二期倶楽部

This is a spa, onsen resort place I would love to go! It looks wonderful!!


二期倶楽部
Members only? 皇室御用の避暑地ですか?
I think anyone can make reservations...

覚えやすい歌

最近好きな歌:

グループ: The Dresden Dolls
タイトル： Coin-Operated Boy

それが台所の一角

A corner of my kitchen at night.

無意味な映画

これは今までで最悪の映画です。
時間の無駄だと思います。

ユーモア

I was very surprised when I came across this today:

が、なぜかよくユーモア感があると言われる。

ユーモア感 = Sense of humor
This is a 片仮名 from the Chinese word in Mandarin: 幽默感 !

雫

This is an interesting looking Kanji. It's a combination of rain and down, which is exactly what it means.

雫
Shizuku しずく
Drop (of water)

Amazon.com

I love Amazon.com. I have decided that from now on I will only buy books from Amazon.com. No more Borders or Barnes and Noble. I will only go to those bookstores to check out the books that I am going to buy. I always missed out on their coupons and discounts and I am tired of feeling robbed by buying books at full price plus sales tax. I have to be stupid to keep buying from an actual bookstore!!

Daniel Powter's MV

Here is the MV on the famous song you hear on American Idol every time some one is out of the race. I am glad to always hear it on the radio on my drive home. It really helps to erase some depression and tiredness at times.

Song: Bad Day
Artist: Daniel Powter

映画とテレビ番組

I saw the following movies the last 2 weekends:

Hostage (2005)

Dirty Pretty Things (2003)

Closer (2004)

Match Point (2005)

Time Out (2002)

They are all very good. I think I like Dirty Pretty Things, Match Point, Closer, Hostage and Time Out, in that order. I have always like Audrey Tautou, Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. Jude Law is good ever since Gattaca. So it's really a list of very enjoyable movies for me.
Time Out is interesting. I think those who have been working for more than 10 years can relate to the main character one way or another. The movie has a subtle suspense the whole time that will keep you wanting to know more what is going to happen next.

What do you watch during weekdays?
I am watching 24, Prison Break, American Idol, MythBusters, House MD, and the first 30 minutes of Jay Leno if I did not pass out. And previously, I also watch Unanimous (which is stupid) and some Law and Order. Geez, that's a lot of TV programs... I guess there just isn't much to do after work during weekdays... :-(

4月29日

Dinner Idea: Lamb chop with tomato baked beans, zucchini, mushroom, onion and artichoke hearts. Homemade macaroni in cream of chicken with cheese, seasame baguette and orange juice.


Movie Suggestion:
Aeon Flux - I actually quite enjoy it visually, but maybe not the story.

I read somewhere that 4月29日は羊肉 の日 in Hokkaido.
429 = ようにく

富良野

Recently, I have been reading on interesting places to visit in Japan.
One of the places I would love to visit is Furano-shi, Hokkaido. It would be nice to stay at a country inn and bike around the area. Hopefully allergy will not be an issue.

33 days and 6 hours, that is how much paid time off I have accumulated. I can start taking one day off every 2 weeks once I hit 35 days!

Updates:
I came across this melon pan at Nijiya yesterday and bought it right away. I usually don't like melon pan but I bought this one because it's from Furano. It tasted just fine. But I still like the Chinese "Pineapple Bun" better.

息をのむような光景

Saw this wonderful breathtaking picture today!

面倒くさいなー

Ever since our group got swallowed by the other big group at work, our immediate team grew from 60 people to now 300+ people. We still try to keep working the same way except we are working with a lot of people we don't know. So to overcome that sense of alienness, I suggested that we don't just start working with each other but we should get acquainted via team sports. Playing sports is always a good way to break the ice and share some fun times. We should not get to know each other by working on a project which sometimes can set the relationship on the wrong foot. Management really likes my idea and now conveniently asked me to organize a Summer Olympics for 300+ people. Oh, that's just great... exactly what I needed in between my work and numerous meetings. Not only do they want to see it happen, they also want to see it happen by the end of this month! That's just a lot of co-ordination and planning!!!

I came across this expression which seems appropriate:
面倒くさいなー
What a pain!

温度

Growing up in Asia for the first part of my life, I am used to the concept of Celsius. I have now been in US for so many years, yes, exactly half of my life, I still can not get used to the idea of Fahrenheit. Like I completely know how it feels when it is 15C vs. 19C. But I have no clues how cold or hot 65F vs 72F is supposed to feel. Or whether I still need to bring a sweater for 80F? I was living in SF the first 5 years I came to study. There is just 4 seasons in one day for SF, so I will have a thick, a warm and a thin jackets in my car, always. So that kind of clouded the idea of Fahrenheit... Then I moved to San Jose where it's just one season in a day but 2 seasons in a year. Hot or cold. It's cold in winter and spring and then suddenly it's so warm that it's just plain hot! I guess spring got lost during the time when we were all affected by allergies cause by either the grass (weed) or the pine. Anyway, up to this day, I am still doing the calculation in my head whenever they say "High will be at low 80s and low near the coastal areas will be at mid-60s." (80-32=48 divided by 2 = 24 and 65-32=33 /2 = 16)

I don't understand why we need 2 temperature systems. Can we just stick with Celsius?

Also I was talking to my friend who grew up in Taiwan. We remembered the hottest day in our countries, back then was around 34C. But these days, the summer over in Taipei or Hong Kong is 38C or 39C! And it's not uncommon to have a few of those days. Those who are concerned about global warming should probably tour the fast growing countries in Asia.


温度
Ondo

華氏 (カ氏) vs. 摂氏 (セ氏)
Kashi vs. Sesshi
Fahrenheit vs. Celsius