Jonbu the baker

Panoramic view on Mt.Fuji, originally uploaded by jonbu.

Yay I made it to the top! It’s cool to see clouds beneath you.

Thanks to Larry for tagging along. He’s already been up there before, so he’s like a pro Mt.Fuji climber now.

We joined a local climbing tour full of Japanese people young and old (mostly young, which was a surprise to me). And it does get cold up there, so clothing was important. I didn’t have to relive the garbage-bag incident that happened 5 years ago with the Gifu gang, so in a way it’s a different type of experience.

Having a walking stick was so important too. If you don’t bring one, you’re either a ninja or you’re crazy.

I brought an iPod with me and put it on the moment we started climbing. It really extract you away from the experience, but I didn’t realize it until the moment I took it off.

One tip I’d offer is, bring a face mask for the downward trip. People in-front of you often knocks up volcanic dust that powders your whole body brown-red.

Also, I brought all my drinks with me on the way up, and it was quite heavy. The drinks they sell up there aren’t that expensive (500yen per 500ml at the top, cheaper along the way), so I might have planned on buying those instead if I had to do it again (but I won’t).

More pictures coming later on my flickr.

Super Spicy Tofu Pot, originally uploaded by jonbu.

Tokyo Sundub 東京純豆腐
@ Ikebukuro Parko

Apparantly I’m the only one that find it spicy.

I’ve never quit a job before. So this is my first time ever, quitting. And it was a very nice experience. I recommend everyone to do it (unless you’re happy as you are, of course).

The actual quitting part is not nice. For me it was sad. I had to tell my Big Boss, who is a really nice guy and I’ve come to respect, that I’ll be leaving. I didn’t really tell anyone else, the words just spread so I didn’t have to. Coworker all the sudden became just people. You start to see them in a different light, and you begin to realize, you probably won’t see these guys again for a while.

The leaving part tho, is pretty good. Cleaning stuff up, Good-bye lunches, and just the feeling of not having to worry about things anymore. Leaving those in good hands. There’s gonna be a new set of stuff to worry about in the new job, but for now, all those things that you have been worrying about (the next release, future bugs that may come back), is not for you to worry about anymore. Taste of Freedom! Tho gonna be short-lived for me.

I’ve imagined this day for a while, and now I’m living it.. kinda weird feeling.

I just got a last-gen refurb Macbook that I haven’t introduced to people. Why so stingy? I figured it’s a good way to try out the laptop experience without having to shell out big money. I’m not looking to replace the iMac yet.

Introduction picture? I took one shot of it right before the camera battery ran out. maybe post it later.

I’ve had this weird pattern of wanting to buy a laptop every Summer. Because every year Apple has this free iPod deal during the summer. The pattern probably started 5(?) years ago with the iBook, when I came back from Japan and had to finish a database course at UBC. The fact that I was a student meant that Back-to-School campaign was aim directly at me, and it always felt wrong not taking advantage of it. And every once in a while in the next few years I’d blog about it, and blog about how I probably blogged about it last year.

I didn’t go for the free iPod deal this time tho.. maybe should’ve, but I’m too lazy to do the cost analysis now.

What else… I think it’s pretty nice. Tho it’s heavier than I realize.

Kung Fu Panda was Awesome. Lots of good laughs.
WALL.E was Awesome too. Those Pixar guys are geniuses.

Panda is like fast food, and Wall.E is more refined and fuzzy. Glad I got to watch both.
I think everyone will eventually watch them both anyways.

Next up is Batman, which starts showing the same day (or midnight the day before?) me (and Shirley, thanks to her photographic genius) take off for Narita.