Wow that was a sad, bitter little rant, I wonder which category he fits in to...

AH yes - this was an amazing TV series on Discovery and this construction in particular really catches the imagination. They will do it some day... kinda freaky to think about it.

Interesting observation - photos and blog post please!

The Japanese really have a thing for demons. I see a lot of demon images at the temples.

The buildings look amazing. I will have to go and see them someday.

It is one of things that opened the door in the US for a J-Pop invasion.

Hi! My "not effusive enough for me" comment was just meant as a humorous reason why I didn't notice it since I couldn't edit my post - it was a mea culpa rather than a criticism! Apologies if it came across the wrong way. There certainly is a Lexus and a Toyota show room in there and you could buy a car but I'm pretty sure it's more filled with the behind the scenes business of running Toyota - again my humour has failed to translate in text - sigh... I really must stop trying (teehee.) I jSoc'd it because I enjoyed it very much - it was great to see unseen views of one of the places which swallows my husband for the majority of our lives here (that's only semi-humour there) Been reading your blog for a long time now - I'm sure I'll be jSocing some more! Dani

This is one of the great things about jSoc - if you hadn't posted this here it might have been lost to 2006 and I may never have seen it! Definitely something I want to catch while I'm here - any idea when it is on, or do the dates move around a bit each Summer?

Hmm well lets see, get her to to get a cannot-refuse job opportunity in another country in which you yourself won't be able to work full-time so will "need" plenty of toys to stop you from going crazy ... I can vouch for the method LOL

You can't go wrong with Ippudo (www.ippudo.com). They serve Hakata-style Tonkotsu ramen with thinner than normal noodles. I recommend ordering them a little on the hard side.

You gotta get in to it ..... it's fantastic .... keep trying it till you find one you like!

Sadly, I have yet to develop a taste for Ramen.

They tossed Butyric Acid, which can be extremely hazardous if it is inhaled or comes in contact with the skin. (http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/n-butyric_acid.htm) I reckon that if someone were to walk into your office and chuck a bottle of that at you and you co-workers, you might consider it to be an act of violence, no?

I have to that Harajuku is one of the favorite places in Tokyo to hang out. I have several friends there. They usually hang out there almost everyday so I can always find them. The vibe in Harajuku is different from most places in Tokyo. You can go there and just hang out on the streets and have a good time. Also, there is usually interesting people and things to see. Not the mention that Harajuku is the center of Greaser cultural in Tokyo.

Monkeys are cute by Japanese standards. Also, the Japanese love the story of Goku or the monkey king. Monkeys are tricky.

environmentalists are like other people by any means. They seem to have a problem with humans being king of the planet. I really don`t see why they do not like being at the top of the food chain. They should learn to enjoy it and stop complaining. I am willing to be if they lived, as say, a rat for just one day they would be grateful that they are human.

American companies always seem to not understand how business is done in Japan. Maybe, Microsoft is finally catching on.

AH how I wish I could eat Ramen! I often taste the soup from my husband's ramen and love it but I cannot eat wheat. I love soba noodles (made of buckwheat, which is not wheat) but I haven't found it served in the same delicious broths in which ramen is served (except at my house of course!) I'm hoping that come winter there may be some warm delicious soba available since it's mostly served cold and seaweedy in Summer and it's just not to my taste.

oooh, tossing "smoke candles" is considered violent? Ludicrous. Whales should not be murdered (please everyone use the correct term) for any means. Nor should any other animal for that matter.

I had never heard of Gdynia so you are not alone...

Yikes, I just had to Google "Riga".

Sounds like a lot of fun. I've always wanted a fancy camera, but my wife wouldn't be too happy if I bought another toy. :(

Watching my husband's progress I have to wonder how much the memory comes from the process of making the deck yourself as well. Not saying the SRS isn't the major factor but I definitely think there's something to that extra engagement - I am using the Declan cards on my PDA which is great for learning because of the animations audio but feels very much like just learning the times tables again lol.

And lets not forget it was Chrysler that BOUGHT THE CALIFORNIA RAIL SYSTEM TO CLOSE IT DOWN TO SELL MORE CARS back in the day LOL! Ah capitalism - so wonderful! They have nearly recovered, though - I found LA public transport to be fantastic - $3 a day to jump on and off any bus till 3 am and the buses run down every major road really frequently and the subways were actually really clean and welcoming (not quite to Japanese standards but still.) Of course if you're white you do get some odd looks from people if they see you getting on or off the buses but I just put that down to them being curious about what this huge, square vehicle which wasn't a Hummer was ^_^

Thanks Nick, it's my new baby - a Pentax K20D with the new Tamron 18-250mm macro which I highly recommend as a superzoom - esp over most of the kit lenses. The camera is a wee bit overpowered for my skill as yet, it's my first manual camera in 17 years, but I plan to grow back into it fast with Japan to shoot! If anyone wants a good crash course in using the manual settings on a camera, I also highly recommend going somewhere where you really want to get landscape shots as the light of day fades. With the immediate feedback of digital, and the unlimited exposures of course, just fiddling with the settings to try to match what your eye sees is a wonderful hands-on exercise in exactly what each element does - way better than hours of reading theory!!