Tekka-don!

Today I wanted to eat a Tekka-don, which is Raw tuna on Rice. I was going to the usual place near Kobe Station. Is not particularly good, but convenient, but....

But... at the last moment, i took a different way and found another shop. I've decided to give it a try. Surprise! not only the real thing was better looking than the plastic model at the entrance, but it really looked fresh and the size of those tuna slices were amazing!

The price? The same as the other restaurant, 800 Yen ($10).

After that, since I was feeling a little sleepy, I wanted to get an Espresso. Espresso's are not cheap here. Around 300 Yen ($4) at starbucks. Sturbucks is the only place so far, where the espresso is really...an espresso-shot. Small cup, big taste. ;)

I miss to start the day with an espresso each day... In december I will go for few weeks to switzerland...and i'll bring back a Moka italian style coffee machine ... not the same as an espresso, but still goot to start the day with!

New Level, New Textbook!

With the beginning of the new Class, we got, after a week or so, a new textbook. Now things are really getting more difficult. When I started learning japanese, the grammar didn't look so difficult. But the truth is the opposite.

Besides the text book above, which is only in japanese, I went to the book store and bought 3 big books on japanese grammar: Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. There is really a lot. The language itself and the basic sentence structure is easy, but there are so many special words that are used to give difference in meaning to the sentence.

After more than 6 months, what i can understand watching TV is maybe just 10%. It looks more challenging than expected, but i'm not giving up ;) !

Outlet Shopping Day!

Today was shopping day. I went near The Akashi bridge where they have quite a Shopping Center. There are many Outlet Stores (something like Fox Town for the experts ;). I was suprised to see how GOOD the prices were. Really outlet prices! For instance Lacoste Shirts Retailed in Switzerland around $90, were sold for about $50. I saw Samsonite's luggages discounted 50%.

The Place for the stores looks like a small shopping town on the sea side. They little boy jumping up and down in the video above, seems to have a lot of fun... Too bad it was just for kids ;)

I'm not really a Shopping fan (unless about buying electronic stuff :p), but I found a nice pair of Nike shoes for around $70 USD.

I go out by chance right at sunset. I was lucky! The view was simply astonishing...

An Amazing BBQ Day!

Today Was an amazing day! Clear blue sky and we got there, not a cloud! Wow! Warm as well, we could just stay outside in t-shirt.

Today was the Official Welcome BBQ party of the Toyo Japanese College (神戸東洋日本語学院). The school organized everything, from the grill to the meat. We only had to bring our own drinks.

I'ts a pity the BBQ is only once a year... I remember my last BBQ (before this one) was with my Colleagues in Acer in the summer of 2008. Grilling is my passion ;)

After lunch, we went to the shore, and everybody started jumping. So i took some pictures of which i post a couple of them...

I think these will be the last days of sunshine and mild weather before the winter comes. Then it will be quite cold until April next year.

Interesting thing: Japanese houses don't have a Central heater. They use Oil heater or the Air Conditioner that can be switched to "Heating-Mode" in winter. All electric. I was a little bit surprised and i'm not sure why. Interesting thing is that most houses are family houses not high buildings. Maybe the cost for a central heater and realated installation (besides the cost of oil) is a reason why nobody has one...

Japanese Dictionary

Before learning Japanese, I didn't know how one can search for Japanese words in a Japanese dictionary.

To be able to find unknown words, you still need a little of knowledge on how to write them and their background (the technical terms are "Number of Strokes" and "Radical" (the base character that is the base for complex Kanji).

Luckily, being in the 21st Century comes to help. We have now Digital Dictionaries. No, i'm not talking about the Junk dictionaries sold in Europe, and if you don't know what i'm talking about, just check them out next time you go to your local electronic store.

What i'm talking about, are Full Featured Electronic Dictionaries like the one i bought a couple of years ago. They are not cheap. They range from $200 up to $700 or more depending on the features (in Japan, with some dictionaries, you can watch TV as well).

My dictionary is not that advanced. Only Black and White and no TV, but still the price was (2 years ago) around $500. Additional language modules can be added separately, even though, when you choose your dictionary, you choose your main language (i.e. JAPANESE-CHINESE, JAPANESE-ENGLISH).

The Menus and functions are in Japanese only, so you need a little of experimenting the first times.

So, here is how it looks like:

In this case, i'm writing the word, you've seen on the top picture, and I need to be careful to follow the exact order of the strokes and the number of strokes, or the dictionary will not be able to figure out the word i'm looking for and might return another one.

Once the word is found succesfully, i get all the informations needed, like all different meanings, suffixes and Radicals (the base kanji) in this case Tree (木 - KI ) which is also, in this case, the pronounciation of this kanji. Just saying the word "KI" without knowing the Kanji, might mean machine but also Three and about 20 other things, each meaning, has it's own different Symbol.

Really a big help!

New Hi-Tech Mouse

Since lately i've talked about some Technology news, here another thing that is really eye catching. The Apple Magic Mouse. Check out the video here it is all a multi touch sensible surface (it can identify how many fingers you are using and, based on that, perform different actions)...

New Term Started!

Last Week, Tuesday 13th, The new term started. Most of the students are the same, but we moved on the 3rd floor. 80% of the class made it from A class to C class. We basically skipped B class. I hope we will get more chances of reading real texts and not have only grammar.

It's actually getting difficult. Now we are studying the level of politeness. There are many in Japanese. So far we have seen 4 levels:

1) Speaking to friends
2) Speaking Polite
3) Speaking Honorific (i.e. talking to your boss)
4) Speaking Humble (say things about yourself to your boss)

The interesting one is the 4th one. With this way of speaking, you talk about yourself in a lower level compared to the person you are talking to. For instance: You will use level 3 if you ask the person if he had lunch, but to the same person you will use 4 to say that you had lunch.

It's kind of difficult, because the vocabulary changes dramatically. The word for "eat" is for the respective levels:

Level 1) Taberu
Level 2) Tabemasu
Level 3) Meshiagarimasu
Level 4) Itadakimasu

As you see, is like learning a full new vocabulary for about 50 words (for now) and remember which one goes where ;)

Here a picture of me at the lesson:

Well, you might wonder what happened to my hand. The interesting thing is that the class on the 3rd floor belongs to the Medical School in the same building ...

Besides hands, there are legs, various body organs, skulls, heads and brains for disassembling. This class will last until April 2010 ...

Windows 7 Launch!

Microsoft is officially launching Windows 7 on October 22, 2009. Guess what, it was already on the shelves for about a week in switzerland and starting yesterday in Japan. I guess Microsoft hasn't been so strict on the launch date (for instance Apple for his new Operating system Snow Leopard, they said August 28th...and wasn't available anywhere before that date).

When windows Vista first came out and i've tried the beta, I've said to myself "What is this?!". I had the same feeling as when Windows 2000 came out: Bulky and heavy and full of glitches. No way it would replace windows XP. On so it was.

Now, windows 7 is here. And I have the same feeling as when Windows XP came out. The fixed some of the glitches, polished it a little and running faster. Windows 7 is indeed better!

I've installed it for the first time about 5 months ago (still in beta) and then the final version from my Microsoft Technet Subscription in August on my Netbook. The netbook is a Celeron 1.6 Ghz, 1GB of Ram. So, kind of limited. Nevertheless, it runs smoothly even on non cutting edge hardware.

To cut it short, I think this time Microsoft did it right, and we will start soon seing Professional PCs equipped with windows 7 upgrading from windows XP, since almost no business customer did a migration from XP to Vista.

If you are curious to know, what else is out there, you might want to check the Microsoft Courier device here and make sure to watch the video!

Got your Drive?

I've seen a lot of scooters, but this one, looked kind of amazing ! From time to time, on the street, I run into some special vehicles that I've seen before.

I don't know, are they concepts? are they custom made? They sure look good!

As you can see, today was a sunny day. It has been mostly nice weather since the beginning of september. The climate is currently mild even though at night gets quite chilly. I still remember when I got here in April... it was raining everyday until august. Residents said "This year is crazy!" ...but isn't something we usually say every year ;) ?

Aloha !

At Kobe station, every weekend they have stands where they present promotional goods. This weekend the thema was "Hawaii". They had Hawaiian goods, drinks, shirts and even a Hula show.

Small girls were dancing Hula, i think the smalles should have been around 4 or so. It reminded me at the time spent studying in Hawaii more than a decade ago.

If you have never been to Hawaii, it's worth visiting. The flight is a little expensive, but is really worth it! There is what hawaiians call "The Aloha Spirit" that cannot be described with words. Is in the air in hawaii. If you have the chance to go there, don't miss it!

This is a Buger!

This is a burger from Mos Burger. They guarantee that 100% of the meat comes from Japan. Another thing is that they now advertise that the cheese is coming from Hokkaido. The name Hokkaido written in Japanese is: 北海道 . I found this name intriguing.

Imagine you don't know where Hokkaido is. But knowing the Kanji could give you some hints: 北 = North / 海 = Sea / 道 = Street. It's an island on the most northern part of Japan. In Japan, if you sell something and say is from Hokkaido, it will sell good. People thinks that food from Hokkaido is good and natural.

Some time ago I had the chance to test some Raw Ham from Hokkaido. It reminded me to the Italian Parma Ham. It was pretty good... but i wouldn't live there ;) it can get quite cold up there in winter ;)

School Backpacks!

This is the approved School Backpack in Japan. Every kid at elementary school, have the same bag. It can change in color and texture, but the shape is always the same.

From my point of view it looks kind of old style... but probably is doing its job well since they have been using it for years!

Normally, when you see School Kids, in some school as mentioned before, they need to wear uniforms and their equipment is similar. One time, not long ago, on the subway i saw some kids probably going on a school trip. They all had the same hat, shirt and small side bag. All looking the same. While waiting at the subway station, they were sitting on the ground, all perfectly lined up in 4 rows of equal length...but this didn't prevented them from being, as any other child in the world, excited for the trip and being kind of loud on the train ;)

Looking for Part Time Work...

Today i went to this Company which is called "Hello Work". I'm not sure it's a public or private organization, but they help people and foreigners find work in japan.

They were very kind and organized. The reason i went today is that on Thursday they have a Japanese/English Interpreter.

It took a while to get everything prepared. After filling-in some forms, they asked me about my work experience and looked for some open positions.

Of course this is only a part time job to help me going with expenses. Unfortunately (A) i'm allowed to work only 4 hours a day and (B) the pay ranges from 800 yen to 1500 yen / hour.

The work position for which they asked me to mail my CV is for Photoshop Retouch/Designer which is not my main area of work, but that shouldn't be a problem. The pay is 800 Yen/hour + travel expenses. Since this work place is located in Osaka i would need about 1 hour travel to get there.

Even if it's not so convenient to get there for just about 3 hours of work, having an activity there, might help me using the Japanese I've learned so far... and save some costs...

In any case, i'm still evaluating, because this would "cost" me 5 hours of study-time to get about 2400 yen (25 dollars) a day... is it worth?...

My classmates for 800 yen/hour are washing dishes at restaurants...and don't need to travel that far... but of course I would prefer to work with computers than washing dishes...besides, added to my CV later on, it might be of some value... dont' you think? ;)

Tsuyama Pictures Updated...

This is me trying to get a sound out of a trumpet. Me and Minato-chan (see previous posting) were trying to have it work, but results were a little bit poor.

This is a Group Picture of the Brass Porteno in Tsuyama. In front you can see with the black shirt the young guys from a Japanese Drum School. The Ones in white jacket are the Brass Porteno Members and on the back with black shirt the Brass Band of Tsuyama.

I'm slowly preparing the pictures and uploading them here. The total number of pictures is over 700, so i'm just 1/3 thru them ;)

But here a preview of a nice one ;) ... (...from the last day when we visited the Castle in Tsuyama)

Kobe Brass Porteno: Tsuyama Tour

Saturday and Sunday I've been invited to be a photographer for the Brass Band of Kobe during their tour to Tsuyama where they had a Concert (See my Name Badge above). I shot about 800 pictures, so i just show some of them here and later, when they are published, i will post a link to them.

Saturday night there was the concert and about 300 people came to see it.

The second day, they organized a BBQ lunch and after that they performed "Open Air" in the nearby garden...

On the way to the performance Hall, I shot the following pictures. we visited a nice Japanese Style Garden and i must say was a really pleasant view!

Photography is my hobby and one of my favorite subjects are "Reflections". The following two pictures show some nice reflections i could shoot ...

UFOs in Kobe?

I took this picture yesterady, on the way to the Oktoberfest on "Rocco Island". It reminds me at the Start Trek Enterprise Spaceship and it looks like come right out of that building.

Unfortunately is not a Spaceship, but seen from below, it looks really remarkable!

Oktoberfest!

They build a new "European School" where they have regular lessons in German for Kindergarden and Elementary level on an island near Kobe called "Rocco island". The building is all made of wood and looks really nice. Today they had a traditional "Oktoberfest".

I've never been to the actual Oktoberfest in München, but here they had beer, Sausages, Pretzel and "Sauerkraut"...

...and in addition to the food, some traditional dresses and genuine wish to party!

The high point of the Oktoberfest day, was the final lottery. Amazing prices. They really had great sponsors, like Hilton, Sheraton and the biggest price was a Flight for two people to Europe sponsored by Lufthansa. Wow!

Too bad the flight was won by a foreigner, maybe a german woman. It would have been great if the flight could have won by some of the visiting japanese that never had the chance to leave Japan and visit europe before... well, let's hope they will get a better chance next year ;)

Toast-Art!

On a hot July summer night I switched on the TV and saw this man doing something with his toaster. I couldn't understand anything, but usually, if you see a guy with a cutboard, alu foil and a toaster on Japanese TV, it means he is up to something.

It didn't take long to understant what he was doing. He was cutting Alu foil and sticking it on a toast and put it in the toaster. The process was repeated few times, depending on the shade he wanted to reproduce.

You might think this man was out of his mind, but the final work sure looks impressive! I'm not sure where his skill might bring him, but you never know what's next!

Oden! (おでん)

These days is getting cold. When in Japan it gets cold, many restaurants or shop start to offer Oden, which is a soup with a lot of goodies in it. When I had Oden in smal Japanese restaurants before, they sometimes charge you "by item". You can sometimes pick the items you prefer.

This is my first try cooking Oden. Theorically, one should cook it the day before, so that it gets more tasty, but yesterday i cooked it and let it rest for just few hours.

What can you find inside? Boiled eggs, toufu, fish and/or chicken meatballs and other things. The cute bag is actually a "Mochi" bag. Mochi's are some kind of soft rice cakes.

Of course, the first time i've tried it, i found that it was quite crowded to be a soup ;) in Switzerland when we eat a soup, besides vegetables, we don't have any other things in it...because a soup, should be light and some times just as an apetizer for the main meal during winter. Here, Oden, is actually the complete meal...

A visit to Himeiji Castle

In July, with the school, we visited the Himeji Castle. For a more precise account on this castle and location near Kobe, there is an article on Wikipedia here. Interesting fact: it was used as a location for a 1967 James Bond movie!

There is a Legend surrounding the castle. During the construction, the head carpenter made sure to care about every single detail. One day, around the time of near completition, the wife of the carpenter looked at the castle and said "Honey, It doesn't look straight...". At this point, after the carpenter check it again and indeed saw it wasn't straight, he chosed to end his days jumping from the top of the tower.

Apparently, the castle is really not 100% straight... and the legend might even be true...

The day ended with a visit at a "Sumomo" plantation. In japanese "momo" means Peach and "Suppai" means Sour. The both togheter "SU-MOMO" are the name of this fruit that is one variety of Sour Plum. Although some were sour, if you were luck to pick the right one, they were kind of Sweet...

The day was soo hot, that just few of us went out picking fruits. The Japanese summer is really hot and humid...

Interesting thing: when does the Japanese Summer end? August 31st! Well, it might come to a surprise in europe, as summer time ends September 21st. Apparently in many countries in Asia, Seasons change at the end of the month, and not as in europe the 21st of the month. Good to know ;)

New Room!

I finally managed to change room! This one is a private room with my own kitchen, bath and wash machine. I moved here at the end of July and so far it's really nice. Is more quiet and everything is clean :). Unfortunately everything has a price...and this one is 1/4th more expensive... but it's worth it!