attack of the children

yes, this time it was not a lizard. many kids came to our school for a summer course. first i was jealous about them because i am studing kanjis and they know a lot more than me, but then i saw that i had to help them to recognize the roman characters. for example, they had a hard time fining out that "G" and "g" is the same letter. anyway i can understand them because there was a tieme when i didnt know that あ andア are the same letter... they learned about internet dangers and an introduction to how to user power point.. the best thing is that actually i will get some money for helping them ¥¥

car color

i took a picture to these cars because they got my attention.. because there are almost no red cars except of these...

touristing kitakyushu, part3 (municipal art museum)

every city in japan has an art museum, and of course, this city with over a million people should have a museum too... yu can see that this is an interesting building. it is not so big but i liked very much . there are some weird but fun art paintings. also it is possible to see somo ukiyo-e (japanese woodblock printings) which i like a lot.

more starwars

If you where wondering what is Dark Vader doing between episode 3 and episode 4 here is the answer: http://mask-of-genta.heavy.jp/flash/gallery/gallery3.html

subete a mi moCo

queria encontrar un "moco" verde, pero de hecho no he visto autos de ese color. aparte, creo que la comida hawaiana no me apetece tanto...

Seafood...

Last week we had free time because our lab had to be cleaned up, so we went on eating seafood to the "sea station" restaurant. It took me one week to upload these pics because i felt sick every time that i watched them.. ok, it was not bad, just the other way... i ate a lot of it!! first, when you come in to the restaurant, you can see many water tanks with the food that you are going to eat still alive(yes, it is fresh food).. these fish remainded me a song of cafe tacuba: "que nadie se ha dado cuenta o sera mi nuevo hogar... que nadie se ha dado cuenta o sera este mi final..." first i ate some sashimi and rice, then i tasted one of each one, starting from the oyster.. you can see that this is alive because it opens and closes while being prepared in your table. as you can see this one was not my favorite.. after this i eated a snail.. this has a very strange look but surprisely, it doesn't taste bad. i had enought fish or other seafood for now!!

turisting kitakyushu, part 2 (mt. sarakura)

continuing visiting the kiyakyushu interessting spots we got to sarakurayama. we walked from the yahata station with a sticky hot weather to the sarakura cable car. the cable car took us almost to the top. this car goes on rails like a train. at same time another one comes in the other direction, so in the midlle there is like a "0" where they pass one beside the other. after getting there we use a lift to get to the top. this lift has not seatbelt or nothing so it is exciting, specially to people afraid to heights. on the top we found the cage of a gigant bird. we got some pictures before it came back. here is another shot from mount sarakura, but aiming towards "space word".

Mexico (practically) reaches 2006 fifa worldcup

with a 2-0 win againt costa rica, mexico reached 16 points and remainded as 1st place, on top of usa with 15 (which will play next), guatemala and costa rica with 7, trinidad and tobago with 4, and panama with only 2 points (they lost against guatemala in the minute '92). in asia, japan got the first place of its group by defeating iran 2-1 (both teams allready qualified). uzbekistan defeated kwait and maintained their hopes for qualifing. baharain lost against north korea but anyway finished with more points. baharain and uzbekistan will match up to define the 5th place of asia that will play against the fourth place of concacaf (in this moment costa rica). mathematically mexico needs 1 point in the next 4 games to avoid going against baharain or uzbekistan.

fuji-san

Here is a picture of Mt.Fuji taken by sawano and tasaki on their way to L.A. ... enjoy

tasaki and sawano back from siggraph

After presenting their researches to the public and enjoying universal studios, they came back and gave us a presentation of what they have seen in this famous conference in los angeles. the main event was the conference of george lucas. anyway they saw some interentisting projects going on there as well. i hope i can join for next year in boston!

did you think you where a starwars fan?

this person has watches starwars trilogy 400 times and has learned all dialoges.. it looks that now he was to make some profit of it hehe

maya-hi

ok, this is an old song but it is still popular in japan. i always laught when watching this animation. specialy in the part of 飲ま,飲ま,飲ま イエィ http://f32.aaa.livedoor.jp/~karasu/flashes/myyahi.swf (press the yellow letters to start) this is another similar one: http://www31.tok2.com/home2/flashgoya/maiyahi.swf here are other to complete the list, but beware, watch them by your own risk!!: http://f32.aaa.livedoor.jp/~karasu/flashes/moemaiyahi8nr.swf http://f32.aaa.livedoor.jp/~karasu/flashes/win_maiahi.swf http://f32.aaa.livedoor.jp/~karasu/flashes/mihibuttton.swf http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/0389282901/flashes/dudelipsync.swf

earthquake

some people have asked me about yesterday's earthquake in japan. the truth is that i don't know any at respect so please you tell me about. here in kitakyushu nothing happened, and people don't use to talk about earthquakes. they are very common. just some days ago there was another earthquake in tokyo. also on the first days when i came there was an earthquake here but it has been the only one i have felt. i was not going to writte about this because i was thinking it was not important, but thank you for asking about me. please let me be informed about when something happens in japan.

touristing kitakyushu, part1 (mojiko retro)

here are some pictures about mojiko retro. i didn't make all the explanation about kitakyushu without uploading some pics. my friend nelly-chan came from kyoto to visit me and we went toghether to these places. Maybe the most interesting building in mojiko retro is the mojiko station. It is the one that still looks old, all other buildings look that are new but old style. japan is full of these buildings (including most of shrines and temples), most of them are reconstructions from originals. i was impressed about the contrast between this little building beside this big building. we also found out why bananas don't taste that good in japan hehe..

about Kitakyushu City

Lonely planet guide says bad stuff about this city and the guide i got (Fodor's) don't even care on mention it... ok, it is an industrial city and has little of the traditional turist is specting to view, but maybe it is worth giving it a chance.. this city has a population over 1,000,000. it was created in 1963 when these 5 cities where merged together: Moji, Kokura, Wakamatsu, Yahata and Tobata. althrought, most of the people keeps thinking in these names instead of visualizing kitakyushu as a whole. Kokura is the main urban center and for centuries was the crossing line between kyushu and honshu islands. It has a famus castle just beside a shopping mall. In 1945 kokura escaped from the atomic bomb because it was cloudy and the american bomber headed to the second target instead: nagasaki. Moji is the link with honshu island, where there are a bridge and tunnel that comunicate both islands. also ferrys to osaka and other places depart from there. In march 2006 an airport constructed over the sea will be finished. in Mojiko Retro there are some nice buildings to see and of course shopping and souvenirs. Wakamatsu, as i mention before is famous because its bridge that links with tobata. there are some beaches and also the kitakyushu science and research park is located here. In tobata you can find the famous "space world", a park with roller costers and some other shows. also here you can find the art museum of kitakyushu. Yahata is a nice place just below of mount sarakura, where this picture was taken aiming to orio station, of course there is some fog, anyway in the horizon you can't see nothing because there is nothing but the sea. Of course every place has its own identity and own matsuri(festival). In short, kitakyushu is the best touristic city of north kyushu ;) Turisting Kitakyushu, part 1 (Mojiko Retro) Turisting Kitakyushu, part 2 (Mt. Sarakura) Mt.Sarakura at Night Turisting Kitakyushu, part 3 (Municipal Art Museum) Turisting Kitakyushu, part 4 (Kurosaki) Turisting Kitakyushu, part 5 (Kokura Castle) Kokura Station Sea Food in Kitakyushu

felicidades a lucecita!

me dio muchisimo gusto recibir la noticia de que lucecita, una de mis mejores amigas de la carrera, ha sido aceptada para la beca para cursar doctorado en japon! espero que todos los papeleos se sigan realizando con exito y que saques el mayor probecho de esta oportunidad! muchas felicidades!!

"no more hiroshimas, no more nagasakis"

60 years have passed since the first mass destruction bombs were used agaist civilians. thausands of people died inmediatlly and thousands more suffered because of burns and the effects of radiation. the message is clear: "no more hiroshimas, no more nagasakis", althrought many countries specially the united states have omited the peolple's willing for peace.

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Hiroshima, August 6, 8:15am here is the 2005 hiroshima's peace declaration: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/declaration/English/2005/  

 

 

 

 

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Nagasaki, August 9, 11:02am here is the 2005 nagasaki's peace declaration:

http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/abm/abm_e/heiwasengen/sengen_frame.html

matsuri in wakamatsu

these are the pictures of another festival in kitakyushu, in wakamatsu (July 30). this place is known because its big red bridge. i am not sure but i feel that this time where a lot more people than the one in ashya beach. as i thinked before the train was full and lot of people where in the street. we got a nice place near the bridge for watching the fireworks. they where bigger this time. of course most of girls where wearing yukata (including Karla-chan) and i had a chance to have a picture with two of them. althrought there was many people, i saw maria, a friend from the japanese language course, we took a picture together as well. it was fun