My Smart Phone! Hooray!

Finally, I got my smart phone!!

Unfortunately, I've got a lot to do today so I can't use it to check its various functions.
I'll do after I come back home tomorrow.

Bye bye, my cell phone life, and hello, my smart phone life!

Finding a smart phone, which is the last one!

I think I wrote in October that I would buy a smart phone for my birthday.
Its release date had been postponed, and finally it was on sale the other day!!

However, it's a very very popular model and it was sold out as soon as it was released.
I was almost giving up and thinking about buying another model. As the last try, I called from shop to shop just now.

And one shop has one!! It's the last one. Ve--ry lucky!!!!!

I'm going to the shop this evening!

I can't get over a cold.

I think I've been having a cold over 2 weeks. Whew... I even don't see a sign of recovery.

Improper use of the word "Possibly"

I found that I had used the word "possibly" incorrectly for a long time.

When I want to say something like "Hopefully" or "If possible", I've always said "Possibly."

For example, when a recruit agent introduce a new position to me and ask my salary expectation, I say "possibly ----- yen" instead of "hopefully --- yen."

Hmm... I wonder how they interpret what I said...

Guests from the world's happiest country

The king and queen of Bhutan returned to their country yesterday after 6-day staying in Japan.

Bhutan is known as the world's happiest country. It uses the concept of GNH (Gross National Happiness) instead of GDP.

The king projects kind, gentle and warm atmosphere.

Although Bhutan is called the happiest country, it has a lot of problems like other countries, for example, against China. But I think most of Japanese people were convinced that Bhutan must be a happy country from the king's character.

I'm not so interested in countries in Asia, but I thought I want to visit Bhutan sometime in the future.  It's also an interesting point for me that its established religion is Tibetan Buddhism.

An eye or eyes

For Japanese people, I think plural is one of the most difficulties regarding English. In Japanese language, we rarely use plural. Even if you ate two apples, you should say "I ate apple." in Japanese. Even if you see many flowers in a garden, you should say "What beautiful flower."
(By the way, an article doesn't exist in Japanese.)

I felt strange when I saw some English idiom using "eye."
For example;

"Her beautiful hair caught my eye."
 Catching only one eye, not both eyes?

"Keep your eyes peeled for new information."
"Keep an eye out for new information."

Both are almost the same meaning, but the first sentence uses "one's eye" and the second one uses "an eye."

I think that it's much better to use both eyes when you try to pay attention something. haha.

IC-embedded driver's license card

I went to the department of motor vehicles to renew my driver's license. I didn't know but driver's licenses has become IC-embedded cards.

I wonder when it has changed.


It requires us to have two PINs. Those are surely not used. So I think many people would forget their PINs. haha.

New PC VAIO and WIMX

I wrote in the previous article that I was going to buy a smart phone. Before that, I bought a PC last month. It's better to say that I HAD TO buy it, because my PC was almost dying.

It's been four years since I bought my old PC.
http://sandfriend.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-pc-finally.html

In this time, I bought VAIO.

It's not like I'm a VAIO fan. It's just because it was on sale.
I wanted  white one but it was sold out, so I bought black one.

Also I signed up for WIMAX!
So I no longer need a cable to access the Internet in my place. Also I can access the Internet any place. It's every convenient!

Movie: Source Code

The movie blurb in Japan set up an expectation that the ending was very surprising like never before. So I was looking forward to seeing it. However, I was a bit disappointed.


Hmm... The move itself wasn't so bad, but was it surprise ending?

By the way, the leading character was acted by Jake Gyllenhaal.

 He acted a high school student in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." He has grown up so fast?!?! So I checked. When he acted the high school student, he was already 24 years old!!
Look at this pic. He looks exactly a high school student, not 24 years old guy!

And next year, he appeared in the movie "Brokeback Mountain" as a gay guy.

It's always surprising that actors role various generations!

Happy Birthday to me, 2011

I'm going to buy a smart phone for my birthday!

New cheese

I like cheeses. My favorite ones are camembert and mozzarella.

I bought assorted cheeses today.
I found very delicious one which I've never eaten before. It's "boursin - garlic and herb."
http://www.boursincheese.com/products/boursin.htm

It doesn't seems that it's old traditional cheeses. It's tasty! But be careful. The garlic taste is strong.
There is plain type too, so I'll try it.

Movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

http://www.apeswillrise.com/

It's the first time for me to go to see the movie on the day of the premiere. I was really looking forward to seeing it and couldn't wait.

It's just what I expected. I was quite satisfied.


Especially, psychological descriptions of the ape Cesar was great.

CGI is... CGI is CGI, not real. It can't be helped. I don't like CGI movie so much. But in this movie, Cesar's facial expression was interesting. He's gotten incredibly high intelligence. So his face sometimes looked like a human.

Look at his face. It's almost not an ape, but a human.

Even though the credits start appearing, don't leave the theater. Otherwise, you will miss one scene.

I felt scared a bit. The story is about why and how apes acquired enough to conquer the world. But the last scene indicates why and how the human perish.
 

Dentist

I went to the dentist for the first time in a very long time to fix cavities. Probably It's been over 20 years since I last went to the dentist.

The situation of my cavities was terrible, so the nerve was removed.

Now, the anesthesia has started wearing, so it hurt!! Pain, pain pain!!

torture

The second day of the schooling class is finishing in an hour. Following yesterday, it's boring. His speaking is very redundant. It's almost torture!

Boring class!

I'm now attending a schooling class of my university.

Boring!!
The subject is "Management Organization" which is definitely an interesting topic for me.
The reason I'm bored must be the professor's way to explain.

He should acquire decent skills of instruction, facilitation or presentation!
I have to be patient for 3 days... terrible...

Glasses debut!

Finally, I started using my glasses.
It's the first time I've worn glasses with degree.  So it's hard for me to keep waring them. It's as if I get carsick. I call it "Glasses-sick."
I think that it will take time to get used to them. Whew.

Today, I'm going to take my glasses after work.

I can't wait!!

I wasn't able to come back to Tokyo.

Terrible typhoon hit Japan yesterday and caused great damage.

I was in Osaka on business and I was going to come back to Tokyo yesterday. However the trains were all stopped due to the typhoon and I had to stay in Osaka one more night. I had meeting early this morning so I had to take the first train to come back to Tokyo. Whew... Tired...

October is Building up English month.

I'm supposed to go to headquarters in the US in November. I need to have meeting with a lot of counterparts.

I'm worried about my poor English. So I've decided that I have building up English month next month!

Finally glasses!

I went to a glasses shop to order glasses. Finally, I need to have glasses in my life. Although I sometimes wear fashion glasses, it's first time I've had real glasses. (Real glasses?)

First, a shop staff checked my eye sight etc. Then I tried various lenses. It was hard to decide, I took much time making decision. Then, the next was choosing frames. It was more difficult because there were many fashionable frames. I tried wearing many frames. Many times. Whew...

My new glasses will be ready a week ago. I'll put the photo of the glasses then.

Lo----ng time no see!!

I haven't wirte for more than 3 months! Long time no see. I've been so busy, and negative things happned. I've found that my direct boss always thinks about only himself and his career. So he always plays dirty pools, more like he makes underhanded deals even against subordinates. Terrible. Really terrible. But I'm fine and I'm looking toward a bright future!!

Going to Osaka

I'm going to Osaka on business tomorrow and coming back to Tokyo on Friday night.

I think it's been a long time since I went to Osaka last time.

A new environment in my work has started.

In my work, I'm in a new environment from this month.

Because I'm surrounded by a lot of things to learn, a lot of people to meet etc, I'm a bit tired. Of course, there are difficulties I have to cope with, but I think it's often the case in any workplaces. I'm very thankful that I'm in this great environment.

I do my best so that I can make the best use of this great opportunity.

Movie: Unkown

The other movie which I watched recently is "Unknown."
When I saw the trailer, I thought I wanted to watched it.

This is what you could call a movie with a surprising ending.
Unfortunately, I could roughly predict the ending. It's often the case for me. I don't know why, but I'm often able to predict endings in the relatively beginning of movies or dramas. it definitely ruins the most enjoyable part of movies and dramas.

Anyway, the leading character, Liam Neeson is a great actor as usual.

Movie: The King's Speech

I watched two movies recently. One of them is "The King's Speech."
I was going to watch it in March, but due to a bit of chaotic situation after the earthquake, I missed a chance to watch it.

Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, all of them were great actors! And the story was quite interesting. Especially I was moved by the mind movement of the king acted by Colin Firth, and the relationship between the king and the person acted by Geoffrey Rush.

I thought that Geoffrey Rush brought out good taste in the movie.

I wasn't aware of it during watching the movie, but he is Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean!

He plays completely different characters!!

Long time no see!

I haven't written articles for a while.
During that, Japan is going toward recovery step by step, there are still many problems though.
However, the situation of the nuclear power plants seems to get worse.

The position of the Prime Minister Kan is shaky, obviously. Even the people in his party are criticizing him.

As for me, my life started to go quite well! One thing which isn't going well is that my English doesn't improve at all as usual. haha.

One month after the earthquake

Although it's been one month since the earthquake hit, aftershocks are still following. Quite big aftershocks hit a couple of days ago and today. Scary. People in the disaster areas must be very scared.

In terms of the earthquake and tsunami disaster, Japan has started moving toward the reconstruction. It is going to take a long time, but I believe that Japanese people can make it.
World War II aftermath, Tokyo was burnt to the ground, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki disappeared by atomic bombs. However, Japan achieved miraculous recovery. I think Japanese people have such ability.

In terms of the nuclear accident, we are not"after-accident" phase yet, we are still in the midst of the accident.

Both as to the reconstruction and as to the nuclear accident, criticism of the Japanese government has been increasing more and more.

Just after the disaster, foreign media commended Japanese people for their orderly manner, but now, their articles are mostly criticism of the Japanese government's terrible reactions.

In fact, the nationwide local elections were held yesterday and The Democratic Party (the current ruling party) suffered a crushing defeat.

In spite of the fact that many countries, people in the disaster areas, many experts and many of Japanese people criticize the Japanese government, Prime Minister Kan doesn't realize. When an expert who is a professor visited Kan to advise, Kan said about criticism of the Japanese government reactions, "I'm doing best though..." When the expert pointed out that the government's chain of command was breaking up, Kan said with a discontent look, "It's not as bad as people say." sigh... He is not only incapable and dull, but also stupid.

2 weeks after the earthquake

It's been 2 weeks since the earthquake hit.
Aftershocks are still following.

About the situation of the nuclear plants, it's uncertain about the future.
The dull Japanese government's attitude worries Japanese people and throws our life into confusion.

On the other hand, the victims and other many people are trying hard to achieve the recovery. The SDF, the Fire Department, nuclear experts and many other people are trying hard to fix the nuclear plants at the site fighting against the fear of radiation. Japanese people are such strong.

I feel ill.

There has been something wrong with me physically recently. I think it's due to my irregular living habits.

Live a regular life!

Highly incapable Japanese government

I read an article about the earthquake in Japan reported by media of Taiwan. It's exactly what I want to say.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It says;

While the high cultural level of the Japanese people was highlighted, the Japanese government's incompetence stood out.

Although the Japanese government is incompetent, Japanese people are patient, addressing the catastrophe orderly and have gained international respect.
On the other hand, the Japanese government's incompetence is becoming a "a good lesson from a bad example" in many countries.

The Prim Minister Kan is just trying to extend life of his administration using the catastrophe and isn't fulfilling duties as a leader of a country. Other ministers and bureaucrats are very slow to react to anything. Especially their reactions to the nuclear plants accidents were terrible and......

The operation of the planned blackouts was the most serious mistake. It made Tokyo fall into chaos and paralyzed Japanese economy.

Japanese people who have the high cultural level are being inflicted by the incompetent Japanese government.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are exactly right!!

Highly capable Hyper Rescue squads

I mentioned about the Hyper Rescue squads of the Tokyo Fire Department yesterday.
Their operations were incredibly efficient and effective.

They closely and precisely analyzed and developed workable strategy before the operations. Although they faced unexpected situations at he site, their handling them was great. They immediately considered countermeasures against the unexpected situations and took actions.
It was excellent!

Compared with them, how dull the Japanese government is.

Deadly operation

Discharging water to the nuclear plants is being conducted in order to cool reactors and spent nuclear fuel.

At first, the Japanese government asked the Self Defense Force to water the plants from the air, but the SDF put it on hold because of radiation. However, the situation of the plants reached a breaking point. The top of the SDF had to make a painful choice. Then the SDF started watering from the air.
Following it, the Japanese government asked the police (the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department) to water by high-pressure water cannon trucks. They were reluctant to do it at first, but the riot police did.
The next was the Tokyo Fire Department. They use fire trucks, of course.

Watering by the SDF and the Hyper Rescue squad of the Tokyo Fire Department using fire trucks is going on.

I saw a press conference of the 3 leaders of the Hyper Rescue squads today. One of them said "the squad members' morale was very high and they put forth their best efforts to it. Their families are... I'm really sorry for their families. I want to take this opportunity to apologize to and thank them". He, who is one of the tough guys of the Hyper Rescue squad, choked up with tears.

The SDF, the Fire Department, the police, technicians of nuclear, they are literally doing deadly operations for all of Japanese and Japan.

A nasty mail from a friend

A friend of mine sent us VERY NASTY mail.

She is Japanese but lives out of Japan. The mail is incredibly long. To sum up;

Most Japanese people are carefree and idle spectators although they are under terrible situation.
The Japanese government are implementing press restraints and never tell any facts to Japanese people, but the nuclear plants will explode within 48 hours.
After the explosion, radiation will spread 600 km radius, and it would be stronger than the Chernobyl accident.
Even now, radiation spreads even in Tokyo, so people should escape as soon as possible.
Media in countries other than Japan say that why the Japanese government tell people the facts.

She went on and on about those in her lo---ng mail.

Can you believe that someone do such a nasty thing?

Although she doesn't live in Japan, how does she know Japanese people are carefree and idle spectators? Even people in Tokyo are affected by the events in this time and under harsh situation. But many of them say that they have to be patient considering the victims. At least, there are no people around me, who are carefree and idle spectators.

She sent the mail to dozens of people.
What is her intention? Does she want to make Japanese panic? Does she make people angry?
In the former case, we Japanese are not so stupid. In the latter case, her intention was successful.
Anyway, it's certain that she has lost many friends.

I have deleted her from my address book.

One week after the earthquake

2:46pm today, a silence prayer was offered around Japan because it has been one week since the unprecedented earthquake hit.

TV is starting broadcasting some programs other than news programs, and the news programs are starting presenting news other than earthquake-related matters little by little.
However, situations, which are such as evacuees' terrible lives, nuclear power-generation plants, mess by the planned blackouts etc. aren't getting better, are even getting worse.

The evacuees' lives are cruel. Many relief goods aren't able to reach evacuate sites.

All I can do for now is just saving electricity and donation...

I'm really warried about th victims.

As rescue operations are progressing a little by little, the damages are getting apparent a little by little.

Many villages and settlements were completely submerged under water and lost entirely. Yesterday, I often heard the news which said that 1 -2 hundreds bodies were found in --- area, 2 - 3 hundreds bodies were found in --- village etc. And finally the news said a thousand bodies were found at a beach. I was at a loss for words.

Evacuees are starting to talk about the situation of when tsunami attacked. Horrible. They lost their family and friends, and experienced such a horrible event. Relief goods are most necessary things for now, but I think it's also necessary to provide psychological support to them when things calm down.

Many rescue teams and experts came to Japan from other countries.
Thank you very much for all of your help!!

The nuclear plants problem have to be solved no matter what.

The situation of the nuclear power-generating plants is getting worse and worse. I can't help thinking that things are getting out of hand.
That should never happen! Hang in there!

The planned blackouts turned out unplanned blackouts

It was only 10 hours before the implementation of the blackouts when the electric power company (Tokyo Electric Power Company = TEPCO) announced the schedule of the blackouts. TOO late. So panic in cities was bound of arise.

Railroad companies had to cancel some of trains during a certain period of time, so they announced their cancellation schedule early this morning according to the blackouts schedule. But many people didn't know because TEPCO's announcement was too late.
Traffic lights would stop, so police had to dispatched many police officers to intersections but of course they don't have enough police officers for that.
Many shops and restaurants decided to close during a certain period of time according to the blackouts schedule.
Hospitals also had to prepare for that.
In spite of TEPCO's too late announcement, all establishments tried hard to handle.
In this situation, panic wouldn't be avoidable. However!! to make matters worse, TEPCO canceled the blackout for the 1st group areas at the very last minute! They also canceled it for the 2nd group. And they said they were not sure if they conducted the blackouts for 3rd - 5th groups. What?!?!?!?!
One more surprising thing is, one part of disaster area was included in the areas in which the blackouts were conducted and power went out at one evacuation center. Terrible.

I think people in the areas in which blackouts are conducted wouldn't complain against the blackouts. Although it's very inconvenient and panic occurs, given people in the Northeastern area, it's small thing. However, TEPCO's dull operations were terrible. Of course, TEPCO is facing a storm of criticism.
The chief Cabinet secretary criticized those TEPCO's terrible operations and TEPCO apologized the Japanese government.

The dull Japanese government and dull TEPCO are coping with the disaster in Japan now. What a horrible situation!!

TEPCO'S most important task now is to overcome the problems of nuclear power-generating plants. I mentioned the explosion in the previous article. That's the plant 1. Today, the plant 3 exploded. And the plant 2 fell into critical condition.
Even though TEPCO's employees who are doing operations are terribly dull, employees who are coping with the nuclear plants problems are experts of nuclear and plants, right? Please overcome it! No, You have to do!

I'm proud of Japanese people.

Compared with the Northeastern area, the damage in Tokyo was very few. Nevertheless, it was terrible situation in Tokyo. However, people really calmed down and orderly.

I think that it's the first time that all trains and subways have stopped in Tokyo. Streets and roads were full of people who had to get home on foot spending 3 hours, 4 hours or much more. But they were just walking orderly.
All food in every convenience store were sold out, but still there were many people in each store. However, store's staff were working as usual and there was not any trouble.
Main stations were full of people who were not able to get home and so stayed there. They also calmed down and orderly, and sat down the side of streets or halls to get out of the way of people passing. (There were some people who complained against station staff though.)

Some countries complimented Japanese people's orderly behaviors.
I'm very proud of such Japanese culture and character! I also think that it was good that I was born and grew up in this country!

Planned backouts

Although aftershocks don't stop, tsunami warnings are finally called off. But other than it, it seems that nothing gets better. About the situation of nuclear power-generating plants even get worse.

Due to nuclear power-generating plants problem, Japan is facing electricity shortage. So it was decided that planned blackouts will be conducted from tomorrow. Tokyo and 8 prefectures around Tokyo are divided into 5 areas and power will go off in each area for 3 hours in turns.
But!! I can't get any information about planned blackouts schedule!! I had no idea when power goes off in my area. Any TV news don't mention the schedule. It's impossible to access the website of a electric power company. I finally got the information that center of Tokyo where I live will be excluded from the planned blackouts coverage areas on the first day. But people in other areas must be worried.

The Japanese government is undependable. Especially Prim Minister Kan lacks ability in leadership. He made a speech today. It's hard to think that it's the speech of a leader of one nation. He is really dull.

Dull Kan is making a speech

A nuclear power-generating plant is in critical condition.

Although it's about 31 hours after the earthquake, aftershocks are still following.

Many terrible damages are becoming apparent. Everything disappeared in areas where tsunami attacked. It is as if Hiroshima and Nagasaki just after atomic bombing.

Trains broken by tsunami

Most houses disappeared and became just woods due to tsunami.

A vessel was swept into the middle of town.

Now, one of the biggest issues is one of nuclear power-generating plants which is in critical condition. At first, the Japanese government ordered people living within a 3-kilometer radius to evacuate. Then it expanded to 10-kilometer radius, and then, now 20-kilometer radius. I hope nothing happens.

The places around the epicenter are very cold area. I wonder if all evacuees can keep warm.

Oh---, now, it's shaking. Quite big for aftershock.


Moment of the explosion of the nuclear power-generating plant

The biggest erthquake which I've ever experience

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Japan around 3pm today. Although the epicenter is the northeastern region where is far from Tokyo, the shaking was incredibly strong. It's the biggest earthquake which I've ever experienced. And many aftershocks are still following. It's also the first time that I experienced such long-continued aftershocks.

The quake damage in Tokyo is not so big. Most building and houses in Tokyo are fine. However, infrastructure completely stopped. All trains and subways stopped. All highways were closed. Cars and buses can't move in roads due to traffic congestion. So people can't go home. I can see wave of people who are walking in roads to get home. All food in every convenience stores are sold out. Cell phones don't work. I felt scared seeing those scene.
Most building in Japan, especially new ones, have earthquake-proof structure, but how weak the infrastructure is.

The damage in the northeastern area where is around the epicenter is terrible. Especially, the damage of Tsunami is larger than the damage of earthquake. Tsunami took part many houses and swept away them which weren't damaged by earthquake.

TV news just announced one of the terrible damages, which is that 2 - 3 hundreds bodies were found on the road in an area. who seems to have been swept up by the tsunami.

Formal or Informal Expressions

The theme of an English workshop which I attended the other day was "Conversations in the Office."
One of topics is "Formal or Informal expressions."

Some expressions that I thought is formal were informal, and vice versa. It's quite difficult.

The followings are some of the expressions which I thought are formal but actually informal.

make a plan

Police are looking into the crime.
I think you should try this restaurant.
turn in a report
Excuse me, do you have a few minutes?

But polite expressions in Japanese are MUCH more difficult. I'm sure there are many learners of Japanese language struggle with Japanese polite expressions. It might be good that I'm a learner of English, not Japanese. haha.

Which do you use "like" or "unlike"?

I have been wondering which I should use "like" or "unlike" in negative sentences.

For example, I came across the following sentence.

One woman whose desk is very cluttered says;
His desk isn't covered by stacks of paper like mine.

When I heard the sentence, I thought her desk was also neat (like him). If her desk was very messy, I think she should have said, "His desk isn't covered by stacks of paper unlike mine."

If somebody says, "He doesn't like animals like John.", I wonder if John likes animals or not.

Take action! --- knowing Beer or Books and Room to Read

I encountered a person who organize "Beer for Books" which raises money for childhood literacy in developing countries.
I told him that I've wanted to help all children in the wold receive education, and got his business card.

Beer for Books raises money for "Room to Read." You may know Room to Read because it's famous. I read the book "Leave Microsoft to challenge the world" written by the Room to Read's founder John Wood.

I'm really impressed both by John Wood and the organizer of Beer for Books, especially their energy. In contrast, I've just thought that I don't know where to begin.
Take action like them!

Desks go?

One of the new English words I learned recently is "desks go." But actually I'm not sure what case it is used. In the context, it means a desk itself.

A person compliments her boss's desk because he keeps his desk very neat.
"I'm very impressed by your desk."

But her boss misunderstands.
"As desks go, It's nothing special. I'm not one of those power-tripping executives who think they need a desk the size of a football field to make themselves feel important."

I wonder if what "desks go" exactly means and it's used so often.

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year, everybody!
I wish all of you good luck for this year.

For New Year's visit to a shrine this year, I chose Yoyogi Hachimangu. That's because the lucky direction this year for me is the South and the South-Southwest, and Yoyogi Hachimangu is in the direction from my place.

It's not so big shrine, so it was not so crowded unlike other famous and popular shrines, although I had to stand in line for about an hour.

I want to make this year the significant breakthrough year for me. I'll definitely do that.

Yoyogi Hachimangu