• The Week #167

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    • We moved offices from Ningyocho to Roppongi. The new office is great – better location, fantastic views from every side, plenty of areas to meet, large kitchen with better coffee. But I'll also miss the old office because it's an end of an era for us in Japan...we're past the startup phase and running full speed ahead. Pour one out for Ningyocho. I'm looking forward to many years in Ark Hills Towers South.
      The Kitchen

      Kraken's side of the office

      Presentation area and Kraken Flex area

      Tokyo Tower from the office
    • I watched this video on Akiya, or abandoned houses in Japan. You've probably read about Akiya before, those "free" houses in Japan. If you have the patience or skills to renovate them, you can get some stunning results for not a whole lot of money. I really like that guys backyard in Ibaraki...though perhaps on second thought, I just like the idea of BBQing without a second thought of my neighbors laundry.
    • Β I'm amazed at the amount of paperwork and things we need to maintain for Leo's school. In addition to all his lunch box, cup, and utensils we also need to maintain multiple (homemade) cloth bags / containers for each (incase we can't wash them everyday). Even keeping all of this folded and put away on a shelf in baskets, it still looks like a bunch of clutter.Β 

      We took the Sakura for a spin to Ikea to pickup some cabinets. We decided on a couple of Eket cabinets to store his school stuff, as well as lot of other items to reduce the sense of clutter in the house. Building the Eket was a challenge and my tip is, should you ever find yourself putting one together, use a hammer with a thick towel to smack it into place if you need to.
    • The trip to Ikea was my first time riding the highway with the Sakura. It was a breeze – the instant torque from the EV motor makes merging a non-issue. I also like that since we've got a smaller car, the tolls are less as well.

  • The Week #166

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    • We got our Nissan Sakura. I won't give a full review, as I'm not a automotive expert, but it's everything I'd hoped it would be. It's quiet. The automatic parking works great – even parallel parking in front of my house. Kei's really do fit Japanese streets much better than regular sized cars.

      Mainly though, I don't feel like the Onceler polluting the air (and exasperating climate change)Β  everywhere I go. For a full review, check out the Fully Charged Show's review of the Sakura.
    • Speaking of Nissan, I watched the documentary series on Carlos Ghoson (former CEO of Nissan/Renault) on AppleTV. It was interesting to see and hear how he escaped from Japan in a box. Before the documentary, I was on team "they're (Nissan) probably overreacting because they want him out"...and now I'm not so sure. Even with that, I still think his treatment was unfair...but that's the Japanese justice system generally. Well worth a watch.
    • A small milestone for Leo, but he's showering by himself now. I haven't had to wash his hair or bum in over a week. He's been capable of doing it for a while now I reckon, but I just asked him to do it one day...and he got the taste of being a big kid and it seems there's no going back.
    • In work related news, Octopus Energy is buying Shell's household energy business. This will result in about 2 million accounts for Octopus Energy UK and Germany. Exciting times!
    • jwz (founder of Netscape) owns a club DNA Lounge in SF. They're having (had?) a Cyberdelia event with a Hackers (1995) screening and music. It looks like it would be a lot of fun. I won't attending, so why am I mentioning it? Because they made a hypercard zine(!!) for it, which runs on the internet archive's hypercard/system 7 emulator. So good.
    • I found out that a favorite restaurant of ours closed down - not for a lack of business, but because the chef was retiring and there wasn't anyone to take it over. Lunch was always 3 different set menus, A, B, or C. I forget what they were exactly, but A was my favorite. It was a butter-jyouyuu (butter-soy sauce) spaghetti with a hamburger patty and fat slice of simmer daikon on top, served with rice, salad, and coffee. The chef always gave us a cup of crab-miso soup on the house. Ajisai, you will be missed.

  • The Week #165

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    • I finally got a call that my car will be ready next week. Initially it was going to be ready on Sunday, because that's when the coatings will be finished, but due to scheduling conflicts with my sales guy, we'll pick it up Saturday, and I'll bring it in for a couple of hours for them to do the coating.

      The final thing I've been researching are the "charge cards", which are cards that allow you to use rapid chargers.The thing is, they all require a monthly fee to maintain as well as charge for the time using the charger. This means the pricing is set around what larger vehicles will consume in 30 minutes (the standard charging time), so people with smaller batteries that will consume a theoretical maximum of 15kWh, end up paying around Β₯200 kWh...which is very expensive. Thankfully all chargers also allow you to charge as a visitor and the rates are more reasonable.Β  I wish Octopus Energy had a charge card that just put it on my bill like I consumed it at home (I'm speaking purely as a customer. I am not aware of any plans or details to do anything EV in Japan, other than our EV tariff, which is public...and I'll likely be changing to).
    • Planning to live aΒ  charge card free EV life, I've also started installing the various "e-money" cards for the big shopping centers like waon (for Aeon malls) and Nanaco (for anything 7-11). Why? These large malls often have EV charger points that let you charge for much cheaper rates. Aeon in particular has 30 minutes for Β₯300, but you've got to use their waon card for payment. For large EVs with big batteries, they're pretty much selling wholesale or using it as a loss-leader...for smaller EVs like mine, it's roughly what I'd pay per kWh during "EV time".
    • I don't talk about work too much on this blog, but we're hiring for a Senior Product Manager at work. I've been doing this along with leading the tech team for the part of Kraken that I work on... and while it worked when the team was smaller, the team and product have grown to the point where it can't be a part-time job.
    • We've gotten a break from the summer heat. Most days are still above 30, but it's not reaching the highs that it was and it's not 30+ degrees 7am any longer. I think this reprieveΒ  from the heat has made it easier to get out and start running again.
    • Speaking of running, I've started a free trial for paid Strava. Clicking about, I really like the route planner / suggestion feature. As I start going for longer more regular runs, I think letting the computer suggest routes for me will take out some of the rut and help me explore even more.

  • The Week #164

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    • Immediately after building the Strava to Blog feature into Tanzawa, I promptly stopped running. This week, after a conversation with a co-worker about not putting work before your health, I went running 3 times in the last 7 days. It's been great and I hope I can continue, despite it being hot and humid.
    • I biked with Leo to and from the co-op twice. He's getting stronger and made it further up the hill. Another week or two and he should have it down. Riding bikes together like this reminds me of riding bikes with my dad along the beach growing up in California. I'd love to do this with Leo, too. But our new car (heck, even our old car) wouldn't fit either of my bikes and his bike. Maybe this is the excuse I need to buy a Brompton folding bike..and start training for the world championships.
    • Immediately after writing that last sentence I went down the YouTube rabbit hole of Bromptons and wow. Before I was also thinking "A Dahon would probably be fine, too", but they're large enough (because of the larger wheels) that I feel like it would decrease me actually taking it places via the train. But again, not buying a Brompton, just want to enjoy riding bikes with my kid where we won't get hit by cars and we're not climbing hills in every direction. ( Which really makes it sound like I'm buying a Brompton because *gestures everywhere* hills ( I'm not...this year. Really.))
    • Over the past...at least since I moved to Japan, it's been difficult to keep in contact with my Dad. I have a US Skype number, but I don't keep Skype open nor does it make my phone ring..so I don't notice someone calls me until months after the fact. We've tried using LINE, but again, it doesn't make my phone ring and then my dad has to remember to check it. Email works for sending photos, but it doesn't really work for video, plus it feels a bit formal, what with needing a subject and all.

      Last week I got an iPad for my dad and this week I helped him a router with WiFi over the phone so he could use said iPad on it. Now we can use iMessage to send photos, videos, and texts to keep in contact easier. We did a test FaceTime call with it and the camera is so good...I can actually see my dad. Hopefully this will make it easier to keep in touch and for me to share photos and videosΒ  of his grandson.

  • The Week #163

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    • ⛰️ Friday was mountain day in Japan. We went and saw an evening showing ofΒ  Elemental. I highly recommend it. It was perhaps a bit too long for Leo, as towards the end he said he wanted it to hurry up and end...but he sat through all of it.

      I haven't seen a movie at night in a very long time, but I think they're so much better than the day. Mostly because you don't come home from being out all day just to have to cook dinner and wash dishes...

      After the movie we had coffee and a cookie at Starbucks. The weather was perfect outside as well, increasing my enjoyment. Before Leo we used to go to the cafe at night on a regular basis and it was really good to do that again.
    • πŸ“Έ I had a good conversation with an old internet buddy (since I was in junior high / high school?), Brad. We were both into j-rock/j-dramas. Our chat got me reminiscing about the old sites and online communities we used to be a part of.

      Ones like lomo.box.sk, bulletin board with news and user blogs, focused on photography with the lomo cameras. For the uninitiated, the lomos are small film cameras with minimal settings and no zoom. Their marketed as an artsy and fun camera. You "shoot from the hip". And for interesting effects you don't use photoshop or some digital filter, you use colored flashes or cross-process your film.

      One of the main contributors to the site was based in Tokyo,Β  so there always good photos of Shibuya at night. I spent many a night in the suburbs in Texas thinking about how lucky he was to live in Japan and be able to walk outside and have something interesting to shoot.

      Part of me misses photography, not that I was ever good or serious. I should try to carve out some time one evening/early morning to go out and shoot. Here's a couple of photos from the early 2000's I took with lomo and cross-processed. People that have followed me online for a while will have seen these before.
      Yours truly (~18-ish years ago). Yellow color splash and cross-processed.

      Galveston, Texas at night. Cross-processed.
    • 🐘 Leo and I finally be the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, one of the first big quests. I feel a bit embarrassed that I didn't realize I could use regular arrows or Cryonis (the ability to turn water into ice and also break said ice) to destroy the ice cubes he throws at you for well over a month. As such I had been tried using nothing but shock arrows, which are rarer.
    • πŸ₯” We've got potatoes and onion overflowing in the house, so I made some roasted potatoes with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and garam masala. Standard flavors / spices (at least for me). I'm happy to report that Leo a) requested to eat them and b) asked that I make them again tomorrow. Yessir 🫑. The highest praise from this picky eater.
    • 🚲 Leo and I rode our bikes together to the grocery store for the first and second time. This was our first time riding bikes together that wasn't in front of the house. The entire time Leo kept repeating "This is so much fun!" (but in Japanese) and indeed it is a lot of fun to ride bikes together. I'm looking forward to when his legs are a bit stronger and he can climb the small hill on the way back from co-op and stronger still so we can go to the local Starbucks.Β 
    • 🎢 I have two albums of the week this week. First is Black & White by Casey Bean. I really like Play it Cool, which he performed on a recent episode of The Beanpod, a podcast about life in Japan. The other is an album that I've probably recommended on here before... Original Pirate Material by The Streets. This one is recommended because I was in a bit of a funk...and had the lyrics to Who Got the Funk come to my head while walking the dog...and went for a run to get rid of it...lest I become a geezer.

  • The Week #162

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    • We went to the Odawara Hilton hotel with the big pool that we went to last year. It was a lot of fun though was muuch busier this time around what with covid restrictions being a thing of the past and the borders open again.I booked using my family discount, so it was a bit cheaper for the room...but then I realized it didn't include dinner or breakfast. And since it's a "resort", there's not anything across the street or even nearby. So we had to reserve when we checked in...which resulted in dinner at 7:30, which is a bit later for us than usual.

      Thanks to that though, we got the kill some time spending money at places we usually wouldn't in the hotel – namely the "amusement center", which includes 8 lanes of bowling, air hockey, and some arcade games.

      I love bowling. I took 2-semesters in college as my sport. So I was happy to be able to play a couple of games with Leo (bumpers down). He loved it. In his second game, he event managed to knock all the pins down. I'm greatly looking forward to going bowling again.

      As for the main attraction at the hotel, the pool, it was as good as always. Leo's swimming has really improved. His front crawl is on point. We went both as soon as we arrived and for an hour in the morning before checkout. I think visiting the Hilton Odawara Spa and Resort may become an annual trip for our family.

      Looking down at Nebukawa station tracks.

      Nebukawa station doesn't have any station staff

      Watching the sun rise from our room
    • Until relatively recently, sun umbrellas were used almost exclusively by women. I've thought this was ridiculous for a while, but the only sun umbrellas they sold were all frilly, something I'd be embarrassed to carry by myself.

      Recently though, they've been making more "mens" / unisex umbrellas. i.e. simple black or or gray ones (thank god men's version == camouflage patternsΒ  isn't a thing here). And as such there's been a growing number of men carrying the umbrellas – enough for a dedicated word, ζ—₯ε‚˜η”·ε­ (higasa-danshi) or "sun umbrella guy".Β  I've become a ζ—₯ε‚˜η”·ε­.

      My particular umbrella is collapsible. The top is gray and the inside is black, which is what allows it to block 100% of UV. The handle has a slight curve so it can hang on things. The stem is made a cheap alumni that feels like it will (and indeed it did) bend with a good gust of wind. It can be used in the rain as well.

      As for the experience, it's so much cooler, like walking in the shade the entire time you're outdoors, even when there is none. I felt a bit sad for salarymen walking under the oppressive august sun without one. No sunglasses...no UV umbrellas...do theyΒ  not teach about the sun in school?
      Where I trialed my UV umbrella. A toasty 34 degrees out.

  • The Week #161

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    • For the first time since I moved into my neighborhood, the neighborhood association had a festival. It usually a yearly thing and they canceled it during the pandemic. They held it on the grounds of our neighborhood elementary school and it was a lot of fun.

      We went with some neighborhood friends/pre-school friends who live in the neighborhood. Boys dressed in jimbei (me included) and girls in yukata. There were some stalls with yaki-soba, corn dogs, shaved ice, beer, and more. In the center was a large stand with a taiko and people would take turns drumming it. While there Leo ran into other friends from pre-school and he ran around heaps (good thing for the running as his dinner was a croquette and a giant shaved ice).
      Summer Festa 2023
    • My father-in-law turned 81, which boggles my mind. He doesn't look like he's in his 80's in the slightest. I think the secret is to be active everyday, especially as we age. The moment you stop moving you start losing it. We went over to his house and brought ice cream (Leo's request) and unagi and sushi for dinner.
    • I've been making good progress on Ultra-Processed People on my kindle. So far it's been enlightening. The two ideas that are standing out to me immediately are: the struggle for life takes place within us and food seems not to be the just the sum of its elements, how it's processed affects health.

      Inside our bodies is a unique and complex microbiome of bacteria that help us digest and extract nutrients. There's also a balance at place – bacteria in your gut are different from those in your large intestine and on. They've evolved with us over the millennia to digesting certain kinds of foods, which helps keeps them in balance and us healthy.

      Over the past 50 years there's been a large percentage of the population that overweight. It seems like it's mostly caused by eating industrialized food-like substances (ultra-processed foods). You'll find the same basic ingredients in UPF that when made traditionally, would have entirely different ingredients lists. Indeed in clinical studies they've found that people will eat more UFP (500 calories/day) and enjoy it less. Industrialized food is a lie.

      Highly recommend giving this book a read.
    • My headphones right channel stopped broke producing sound. The cables don't look damaged at all, which is odd. I've had these headphones (Sony studio monitors) for about 11 years so I'm a bit sad that it seems they've reached their EOL. I don't particularly want to buy a new pair of headphones right now, but at the same time, losing the wire would remove a weekly stress as inevitability my headphone cable tangles with my keyboard cable...πŸ€”Β 

  • The Week #160

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    • My results came in from the dermatologist and as I expected, it's a basal cell. We're going to try this chemo creme for 4 weeks and see how it reacts. 3-days a week after I shower before bed I put the creme on the spot / surrounding area, and as it's quite strong, I wash it off in the morning. I've only used it one night, but it looks like it's already clearing it up.
    • An electrician came out to quote for installing an plug outside to charge our new car. While the Sakura "supports" 6kw charging, it won't ever charge faster than 3kw. Rather than "future proofing" the house with a bigger (and more expensive) setup than I can use,Β  I decided to go with a regular 200V port outside.
    • In more household electricity news my solar panels hit their 3rd mwh (3,000 kwh) of generation πŸŽ‰.
    • Beau Miles released a new video on YouTube, "Renovating a canoe while running a marathon". I really like his approach to life (as portrayed in his work) as it always inspire me to do more things than sit on my computer.
    • Since Amazon closed down an English bookseller they bought (I forget the name...but they sold through Amazon), getting English books in a timely manner at reasonable prices has proven to be a bit more difficult. The cheap yen isn't helping matters in those regards either. Then I remembered ebooks are a thing that I've used / enjoyed in the past. I started looking at kindles (the paperwhite looks quite nice)...and while I'm tempted to buy some new shiny electronics a friend reminded me I already own a kindle. Instead I charged my 10-year old kindle and started using it. Immediately I picked up some books that I left off reading a few years ago. And since it syncs automatically, I can pickup on my phone / computer / kindle. It's great.

      Then I bough a new book and remembered why I stopped using it. I've got 2 Amazon accounts: US and Japan. My kindle is associated with my US account as I bought it when I lived in the US and my regular shopping occurs from Japan. Naturally you can't merge libraries across accounts because DRM nor can you do household sharing (it doesn't exist in Amazon Japan).

      My solution is to stop buying ebooks from Amazon. I returned the book unread and instead started purchasing them from Rakuten (Kobo). As is, just buying them from kobo leaves me in no better position, as their books are DRMed and I'd need a kobo reader to read them (or a non-kindle). With a bit of finagling I was able to remove the DRM so I can read kobo epub ebooks on my kindle. The purchase experience isn't as seamless as it would be if I was in a pure Kindle camp (and I would be if I didn't need to share across accounts). Totally against the license for using the books. But also totally fair use as I'm just trying to read them on an existing reader. Hooray for re-using things we already own and generating less e-waste.

  • The Week #159

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    • Each year at Leo's pre-school (and it seems most pre-schools in Japan) once summer vacation starts, they have one night where the oldest kids get to spend the night. This week included that night. What do they do at school? They gave us a link to an unlisted YouTube video (that I've archived) that shows us exactly what they were up to.

      Each class made their own dinner together. They all peeled carrots, potatoes, and slice onions for curry. The kids started the fire that they cooked over as well. Leo managed to peel part of his fingernail off πŸ˜–. Beyond making dinner on a bbq, they also went hunting for bugs in a nearby forest. When the sun went down they had a campfire, sang, and roasted marshmallows. For bath time (not included in the video) all the kids took a dip in this big pool. They looked like they had a great time and I'm happy Leo could participate.
    • Without Leo at the house Yumi and I were able to go out for dinner and coffee like the old days and it was a lot of fun. Most importantly we didn't need to worry about how long we were taking because family was watching Leo...we could just go with the flow. I don't know how long it's been since we've been able to do that, but it's been a long time.
    • This week has been hot. Everyday in Kanto has had a slow of 25 - 26 (79F) and a high of around 37 (99F). Combined with the humidity and the best thing you can do is hide inside the house until the sun goes down.

      Having solar certainly makes it easier for me keep cool without thinking about it...but even with these long summer days, I'm not sure if it's the heat, the angle of the sun, or a combination of both, but my generation is actually lower than it was in April. On these bright sunny days I generate about 16 kWh a day, while there were times before where I was generating 18kWh+. I've noticed too that my panels almost never get up to 2.6kWh like they did during spring, instead topping out 2kWh...
    • Tokyo Gas was representing Tokyo-to in the inner-city baseball tournament. Work offered tickets for everybody, so a bunch of us went to watch some baseball and root for home team. I took Leo with me as well so he could see his first baseball game.

      The game was at Tokyo Dome from 10am and we had to be there by 9:30am. It takes about an hour and a half for us to get there and we left early so we didn't need to rush. Whenever I ride into Tokyo with Leo when it's just the two of us we usually take the green-car. This time we enjoyed breakfast during the trip.

      As for the actual game - it could have been more exciting. The first 9-innings were completely shutout, 0-0. After that they did a *hybrid* sudden-death where the team at bat starts with a player on 1st and 2nd base, so it's easier to score. We ultimately lost in the 11th or 12th inning with JR Shikoku got run.

      When we got back to our station I asked Leo if he had a fun and he simply said "No", which makes sense, shutout baseball isn't very exciting, no matter how many dancing pacchos there are on the dugout.

  • The Week #157

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    • I sold my car to Big Motor. Emptying it before I drove it made me realize just how big it was and how that lead to the bad habit of just storing stuff in it that we use "sometimes when we go park".Β  I was extra cautious when driving it to the dealer for the last time. I really didn't want to get into an accident and then be unable to sell it / sell it for the agreed upon price.

      Actually walking away from it without the keys for the last time I had a bit of mixed emotions. On one hand, it's too big and we never drive it because of that ( 7k km over 3 years), so it's better than someone else who can really appreciate it use it. On the other hand, it helped us keep sane during the pandemic as we could use it to visit larger parks, Saitama, and a friend's house in Atami...I felt a bit sad about just leaving it there...like I was abandoning a family member. The good news is that only lasted about 20 - 30 minutes.
    • Most days for the past month or so, I've been making Leo's bento. Most days we put a Japanese omelette (tamago-yaki) in it. Tamago-yaki are square, so they're usually made in a specialty pans. The one we had, a cheap aluminum non-stick has been starting to stick, which has made making his lunch a little stressful. A non-stick pan starting to stick makes you think, "Where'd that non-stick coating go", and the only logical answer is "into my food and into me". To reduce stress and the amount of questionable coatings I ingest I decided to go back to my roots: cast iron. I've used it 3 times so far and it's great. Long live non-non-stick pans.
    • I bought an issue of Tarzan as the cover caught my eye. I used to buy Japanese books/magazines quite often in my 20's, but recently I rarely do. (Maybe as I had more time to sit down and concentrate uninterrupted then?) . The theme of this issue is "how to lose weight in your 40's". I'm not 40, but it's not too far off. The gist is that more than exercise it's diet that matters more as you get older. In the issue they create profiles for a few different personality types (gourmet man, busy man, go with the flow man) and how they typically think of food/diet/meals and ways to change your habits to make them healthier and match your current place in life.Β 

      Some of the advice is common sense e.g. No more sneaky midnight Chinese (sorry Derek)  or pick a salad instead fries when you get a burger...and no cheese on said burger (😭). The timing of me finding this magazine lined up perfectly with some other thinking I've been doing recently around food and diet, especially around ultra-processed foods...but that thinking needs to be distilled into a proper blog post.
    • Tanzawa's weight graph feature got a minor upgrade: rather than showing the last 10 points only, it now has a dropdown that lets you select from a few different durations. I posted a small video on the pull request on GitHub if you're curious. Related/unrelated, I'm also down 3kg from my high after coming back from America.
    • We got some blueberries off the blueberry bush! There were alright! I think we're going to have heaps that turn blue in the next week. Our goya plant that I've mostly abandoned in the back has spread out massively and has 3 goya in process and they're starting to become a decent size.
    • Speaking of garden updates, I was excited to see that Casey ( @tbeanpod@famichiki.jp ) followed me and started posting on Mastodon. Really enjoying seeing his photos of Beanpodville without the bird-site. Welcome to the fediverse!
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