Tuesday, November 11, 2008

day 3 in japan

this day, we visited the sapporo meiji shrine, the port city of otaru (totally charming place) and susukino street (the entertainment area in sapporo city)...


  1. the pathway to enlightenment? am just about to head into the sapporo meiji shrine grounds proper...
  2. one is supposed to cleanse oneself before entering (hands and mouth)
  3. serenity...the air was crisp, the scenery beautiful...the sense of calmness was infectious!
  4. lil in front of the shrine building
  5. old-ish couple...either getting married, remarried, or perhaps reaffirming their vows to each other...lurve the traditional get-up
  6. out pops the head...the trinkets in the foreground are wish-boards...people write their wishes and hang them up
  7. clear blue skies...we don't get them often enough in singapore
  8. stone centurions lining the pathway into the shrine
  9. already in otaru...miraculously, the crowds of tourists cleared for about 5 seconds...just about enough to shoot of this photo of the tower in isolation
  10. inside the otaru music box factory...these eggs are music boxes!
  11. the best cheesecake ever!!! from a place called LE TAO...these are light and fluffy yet paradoxically, absolutely creamy and rich...they only last 2 hours out of the fridge before "melting"
  12. through the looking glass...i had to tippy toe to take this shot through a kaleidscope
  13. in the pattissier kitakaro: a pastry-lover's wetdream...fab cakes, desserts...*drool*
  14. this stall was selling BBQ-d scallops in their shell, lightely flavoured with shoyu (japanese soya sauce)...each for a mere 100 Yen!!!
  15. anticipation
  16. the famed otaru canal lined by the old warehouses which have since been converted to leisure use (cafes, restorants, hip stores)....beautiful!
  17. us
  18. picture-perfect!
  19. portrait
  20. grouchy ole fella who was painting along the canal walkway
  21. back in sapporo - the ramen at susukino...we had it at this little alley which was entirely lined with ramen shops...
  22. fantastic ramen...worth every bit of the moolah paid out for it...

WOAH!

Something Really Cool To Do!

STEP 1. Go to a page that has a lot of pictures. For example Google images and do a search or something.

STEP 2. While still on the page, delete the URL in the address bar and replace it with this entire code:

Code:
javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.images; DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5; DIS.top=Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5}R++}setInterval('A()',5); void(0);

STEP 3. Press Enter.

STEP 4. surprise

STEP 5. Be Amazed!

common sense...

...would dictate this, right??? then again, there are some really stupid people out there...better safe than sorry, i guess...rolling on the floor

how cute is this?

gotta be a puppy...totally adorable!

washing instructions...

...show this to your wife and you will regret it!laughing

what life will be like...

...for president-elect obama once he takes over the reigns of office...it'll never be the same again for the first family, for sure...






SECURITY

Barack Obama - Secret Service codename Renegade - is now the most guarded man on the planet. Even when he goes to the loo, bodyguards stand outside it. And when he travels by motorcade there are a dozen identical cars - so potential assassins won't know which one he is in.



The President-elect will also have to get used to handing his glass to a Secret Service agent every time he has a drink outside the White House. The agent carries a small bag in which to pop the glass and later he destroys it. The idea is to ensure that no unauthorised person has access to the Presidential DNA, but it is not clear how an enemy would use it.

Obama will be given a set of panic buttons: One for his pocket, one on his desk and one beside his bed. They are credit card-shaped and simply have to be squeezed to summon a posse of agents. At one time, the President and Vice-President were given three-inch-high models of the Washington Monument to put beside their beds. They had simply to knock them over to summon the guards.

But the models were abandoned after Vice-President Dan Quayle - noted for being clumsy - knocked his over late one night while making love to his wife. In seconds, the door burst open, the lights went on and Mrs Quayle was thrown out of bed to the floor rolling on the floor as bodyguards flocked around her husband to ensure his safety.

MOVING HOME

Michelle Obama once called her husband and asked him to pick up some ant traps on his way back from work to tackle an infestation in their Chicago home. No such domestic trivia will ever bother her again. She is soon to become the mistress of the six-storey, 132-room White House.

Michelle will have more than 100 domestic staff including her own florist - to change the flowers daily - chefs, drivers and dressers. Nancy Reagan said that, a month after moving in to the White House, she was surprised when the usher sent up a bill for their food.

She added: "No one told us the President and his wife are charged for every meal, as well as for dry cleaning, toothpaste and toiletries. Five minutes after Ronnie came home and hung up his suit, it would disappear from the closet to be pressed, cleaned or brushed."

President Reagan said it was like living in an eight-star hotel but Harry Truman complained the place was a "glamorous prison".

DECORATION

Michelle will be given a budget of £150,000 to redecorate and make the First Family feel at home. She's pledged to give the decor an African-American twist with vibrant colours and fabrics - and Barack wants to remove the plasma TV from the famous Lincoln bedroom. Instead, he wants guests to read.

Barack will have to decide which desk he will use in the Oval Office. Friends say it will be the same desk picked by John F Kennedy - the "Resolute Desk" presented by Queen Victoria in 1880.

Another of Michelle's tasks will be to pick out the state china. But she's been warned not to go over the top - Nancy Reagan was slated for splashing out US$1m on china.

COOKING

One great perk will be having 25 chefs at the Obamas' disposal. Michelle will be asked to email the head chef a list of the President's favourite dishes and new desserts will be created in his honour.

Former pastry chef Roland Mesnier, who served for 25 years, once made a 2ft gingerbread version of the White House for Laura Bush, said in 2007: "Every First Lady will be demanding when they come to the White House. They want things done their own way."

SPORT

To help him keep in shape, Barack will build an indoor basketball court - to replace the bowling alley that Richard Nixon installed. And President Obama will invite professional basketball stars to join him "shooting hoops".

Franklin D Roosevelt built a pool in the White House, Dwight D Eisenhower a putting green and Bill Clinton had a running track on the edge of the south lawn.

So the new president is only following tradition. But the Secret Service bodyguards have already warned him not to think of cycling around Washington, as he did as a senator - it would be too risky. But he will make full use of the White House gym to lift weights most mornings and the billiards room to relax some nights.

SCHOOLS

Daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, are expected to go to one of the many private schools in Washington. Favourite is Sidwell Friends school attended by Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea.

The risk of the girls being kidnapped is very real, so rather than their usual "sleep-over parties" with pals at the Chicago home of grandma Marian Robinson, the girls will have visitors over.

"We may see sleep-overs at the White House," said Verna Williams, a student pal of Michelle.

It is thought Michelle's mum Mrs Robinson will also move in to stay near the children.

CHURCH

One of the toughest problems the family will face is picking a church. They have a deep Protestant faith and will want to attend church every Sunday. They may even decide to go to several different churches in Washington, including the Anglican one just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

PETS

White House pets - especially dogs - are popular with voters.

In his acceptance speech, Obama promised his girls a new puppy to take with them to their new home. Mr Obama later said he wanted a dog from a rescue home, saying "shelter dogs are mutts - like me".

Former Presidential pets have included Bill Clinton's chocolate labrador Buddy and his cat Socks.

George W Bush has two Scottish Terriers - Miss Beazley and Barney, who became an internet star when a videocam was attached to his collar and his adventures were posted on the White House website. Ronald Reagan's dog Lucky loved chasing reporters and was dispatched to the family ranch owing to his behaviour. More unusually, John F Kennedy kept parakeets.

HOLIDAYS

To get away from it all, the Obamas will have access to the Sequoia - a 150-ton yacht built in 1925. John F. Kennedy celebrated his final birthday onboard and Richard Nixon famously played God Bless America on the ship's piano after deciding to resign. Even though ex-President Jimmy Carter had the boat sold in a public auction, the yacht is still available for use by the White House.

But trips to their old family home in Chicago will have to be vetted by security officials. A fence will be put up round the home with a live-in guard on duty 24/7.

The secluded Camp David residence will be available for some down-time where the family will be able to ski and relax - but with a team of bodyguards in proximity.

ok, so it's over...what next?

yeah so i'm slow...at the time of the american elections, i was on holiday in japan so you can't blame me with more or less being out of contact with what was happening in the rest of the world, particularly whilst i was not in a native english-speaking country...

fortunately i managed to keep an eye on the campaigning and the election process whilst bunking in with my friends in tokyo cos he had CNN on every night...

to be frank, i wasn't particularly interested in the whole obama-mccain slugfest...it doesn't directly impact on my life, of course but in the greater scheme of things, it will inevitably have a filter-down effect on the things around me...so i was keeping a watch just to be updated...

my friend commented that mccain was hit by the perfect storm...
  1. an affable, charismatic, young and approachable black opponent, with superb mastery of oratory...one with seemingly-unlimited campaigning funds
  2. a wholely unpopular bush government to which he was linked (by party)
  3. a sense that things were about to come to a head and change was in the air
  4. the current crisis that has afflicted the global economy
  5. a controversial vice-presidential candidate

this resulted in a massive landslide win for obama...with him taking previously-red states that were safe grounds for the republicans in addition to pretty much all the swing-states...

obama will be inaugurated as president on 20th jan...time alone will tell what his presidential term does for american (and in turn the world)...

the time for talking the talk is over, it's time to walk the walk...i personally hope he does well...go obama!

Monday, November 10, 2008

where do i start???

...with instalment 1 of the photos, i guess...

these are from day 1 to 2 (from singapore-narita-haneda-chitose-sapporo)



the captions below are in running order for the pix above...
  1. chilling out with coffee at changi airport at 5am in the morning...it was most definitely needed as i didn't sleep the night before...totally zoinked...
  2. haneda domestic terminal
  3. at the shiraoi ainu (the original aboriginal inhabitants of the japanese islands even before the japanese arrived) cultural village (to learn more about them, click HERE)
  4. smoked salmon...looks delish!
  5. tribal dance
  6. the obligatory photo with the village "chief"
  7. at the sapporo beer museum
  8. interesting ole school fresco (for beer of course!)
  9. the wall of ole beer posters (some of them are really pretty!)
  10. the taster for the beers...3 x 300ml glasses for all of 400 yen...cheeeeeeap!
  11. i look sober but i was slightly inebriated
  12. the outside facade of the beer museum (it was a functional factory till sometime in the 70s i think and converted to a museum which opened in 1987...to learn more, click HERE)
  13. on the grounds of the ishiya chocolate factory...very picturesque place...
  14. little cherub statue on the ishiya grounds
  15. the sapporo clock tower at odori park...note that the sky is already pitch black at 1717 hrs in the evening...the days were short and the skies started to turn at around 1600 hrs each day...
  16. night scene at odori park...if you look closely, i look as though i have elvis sideburns...WTF!??
  17. covered shopping arcade at susukino
  18. little pup for sale in one of the pet shops...so damn cute!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

what a lucky escape!

this chap should be thanking his lucky stars (other than the airport controller and the RAF)!!!surprise

Blind pilot guided to land by RAF



A pilot who suddenly went blind while flying his plane at 5,500ft (1,676m) was guided in to land by an RAF plane. He was flying a two-seater Cessna aircraft from Prestwick airport in Scotland to Colchester, Essex, when he suffered a stroke and lost his sight.

Despite air traffic controllers' efforts, Mr O'Neill was unable to land the plane at nearby Full Sutton Airfield near York and was directed to RAF Linton-on-Ouse. A plane was scrambled from the RAF base in North Yorkshire to help stricken pilot Jim O'Neill, 65. The RAF plane flew alongside Mr O'Neill and the pilot shepherded him to the base with instructions over the radio.

read more HERE.

Friday, November 07, 2008

yoohooooo!

hot man looking at thermometer sweating animated gifyes it's little ole mewave...just got back to sunny singapore all of 5 hours ago from japan, courtesy of northwest airlines...and the immediate difference was obvious enough...it's hot hot hot here! i had to sit in the bathtub and soak with cold water before i cooled down enuff to sleep...

it was a very much needed vacation and i am profoundly grateful to have managed it...being away from work has cleared up my mind a fair bit but has posed some new questions after a short discussion with a good friendthinking...new things to think about then...

am very appreciative of my friends in tokyo who put us up for 5 days during our extension and being great hosts...thanks, you two...you know who you arekiss

the pictures will come as soon as i can download them from the storage card, choose those to post-process and upload...it'll be a while, i'm afraid...i went a tad berserk and shot off about 8 gigabytes' worthsurprise