Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I finally got fed up with how long and hideous my hair was, so I got it cut today. Now there's very little left, and it's layered and fluffy and thin! I've never had such thinned hair before - it was actually really terrifying to watch the guy sweep up everything that had been cut off. I think one could have made a small rug out of the trimmings. I'm glad that things went so well this time, compared to the minor disaster of last year's haircut adventure. I attribute the success to my improved Japanese skills and the foresight to bring a reference picture with me. It was decently priced too, because I went to this classy place that was having a 30% off promotion.

Anyway, I think the result is cute, although it's even cuter when it's properly styled and curled. People are going to be surprised when I get back home... <3

And you know, I'm flying back to the States this Wednesday. Haven't started packing yet. :/

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Excited

Material Girl?

I found the most amazing clothing store today. Everything in there was so vibrant and colorful - patched together and with random pieces hanging off and extraneous strings, and the colors colors colors.... Awesome Japanese street fashion. I got a bit worried when I couldn't find price tags on anything though. Well, I eventually found them, but they were rather well hidden, and augh! I really had my eye on this one red skirt, but I refused to pay over $100 for it.

Man, that place was cool though. If you ever happen to be in the underground mall at Kyoto station, over in the Cube, headed toward Isetan, you should definitely check the place out. It's really quite a sight to behold. I wanna work there someday. ;__;

- Rindi

Current song: Oh, some random trance song in some random trance mix. I can't be bothered to look it up.
Current mood: Hungry. D:

Cheap Entertainment

Back home, everyone's Thanksgivings are just beginning, but today, we had the day off for Thanksgiving Labor Day.... whatever that means. I think the Japanese just wanted an excuse for a holiday, but in any case, I got both today and tomorrow off from work. I decided to take the opportunity to run into Osaka and grab a few more manga before packing up my box of books and shipping them home.

So I ended up in Den Den Town, Osaka's version of Akihabara and picked up the first four books of Fullmetal Alchemist that I've kind of been hankering after. Now my collection is complete - until the next book is published, at least. Also grabbed the two books of Momotama that are out to date, even though I've read scanlations for most of the first book. Nanae Chrono's art is too good to pass up - if you haven't read her Peacemaker Kurogane series, I recommend it, even if it is ridiculously angsty. I mean, Momotama is just like those lame 'school for gifted highschoolers on a secret island that the government doesn't know about' RPs that I see on just about every forum system I frequent, but it's so darn fun to flip through! Pretty pretty art, and a badass 9-year-old hero. Gah, I love grouchy young males. D: <3

Did I mention that picking up all six books cost me less than $20? Trying finding a deal like that in the US! Preowned manga is love, especially because it's always in near-new condition.

I also had my heart set on getting Dynasty Warriors 5, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I had to check when I got home, and sure enough, the numbering system is different from the US version, and it's known as #4 over here in Japan. Darnit, I'd been staring at it all day, but wasn't certain whether it was the version I wanted. Guess I'll have to save the Three Kingdoms rampaging for later.

So instead of that, I ended up picking up both Genji and Tales of Destiny 2. Genji is said to be incredible, but also disgustingly short (like 6-7 hours short D:). I decided it was worth it though, because I like pretty games, it's about Japan (and the tale of Genji!), and it cost me less than 1300 yen. As for Tales? It's not that I particularly need another RPG, given that I haven't finished Final Fantasty XII yet, but people say it's good, and I like playing more than one game at a time. With Okami out of the way, all I had besides FFXII was three different versions of Pop'n Music. xD Tales of Destiny cost me about 1600 yen. Two preowned games for less than half the price of your average new game (they usually run from 6000 to 8000 yen)? I can live with that. :3

And now, I think I'm going to go fire up my PS2. You guys all enjoy your turkey - I'll be enjoying my new videogames.

- Rindi

Current song: djpretzel - Chrono Trigger - Revival Day Impoetus
Current mood: Reasonably excited

Quick Notes

The PS3 is region-free, but only for PS3 games. Guess I'll stick with my original plan and pick up a second PS2 when I get back to the States.

I got art tonight! Super-awesome Jesper and Thraxxin art. For those of you who can't tell what's going on, Jesper loves to annoy Thraxxin and Thraxxin gets weirded out by Jesper's antics. That's the basis to this picture - Vena's the one who decided to add in the sock puppet. xD I can't stand to look at it for more than a few seconds at a time though, because it makes me giggle uncontrollably. There's nothing better in the world than seeing other peoples' takes on your characters, and Vena did an amazing job. :D Still waiting on some other artists for drawings... Gwah, I love receiving art! <3

This week is Thanksgiving back home. Over here, we get a holiday too because it's Labor Day. Go figure. <_< I think I'll celebrate by buying myself a new video game. Problem is, I can't decide which one I want. Maybe something from the Onimusha series because I am a lame Japan freak. xD

Japan does not have turkey. o_o

- Rindi

Current song: Coldplay - Clocks
Current mood: Giggly

A Couple Recommendations

I finally had the chance to rewatch Millennium Actress, as it was showing on TV tonight. It's still as good as the first time I saw it, even though there weren't any subtitles and I was completely lost on large chunks of the dialogue. I probably cried even more this time around, because I'm a big sap like that. If you haven't seen any of Satoshi Kon's movies, you really owe it to yourself to check them out. I love them all, but Millennium Actress may very well be my favorite. I really want to see his latest, Paprika. I hear it's based on a sci-fi novel - looks interestingly dark.

The Honey & Clover anime just finished airing on TV tonight too. It was sooooo good. D: I haven't watched such a good anime in a long, long time. A wonderful mix of drama and humor - I'm not sure why it hasn't been picked up for a US release yet. I need to get my hands on the second season sometime.

I picked up the first book of the Mushishi manga today. The first chapter is the same as the anime (more like, the first episodes of the anime is the same as the first chapter of the book), no surprise there, but I was surprised at how shoujo the art-style is. The way the characters are drawn actually reminds me a good deal of Honey & Clover. ^^;

- Rindi

Current song: The Millennium Actress ending song
Current mood: Sheepish

Thoughts

I wonder if I should trade in my PS2 for a PS3. The system just launched in Japan last week and is region-free, so this would solve my dilemma of not being able to play American games on my JPS2, while still being able to play Pop'n Music. I guess it comes down to whether I can find a PS3 before I fly home, and whether any used games stores will be interested in yet another person trying to get rid of their PS2.

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Contemplative

A New Look

Ahahaha! After many many years of staring at the same horrible layout (the Lindy-demon had been up since freshman year of MIT D:), I finally couldn't take it any longer. I've been meaning to design a new blog layout for months, and while I started back in the summer, I got lazy. But, after guiltily looking over at my oft-neglected blog tonight, I decided that I should hurry up and finish. I was also inspired by a quick doodle of Jesper that I'd drawn as part of my 100 moods project, so he ended up being the star of the new layout. Better get used to seeing him there, because I'm sure this layout isn't changing for a good long while.

As for what I've been up to lately... Well, first off, I was accepted into my top choice for grad school, so I'll be starting the Computational Biology master's program at Carnegie Mellon University this spring. My little sister is doing her undergrad there right now, so that should be interesting. I have also been drawing like a madwoman recently - you should check out my DA gallery for my latest work (link is in the sidebar), as I've kind of abandoned FAC. It's where I got started, but most people use DA to showcase their art online, so I've moved over there instead. Sorry, FAC. ;~; And as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I have a 100 moods project going on to keep myself entertained with. It's just a way for me to draw more pictures of my characters and perhaps flesh out their personalities. That, and I just love drawing emotions and expressions. So keep an eye on that, because I update it fairly regularly.

Hrm, besides that, not much else to say really. It's getting chilly here, and I finally found out how to make my a/c work as a heater. It's pretty darn excellent.

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Excited. Change is good!

Tea and Me

Matsushita Denki, like any other large Japanese company, offers a multitude of clubs and activities to its employees. Unfortunately, since the lab where I work is rather out of the way, our options are few and far between. However, I have happened upon something interesting - the tea ceremony club.

I first heard about the club through my American coworker, Dusty, who attends on an infrequent basis. After attending a couple sessions and enjoying the company of the various members (not to mention the tasty pastries), I was inducted into the group and promptly taught the basics of proper tea preparation. We seem to be a pretty informal group though, as I was talking to Christopher about the matter (he attends tea ceremony club at his school), and he was talking about how the students had to spend several months of learning how to be a proper guest before they were allowed to start making tea.

Our sensei is an older woman who is always dressed in kimono. She instructs everyone on the proper movements and knows a lot about the history and details of the tea ceremony. She's really cool, and it's fun to talk to everyone in there about Japan and America and stuff. Everyone's quite impressed by my Japanese, especially since Dusty doesn't really speak the language at all. I also hear that he's pretty bad at making tea properly. ^_^;

The biggest problem with making tea is you have to remain kneeling the whole time. By the time I'm finished, I can hardly stand up because my feet keep falling asleep! Talk about awkward. But besides that, the whole thing is rather calm and relaxing. Learning the proper movements and order reminds me a lot of learning kata in karate, and well, that's a Japanese art too. Nice to see that it all ties together.

- Rindi

Current song: Random muzak from the overhead system
Current mood: Neutral

Picturesssssss

Yeah yeah, I finally pulled the old pictures from a month ago (OMG, I'm such a slacker D:) off my camera. Also took pictures today, so check 'em out, yo!

- Rindi

Current song: None at the moment... But there will be plenty of Pop'n Music soon. <_<
Current mood: Happy happy joy joy!

I am in Love!

...with Honey & Clover. I haven't enjoyed an anime this much in a long, long time. <3 <3 <3

Oh, and my Pop'n 13 LE came in tonight. I'm gonna check that out next!! 8D

- Rindi

Current song: Suneohair - Waltz (Honey & Clover ending song)
Current mood: Glee

Cooking Misadventures

So after my great success in making niku jaga on Friday night, since I had tons of potatos and onions sitting around, I thought I'd have a go at making curry. I'd bought curry mix weeks ago, but never got around to actually making it.

So tonight I spent ages and ages preparing the vegetables, cooking the rice, preparing the meat, boiling everything together.... And then I pull out what I think is the curry roux. Except, the thing inside the package is not a set of meltable blocks, but a mysterious bag! And I think, "Okay, not to panic, curry doesn't always come in blocks." So I open it up and start pouring it into my vegetable and meat stew, and I suddenly realize my terrible mistake. This isn't roux at all - it's some sort of curry mix that you heat in the microwave and pour directly on top of rice.

MY MEAL HAS BEEN RUINED. I am a proficient cook, but I cannot win in the face of these odds. Damn you, Japan, for tricking me into buying the wrong thing!

Perhaps I should only be taking this out on my supermarket instead of the country as a whole? Nah, this way is much more fun.

- Rindi

Current song: Solarforce - Ormazd (original mix)
Current mood: Anguished... and hungry!

Cooking Adventures

I finally decided that I should start cooking again. Where cooking counts as following a recipe, not just browning some preseasoned chicken in a pan, 'cause I've already done that. xD So at the end of the day, I did a quick scouring of online recipes for something simple and Japanese. I ended up picking out a recipe for niku jaga, or beef and potato stew. One of those homecooked sorts of meals - a Japanese comfort food. It's got the typical Japanese seasonings of brown sugar and soy sauce, so I figured I could invest in those ingredients and use them for all sorts of dishes.

Anyway, long story short, niku jaga pretty much involves browning some meat, adding potatos and onion, water, sugar, soy sauce, and cooking wine, and then simmering for a while until the potatoes are done. Simple, and oh! So delicious. Truely, there's nothing quite like homemade food, and I'm somewhat ashamed for not cooking at all during the summer. But from here on out, perhaps things will change. I would love to learn some octopus dishes, but I'm not even sure that they exist. D: Still, I figure all the octopus tentacles that are sold in the grocery store have to be good for something besides sushi.

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Happy

Notes Before Sleep

Okay, I've been holding off on posting because I wanted to write up some further thoughts on Ged Senki before going any further. After examining the Earthsea series in slightly more depth, I can now affirm that my prior feelings of unease really were the beginnings of disappointment. Seriously, Ghibli! The way that you've mangled the series is unforgivable, especially now that I realize that all the shadow stuff did come from the first book like I suspected. Fans of the series will be very disappointed when they view the movie - I guess this is why it's better to watch a movie without knowing the book series that it's based on because that always leads to disappointment. Studio Ghibli, please go back to creating original stories! Even you are not immune to the saying, "The book is better than the movie."

Hm, I do have pictures from my company recreation trip Friday before last, but I haven't even gotten around to pulling those off my camera so don't expect to see them in the immediate future.

I still want Pop'n Music 13, which is to be released in a week or two, but I still suck at the game, so that is sad. Must... practice... Too bad I keep getting distracted by the internets! BTW, my Konamistyle order came in and my stuff is awesome. :3

And now I sleep. Oyasumi... ~_~

- Rindi

Current song: Des-Row - Kagerou
Current mood: Tired

Movie madness

Well, thanks to my planning inabilities, my original plan to go to Kyoto ended up with me going to Nara park and drawing the afternoon away. On my way back to the train station, I happened to walk by a theater that happened to be playing the lastest Ghibli film, Ged Senki (Tales of Earthsea). Since the next showing was ten minutes away, I ended up paying the 1800 yen admission and watching it. I was very upset because it ended up being based on the fourth book, Tehanu, and I've only read the first two in the series. However, after looking over a brief summary of the book, perhaps it's better this way because I think a lot has been changed for the sake of the movie.

The movie was good, but not amazing. The animation seemed kind of flat, especially at the beginning, and parts of the movie seemed random and pointless (lol, two minutes of annoying singing in the middle). I also missed the abundance of wacky/strange critters that have shown up in earlier Ghibli films, but I guess there was no place for that sort of thing in this film. Still, the backgrounds were love, and I was extremely glad to see that the cute boy in all the advertisements was not Ged after all (Ged's middle-aged after all!).

I was a little bit fuzzy on some parts, especially a lot of dialogue in the beginning of the film, but I'd say I was able to understand 75% of it. Maybe a bit more. Much much better than the FMA movie that I watched last summer - I was lost for most of that one. e_e

P.S. I updated with several posts at once, so scroll down for additional updates.

- Rindi

Current song: Anberlin - Ready Fuels
Current mood: Is hungry a mood?

Hopeless Fangirling

OMGOMGOMG! I have theoretically spent a lot of money in exchange for some amazing goods! The world should not let me go on shopping sprees too much because I'm starting to realize that I really enjoy them. <_<;

Okay, so I was a lame Pop'n Music obsessee and went and whored out Konamistyle's online store. The English site sucks, but the Japanese site has sooooooo many cool things for sale! First of all, I picked up the Des-row CD that I've been wanting for well over a year (too unskilled to order it last year, since this stuff is only offered through the online store ^^;). One of my favorite Pop'n Music artists! My mom would hate the music though - it's like, rock and rap. So very excellent. XD

I also got the PnM character illustration book that was first released in early July. It sold out really quickly, so I had to wait for it to get back in stock before I could order it. Needless to say, this is an item that I have been desperately wanting for two months or so. It's got character information and animations for all the games from 8, onward to 13. It's going to be awesome. >3

Lastly, I bought some keychains of absolute win. When I first spotted those reissued Deuil keychains, I was all, "OMG, I AM BUYING THOSE IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!!" They just went on sale two days ago, and I totally got myself a set! Squee! The poses are so awesome. I can't wait 'til they get here.

I guess this is where the 'theoretically' part of my first sentence comes in. The site wouldn't accept US credit cards, so I am paying for my purchase via cash on delivery. Fascinating, as I didn't know you could really do such a thing with online purchases, but fortunate, since I don't have a Japanese credit card. It was exciting - I could specify both the date and time for when the takkyubin would come to deliver my stuff. In some ways, Japanese post is amazing... but that might be because it doesn't directly involve the postal system. ^_^

Anyway, I guess this makes me the worlds biggest and lamest Pop'n Music nerd. Thank goodness there isn't anything else that I'm quite as rabid about. I have plans to get the special limited release of Pop'n 13 when it comes out later this month (expensive, but the extra items will be so worth it), but other than that, I am going to try to limit my purchases. One can really only have so much luxury in their lives, right? XD

----

Following on this post of blatant consumerism, here are some other cool things that I want, but would probably not buy for myself. So if anyone wants to get a jump on their Christmas shopping, listen up!

1. I remember talking to Kelsey about using up the rest of my Barnes and Noble gift card, and I came up with a CD that I would actually buy, but before I could write it down, I forgot what it was! I was kind of upset, but figured it would eventually float back up to the surface. I was just sad that I wouldn't have the chance to purchase it before I headed off to Japan. However, lo and behold! A couple months later, the name has finally come to mind again, and it's something that Barnes and Noble doesn't offer anyway. XD

We used to have this old tape that I loved - Hennie Bekker's Transitions. No one knows what happened to it, but it somehow disappeared. Come to think of it, I'm not sure where Bekker's The Smoke That Thunders tape went to either. Anyway, this is something that I would love to get my hands on someday, as I have very fond memories of it. ^_^

2. I got a recommendation from a friend for a book called Vampire of the Mists, by Christie Golden. It's set in the Forgotten Realms world, which I am quite fond of, and involves an elf-turned-vampire. It sounds very good, and I'd like to read it sometime. Actually, the whole Ravenloft series sounds pretty interesting. :3 Vampire of the Mists is old, but apparently there is a new edition (in paperback!) coming out very soon.

3. Hrm. I'm also vaguely interested in The Yoshida Brothers. Shamisen players for the win. I'd have to relisten to the music samples though... and I wish the samples were from the middle of the song instead of mostly empty intros. D:

4. Buy me Beatmania, plzkthxbai. D<

- Rindi

Current song: Okami OST - Seiankyou Commoners' Quarter <3
Current mood: I am a happy happy little Pop'n nerd right now

Picturezzzzz

Wah, so many photos that I haven't announced on here. Let's see, we have my first outing to Nara Park at the end of July (so long ago, eek!), and a few pictures and videos from the Yodogawa fireworks display. And then comes my trip to Tokyo! I also took splendiferous pictures of everything I bought at Comic Market. I am very proud of my collection, even though I think I bought half the amount of stuff I bought last year. Quality over quantity, right? ;D

...

Okay, I got distracted by scrolling through my Comiket purchases page yet again. Never mind that everything I bought is sitting three feet away from me. Ahem! Anyway, after joyous fun in Tokyo, I packed my bags for Hiroshima. I met up with some fellow interns and it was good times. First, we went to Miyajima. The next day was a touristy Hiroshima sort of day. It was a very nice, albeit brief, trip. After I got back to my place, I kind of spent the rest of my summer break sleeping and playing video games and being generally unproductive. Hey, it was cooler than running around and doing stuff outside, right?

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Lazy

Stepping Through Silence

One real quick note before I flee from internet access. I'm not dead. I have photos from the past two weekends that I've been too lazy to upload. This week is summer vacation, and I'm about to catch a shinkansen up to Tokyo in order to attend Comic Market. Two days in Tokyo, then I'm hurrying over to Hiroshima to meet up with some of the MIT interns and tour the area. Then I come back home and die/recuperate/tour Kyoto.

Good times. Now, I just have to hope that my company paid me like they said they would. Because that could put a crimp in my plans. D:

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Worried

GAH!

I just had to chase a gigantic roach out of my room. D: What a way to spoil the evening. My only question is, how the heck did it get in?! DDDDDD:

Oh, and I'm 22 now. My birthday was on Sunday. *waves flag*

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: D:

Photos Galore!

Okay, I know I've been kind of slow in getting pictures up. I've been too occupied with my new timesink, er, PS2. BTW, FFXII is pretty cool, but I can barely understand any of it. It has a very MMORPG feel to it - no more random battles! I love the atmosphere and the music, and most especially the voice actors (I don't know why English dubs always seem to fail, but bad memories of the laughing scene from FFX keep coming to mind). I like it, but it's really hard to figure out what to do, so I've been putting most of my energy into Okami instead... which just keeps getting better and better, although the fights are a bit too easy. But aaaaanyway, I have pictures! Like last year, I decided to organize my photos by day, and then write up a little HTML page explaining each day's pictures. This time though, the pictures are image-linked into the page, so there's no need to keep clicking on links and stuff. Hopefully they'll be easier to navigate this way, even though it'll take the pages longer to load...

All photos can be found here. In particular, I added workplace photos, apartment photos, photos from Sunday's excursion to the Osaka aquarium, and some extra pictures that I took on Monday. You'd better enjoy them because they took a long time to put together and kept me from playing any Okami tonight. D:

- Rindi

Current song: Shin Onimusha Dawn of Dreams - Soki Prologue ^ Soki Theme (sadly, the only awesome song on this soundtrack)
Current mood: Irritated

Too Excited For My Own Good

You've caught me in a serious fangirl moment. I went out yesterday and ended up tracking down Osaka's Den Den Town. Turns out I'd headed in the wrong direction on Sunday, and that's why I never found it... Anyway, I found it this time around and I got myself an early birthday present - a JPS2!

I've been seriously wanting a PS2 since IAP, but I put a lot of thought into whether I wanted to get a new PS2 and mod it, or what, since my main interest lies in rhythm games, and those are Japanese imports, for the most part. Pretty much, by the time I'd decided that I was going to go through with it, term was winding down, and I couldn't justify having something like that getting in the way of finals and my senior project and all that stuff. Because I just take that long to decide on things. D: And then, once the school year ended, I was kept too busy with my job and vacation to get one. Plus, Japan was coming up.

So then I figured I'd get myself a JPS2 if my apartment came with a TV. And hey, guess what, it does, so I went shopping. I ended up getting a FFXII/PS2 bundle pack from a used game shop for around the price of a standard black PS2 (about $175 or so - Japan is expensive D:). I figured a free game wouldn't hurt, even though I'd rather play/finish FFX. The PS2 itself is beautiful, looks and works brand new, has a goofy FFXII-related logo thing on it, and is amazingly tiny and light. I love it. I also got the game Okami (can mean Wolf, but is spelled like Big God), which is a 'nature adventure' featuring a wolf god that has to destroy a snake-demon by healing the earth. This is accomplished by using a paintbrush that does different things like putting flowers on trees and slashing at enemies. It's less goofy than it sounds. D: The artwork is beautiful - everything looks like an asian brush painting - and the gameplay is very entertaining, even though I'm still in the tutorial. Luckily, all of the text comes with furigana, so I'm usually able to understand between 50-80% of what's being said, although sometimes it gets harder and I'll only understand about 20% or so. I'm loving it so far though, especially the rumble feature, which is something I've never experienced before. I don't think FFX had anything like that... And well, I've yet to check out FFXII, so who knows what that'll be like. I seriously love the soundtrack too - it's so beautifully asian.

Anyway, I think that playing Japanese games will be a good way of working on my Japanese comprehension. Plus, I'll eventually get my hands on some Pop'n Music or Beatmania, and it'll be good times... Although the experience will be better when I get back home to my controller. :3

Erm, well, work is fun too, but why talk about work when I can be all 'OMG video gamezzzzz'? I'm such a nerd. XD

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Super-excited

Blog Entry #201

Wow, it took me four years to make 200 posts. That's like 50 posts a year, or one a week. Hnnh. How's that work? I must've posted like, every night, back when this was new, because I know this poor old blog's gotten some serious neglect over the past year or so. I went and looked back at my first posts back in September of '02 and was horrified. XD I was such a chipper little freshmen, and I used emoticons like :'-( and ;) a ton. I haven't used those sorts of smilies in years (bwah, I can't believe I used to make crying faces like that). I wonder when I transitioned away. o_o; Anyway, the following entry is crossposted from Gaia...

Yesterday was exciting. Matsunaga-san from HR took me to the Nara city office to get my gaijin card (required for anyone spending more than 90 days in Japan), and we had quite the adventure of winding through some frighteningly narrow streets to get there (there was a traffic jam, so Matsunaga-san decided to go down a sidestreet... would've been faster to brave the traffic jam, I think). His car is amazing - the GPS system is in full color, has like, every location in Japan programmed into it, and it even talks to you. Plus, when you put the car in reverse, the view switches to a camera in the back so you can see if you're about to hit something. Every car that I've been in while in Japan has at least had GPS, and it's quite sophisticated. Why don't we have this kind of technology in the States? ;~;

My workplace is amusing. There's 200 people working here, but the place is huge, so there are big empty spaces. So far, I have managed to get lost in the building at least once per day (never for very long, though). Every day after lunch they play the company song, and everyone gathers up and sings along (sadly, I do not know the words, although it does involve love and light and a green earth XD). After that, someone reads the company principles off a scroll and then gives a speech. I'm not sure what the point of the speeches are, although it may be about preserving the environment because one was about cars, and today's was about hot springs and the sun. Oh, before the company song part, there are stretches announced over the intercom, but of course, no one does them (why, Japan, whyyyy?). I'm glad that they only play the company song once a day (Hitachi had a two-times-a-day deal going on), but it's harder to giggle at when you're standing around with a bunch of other people who are singing along. Or maybe it's easier. o_o;

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Blah

Pera pera you ni natte iru mitai desu...

Whew, it's been a crazy couple of days for me. I had to meet a ton of people and learn all about Panasonic's history. There's been project introduction/discussion, learning all the company rules, setting up my computer, and tonight there was a welcome party, so I've been constantly on the move.

I'm staying at a hotel right next to the company right now, but I'll be moving to an apartment this weekend. I hear that the apartment is rather small. Too bad I'm being spoiled by my huge hotel room:


The company is actually located about halfway between Osaka and Kyoto, and my apartment will be in Nara. Hopefully I'll have internet, although everyone seems to be rather uncertain about it. *crosses fingers*

Oh my goodness, there's a world of difference in my understanding of the Japanese language compared to last year. I can understand virtually everything everyone says in normal conversations - I had no idea my comprehension would jump up that much from one year ago. It's been a huge surprise. Of course, I can also talk better, although I've forgotten several of the more complicated grammar points. I need to review those, but still! Everyone's impressed when they find out that they don't have to use English around me. XD I think this is especially so because there's an American that works in my group, and even though he's been in Japan for 2 1/2 years, he knows virtually no Japanese.

As for my job itself, well, it looks like I'm going to be working with robotics and their interaction with people and the surrounding environment. It sounds very interesting, but also very very difficult. We'll see how it goes...

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Tired

Feels Like I Never Left

Hey guess what? I'm writing this entry from my hotel room in Osaka, Japan. I had a lovely flight over thanks to being upgraded to business class (haha, I feel so spoiled) - a far cry from the lameness that was last year's flight.

I remember when I first arrived in Tokyo last year and was wowed by the hills and rice paddies as I rode into the city center from the airport. This year was different, as Kansai Airport is already in the middle of the city, so the limousine bus that I took to the hotel went straight onto the highway.

Ah, good old urban Japan:


It's funny. As we got off the highway and down into the little streets, I got the strange feeling that I'd never left Japan at all. I guess all of suburban Japan looks pretty much the same when you get down to it. Same little streets, same little houses, same convenience stores and vending machines. It was rather comforting to be confronted with something so familiar. Quite different from last year's experience.

My hotel room is quite lovely and rather typically-sized for a Japanese hotel room:


I have a good view of massive urban sprawl right outside my room:


At first I thought the hotel had a pool, and then I realized it was an outdoor chapel:


Oh yes, in case you're wondering where the pictures came from, I got a digital camera as an early birthday present! Now I can take terrible pictures of myself whenever I want!


Seriously though, this camera is totally awesome. It's tiny compared to the one I was using last year and the pictures are amazingly high-quality. For example, check out our hamster Pico (link because the picture is huge). You can see every hair on his body! 0.0 Other hamster pictures can be found here. <3

Okay, I should sleep now. I pretty much passed out as soon as I got settled at the hotel, but I'm feeling sleepy again. Will write more when the opportunity presents itself.

- Rindi

Current song: Pop'n Music 12 - Totsugeki zenkaiten! [PRETTY MIYABI]
Current mood: Sleepy

Panic Panic

So much to write about and so little time. AniBos was amazing, and I still haven't written anything about that. Diving in Roatan with my dad and littlest sister was also fantastic, and I have to write about that. But guess what, I'm off to Japan tomorrow. And by tomorrow, I mean, today in a few hours. I should sleep. x_x

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Soooooo sleepy

An Insider's Insight

Today as I ate lunch outside, I couldn't help but overhear two men arguing politics. They were talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how there is still so much junk lying around everywhere, and one of the guys got very proud about his idea that he told to someone important. I guess there are heaps of cars just lying around in New Orleans or something, but it would appear that these useless cars haven't been disposed of yet. This man's brilliant idea was to take all these cars and sink them in the ocean just off the coast. In the mud or something. His reasoning was that divers love to see cars underwater and that it would help marine life.

Now, I don't know about you, but I can attest that as a diver, coming upon an underwater junkyard would make me turn around and swim the other way. While it is true that wrecks provide some fascinating diving locations, a major part of their charm is that you can swim through them. Who knows, maybe this is possible with some of the larger SUVs out there, but that's beside the point. Who'd be diving right outside of New Orleans anyway? There's nothing to see but silt.

I couldn't help but feel irritated simply by the fact that someone thought this up.

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Troubled

Whoa...

I graduated today. I can still hardly believe it. I also moved out of my dorm, so I won't be seeing people tomorrow morning after all. That's kind of a sad way to leave things.

- Rindi

Current song: Armin van Buuren - Zocalo
Current mood: Exhausted

Coming to an End

Tonight was Senior Ball. One month 'til graduation. I wore my old prom dress and went with some friends. On the plus side, I wore heels all night long with no adverse effects. On the minus side, the music sucked. Horribly. It was weird to see so many people I know, and realize that I really don't talk to any of them. Makes me wonder if they recognized me at all.

Probably not. o_o;

Well, life has been busy in other ways. I've been commissioned to make some dragons, which is terribly exciting, not to mention lucrative. I'll be in Japan this summer again - my internship with Panasonic actually will run for about half a year so I don't think I'll be back 'til holiday season. Unfortunately, dates still aren't settled for that, and I'm getting really nervous about coordinating everything. My spring allergies have started up too. Ugh.

Well, anyway, that is that. Now I think I'll play a few rounds of DDR. That's more of my idea of having a fun evening, you know?

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: A bit tired

Library Musings

Well, I started working at the library again because I'm poor, and it's easy money. I started a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't until today that I was reminded of how much this job sucks. I absolutely hate how disgusting and dry my hands get from touching so many musty old books. Plus, the debris gets all over my clothes. Today, I'm back at barcoding the nasty old journals from the 5th floor that probably haven't been touched in the past century or so. It's sad to handle a book that hasn't been checked out since 1927.

- Rindi

Current song: Snooper_1989, SGX - Multiple Worlds (Imminent Collision mix)
Current mood: Grossed out

Another Hero Down

Hah, so I've been to Avalon to hear Armin van Buuren and Above and Beyond, two of my favorite trance acts. However, the third that I'd always wanted to see was one of my early trance heroes - Ferry Corsten. And hey, guess what? He totally was there tonight. So of course, I had to go. I even got Sarah and Brett to come this time - I hope they enjoyed things as much as I did.

Oh man, tonight was so great. The tunes were massive, but although I recognized several, I couldn't really place them. The most exciting thing was that Ferry dropped both Punk and Rock Your Body Rock at the end, which I was totally not expecting because those songs are so old. It was really cool though, as Punk is the song that really got me interested in trance. I've never liked Rock Your Body Rock all that much, but it actually translates quite well to the dance floor. I was impressed. And it's been over a year since Ferry last played at Avalon (he did the New Year's show in 2005, I think), so I feel rather lucky to have been able to see him. Of course, I only started paying attention to Avalon's guest lineup this past fall... Armin's coming back in a few weeks. *_*

Every time I go to the club, it's like, the best experience ever. Maybe my memory is just that bad or something. Oh well, I enjoy it every time!

And on a completely unrelated note, I got my library job back. Yay money, and my true calling in life. XD

- Rindi

Current song: Nothing but the ringing in my ears. DX
Current mood: Content

When Will You Wear Wigs?

Right now, actually. My wig came in the mail today, and it brings me great joy. Nevermind the fact that it makes me look like InuYasha... Once I take a pair of scissors to it, that will change. Still seems a bit thin to approximate Sheila's hair, which is a pity. My own hair would do the job better, besides the fact that it's the wrong length, and isn't gray.

I can't wait to dye this thing. *_*

So if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I'm working on my next anime cosplay costume - Sheila from Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice (Tweeny Witches). She's a witch, and her outfit is cool. I'm making it from scratch, and it's very exciting. I actually haven't used a sewing machine to do any serious sewing since middle school Home Ec (I did use a sewing machine for my Hinata jacket, but that was only to sew some fur on).

So yeah, this project is dominating my life, and I'm totally psyched! I can't wait 'til spring break so I can run home and work on it some more.

- Rindi

Current song: None
Current mood: Overjoyed

Hmph

It irks me that there's a total disconnect between two of my circles of friends. I totally can't invite people from both groups to do something together. People suck. D: Guess there's nothing else to do but to run off to Japan again. I'm turning in my application on Monday. Better late than never, I guess. I decided that a year in Japan is not the thing for me, but a summer would be good. Gotta find myself a job and start thinking about grad school. I'm feeling kind of burned out on the whole school thing, but I honestly can't get much accomplished without a Master's degree. Maybe a year or two of working in the real world will help with that?

I've been feeling really upset and anxious lately, mostly about my future. The MIT-Japan retreat this weekend made me feel better though. There's a lot of cool people going to Japan this year - hopefully they'll be a bit more talkative/social than last year's interns. Beh, I just have to buckle down and figure out how to graduate and find a job and stuff. FUN TIMES.

I really can't wait to get my laptop back. I've been totally DDR-deprived all IAP, and it's making me restless. I was desperate enough to drop by the student center yesterday, but of course the machine there was being used. When is it not? I guess other people have the capability to run DDR on their own machines now, but I hate to beg. Heh, I'm so bad at asking people for things. XD And it's not that I'm addicted or anything - DDR is something that I really enjoy doing, and I miss it. I was just thinking, endurance has been an issue for me with DDR. If I took up jogging or something to work on endurance, I wonder if that would help... Not that I'm a total DDR freak, but I could use the exercise. I'm just not sure where to start.

I worry too much.

- Rindi

Current song: Andy Moor vs. Above & Beyond - Air for Life (Waaaaiiiiii! :D)
Current mood: Sleeeeeeeepy

She's Done it Again!

Wow, look at that, it's 2006 already. Had an enjoyable winter break... well, except for the traumatic snowboarding episode, but let's not go into that, hm? Guess what I did tonight? I went clubbing at Avalon again!

Tonight Above and Beyond were in town, and since I'm a big fan of their songs, I thought I'd go check it out. Couldn't get anyone to go along with me besides Vivian... Everyone else missed out. Oh man, it was such a great show!

I'm debating whether tonight's show was better than Armin van Buuren. They were both good in their own ways. Tonight's track selection was amazing - we started with Air for Life right off the bat (whee!), and I recognized several Above and Beyond tracks, as well as something that was probably from Armin van Buuren, and Tiesto's Adagio for Strings (why does everyone feel the need to play Tiesto, why why why? D:). I also recognized a few other songs, but I couldn't place 'em. That's what comes of listening to too much trance, I suppose.

Armin van Buuren was better with the crowd... He was also prettier to look at too. XD But tonight, I felt like I'd found my own little piece of heaven. It was that good. Now I'm wondering what Avalon's next trance act is going to be. I sure hope it's good, because I'm really looking forward to it.

The biggest plus for tonight was that there weren't very many sketchy guys. It was also nice that the weather was good and it wasn't pouring buckets of rain. Good times, good times.

- Rindi

Current song: Andy Moor - Air for Life (Whoohoo! :D)... and then it switches to Tiesto's Dallas 4 PM which I absolutely despise. Whyyyyy?
Current mood: Exhilerated