Snacks

I went back home to Florida in late April. I brought some Japanese snacks for my family to try out. It was some dried fish and other seafood "jerky." So I made a video about it. And I also tried some crazy alcoholic drink.

Hanami

Some friends and I went to Tsurumai Park last weekend for Hanami (picnicking under Cherry Blossoms). There were a lot of people scattered everywhere. The day was sunny and a bit warm. I decided to download Hipstamatic for my iPhone. It's a cool app Marlow had told me about months before. I fiddled around with it and took a few photos. I should have taken pics of the food too, because it was magically delicious.

Castle Crashers

I'm finally getting around to editing some video from December when Rachel came. It was castle week for us. Rachel and I went to Inuyama, Hikone, and Nagoya Castle. Marlow and Antonette had already been to those before (maybe not Hikone). It was windy at Inuyama as you will see. I didn't take much video, which sucks. But at least I'm getting around to posting it!

Natto

Back in December, Rachel came to visit Antonette and Marlow. I'm really late with this video among others. So we went to Oasis 21 to have sushi at the rotary sushi bar (don't know the name). Like any other foreigner visiting Japan, she had to try natto.

Hounen Matsuri (豊年祭り）

I went to the Penis Festival aka Hounen Matsuri (豊年祭り）this year.

From Wikipedia:

Hōnen Matsuri (豊年祭?) (Japanese for "Harvest Festival") is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. Hōnen means rich harvest in Japanese, while a matsuri is a festival. The Hōnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.

It's held every year on March 15, regardless of the day of the week. This year it happened to be on a Monday. And it being held on a Monday meant that everyone had to work. So, I went by myself. Anyways, I took a few pics.

Okazaki visit

I went to Okazaki this past weekend which is about 30 mins south of Nagoya by train. We had some tasty udon for lunch at this popular place I forget the name of. We stopped by Okazaki Castle to add another castle visited to my list. They had some katana blades; some whole, some with only the blade remaining. They looked really gorgeous. Unfortunately they didn't allow photography inside but I did manage to snap some outside. They also had a Hiroshige woodblock print too. Pretty amazing day.







-- Post From My iPhone

Castle Week

The past week, I visited three castles along with some friends. It was my first time going to any kind of castle. My favorite was Inuyama Castle which we went to first, followed by Nagoya Castle and Hikone Castle. The weather was crappy when we went to Hikone Jo and I didn't take pictures heh. Rachel from Florida came to visit Marlow and Antonette. So, here are some pictures!

Osaka Mexican Festival

I went to Osaka to their annual Mexican Festival on Sept 6th. I've been lazy about uploading video and pics but I got one done! We arrived there around 2pm and started to sample the food and beer (mostly beer). I had Texas BBQ, a tamale and some tacos. The food was alright. I was expecting the food to kick my ass in the spicy department but it was tame. At any rate, here is the video.

Photos from the river in Gifu

I finally imported and enhanced the photos I took during our trip from Nagoya, Aichi to the river in Gifu. Rudy and Takako from Desperados make a cameo. Unfortunately, I don't remember the river's or town's name. I didn't take many pics from different spots because I didn't want my camera to fall into the water. That would blow. Here are the pics. Enjoy.

Some Sundays are lazier than others

Last Sunday, I spent some time in Osu Kannon. They have this arcade shopping area. And it's not like videogame arcades, but just a bunch of shops and restaurants. You could probably spend the whole day. We saw some ice carving and Fatblueman perform at Shooter's.

Long overdue

On June 14th, we (Yukiko, Jenn, Marcel and Nancy...Marlow too) had a surprise birthday party for Antonette (even though her bday was June 13th). Marlow took her out on a day long...date, while I worked my magic getting things set up. Yukiko gave me a hand by buying these slick paper balloons and candles which you'll see in the video. It was amazing. We had chocolate cake and Cold Stone ice cream. Here's the video:

Test test. One two


-- Post From My iPhone

Mobile post

Mic check one two


-- Post From My iPhone

Takeshima

When I arrived here back in March, we (Marlow, Antonette, Yukiko and Mike) went to Takeshima near Gamagori. At the island, there is the Yaotomi Shrine, which is known for good luck in giving birth and marriage. A path was created around the island so people would walk around it. On this particular day, for some odd reason, it happened to be really windy.

Out in Nagoya City

When I came here, I knew nothing. Now that I've been here for over a month, I still know nothing. But I'm trying to know something. And one of those things is video editing. I've been weaksauce lately with getting things going. Anyways, the first week I was here Marlow, Antonette and I went out somewheres. Low-Low handed me his camera so I could record. So I did. Here is a little piece of the glory, so you can just taste a little bit of it eh.

Oh Snap!

It was our friend Yukiko's birthday April 30th. Her friend Nanako set up a special dinner at her friend's cafe. This is my first time using iMovie so I just messed with it seeing what it had to offer. So, we got her stuff and things like that.

First Trip In Japan!

Hi everyone. I'm in Japan right nows! Here is a slide show of a trip we had yesterday at a place called "Small Small Island." I didn't edit them because I don't know how to get them from iPhoto. Maybe next time.

Edit: We took the train from Nagoya Station to Gamagori to visit Takeshima. We made a new friend on the train and talked about videogames. It was reaaaaaaaaally windy once we got to Gamagori. The winds on the bridge to Takeshima were strong. Here are more pics from Marlow's blog: click heres.