Holga 135bc

So 2 weeks ago, I got my Holga lomography camera. Excited, I immediately went to school and shot some pictures. Then, I took it to my local Longs to get my first roll developed. The thing was.....they seemed to think some of my artsy photos were "oops" photos. So some good ones were lost. Heres a sample of what I got:






You can find the rest at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81422&id=1079167194

Yeah yeah I know they're pretty crappy but hopefully my next few rolls will come out better. I got a fisheye lens and a flash coming in tho, so it should be interesting.

Why Hello There....My You've Changed

So a couple weeks have passed since I sold my old conversion to my friend, and it looks like its finally complete. Looks pretty sick to me imho. He seemed to have some problems with eBay shipping for the wheels, but they came in just fine......only to run into a lockring problem when trying to install a new cog. Luckily it was all sorted out today.

About a month back, I started to get interested in cameras. I looked around, searching online for cheap SLR's, etc. But I decided to buy a Holga. It's considered a "toy" camera becuase of its simplicity, plastic construction, and very low price. It lets you take photos like this:



I bought one for super cheap on online and it came in the other day. Im super stoked to go and shoot photos, but Ill probly screw up my first couple rolls lol. It runs 35mm film.

Goodbye and......Hello?

Because I needed money for the new bike, I sold my old conversion to a good friend. I didn't really hate to see it go or anything, but it was my first fixed bike and all. I got used to riding fixed on it, and even rode the century ride 75 miles with it...so I feel some regret.

On the bright side, my friend is giving it an awesome transformation. Its still in progress, but when it gets built up, I'll post some pics. For now, here's a teaser


Apparently hes going for a black/neon green scheme. I'm excited for it to get built up!

New Bike

I got a new bike a little while back. Its a kilo tt that I bought from a friend.
He let me pay bit by bit after an initial downpayment, so I was in debt for a while. Today, I finished paying it off. Threw 350 at it for the whole thing. Good deal though, since the cranks themselves would be 2/3 that cost if they were brand new. I'm thinking of some upgrades I could do, but Im happy for now. I'm loving the track geometry. I hope to ride at least a bit (15-30mins) every day.

REDLINE

Today I went to Dole theaters for the premiere of Redline, a Japanese racing anime movie. I first saw the trailer for it a couple months back while I was still in Japan. At the time I was like "meh I dont like the art" so I had no intention of seeing it. It just so happened though, that the Hawaii International Film Festival is currently taking place. And whadya know, Redline was in the lineup. One of my friends apparently liked the trailer and said that he was gonna go see it, so I said to hell with the art and went to see it. My impression? EPIC. It was funny, touching, and most of all fast. Even though the whole thing was around 2hrs 30mins, it felt like a car just blew by. I definitely recommend it. If you were expecting a synopsis too bad. Im lazy lol. Go to imdb or wikipedia.

In other news, my fall break is drawing to a close. All in all its been good, but what I regret is that I never really had the time to just sleep in and wake up when I felt like it. I always had something I had to do whether it be bowling practice or meeting up with friends, etc. I dread going back to school, but I know all good things come to an end at one point or another. Life just keeps moving like a race.

Break

So Ive finally entered fall break. Today was the first "real" day of break, so I decided to go for a ride. I rode down to alas to chill for a while. I always lock up at barnes and noble, and almost every time I go there, I see this locked up.



It used to look like this



Who is this mystery rider with a slammed seat and foot retention on only one side?


Anyway, after hitting alas, I grabbed some dinner at Ezogiku at Donquijote. Omnomnom it was good.




All in all it was a good day. Im gonna try to ride everyday this break.

Century Ride

Last week Sunday, I joined the Honolulu Century Ride. The full course is 100 miles from kapiolani park to a north shore beach and back. The catch for me though, is that I did the ride with a fixed gear bicycle, which basically means I cant change gears or coast. I did 75 miles, not being able to do 100 due to time constraints (not that I would have made it anyway). Im not gonna lie and act all cool about it. It was hard. Like making me whine like a little girl all the way home hard. But at the very least, I made it. I can honestly say that I have never in my life pushed myself that hard. Through I struggled, it was good fun. I rode with a more experienced friend. He supported me physically and mentally so I could make it. I would have given up at the 50 mile turnaround if he wasn't there.

I have some battle scars, as I took a little spill while passing through Hawaii Kai. Wasnt too serious, but its gonna take some time to heal.


Next year I think ill do better. I want to push for 100 miles.

Long Time no Post (Again)

Hello to whoever is still reading my blog. I have been getting increasingly lazier and lazier these days and I havent found time to post anything even though I'm on my laptop like 24/7. My school life currently feels like its in shambles. I have multiple projects overdue and I cant get even regular assignments in on time.

On the bright side, my hobbies have been flourishing and I recently built up an old road bike into a fixed gear. I like the scene and want to get more into it. This Sunday, I am gonna participate in the Honolulu Century Ride. Its 100 miles, but i doubt I can make it all the way. Still, I hope to do my best.

My life outside of church is going relatively well. My church band currently has two things lined up and we're scrambling to practice so we don't fall apart when the performances arrive. We have said farewell to our drummer though, as he flew off to Japan to live there for maybe a year or so. A replacement has been found, but his schedule conflicts with ours for practice times. Hopefully everything works out.

Back to School and Bowling

So its been about a week since school started up for me again, and for the most part, its going good. I'm still having some problems with turning stuff in on time/not procrastinating, but in time I know everything will straighten itself out. Its a trip to see all the new faces of the freshmen coming in, and I hope to perhaps become friends with some of them. I am in the bowling team for my school, and the season has officially started. We still have a month or so before we actually challenge other teams, but I hope to get into full gear to practice. For now, wish me luck.

My ears are lost in stereo lost in stereo!

So today I went to the All Time Low concert at the Pipeline Cafe. My friends were holding down a spot near the front of the line as well as a ticket, from 12pm (doors opened at 7). Once we got in, my group was able to get super close to the very front (2nd row). The first a filler band called Arkeo or RKO played. They were alright. By the time they left the stage though, the place was a total mosh pit. People were crowdsurfing, swearing, yelling, jumping, pushing, the whole lot. It got so bad at a certain point that I retreated backwards a little before ATL came on so that I could breathe a little easier. Long story short, it was FREAKIN AWESOME and was a great experience. I was soaking wet, covered in my sweat, other people's sweat, beer, water, spittle, coconut sunscreen, etc. and my ears were pretty screwed up. And you know what? It felt awesome. Going to a live was a great way to put a close to a fun (but fast) summer vacation as well as the weekend.

Heres a link to one of the videos that my friends took. I was really close to him when he took them, so hopefully this will provide some insight into how awesome it was from my perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrPk_7cAZAw

Long Time no Post

So I know I havent posted anything for a pretty long while now, but I assure you, it's only because of my laziness. Basically to cut a long story short, I finally got to Akihabara for some serious shopping, and got all the stuff that was asked of me by my friends. Then for the last few days of my trip I just cruised around and got some new glasses, shoes, etc. On June 24, I got on a plane and headed back to ghetto old Hawaii, USA. The past few weeks have been generally good, and I just recently purchased a fixed gear bike off of craigslist for a steal price. Hopefully I'll consistently ride it so that my weight problem will be gradually curbed. lol. School starts on August 3, which is the day after tomorrow. I have a mixed feeling of dread/excitement as I type this, because it will be awesome to meet my friends, but I realize that I havent done ANY summer homework. FML. Wish me luck.

Outrage Fail

So today I decided that I wanted to go and watch this new movie called Outrage. It has Beat Takeshi in it as well as several other "menancing" actors who have been cast for evil or Yakuza type roles in other films. The thing is, I had gone to sleep at 4am that morning. I ate, got on the train, etc., but in the end I didn't make it. I ended up killing time by hanging around Shibuya. What a loser. Hopefully tomorrow I can make this movie excursion happen.

In the evening before dinner, I went to a local Blockbuster-ish place called Tsutaya to rent some DVD's. The reason they're different is because they're more of a Blockbuster-Barnes & Nobles hybrid, selling manga, magazines, novels, CD's, etc. in addition to DVD's. I picked up Oceans 13 and Smokin Aces 2. Hopefully they're not that bad.....

Fat People Lazy (oops forgot the "are")

Alright so I realize I haven't posted much since a couple weeks ago. I just got lazy I guess, but a lot of things have happened. I went on a trip to the Mt.Fuji area with a friend from Hawaii, visited Akihabara, Ginza, checked out a bunch of music stores, etc. A big thing though, was that I underwent nasal surgery. It was pretty minor and involved cutting some nerves in my right nostril as well as removing some inflamed turbinate tissue. I've had sinus problems since I was little, and I knew that I would have to fix it once and for all eventually, but I always put it off. One thing that sucked was that they had to insert an IV in my left arm, but the nurse couldn't find my vein. So she kept digging around and around until finally the surgeon himself came in and found a vein in the back of my hand that did the job. They used full-body anesthesia on me, and before I realized it, I was lying on a bed in the recovery room feeling......high. I didn't have to stay the night, but I have to have cotton stuffed deep in my nose for a week, as well as take pain medication, antibiotics, and various sprays at least two times a day. Even worse, my sense of smell and therefore taste has become reduced, making otherwise wonderful food taste bland. In addition, I have to come back for another operation next year to treat my left sinus as well as fix a crooked bone that is a root cause of my problems. When all of this is finished, hopefully I will do better in school because of the reduced irritation.

There are many photos that I haven't posted on here because of bandwidth issues or because I was lazy. You can view them all on my facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/james.ezuka I currently have three albums of my trip to Japan, and it's still growing. If you cant view my pics, hit me up with a friend request.

Chandan

So it turns out I didnt go to Akihabara yesterday. The day was spent picking my cousin up from preschool and going to Don Qi Jote. While I was there, I picked up some awesome incense called Chandan. It's an indian brand, and I dont know about you guys but I think it smells awesome. After the day's major events were over, I ate dinner at a local Japanese restaurant called 藍や(ai-ya). I forgot my camera so there are no pics but I assure you that the food was good.

Switching over to today, I went to a manga cafe. The place is basically a manga library with small booths complete with a reclining chair and PC. Free snacks and drinks are also available. I grabbed a couple books, got a coke, and stayed in that booth for 3 hours. A waste of time? You dont have the right to say that unless youve been to one. They are called 漫画喫茶(manga-kissa) here. Oh did I mention that its cheap? 3 hours of relaxation ,free refreshments, and your favorite manga's for only ￥1000 (about $10).

Hell Yeah

So today I decided to fulfill one of the primary purposes of my coming to Japan. I headed over to an area of Tokyo called Kichijoji. I went to a local music store there to get what I wanted, a Fender Jazz Bass (made in Japan model).


Why this exact model? Well the reason is that I'm kind of a closet otaku (coming out much?) and one of the animes/mangas that I follow is called K-ON!. If you want to know the story, etc. you can just go on wikipedia or something, but basically one of the characters has the exact same bass I'm holding in my hands right now, and this feeling of accomplishment and unity is something that only people of my world can understand.

Getting away from the geeky stuff, I went to a place called ねぎし(Negishi) for dinner. Their signature dish is the seared beef-tongue set. It may sound gross to some, but it is pwnsome.

Tomorrow I plan to go to Akihabara to check out some shops, as well as hit up the Tokyo Anime Center located there. A bunch of pics will probly be posted.

Ramen

I finally made it to Japan. I got up at 7, went on a 7 hour flight, rode on a bus for 2 hours, and took a train for 30 minutes. As soon as I got to where I'm staying though, I went out for some awesome ramen. I'm currently at my grandma's house in Tokyo in a town called Hamadayama.
There's a local ramen place called たんたん亭 (tan-tan tei) and its FREAKIN AWESOME. I've basically been going there all my life, but no matter how many times I eat there, it never gets old. If any of you go to Japan, I definitely recommend that you hit the place up.

Almost Shot

So I was at my friend's birthday party the other day. He was going to do an airsoft thing at his church. It was private property, all permissions were granted, etc. I get there, and after a while, we start playing. All is well till about the 1 1/2 hour point. Then we hear sirens. At first I thought "...it cant be for us can it?" but sure enough, it was. Around 7 or 8 squad cars flew to the church, and pretty soon we were surrounded by officers with shotguns yelling at us to get on the ground and show our hands. Long story short, since we were on private property and all, they let us go. Needless to say, we just played cod for the rest of the night.

.......Summer

So im not sure why I started this...It was pretty much an impulse thing. Anyway, heres a couple things that are going on in my life so far.

1. Japan

I'm leaving June 14th, and am staying there till around July 20th. Much ramen will be eaten, and much weight will be gained....... Seriously though, I'm gonna try to get into a jogging routine while there to at least maintain my semi-overweight bodily state. I also want to buy a bike while there. I thought about getting membership to a gym, but its craaazy expensive and not worth it for just one month.

2. Driving School

My first class was actually yesterday. While all my friends go to their summer school drivers ed classes, I go to this ghetto place near njiya market and fedex/kinkos. At least the instructor is funny. The class dispersion is pretty chill too. Each unit is self contained so you can go in any order for the ten sessions that they have. I plan on going to a couple before I leave for Japan, finishing up the rest when I come back.

Yeah thats pretty much it. Because of vacation, I pretty much just chill at home unless somebody calls me up to hang out or something. Lol having no school makes me realize how pitiful my social life is.

Goodbye for now. I hope I continue this................