destination Wakkanai

Day four I got here at the end of Japan. This is it! You can literally see Russia with your own eyes.


Wakkanai, Hokkaido (稚内、北海道)

Here is a map:


Today is day number five.

Sleep deprived to say the least I'm. To recover, I spent a couple of nights in a love hotel and a minshuku(民宿).

I drove maybe just maybe more than I thought I did. What I said before were certainly only estimates. Yesterday alone I drove 450km.

I should have known better not to assume (ass u me). The painful truth I found out was that the main island and Hokkaido island are not connected with a drivable tunnel. You would have thought there should be at least one. But no.

So I ended up speding a lot of time circling the same regions in Aomori, although did see something nice. Finally realized there wasn't a tunnel, except the train-going one. Why would they build a tunnel for trains only? Anywho, I took the ferry and it was expensive.

I think it's certainly worth it, the trip so far. The ferry itself is the biggest rip-off though.

I stayed the night in Otaru last night. The locals love Otaru the best. I'll see why when I spend more time there on my way back. On my way back I'll start stopping more to smell the flowers so to speak.

@Aomori internet cafe

Two days, 700km later. Here I'm in Aomori(青森), sitting in an Internet cafe, updating my blog.
Here is a map showing the route I took:


As much as I like driving, it's killing me. First day I drove for 8 hours, today I drove a whopping 11 hours. In terms of number, it ain't that bad. But it will continue on for a while. I hope Wakkanai (稚内) is worth it!

Compared to the first night, I'm in heaven. The first night I "slept" in my car in a parking lot. Although I was able to get a nice onsen bath today. That helped a bit to recharge.

So far I'm using almost one tank of gas per day. I'm driving a company car (kei, a stick-shift with some problems). It's got a very small tank. It costs about 2300yen 3/4 of a tank. I'm proud of the car. It's 11 years old. It's been driven by a dozen of people. I was fully expecting it to break down the first day or two. So far it does okay.

my own wild sheep chase

When it's all said and done, a lifetime would literally be the blink of an eye. Live in today, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Make e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y good to the last drop. (this is a marker)

off to Hokkaido
The plan:
Driving to Hokkaido (Wakanai, if possible) using only local national roadways. It'll be roughly two weeks. Sleeping in the car, beaches, internet cafes, or maybe once in a while hotels.

update #1:
ending up going by myself.
coastal route all the way.



Since I'm going by myself, I decided to wait for Dicovery to come home first. Fingers crossed, but at the same time, extreme as it may sound, it'll take one more accident for NASA to get moving with the new space age orbiter. Having said that, what the hell the purpose of this mission is?
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Aaaaahh the delay. Watch NASA's live coverage, or just listen to it like I do.
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Landed safely, thank god!


I can't believe Peter Jennings just left like that. I've always liked Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather better. There was always something sinister about Jennings' reports. Maybe it was his smile, or maybe it was his insincerity. But all in all a good news anchor.

R.I.P. Peter Jennings.

Tanabata

In my town, Tanabata (七夕) is celebrated on Aug 7th, which keeps it that much closer to the original Chinese festival on the Lunar Calendar. My opinion: a much needed break for Japanese workers. They can take some time away from their uptight desk job and enjoy a bit of culture. Love the Yukata.

Some pics:

August wallpapers

...from Japan.

with calendar:

Emi Kobayashi looks incredible!

sceneries:


commercial products:

drift your heart out

I'm a little ashamed to admit I first learned about drifting from the now widely-known cartoon Initial D. It's been almost four years and I'm every bit as enthusiastic as the first time I "saw" it.


These illustrate the idea of drifting nicely, although a four-wheel drive drifts at a much smaller angle in the real world.

The good:
Pushing cars to their very limit.
Let a car do what it's not designed to.
You get to learn some more about car engineering.
First motorsport to be judged not entirely on time alone.
Keiichi Tsuchiya said that drifting isn't about how fast you clear a corner, it about how you clear it. Drifting is the most exciting way to drive.

The bad:
Ricer* vehicles overflooding the scene.

The ugly:
Drifter-wannabes killing themselves AND others.

The practicality:
In order for drifting to be useful in a real-world situation, the traction between the tires and the road must already be weak. Right now in the world there are a few car races that allow that kind of conditions, namely, World Rally and Sno*Drift Rally.


*ricer is now a commonly used word to refer to a car that has questionable (usually cosmetic) modifications but nothing is done to actually improve its performance.

pics credit: GTPlanet members from the drift forums.

There is something about Scarlett

I can't quite pinpoint what it is. She's not as "refined" as Lindsay Lohan (increasingly annoying, can only stand her probably because I haven't been overly exposed with her publicity), or Jessica Alba (does everybody just ignore the way she talks?) for that matter.


Scarlett Johansson

Boldly he predicts.

Although the world could end any second now theoretically, it's no use to anticipate it too much hence slack off in planning. Planning can't be done without a little predictions, so here goes:

Assumptions:

"We" continue to live in a physical world.
Human civilization reaches its apex at a much later time.
The world prevails a series of world wars and natural disasters.

Predictions:

Mass transit will be history.
*We will all be of mixed race.
Emotions can be switched off.
*We'll all be eating synthetic foods.
Most daily activities will be simulated.
There will be no use for display screens.
The world will be run by 10- to 21-year-olds.
Dimension manipulation will be common practice.
Most will be either lacto-ovo vegetarians or vegans.
We'll no longer speak orally, but rather through direct encephalo-activities.
Sex will no longer be the common choice for reproduction.
*We'll be able to manipulate molecules and recombine the elements.
*After the ice caps melt people will live on Antarctica and mega-cities on water will be built.
Spectator sports will be replaced by spectator "TV" games.
Intaking food from one's oral cavity will merely be an option.
*later on after learning how to manipulate gravity we'll build floating cities.
*We'll be able to learn by downloading stuff directly into our brains.
Older people can carry on with their non-administrative duties.
Performing art will be viewed as anicent culture and cease to be popular.
Before we encounter any ET's, we'll first meet the other earthling intelligence.
*The worlds languages will dwindle until there is only one language left.

*Rock's input that I agree.

[アニメ] 君が望む永遠

Literal　English title: The Eternity You Wish for
Romanji: Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien

Don't let the animation style fool you, this is one of the best anime series there are! It is the best renai game adopted anime ever!

comment: An emotional roller coaster. Main characters seem like real everyday people who make mistakes, sometimes over and over again. Starting from the first two episodes, this anime is seemingly another silly high school love story but stick with it and you're in for a treat. There are peculiar moments but if you focus too much on the dead serious storyline, the depression would drag you in. Watch out for it. Don't say I didn't warn you. I am glad they cut out the nonsense sex scenes. What's left that might or might not be erotic is quite necessary for the development of the plot. I doubt it deserves to be the 2nd best ranked anime (according to animenfo top 200) ever though. Well the audience is getting younger. Errrrr no, I am getting older.

guarantee: for most female viewers and some male, you will cry your eyes out; for others, you will either feel angry, sympathetic, or both.

the ending: I don't understand what all the fuzz is about of the ending where some fans say lacks details. I think it does what it's supposed to. It's very believable and convincing. Just pay attention to the subtlety.

Takayuki Narumi (鳴海 孝之)


Haruka Suzumiya (涼宮 遙)


Mitsuki Hayase (早瀬 水月)