Happy New Year!!!

Hello world, hi friends, the new year has just begun here in Japan! And yes, this is my first post of 2011!!!! Sorry for being too lazy with updating my blog lately, but I always love to read your blogs!! From what I've read on your blogs, it seems like you all had a great Christmas time. In my case, Christmas didn't really mean anything, since I got to work for 5 hours on Christmas day and got totally exhausted haha. Anyway, this year I'll try to update more often than last year!!! :)


I hope the year 2011 will be the best one to all of you, and bring you loads of happiness!!




Pookie0712

The Blue Day Book

According to the calender,yesterday was the summer solstice.As you know,it's the longest day of the year. But this year it didn't mean anything to us cause in Japan it's in the middle of the rainy season right now.And that's the season I hate the most during a year, because it makes me blue, depressed, and perspire(Too much humidity is what I hate the most during this season). It　has been gloomy and raining for almost all day lately,and also sometimes it rains cats and dogs(this is an interesting English phrase that I studied recently btw- why "cats and dogs"? =]).Heavy rain sometimes delays the transportation service,which makes me feel just don't wanna go to school and do anything.So, on rainy days with no class, I usually just lie about at home doing nothing.


Speaking of blue days,I received a package from U.S. today.It's an English book that I ordered @ Amazon.co.jp last week. The title is "The Blue Day Book".

This is a wonderful collection of amusing and adorable animal photos with some short texts that cheers you up when you've got the blues. One of my American friends once lent it to me and I liked it so much, so I wanted it as mine.I looked for it at some book stores and libraries, but I couldn't find it, so I ordered on Amazon.It was my first time online shopping, and I'm simply satisfied because it was quite cheap and took me only less than 1 week until I received it.Also it was flawless despite having come all the way from US.


This book is just like a simple little photo book with simple messages, so of course it's not Shakespeare nor a kind of so-called how-to book that solves your mental problems.But, with those unique and cute black-and white photos of animals that perfectly match with each humorous message,you'll not be able to read it without smiling and it will definitely make you feel better :It's guaranteed. I think this is what makes this book special.   
You can view some of the pages of this book HERE.


Well, I'm not a sensitive person, so I rarely get inspired by famous words by great people.But one of the phrases from this book did catch my heart.Now I'd like to share it with you here, also as a note to myself:

- Live every day as if it were your last, 

because one day, it will be.

You may think this is too simple and it's not that a special word, and I agree to it.
But this message makes me realize that how much I've been wasting my time that never comes back again.Nobody can tell when we will die or how long we can live.I might not be in this world at this moment tomorrow, nor even a few hours later.This might be a bit extreme,but it's quite possible.
So, I'll try my best to make my life a great one.I still don't know how, but for the time being until I start my new life next spring, I want to try as many things as possible that I can experience only while I am still a student.I hope to make every moment a special one so that one day, when my last day comes and I look back on my past life, I can feel that I could send a great life.This quote is gonna be one of my mottos from now on.


Anyway, if you have a chance, I highly recommend you to pick it up and take a look at this book - even if you don't like animals very much.This book also will be a nice present to someone special.Maybe I'll get one more and give it to my best friend who is leaving for the UK to study soon. This is such a book worth it, I think.

TAKOYAKI MAX!

Apparently my parents love spending money on electronics. On weekends they often go shopping to appliance stores and never come back home without purchasing something new.And they decide what to buy surprisingly quickly - When they came back home with a new computer last weekend, I was just surprised because I never even knew that they had been looking for a new one before that. 
This time it was a new hotplate. A much bigger one than the former one. Of course I didn't know at all that they were going to buy it this time, either.When I went to the dining room it was just there. They told me very happily that they purchased it with their membercard's points that they stored when they bought the new PC , which means they didn't pay anything this time for this new hotplate. 


The new hotplate is great - it includes 3 changeable pans, and we can change them depending on what we cook. One of them is for takoyaki(For those who don't know takoyaki - It's a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, green laver (aonori), and katsuobushi (fish shavings), first popularized in Taisho-era Osaka). I love takoyaki very much because I am from Kansai area. It is said that people from my area all have at least one takoyaki pan in their kitchens.I used to have one but it had only 15 molds.But this new pan has 30 molds -   twice as many as the older one! We really enjoyed making & eating them. I ate over 15 takoyakis, which made me full!Okay I hope the picture below makes you hungry.:p

   
Anyway, if you have a chance to visit Osaka, please just try takoyaki! It's a damn good stuff I think - I bet you'll fall in love with it. And if you like it, don't forget to buy & bring a takoyaki pan back to your country.Takoyaki is the best food that we can be proud of in the world!!

The coolest wedding couple ever

Right, quick update, this is a link posted by my friend on FB. Please just watch this - it's hilarious!They're the coolest nerds ever!

And check this out as well(Click the picture below). There are 10 funny & unbelievable Stories about Facebook and they are all very interesting so I just wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

Quick Update: Facebook Trick!

Alright, I've got just 10 mins before I leave home! Today I'm gonna show  you a special 
facebook trick that one of my friends told me!This is just for fun ----> Try it! NOW! :D


Open the Facebook mainpage(Click the image above and log in!), Press up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter key then right click! After that, click anywhere on the page and then press up & down and see what happens!
To stop this - simply log out then back in again!


This really trips me out! 


Oops gotta go now...It's raining today I don't feel I wanna go to school right now...:(

But anyways, have a nice day everyone!

What will you choose to survive?

Woooooooo it's been ages since I wrote last!I've been busy lately and had no time to write...but I'm doing pretty good. Thank you!


At the end of last month I attended a seminar for job hunting held at uni. Currently I am studying for a civil exam which I am going to take next summer, but I'm going to try some private companies as well.I decided to attend this seminar for the purpose of getting some information about how to start job hunting.
The seminar consisted not only of lectures by some staffs who have been informally promised employment but also of an interactive program;This time I experienced a group discussion, which is often taken as a way of job interviews by most of the large companies in Japan. This time we discussed a quite interesting topic, so here I'm going to introduce what we talked about.


Question:
Suppose your boat had been washed up on shore of an unknown inhabited island. You have nothing with you right now. If you're given just 3 things from the list below, what would you choose? Pick three!
Situation; There's no dangerous animal on the island, but there's only a tree and drinkable water.


1. a cell phone
2. a knife
3. a throwaway lighter
4. a white, large cloth
5. a rope
6. an illustrated guidebook to plants
7. a smoke pot
8. one of your friends
9. a blanket
10. some recreation stuff like cards


First off, we discarded a cell-phone, a smoke pot and the recreation stuff from the list, because we thought they were all the most unreliable and useless things to survive on an inhabited island.Then we chose a knife. The main reason is that we can use a knife in many ways and we thought we wouldn't be able to find any other substitutable stuff on the island.One of my American friends once told me that some of American people always carry a knife in their bags, not only for self-defense but as a "tool". He told me that, for example, when they need to cut a piece of paper or a rope, a knife would become a very useful tool.
Secondly,we chose a white, large cloth. There was no information about how large the cloth was, but anyway, we thought this also would be useful in many ways. We might be able to make a small tent with the cloth, or also we can use it as a blanket(at this point we removed the "blanket" from the choice) Also, if we wave it like a flag, we can ask for help to get out of the island.
At this point, a lighter, a rope,an illustrated guidebook to plants and a friend were still remaining in the list.First we removed a rope.Of course sometimes it can be useful, but we didn't get any ideas of situations when a rope is needed just for survival. And even if we became in need of it, we might be able to make it with some plants like ivy or something like that on the island instead.Next,a plants guidebook was turned down(personally I think this one should have been dropped from the list first but somehow it remained till the last stage).
A lighter, or a friend. On the very last stage,it took us quite a long time to decide either of them. Especially regarding a friend, our opinions were completely divided because, as you  probably guess, it has both aspects of a very important advantage and a fatal disadvantage.Of course having one of your closest friends with you on an unknown inhabited island will benefit you a lot;You'll feel more secure and never need to feel lonely.Also you might be able to find and share the best ideas to survive which you would have never thought up if without your friend. 
However, on the other hand,to live with your friend can be a serious burden when you try to survive on the island; Foods.If there were plenty of things we can eat on the island,we might not need to worry about this problem, but if not? What if there were only a few edible stuff on the island? With your friend, you have to reduce what you get to eat by half.Even if there was drinkable water, still, something that can be a precondition to survive would be simply to have enough foods with you.Also, even if the friend is your closest friend,you might not always get along with the friend; sometimes you might fall out with him/her, especially in such a tense situation like when you have a matter of life and death.
Thus, after all, we selected a lighter, for the reason of having less risk compared to the case of a friend.


A knife, a large white cloth, and a lighter. This was the conclusion that we reached in the end. We talked it over for the 20 minutes, which became a very precious experience for me because recently I don't often have a chance to talk over something except my major, law, with my friends in my daily life.But through this discussion, I learned again that sharing ideas and opinions with friends is very important.


Right,now it's your turn. If you think about this question, what would you choose?

One Week to go!

Something that I've been really looking forward to these days.

A picturebook that almost all of you probably read once when you were still just a kid.

A story whose world of fantasy everyone has probably been fascinated by.

That is this,"Where The Wild things are."
As you probably know,the movie version of this story is coming out on Oct.16th.


Since this is one of my most favorite stories that I read when I was a child, when I first heard this news 2ish months ago, I got really really excited.And now, the day is getting closer.I still remember clearly when my teacher first read this picturebook for us at the kindergarten, and how I got horrified by the story. I would often see the "wild things" in my dream, which made me cry. I was a little too kid to understand its world of fantasy. But even after such a horrible experience, for some reason,this story made me want to read again.And since then, I would read the book every time I went to the library. The unique touch of the pictures, and something which lies behind the whole story and makes me warm-hearted. I don't really remember how many times I've read it so far. But it has been my most favorite picturebook all time. And it will be, forever.

Yes,I get to see the world of "wild thigs" that I once dreamed about(Of course I still do!) in 7 days!

So soon!Can't wait!

Mon,Oct.16
EVERYBODY DON'T MISS IT!


Today's Proverb - A constant guest never welcomes.

uʍop ǝpısdn

Oh Facebook, I love you so much,but why do you sometimes try to go a bit weird?
Today’s example;
(Click the picture below to view a larger version)

“ENGLISH(UPSIDE DOWN)”
This is a new language option for Facebook, in which texts are displayed upside down. For example, you see ¡ʞooqəɔɐℲ oʇ əɯoɔləʍ for the word “Welcome to Facebook!”.When I
first found this, I couldn’t believe my eyes…like “WTF?! Do I have to stand on my head?


Kidding. But I have a question. What is this version for? Who is going to use it anyway?
Well, something that sounds new and weird always makes me feel like I just have to try it .So,I had been using Facebook in English(US), but now I’ve been using it in this new Upside-down English as of 3 days ago.
BUT! —　this is MY opinion — but it’s a FAILURE. In this mode, not all texts are displayed upside down. Some texts are still displayed normal. This makes me confused. Now I can’t tell which are upside down texts and which are not, coz of kind of an optical illusion. I’m kinda feeling sick right now...

This is another funny version. English(Pirate)


Anyway, I love you Facebook, even though you were a bit off~(^U^)♪


I’m off to Kyoto for a seminar camp tmrw. I am going to give a presentation on my major, constitution.I’m still writing some documents.I’m feeling so nervous right now...But after that, we're going sightseeing around Kyoto!It’s been a long time since I went to Kyoto last, so I’m so excited now.I’ll post some pics of Kyoto here later!
Alrighthy then.
Have a wonderful weekend!!


Today's Proverb - Faith will move half a dozen of the other.

This is how I'm learning English

Watch Spirited Away in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I’m not sure if I’ve already told you here before, but one of my recent goals in studying English is to watch English movies without ANY Japanese subtitles. I’ve tried watching some English movies and news broadcasted in English(like CNN) but it is still a little hard for me to catch everything without any Japanese dubbing or subtitles.
But recently, one of my friends told me about a wonderful movie website called “veoh”, and I found there were lots of full- versions of GHIBRI movies(directed by Hayao Miyazaki,a world-famous Japanese movie director) without any Japanese subtitles dubbed in English on the site. I am a HUGE fan of GHIBRI movies and I’ve watched the movies many times since I was little, so now I memorize most of the Japanese lines. So I think watching the videos dubbed in English would be the best way for me to improve my English “listening” skill.I’m gonna watch more movies with this tool from now on. If you interested in, why don’t you try it too? You might think it's too easy though… But anyway, once you download the free web player, you can watch the full-versions whenever you want:) Of course it's free!I recommend espcially those who love GHIBRI movies – just like me- to try it.
This movie is "Spirited Away(2001)", which won many awards, including an Oscar and an Academy award.My favorite one.

Hope you have a nice week!=)

Hooooooo!!!Congrats!

Japan cheers Ichiro's record

TOKYO - JAPAN cheered Monday the latest record set by Seattle's right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who became the first player in Major League Baseball history to post 200 or more hits in nine straight seasons.

'It is a magnificent record, even if Ichiro makes it look so easy,' said one fan, Mr Hiroshi Chiba, as he snatched up a special edition of the Asahi Shimbun daily featuring the record splashed across its front page.

'In the past few days I have been following very closely to see when he would finally reach 200,' Mr Chiba, 45, said as he gazed at the paper in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district.

Ms Setsuko Ito, a 65-year-old Tokyo housewife, also said she had been watching Suzuki's games with growing anticipation.

'He was very quick to reach the record,' she said. 'I want to see much more of his great playing.' Hours earlier in Arlington, Texas, the Japanese star posted his 200th hit this season with an infield single to shortstop in the second inning of the second game of a double-header against the Texas Rangers.

Suzuki broke a tie with Willie Keeler, who reached 200 hits for eight straight seasons between 1894 and 1901.

The Mariners went on to beat the Rangers 5-0 after dropping the first game of the double-header 7-2.

Major newspapers reported accolades for Suzuki from Japanese baseball legend and home-run king Sadaharu Oh.

'His spirit towards playing baseball is that of the lone warrior,' said Oh, who guided a Japan national side including Suzuki to victory in 2006 in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

'He has the exceptional talent of staying focused,' Oh said, according to the Mainichi daily. 'The 200 hits in nine straight seasons is only one milestone for him. I want him to beat many more records.' -- AFP

WoooooHooooooo! I-CHI-RO! You are THE MAN!

Since I was born...

Result

You were born on Tuesday
Since you were born has passed 21 years.
Since you were born has passed 253 months.
Since you were born has passed 1,103 weeks.
Since you were born has passed 7,728 days.
Since you were born has passed 185,505 hours.
Since you were born has passed 11,130,280 minutes.
Since you were born has passed 667,816,821 seconds.

Funny Facts:
Your heart beat 890,199,822 times
Your hair grew 317 cm.
You slept 61,824 hours
You ate 8,578 kg. of food
You drank 10,981 liters of liquid
You walked 44,822,400 steps, about 14,900 km.
You blinked 118,702,080 times
You farted 115,920 times, producing 348 liters of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and 271 liters of CH4 (methane).You urinated 26,275 times, almost 11,206 liters.

HAHAHA,this is very informative!

The funniest fact to me is "Your hair grew 317cm".

3m!!!!.... Unbelievable!

Well,now I think I really should have kept my hair grown out without any haircut since I was born.My name would definitely be entered into the Guiness book(Oh wait!I've just found that the world record was 4.17m!Gee!).

This reminds me of an interesting story that a hairdressor whom I had my hair cut last time told me. The story is like this; Human's hair grows about 0.4mm a day,and a nomal adult person has 100,000 hairs on avarage.So if you simply calculate from these facts, it means that your hair grows up 40m a day as a total.

40m a day!

Is it only me that is surprised by this fact?

If you have Facebook, just try it http://apps.facebook.com/lived-time/

Anyway, I love Facebook. These days I spend lots of my time on Facebook.It's the only way for me to keep in contact with my international friends at university who left Japan and went back to their countries this summer. I heard that most of people from English-speaking countries use Facebook, but is it true?

I wish there were something like this Facebook in Japan as well.

In Japan, Facebook is still not popular at all. As the most popular SNS site in Japan, there is one called mixi and I also have an account of it, but there is no function like "status" on Facebook. We can only post journals and share photos and videos.I'm not so good at writing in Japanese (lol) so I rarely do it. We can play only a few games.Boooring.So I haven't logged in for a long time.

OK, I've gotta go now.Back to study! Pardon me for today's random topic. Thanks for reading=)

"How to make Japanese dishes" show - "Cooking with dog"

This is a cooking show on Youtube which introduces how to make Japanese dishes.

This morning NHK(Japan's national public broadcasting organization) was broadcasting about the topic of this video. This cooking woman is a normal housewife and these videos are taken and edited by her friend, who is explaining how to make them in English. And the dog, Francis....SO FREAKIN CUTE isn't she?! I wonder whether the dog really need to stay there in this video or not because she is just staying by the woman and doing nothing throughout the video LOL(Before watching this I thought a dog was gonna cook hahahaha)!! But she's just cute and makes me so happy:) I think she's also so obedient and patient.my late dog would be trying to hoover up the food.

Ahhh, watching these videos makes me hungry! There are more videos introducing another dishes on Youtube so check'em out!

Why am I always...?

“Ms Morimoto is 35ish, and is still single” —　This seems to have been an accepted opinion among my students at the cram school. This is what some of my high school students said in my class just two days ago,which made me so shocked.Well, this is half right, but half is far off,as you know.WHY IN THE HELL am i ALWAYS looked that much older than I actually am? Do I look so old for my real age, 21? Is this because I am trying to behave like a serious teacher to show some dignities and not to be too friendly to them? Really? Or just because they are idiots? Hmmm, but the truth is I have been looked older than I actually am quite often since I was still a jhs student.Once When I was 14 and was in the train, an old lady next to me suddenly asked me “Which uni are you going to?” I was like “…huh?!”.But this time, they have believed that I was 35….14 yrs older than my real age?! What the heck! Im gonna really hate them…:(

Japanese English = Jinglish

Since I started hanging out with my friends from English-speaking countries, I have been paying more attention to English surrounding our daily lives. For example, when I choose a T-shirt with some English phrases on it, I always ask my Australian friend to check whether it makes sense or not, before purchasing them.Before I met them I had never cared about it(Once I had a T-shirt with a print saying "You are dead, You are dead, You are dead,.....," ). When we're walking around cities and streets, they often stop walking to take pictures of funny English on the signs of shops and posters. Sometimes even I can get what is wrong and funny, but sometimes I can't understand why they are laughing at the English so much. They make me notice that we are surrounded by lots of "Japanese-English"(They call it "Jinglish").So, these days I have been trying to find such "Jinglish" around me.

Here are some examples of Jinglish that my friends and I have found so far;

Keep your hands and face...so where?!

Yes, let's!

....huh?

Well I would love to get a new hair cut there..

And here is a link for an interesting site about Jinglish below;

http://www.engrish.com/

WooHoo!

This is my first entry on Blogger! Yay!