Oceanshaft

Just heard of this website from a friend.

Pandora by the Music Genome Project.

Basically you enter some songs/artists that you like, and the site will analyse the music you choose and play songs with the same characteristics - ie., it plays what it thinks you would like. Just add more songs/artists to refine the process. Have just started to try it out, so I can't say how good/accurate it is, but the concept is interesting, the music quality is good, and the user interface is simple.

Try it! I know some of my friends will just love this.

Am trying to read through the papers of previous seniors who did research on the same topic as I did. Trying to understand what they were doing, worked through the equations written in the introductory chapters. Little mistakes here and there. Did they just copy from previous years without checking? And even if they did, why are there then different mistakes? Sigh. Granted, mostly I'm reading through drafts of the papers, but really... Now I can't trust anything I see in these papers. And I'm not even sure if I'm right either. Though I probably am, most of these errors are probably typing errors - wrong letters used for the variables, wrong signs, dots missing, etc.

Yes, I am just grumbling without purpose.

Wow, had a really busy weekend with church activities on the 23rd night, 24th night and Christmas service/party on the 25th itself. Everything's a blur of memories. As for yesterday, my friend N from Gaidai days was down here in Fukuoka as he had some experiment to do here in Kyudai. Hm, coming all the way down from Tokyo just for two days to do an experiment, apparently only the medical campus in Kyudai has the facilities for what his lab wanted to conduct. Didn't know the medical faculty in Kyudai was so advanced.

Anyway, went for tempura, then drove down to see the area around Fukuoka Tower. Had a good time catching up. Good to have someone from Gaidai days come down to Fukuoka, it's quite a rare event. Can hardly believe it's been almost six years since I first came to Japan. How the time flies...

Another year, and then I'll have to start preparing to return to Singapore. That'll be another big change.

It's coming to Christmas and after that, the end of this year! Time to write 年賀状 again. Probably will send out 6-7 New Year greeting postcards this year. It's not a chore for me as it might be for some people since I don't have that many to send out. Definitely don't have to send out any business-related ones, anyway. Just send out some to the families that hosted me for homestays and then some other folk.

Meanwhile, planning for the ski trip is coming along. Will probably confirm where to go and so on by the end of today.

Will be busy with activities all the way from tonight until the 26th or 27th. The end of the year is always so busy. Well, have to keep busy, otherwise the cold will really get to me. The hills were dusted with snow this morning - I felt like I was in Nagano. Heavy snow all over Japan last night and this morning. At least the weather has cleared up over Fukuoka already. The sun is out and about, making the view from my window deceptively bright and peaceful. Unfortunately, leaving the building still entails battling strong winds.

Because someone asked.

This is 黒豆納豆.

Am tired. Why? Let's see, year-end party with my lab (combined with the lab next-door) on Thursday night followed by karaoke. Woke up around noon on Friday, went to school then went down to town to buy some stuff. Met up with a friend, and ended up going for karaoke from 11pm till just before 5 am. Stayed over at his place. This afternoon (Saturday), went with my church for homeless feeding at Hakata. Now it's evening. I am tired. And tonight is forecast to be the coldest so far this winter, with minimum temperatures tomorrow morning -2 degrees Celsius. That's cold for me.

Good to be busy having fun though. Although, walking around in the winter wind we get here is torturous. It's definitely gotten beyond "bracing" by now.

Monday, and what a cold Monday it is. Strong winds are here again, meaning that the temperature one feels is not the temperature reported on the weather forecast. Am getting hungry, but it's cold outside. What should I do? Ugh. I shall surf the internet further while making my decision. Now this is when I miss the tropical weather.

It snowed again today. Will this winter be like this all the way? On a brighter note, that means the ski slopes in west Japan will have more snow earlier this year, and I won't have to go all the way to central Japan or further to ski if I do end up going in early January. That reminds me, have to get round to planning that ski trip. Hope to go to an onsen during this winter as well. Guess I'll forgo going overseas until spring. Or summer.

Had a really packed weekend, visiting my old lab, catching up with some friends and having a steamboat party with some of the other Singaporeans/foreign students. I am tired, after driving here and there as well.

The steamboat was good. Always good to have steamboat in winter, yes?

First snowfall this year came swiftly, not creeping in under the cover of autumn's leave, but gusting and blowing and announcing winter's landfall. To think it was a late winter, then the mecury dropped and first snow falled. In visible quantities too, flaunting itself in whirling dance beneath the streetlights. Will this year see mornings where all is white? Anticipation comes with snow's first fall, a settling down of twinkling lights, first arrivals paving winter's path.

Late winter, early snow, what next?

待っている

昨日の夜、福岡空港で行われた航空機事故総合訓練に参加した。何をしたかというと、重負傷者を演じただけ。他にも何人かの留学生も一緒に行ったけど、みんな重負傷者の役だった）。軽負傷とか中負傷はどっかからの日本人（中学生か高校生？）。飛行機にのって、人に救出され、後はひたずら担架・ベッド・救急車に横になって待つだけ。

飛行機に突入を待つ救出者

というか、あまり真面目じゃない人もいるしね。救護所のテントに入って、看護婦とか医者たちを負傷者と一緒にポーズさせ、写真をとったりしている人とか。ちょっと、一生懸命静かに横になってる「負傷者」の気持ちを考えてという感じだったね。まあ、こっちもそこまで真剣やないけどね。

Singapore Serf - that's one of the blogs that I read frequently and looked forward to updates. Today, it's writer has decided to stop updating regularly. Why? His journey is at a new stage, and thus his chronicles are ending. It really was encouraging to read, though.

If you're living in a foreign land away from home, please give it a read. It encourages. If you're a Singaporean, please pay it a visit. It's the story of one of us.