helicopter ride

yesterday, I took a (free!!!) helicopter ride around Kanazawa!
The building in the middle at the bottom is Kanazawa Station...the shinkansen is waiting under the roof, unfortunately.

You can see the Castle Park in this one...It's the green hill near the top. The Castle is hard to spot because of the angle.

Robomatic 3000XL

Well, the weekend's here again! I feel like I was knocked out and locked in a closet for a few days, because I hardly remember the last week. Time really flies!

So I wanted to show you this little video of the first working robot I've seen in Japan. This one was suspended about 100m above ground in Kyoto Station, and it's camouflaged so it's hard to see. I managed to spot it and used a digital zoom to get the close up. I wonder what's in that drawer? It must be related to Bender, because he's also got one of those drawers you can keep anything in...Like Lucy Lui's head, for example....or stolen goods....or robot porn!

It even bows a little, eh! coolness!

predictions?

so it appears that a car ran into the side of the canal and broke three of the blocks. This was the first of this kind of traffic misdemeanor I've seen. I suppose this doesn't bode well for my future if I'm reading from the state of the canals. Well...I guess only time will tell.

worst photoshopped piece:

And the prize for the worst photoshopped piece goes to.........«drrrrrrrumroll................................»
...The World's Tallest Parking Spot, by Graeme Lottering!

It's the size of one car and stretches into the sky like a medieval tower. Crazy, eh?

autumn thoughts

The year is coming to an end. The leaves are already copper colour and the winds are becoming chilly. It's strange what a difference a few degrees make. The sun is distancing, in an imense figure-8, and leaving this land of sun-rises.

Autumn always has this nostalgic feelng, as if it's the true end of the year and winter is just a hibernation period before the next year begins. So this post is dedicated to a walk I took through Kenroku'en on such a fall day.


I wanted to walk through leaves, like ankle-deep, but there were these old ladies in traditional, circular hats who kept raking up all the fallen colours. So I eventually found a spot that they couldn't get to. Hidden in this little stream.
Somewhere in the hills of Kenroku'en, I found some peace. The sunlight hit the mountains beyond and painted them bright metalic tones, and through the leaves, I could see this lantern, twice my height.

the damn snake juice!

The game is darts, my friends! Ayumi has her own set!!! So, I made sure I was on her team!

If you lose you have have to drink the snake juice!

Marco lost the first round and had to do a shot of the hebi-zake...He couldn't win afterwards!

Marco and Remi, who's wearing the beer-goggles

This time I made sure not to lose. I didn't drink a single shot and managed (with Ayumi's help) to win, win, win! Yay! ...But I guess, sadly, that this means that I lost the grand battle against the snake juice. I tried on several occasions to drink once and to keep playing—keep winning—but the venom makes me left-handed, half-blind and autistic, it seems.

the girl from Wawa, Ontario

So, the other day I walked past this HUGE sign. This was the left side. Cute character, isn't he? Anyway, I walked on and finally came to the other side — surprised to see another Canadian, waving at me!
She looks like she comes from Wawa or something. I mean, at first I was surprised that there was a picture of a Canadian girl on this giant billboard, but then I realised that the stereotypical image of the Canadian is someone who just finished bailing hay in a barn. Weird, huh?

When I took the picture I was wearing my backpack with a flag sewn onto it and a group of highschool girls giggled when they passed me.

bob's yer uncle

So, I bought my plane ticket home. It was a viscious, teeth-gritting experience—somewhat how I imagine a stock trade must feel. I kept finding these great deals, just to have them snatched away before I could buy them. Seconds litteraly count in the high-tension world of the cyber-travel agent!

But, with all the difficulties behind me, I now have a ticket and I'm flying home shortly after Xmas. Because of the time difference, this means I'll arrive about 30 minutes after I take off on the 26th of December. Isn't Time an awesome thing?! Only a 30 minute flight to Toronto!

Now I just gotta wait for the embassy to send me my passport! ...........Yowser!

Anyway, this is also a call out. If there is anything you want me to bring from the Land of the Rising Sun. Please leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

fig. 8: mmmmmmmm yummy!

the bright lights of Omicho Ichiba

The only place to get fresh octopus, GIANT crabs, and polished fruits!

prophecy?????

This morning while showering amidst the biggest windstorm I've ever witnessed, I had the most uncanny premonition. (Yes, my screen door was torn from my balcony by winds at 8:30am this morning and tossed, like a frisbee, 5 floors down onto a parking lot nearby. The wind was intense.) I stood in my bathroom and had this moment where I pictured a tornado in Japan. I remember clearly thinking: "Wouldn't that be absurd? A tornado in Japan?"

Anyways, the image was so starkly clear and seemed dreamlike. Not really destructive, but very realistic. Today, I got home and checked the news...And get this! There was a tornado in Hokkaido. The most deadly in Japan yet, killing 9 people. Now just a word of note, tornados in Japan are EXTREMELY rare and hardly kill anyone. I actually have a class where I have to teach people about natural disasters and the tornado is the one I have to explain the most frequently. A surprising amount of people don't have any idea what they are!

I thought I'd share that with you all. It was a weird premonition I had, like a waking dream...
Here's the BBC article

sculptures and sleeping crows

Tonight I walked around for a looooong time. I walked around Kanazawa Castle and found the night-time resting place of every single crow in the city. It was an eerie walk through a path lined with bronze sculptures every ten feet. And the crows seemed like leaves on the barren trees when I looked up, blinded by the bright light of the full moon. I swear there must have been hundreds of them — thousands of them even!

1:18am

fig 8.0: alley near my favourite resturaunt.

fig 8.1: the main intersection at its most lively.

fig 8.2: the saigawa river.

Kanazawa hotspots

fig 7.0: Kenroku'en garden. It's one of Japan's three most beautiful gardens. This lantern is the symbol of Kanazawa.

fig 7.1: Ishikawa-mon, the original gate to Kanazawa Castle.

fig 7.2: Higashi Chaya, the western tea-house district. This is still where most of Kanazawa's Geisha live and work. It's touristy during the day, but at night time, you can hear the sounds of koto and shamisen floating on the wind.