happylife

A Self-converted Ballpoint Pen

It's a good idea to always carry a small notebook in your pocket with a small ballpoint pen. You can always jot down any idea, memo and whatever you like onto it. I had been looking for a good ballpoint pen which is short enough to bind aside of my small notebook and also which is smooth enough to write with. I had been using a Japanese, cheap ballpoint pen which has so called "gel ink." It is, I think, one of the greatest innovations in the ballpoint pen industry -- It is as smooth as waterborne pen and it never bleeds just like an oil-based pen without making lumps. It was good except for one thing -- too cheesy! The other day, I found a well designed, small ballpoint pen on the Internet and after a second, I clicked the purchase button out there. It is made in Italy and I loved it at first sight, however, I was really disappointed with its terrible ink performance-- it was far from smoothness and it leaves a lot of lumps on the paper. I tried to used the Japanese gel ink with the Italian ballpoint pen. I had to cut and trim the ink cartridge but I succeeded in converting the two pens into one ideal pen. It is a good combination of Japanese high-tech and Italian design.

Old but Good Media

As you can read on this package, this shark-fin-shaped gadget is a radio tuner and capturer for PC and Mac. I've been using it since last month and I think it was one of my best shopping recently. Sure we can enjoy so called the Internet radio on our PC without this device, but I prefer traditional radio broadcastings. The DJs are more professional, the talks are more sophisticated and the choices of songs are full of variations. For some reasons such as copyright problem, the traditional radio and the Internet are not fused well especially in Japan. They have to glow together in the future, but it may take years. I think this device makes up the gap between them. Just by connecting the shark-fin-shaped gadget to the USB port of Mac and installing small software, we can listen and record any traditional radio program on the Mac. As we can use timer recording and the recorded data is saved into the iTunes library, we can enjoy any radio program on the iPod or iPhone. It's really convenient and I never feel bored while waiting for a train or someone away from home.

Shinkansen Super Express

When I came back from the sailing in Wakayama, I used a Shinkansen Super Express for the first time in these almost ten years. I used to board Shinkansen very often when I was an employed business man and to tell the truth, I didn't like it very much because of its business like atmosphere. It used to be full of businessmen who were doing business conversations or document works in the morning and who smelled alcohol at night in the car. All those things were packed in a blocked space and I sometimes had light claustrophobia. However, the train this time, whose nickname was Nozomi, was a little bit different from what I knew as Shinkansen. Sure, the time when I traveled was off the business hours, but the car itself had developed much from older type of Shinkansen. As you might know, Shinkansen runs on a special wide rail system which is independent of normal railways. Making the best use of the wide rail, the Nozomi had ultimately spacious cars. I could fully stretch my legs on the seat. Also I could connect to the Internet in the car and enjoy video on my MacBook. It was so pleasant that I wasn't bored at all. I think that Shinkansen is the best way to travel around major cities in Japan.

After a Long Break

The other day, I went to Wakayama to enjoy sailing after a long break. According to my blog, it was more than two years ago when I sailed in Vancouver last. I hadn't even touched a sailing boat since then because sailing is not so common in Japan. It's really weird as Japan is surrounded by the ocean. Anyway, I sailed my friend's friend's boat this time, which was way more gorgeous and well designed than any other boats I have boarded in Canada. It sailed at more than seven knots with a gentle breeze and we could enjoy dinner watching a high-vision TV in the cabin. They are planning to sail to Okinawa to watch the eclipse of the sun this July and I was invited to the eclipse cruising. That must be great. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm scared of the hard weather -- July is the Typhoon season and Okinawa is one of the most notorious mecca for Typoon!