My Tennis Profile

These past few weeks, I think I’m experiencing my Second Renaissance… in Tennis. First Renaissance The First Renaissance happened when I was in Kagoshima… when I graduated from being a casual play-once-in-a-while player into a play-eight-hours-a-week tennis addict. That was when I got rid of my cheap-ass Daiei shoes and super-sale beginner’s racket to buy…

If Federer Beats Nadal to Win Roland Garros…

I believe it will surpass his 2001 Wimbledon victory over Pete Sampras as his career’s most cherished victory. During their 2001 encounter, neither Federer nor Sampras was at their prime. Federer hasn’t peaked yet while Sampras is past his peak. It was a mere transfer of power from one aging tennis great to a younger…

Flying Back To Kagoshima

I’m flying back to Kagoshima. Not for good though. I’ll just be there for four days. I already have my plane and hotel reservations. The only thing left for me to do is to get the necessary days off from work and maybe get some Tokyo omiyage for my Kagoshima friends. I miss those people.

Dell and Ubuntu

It seems that Dell will be releasing computers with Ubuntu pre-installed. It’s about time! Notwithstanding my previous rant about Firefox and YouTube, I believe Ubuntu is ready for prime time. I really do. My Sony laptop has been running Ubuntu for the past 4 months (!) already and I don’t feel like coming back to…

Firefox and YouTube

When using Ubuntu‘s latest 7.04 (codename Feisty) release, Firefox and YouTube don’t work well together. Firefox hangs when exploring the YouTube site!!! This bug is so irritating, I believe it is enough to stop a LOT of people from using Firefox and Ubuntu altogether. Too bad. This had to happen just when I was starting…

Rico Plays Mario

My first goal after getting my piano was to learn how to play the Super Mario Brothers theme song. This is the finished product (for now). Well, it’s a work in progress. It’s still nowhere near the level of the great Martin Leung but I’m getting there. I think. I hope.

Shinkawa Blue Skies

On this bright sunny Saturday morning, I visited all nine (!) bridges connecting Shinkawa to the rest of Tokyo. It’s a good excuse for an exercise and is also a good way of exploring the neighborhood. I see Shinkawa as a small “island” surrounded by bridges and rivers including the huge Sumida River to the…

Orange iPod Shuffle

How many times have you lost something and as you look for a replacement, you end up getting something identical to the one you lost? That happens to me a lot… shoes… shirts… wallets. It happened again today. A few weeks ago, I lost my orange iPod shuffle. Today, I bought a brand new orange…

PASMO: Hello and Goodbye

A few weeks ago, I got me a Pasmo card only because Hibiya line does not support commuter passes from Suica. My Suica stayed in my phone while my Pasmo card stayed in my wallet. All was well until my Bic Camera Suica card came and I needed a place to put it. I cannot…

Anti-Global Warming No More

When has a documentary last challenged the way you see things and made you see the world in a totally different light after watching it? For me it was today. This morning, I watched “The Great Global Warming Swindle” on Google Video and almost immediately, I threw all my Anti-Global Warming sentiments into the trash…