Author Archive for risu

Page 84 of 95

KIX

Published on February 14, 2008 in rant and Travel by risu. Closed

Feet dry at KIX.  Flight was OK, but uncomfortably hot.  Probably the dummy-plug drives under the seats for the in-flight entertainment systems were cooking me.  My watch said the temp was as high as 31C in the cabin!  There were some non-Japanese people in back of me… semi-English speakers who insisted on using my seatback as a handle, especially when I had a drink in my hand.  Darn those overweight foreigners!  Fat dude was pushing his back against mine when we were waiting to deplane, expecting me to move – which I didn’t.  Pilot was really good.  Nice soft landing on the new runway.  Landing approach was over Awaji-shima, then turning in a big right arc to land going out to sea. 

It’s about 6-9C here.  My KIX-CTS flight is on schedule, so everything looks good.

Off to Sapporo

Published on February 14, 2008 in Travel by risu. Closed

All ready to head out.  Heading to HNL to catch JO 077 to KIX.  There is supposed to be some bad weather warning going on for today – tens of centimeters of snowfall expected nationwide.  Hope none of my flight legs get cancelled…

Moshi-moshi?

Published on February 11, 2008 in Culture by risu. Closed

If you’ve been listening to 101.1 Japanese FM, you might have noticed that they have been off-air since last week.  The station blog entry for Friday the 8th. indicates that an equipment failure has renderd the station dead for the time being.  Hopefully they’ll be up and running again soon.

Okay, as of Thursday 14 February morning, they are back on line.  I was wondering if they were going to pull a 99.7 and just up and close without warning…

Yummy Nuggets

Published on February 7, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Joyful KaneoheHad dinner at “Joyful Garden” Chinese restaurant near Kozo Sushi in Kaneohe this weekend.  Supposedly they also have a downtown location.  The atmosphere is more upscale here than the more familiar “take-out”/family dinner Chinese restaurants here.  It was very clean and bright inside, and they had a big Philips LCD TV to watch the end of the “Big Game” on.  Cloth napkins – I think that sums it up well.  The waiters had black slacks, white shirts and black vests! Continue reading ‘Yummy Nuggets’

Happy Traffic Day!

Published on February 7, 2008 in car and rant by risu. Closed

So did they let all the wacky/crazy/stoopid people out from wherever it is they are suppoese to be locked away and give them all cars to drive for the day?

This morning, I had this “unlicensed Polynesian contractor” make a left turn into the oncoming traffic in the contra-flow lane on Nimitz from the right traffic lane right in front of me in the left lane!  He did a good job testing the ABS on the new work van, and made everything in back that was on a pallet become not on a pallet anymore.

Thank you!

After returning to the warehouse to use the forklift to put everything back onto pallets, I left Kakaako and experienced something poetic.  The syllable count is all wrong, and there is no reference to the season, but here is my haiku:

Four white vans at a four-way-stop
Three do not know what to do
Welcome to Cooke Street 

Comfort Food

Published on February 1, 2008 in Food and rant by risu. Closed

Ahh!  To be back in Honolulu where a decent Mexican dinner can be had!

Met Fabio, Tracy, and JT for dinner at Los Chaparros last night.  I had a 2-item meal with a chicken enchilada and a soft taco al pastor ($13 USD).  It was “$3 beer night”, so I had a Negra Modelo.

If it’s one thing that Whistler is missing, it’s a good Mexican restaurant. There’s Caramba, the Mexican restaurant that serves Italian food.  I’ve been there once the first time we visited Whistler and never had any hint of a desire to go back.  There’s Dup’s Burritos, the little hole-in-the-wall with the ethnically insensitive sign (it features a round-faced dark-skinned man with a sombrero and a big moustache).  I’ve heard mixed things about this place.  Kevin and Naomi had nachos there and found them to be good, but the Symphony Ninja Sandwich Boys described a Dup’s burrito as, “a wrap with crap in it”.  That has almost a Ted Geisel ring to it…  There is a new place over on Creekside that opened this season, but we didn’t have a chance to try it.  Maybe next time…

Low-Bidder Light Bulb

Published on January 31, 2008 in car by risu. Closed

WTF!

lowbidderbulb.JPGI hit the brakes and the parking lights come on…  Ofuk!  All that rain the other day shorted something in the FJ80 and now I have some weird, undecipherable electrical problem!  I get home and start messing with stuff.  Pull the parking light fuse – still does it – OK, the circuit is getting power from somewhere in back.  I open the rear access panels and check for moisture on the rear lamp cluster connectors, but those are OK.  I disconnect the left cluster – problem persists. I disconnect the right cluster – problem goes away.

Weird. Continue reading ‘Low-Bidder Light Bulb’

Home Again

Published on January 29, 2008 in Snow by risu. Closed

Got back in from Vancouver on Sunday night.  Washed all my gear last night after work.  I managed to get one set of outerwear last the 7 riding days.  It was almost always below freezing except for a few times at the bottom of 7th Heaven, so the clothes didn’t get too funky.

My legs are fine – no muscle pain or burn.  My rear-leg knee is a little sore though.  It got a bit bad on about day 5, but tapered after that.  I have a couple of bruised or cracked ribs on my back.  They hurt when I cough of sneeze.

Just a couple of weeks until I’m off to hit the snow in Japan!

Mission-ready

Published on January 18, 2008 in Snow by risu. Closed

All packed up and ready to go to Vancouver tonight.  I hope I didn’t forget anything.  I noticed last night that I only had 3 gels, so I ran into McBike while stopping to pick up lunch at Yamagen and got several more. the Whistler weather report calls for some flurries tonight through tomorrow, but they predict sunny skies with an arctic outflow at the beginning of next week bringing F-ing cold temperatures. Fabio will recall the Thanksgiving trip last year when it got down to -25C in the village.  Woo hoo!  Party!  Looks like the groomer board unless for some reason Ullr blesses us with a crazy dump later in the week.

First Ride of the Year

Published on January 17, 2008 in bike by risu. Closed

Finally a rainless afternoon on the Windward side!   I took the Ellsworth out for a short spin yesterday after I got home from work.  The new Easton EC-90 seatpost works fine, but the new Fizik saddle may need a little break-in time.  The supposedly flexible “wings” on the front edges of the rear plane aren’t flexible, so there is some discomfort forward of the ischial contact zones.  This could also be from a slightly flatter contour than my Titanio 200, or just from not having ridden for over a month.  No leg burn, but my lower back was feeling it. 

D = 10 km (6.21-miles), Vavr = 16.7 km/h (10.4 mph), Vmax = 38.9 km/h (24.2 mph), T = 36-minutes