Tag: english

The Great Tokyo Earthquake

March 22, 2011
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The two of us were standing on the wasteland.

‘We should start running’ one of us said, i don’t know which one, but considering that buildings came flying at us, that is the least of my concern. Running, we looked back over our shoulders.

‘Hey, isn’t that the Tokyo Tower?’

‘Yeah, i guess it is.’

We ran even faster, then it crashed down behind me, the very top of the tower just scratching my elbow. Yeah, the earthquake was so bad that the Tokyo Tower flew out of town, right in our direction.

I’m not sure anymore if the stadium that was supposed to be the Saitama Super Arena was thrown there by the earthquake too or it was there to begin with, but we took shelter there. There was like a dozen or so people in there, japanese as well, some from the table tennis club at Gaidai. Everyone was speaking the same language, i guess hungarian, but i wouldn’t bet a larger sum on that.

Hell of a dream i had again.

Just not today

March 21, 2011
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I wanted to get plenty done today: get back the price of the cancelled Iron Maiden show, complete my visa renewal process, do something about the social insurance whatever thing, because they’re sending me letters that i didn’t pay one i did pay, and if possible get the contract (way to go QB) for my apartment, after all i’m supposed to move this weekend.

It all started out nice, i went to the kombini where i bought the ticket, got back the cash smooth and swift. Then i headed for the city hall for the insurance thing.

But.

The only thing i forgot was that today is the day of the vernal equinox. And that is a national holiday, so no city hall, no immigration office, and i didn’t even bother to check whether the office people are in the university.

Shopping

March 20, 2011
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Just now i went shopping to the nearby supermarket and i had to face the fact that the supply of dairy products has been affected by the northern catastrophe as well. For those who don’t know, Japan’s dairy production is centered in Hokkaido and other norther regions, so the surprising thing is how the supply was not affected until now.

Luckily it doesn’t concern milk (i’d miss my cornflake breakfasts) but there was no plain yogurt of the popular Bulgaria or any other brand either, just the cheapest one that apparently no one dared to buy (it’s like a third the price of a Bulgaria yogurt).

Also there seem to be problems with beef products as well, because the shelves of many kinds of ham and the like have been empty too.

To be honest i hope it’s more like they’re sending all the food north instead of letting it rot in the supermarkets here, and not supply problems.

Unhappy

March 19, 2011
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Yesterday i bought a big pack of the Starbucks Tribute blend. For those who don’t know (which is probably a quite small number of people considering i’m posting coffee reviews every now and then), i go to Starbucks to buy my coffee all the time, and have tasted most of their blends. Of course by coffee i mean beans and not the drinks they sell at those insane prices.

I always ask them to grind the beans at mode 3 (for espresso) on the grinder, but this time the guy ground it at 13 (for coffee press), which means i get a lot less of the aroma. Shit. Should i go complain?

Why i am not worried about Japan

March 18, 2011
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Does anyone remember what happened when in 2001 hijacked planes crashed into the WTC and other targets on 11th September? I happen to remember it, even though it was almost ten years ago. Not much though, just the news on the tv, how my parents reacted and how i first heard the news on the bus to a soccer training.

What i didn’t remember (though i guessed it was like that), was that the american markets crashed, and the USD fell a lot.

Now compare to what happens now in Japan: three prefectures have been more or less devastated, and was it not for the strict construction and evacuation laws i bet the death toll wouldn’t be as “low” as it is now. There is also a nuclear crisis with a power plant in critical conditions. And yet, the japanese yen is soaring sky high and the stock exchange fell less than the american markets after 9/11.

Japan will stand up from this, and i think the economy will be woken from its slumber once again, at least for a few years.

Starbucks Guatemala Antigua

March 18, 2011
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It’s been a while since i bought a big pack of the Guatemala Antigua beans, but i never really had a chance to write about it. Even now i’m kinda in trouble what to write…

It’s a nice coffee, with medium body and usual complexity. Its aroma has hints that remind me of chocochip cookies covered in honey, honey from some kind of very strong scented flower.

When i drink it in my everyday routine, i usually don’t pay attention to its taste. The bitterness of the espresso brew is more characteristic, that is. But once i take the time and taste it for the sake of tasting it reveals interesting layers. Some tastes that remind me of the hungarian Easter Monday traditions, and some that remind me of the taste of that blade of grass in the polish Zubrowka vodka.

There is also a surprisingly cold aftertaste as well, a bit sour, but it matches in with the overall summery feeling of the coffee: imagine it as drinking a handful of cold water from a mountain spring after walking across a flowery field.

Something like that. Guatemala did it again.

Spice and Wolf

March 16, 2011
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I couldn’t really get myself to work today, instead i watched another anime i was planning to watch for a very long time, Spice and Wolf (狼と香辛料). I finished the first season just now, and it was…

So beautiful. It’s set in the fictional middle-ages in a fictional land, but the whole story doesn’t feel like your usual fantasy story. It has lots of economy talk, since Lawrence, the male lead is a merchant, and there aren’t fairies or mages running around. Even when gods show up they feel real.

I usually don’t listen to the opening songs of anime, but in the case of Spice and Wolf the reason was different from usual: the song is very good, actually way too good. It feels so full of emotions i just couldn’t listen to it every time.

Generally the whole anime is touching on a level as tearjerker dramas, without being so sad. It’s just the story, the art, the characters, the music, it’s all so warm-

I lack words, sorry. Watch it and you shall understand.

Bakemonogatari

March 16, 2011
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I had some free time yesterday, or not, but that doesn’t really matter, the point is i did an anime marathon and watched all 15 episodes of Bakemonogatari (化物語).

I won’t go into details because i realize i’m not good at writing reviews, so just the main characteristics: amazing art style, great story and character designs, a lot of word play and much humour. And action, and romance, and pretty much everything that can make an anime good, and this anime is good.

Or more than that, but “well, that’s like, my opinion”.

On the earthquake

March 11, 2011
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I didn’t even feel it. I was busy headbanging to the performance of an Ozzy cover band by the graduates, so i didn’t even realize there was an earthquake until someone pointed to the lights—which were swinging quite much.

Otherwise, i’m glad i chose to come to an university in Kansai, because instead of being thrown to the ground and impoverished by an earthquake, i could enjoy some nice heavy metal.

Damn cold damn tired

March 9, 2011
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Today was the first day of rehearsals for the weekend live. Instead of rehearsals it’s more like just getting the sound and stuff right, but nevertheless, it’s “rehearsals”. I didn’t know exactly what time it starts so i showed up there like twenty minutes before 10 am (at which time on better days i’d still be snoring, if i were snoring at all). I was shaking of the cold, but i attributed that to the fact that i woke up much earlier than usual so my blood pressure is low. Luckily (?) i met with third year guy who told me we only need to be there an hour later. Which time i spent trying to wake myself up, with less success than more.

That time we packed all the amps and every other stuff too into a van and walked to the place of the rehearsals, some event hall in a part of town where i’ve only been once if at all. The building is a piece of modern architecture of the tasteless style, meaning concrete and only concrete, with much glass, but generally very cold. So all day i spent shivering, practicing and listening to the others rehearsing – of course we were sorted last so it was way after 8 pm by the time it was our turn.

What else happened: i had lunch of two onigiri and some Pocky. It snowed. It rained.

Now i guess i should be translating the 30th Xros Wars episode but i hardly have the energy to stay awak-