Sunday March 30
 
10:28
 
Never Mind Not Knowing Shibuya…

… I don’t even know my own house.

For 18 months it’s annoyed me that the mirror in the bathroom always stays steamed up after showering. Today I found out that the light switch next to the mirror is not only a light switch, but a mirror “de-steamer”. Fantastic.

My house has many other gadgets. One of the cooler ones is the automatic bath filler - enter the temperature that you want,and it will automatically fill up the bath with that temperature water, and stop at the right level. Or, at least, it would do if I knew how to work it.

Saturday March 29
 
15:37
 
I Need To Get Lost More

Wikipedia - Shibuya:

Shibuya is famous for its scramble crossing which is reportedly the world’s busiest. It is located in front of the Shibuya Station Hachiko exit and stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to inundate the entire intersection. Three large TV screens mounted on nearby buildings overlook the crossing. The Starbucks store overlooking the crossing is also one of the busiest in the world. The 2003 American movie Lost in Translation featured a scene at the crossing. It was also featured in the 3rd installment of The Fast and the Furious

Shibuya, where I live in Tokyo, is something else. I realised recently that despite living here 18 months, I’ve only barely scratched the surface.

That was no most apparent than today, when I set out to find one of the major electrical retailers, failed to find it, and ended up discovering what can only be described as a “mini Costco”, Yamaya, in a street that I’ve walked past dozens of times.

Unfortunately Yamaya doesn’t have hummus (my Holy Grail) - but it does have German sausage from the USA ;) which I’ve only ever previously seen in Costco, more salsas, mexican spices, and thai dishes, including low fat coconut milk, than you can shake a stick at, and 2 litre boxes of Australian and Chilean wine for 1000-1300 yen, about the price of a bottle of Jacob’s Creek. I can now get decent wine at a decent price near my house - woo hoo!

Last week I had a similar experience - not only did I find another foreigner supermarket, but I found a German beer bar, with imported white beers on draft, in the street next to me - and I found them completely by accident. How could I not know about that bar, you may wonder. Answer: It’s in the opposite direction to my journey to the station.

We tend to follow the same paths when we’re out - walk the same streets, search the same areas. Even though for the last two months I’ve had the policy of always going to somewhere new when I go out - so I try a new bar or restaurant every time I go out - I’ve tended to look in the same area. There’s a reason for that: I’m hungry, and I know there are bars there. In the other areas, I don’t exactly know where I’ll find bars, and it’s not good to search on an empty stomach.

Last week, and particularly today, has brought home to me just how much more there is to the area I live.

I just need to get lost more.

Wednesday March 26
 
23:49
 
This Is Becoming A Habit

Last night I went to see The Pigeon Detectives - one of my favourite British bands - in Tokyo.

They played a long set and the music was fantastic, but there were two huge problems.

Firstly, they didn’t play my favourite song “You know I love you”:

You know I love you
Take off your clothes
It’s alright
It’s alright

This is the song that got me into The Pigeon Detectives - a surreal experience of being in Woolworths, possibly the most bland and boring and safe chain shop in the world, and hearing a song about trying to seduce a woman into having sex being piped through the store.

This happened when I went to see Bjork in Japan also - she didn’t play my favourite song. It’s becoming a habit, dammit. Luckily the next band I’m going to see in Tokyo - Biffy Clyro - I’ve never even heard, so no problems there. I’m only going to see them because (a) they are Scottish playing in Tokyo, and (b) my brother will be here at that time, and I want to show him different sides of Tokyo. What better way to treat a guy flying to Tokyo from Scotland than to show him a Scottish band?

But The Pigeon Detectives not playing my favourite song was made even worse by the fact that they didn’t play an encore. So here was me standing thinking “Well, they’ve kept the best till last, right?”

What band doesn’t play an encore? People hung around for over 15 minutes waiting for them to come back out - even the venue owners thought they’d come back out, because they didn’t raise the lights. PATHETIC. Leave lots of little Japanese disappointed - way to handle your international fanbase guys.

Tuesday March 25
 
17:53
 
Moving Domains Between Webhosting Companies

Yesterday I moved The Korean Blog List to a new hosting company. I faced some technical challenges during the transfer, so to remind me of the solutions to them and the tools I used, I’ve written this: Moving Hosting Companies - Solving Technical Issues.

It’s primarily aimed at me - for when I’m moving domains in the future - but hopefully the page will help anyone else faced with similar site-move problems. Some of the solutions were difficult to track down.

Note: It is not a document about choosing a web host company, though obviously I’d recommend the company I’m using for that. I’ve included details on how to get half price hosting with that company at the bottom of the page.

Friday March 21
 
15:02
 
Scary Stuff

I realised today that my Gmail account is no longer just an email account, it is slowly becoming a record of my life, every bit as important as a diary or a blog. It records who I’m talking to, what I’m talking about. I can go back to any point in time and see what I was thinking and feeling, from the emails written to and from friends.

I’m very careful about protecting my Gmail password, which is why I wrote QG to allow me to safely read Gmail on a public computer. It may seem paranoid - but this piece from Gizmo highlights just how easy it is for a password to be snatched in ways you wouldn’t expect:

3.2 Malware Disguised as Freeware
Subscribers to this newsletter know I love freeware. They also know that I advise users to only download freeware from trusted sites such as download.com and majorgeeks.com, or from sites recommended by trusted sources. This article, sent to me by regular contributor JW, illustrates some of the dangers. The author downloaded a freeware Gmail accessory only to discover that the program emailed his Gmail username and password to the author. Read the gory details here.

You can see the latest Gizmo newsletter here. It’s pretty good for highlighting useful and free utilities.