos for you.
Still need to review Kos for you.
A greato discovery this week! Thanks to folks over at my Twitter for always helping out with stuff.
I came across a setting on the PS3 which allowed videos to be played through a Media Server - wondered if there was a way to play opensourced AVI files that I downloaded onto my Mac on the PS3.
I came across a setting on the PS3 which allowed videos to be played through a Media Server - wondered if there was a way to play opensourced AVI files that I downloaded onto my Mac on the PS3.
Tried many packages which involved a load of command lines and a ton of configurations. Then tried out Media Link.
Downloaded and installed the Media Link Preference pane. Added a folder to share with the PS3 and clicked a single button to start the server...
Downloaded and installed the Media Link Preference pane. Added a folder to share with the PS3 and clicked a single button to start the server...
...then headed over to the PS3 to see my Mac show up as "Nullriver MediaLink (name of Mac)." Was able to browse all the contents of the shared folder on my Mac and play AVI, MP4, MOV and *all* my media. Was rather impressed indeed. Next thing I need to work out is whether I can copy the folks over to the 60GB HD on the PS3. Most certainly worth the 20 USD for the package.
Looks like I will be putting the PS3 to very good use indeed.
Looks like I will be putting the PS3 to very good use indeed.
Where do you spend most of your time watching opensourced stuff? I personally find it difficult to relax in front of the computer so never watch movies here - need to lean back in the couch to watch.
Just some of the figures that need reviewing or giving away.
Cold n crisp sunny morning.
Continue reading more about life in Tokyo or subscribe by RSS.
Continue reading more about life in Tokyo or subscribe by RSS.