The countdown continues: just 1 month remain.

The series of countdown posts continues with a few updates. First with the obvious shown above, another lens purchase, the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8; a quick lookover of it can be found on the Photography Central page above, note it aint in detail at all. Second, while following the Canucks here, we pulled the sweep over the St. Louis Blues — a week ago. To cope with withdrawl, I re-watched all 4 games in-between (in 480p HD). Only until yesterday (Monday back home) we found out who their opponent would be in the semi-finals: the Chicago Blackhawks; while some (including yours truly) wanted to face a battered and depleted Calgary Flames team. Anyway, the series is set to start on Thursday.

With just 2 1/2 weeks of work remain, but before that happens we’re subject to a 9-day holiday. It’ll start by heading back to Kansai area, finally visiting Kyoto and re-visiting Osaka. The camera I borrowed from my friend when I went to Osaka the first time over New Year’s day went kaput on me, this time my D300 won’t let me down. *knock on wood* With budgeting over a 34 day period inbetween paycheques, I’ve limited the trip to a day and a half.

more to come.☆

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Melissa McClelland's new album, "Victoria Day" — Mini reviewed

image courtesy Amazon

Well aware of a new album by Burlington, ON singer/songwriter Melissa McClelland, but while still in Japan, I have to settle purchasing this album via the iTunes store — at least it’s in iTunes plus @ 256kbps. This new album is where Thumbelina’s One Night Stand left off; a very raw sound; a folky/blues type sound that she’s getting the hang of. Topping out at just past 45mins, it’s her shortest album and more than 20 minutes shorter than the seemingly long Thumbelina album — means whilst keeping it at the right length, songs don’t drag on and thus doesn’t cripple the album as a whole. I hope to see her in concert soon upon my return back to Vancouver.
http://www.melissamcclelland.com for more information

Side note here, this is the first mention of a review or anything not related to Japanese or Korean Pop. A new category is added to reflect it. Another thing noting, a new album by Vienna Teng has recently released; hope to get a listen of it soon.

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The countdown continues: cherry blossoms come and go with under 40 days remain

The series of countdown posts continues, with another familiar theme. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom by the 12th and hoards of people, residents and tourists, flock to Kenrokuen Garden to catch a glimpse of the pink stuff. Yours truly along with a couple of my friends were among them, basking in the sun. I took plenty of photos and uploaded to Facebook and Flickr. The entire set on Facebook can be seen here.

Shifting gears here, on the Canucks; since the last update a lot has happened, claiming the Northwest Division crown at season’s end, and now after game 3 against the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks command a 3-0 series lead.

A lot of events happening in the coming weeks. Celebrating my friend’s birthday on Saturday with a pub crawl downtown. A few days after that, is a 9 day holiday. Unsure of where I’ll be going then, but I don’t want to stay at home like I did during Christmas break. More to come soon. Stay classy

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Good Friday in Japanese is still Good Friday nonetheless

A bit of firsts when it came to attending Good Friday service; the obvious difference is that it was entirely in Japanese (to my surprise); I tried to follow the text in the book, reading the characters (thank goodness for hiragana next to the corresponding kanji), but not entirely fully understanding — otherwise I got the message. Next came the unusual timeslot of 7pm, far different from the usual 3pm services of years past (then again, different church). The length of the service was surprisingly short — no longer than a typical Sunday mass. I’d think the total amount of people attended exceeded 50, but not near 100. Nothing was omitted, just that the Passion reading wasn’t sung so it did go much quicker.

Nothing really to report since the last post, but entirely non-related, I have been watching my fair share of hockey online — particularly the Vancouver Canucks since I got stable internet last December. With just one game remaining against the Colorado Avalanche, we need a bit of luck along the way to clinch the Northwest Division; A Calgary regulation loss paired with a Canuck win or regulation tie (OT or SO, doesn’t matter) will do it. I hope I got that right. Here’s hoping! Regardless, playoffs, here we come!!!

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The countdown continues: cherry blossoms arrive with under 50 days to go.

The countdown to returning to Vancouver is official as my flight date has been changed. With under 50 days remain, a few things become prominent — the fact that it only seemed like yesterday I moved in to my apartment in October, and more recently the appearance of the Sakura. While it isn’t a total shock to see them, they’re quite visible in Vancouver in early March; that’s not to take anything from seeing them here. After all, Japan is the place of its origin.

I fully believe April will finally be the month I’ve been looking forward to over this trip. November or December certainly did not meet expectations. More to come in the coming weeks.

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