Tokyo Apple

How To Make It Rain

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:49:55 GMT

How To Make It Rain
Step 1: Do your laundry and hang it on your open balcony.
Step 2: Wait a few hours.

Seriously. Weather forecasts? Worth absolutely zero sometimes. T_T This is the third time my laundry's been rained on. I just checked the weather forecast, and even though it's raining outside, the forecast only says cloudy. WTF weatherman? And here I'd thought it was safe to bring it in before going to work, too. I guess this means I have to wait until Monday night... if the weather forecast wasn't lying about Monday being sunny. At this rate, I don't have much hope.

The Weather Report Lied! T_T

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:29:09 GMT

*shakes fists at the weather report* You lied! You said it would be sunny today, and so I left my laundry out overnight thinking two days of sun would definitely dry those thick sweaters. Having it then rain in the middle of the day when I cannot rescue my laundry is so not fair! T_T ARGH. Now I have no way to do laundry tomorrow!

Saints Keep On Marching

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:57:13 GMT

Back in September, I picked the New Orleans Saints because Doug wouldn't let me root for the Broncos or the Patriots. It went like this: the Saints have a cool logo and awesome uniform, and I love the anthem (oh when the Saints / go marching in). Guess I'll throw my support behind them.

The Saints are still unbeaten as of today! 9 wins and no losses. o(^o^)o Keep on marching, Saints!

Ask, and Ye Shall Receive

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:31:26 GMT

Life is good. I have Maggi Mee from Malaysia (oh chicken Maggi Mee, how much I have missed you), I am playing The Sims 3, and the skies cleared up unexpectedly early, so I am doing my laundry a little before I expected to (this is a good thing). Ah, life is good. ♥

Shinjuku Train Snarl

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:12:00 GMT

Holy crap, the trains are absolutely crazy today. It's because of the construction at Shinjuku, I know. But damn--can't imagine squeezing in like that at all. Even though it'll cost me an extra 210 yen, I'm taking the subway to work.

Winter Finally Arrives

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:33:04 GMT

The weather forecast tells me today will get down to 9 degrees Celsius. It is currently 14C. *shivers* I am so cold I have turned on the heater during the day for the first time.

I'm a little worried--being in the tatami room, I can't help but wonder if the room is insulated well enough. Two of my four walls are windows. This is great (I love it), but at the same time, I can't help but dread the coming winter if I've got my heater on in November. ^_^; Eventually the heater will only turn off when I am at work. I may spend more time at the office simply because they are heated (at no additional cost to me). ^_^;

I wonder if I should turn on Doug's air-con, too? That way at least there will be two air-con units working to heat this apartment...

Infecting Others With The Sim Bug

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:14:59 GMT

I find it extremely amusing that Doug is almost as addicted to The Sims 3 as I am! *laughing* If I have work all day, I can usually count on finding him at the computer when I get back from work, and he'll be playing instead of studying. I'm actually a little worried--I hope he does okay on his next test this Thursday. ^_^;

Relief

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:02:30 GMT

I have the ~~influenza~~ [edit: flu], but it's not H1N1, which means they won't tell me to stay home for a week. On one hand, it would have been nice to stay at home for a week and get paid 60% for not working. On the other hand, we can't afford to live on 60% of my salary. Going to work this afternoon.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:55:32 GMT

This is today's (and tomorrow's) weather:

T_T A whole day of rain. My poor laundry.

Very Sick

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:34:07 GMT

Felt bad around 3pm today, right now very nauseous. I am calling sick at 8am tomorrow. I sure hope this is not H1N1, but oh my god I feel like I'm about to die.

Salarymen

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:26:04 GMT

I'm sitting on the train and trying not to throw up. The man next to me smells horribly sour, as if he has no idea showers exist. As he is wearing a business suit, this means his poor co-workers must put up with him. Has no one told him to shower more often? T_T

Argh--I can't take it any more. *moves away to the other end of the car and finds another seat* Ahhh. Sweet relief.

Why Ai Wants To Leave Japan

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:15:39 GMT

Q: I heard that people who sign up for kokumin kenpo need to pay 2 years' worth of back payments. Is this true? If so, can the payments be waived by showing proof of previous insurance (eg. with Berlitz's accident insurance) or some other way?

A: The enrollment of kokumin kenpo is mandatory if foreigners registered as foreign resident, the period of stay of VISA is one year or more and don't enroll shakai hoken.
If people have stayed in Japan and have not enrolled kokumin kenpo or shakai hoken for 2 years or more, premium for 23 months of Kokumin Kenpo premium will be required when people enroll in Kokumin Kenpo. The amount of back pay for those who are not enrolled may vary from ward to ward.

HOLY SHIT. You mean when I join kokumin kenpo I will have to pay TWO YEARS' PREMIUM?

ETA: Relevant news here and here. The articles share the same header picture, but the text is different.</b>

Packing

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:46:46 GMT

I wish Doug were here--this would go faster (because packing while talking to someone is more fun than packing in silence). Still, he has to do his own packing, and on top of that he's got classes, so I shouldn't complain, and I won't. ^_^

I've packed four boxes so far, and yet my apartment does not look appreciably changed. ^_^; Uh-oh. Must pack faster. I seem to have added about 50% more belongings since the last time I moved--I need to be less of a packrat and actually learn to toss things out, but you know how it goes. "What if I need it?" At least I have a CD playing, so this isn't going on in absolute silence. ^_^

I'm also trying to be nice to the movers and spreading my books (and other heavy items) across boxes. It actually makes packing much more difficult--I have to track where things are going, and then write down the items on the sides of the boxes so that if I want something in a hurry I don't have to search through all twenty boxes. I suspect that this time, I will use twenty boxes. *sigh*

*looks askance at how much is left to pack* I'm so glad the movers decided since I was a repeat customer and they'd helped me move last September, they'd give me the same quote again. This time around, I think I'm getting the better end of the deal.

APARTMENT! ♥

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:52:41 GMT

Here, Dad, for you.

Jackhammer

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:37:07 GMT

Last night I was woken up from my sleep by this darned jackhammer outside my balcony. At 2am. Let it be known--I hate jackhammers. *snarls at the world*

Did I Mention I Hate Smokers?

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:03:23 GMT

Dear person smoking outside my window:

It is 1am. It's a lovely night. I would like to have fresh air. Please stop smoking outside my window. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. *coughing*

(I looked--I ran to the balcony and attempted to spot the perpetrator. Unfortunately I could see no one, which means it might be one of my neighbors smoking on his balcony. It's really bad--I think I'm going to have to shut my windows after all. *still coughing*)

Apartment Update

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:29:50 GMT

We just bid for an apartment 3 minutes from Yoyogi station. Old place, a little bit out of our budget (but affordable), _very_ convenient. Here's hoping the landlord says yes. *crossing all fingers and toes*

Random Pictures From Denver

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:26:23 GMT

Random pictures from my first week in Denver! Warning: this post is image-heavy.

Castlewood Canyon State Park

Roxburough National Park

Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre

Mount Evans

Bump-n-Grind

Rocky Mountain National Park

O_o

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:30:53 GMT

This man standing in front of me on the train is incredibly fidgety. He keeps grinding his crotch in mid-air. As he is standing right in front of me, this is both distracting (his crotch is at my eye level) and scary (a man is grinding his crotch in front of my face). He's not being pushed around, either--he keeps doing this even when the train's not moving. Argh! If we spoke the same language I'd have looked up and asked him to stop!

Pushing Myself

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:20:57 GMT

It's a decidedly strange feeling, leaving my apartment to be greeted by air that's cooler than the air inside my apartment. After all, it's been months since the advent of summer (or at least, it feels like it's been months).

My knee hurts when I walk. Maybe DDR isn't the best of ideas tonight, but it's been two weeks since the last time I did any exercise, and if I don't tonight I won't tomorrow (busy day).

Really really busy lately. Tired. Probably the weather.

Earthquake!

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:59:33 GMT

Wow--it's been a while since I've had an earthquake that's so hard it shakes everything in my room. Still shaking--am afraid, but that's only because it's still going on. Somewhere in Japan, buildings may be collapsing.

ETA: done. No damage except my heightened heartbeat. Not sure about the rest of Japan yet, though.

Teacher, I Did My Homework Today!

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:24:11 GMT

At my outservice, one of my students does her homework in class while everyone else is reading their essays. She's a lovely woman, albeit prone to possible time-management problems, and she usually manages to have an essay for me by the time we get to her, so I try to look the other way every week when this happens.

Today I ran into her in the ladies' room, and she smiled at me and told me with a proud grin that she had managed to finish her homework during lunchtime. *laughs* I guess she's noticed me teasing her for the last-minute homework rush. I'm glad she's taking the homework a little more seriously, and happy she told me.

Cicadas

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:18:12 GMT

There is a dead cicada on my balcony. Isn't it still a little too early for them to be dying?

Fireworks Season

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:17:53 GMT

I can hear fireworks. Right now I regret not going out to watch it after all. T_T

Cinderella

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:15:49 GMT

On platform 15 of Shinjuku station, a girl lost her shoe as she was getting off the train. It fell onto the tracks. O_o As the train pulled out, I could see her crying into her cellphone, one meter (if that) away from a platform attendant.

Dearie, why did you not talk to the attendant and ask him to help you get your shoe? O_o I hope the person she's crying to tells her about the attendant. And I hope in the future she wears more sensible shoes.

*sigh* Sometimes, not being able to speak to others is hard. It just occured to me that even if I couldn't explain to the attendant what had happened, I could conceivably have drawn his attention to the damsel in distress. T_T My brain doesn't always work as quickly as it should.