2011-01-31

Prison Quality

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The words Prison and quality are not often things that you associate with each other. In japan however, in an effort to rehabilitate society’s evil doers, they have an extensive “hand made stuff” programme. Basically every prison in Japan gets their prisoners to make stuff (As one does.) The difference is that they sell it to the public… Retail!

2011-01-28

Driving in Tokyo

_1120149 Driving in the capital is something that ALTs seldom do. If you are going to drink you will need to park overnight which will run you a minimum of R250 (as opposed to R60 if you park it overnight at Takasaki Station) and if you need to get from point A to B and need to stop, you need to park it … If you are lucky, you can do that for Y300 per hour. Basically driving in Tokyo is done for 1 of two reasons. Because you have somewhere specific you want to go, or because you want to show off your car.
I had hit Tokyo a craptonne recently and the thought of riding the same old train with the same old fools to go to the same old places was unappealing. I also needed a good drive because I am unable to go to the mountains while there is ice on the roads. I heard about the Daikoku PA and had a metal live to see…
Why not take the car for a change?

2011-01-27

Subaru Technica International

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“Producing cars that entice the senses. Creations beyond Ordinary concepts. Putting control in the hands of the driver. Built to impress and thrill both driver and passenger. Our forte… An experience inexpressible in words. Sensation. A whole new driving experience…”

 

No I have not become a scooby fanboy all of a sudden, put down the pitchforks.

Those are the words chosen to describe That which Subaru Technica international produces. Yes it is marketing hype that only the rabid scooby otaku (second only to the VTEC Honda fanboys in their obsession and bias) would truly believe as gospel. The rest know it is simply marketing.

2011-01-25

Daikoku Parking Area (大黒PA)

On a little man made island off the coast of Yokohama lies a wondrous place. A simple parking and service area in Kanagawa section of the Capital Expressway. It is special for two reasons. Firstly, Its big, which is rare in that part of the world. Secondly Its isolated, but easy to get to. This has made it the most famous gatheration point for auto aficionados in the Tokyo  area. Every Saturday night, a simple patch of tar turns into a mini Auto Salon. I had taken my car to Tokyo… It was a Saturday, One of my car loving buddies was along for the ride… Why not check it out? _1120285 What I found would make the charos at Blue Lagoon shit their diesel jean pants! TWICE!

2011-01-24

Shots #42 Affirmative Action

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They say you can buy ANYTHING in Japanese Vending machines… It may be true.

2011-01-21

2011-01-20

Gloomy – The Naughty Grizzly ~5 hit combo~ No.4

IMG_0275Japan is a character driven nation. The  most well known example of this is Hello Kitty. But face it. Hello kitty is crap. It is not cute and not appealing and at times its rather scary. The toilet paper aside, I really don't like Kitty-chan…

I do like Gloomy however.

Gloomy is a naughty pet (pink) grizzly bear created by Morichaxx.

2011-01-18

EXTREME AGGRESSION #6 Kichijoji Crescendo *2010-12-18* live report

I have been looking for a Blood Stain Child live show for a long time. Being from Osaka and being famous in the west means that they don’t often come through to Tokyo, and the nature of the Metal industry in Japan means that When there are good lives they are not often at the most convenient times. When I found this event, I jumped on it.
It was one of those many band festival type events with BSC headlining. The downside was that BSC had a very short set, the upside is that i discovered 2 new bands.o0800061810912505108
full report after the jump.

2011-01-17

Shots #40 taking the piss

Will be testing out a few new mobile blogging platforms since Blogpress has not improved over all this time. let's see if anyone has cracked it yet. Today. A shot of winter. Gunma style. Platform: BlogSpace.



2011-01-14

Shots #39 Gunma at it’s Finest

you want to click the pic and view the large copy…

akagi panoramaIn Gunma it is easy to think about Isesaki, Kiryu, Ota and to a lesser degree Maebashi and Takasaki and let the negative connotations inherent to the industrio-urban half drive you onto the next shinkansen to Tokyo. But the truth is, One trip to the mountains, Or in my case, a 10 minute drive to a bud’s house is all it takes to remind you that Gunma can be awesome.

2011-01-12

The BEST Ramen I have eaten*

*up till this posting anyway.
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Ramen is a part of life here in Japan and it is safe to say that if you are here, you will eat a fair amount of it. The quality ranges from cheap and cheerful to mind-blowingly delicious. at the top of the mind-blowingly delicious pile is a place that I have discovered pretty close to home…

2011-01-11

Shots #38 V for Vending

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It is said that you can buy anything in Japanese vending machines. I think that may be a bit of a stretch but one thing is certain… you CAN buy microwave popcorn. It isn’t the best. but it will do.

2011-01-09

Shots #37 Hybrid Panda

This is the most disgusting car I have ever seen.

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2011-01-08

The Painmobile

P1110597 According to Wikipedia:
Itasha (痛車?), literally "painmobile", is a Japanese term for an otaku fad of individuals decorating the bodies of their cars with fictional characters of anime, manga, or video games (especially bishōjo game or eroge). These characters are predominately "cute" female. The decorations usually involve paint schemes and stickers.
They are called this because it is painful to be seen driving them.

2011-01-07

Nagano Part 2

continued…

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We returned to the present day with a trip to their primary school. The building that molded the mind of my lady and all her little sibs. I was surprised at the size, or the lack thereof. but apparently there are only 130 odd students there so that would explain it.

Messing around on the playground for no reason in particular. Was fun. It had no real purpose but then not much of the trip did. It was more about spending time with them than doing anything in particular.

But it was physical activity. and physical activity takes energy which needs to be replaced before long.

Good thing the city is famous for it’s soba. The restaurant we attacked was special indeed. It was attached to an old sake winery that had been converted to a museum.

 

2011-01-04

Nagano Part 1

On the last day of 2010 I went over the border to The frozen mountainous wild lands of Nagano. Apart from the briefest of visits to the Karuizawa town limits when I drove Usui, It is a prefecture that I had never been to, never wanted to go to and for that matter never really knew anything about apart from the fact that it was cold, covered in snow and had monkeys that bathed in hot springs. It took on a different meaning when I started dating my lady, since it is where she hails from. Over the months we have been together, Her little siblings had grown to know and show fondness for me so We decided it was time that I got around to meeting them. So I boarded a Shinkansen (bullet train) and took the (rather short) trip into the unknown.
P1110620 Hit the jump to

2011-01-01

Shots #35 & #36 Faster than a speeding bullet

P1110609 Not really but its still quick. A magnificent machine that carried me to Nagano for a great final day of the first decade of the 21st century. Well not quite…

Mine was a little less impressive looking:

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It will be a long post…For now, this will do for a preview.

Shots #34 Moo Mofo!

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Enter the Rabbit…

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Its been more than 2011 years since the Human race came into being, but this is the system we are using, so it can’t be helped. Have a good one. Tie up at least one bunny girl this year.