On the way home from tennis, I walked through Shiori Park (汐入公園) in Minami-Senju (南千住) and was pleasantly surprised with the cherry blossom trees that dot the park. Even on a Tuesday morning, there were many locals setting up tables and blankets under the pretty cherry blossom trees. There were also streets surrounded by cherry…
How long for Apple to approve apps
To give you some idea on how long Apple actually approves apps, I’ve posted here the schedule for 2 versions of my Message Scrambler app. One version went to “Waiting for Upload” state on March 1st, and went to “Ready for Sale” state on March 5th. The next version, I submitted on March 16th, and…
JR and the Tax Increase from 5% to 8%
JR has started covering the old prices posted near the ticket area, I guess in preparation for the new prices once the tax increases from 5% to 8% starting on April 2014. It’s also nice of them to remind people to buy/extend their commuter pass early as the prices will increase from April. When I…
Nishi-Matsuya Minami-Senju Opens on April 4
In what used to be the space occupied by Tsutaya, three new shops will be opening in April, and one of them already posted this big poster just outside what will be their shop. Nishi-Matsuya (http://www.24028.jp) is opening their shop at Lala Terrace Minami-Senju on April 4, 2014. I have to admit, I didn’t know…
Alexander Desplat – The Meadows
One of the things I am most grateful to my parents is for sending me to piano school when I was little. My brother and I together went to the same piano school for a couple of years during summer breaks. Kuya, being the more musically inclined of us two, ended up being better at…
Showing and Hiding the Correct iAd size using Auto-Layout
WhWhen I implemented iAds on my Xcode 5, I decided to use auto-layout to show, and hide the iAd banner depending on whether ads are available or not. Here is a simple summary of my main view. MainView – HeaderView– ContentsView– BannerView For auto-layout “height” settings, I only had it setup for HeaderView. Both ContentsView…
Tribes, Civilizations, and UFOs
This is a video about a tribe, living deep in the Amazon jungle, who allegedly has not yet made contact with what we would refer to as our “modern” civilization. The guys who took this video brought in powerful zoom lenses, to minimize disturbance, by taking the videos from kilometers above the forest. The tribesmen…
Hypnosis, Beliefs, and Japanese Comedy
Just the other day over lunch, we had a quick random discussion which ended up with us talking about placebo effect, and the power of the human mind. Under hypnosis, they were asked to do things they wouldn’t normally do, or would be very afraid to do, like ride a roller coaster, or eat a…
Cesame Tennis School Mukoujima
I enrolled at Cesame Tennis School in Mukoujima last January hoping to practice my shots, as I had plans to join a small tennis tournament in March. The tournament was eventually postponed because of rain, but it’s ok. I’m glad I enrolled and I’m glad i can practice my shots every week with professional guidance….
No Starbucks in Minami-Senju Yet
Just saw a poster at Lala Terrace Minami-Senju announcing new shops that will open from April 2014. The old Tsutaya space is big enough to accommodate these three. Unfortunately, none of the Starbucks that the guy who cuts my hair was telling me about. This is the second time he told me Starbucks is coming…
Minami-Senju West Gate
The West Gate of Minami-Senju station has seen massive changes since I moved here about half a decade ago. Back then, the east side was the more progressive side with its high-rise condominiums and community malls, while the west side was just a bunch of old houses and old shops. There are still many old…
Migrated Blogs to use Google+ Comments
I’ve just migrated my blogs to use Google+ Comments to replace the legacy Blogger comments. Here is a short summary based on my few-days-experience: Merits Looks new and feels new Comments made in Google+, also appear on the blog, and vice versa Comments made before the migration, will still be visible Less spam comments Demerits…
