Events – Page 58 – The Kumachan

A View of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

Dave 2009-04-19

Took a walk on Waikiki beach and took a couple of photos of Diamond Head.

Hilton Hawaiian Village

Dave 2009-04-18

I got roped into going on a business trip for training and they twisted my arm to fly to Hawaii where I stayed in the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Overall this was a nice hotel with nice services, however it was a bit pricy and it seems as though it is a trap. The hotel has everything that you want to prevent you from ever leaving. It is close enough to Waikiki to either walk or take the trolley. A nice stroll down the beach is always an nice venture. Here are some photos I took of my room, views from around the hotel, and even the views from the beach.

Omiya, Japan

Dave 2009-04-04

Today I went to Omiya, which is located in the Saitama Prefecture, in Japan. There seems to be a lot of bars, restaurants, snacks, and other forms of entertainment in this area. Here are some of the photos I took of this adventure.

Pavement Art

Dave 2009-04-02

Another Thawte Notary 10 Points

Dave 2009-03-28

Today I took a train for 1 hour to a little place called Tsutsujigaoka. This is in Tokyo, but it is probably a part of Tokyo that I would not normally go to. When I got there I was met by a nice German guy who works for a bank. We went to a coffee shop, even though I can’t stand coffee, and we filled out all the necessary paperwork and started talking a bit about security and what each of us does. It was really cool to meet a guy who has very similar interests and it is neat to see how the financial industry deals with security. We talked for about 10-15 minutes and then I ventured my way back home, taking another hour to get back. Unfortunately I did not take any photos on this trip.

Thawte Notary 10 Points

Dave 2009-03-26

Today I took the train for about an hour and stopped at Kawasaki to meet a Japanese guy who worked at IBM. We filled out the necessary forms right there in the train station and then I had to fight rush hour traffic for an hour to get back home. That was my first time to Kawasaki and it was neat to meet another person with the same interests, but our conversation did not get too deep because he didn’t speak English and my Japanese speaking abilities doesn’t really get into technical words. It was an experience and now I’ve only got 90 more points to go in order to become a notary myself. Along the train ride I passed a place Shitte, I can’t say that I would want to live in Shitte town. Below is a photo of that. The second photo is inside Kawasaki train station. As you can see, it was pretty busy.

Thawte Notary

Dave 2009-03-25

I have recently embarked on a new venture and it is to obtain a Thawte web of trust notary status. In order to obtain this status I have to accumulate 100 points by meeting with different people face to face and filling out paperwork that verifies we met face to face and showing my identification to prove I am who I say I am. The notary who is validating my identity must maintain a record that we have met in person and protect this information for up to 5 years. Different notaries are able to give different amounts of points based on how many people they have notarized with a maximum of 35 points. This venture will give me my name on my digital certificate as well as notary status so that I will be able to assist others with getting their names on their digital certificates too. It may not be too impressive to most people, however having private data being protected when transmitted via electronic mail usually makes me feel a little bit safer. At first I didn’t think this was going to be very much fun at all, but once I met a couple different people, it is actually pretty fun to go places I probably normally would not go and meeting other people with the same interests as me. I will keep a log and track each place I go on upcoming posts.

Shibuya Crossing

Dave 2009-02-14

Went to Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan today. Here are some of the photos of the experience. You can see Tower records, Disney store, and the most busy intersection in the world.

It’s Just a Catfish

Dave 2009-02-13

This would be ‘all the catfish you can eat.’ Each year, a few people were drowning or disappearing mysteriously in Huadu, China’s Furong Reservoir. It was not until recently, when the son of a government official went swimming, in the reservoir and was drowned, that the secret was revealed. It is a 3 meter long man-eating catfish whose head alone is 1 meter wide! After cutting up the catfish, people were surprised to find the remains of another man inside! Swimming in the reservoir is now forbidden because it is feared another similar man-eating catfish is still lurking in the waters.

Seattle, Washington

Dave 2009-01-13

I’m in Seattle, Washington for a few days on a business trip. While here I decided to go take a look at the fish market and the space needle. Here are a couple photos I took of those places.

Gotemba Premium Outlets

Dave 2009-01-04

Today I wanted to drive over toward Mount Fuji to see what it was looking like at this time of year. On the way over there I happened to notice some premium outlet stores at Gotemba and it looked like a good place to stop and look around. The outlet stores must be pretty popular because they were packed and there was busloads of people that kept arriving. I decided to walk around and look at the outlet stores. I went into a G-Shock store, but their selection of G-Shock watches was terrible. I asked them if they had any solar powered G-shock watches and they showed me this selection that looked like some cheap 3 dollar watches that had the name G-Shock stamped onto them. I literally wouldn’t have paid more than $5.00 for one of those watches, but they were charing about $100. I went into the Oakley store to see what they had to offer. They had a bunch of snow boarding clothes, backpacks, and of course sunglasses, but the problem was with the clothes that they were all Japanese sizes. Good luck trying to find any large clothes in Japan. I ended up walking through some other stores, but the one thing I noticed is that they had very limited selection of items on the floor and the prices were crazy. I guess I’m going to be stuck doing my clothes shopping online or wait until I can go somewhere else.

Photos of Drive on the Tomei Express from Kanagawa to Shizuoka Prefecture

Dave 2009-01-04

Took a drive on the Tomei expressway from Kanagawa Prefecture to Shizuoka Prefecture. Here are some photos I took along the way. If you look you can see Mount Fuji in some of the photos.

Happy New Year!

Dave 2009-01-01

This year for New Year’s Eve, I decided to go to Shibuya, Tokyo. I went to a dance club called Womb. On the way to club Womb I passed a couple other clubs and there were lines out the door. This club seemed as though it was more low key as there was a door man and no sign out front. Once inside the club it cost 5,000 Yen per person, then another 500 yen for them to store the items you have and then 500 yen per drink. Once I got through the door, there was about 30 minutes before midnight, and I went into this small room. While waiting in line for a drink I started talking to another person and I asked them if this was the whole club. He said no it wasn’t and to go upstairs. So I decided to fight through all the people trying to get into the front door to head for the stairs. Once I got upstairs this place was packed with people. The room had a couple DJ’s on one side of the room with a huge disco ball hanging from the ceiling and a bar in the back of the room and laser lights projecting onto a huge screen the exact time it was until the countdown began. Everywhere between there were people packed so tight that when the crowd moved, everybody in the room moved. I stayed in this room until the turn of the new year, probably because it was so tight in there that I couldn’t move, then I decided to go upstairs to see what else this club had to offer. There were a couple more rooms with Hi-NRG techno music playing, but it wasn’t long that I got sick of being stuck in the crowd. I ended up leaving there and going to a more low key bar and stayed in there until about 6 A.M. It was a fun night and definitely a cool experience, but I was amazed that there wasn’t more people passing out and needing to be rushed to the hospital.

Atlanta Burger King Sign

Dave 2008-12-29

Proof that the Atlanta city school system works! This is an actual picture of a Burger King in Atlanta.

When a Deer Comes Knocking

Dave 2008-11-23

Who is knocking at my back door? I’m not sure who the source is, but interesting nonetheless.

Tokyo Tower

Dave 2008-11-15

Went to Roppongi today to check out the Tokyo tower and enjoy a panoramic view of Tokyo. The weather wasn’t the most clear, but it was still good. I could see Rainbow bridge, Fuji television in Odaiba, and other parts of the city. Here are the photos I took during this adventure.

Nightmare Renters

Dave 2008-11-11

What do you mean I can’t get my rental deposit back?

Best Pumpkin

Dave 2008-10-30

Interesting Cars

Dave 2008-09-28

Yesterday I drove to Narita airport and after I parked my car I happened to notice a couple interesting cars in the parking lot, so I had to take a couple photos. The yellow car is called a smart car. It looks extremely small and compact. I think you may fit one comfortably and a briefcase. This car is in Japan, so maybe you could fit two Japanese people comfortably. The 2nd car, I have no idea what kind of car it is, but I thought the rear window was unique. The overall shape of the car was pretty unique.

Photos of Drive Between Sagami-ono to Narita, Japan

Dave 2008-09-27

Took a drive from Sagami-ono to Narita airport in Japan. Here are some photos I took along the way and also some neat cars I saw at the Narita airport.