computer

Well, after a good many years, I finally bought a new laptop. I was planning on getting a new one this summer anyways, but my purchase was pushed up a bit when I accidentally spilled a cup of tea all over my old laptop. In it's final death throes, it sizzled, popped, and went black. The so-called “genius” at the Apple store said he could not get any data from it, but luckily I had backed it up not too long ago. If I hold a flashlight to the screen, I can see, but now the mouse keeps getting stuck on the screen, and it is slowly dying.
So last Friday, Scott and I went to the Apple Store in Osaka, and I picked up a brand new laptop! After much debate, including phone calls to Dad and Theo, I chose a black MacBook. I think it’s perfect! It has lots of memory space, a shiny screen, a video camera, and my apartment is now completely wireless. I can finally burn CD’s and DVD’s too. My old laptop was great, but about 6 years old. It was time to move on, and I am so happy with my new choice. So for the past few days I have been catching up on Lost and The Office episodes because I can watch videos without it jerking through it. Oh, I need to try looking at the Daily Show online too.
I can even run more than one application at once now without the computer freaking out and quitting one of them!
Obviously since I bought it in Japan, there is a different keyboard layout. It is basically the same, but things like the @ sign and apostrophe are in different spots. Also the space bar is much shorter and is sandwiched between two keys that switch language, so my thumb is constantly switching to Japanese without my permission. But I like having all the Japanese characters on the keyboard. And looking up Japanese web sites and typing in Japanese is no problem now, except for the not being able to read and understand it part.
But a great thing is that I got a little bonus at the Apple Store. If you buy a computer, you can get an iPod for free (buy it first, then you get a check for your money back). It is for the 2GB, but I got a 4GB, so I will end up paying only about $40 for it! So I am all decked out with the latest Mac gadgets, and I love it!

Mom visits Japan! Part 4

For our last sightseeing excursion, mom and I went to Kimiidera Temple here in Wakayama. It was my first time visiting it, even though it is not too far from my apt. Unfortunately, it was the day the “Yellow Sand from China” blew in. We weren’t hit too badly in the city, it was just really dark and hazy. So the pictures I included here are from the same temple, but I went back with my friend, Scott, on Thurs when the light was better. You can see the differences in the days by the sky: white sky is Monday, blue sky is Thurs.
Mom kept asking everyone which temple is the one with all the steps. Well, I don’t know if this is the one she meant, but there are quite a few steps. It is such a beautiful place! I am so happy I finally made it there. There are so many beautiful cherry trees and it is up on the hill with an amazing view of the ocean. This temple and the castle, are two of my favorite spots in Wakayama.























I like these because they are the same shot, just different focal points.











So this concludes mom’s trip here to Japan. It was a great trip. Both of us had a very nice time. I think all together we took over 800 pictures, so these are only a few, but I hope you enjoy them.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Mom ate a manta ray.

Mom visits Japan! Part 3

For the next part of our trip, mom and I took the Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Kyoto. I was ready for the worst crowds yet, it being sakura viewing and all, but it really wasn’t too bad. Oh, and I almost forgot, on Wed night in Hiroshima, we still didn’t have a room reserved in Kyoto. I tried everywhere, but there was nothing available. I tried one last place, the ryokan that I stayed at with Dad and Georgie when they were here. There are only 5 tatami rooms in the whole place, but I asked the Hiroshima hostel owner to call anyway. Turns out that 30 min earlier, she had a cancellation for the two nights we wanted. What luck! So after checking in to the place in Kyoto, we went to Kiyomizu temple. Not much blooming there, so we walked over to the Gion district, which I hadn’t been to before. Gion is famous for it’s Geisha, but we only saw a few. There was an area that we went to that must have been a park, but I don’t know the name. There were many trees in bloom, but the weather was quite cloudy, so the pictures didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. That night there was a huge deluge complete with thunder and lightning. It woke mom and I up, and I had earplugs.
















The second day we went to the Golden Temple, Nijo Castle, and did lots of shopping. Mom liked Nijo Castle the best because their “security system” is floors that chirp like a nightingale when you walk on them. For lunch, mom indulged my pizza craving and we went to Shakey’s. It was so good!
On the last day, we went to the Heian Shrine, which was actually my first trip in Japan that first weekend, but my camera ran out of batteries, so I had no pictures. If you look closely, you can see me standing at the base of the huge torii. In the Heian Shrine, there was a couple getting married. Everything was blocked off, but with my super camera, I think I got a pretty good shot of the two. How beautiful they looked. It was a perfect wedding scene.
Saturday afternoon, mom and I came back to Wakayama and got some much needed rest.

Mom visits Japan! Part 2

The first few pictures are of mom and I going with a couple of my friends, Akemi and Chise, to Shirahama beach in Southern Wakayama. It is famous for it’s beach and onsens. Since mom would only get her feet naked, we decided to try the foot onsen, which had really hot water and was quite relaxing.











Then on Tuesday, we headed over to Hiroshima. We went to the Peace Museum, and walked through Peace Park and by the A-Bomb Dome.
This is my second trip to Hiroshima, but I enjoyed seeing the sights again. The first time I went to Miyajima Island, we found no monkeys, only funny monkey signs. Well, this time was a completely different scene. There were monkeys everywhere!! We just so happen to go when they were getting fed. I have never seen so many monkeys in my life. At first I was a little scared because they were all so close, and I tried to avoid eye contact, but I didn’t need to worry because they were much more interested in the food than the people. Gee, I guess we really aren’t that different. There were also lots of baby monkeys that were adorable! I would have loved to hold one, but I didn’t feel like getting my eyes gauged out by a mommy monkey, so I just took lots of pictures.









After that we visited Hiroshima Castle. The grounds are beautiful, and of course with the sakura blooming, it was amazing. This castle looked different because it is made of a dark wood.
We left early the next morning for Kyoto.

Mom visits Japan! Part 1

My blog has been quiet for a while because mom was visiting for about 2 weeks. She arrived on a Friday, and her luggage arrived on Sunday. Seems her bags wanted to spend a few days in Hawaii before arriving in Japan. Can’t blame them I guess. I told my adult students that she spent her first two days in Japan completely naked. I laughed, mom hit me, and they looked a little confused. It was funny.
Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect, not only was I on my spring vacation, but it is cherry blossom season! The cherry blossoms bloom for a very brief time, so catching them is quite difficult. We were lucky to view the cherry blossoms in Wakayama, Hiroshima, and Kyoto. Not all in full bloom quite yet, but just starting. They are amazingly beautiful.
I’ll start off this series with the Wakayama Castle. Mom really enjoyed visiting all the castles we saw in Japan, but since this is the closest castle to me, just down the street, we went a few times. The first time was after her luggage was delivered on Sunday. So with new clean underwear (mom’s going to kill me!! hee hee!!), we walked over to the castle. Many of the trees were still bare, but one bright pink weepy cherry blossom tree was in full bloom. I asked the only person around, a very old woman, to take our picture, and was surprised to see that she did a pretty good job. It took a little while, but she found the button, and with a bit of cropping, we have a nice picture.
Then after our trip to Hiroshima and Kyoto, mom and I returned to the Wakayama Castle to find all the trees in full bloom! Except for the first pink tree, the rest were white. They just filled the grounds like fluffy clouds sitting on top of the trees. A popular thing to do while the trees are in bloom is to have a picnic under them. It is called “Hanami” and so during the day and evening, people are camped out grilling, drinking, and chatting. Mom and I went on her last night to look at the trees lit up and have dinner. We enjoyed food from the booths, and tried to take pictures in the low light even though there was a full moon.
I am so happy that mom and I could share our first Hanami festival together.