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.