Starting this April, Cesame Tennis School in Mukojima (セサミテニススクール向島) shortened their cycles from three months to just two months. There are no changes to the total number of classes per year, so doesn’t affect me much. Only impact I guess is that if ever I do miss a class and need to reschedule, my options…
Minami-Senju Primer
This is how the area near Minami-Senju station would look like from Apple Maps. The area to the right of the station is what many people would call the new Minami-Senju. This area was redeveloped about a decade ago, so you can see many new buildings, big parks, big condominium buildings, and shopping centers. This…
Kyoto on a Weekend
Over the weekend, we went on an two day trip to Kyoto to re-live being tourists in Japan. It’s been years since I last visited this place and it is always a treat, especially since the weather was good and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! Upon arriving at Kyoto station on Saturday noon,…
Nefertiti’s Elongated Head
Nefertiti is one of the more interesting figures in Egyptian history. She may be the second most popular woman in Egyptian history, second only to Cleopatra. The image people most often associate with Nefertiti is probably this bust, now housed in the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Jet Skiing at Sumida River
One sunny Tuesday morning, I was walking along the riverbanks of Shioiri Park (汐入公園) and I chanced upon this jet skier enjoying the beautiful morning at Sumida River. It’s amazing how people can enjoy jet skiing right in the middle of the city, right on its main river. I wonder if there are companies that…
Minami-Senju Cherry Blossoms
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…
Enrico in Tokyo 