The first day I made it back to my apartment after the latest Japan Earthquake. I was living near Hitachi City which still had a nice magnitude 8 earthquake in the area knocking out water, electricity, and gas for the following days… when I first got back to my place, I decided to start keeping a log of the situation and my thoughts.
From the category archives:
Japanese
Out in the Japanese countryside, in the middle of winter, it’s cold and snowy. But at least there is an ocean nearby. With insane Japanese people trying to surf in it.
Happy New Year from Japan, once again!
Above is a picture of a temple in the middle of 井の頭公園 (Inokashira Park) which possibly some people visited on New Year’s, I wouldn’t know because I was in the middle of moving, once again.
And for the record, the girl in the picture is Korean, just to confuse you more 
So what has the new year brought me? Well, for starters I’ve moved yet again (that would be three times in one year, which may be a record for me). So I switched my view from this:
To this:
And finally to this:
So it’s not all that bad. The ocean is pretty.
And of course, whenever I move, I have to change my portable desk, once again to some cross-breed of what I had previously. Now it looks like this:
Still portable, and still plenty of screen real-estate. And it’s already survived one minor earthquake, so it seems to be okay 
Another thing which comes with moving so frequently, is the lack of stuff I have. Like cooking utensils.
Which means I am back on the convenience store diet, which such delicacies such as:
And these:
And these:
And if I felt brave enough:
That’s right 長芋 (long potatoes?) right. But again, the lack of cooking utensils problem. So…. no.
But oh yeah, there’s this too:
Ramen. Lots of it. Gotta save money right? Not just any ramen, One Piece Ramen! (No, I didn’t buy it, as the picture says like $4… I like One Piece, but not that much!…. Okay, I’m poor)
And because I am too poor cheap money conscientious to buy any new cooking utensils and/or devices, I am making good use of the recipes in this book:
That’s right. Someone wrote it before me! An entire book dedicated to cooking everything with your microwave. Genius. I didn’t buy it, but I flipped through and nodded my head in agreement a lot.
Since I am now living alone again, I am spending a lot of my time reading as much of this stuff as possible.
Which actually seems like a pretty comprehensive list of Manga you must read. Just to be in the know.
But in another effort to be a cheapskate… I mean save money, I’ve found that buying huge collections of Manga I like (such as One Piece, did I mention that?) like this:
Oh yeah~! It’s gonna be a good year
So that’s a quick update for now. Just to get the ball rolling. Loads more of silly Japan adventures soon.
Once again, Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to all! Above is my Xmas tree for the season. It’s all I could afford, seriously. I’ve finally completely exhausted all of my money…
Which brings me to the Good News, Bad News, and what the heck is going on with me (and Arvale, of course).
Good news first: I got a job. Which essentially means I will be getting more money to pour into my interests, such more as Arvale and Music. Oh, and I can afford to eat lunch again. So good in the end for everyone.
What kind of job? Unfortunately, according to my contract, I’m not allowed to specifically say what I do or where I do it (because my blog is completely public and I don’t hide behind anonymity). But I can show some details with no harm:
It requires me wearing lots of suits, ties, belts and other assorted clothing which makes me look a lot better than I actually am.
And requires me travel on lots of trains. To really distant places.
Across the vast countrysides of Japan. Which look something like that.
The job also means I had to move to another corner of Japan. Outside of Tokyo. I can’t tell the exact location, but I can say it’s in 茨城県 which narrows it down for those with a burning curiosity.
But! One more good thing the job comes with one of these:
Blurry enough to have zero meaning to many of you. But basically, it’s a 3 year Visa for Japan. Which means I get to hang out here for three more years without worrying too much about being kicked out any time soon, as long as I keep working
The Bad News (depending on your perspective) is that Arvale (and a few other side projects) have obviously been delayed a bit. With the moving to yet another new apartment, in another city, and getting adjusted to a new job and workplace, it’s taken up quite a bit of my time and resources recently. But I promise that once the job settles down a bit, I can get back into my development groove and Arvale will be back on the menu, big time.
I really wanted to have Arvale out around Christmas time, but it looks like it will take a bit more time. I sincerely apologize for that.
However, this also means I get to spend more time polishing it and making it everything I want it to be without rushing it out the door. So… More Wheelbarrows shall be added, of course!
In any case, it’s Xmas everyone! Go celebrate, spend time with your family and/or loved ones, or veg out and play video games all day, as that’s what the season is about, right? Right!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and it is much less lonely than this Christmas Illumination display I attended
See you soon!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving whether you celebrate it or not.
I’m not a big eater, so Thanksgiving dinner isn’t my main goal (spending time with friends and family is), but I love the leftovers; which essentially means free food for approximately the next week.
Personal Stuff (boring!): My overall health seems a bit better. I’ve been pretending to relax pretty well. I’m slowly gearing up for the 能力試験 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N1 which is on December 5th. I finally started reading 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン. New Harry Potter was awesome. I went to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix and geeked out (Yay! Phoenix actually has a respectable museum worth visiting!) which I’ll post about at another time.
Japanese Stuff (really boring!): While I am still SRSing every day, I’ve been in a slump where I have a backorder of 800 sentence cards due in Anki, and I really haven’t had the time to beat them all out yet. Out of the 7300 cards though, there’s really no rush. Heisig is about the same with 400 cards due (out of 2600 or so, I haven’t checked), but I’m less worried as I know most of those are over a year old (stuff like 一 and 食 and when I get them right, I won’t see them for 3 years).
Arvale Stuff (finally!): As far as Arvale IV, which is just around the corner, here are some shots of some upcoming levels:
Anyone who has played Arvale II: Ocean of Time may be familiar with the name of this island
It was one of the little gems from that game, with a small village of natives who spoke a strange language and tried to pawn off authentic glowing skull necklaces to tourists.
…Not that you need to have played Arvale II: Ocean of Time to enjoy Arvale: Treasure of Memories, but… if you have want to tide yourself over until ATM IV comes out, well, it’s on the Free Games page for Free. And you can’t beat Free.
And some shots from the continent of Sytae, which has been hinted at and spoken about since Episode I…
… Which is just as dark, creepy and desolate as its been described by Duncan so far. I’ll go ahead and added mysterious to the list of adjectives now too.
That’s it for now, expect more stuff to materialize soon.
Now go eat a Turkey Sandwich.
