Uploaded - 08\11\24

My salute to these guys. Perfect colours and flawless reenactment.

日本語で日記を書き始めます。

今朝遅く起きた。なぜかと言うと、昨日一日中友達と皇居へ行ったんので、よく歩いた。たった今、ブログを日本語で書き見ましょうかっていう考えがあった。そうすれば、日記を書けるし、日本語を上達できるようになれるかもしれない。

This green face

I made this green face. If u receive this pic from me, it means I really care about u.

My desktop

This is the place where I spend most of my time throughout the day if I stay at home.

An amazing combination of animals

Took this picture on the street in SF. While the stunt that the animals performed was incredible but I wondered if they were somehow drugged or coerced to do so.

The road to getting a PhD degree

This is the road leading to the school from my room where I walk pass every day. It's quite a steep one. On the left hand side, it's a Japanese grave yard while the right hand side shows the Shinkansen railway that passes through my school.

Retro feel from the cable car

Tourists are the main users of cable cars in downtown SF.

A&F @The Great Mall @SF

Bought some short pants here.

The Great Mall Outlet Store

I went to this premium outlet store by taking BART(to Fremont station) and VTA bus. Bought some A&F there.

Come get ur meal when the device goes off

I was at the foodcourt of a department store finishing ordering my meal when the cashier told me to take this device and come back to get my meal when the device goes off. Good idea, I didn't have to stay in the line waiting for my meal.

Chess gambling @downtown SF

Chess gambling openly on the street. The lady who managed the business was kind of furious when she saw me taking this pic.

Cash for weed, pls @Fishermen's Wharf

Happy Halloween. There was a lady interviewing these homeless people on the street on that day.

I ordered the crab at this restaurant

The crab meat @ Fishermen's Wharf @SF

Scrumptious!

I ordered a whole crab for USD21

The crab soup. Yummy!

At Fishermen's Wharf @SF

Cable car @SF

Near Union Squares @SF

Apple store @SF

The store was packed with ppl and Apple products.

Bazaar near the city hall @SF

Modern art exhibition at de Young Museum @SF

I like this piece.

Some houses in downtown SF

Vietnamese beef noodles @San Jose

A Vietnamese friend who is studying at John Hopkins U brought me to this Vietnamese restaurant that serves very delicious beef noodles. I still remember how delicious it tastes.

City hall in downtown SF

The city hall is located near the Civic Center BART station.

Fire place in the conference reception hall

Asilomar conference - lodging

The hotel room at Asilomar conference grounds.

Asilomar conference - buffet dinner

Got to know some new friends and professors there.

Asilomar conference - Reception hall

Free WiFi in the hall. There were also billiard and table tennis in the hall.

Asilomar conference grounds

This was the place where I attended the conference. It was a very relaxing place. I almost forgot I was there for a conference.

Mobile library

San Francisco public mobile library.

Downtown San Jose

Quite a nice place to live. Not as happening as downtown SF though.

WiFi on board

Took this picture while walking around in downtown San Jose.

Salmon and cranberries juice

Scrumptious. And the view from the hotel was beautiful.

Wine tasting in Fishermen's Wharf.

I prefer red wine.

Golden gate bridge

Golden gate bridge @SF.

Good costumes! Creative!

Nice teeth! It was Halloween, and people were like competing for the best costume award.

Oh sister!

She was screaming "fuck Bush".

McCain and Palin

Weren't they good?

The naked cyclists in Castro Street on Halloween night

Watch out for the naked cyclists in Castro street!

Union Squares Plaza Hotel

I stayed in this hotel when I was in SF. Quite ok considering it's proximity to Union Squares and rate (USD90/night).

McCain and Hilary doll @ the pharmacy store in SF

Took a photo of these cute dolls. It is cuter to know that there actually people buying these dolls.

Affected By The Atmosphere, I Quickily Got Myself A Mask Before All The Shops Closed

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Vampire Kissing @SF

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Halloween Night @SF

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SF City Near Union Squares

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Conference In Monterey, CA

I attended a conference in Monterey,CA from Oct 25th to Nov 3rd, 2008. The weather on SF and Monterey was good, temperature was around 20 degree Celcius and even when it rained, I could stand the weather by wearing just a polo T and a jacket. Unlike japan, if it rained in Tokyo during this season, I would have to wear a thick jacket with at least two inner layers of clothes.
I stayed in SF city for 6 days and Monterey for 2 days. Got to know a few very cool and generous friends during the conference and we decided to head to the bat in Monterey city at night after finishing our presentations.
The Asilomar Hotels and Conference Grounds is really a beautiful place. It is located near the beach. Imagine a friend came back to her hotel roomone night finding a deer standing outside her room. I strolled along the beach and for the very first time over the past three years, I had a really deep refreshing breath there. It was a mind soothing place.
Back in SF, had my Halloween night there. I enjoyed myself a lot. And I find that even though that was my first time being knthe US, there are many things that fall within my expectation which I think is not weird or surprising considering that all the while I have been indirectly getting to know American culture through watching American TV shows, news channels and etc. BTW, it's also because that SF is a multi-cultural and multi-racial city resided by 40% of White, 30% of Hispanic, 7% of Black and 23% of Asians and mixed races.



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With New Friends @bar@Monterey

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Asilomar Conference, Oct 25th To Nov 3rd, CA

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First Blog Posted From iPhone

Testing this iPhone app: LifeCast.

Geolocate this post

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Update ... after a long break from blogging

Dear all friends,
It's been a while since I last blogged on this site. I'm sorry. The only online socialization tool that I am using is messenger, I am lazy and not motivated enough to make and manage my own friendster account, wayn and blah blah blah ...
Anyway, I went to a local conference in Kagawa, Japan in September 2007 (last year). Kagawa Prefecture (香川県 Kagawa-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located on Shikoku island. The capital is Takamatsu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagawa_Prefecture
This place is crazily famous for udon (one type of think Japanese noodles which I think u guys already know) and it has been said that Kagawa has the best udon in the country.
So, I ate udon almost all three days when I was in Kagawa. It is a small old town. And for people who like the suburbs of Japan, this is not a bad choice. My lab mates and I rented a car and toured from Kagawa to Kyoto by using the car GPS system. Along the way, we visited a few udon shops. We went up to an isolated udon shop which was surrounded by mountains. It was pretty exciting to eat udon up there. In Kyoto, I saw two geishas (maigo-san 迷子さん). There were many trishaws for riding in Kyoto and the whole scene in Kyoto is very different from Tokyo. After staying 2.5 years in the concrete city, Kyoto is definitely a breath of fresh air to me. ^^. 

Japanese girls in the photo are my lab mates, Ayako-san and Akiyama-san. All other people in the photos are my Japanese lab mates except maigo-san and the trishaw man. 

All in all, it was really a nice trip. 

At Yokohama port, part two.

The ship is actually somewhat like a museum, have to buy ticket to go in !

At Yokohama Port

The Ferris Wheel in Yokohama port. It was rainy on the day I visited the port !