Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Toyota Land Cruiser

Released in 2008 and also known as the 200 series is a "lady" of the roads and the king of the mountains- from my point of view :D


Honda CR-V


2008 Honda CR-V EX-L
Originally uploaded by ianris
A redesigned CR-V was launched for the 2007 model year. The third generation CR-V is powered by the latest version of Honda's standard K-series 2.4 L 4-cylinder engine, similar variants of which can also be found in the current-generation Honda Accord and Honda Element.


New Nissan Murano


Nissan Murano, 2009
Originally uploaded by MobyDee
New Nissan Murano released on Monday in Japan it` s a luxury SUV, already released in USA in January.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Kanji Reader Device


Red Flags of Kanji
Originally uploaded by Jim Atwood
Somebody interested in learning kanji would be interested in the Kanji Reader. A litlle device with a bilingual interface, a high precision optical scanner able to digitize kanji and other Japanese characters( around 3000). It seems that it can do both E-J and J-E.
It is not that expensive and I think it is very handy considering that it is the size of a pen. Personally, I still need to learn the "analog" way and then I would like to have a device like this to help me when I need it.

More details about the device here

Saturday, September 27, 2008

New Yahoo Messenger

The new Yahoo messenger 9.0 came with this new application called Pingbox among others. You can edit it first on the Yahoo Messenger page and then copy and paste the html to your blog, profile or website. It looks very handy and easy to use. The ones who will send you messeges through it will appear as Visitor 1, 2...an so on. I added it and will test it for a while to see how it is. You can read more about the new messenger and its new features on Yahoo Messenger Blog.

Today


Rice field
Originally uploaded by Mihai Florin Apostu Oota
This photo is relaxing me, and I need it after today`s event. Hiromichi Sato came to Aomori for an event and we were there too. I` ve seen him a few times at the TV and on DVD`s and he is still good at his job. Without special preparations but with a very simple and well thought plan, kept the audience( moms and children) busy for an hour, and I mean BUSY. Simple is Best!

Hiromichi Sato`s blog ( ひろみちお兄さんのブログ)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Burton Supermodel `72


For almost 3 years I`ve been using the board that made me love powder and Hakkoda. Lately I`ve been checking the internet for THE powder snowboards and looked at several boards like: T. Rice Banana Hammock , Burton Supermodel, Burton Fish , Gentem and a few others. I was about to buy the Banana Hammock to enjoy the powder 100%- but then I thought what will I do on the slopes.

Yesterday, the weather in Aomori changed and today was really cold. It won` t be long until the snow will be here. :) Where will you snowboard this year?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

2008 International Events

After coming back from Romania, where me and my son have spent an unforgettable 1 month holiday together with the grandparents from Romania, we continued the preparations for the ISE 2008( International Summer Event).

We are a volunteer association in Aomori interested in organising events where people all over the world can join us and share ideas, happenings, talent and cultural aspects.



The first event took place on July the 13th at the International cultural exchange house situated near the Aomori Public University Aomori. A big number of students helped us make this event happen. Both the guests and the participants were excited to be there.

The participants coming from countries like China, Phillipines, Japan, Korea, Malaisia, Russia, Romania, Thailand, Vietnam made their own speech in Japanese, presenting something relevant about their own country. During the break romanian cheese and snacks were served( I wish we could have offered wine too).

After the speech, talented singers from Russia, Phillipines, America, Australia and Japan gathered in a piano, guitar, violin and beautiful voices concert.


On August the 17th 2008, Aomori city hall in collaboration with different companies and associations from Aomori organised the annual 触れ合い広場( Open Space Contact). The main route in Aomori that goes to the Train Station was opened only. One of the many groups organising the event presented a world traditional clothing fashion show. Among other countries around the world( around 30 where presented), Romania was presented by me and a romanian friend of mine living in Hatinohe. At the end of the Fashion Show we danced holding hands with the viewers on romanian traditional songs like Hora and Brasoveanca.

This day was a special day for me for two reasons- ①I would have never thought that on my 27th birthday ②I will be dancing on traditional romanian songs in Japan.


At the moment we are preparing for the second event that our volunteer association will organise on December the 14th. " Christmas around the world" is what we would like to present in this second edition( probably this will be the name of the event) and hopefully foreigners living in Aomori( and other prefectures) will make Christmas in Aomori be felt like it is in their own countries.

If YOU are a foreigner living in Aomori( Japan) and would like to be present at this event as a guest or collaborator don` t hesitate to contact me.
Let` s spend an unforgettable Christmas in Aomori!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Horseback Archery Contest 流鏑馬大会 青森

Every year in September, on the Gappo Park beach, a horseback archery contest ( 流鏑馬 大会) is organised and contestants from all over Japan are gathering here. It was my first time to see an archery contest and I really enjoyed watching it, taking pictures and even speaking to the contestants. The weather was kind to the contestants( but not to me)- the sky was covered with grey clouds all the time. The horse that Mr. Oomori was riding was the attraction of the day( to me it was) - it was all spotted like a dalmatian.



Preparing
Originally uploaded by Mihai Florin Apostu Oota
The contestants had to ride the horses on a 200 meters long track and hit three targets set on their left side on the way. The distance from the track to the targets was about 5 meters.

River of light

This evening I went on a bridge in the city to see how to do long exposures. It was hard enough to keep the camera steady for 20 seconds without moving it. Just ordered a tripod and can`t waitfor it to arrive next week. Still have to learn more about the camera.


And this is how Oirase river looked like last week with a tripod under the camera. The long road to the river was worthwhile.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Woody&Ultraman


Woody&Ultraman, originally uploaded by Mihai Florin Apostu Oota.

I have been away from this blog for a long time so, soon, if not today, I will make an effort to write a review of this summer. I have been taking tons of pictures, most of them not that good- still learning how to use the camera.

I WILL BE BACK!

Cheers