GTR

Had been away in Middle East the past few days...Came back only yesterday...

Saturday was raining and out at Ginza. Wondered into the Nissan showroom. This is the Nissan GTR, a V6 twin turbo'd powerhouse putting out 480ps! It is Nissan's most powerful production car. It is on display at Nissan's showroom in Ginza. At just over US$70k, it is cheaper than the M3, AMG C63 and the Porsche GT3. Its just under 1/3 of what the Ferrari F430 costs.

Can't help but drool over this car. It sports a Gertrag 6 speed sequential shift, with F1 style paddle shifters behind the steering. I will have mine in silver or gun metal, thank you.

Honda, where is your overdue V10 500ps NSX?

Ramsay

Yesterday night was dinner at Gordon Ramsay's at the Conrad in Shiodome with media people. One journalist from a prominent daily commented on the change in attitude after WW II and loss of heart amongst Japanese in chasing after $$$. He cited the incidence of weird crimes, even by people in the 50s and 60s as evidence of the decay.

Still, I was of the view that Japan is still undoubtly one of the most decent societies around and a people of high integrity in the world.

Disneysea Sunday

Its the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland in Tokyo. However, Tokyo Disneysea opened on 4th September 2001. It is located in Urayasu, Chiba prefecture. It is owned by Oriental Land Company, and are the only Disney parks not owned by The Walt Disney Company. Also, they are the only ones running profitably in the world.

This is the main entrance to get to the rest of the park. It is quite large, total area is 176acres of 714,000sqm!

Being Sunday, it was surprisingly uncrowded. And what great weather again!

According to wikipedia, Tokyo DisneySea has become one of the world's most-visited theme parks and one of the most popular Disney Parks in the world. An estimated 12.4 million visitors visited the park in 2007. Tokyo DisneySea was the second theme park to open at the Tokyo Disney Resort and the ninth park of the eleven worldwide Disney theme parks to open. Tokyo DisneySea is also the most expensive theme park ever built, estimated to have cost over $4 billion (in U.S. dollars) to build, although the actual figure has been kept confidential. Tokyo DisneySea recently experienced its 5th Anniversary celebrations, with new attractions and shows, including The Legend of Mythica and the Tower of Terror. (see pic below)

The tower of terror is probably the most exciting ride in the park. It has some freefall in an elevator and an interesting storyline to add the fear element. Highly recommended.

Here's a closer view of the tower. When the elevator reaches the arch and you can see outside, it drops at freefall, apparently due to the curse of Shiriki Utundu wooden statue. You can watch the video clip here...http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/japanese/7port/waterfront/atrc_tot.html

Live entertainment at the American Waterfront.

The Indiana Jones area or Lost River Delta is also quite fun. The ride is in the Temple of the Crystal Skull. http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/tds/japanese/7port/lostriver/atrc_indiana.html Interestingly, the fourth movie in the Indiana Jones saga had just been released on 22May worldwide: Indiana Jones in Kingdom of the Crystall Skull

And here's a nice evening view of the Arabian Coast area....

And here's Venice for you...Japan Disney style...

Tokyo Sea Life Park

Saturday was spent at Tokyo Sea Life Park in 千葉　(Chiba), about 27km from home. Its quite a large salt water aquarium. Unfortunately, there were no special exhibits like giant octopus or crabs. Entry fee was only ￥700 per adult and free for children below 12. The weather was great and everyone enjoyed the day. Isn't this one ugly fish?

There were some interesting exhibits though, like the Golden Cuttlefish.... Looks kinda cool dude eh? I am sure it was posing for the pic!

Here's a close up on a jellyfish...they look kinda surreal, these creatures of the sea.

Thereafter, it was a ride on the ferries wheel nearby....

And we have a happy camper after a nice day out!

鯵 (Aji) and 焼酎 (shochu)

Aji, or horse mackerel, is a great sashimi dish. In some parts o f Japan, Aji is served "live" with the tail still wagging on your table when all the flesh has been cut off the fish! Anyway its Friday night again so its Aji with Shochu!

焼酎 (Shochu) is created by fermenting and then distilling various carbohydrates such as rice, wheat, sweet potatoes and molasses. The main raw materials can be classified into such groups as rice, malt, potatoes, brown sugar as well as many others. There is probably no other alcoholic beverage that makes use of such a wide variety of materials.

The biggest appeal to shochu is that you can enjoy so many different flavors. In many cases shochu is made using locally grown items as the main raw material. Also it doesn't give you a headache the enxt day like sake does!

The famous area for shochu in Japan is in 鹿児島、九州　(Kagoshima, Kyushu). Of course Shochu is made elsewhere and all over Japan as well. When going to a Japanese restaurant next, never forget to try Shochu. My favourite is 芋　(imo-shochu) on the rocks. This is the sweet potato variety.

Singapore Chilli & Pepper Crab in Tokyo?

For the first time in Japan, one can have real (本物）　Chilli and Pepper Crab! Right in the heart of Tokyo in Shinagawa (品川）, adjacent to Meridien Pacific Hotel！Opened by the same people who run the Jumbo seafood restaurant in Singapore, the taste was authentic down to the deep fried "mun thou" (bread dumpling) but portions are measured in the Japanese way. So for 4 people, you get sort of 2 claws and 2 body pieces (looks like that), which is hardly 1 whole crab. But then, what can you expect from a country that loves crabs （ズワイガニ）legs?

They use real Sri Lankan mud crabs, so its no copy (二世物）　！　The wines were a bit mediocre, what can you expect for a couple of thousand yen? Wines are usually marked up double, at the least in restaurants....They had Chianti Classico, Baron Rostchild Merlot, but these are not serious wines. More like Vino Tavola...

However, what difference is there in Singapore seafood restaurants?

Of note is the deep fried garlic butter prawns, quite bit different from the cereal butter prawns you normally get in SG...

Worth a trip if you crave for Chilli and Pepper Crab! Especially if all you normally get to enjoy of crabs are crab legs...

Absent....but not gone...busy!

I must apologise for having been absent for the last 5days, it was the the Golden Week in Japan before that and I got a bit lazy the last weekend. Anyway, just to update, tonight (more like last night, since its now past 4am) was with my fav friend Ms. E. Her birthday was last month but I had been quite busy so could only celebrate with her tonight, yes several weeks later. But being Japanese, it was quite graciously accepted and perhaps no issues there, being abusy person herself...

Evening was spent at Old Vine, a Teppanyaki Restaurant opened by a sommelier from former L Vino wine bar in Roppongi. Yes, The "Roppongi" (yes the famous 六本木） that every gaijin knows or have heard about. 　Notwistanding her Japanese background, it was by her choice that we went Japanese, for once not the "preferred by ladies" French or Italian. Quite a break for me, actually, as most would opt for French or something foreign for dinner....

So had to ask her if she had any interesting stories or people she met since we last met but it was negative. So we talked about her recent life and work and everything else about her personal life.

Struck a raw nerve (from her facial expression) when I talked about a former Jap GF, wrong move. But then, that's the truth and it was not for making any point other than for conversational topic. But then it was quite revealing...of her undercurrents...Anyway, the pic above actualyy reflects my alcohol level (after a bottle of Yarra Burn Pinot Noir 2004 and several Amarettos), so here's a clearer recent pic of Ms.E...

But what the heck, sometimes its not such a bad thing to be honest and talk about your past. Perhaps now I know about what she really thinks or feels...perhaps? In any case, she got a nice bunch of flowers and a great partner for dinner and drinks, so no one should be an unhappy camper. In any case we promised to meet again soon, when we are both free （空き時間）.

Good night Ms. E! Have a good rest...

Gonpachi (権八)

Dinner was at Gonpachi, the famous izakaya for foreigners. They have 2 branches in Beverly Hills, LA. I have visitors from overseas so it was appropriate to bring them 外人 (gaijin) to this joint as it would seem more unique, or even special.

However, I myself would not go to such a place. This is the second time I am at this restaurant, although the first one was at the 銀座　(Ginza) branch. The food is so-so only and the prices are touristy, not expensive, but you can get better food for the same price or less elsewhere. For the gaijin, the attraction here for gaijin is the 飲み放題　(nomihodai) or 3-hour all you can drink for package for ￥3,500 (drinks only, of course)

Apparently the set in the movie Kill Bill was modeled after one of the Gonpachi's in Tokyo. It looks like this branch I went to in 麻布十番　(Azabu Juuban).

Uneventful week, partly due to the long holidays, but next week will be hectic again.

富士山 ［Mt Fuji］

Fujisan! I originally posted the header to this message from 2,400m, from my mobile phone, just 376m from the peak of Mount Fuji! I forgot to attach the pic though, so here they are. The clear sky that allowed me to take this peak pic only lasted a few minutes, even then I had to wait for a while.

Firstly, disaster struck. I clicked away with my he-man rig of the Olympus E-3, with the SWD 12-60mm lens. After a few shots, I realised there was an error message, no memory card!!! My god, I carted the camera and 5 lenses up to Mount Fuji, 2,400m above sea level and after 4hours' driving and I have no memory card in the camera, bummer! Thankfully, my other half brought the road warrior Canon Powershot G7, a 10MP zoom compact that does everything except print the photos for you.

The drive there was a drag due to the Golden Week holidays in Japan. Traffic was a crawl from Gotenba. However, we managed to reach the base before they closed the route to Mount Fuji. I used the 新五台目 (new 5 stage/level) route from 富士宮 (Fujinomiya). From the 東名高速 (tomei highway), you take the 富士 exit and head toward 富士宮。You will see the right turn off to 新五台目 after about 15mins.

From base, its about a 27km drive to get to 2,400m. Here's visual proof that its at 2,400m.

The Japanese use 米 (kome or mai) or rice for メイトール or meters. Its also used to denote America. How convenient. Who's calling who rice boy?

The drive up was quite nice, not much traffic going the same way as most of the traffic were coming down. We entered the main gate to the climb at 3:45p.m. I saw 3 cars being stopped by a police patrol car, most likely for speeding. One was a black Mazda RX-8. The other 2 were hardly anything close to sports cars. Perhaps one of them was a 覆面 パトーカー　(fukumen patoka) or an umarked police car.

I slowly pulled away from the poor group and speeded up when I was out of sight of the police. Still, you then can't help but realise that 215ps heaving a body of 1,510kgs with 4 adults and a child is no easy feat. About 3km from the top, I was slowed down by an MPV and a 4X4 ahead. Anyway the climb was getting ever steeper and we were going to have ample time at the top so it didn't bother me much. Here's a view of the road just below the top.



However, even with a 215ps workhorse in the form of a Toyota Mark X 250G, the climb was arduos. The Mark X is an amazing car for the money. It sports a very efficient 2.5L V6 high compression overbore engine that puts out 215ps at 6,400rpm and 260Nm of tourque at 3,800rpm. Mated to a smooth 6-speed sequential shift ECT box, the Mark X is smooth as silk.

Shod on 18in alloys wearing soft 225/45 Bridgestone Potenzas, we're talking real grip !

Mine is the S-package model and has the extra sports mode suspension and traction control (which I leave off by default). The sports mode stiffens the damping of the dampers for sporty driving, whihc I usually reserve for high speed corners and highway runs. It stiffens the dampers to sufficiently give you a perceptibly firm, sporty ride, not to the point of discomfort though.



A very respectable performance indeed by any standards, even compared to sports bred cars like the Alfa 159. Just take alook at the spec here: http://toyota.jp/markx/spec/spec/index.html and compare them with Alfas, BMWs and Mercs of the same engine capacity and price range. No one can squeeze more power per litre from mass production cars than the Japanese. Don't believe me? Just ask Honda. And also Ferrari.

Of course these specs are for JDM spec (Japan Domestic Model) and is tested using Japanese grade high octane fuel. Only the JDM model cars can have a factory tuned 12:1 compression ratio in a family or executive saloon car. This comp ratio is higher than most production cars, even pure sports cars from Germany, Italy and France. Its even higher than the standard ratio of my S2000! Of course, on my S2000, the comp ratio has been increased by the use of Spoon head gasket, which raises it to approx 12.1:1.

Below is another view facing away from Mount Fuji. You can see that we're just about abve the cloud cover. Its beautiful....almost surreal.

And here's what the slope of Mount Fuji Looks like. Not a pretty sight but still awesome.

I had extended the zoom on my Canon Powershot G7 to max to get this pic. Another nice view of the sun and the clouds..This was taken at Auto Shutterspeed mode with the Aperture set at F8.0, the maximum this camera can muster.

The clouds seen through the bare, dry trees are just as beautiful.

Here's a close up of the peak of Mount Fuji. Its the max zoom the G7 can extend to. I was lucky to get some clear weather for just about 10mins when I clicked away. From July, Mount Fuji is open to hiking.

On the way down, it was about 5:30p.m. and became very foggy and not unexpectedly, traffic ahead of me was crawling. Had to slot into 2nd/3rd gear for engine braking, to save on the brakes.

And here's Chloe not wanting to leave, even when its all foggy and blur then....Such is the effect that Mount Fuji can have on people. So until we meet again, great Fujisan! Next time it shall be in my S2000!

Learning 漢字

Saturday was spent learning 漢字(kanji) at home. I bought Declan's ReadWrite Kanji software online for US$16, and was charged JPY1,720 in local currency. This software has the full 1,945 kanji words officially used in Japan.

I managed to complete 231 words today (大変!), after being glued to my chair for 12hours....sat through lunch and dinner (had lunch and dinner at the workstation)

This software allows you to learn the 音読み (onyomi or Chinese reading) and 訓読み (kunyomi or Japanese reading) pronounciations. It also has Kanji stroke order exercise. And of course the meanings of the kanji are also explained in English. One can trial the software here before purchase: http://www.declan-software.com/japanese/index.htm

Japanese usage of kanji can be quite different from Chinese, and some Japanese words are not expressed in Kanji. That is why they can make do with just 1,945 常用漢字 (jouyou or common use kanji) words, which was established in 1981.

It would be better to know the kana, both ひらがな (hiragana) and カタカナ (katakana) in order to be able to complete the on and kun pronounciations. There is an option to read the pronounciation in romaji, but then what''s use of reading only the kanji when half the text in Japanese is usually written in kana?

Momo's shot bar

This is 西山さん (Mr. Nishiyama) proprietor of Momo's Shot Bar. Just less than 100m from home, it opens till 4a.m. excpet Sundays. He has a regular crowd mostly and the bar is usually frequented by people living nearby. I am one of them.