My mates from b1te entertainment just launched a new app called MSwaps. It allows you to swap collectors cards on your mobile phone. They are launching with the England footy squad (they are English afterall) so if you are following the World Cup be sure to get it on your phone (for free) and start collecting.
SPIFF OUT
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Guess the Movie
Go ahead - guess the movies. I used the random toys I've picked up whilst here to recreate some famous movies/movie moments. Some are obvious, some aren't. Feel free to make a few suggestions. Definitely make a few guesses.
SPIFF OUT
SPIFF OUT
Pi-ta-go-ra-su-i-chi`
Or Pythagoras Switch. Ever wanted to build the kind of contraptions you saw in the goonies when you were a kid? These guys do it, but they do it sooo much better! The ones with the magnets are just awesome: Pythagoras Switch on Transbuddha. Thanks to Stuart Croy for bringing this to my attention.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Kagoshima Trip
On April 21st I had to get up at the inhuman hour of five am to get ready for the weekend trip. Some friends from work had kindly organised a trip to Kagoshima. We had originally intended to visit Okinawa - some of the islands at the very southern point of Japan, but there were no flights available. Kagoshima is as close to Okinawa as we could get in the end but as I discovered it has plenty to do and see anyway. For example (click on that link for evidence) it has a VOLCANO! If nothing else, I was able to practice my evil laugh whilst prospecting for locations for my evil lair…. MUAHAHAHA!
Travelling in Japan is, like most things (I may have harped on about this before) very convenient. Our group of seven arrived at the conveniently located domestic airport - Haneda - to go through the conveniently simple check in procedure that requires no ID, before boarding the plane, which was conveniently quick and completely lacking in inconvenient delays. At Kagoshima airport we just got on the conveniently located bus outside the conveniently small terminal and within an hour we were strolling around the centre of the city. Total elapsed time four hours. The same trip in the UK would have had me tearing my hair out and probably two hours late thanks to Easy jet.
My travelling companions were ghosts with empty sockets. No hang, on, I'm listening to Paul Simon while I write so I may break into lyric at any moment. My travelling companions weren't the children of my first marriage, but six friends variously from work or met through work friends: Steph, Mun, Amy, Yuka, Yen and Naho. That’s right, it was just SABchan plus six laydeez. Oh yeah… Actually, we met up with Toan in Kagoshima. So the official M/F ratio was 3:1. Excellent… MUAHAHAHA.
Our first stop was for Lunch at the main shopping centre in Kagoshima. Shopping centres usually have decent restaurants included in Japan and this place was no different. I love the fact its possible to go to any department store and have a decent lunch. Post lunch we struck out for Sakurajima - the Volcano. The weather was a rainy, so whilst we should have seen something like this, we actually saw this. For those too lazy to click on the links: clouds. The visitor centre was OK though. We got to watch videos of the most recent eruptions. Yes, its an active Volcano - which only increased my desire to set up an evil headquarters there. The evil deeds I could perform with fresh hot molten magma… We also took a trip round a volcanic garden. As you geologists know, volcanic soil is very rich in nitrates, but its also high in Ash. The garden looked dark and grungy (probably due to the weather) with all the ash on the pathways and by the beach.
Afterwards we did some more shopping before getting on the train to our Hotel. Surprisingly, the train journey took a while. We were on a local train that looked like it was old in the fifties never mind today. We eventually arrived at the town (I really can't remember its name now) and stopped for dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. Have you ever been to a restaurant with tanks of fresh fish/lobster etc? This was one of those places, except pretty small so that in total it could sit maybe thirty customers. Every time I've been to one of those places, the tanked food pretty much sits there unmolested - especially in the west where too many people are squeamish about ordering live food. Well, this time I got the chance to watch some poor chef climb up on a wobbly stepladder with a giant fish net to catch the huge fish sitting at the bottom of the tank. It disappeared into the kitchen never to be seen again. I think we had all our food before it was extracted so I'm pretty sure it wasn't served to us.
On to the hotel which despite its age and obvious signs of mould, water damage, and overpowering smell of dying flowers (probably to cover an even more off-putting smell), was quite nice and better decked out than I expected. I'd gotten so use to staying in Ryokan that I was dreading another back-breaking night on a futon. So finding decent western style beds and a lush balcony view was a treat. Our organisers had done a good job… The view was of the ocean, as the hotel is on one of the southern most peninsulas of Kyushu. Anyway, it was a Japanese Hotel, so we put on our Yukata, went to the Onsen, then went for a late night stroll along the beach before snacking on Haagen Das. Mmmm, chocolatey ice cream goodness.
Next morning we went to a nearby garden. This was my favourite part of the trip. The gardens were pretty rich and varied, with waterfalls, ponds, cliff top ocean views, huge butterflies and cool little statues dotted around. I took the opportunity to fill my memory card with as many snaps as I could. My favourite photo is here. I still haven't figured out what kind of flower it is, but I'm too lazy to make the effort so if anyone knows feel free to post a comment. In fact, please post the comments on the pictures themselves as it will improve their ratings and hopefully encourage others on flickr to take a look.
I had my first taste of Soshomen for lunch on the Sunday. Its kind of like Soba, except the noodles are dropped into a tank of swirling water (the traditional version is a stream, or pipe coming out from a stream) so that you can just stick your chopsticks for the noodles to collect onto. The noodles bind due to the water so its really easy to eat. You dip them in a soy based soup (also cold - and laced with spring onions and wasabi) for flavour. Slurpingly tasty. From there it was onto the nearby lake (god I'm terrible with names - I can't remember what its called!!) for a brief stopover and finally to another nearby tourist attraction (we were running out of time at this stage) for a look at the traditional Samurai style houses and gardens that exist in good condition nearby. I got a couple of good shots there too so take a look.
After a trip back to the same old shopping centre for souvenirs we waved goodbye to Toan and went to the airport. We were back in Tokyo by ten o'clock and I was in bed by 11. Another busy weekend….
Travelling in Japan is, like most things (I may have harped on about this before) very convenient. Our group of seven arrived at the conveniently located domestic airport - Haneda - to go through the conveniently simple check in procedure that requires no ID, before boarding the plane, which was conveniently quick and completely lacking in inconvenient delays. At Kagoshima airport we just got on the conveniently located bus outside the conveniently small terminal and within an hour we were strolling around the centre of the city. Total elapsed time four hours. The same trip in the UK would have had me tearing my hair out and probably two hours late thanks to Easy jet.
My travelling companions were ghosts with empty sockets. No hang, on, I'm listening to Paul Simon while I write so I may break into lyric at any moment. My travelling companions weren't the children of my first marriage, but six friends variously from work or met through work friends: Steph, Mun, Amy, Yuka, Yen and Naho. That’s right, it was just SABchan plus six laydeez. Oh yeah… Actually, we met up with Toan in Kagoshima. So the official M/F ratio was 3:1. Excellent… MUAHAHAHA.
Our first stop was for Lunch at the main shopping centre in Kagoshima. Shopping centres usually have decent restaurants included in Japan and this place was no different. I love the fact its possible to go to any department store and have a decent lunch. Post lunch we struck out for Sakurajima - the Volcano. The weather was a rainy, so whilst we should have seen something like this, we actually saw this. For those too lazy to click on the links: clouds. The visitor centre was OK though. We got to watch videos of the most recent eruptions. Yes, its an active Volcano - which only increased my desire to set up an evil headquarters there. The evil deeds I could perform with fresh hot molten magma… We also took a trip round a volcanic garden. As you geologists know, volcanic soil is very rich in nitrates, but its also high in Ash. The garden looked dark and grungy (probably due to the weather) with all the ash on the pathways and by the beach.
Afterwards we did some more shopping before getting on the train to our Hotel. Surprisingly, the train journey took a while. We were on a local train that looked like it was old in the fifties never mind today. We eventually arrived at the town (I really can't remember its name now) and stopped for dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. Have you ever been to a restaurant with tanks of fresh fish/lobster etc? This was one of those places, except pretty small so that in total it could sit maybe thirty customers. Every time I've been to one of those places, the tanked food pretty much sits there unmolested - especially in the west where too many people are squeamish about ordering live food. Well, this time I got the chance to watch some poor chef climb up on a wobbly stepladder with a giant fish net to catch the huge fish sitting at the bottom of the tank. It disappeared into the kitchen never to be seen again. I think we had all our food before it was extracted so I'm pretty sure it wasn't served to us.
On to the hotel which despite its age and obvious signs of mould, water damage, and overpowering smell of dying flowers (probably to cover an even more off-putting smell), was quite nice and better decked out than I expected. I'd gotten so use to staying in Ryokan that I was dreading another back-breaking night on a futon. So finding decent western style beds and a lush balcony view was a treat. Our organisers had done a good job… The view was of the ocean, as the hotel is on one of the southern most peninsulas of Kyushu. Anyway, it was a Japanese Hotel, so we put on our Yukata, went to the Onsen, then went for a late night stroll along the beach before snacking on Haagen Das. Mmmm, chocolatey ice cream goodness.
Next morning we went to a nearby garden. This was my favourite part of the trip. The gardens were pretty rich and varied, with waterfalls, ponds, cliff top ocean views, huge butterflies and cool little statues dotted around. I took the opportunity to fill my memory card with as many snaps as I could. My favourite photo is here. I still haven't figured out what kind of flower it is, but I'm too lazy to make the effort so if anyone knows feel free to post a comment. In fact, please post the comments on the pictures themselves as it will improve their ratings and hopefully encourage others on flickr to take a look.
I had my first taste of Soshomen for lunch on the Sunday. Its kind of like Soba, except the noodles are dropped into a tank of swirling water (the traditional version is a stream, or pipe coming out from a stream) so that you can just stick your chopsticks for the noodles to collect onto. The noodles bind due to the water so its really easy to eat. You dip them in a soy based soup (also cold - and laced with spring onions and wasabi) for flavour. Slurpingly tasty. From there it was onto the nearby lake (god I'm terrible with names - I can't remember what its called!!) for a brief stopover and finally to another nearby tourist attraction (we were running out of time at this stage) for a look at the traditional Samurai style houses and gardens that exist in good condition nearby. I got a couple of good shots there too so take a look.
After a trip back to the same old shopping centre for souvenirs we waved goodbye to Toan and went to the airport. We were back in Tokyo by ten o'clock and I was in bed by 11. Another busy weekend….
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