The Rain Song

Finished another book

2007-01-15T23:10:00.000+11:00

I finished reading the first Shizuko book (Murder at Mt. Fuji) yesterday. I didn't like it as much as "The Third Lady" but it was still an interesting story. It took a while before it really got interesting, i.e. the big twist =P I think it would make a good 1 hour television show as there wasn't a great deal of substance to the book.
The book I'm reading next is called "The Ninja" by Eric Lustbader. This one is going to be cool. =P

Car Amp

2007-01-12T13:53:00.000+11:00

The other weekend I was talking with a mate online and he had a 4-channel car amp that he picked up on sale that he thought I'd like. I got him to give me the specs, and they sounded alright, so I bought it. Yesterday I arranged to pick it up off him, and we also went to test some speakers out too. The speakers sounded really good with the range of music that I tested them with. See, I brought my MP3 player along with me so I could test them =P So I've now got a 4-channel amp, and 2 speakers for the rear parcel shelf of the car. I've already got some speakers that might fit in the front, then I'll just look for some cheap splits to get the higher frequency sounds at the front. Then I'll need to build the 'head unit' and it'll be complete. ^^

Here are some pictures of the amp and speakers. More can be found here.

I also went into town and ended up buying a G3 concert. The first one too with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson. It's really good. Eric Johnson's set was really good, nice jazzy stuff. =)

Finished Reading

2007-01-07T00:03:00.000+11:00

I finally finished reading those books that I bought on November 28 (mentioned here). I saved the Otori Trilogy til last because I still had to aquire the 2nd book in the series. I just finished the 3rd one tonight. There is a new 4th addition to this 'trilogy' that I will try to aquire. So, since I bought the books I have read 6 books. The 4 that I mentioned, the 2nd in the Otori Trilogy and I also managed to find another of the 'Kidd' books by John Sandford. I've already got the next 2 books lined up to read. First is "The Night Crew" by John Sandford. It looks interesting and I seem to like his style. The second will be the other book by Shizuko, "Murder at Mt. Fuji". I'm looking forward to reading these books. Also, I can recommend "The Samurai's Wife", and the Otori trilogy if you are interested in stories set in ancient Japan as they are quite good. I can recommend John Sandford too if you like slightly flawed characters and interesting stories with twists and thrills. Enjoy =)

Strat Switching Mod

2007-01-06T16:11:00.000+11:00

I modified my guitar yesterday, and took lots of pictures while I was doing it =)
Essentially what I did was to add an extra couple of switches to get more pickup combinations. i.e. more possible sounds from the guitar. That's as simple as I can put it. Total Cost: approx. AU$5.36

The below picture is a link to the gallery. Underneath that is a more detailed explanation of the mod ^^

DETAILED EXPLANATION:

What I did was remove the middle tone pot and make the guitar Master Tone, and Master Volume. Then in place of the pot I mounted a 3 position, 4 pole rotary switch. I also added an extra switch to switch between series and parallel. Ultimately I would have liked to have found a 4 position 4 pole switch and have it all on the rotary switch, but I couldn't find one for cheap =P

The Rotary Switch.
This switches between Neck On, Off (normal mode), and Bridge On.

The Toggle Switch
This switches the rotary switch's pickup either in series or parallel with the other 5-way standard switch.

This leads to some very nice switching arrangements, outlined in the table below.
Key: '-' = Parallel, 'x' = Series, N = Neck, M = Middle, B = Bridge.

##	Off	Bridge Series	Bridge Parallel	Neck Series	Neck Parallel
1	N	NxB	N-B	N	N
2	N-M	(N-M)xB	N-M-B	N	N-M
3	M	MxB	M-B	NxM	N-M
4	M-B	B	M-B	Nx(M-B)	N-M-B
5	B	B	B	NxB	N-B

The NxB, NxM, and MxB are particularly useful. These mimick the operation of a side-by-side humbucker by placing 2 of the single coils in series with one another. This setting is higher output than the single coils alone, but still less than a traditional humbucker. The tone is also muddier and there is a definite loss of sparkle. But it does mimic the humbucker sound quite well. In fact my Dad was watching my play and said that it didn't fit right because the sound wasn't like a Strat. I quite like this setup in the guitar and gives me some very usable settings. In total there are 12 different combinations with this setup, including the 5 standard ones. But due to the way I wired it up the 2 NxB are slightly different. In the Bridge Series connection the Bridge pickup is connected to ground, but in the other the Neck pickup is. There is a very slight change in the sound, but it's only very slight. You might also notice the similarity between the 2 parallel options. That's cause they are almost identical and very redundant. This is why I wanted a 4 position 4 Pole rotary switch so I could have, Off, Bridge Parallel, Bridge Series, Neck Parallel, and avoid the redundancy and having to have an extra switch. But the way I have it wired at the moment is still fine (it might even be more useable having the extra switch).

Of all these, the ones I am quite fond of are, N-B, NxB, NxM, MxB, and N-M-B. Also because of the switch arrangement, I can set the 5-way to middle and then switch between NxM, M, MxB with the rotary switch. This is sort of like switching between a HSH configuration with a 3-way switch.

It is still a very useable guitar without the two tone controls, and in fact you gain a bit as before there was no tone connected to the bridge pickup, but now you have that functionality, which is good because in this guitar there are 500k pots and the bridge tends to be too bright sometimes.

If anyone wants a schematic for this mod I can draw one up. I was working from my notebook and it's so badly written I think only I can read it =P But if anyone is interested just send an email to xatzmaster@gmail.com and I can draw some up and send them to you.

Homemade Donuts

2007-01-06T15:15:00.000+11:00

Dad made some homemade donuts last night. They are a little heavy but they taste good, just like the store bought ones. He said he'd like to try one of the yeast recipes so they are all fluffy.

Nice Pattern

2007-01-05T13:12:00.000+11:00

I noticed this morning this cool pattern from the light shining through my blinds. It sort of looks like wings, or maybe Aurora Borialus. It also sort of looks like fireworks maybe. But what it does look like is the Australian Army Badge, known as the Rising Sun.

Happy New Year 2007!

2007-01-01T00:00:00.000+11:00

Geez I love being able to back date these things =P
Still, have a good year everybody ^^

Rice Cooker

2006-12-30T21:18:00.000+11:00

I bought a rice cooker yesterday ^^

Here is a link link with info
It's a great little rice cooker ^^ I cooked some today and it came out like the rice they give you at the Chinese restaurants =D I then tried to make some Onigiri. It didn't work out as well as I would have liked, they kinda started to fall apart in the middle. The rice was really sticky but I don't think I had enough around the filling part. I'll look on the web for some help. ^^

It was Christmas

2006-12-28T11:57:00.000+11:00

Merry Christmas!! =)

Christmas has been alright here but I haven't been home to see Mum yet. I'm going this afternoon. See my aunty has been in hospital and she appears to have a lymphoma so I was staying at Dad's so Mum wouldn't worry too much, but I'll head back home cause they just got the news about the lymphoma yesterday and it sounds like she is cracking a little.

Anyway here are the presents that I've gotten so far ^^

Click HERE to go to a bigger version of the above slideshow. Or, click on the slideshow above to go to the image album. Enjoy ^^

Books

2006-11-30T11:31:00.000+11:00

I finished one of the books that I bought on Tuesday. That means I finished a book in less then 24 hours. I know that is a record for me =P The book I read was "The Third Lady" By Shizuko Natsuki. At the shop I bought it from they had the other book written by her, I'm thinking of going back and buying it. Anyway, here is a pic of the books I bought taken with my KG245 in unfavourable lighting conditions. The bottom two are really shiny covers so they didn't turn out real well, but they are the ones I bought from the Otori series. The one at the top is the one I'm currently reading. I've only read the prologue so far, but it will be an interesting one. It's set in Feudal Japan and is a murder mystery with what seems like mysterious powers in it. I'm not sure if the book just play them up as mysterious powers or if they will be explained through logical reasoning and science yet. I can't wait to find out =P

Car is fixed

2006-11-28T17:07:00.000+11:00

Alright...the car was finally fixed last week and I got to pay the registration on it. So it'll be good for another year =) Dad said he can get it to Newcastle on Wednesday (tomorrow) and then I can begin the final stages of getting my license. It won't be long now =)

I heard back from the robocup team leader guy and he said they would be able to work out something for me over the break. So I should have some income =) Just gotta wait for him to get back from a conference and see what we can do.

Last week I was at Dad's looking after the little kids. They were fine, and I got to show off my cooking skillz =P

Today I took the robot dogs back to Uni because we had a demonstration on Saturday. I had decided to go book hunting after that. I had a list that I made last night of books to try to find. I've gotten back into reading again. I finally finished Memoirs of a Geisha on Saturaday and then started reading another book. I finished that one on Monday. Only 2 days for me to finish a book, I think that is a record =P Anyway, I checked 3 book shops, then the 4th one had a couple of books I wanted. 2 from the Otori series, and a couple of other books too. All set in Japan =P One is written by a Japanese women too, so that should be an interesting read.
The books are:
- The Third Lady, By Shizuko Natsuki
- The Samurai's Wife, By Laura Joh Rowland
- Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori Book 1), By Lian Hearn
- Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori Book 3), By Lian Hearn
Just gotta track down Book 2, and Book 4 now =)

On the bus from Uni to the bookshops I ran into Hiroshi-san who I haven't seen for ages. He said he was leaving for Japan next week for the Winter (Summer here though =P). He said he'd bring me back something cheap ^^ and I finally got his number, so when he is in Australia I can call him for Japanese help, haha.

jya ne

Update!

2006-11-10T12:03:00.000+11:00

It's been a while again, cause I've kinda been busy and just ended up doing other stuff instead of posting here.

I had 2 exams this week, Wed and Thurs. Now I've just got one exam left next week and I'm done for the year. It should be an easy exam so it's all good.

I ordered a whole bunch of DVDs the other day too. $140 worth =O But they were all on sale!! $10 a DVD =D I got to start my Takeshi Kitano Collection, and get one of my favourite movies, Ghost Dog - The Way of the Samurai. Plus I got some anime too, a whole series in fact, called Otogi Zoshi.....complete with collectors box ^^ It was an online sale though, so I've got to wait for them to arrive in the mail =P

I managed to get some work last month so that money went straight into the car fund ^^ I've got a little work coming up in a few weeks, and I'm also trying to get some work with the University over the summer break doing some research.

My car has been alright except.........it didn't ass registraion at the beginning of last month cause there was rust in the cross-member at the front. Nobody wanted to fix it, and the guy we went to couldn't find a replacement. But then this morning Dad phoned and said that another guy found the part and it's being shipped straight away. So it should be fixed by the end of next week. See, the car is in great condition. Everything with it is great the engine the body is soo straight, no rust anywhere and the engine is in great form it's like new. The only problem with it was the cross-member which is now being replaced. So it's going to be a great car to have. But I haven't been able to drive it or practice or go for my license for nearly 2 months now...=/....but it won't be long now ^^

I bought a new phone the other month too. I went for a small shopping trip down to Sydney to pick up a few things and I bought a new phone while I was there. It's an LG KG245. it's a pretty good phone, I like the style. But the operating system isn't as 'open' as it was on my Sony Ericsson. I tried transfering a Java game to it via bluetooth and it doesn't recognise it =/ But.....it has the 2main functions, voice and text...and it looks good so it's okay ^^ The call quality is better than the k500i in my opinion too, and bluetooth means I can transfer stuff to and from it using my Mac ^^

Well that is about it. Exams have been going alright, and I've been doing really well in all my classes this semester. Soon I'll have a car to drive around, and hopefully some income. It's all working out well. ^^ and I thought of a great benefit of having the car just this morning,.....it means I'll be able to drive to Pool Tournaments that start a little later in suburbs the buses don't run to often =P Maybe I can win a few, and at the least maybe make some friends and get some practice ^^

Dream 20060929

2006-09-30T12:05:00.000+10:00

It's been a while hasn't it ^^;;; A whole month =o
Well, here is my dream. I don't remember much, but here goes.

I was waiting for the train to come to take me to Dad's. It felt like I was waiting at Uni for the train but the surroundings were different. I was sitting on the ground waiting, then an old friend of mine came along. I've been wanting to see this friend again for a while so I smiled widely, and got up to give her a hug. She was walking along with a friend but she decided to stay and wait with me. =) She sat down with me and we were catching up on all we had missed. Then it was getting close to the time that my train was supposed to come so I said "I don't wanna lose touch with you again, so can I get....." and then she took out her phone and smiled before I finished my sentence. I got mine out and she was pointing her phone at mine. She was going to use IR to send the contact over! Something I think all phones should do, and my preferred way of transferring stuff (cause my phone doesn't have bluetooth). So she sent the contact over. Then I heard the train coming and was quickly searching through my phone for the option to send my contact over, but I couldn't find it. >_< Then I couldn't wait any longer as all the people were getting on the train so I grabbed my stuff and said, "I'll send you a message!" and headed off to the train while waving goodbye.

Now, I noticed a strange thing about this train. It appears the two carriages were disconnected when they arrived. I got on the front most carriage, and when I entered I saw a guy that does some of my courses sitting on the ground. Anyway, I think there was some motion and it felt like the two carriages were being joined again. I then found a spot to stand against the window and stayed there. The train then kept moving onto the next station. I then though about sending a message to my friend but thought I'd do it after the train got quieter on the way to Dad's place. Then as the train was approaching the main train station that comes before the trip to Dad's stop there was a problem. The guy was approaching too fast, and there was a guy on the radio tell ing him there was a problem up ahead on the tracks. The driver asked what to do and the guy responded "slow down!". But it was too late. Up ahead there was a brown tarp laying across the track and the train went up over it and derailed. Everybody held on, but it was rather smooth and not a bad crash. Then we all were thinking..."great...no what >_<". So we got off the train and were being marshaled to a waiting area. As I was approaching there an asian guy asked me where there was a washroom. He kinda looked Korean, but anyway... I looked around and saw a sign to the main platforms at the station and I said "there should be a washroom through that door over there and of to the left" and I pointed over to there. He thanked me and was bowing, then left.

It was at that point that I realised I'd been here before. I was on the other side of the station to where I had been before in other dreams (link here. Btw, 'F' was the friend that I ran into ^^). I always find revisiting the same places in my dream funny =p But anyway, I then went off to wait with the rest of the group and was standing there waiting, and adjusting my stuff. I had my normal bag with me, but also a blanket and 2 pillows. I was trying to arrange it under the flap on my bag so it was easier to carry.

Then I woke up.

Talk with Yuqing

2006-08-30T22:45:00.000+10:00

I went to have a small talk with the lecturer for one of my courses today. His name is Yuqing (hence the title =P). He is a great guy, real easy going and always ready to help. He knows his stuff too and I have always had the utmost respect for him. So I went to ask him some questions about my assignment. I just wanted to check a few things that I had done in the assignment, and comfirm a few things I was a little unsure about. I was explaining to him about how I solved a small problem that I had in the way the assignment was going to work. See, in this assignment we had a GUI (Graphical User Interface) and a Scheduling program. These two things run side-by-side, i.e. in parallel. What we need to have happen is theat information in the scheduler needs to be outputed on the GUI. This is simple you might say, just tell the scheduler about the GUI and let it update it. But I didn't like having to do that. See, the scheduler is simulating something and it doesn't natively have a GUI. So telling it that it has a GUI to change just doesn't sit right with me. So what I did was coded a few things in a similar way to some other aspects of the Java programming language (for specifics, I coded my own eventlistener and eventobject). When I explained this to Yuqing he said that my solution to the problem was really elegant. That is a huge compliment. To be told your solution (or your code) is elegant is something really really good =) I was really proud when he said it ^^ He mentioned it a few times actually. Even after I asked him about some other things he still mentioned how elegant my solution was =) He was so pleased in fact that he wants me to give a small talk to the class about my solution and what I did, and I think also how I arrived at that solution. He said that I should start at the beginning as if I was addressing people that didn't know what a program was. It is such an honour to be recognised in this way by a lecturer that I respect. ^_^
How cool is that!! I'm so pleased and happy right now =)

I can eat again

2006-08-20T12:00:00.000+10:00

The fasting is over!!
It wasn't that hard either. But tasting food again was good ^^ I like food.
I think we should all do this famine thing everyyear. Cause it's fun and a good challenge ^^

Finished Kenshin

2006-08-20T01:33:00.000+10:00

It's a little late tonight. But I wanted to stay up so that I woke at lunchtime when the fasting finishes. hehe No more waiting this way. I wake up and eat =P

I just finished the Rurouni Kenshin Manga. All 28 volumes. It took me about 2 weeks I think. I finished the last 2 volumes off today. It was quite enjoyable. I'm looking forward to getting the anime now. I'm going to buy the movie too because I did like it when I saw it, and would like that enjoyment again. I like the samurai =)

40 hour famine

2006-08-19T00:08:00.000+10:00

This year My Dad, my sister and I are doing the 40 hour famine.
Dad already cheated tonight by haveing an ice block. But it was a lemonade ice block, so if you melted it down and drank it, it'd all be the same =P Anyway, for some info see here --> 40 hour famine

It's been 4 hours so far, so I am eating a barley sugar. It's very nice. ^_^
But something occured to me while I was eating it. Come Sunday when it is over when I have something to eat it's going to taste really really really good regardless of what it is. So maybe I will cut down on what I eat, and how many times during the day I eat =P So that I can maybe better appreciate the flavours, as well as the food in general.
Wish me Luck! ^^

Interesting Dream 20060817

2006-08-17T10:20:00.000+10:00

I wonder why some of my dreams are focused on a school excursion like trip. It's a good thing that the people that are with me are my friends and not school students. Then again I came across a school excursion yesterday at Uni so that might have been it. This dream was interesting though.

At first there was a scene where I was on a bus and had to sit on a seat with a bunch of school kids. I don't like school kids much cause I think they are stupid =P When I was sitting down on the seat there was some guy playing with a fishing rod and reel with the hook and line out over this side near me. I ended up having the hook right near me and being very conscious of it going to stick in me. So I grabbed the line and found the hook then I made my way over the other side and embedded the hook in the reel. But I was still tanged up with fishing line when I sat down. Then I did a whole 'Ki Blast' thing and burst the line that was around me. Then some cops came aboard to settle down the kids and grabbed some rope that they had strung on the window near where I was sitting. I spoke to the cop about something, but there was some mutual respect. Similar to when I got on the train last week and there was a cop on board when I got on and I spoke to him about closing the doors on this old train. He was checking peoples tickets, but never checked mine.

After this I was on a trip with a class of some sort and my mates were on it. We were traveling on a train and we arrived at the station but arriving there was interesting. There was a part where we went off the tracks and onto smooth ground. I was wondering how we were able to go over smooth ground in a train and still turn. So I went outside the train and there were people pushing it on sort of blocks that were like a mix between skateboards and roller skates. One of the guys got off and I took over for him. He was surprised that I could make it work because there was a sort of pivoting arm with a skateboard truck on it and to make it move forward you had to swing it from side-to-side and push forward. But I was making it work quite well =P

Then we arrived at our destination which was like a small indoor area with a bar on one side. It reminded me of the place the function last night was held but much bigger. It was kinda dark inside though. In there we were waiting for food to be brought out for us to eat. When it finally did I was one of the first in line, but not the first. They brought us hamburgers. At first they were plain, and the first guy in line got a plain hamburger, then someone else from the kitchen came out and I got to have onion and salad stuffs on mine =P The first guy was clearly too hasty about the food and missed out.

After this and I don't know how it came about but a friend of mine that I haven't seen for a while F was there. F is female btw. Somehow a guitar challenge was setup and Iw as to battle a friend of hers on the guitar in a few days. This probably came from the fact that I was reading Kenshin last night and am up to the part of the Enishi battle. Anyway.....the challenge was set and then she kinda disappeared for a bit. And my friends all knew I could win, but I wasn't sure because I'd never seen my competition play before. But I had a weird feeling about it.

Next I was practicing the guitar and walking around for a bit then I walked outside and noticed F and her competitor. My friends said that I shouldn't follow her incase she was going to cheat. But I kept walking after her from a far distance behind so she wouldn't know I was there. I was playing the guitar all this time using the 'boomp chink' style of Bruce Mathiske. That style was going to be my secret weapon to unleash in the battle (I clearly have been reading too much Kenshin =P). Anyway I kept following the two of them, F and her friend. But I felt something was up. They turned a corner and stopped on the other side of a wire fence to talk. F turned around to look at the fence and saw me through it. She kept talking to her friend though. (NB: F's face was very clear, as was the friends but I can't remember the friend's face because I didn't recognise it). I walked up to the corner that they took and they both greeted me. I stopped playing and said "You only set this challenge battle so that I would bring 'this' out didn't you". 'this' was me shaking the guitar in the air. She smiled and said "Yep". I then knew that the whole thing was just about hearing me play the guitar. I then asked about her competitor and said "She can't play very well can she". To which F replied "Nope, she is still struggling". Then we al laughed. Then I said "oh well, I'll see you at the battle then" and was about to walk off as she said bye but before I did I walked over and hugged F. I said something along the lines of "thank you, but you only had to ask". I then left and said "See you later". We were all smiles. Then I woke up.

Dean's Merit List 2005

2006-08-10T11:41:00.000+10:00

No that's not a typo. They inform me halfway through this year that I achieved something last year. Isn't that prompt!
There is a small gathering of the peoples that got on this list next week during my tutorial with the robot. It's a good thing that we got out assignment working this week. That means I can leave early and still catch the second hour of this meeting. I can be fashionably late. I just hope they haven't eaten all of the food by then =P

Btw, if you are wondering what this Dean's List thing is all about I will quote from the letter:
"As you are probably aware (Well I wasn't =P), the purpose of the Dean's Merit List is to recognise the achievement of those students who, having completed at least 80 units of their program (80 units is 2 semesters worth of Full Time 4 subject per semester study), have achieved a cumulative Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 77 or more at the end of the academic year and a WAM of no less than 70 in each semester across the academic year."

So there you go. Apparantly my WAM for last year was exactly 77 so I got on the list. Which is surprising considering I only just passed Algorithms, which was a second year course and counted twice as much as the other courses to my WAM. =P I just scraped in =P

I'm so flippin' tired =_=x

2006-08-09T10:35:00.000+10:00

First at 04:30 this morning I wake up to hear Mum saying something
like "no, help, omg, *kkrrrffkk*" (NB: interpret *kkrrrffkk* to be a
dying sound). So I get out of bed not knowing what the hell was
happening. I've been reading Kenshin so I thought maybe an assasin
had killed her, so I waited for a bit to see if he/she would move and
give away his/her position. I was too tired to fight properly. blah
blah....anyway, turns out she was having a bad dream. >_< So I went
back to bed.

Then at 07:20 this morning she comes bursting in saying "pay this bill
quickly! I didn't know the date, the electricity will get cut off!!"
So I mutter something and slowly get out of bed and dialup the net to
pay the bill. I then went back to bed but had some trouble getting
back to sleep.

I hadn't fallen asleep yet and Mum came in yet again. This was
probably around 07:50. She came in to say that the plumber would be
here today and wanted to know when I'd be going to Uni. blah blah.
At 08:00 she rang the electricity company to tell them we paid. Then
she came back in to tell me that they might come to cut the power off
and if I do I should show them something. Then she left for work.

It probably took me a good 40 mins toget to sleep again, but I did. I
just woke up now and I'm flippin' tired. The only plus being that in
the dream that I just had I got to kiss a girl that seemed to like me
and we were cuddling and holding each other on the bed. (awww.......)
The bad thing was that she was one of 4 unknown people that somehow
turned up here. That wasn't so bad except that the plumbers were also
here (in the dream that is) and it is a small apartment. One of the
dudes was also playing my guitar.

Oh, a funny thing too. I am (and was) so tired that in my dream I
fell asleep while holding the girl on the bed. =P

I hope you are more awake then me, and I pity anybody that crosses me
today for I will surely hit them with anything that looks like a
sakabato in my general vacinity. And if I can't find that then I'll
probably mash their head up against a desk or close by wall.
-_-x (oro!)

oh, and Good Morning All
=_=x (oro oro!)

P.S.
I wouldn't mind going back to that girl in the dream. =P

I sorta got some work

2006-08-07T16:36:00.000+10:00

My friend spoke to me about a small job on offer here in the computer science faculty to do with marketing or something. It's actually more about working on small displays and exhibitions at High Schools and in the general public to promote and explain what it is that we do here in the CompSci/SoftEng discipline at Uni. I went and spoke to the Doc about it last week and I got my contract today.

Turns out I'm being called a "Reseach Assitant". The only thing is the job is only for a predicted 13 hours over the next 5 months. It's on a very casual basis I'm sure I'll only get a weeks notification before and event. But 13 hours is better than nothing. It'll be a little extra money that I can filter towards my car or getting some Siam Shade DVDs or my phone, or all 3. =P Plus I get to work closer with Dr Chalup who is the head of the robot division here at Uni. Which is what I want to work on in the future. The faculty is starting a humanoid robot thing here too so I might be able to get in on the ground floor of a walking robot team here at Uni. Should be good ^_^v

On a different note I've got an assignment to work on now so I won't be so bored =P I've also been reading the Kenshin manga too. I'm gonna stick with it a bit longer now and actually finish it. Before I was taking too long to read manga but now I've found a comfortable pace that I can honour the graphic work as well as progress quickly through the story. I'll read at least one volume a day so I should be able to finish it in a couple of weeks. ^_^x

My posting habits are inconsistant =P

2006-08-03T11:21:00.000+10:00

It has been a while since I posted here. Maybe I'll try to make it a more regular thing or something, maybe. I'll try my best ^^

My car is going well. I get better everytime I drive her. =) I'm getting smoother on the clutch and I'm having lots of fun driving her. Soon I'll be able to get my license and drive my friends around to do things =) It's amazing how easy it is to get the wheels to spin in a car with as little power as mine has. I now know why I should laugh at that guy in the Skyline that I saw by the foreshore one day when he couldn't do a burnout. With a turbo charged 6-cylinder engine and LSD it should have been easy. =P Wait until I build my drift car then I'll show them =P

Uni has been going well too. I'm doing some pretty cool courses. Although I was kinda disappointed when my lecturer said that the Operating Systems course is actually easy. Well, it means I should get good marks and I know I'm gonna enjoy the assignments so that really is good. One of my courses is damn boring though, even the lecturer and the tutors say the same thing =P So I'll grin and bear that one. My 3rd course is brilliant. It's not really difficult, and the lectures tend to be boring as it's just going over code.....but......but........hhhheheeeeee......I get to play with a robot!! And that is the best part =D I'm gonna have lots of fun making it do stuff. This week I got the wheels to move. And a guy from another group saw and smiled =P We were only supposed to work on getting the lights to work and reading inputs from some buttons, but....we finished early and I really wanted to get the wheels spinning ..hehe =P I wrote some code last night to have a sorta forward, left, right buttons to move it next week. I hope it works =) In terms of complexity it is quite easy as I'm good at coding....but it's just so cool to be coding something on a computer and having it effect something in the real world like this robot =)

I also met a friend I haven't seen for a while yesterday. She liked the gift that I got her, and I love the gift that she gave me ^^ It's a cute teddy bear with angel wings on the back, and a sign on the front saying "Friends Forever". It's really cute, and I love it =) Thank You very much ^^

I've got another gift coming from my sis Zi, I can't wait till it arrives! =) It's exciting ^^

A small dream

2006-07-09T10:01:00.000+10:00

I was on my way to the movies with my friend Indie in her car. It was an old Yellow VW Beetle. We were in the car park looking for a space. The surrounding buildings were old and kinda reminded me of my Uni. Anyway, we parked the car and went inside to get a ticket. On the way I realised that Indie hadn't locked the car. So I got the keys from her and went to lock it. Instead of just locking it, I ended up moving the car to a nearby different car space. Just so I could drive the car. It was a manual car too, so I was thinking on all the things that I was working on yesterday in my car =P
Anyway, once I got the car parked again and locked, I went into the reception area of the picture theatre. But I was meeting my friend Daniel now, not Indie O.o
Anyway, we bought tickets for balcony seats to the movies (unheard of really, and they were twice as expensive as normal tickets). So we bought the tickets and then were waiting in this kinda waiting area/bar before the movie. We sat down at this small round table with stools, and were waiting. Then I saw an old Indian friend of mine as said hello. Then I dunno how the next part happened, but his girlfriend and an Indian friend were talking about how Indian men weren't up to scratch and that caucasians were nicer and stuff (NB: dunno if this is true, from Zi's blog I'd say it wasn't =P). Then the single younger girl said I wouldn't mind having a caucasian man, and she came up and hugged me from behind. Then she kept talking about how it was nice to hug someone that was kind..blah blah...etc. Then I turned around to see who she was, and she kissed me and walked away. I was smiling back and said "I might just give this a go myself". =P But then the movie was starting so we had to go in. (NB: She was very cute *^_^*)
Now we were being shown to our seats (our as in Daniel and I) and we sat down. the movie was yet to start though. So I suggested that we go and get something to eat from the snack bar up the back (this whole place reminded me of the entertainment centre, or the great hall at Uni). Just before getting up I was tapped on the shoulder my someone.I thought it was the cute Indian girl =P but I was wrong. It ended up being a girl from my High School who stole my diary once and wrote in it =P Anyway, she had a cheeky grin on her face. I just smiled and went on my way. Then up the back I was trying to decide on what to eat, and finally decided on an ice cream from the freezer.
Fine´.

Notes:
Several people made appearances in the dream, one of whom I didn't mention cause I couldn't remember the circumstances about what we spoke or meet in the dream.
Also, it felt good to be hugged =P

I cleaned up

2006-07-02T01:14:00.000+10:00

Well. I finally finished cleaning up my room. =)
It took a while cause not cause I'm lazy, but cause I was taking my time ^^;;;;;
Okay.....I'm lazy -_-;
But here are some before and after pics for you to view. Tell me if I did a good job of tidying up =P

Before:

After:

Car =P

2006-07-01T18:00:00.000+10:00

I bought a car =D
Its a Daihatsu Mira. It's a small car but very fuel efficient and it should be fun ^^
It gets something like 5.5L/100km. Which means it will be cheap to run. It's got a 1L 3 cylinder engine, with 4 values per cylinder. It's a 5 speed manual too. And I'm sure I'm gonna keep on loving it and loving it. ^_^
First modification will be a digital tachometer, then maybe a CD player with MP3 input. For the moment I can be cool with running FUU through a cassette tape adapter thingy. Eventually I'll put a cool steering wheel in, a nice gear knob......etc =P
I do fit in it btw. It's small, but....I can fit so it's okay =)
I still kinda find it hard to believe that I bought a car =P
Here are some pictures ^^

Train Journey

2006-05-21T22:04:00.000+10:00

I had an interesting ride home.
Some older guys got on the train. Like 40 year old or so. They had obviously been drinking. One of them came up the carriage towards me, sat behind on the other side. Was calling the other guy to come up. He was saying "come up here and we can face the right way". See, half the seats face one way, half the other way. Then he spotted my laptop, and the show I was watching. I was watching the first episode of Only You, a Korean drama. He said to his mate, "come up here, we can watch a movie". I laughed and turned around, acknowledging him. He asked me "does it get any better, haarhaarhaar", and more "haarhaarhaar". I laughed as well, "hahahaha", and said "no it doesn't, it's almost over".
It was all quiet for the next 5 minutes while I finished the episode. Then he asked if it was a DVD player or a laptop, a said it was a laptop. Then we spoke about computers and games, and he apologised for interuppting my movie. It was cool. Although during our talk I kept an eye out in the window to see what his mate was up to. I didn't know these people, for all I knew they were going to rob me of Gina @_@. Anyway, he walked away, and got off his stop.

Next. I got a free taxi ride home. I called for a taxi and waas waiting. There was another guy there waiting too, he said he'd been there for ages. I told him that's why you ring up, and I told him the number. blah blah, he complained a bit more. Then the taxi for me arrived, with a guy in the back. He asked if it was alright if he rode with us, as he was going to the prince of wales, which was near my place. I said okay. So we were driving, and the guy in the back started to talk. he was drunk, REALLY drunk, and probably about my age, maybe a few years younger. He said something about going the wrong way, and the cabbie saying that he would be dropped off first. "I know your little sneaky tricks cabbie man", he said. Anyway, we got to my house and he dropped me off. It was free, cause the other dude was paying. haha stupid drunk fool. =P

Another Dream

2006-05-19T10:31:00.000+10:00

This time I was walking home. The entire dream was about me walking through the streets home. It seemed to go on forever. It was night, probably early morning, like 2 or 3 or something. The moon was out and I was alone.
I was walking through the streets of a city quite like Newcastle, but also resembling Sydney. In some parts. All the roads and streets were flat, and there were houses and industrial places all around. All I was doing was walking home. But I passed some interesting places. At one point I passed a bus stop near what appeared to be a night club. There were people waiting for the bus, and I asked where the next bus went. The dude I asked was an exchange student in some of my classes at Uni. He said it went the opposite way to where I was going. He laughed as I walked away.
Then I a kept walking and ended up seeing this other dude. He was about the same age as me, maybe younger. He was heading in roughly the same direction as me. I decided to follow him about. It felt like I was traveling south at this point. I ended up catching up to him, and he seemed like a nice guy. We walked for a bit into a section of more high class houses. We were walking south to the end of a street, up to a T-intersection. The next street was sort of like Stewart Ave in Newcastle, but bigger houses. One side of the street had huge houses, like 3 stories or more. So big it kind of blocked out the moon. So the dude and I got our mobile phones out and used the screen as a light.
We then kept walking and ended up finding the main street of where ever city we were in. It reminded me of Hunter street in Newcastle because it felt familiar. And I knew I wasn't too far from home. As we were walking we ran into this other guy. A chubby dude with darkish skin. I think he was gay, he reminded me of a guy I saw on the bus yesterday, on the way to Japanese class. He joined us too.
We were then walking along and I suggested we cross the road. I noticed an old factory/warehouse on the side we were on, and suggested we cross because I knew it to be dangerous. That same warehouse had featured in another dream of mine before, so I knew. So we crossed, but it was too late. We passed a taxi, and a couple talking with the driver. As we passed the guy said something like "we are 'buying' it off him". I just kinda nodded and walked by. We then crossed the road. Which was a rather large street, about 6 lanes across the whole road.
As we were walking, I noticed the couple follow us. The dudes and I were talking, I asked where they were going. The gay dude was off to Adamstown, and the other dude was off to somewhere I can't remember the name of, but I knew where it was. I suggested that if we find a cab, we share a ride home. Cause it was getting a little dangerous out.
At this point I felt as if there was a place coming up that was familiar. I think I've been in this dream world before. Like entirely. It's almost like I have an alternate earth in my head, that stays consistent in my dreams. Which is kinda cool, and weird, and interesting =P
Meanwhile. That couple were getting closer, and I knew it. I broke away from the other 2 up from for a bit, then turned back. The dude had a knife to the back of the dude I first met. To the back of his neck actually. it was a small blade, but had a serrated edge. It was shaped like a shark fin. Both the dudes were getting their money out to give to him, and their phones, etc... I looked at the guy and turned around to keep walking faster. I was walking backwards though. He was talking to me. Saying he would get to me. I asked him what he would do if I ran. He said he would gut me and leave me, then he made a cutting gesture near his throat. I then asked what he would do if I didn't run. He said he'd take all my money, and then grinned and looked at his knife. Then I said, "and gut me too". He said "maybe not".
A lot of thoughts went through my head. Do I run, do I stay, can I outrun him. At this point I felt weighed down by something. I didn't have a bag on, but I felt like I had something in my pocket I didn't feel I could run with. It was probably FUU, but I'm not sure. But I knew I couldn't run. My last thought in the dream was "why couldn't I just accept death like I said I would". Sometimes I like to think I'm ready to die and anytime. In the dream I said that to myself, and responded "But only if it's in honorable combat". As I woke up, I was about to ask the guy if he had any honor, and if we could fight hand to hand, to see if I give him my things. At that point I took the bag off my back, and woke up.
Strange thing is though, that for the entire dream I hadn't had a bag on my back. it was like at that point, where there was a critical decision to be made, things kept piling up on my. I knew I couldn't run, and the more I stood there worse it got. So bad in fact, a bag appeared on my back. O.o But yeah....it felt like a weight had shifted off when I took the bag off. But as I woke, I still felt as if that guy wasn't honorable, and I would die from a knife wound. I knew I couldn't win that fight, definitely not in the condition I'm in now. But I would fight anyway, cause I'm not going to give my money and things up that easily.

ひさしぶりだな！

2006-05-17T10:36:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since I posted here.
I didn't forget about you all. I just wanted to get the pictures off my phone. But I still haven't done that >_<
Anyway.........sorry =(

But moving on. Things have been good. I finally fixed up my courses for next semester. I get to do 2 course I really want, and 1 boring one. =P The 2 I want to do are Operating Systems, and Computer Engineering II. In Comp Eng II I get to interface with hardware microprocessors. i.e. what happens in a robot!!!!!!!! yay! \o/
I can't wait. And operating systems, will be good cause I can learn more about Unix/Linux.
It's all good. I've been downloading more Japanese music too. Soon my MP3 player (FUU) will be filled only with Japanese music!!! Long live JRock!!!
じゃ　な

P.S.
See my weird dream post below =P

Weird Dream @_@

2006-05-17T10:19:00.000+10:00

This was a weird dream I had this morning.
I woke up a few times, and when I fell back asleep I went back into the same dream. =P
Enjoy. It gets a little weird in places =P You have been warned!!

For some reason I'm in Sydney. Staying at a place I dunno where. But it seems to be a small apartment, or maybe a hotel room. I end up leaving the apartment to go somewhere, and need to get back. But I can't remember how to get back. So I'm walking around the general area here. It's not like street streets, bit more of a large arcade. If you know Sydney think near the Japanese Consulate Generals place. Also near the channel 7 studios. If you don't, then sorry =/
So I'm walking around and I end up in the building complex for this place. But that itself is weird too. It seems to resemble a caravan park setup, but with small apartments, and streets in between. So I'm walking around, still no where near my place. I'm just looking at the surroundings. Then I notice a waterfall I passed before. So I go near it, and end up in this street. It's a main street and I notice my place (I think >_<) and a shop. Outside the shop is a large group of people, and some nice cars. I also seem to know some of them, or they just started talking to me for some reason. But we are there, and I'm looking at this tricked out orange car. I start filming with my phone. Lots of people around. It was obvious they had just come from the clubs or something, I'm sure some were drunk =P
Then in the car next to the orange one, I see a girl bent over vomiting. I felt concerned.
Then Mum came in an woke me up.

I re-enter the dream at the same place. But amazingly time had passed in the dream, as it had in real life. People are talking to the vomiting girl. Not offering help or anything. But then all of a sudden she loses bowel control (i.e. is pissing herself) @_@ So she is making a real mess. Note, I'm still filming this. O.o For the whole time I've been filming, it's been like a view of me behind my phone looking at the screen.
Then all of a sudden I see this car go past. It's an orange mustang, and it's traveling FAST! So I look up at that, then look back down at the orange car in front of me. The dudes are like, "what you looking at over there?" And I'm like, "It was fast". Then I look to the girl again and someone convinced her to let him fondle her breast. @_@
I then woke up again to something.

After going back to sleep I re-enter the dream.
Still in Sydney, and walking away from the other scene. Then all of a sudden I'm walking with 2 friends. One of them is a tall dude, the other is the girl I sit with in Japanese class. I'll call her 'F'. And we are walking around doing something, and F was getting tired. She decides we need a car. So we end up stealing a Lexus RX330. but what is crazy, is we are all in the front, and I'm driving. 3 people in the front of this thing? and I'm only a learner driver? WTF???? F busts open the glove box (which was on the drivers side O.o) and I start the car up. We then drive away, but through a car park first. I've never driven in a car park before and end up hitting another 4WD. We all laughed, but I noticed an old lady see us do it and call someone on her phone. I figured she called the cops. But I stayed quiet. Then we were driving or a bit, and suddenly I was alone driving the car. I was just driving around looking for somewhere to dump this stolen car. So I end up pulling into a place to dump it. It was like a car park sort of, but the ground was dirt mainly, and it was under cover. Think like a concrete box and you will understand. Then I walked over to get a drink from the drink machine there. And the old lady comes up to me with a police officer. She must have been following me all that time. I'm there trying to get a drink out of this machine though. It wasn't working for the drink I wanted, so I chose another. Meanwhile the policeman is patiently waiting for me =P while I put more money in into the machine, slowly....I'm stalling. I get my drink and we start walking to the station. I have no idea how far the station is, but we are walking for a while. He was telling me about what the lady said, and saying it isn't too much of a big dealabout running into the car.....blah blah 'fine', blah blah 'contact owner'. That would have been fine and all, except we stole the car >_< So all I'm thinking about is how am I going to get out of this one without gaol time >_< and do I involve my mates that somehow disappeared. >_<

The I woke up, and wrote this. =P

Some notes:
- The Lexus was an automatic. Normally I dream in manual cars.
- Everything I saw was in incredible detail, as if I was really there.
- Also, my conscience seems to get to me even in dreams. I was a little apprehensive about stealing the car, and then all the time I was driving I felt guilty >_< Then I got caught, and I'm like "WTF do I DO!!!!" Crazzzyyyy!!!

Holidays

2006-04-14T21:35:00.000+10:00

I'm going away for a week to a farm. I leave tomorrow around lunchtime. I'm not going to have internet access for a week. :P It shouldn't be too bad though, I've got assignments to work on and JDrama to watch :D It should be a fun trip :)
I'll try to take pictures while I'm there.
Try not to miss me too much ^_^
Feel free to email me while I'm gone, that way I have something to look forward to when I return :D

JET Program

2006-04-09T22:27:00.000+10:00

I got my letter from the JET office on Friday. Mum phoned me while I was on the train to tell me. I phoned her back once I arrived at Dungog and told her not to open it and wait until I cam home. Tonight I arrived back and read my letter.

I didn't get into the JET Program.

As I thought...the interview wasn't very good and I failed. Good thing I had FUU with me and a long train ride home that day to think on things.

My current immediate plans don't change at all. I get a job and start saving money. Simple ^_^ But I also need to look into getting a job there for the December/January time. I also need to address the reasons I thought I failed in the interview. I'm also thinking of getting some training in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, or TEFL. Time to work hard I think. I need to dig deep and find my 'work ethic' so I am ready for this 'job' thing. Maybe it will help my study as well.

Ore Ganbare!!

Smitten ^_^

2006-03-25T13:56:00.000+11:00

I'm completely smitten by this girl at Uni. At first I thought it was just common interest in finding a female friend. But I think it might be more. She is in one of my classes at Uni, and works alone in the Workshops. After the workshop last weeks, I was walking behind her on the way to Engineering, and I just couldn't stop looking at her :P I think I'm in love :D

It is not often that I feel this way about a girl, so I'm going to make something happen this time. I'm going to talk to her next week, in the lecture and/or workshop. I was hoping to be able to work with her on the problems in the workshop :)

I hope it goes well ^_^
Wish Me Luck All! :D

Time is indeed Precious

2006-03-17T11:45:00.000+11:00

From an email I sent to a good friend ^_^:

I believe it now. Before I thought it was something that you were just saying. But I believe you now, and I believe the statement itself. ^_^;;

Why does it come so naturally to us humans to compare ourselves to other people. More so, why is it that we can so quickly feel like we are missing out on something.

I see all these opportunities given to other people, and they put no work into it at all. They just sit back and cruise through being given things that I would like to have. I was like that once. I just cruised along grabbing onto the tail of what ever string was dangling close by at the time. It is the reason I never studied during high school, and the reason I just sort of oozed into University. I never tried for anything, I just sort of went with the flow. But I never did anything either.

For some of us opportunities aren't given to us all of the time. And more, the opportunities that we want aren't always available. I am no longer content to sit back and do nothing. As you say 'my time is capital. don't waste it'. I know what you mean!!! I am going to actively seek the things that I want more strongly. I don't think anything can stop me this time. :P

One might say that by doing this you might miss out on opportunities that are there for you. You might try too hard and not see something that is right there in front of you. I'm not like that. I can see both of them :) I think :P I can see both opportunities that are sitting waiting for me, and the others that I have to work towards. But from the position that I am in at the moment, I can only see that I will have to work to gain the things that I want. Besides....surely by working at something extra, more opportunities will become available for me ^_^

Perhaps it is just the way that the world works here in Australia. Perhaps we are not the type of people to help out a mate unless it is something serious. They talk of mateship, etc..etc... but it only seems to become apparant in hard times. Which is good, but also means other things aren't always made available. Lots of people know that I study Japanese and I am very passionate about Japan in general. But that hasn't helped me, no opportunities have presented themselves. Lots of people know that I play the guitar quite well, but only once has anyone ever recommended me to someone as a guitarist. Perhaps we just aren't in the business of doing things for other people like that. Then again, perhaps I give off an 'aura' that says I am fine doing things on my own, or that I would prefer to do things on my own. Perhaps I do seem to have a confidence that other people see. Even so, now I feel more that it is only me that has control of this thing called life, and that I must use my 'precious time' to the best that I can :)

I can't believe I didn't mention it here

2006-03-11T17:56:00.000+11:00

That bag I wanted.......I GOT IT!!!
It is just like I hoped it to be. It holds everything that I need, and it is great :D
I received it last Friday. As in the day before the Morpeth trip. I can't believe I didn't blog about it sooner :P
Here are some pics. I really like the bag :)











In the mean time. I am currently looking at the Panasonic X700.
It is a pretty cool phone, and it can sync with my Mac via Bluetooth :) When I get a job the first few pay checks I get will go to AppleCare, then the next to the phone, then to saving and buying myself nice clothes and other things ^_^

Family is alright :) Friends are great :D

2006-03-06T14:00:00.000+11:00

I had a good time on Saturday with Dad, his fiance and my sister.
We first went shopping and I bought a nice t-shirt on sale. It was $30 marked down from $80. The sale was soo good that Kris also bought me a shirt as well. That was nice of her. I'm wearing it today (the black one in the pics ^_^).
We then went to the Food and Wine tasting festival at Morpeth. It was fun, and we wandered around tasting things for most of the afternoon. We also spent some time looking at the painting and art at the gallery there. It was fun :)
After returning home I was bushed :P
Below are some pics of the t-shirts that I bought. Also are some pics of the mod I made to my guitar. I took the pickup cover off the bridge pickup ^_^

I also learnt something very important. Friends are excellent and you must treasure them for they are one of the best things in this world :) Do something nice for a friend everyday. They will appreciate it ^_________^
Thank You great friends of mine :)

Here are the pics:

Some of what moving out will require

2006-02-24T17:40:00.000+11:00

You might remember me saying that I was planning on moving out of home if I failed the JET program. I still have that wish. I was doing some sums the other day with information I got from the Centrelink site and it seems that I can indeed move out of home comfortably with the money that I will get from the Government and from working. I have to earn less than $236 a fortnight though. If I earn $237 a fortnight I end up losing $300 a month in payment. So I'd have to be careful. Overall I'd be getting just over $1000 a month in total. I asked in an Australian IRC channel if that would be enough to live off and a dude said that is how much he gets after tax so, Yes! Good news on that front.

A friend of mine said something to me the other that hit a soft spot left over from the JET interview. She asked if I was prepared to do cooking, cleaning, washing etc... This is similar to the line of questioning in the JET interview that made me feel bad about myself for the rest of that day. If I have made the decision to do something then I will see it through, no matter what it takes. This applies even more so if I see something as the only way I can get to something else that I want. I felt that I failed in the interview because I had no concrete proof that I could meet the basic requirement of living on my own. So the only way to not fail in the same way again is to move out. As I have made this decision, the different components at this stage are irrelevant. I know there are certain things that will be required of me, and I know I don't have the knowledge for all of them yet. But if I am not to fail, then I will have to gain them. There is no matter of whether or not I am ready.....I will just have to be otherwise I will fail.

I think I've said enough. I still need to get a job now though. If I can earn $235 a fortnight, currently while I still live at home, then I will save all of that money and spend none, or very little. All of the money will go towards Japan. So that is $470 a month that I can give towards the 'Japan Fund'. A very neat sum of money. When I move out depending on the costs of things, I want to be able to give $200 a month to the 'Japan Fund'. My goal is to have close to $10000 before I leave for Japan.

Maybe in another post I will outline some of my reasons for moving out.

Good Day to you all

I want this bag!

2006-02-21T17:49:00.000+11:00

STM Loft

See those pics above.......I want that bag.
I have been browsing several bags these past few days and thought I had made a decision on the STM Alley. I originally was staying away from the 'Loft' because I thought it was too bright. But I couldn't have been more wrong. I went to the Aple store today just to see if they had it in stock, and to see it in person. And it was great. The Orange leather looks great and isn't as bright as the pictures might make it seem. The bag colour is good too. I really want one!!! :D

I found one at a site online that offers cheap shipping and a great price for the bag. I'll get Dad to order it, then I can just transfer the money to his Credit Card. This is going to be great!!!! \o/ ^_^

Cheers to www.rushfaster.com.au for the pics...and eventual purchase of the bag. :)

Pics from trip to Sydney

2006-02-21T17:37:00.000+11:00

Finally faithful viewers there are pics from my trip to Sydney on the 4th and 5th of Feburary.
Here are the links:

Sydney Feb 2006

Chinese New Year Parade

Not much to say. I ran out of money in the first day down there.....so I couldn't do much but wander on the second day :P
It was a good night playing pool and going from place to place though.
Enjoy the pics!

Here is just a taste of what is in the archive.

JET interview, and thought about possible future changes

2006-02-16T21:56:00.000+11:00

INSERT: Look like Tetsu from Gokusen. Slightly over the shoulder, and slightly mean...if you watch the show, then you know what I mean ^_^
*listening to Gokusen 2 OST*

Well.....today was my JET interview. :I don't feel as if it went as well as it could have. I felt I could have given more than I did to them......I was really nervous (but not shaking) and I also wasn't expecting them to take as hard a line down a series of questions as they did. I felt that the reason it went wrong was because I am a neophyte. I felt it quite strongly in their questioning, and really all I could do was assure them that I could handle the challenge as I have no real examples in my life that I could share with them as proof that indeed I can handle these things. For them it would be a liability sending someone to another country with little experience of similar things in their own country.

This led me to think a little about my general plans and some of my motivation for going to Japan in the first place. Ultimately I want to work in Japan one day as an engineer. But that really won't happen until I have completed my Software Engineering degree. The other reason was indeed to get out on my own and fend for myself. I look at what I have now, and what I have had and I'm not at all independent. My family environment hasn't led itself to me needing to be so, and I'm not sure if I like it :| Going to Japan would have meant I would need to dive in at the deep end and discover truly what it means to be independent. But I've been thinking if I really need to go overseas in order to have that. If I change my plans slightly then I should be able to have what I want, and get a little extra as well. Not to mention that I would be in a better position for a voyage to Japan.

My proposed change means I get independence, a car, more money, and the freedom to do what ever I really want to. I'm thinking that if I move a trip to Japan back a bit to the beginning of next year, then I can move out, get a job, get my drivers license and a car, and continue learning Japanese. If I save more money up during the course of this year then I can put it all towards Japan and perhaps do things a little differently. If acquired enough money I should be able to move to Japan on my own accord and then get a job over there. Or maybe get a job before going, but with more flexibility, and have to pay for my airfare, accommodation, etc. I still really want to learn how to drive a manual car, and the freedom that a car would give me would be excellent ^_^ But in my current situation I can't drive a manual car (don't ask....cause the owner of the manual car can't answer why they don't want me driving the car either >_<), so I would have to buy my own. If I bought my own car, and payed for all insurance etc., I could then learn to drive in it quickly, fudge the log book, and get my license. Then (:P) stage one of independence. In the mean time I could make arrangements to move out of home and into a small apartment. Although I see myself living alone, I can't see why moving out with some buddies wouldn't be fun too :P, and possibly cheaper also. That might be problematic though considering how we organise things XD

Sooner rather than later I would get a job to help fund all of this, and also my new 'higher cost' lifestyle. Damn you Nancy XP~~~~~
But in all seriousness, this would give me the experiences that I want, and that potential employers in Japan would find favourable. And all with only a potential 6 month change to my plans for Japan. This of course is assuming that I fail the JET program. If I did for some strange reason get accepted, then I would go in the middle of this year. And all would be good. I would still move out of home upon returning to Australia though.

But with some unknowns in this equation it is hard to figure out what to do. Good thing I can solve for one of these things though. I need to get a job! If not to fund my lifestyle, perhaps I can earn enough in a short amount of time to fund the purchasing of a car, so I can fulfill my desire to drive a manual car :) And also stash some away for my JET, or later trip. I find out in April if I get into JET or not. If I fail...I will move out of home and go with my 6 month amended plan. Sorry Nancy....you might have to wait a few months for my arrival, but you also had doubts about your own timing. This way though I would get to choose where I live, so we could be in close proximity :D

Enough from me for today. I'm going to look at how much extra I can get from the government if I move out of home, how much rent is in the area for a small flat/house/apparto, and I will look for places I could get a job at. I must also write a new resume. I have lots to work on....oh and Chobits, Gokusen, and that program I was coding. I can keep myself busy ^_^ ahh......and Japanese study and Uni goes back next week. *Phew*

Volvos are cool

2006-02-09T23:17:00.000+11:00

The above are pics of a sweet S40 turbo I saw in Newcastle today. This is why Volvos are cool. ^_^
I have a 'Volvo Dream'.
A 242GT with a Toyota 2JZGTE under the hood. I'm thinking it could produce somewhere between 240 and 300 ps at the rear wheels. That would be the fun car for drift and track days.
I would also build a 360GLT for rallying. The engine it has is pretty strong, but I would like to replace it with a SR20DET, or an RB20DETT. The thing about the 360GLT is that the suspension would have to be completely redone. But it would be fun :D
But they are the cross-over cars. The 'hybrids' if you want. I would still like to build a 240 sedan with a twin-turbo 6 cylinder engine from one of the new volvos. I'd keep that one for daily driving, and still be able to smoke dudes at the lights and out drift dudes around corners. aahhh....the fun one could have.
Tomorrow, if I can be bothered, a post with pics from my Sydney trip.
Back to dreaming of cars :P

I bought clothes

2006-01-29T23:59:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I went shopping with Mum and bought some clothes.
I bought a really nice pair of pants, a really nice shirt, and a nice tie for my JET interview.
When I say 'really nice' I also mean 'really expensive'. But it was worth it, they feel good when I'm wearing them. Especially the pants. ^_^ I spent $170 on those 3 things. ^_^;
I also bought another pair of similar pants, but cheaper and of thicker material, and some shirts. I like those pants as well. They actually fit me, as opposed to being more loose like my other pants.
I like the clothes that I bought, and it was really the first time that I had ever really bought clothes for myself. It felt good.
All up I spent about $250, I think. Which was more than I wanted to spend, but I was happy so it doesn't matter. There is still a shirt that I want to buy though, or if I can find a similar shirt for cheaper than I'll buy that one. I want a nice long sleeved black button up shirt, with a nice simple pattern of something on it. Or maybe just a plain black shirt. I'll see.
I don't have pictures of what I bought. Maybe later.
jya

Pictures of my Beautiful Presents ^_^

2006-01-26T18:26:00.000+11:00

As promised here are some pictures of the presents that got. :)
Thank you again friend, I really love them :D

PRESENTS!

2006-01-25T20:47:00.000+11:00

I got presents in the mail today!!
My good friend Nancy from the Philippines sent me some great gifts. :)
She is a great person, and I thank you very much for the gifts Nancy. ^_^
Her letter was really touching and almost made me cry too.
Some of the presents were, a historical map of the Philippines (with some history info on the back), a Doraemon photo holder phone accessory thingy, a Sakura (from Naruto) 'dog tag' /w chain, a nice postcard, and a great letter ^_^
I also got a Karaoke disc of her singing. :)
I liked it very much. It makes these past few days really happy :D
I fixed one of my もんだい, and have been really happy since. Getting more sleep also helps :)
Thank You again my friend :)
I managed to find some Mead as well, at the Dungog Grog Shop (not the real name). It tis a nice drink.

End of an era

2006-01-23T10:43:00.000+11:00

さよなら　ダルネット。
たのしかった　ですね。
チャットは　いい　ね　けど、そのことは　じかんを　ながすぎる。
き　を　つけて　ね。
わたしは　もどる　あと　じぶんの　もんだい　を　なおす。
ありがとう

If you find any mistakes in the above, please let me know. I'm still a beginner. ^_^;

I got a JET Interview

2006-01-17T20:08:00.000+11:00

I got a letter today saying that I got throught to the next round in the JET program application procedure.
This means that I arrange a time to go to Sydney for an interview. I dunno how it will go, but I'll give it my best.
I might study Japanese a little harder so I can speak with the interview people a little in Japanese :)
This is a goood sign :) If the interview goes well, then I'm off to Japan :D
\o/

Rain Forest Trip

2006-01-15T01:11:00.000+11:00

As promised, pictures from the rain forest.
Last weekend Dad wanted to get out and do something because the weather was nice. So he thought we would go and see a waterfall in the national park near his house. So we drove there only to find a tree fallen on the path leading to the waterfall. We wouldn't have walked the rest of the distance because we were still 5kms away. So we turned around and went to another area that we had been to before. The pics are from that area.

You can get the pics here: http://photobucket.com/albums/c27/xatz/Rain%20Forest/

Also, on the way back I pulled a leech off my neck XP

And notice the new quote beneath the blog title at the top of the page. :) I coded it myself :D It's randomly pulled from a file each time the page loads. Cheers to Miii for hosting the quote file for me :)

your cowboy bebop theme song is...

2006-01-12T23:14:00.000+11:00

I like that song as well :)
And what it says is pretty much true.

Good Song

2006-01-12T12:41:00.000+11:00

I like Siam Shade.
Aquire this song: Ookina Ki no Shita de, from Siam Shade II
It is good :)
Here are lyrics

Ookina Ki no Shita de (Under the Big Tree) From Siam Shade II

Toni kaku mou yame ni shiyou
Issen ni mo naranai kenka nante
Kotoba ja kazari kirenai hodo no
Ai nara itsumo koko ni afureteru
Dare no

Tame ni wa ano okani ikou
Chikai wo kawashita
Ki no shita he
Sure chigai kizutsukeau tabi
Chippoke na pride ga
Itsumo nakimushi na kimi wo tozakete iku
Me no mae no tobira sae kizukazu ni

CODA
Kisetsu wa kawari yuku kedo
Bokura wa kawaranai
Deaetta hi to onaji
Kimochi no mama de
Tatoe toshi wo kasanete mo
Futari wa sono mama de
Ookina ki no shita de waratteitai

Saa, dekake you kono michi wo
Furimukazu zutto
Tsukareta toki wa kono basho de
Kono ude no naka de sou
Subete wo wasure nemuru ga ii

RETURN TO CODA

Always be, always be, always be, always be
Forever with you my love
Remember you are the one I will love forever
Always be

Enjoy.

Blog post tomorrow about trip to rain forest, if I can be bothered.
Maybe even a translation for the above song (wishful thinking there :P)

黒い猫が死んだ

2006-01-05T20:36:00.000+11:00

kuroi neko ga shinda (The Black Cat Died)

I caught the train to Dad's today to visit for the weekend and use the broadband. We went over the broadband limit to the tune of AU$60-$70. Which is a twice what we normally pay. So I might not be able to download as much anime now. But enough of that.
When I got here Dad and I were outside and he mentioned that the little cat died. They think she got hit by a car, as she was found dead beside the road a the corner just down the road. She was a nice cat. Got along well with our Dog even (we think he might have loved her >_<). But I remember times when she would come into my room while I was coding and she would sit on my shoulder or sit down beside me and sleep. It was nice. =) She would always great me when I came to Dad's. But recently she hadn't been. We think she has been wandering around for a while, and the few days before they found her Dad said she went missing for long periods. So I'm a little sad, but this is the circle of life. T_T
Here are some pictures of her. Soo かわいい（kawaii). ^_^'

R.I.P. 黒い猫

Futuristic Dream

2006-01-04T11:19:00.000+11:00

I don't dream often, so I try to write down the dream straight after having dreamt it. For some reason I don't dream during the night, but Mum wakes me up before going to work and then I fall back asleep. It is during the next few hours of sleep that I tend to dream. Here is my dream.

Dream:

I was with my Dad in this dream and we were running away from something. I was driving a hover car with Dad in the passenger seat and we were driving away from something down underground train tracks. We came up behind a slow moving train traveling in the same direction as we were. So I pulled out and overtook, but we still stayed on the other side. Then we came face to face with an oncoming train and quickly switched back to the other side (yeah, just like in the movies). We slowed down a bit then the slow moving train caught up and was behind us.
I'm not real sure what happened next but we got caught.
We were then taken to a 'facility' (for what I don't know), and were being escorted by some guards and what seemed like a scientist. From what they were saying it was like we were supposed to be an inferior people, with lesser intelligence. Then for some reason Dad and I seemed to break away from them (there were only a few guards and the 'scientist' was quite distracted and almost amazed to have found us. So we ended up walking away and finding, what appeared to be a veranda or sitting area enclosed by glass walls with a glass door. We went out there, and there was the sitting area with a wall that was easily climbed (it really was only small). So we climbed the wall.
We ended up on grass and appeared to be outside. Looking back we could see the glassed in veranda, and to the right of where we came out there was a small brick structure (reminded me of the junction box at my high school) with a church like structure behind it. To the left were some trees. But directly away from the veranda we could see a road. Thinking that there would be guards around, and knowing we would need a vehicle to escape properly we went back inside the 'facility'. We wandered around the corridor a little bit and ran into the scientist and the guards. They were looking for us and were pretty mad. So we ran. We ran back out to the veranda and out onto the grass. But for some strange reason there were other people out there now, and we could tell immediately that they other 'inferior' people like ourselves. Of course they were obviously a little deranged, and clearly had mental problems (think any movie set in a mental hospital).
So the scientist called more guards and tried to clam down some of the patients while still trying to get to us. Then my Dad seeing this happening did the strangest thing. He jumped on top of the brick structure and started acting all crazy. Then, I'm not sure if I got a sign from him or not but I ran. I ran out onto the road and started heading down the street. I looked back and the hadn't seemed to notice yet that I was gone. So I kept running. I ran past 2 houses and then had an attack of conscience.
Strangely it wasn't an ordinary street on this side. On the other side it looked just like a typical Newcastle street, but on this side there was only a few house between the facility and what appeared to be a shopping district in the distance. It also sloped down toward the 'normal' side of the street. But the houses weren't big, it was the land that was fenced in that was big, and the fact that the house had very little trees, and none that could give good cover (which is important to the next part). Also behind the houses was a forest, and surrounding them was a lot of grass. Back to the story. This scene was not at all futurist unlike the underground train and the facility before.
I decided that the best thing to do would be to hide so when the guards came they would run past me and look elsewhere and I would have the chance to go and get Dad. So I was looking for somewhere to hide but couldn't find anywhere. All the trees and scrubs were too small and didn't have enough foliage to cover me, and I was running out of time. I started running toward the shopping district thinking that maybe I could hide out the back of a shop then come back to Dad. But that never happened. as I was running two 'Guard Animals' came out to try to find me (which in this open area wasn't hard to do). The Guard animals were interesting. They had short light tan coloured fur and were sort of a cross between a Polar Bear and a Saber Toothed tiger. They didn't have the fangs of the tiger, just similar fur and cat like face. But the head was small and the large body reminded of a Polar Bear in shape. They didn't seem to have large tails either.
So I'm standing there not knowing what to do, waiting for these animals to rip me into little pieces. But they were friendly. They just surrounded me and got close. I patted them and they liked it. They were all purring and they both cam over for a pat. Problem was they were from the facility and they now wouldn't leave me alone, so I knew the game was up, and slowly started walking back to the facility to await capture.
I then woke up. The End.

I'm off to Study some Japanese now and then watch the Philippine movie that I taped last night during lunch. Lunch will be Indomie noodles and Instant Miso Soup.
Yum. ^_^

Watching Anime with friends is Good

2006-01-04T00:15:00.000+11:00

Not a great deal happened today. It is the holidays after all.
I went to the shops in the morning and got some things for Mum and some nice paper to write a letter to my friend.
I then chatted to my friends on the web and tried to do a little research. I never did, lol, chatting can take up a lot of time.
Then I looked over my Japanese notes and started to write a letter to my friend.
The letter I was writing was to go with a present I was sending a friend in the Philippines. I won't say what the present is incase they read it (yes I mean you :P). But I hope they like it still. To the left is a picture from the cover of the note pad that I wrote on. :)
In the late afternoon I went around to a friends place so he could leech anime from me. While there we watched the first episode of Karin. Karin is a vampire anime, and a girly anime as well. But I like the story and it is funny in places. If you are thinking vampire anime as Vampire Princess Miyu, then think again cause this is completely different. Either way it was fun being at a friends place sharing anime. :) He also wrote the draft skeleton for another book. I've got it on my computer so I will read it over the next few days. I read the first chapter while I was there and it looked like an interesting story. It had swords in it, and I like swords. :D If he allows me to, I might post some extracts in my blog.
Just before coming online tonight I looked over the book I mentioned in my last post and practiced writing Hiragana and Katakana the way that they described it in the book. I posted the blurry pictures of that below so you can see. I will continue studying through that book tomorrow, and also look over some grammar in the Extreme Guides notes that I have.
I wonder if there is anyway of making this blog more interesting ?? Please post hints and suggestoins as a comment. =)
Maybe I should try more jokes, or perhaps I should not post as much content and post something that is a little bit interesting and maybe funny so that you all don't get bored. Anyway....
Enjoy the pics, especially the one from the writing pad :)
I'm off to read a comic I was just sent :D

Party = good :)

2006-01-01T22:32:00.000+11:00

I went to the party the other night and had a good time.
People surprised me that night and I now have renewed faith in the human race. I got to the party and my two best friends were there, but one left to go to work, and the other left shortly after food. So I was left at a party for 4-5 hours with people I didn't know. But it wasn't a problem, they made me feel welcome and they were really nice people. :) and they weren't put off by the fact that I was the only one not drinking alcohol and getting drunk.
So New Year party was good. Then I came back home and sat on the net to celebrate Japanese New Year and Filippino New Year. But I didn't go to bed until 06:00. hahah Not because of New Year really, but cause I was listening to music and chatting and just didn't feel like going to bed.
Yesterday it was bloody hot here. 40 degree C heat -_-
I was going to do some Japanese study, but it was too hot and I couldn't be bothered. I'll make up for it this afternoon though. About Japanese study. I intend going to Japan next year and am studying the language so I have a good start over there. Below are some shots from a book I got from the library. I really like it, it gives an introduction to some kanji and also the Hiragana and the Katakana, there are exercises and ways of trrying to remember them. I like the book.
Enjoy the bad quality camera pics.

First Post (for want of a better name)

2005-12-31T17:11:00.000+11:00

Well, this is the blog of xatz from Australia.
bla bla, yes it is another blog......
Time to begin :)

The title of the blog is The Rain Song. The Rain Song is one of my favourite songs by Led Zeppelin it is on the album called House of the Holy. Look it up :)
Today, is New Years Eve. Up until a few minutes ago I wasn't doing anything tonight, and would have spent it online in IRC (server: dalnet, channel: japan). But I was just informed there is a party at an old friends place just down the road from me. So I'll be going there. I hope it goes alright :)
This morning I helped Mum with the shopping. The shops will be closed for the next few days so she needed to get a lot of stuff, and she couldn't carry it home all by herself.
Then this afternoon I have been chatting on IRC and tabbing music. I'm a guitarist of 14 years experience. I'm 21, so that is more than half my life :) I was tabbing Simplicity by Toshi. Toshi is the vocalist from X Japan, a band I have grown to like. I also like Japan, and Japanese music. I hope to be in Japan next year teaching English. :D
Anyway, a shoutout to the dalnet guys and gals. Take Care and
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!