The last week I went to the Death Valley National Park.
I wish the trivial questions such like "What is Death Valley?" and "Where is it?" are referred to the wikipedia page or the official guidebook.
Here, let me show you some pictures of Death Valley. These are some of pictures already uploaded to Panoramio, so my all pictures with maps can be seen at the site.
Although almost all points can be approached by car, the scale is different from the size of Japan. For example, the distance from Stovepipe well to Scotty's Castle is about 45 miles (= 72km). It deserves the distance between Yokohama and Odawara. We have to go and come back quickly, so it must take a few hours to see the point... It may be a good idea to stay out side of Death Valley because it is necessary to go back and forth if we stay the center of the park.
We stayed 2 nights at Comfort Inn of Lone Pine and the Furnace Creek Ranch. The Comfort Inn was clean, certainly comfortable, and well accessable to Death Valley.
2009/03/12
2009/02/15
Computer History Museum
Today, I went to the Computer History Museum (1401 N Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View). It's an ordinary tour point of Silicon Valley for computer uses. So I'd like to mention 4 items simply here.
- Jobs was young!
- ENIAC is so big!
- Much difference between 20 year-old HDD(10MB) and the current one(1GB, placed at the center of the old big one in the photo)
- An Antient-design Mechanical Computer Machine, the Babbage Engine, Demonstration Everyday. This must be a kind of arts.
Torta - メキシコ料理
今日は初めてメキシカンのtortaを食べました。
噂を信じてご飯には期待していなかったアメリカでの生活ですが、まずい店もあるけれど、それほどいけていないわけではありません。
私がこの地に来て美味しいなぁと思ったのは、アメリカのハンバーガーとメキシカンです。
メキシカンは最初はグチャグチャしていて訳がわからない料理でしたが、ボリュームとそれに反比例する低価格、混沌とした見た目と実は野菜が多くバランスの取れた内容に次第に惹かれていきました。美味しいなと思ったお店は、レビューを調べて「私は食べるたびに腹を壊す」なんてコメントを読んでもうろたえず、他のメニューを再チャレンジです。
(そもそも一度腹を壊したら二度と行かないと思うので、嫌がらせコメントだと思います。)
今日は先日発見した「カルピコソーダ」を飲もうとHattoriya (799 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto)に向かったのですがお休みだったので、その近くのメキシコ料理屋Sabor Mexico Taqueria (2595 California St, Mountain View)に入りました。
Super BuritoやSuper Quesadilla(のSuper)にも目がいきましたが、tortaというのが何なのかわからなかったのでTorta de Carnitasをオーダー。カーニタスかと思ったら、カルニタスとのこと。オーダーするときにTorta一つだけ頼んだところで「Everything?」と聞き返されたので少し不安な気がしていたら、やはりドデカイのが来ました。どうやらメキシコ料理におけるハンバーガーのようです。
味は、最初はうまかった。パンがハンバーガーのパンとは違って、パリッと硬めなんです。下のパンはベースになるように硬めに揚げてある気もしました。でも冷えるとお肉が硬くなってしまって、、、早く食べないといけなかったようです。
ちなみに、相方はSuper Quesadilla Plateを頼んだら、、、これまたデッカイquesadillaともう一つのお皿が来ました(通常は一皿に集約されている)。
もちろん食べきれないので半分ずつお持ち帰りにして、夕ご飯のおかずで食べました。
まだ初めの一回なのでよくわかりませんが、店内はメキシコ系の人ばかり。ビールあおりながら、サッカーを見ていました。ジュージュー音がなっている鉄板に乗っている野菜炒めみたいなのをオーダーしている人もいたので、まだまだいろいろ食してみる価値はありそうです。
噂を信じてご飯には期待していなかったアメリカでの生活ですが、まずい店もあるけれど、それほどいけていないわけではありません。
私がこの地に来て美味しいなぁと思ったのは、アメリカのハンバーガーとメキシカンです。
メキシカンは最初はグチャグチャしていて訳がわからない料理でしたが、ボリュームとそれに反比例する低価格、混沌とした見た目と実は野菜が多くバランスの取れた内容に次第に惹かれていきました。美味しいなと思ったお店は、レビューを調べて「私は食べるたびに腹を壊す」なんてコメントを読んでもうろたえず、他のメニューを再チャレンジです。
(そもそも一度腹を壊したら二度と行かないと思うので、嫌がらせコメントだと思います。)
今日は先日発見した「カルピコソーダ」を飲もうとHattoriya (799 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto)に向かったのですがお休みだったので、その近くのメキシコ料理屋Sabor Mexico Taqueria (2595 California St, Mountain View)に入りました。
Super BuritoやSuper Quesadilla(のSuper)にも目がいきましたが、tortaというのが何なのかわからなかったのでTorta de Carnitasをオーダー。カーニタスかと思ったら、カルニタスとのこと。オーダーするときにTorta一つだけ頼んだところで「Everything?」と聞き返されたので少し不安な気がしていたら、やはりドデカイのが来ました。どうやらメキシコ料理におけるハンバーガーのようです。
味は、最初はうまかった。パンがハンバーガーのパンとは違って、パリッと硬めなんです。下のパンはベースになるように硬めに揚げてある気もしました。でも冷えるとお肉が硬くなってしまって、、、早く食べないといけなかったようです。
ちなみに、相方はSuper Quesadilla Plateを頼んだら、、、これまたデッカイquesadillaともう一つのお皿が来ました(通常は一皿に集約されている)。
もちろん食べきれないので半分ずつお持ち帰りにして、夕ご飯のおかずで食べました。
まだ初めの一回なのでよくわかりませんが、店内はメキシコ系の人ばかり。ビールあおりながら、サッカーを見ていました。ジュージュー音がなっている鉄板に乗っている野菜炒めみたいなのをオーダーしている人もいたので、まだまだいろいろ食してみる価値はありそうです。
2009/02/11
Trailing around Stanford
I trailed around Stanford last week.
Stanford, a city which has the Stanford University and the university occupies almost all of the city, has nice view points and good exercising and trailing roads.
As always, here are two GPS trailing logs and images rendered of the logs with Kashmir3D.
Although the above image can be seen in flat, the hill of the Stanford Dish seems to be a tough trailing road with sharp ups and downs. Nevertheless there are many exercising people running fast, families some of those who are pushing a stroller.
Unfortunately, the lake lagunita was dried out. In this winter, we don't have enough rain in California. Many farmer worry about drought. I don't know this reservoir can be filled with as much water in spring as students can float sailing boats. Of course, I hope so.
Stanford, a city which has the Stanford University and the university occupies almost all of the city, has nice view points and good exercising and trailing roads.
As always, here are two GPS trailing logs and images rendered of the logs with Kashmir3D.
- RED line: The Stanford Dish [for about 1.5 hours]
- BLUE line: around the Lake Lagunita and the Knoll [for about 1 hour]
Although the above image can be seen in flat, the hill of the Stanford Dish seems to be a tough trailing road with sharp ups and downs. Nevertheless there are many exercising people running fast, families some of those who are pushing a stroller.
Unfortunately, the lake lagunita was dried out. In this winter, we don't have enough rain in California. Many farmer worry about drought. I don't know this reservoir can be filled with as much water in spring as students can float sailing boats. Of course, I hope so.
2009/02/09
ヘッドライトのバルブ交換
留学してから、車両維持に多くの時間を割いています…。単語はほとんど同じなので、割と会話は成り立つようです。今日はヘッドライトバルブが切れたので、ディーラーとPepboysに行ってみました。
近所のトヨタのディーラーとしては、Toyota of Palo Alto (690 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto)が一番近くのディーラーのようです。日曜日なのでサービスしていると思っていたら、なんとお休み。駐車場についたものの、ガレージのシャッターが閉まっていておかしいなと思ったのです。(なぜか)BMW車を洗車していた(?)サービスマンに聞くと「サービスはあっちでopenしてる」と聞いたので行ってみたらセールスマンが「今日はサービスはお休み。明日来てね。」とのことでした。新車販売のみ行っていたようです。日曜日こそ修理とか多いいんじゃないの？と思うのです。ダメもとで聞いてみても、ヘッドライトバルブやサイドミラーの価格は教えてくれませんでした。「明日電話すればOK」と丁寧に名刺をくれましたが…私にとって英語で電話することほど面倒なことはない、難題です(汗)。
ところで、ヘッドライトのバルブ交換ぐらいでディーラーに行くのは大げさなのです。
実は
ディーラーがお休みだったので、アメリカにおけるオートバックやイエローハット的な存在のPepboys (170 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale)に足を伸ばしました。と言っても、日本ほど品物が充実しているわけでもなく、接客態度もビミョーです。また、店頭には「タイヤ3本買うと、4本目タダ！」というようなアメリカ的なキャンペーンがされているのですが、3本以上買う人はどうせ4本買うんだから4本セットの値段を書いたほうが親切なんだけどと思いますよね？微妙な店ですが、オートバックス的な店はここくらいしかないのです(あとは街の修理工場みたいな、本当に必要なことをしてくれるところ)。
店に入ると奥にAssy製品が置いてあり、バルブカタログを見て該当商品を手にとると、、、どうやら取り外し箇所は私が試みていたところよりももっと根元からガッツリ外せることが判明。駐車場で再度取り外しを試みて(簡単に外れた)、それを持って店内で該当商品と見比べ、念のために店員に聞いてOK。その場で取り付け、交換完了。
値段はだいたい$10くらいでした。帰りにWalmartを探すと該当商品があって$2くらい安かったです。今度からWalmartへGo!
カローラ2001のバルブの規格は"HB4"です。規格名は日本でも同じようですね。良く見ると、ヘッドライトユニットにHB4と書いてありました。ボンネットを開けるだけで、わかるようになっていました。
近所のトヨタのディーラーとしては、Toyota of Palo Alto (690 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto)が一番近くのディーラーのようです。日曜日なのでサービスしていると思っていたら、なんとお休み。駐車場についたものの、ガレージのシャッターが閉まっていておかしいなと思ったのです。(なぜか)BMW車を洗車していた(?)サービスマンに聞くと「サービスはあっちでopenしてる」と聞いたので行ってみたらセールスマンが「今日はサービスはお休み。明日来てね。」とのことでした。新車販売のみ行っていたようです。日曜日こそ修理とか多いいんじゃないの？と思うのです。ダメもとで聞いてみても、ヘッドライトバルブやサイドミラーの価格は教えてくれませんでした。「明日電話すればOK」と丁寧に名刺をくれましたが…私にとって英語で電話することほど面倒なことはない、難題です(汗)。
ところで、ヘッドライトのバルブ交換ぐらいでディーラーに行くのは大げさなのです。
実は
- 事前にバルブを取ることが出来なかった
- サイドミラーの水垢を落とそうと、硬いスポンジでこすったらキズが僅かについてしまい、少し見えづらくなっているので、ついでに交換した場合の価格を知りたかった(安ければ即交換)
ディーラーがお休みだったので、アメリカにおけるオートバックやイエローハット的な存在のPepboys (170 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale)に足を伸ばしました。と言っても、日本ほど品物が充実しているわけでもなく、接客態度もビミョーです。また、店頭には「タイヤ3本買うと、4本目タダ！」というようなアメリカ的なキャンペーンがされているのですが、3本以上買う人はどうせ4本買うんだから4本セットの値段を書いたほうが親切なんだけどと思いますよね？微妙な店ですが、オートバックス的な店はここくらいしかないのです(あとは街の修理工場みたいな、本当に必要なことをしてくれるところ)。
店に入ると奥にAssy製品が置いてあり、バルブカタログを見て該当商品を手にとると、、、どうやら取り外し箇所は私が試みていたところよりももっと根元からガッツリ外せることが判明。駐車場で再度取り外しを試みて(簡単に外れた)、それを持って店内で該当商品と見比べ、念のために店員に聞いてOK。その場で取り付け、交換完了。
値段はだいたい$10くらいでした。帰りにWalmartを探すと該当商品があって$2くらい安かったです。今度からWalmartへGo!
カローラ2001のバルブの規格は"HB4"です。規格名は日本でも同じようですね。良く見ると、ヘッドライトユニットにHB4と書いてありました。ボンネットを開けるだけで、わかるようになっていました。
2009/02/06
Devil's Slide Trailing
先週、Half Moon Bay北のDevil's Slideを一時間ほどハイキングしてきました。
当初車でサックリ見て、Half Moon Bayのクラムチャウダーを食して帰宅するお気軽気分だったのです。が、Devil's Beach Parkingに車を停めて浜に行こうとしたら、何故か相方が山に登るといい始め、REGALの革靴で少し歩いてきました。(日本製の靴は大切にしたい...)
山と言っても、Devil's Slideが突出している岬のこと。その様相からわかるように、かなりの勾配がありました。GPSの軌跡をカシミール3Dでレンダリングすると下記の通りでした。(画像左の岬がDevil's Slideで、右側がトレイルルートになっていました。)
画像によれば傾斜はそれほどきつくはなさそうですが、上りの傾斜はかなりのもので、下りは(革靴では滑ってしまうので)迂回して降りてきました。
2月だというのに、日本の5月から7月の天気です。快適そのもので、1時間ほどのトレイルを久々に満喫しました。この日の写真はPanoramioに載せてみましたので、ぜひご覧下さい。
旱魃が懸念されているカリフォルニアですが、今年の夏も非常に暑くなってしまうのではないかと思います。それでも異常に乾燥しているので、東京よりもかなり快適なようです。
ただ、いまの時期がHalf Moon Bayの一番良い季節のようで、Half Moon Bayは夏になると霧に覆われてしまうようです。今回トレイルした岬はMcNee Ranch State Parkの一部のはずです。自転車でダウンヒルしていた人によると「奥に行けばお花畑があるよ」という話だったので、次回はきっちり予定を立ててチャレンジしたいところです。
他のハイキングエリアにも足をのばしたいと思っています。調べると、Bay Area Hikerというページが参考になるようで、今回のエリアも紹介されています。
当初車でサックリ見て、Half Moon Bayのクラムチャウダーを食して帰宅するお気軽気分だったのです。が、Devil's Beach Parkingに車を停めて浜に行こうとしたら、何故か相方が山に登るといい始め、REGALの革靴で少し歩いてきました。(日本製の靴は大切にしたい...)
山と言っても、Devil's Slideが突出している岬のこと。その様相からわかるように、かなりの勾配がありました。GPSの軌跡をカシミール3Dでレンダリングすると下記の通りでした。(画像左の岬がDevil's Slideで、右側がトレイルルートになっていました。)
- これまでGPSデータを処理するときにはカシミール3Dでレンダリングしていましたが、Google Earthも出来がよいため、場合によってはGoogle Earthのほうがキレイに映ります。もちろんカシミール3Dの魅力はレンダリングだけではなく、季節や太陽光の調整ができることなど、たくさんあります。GPSデータは、デバイスをGarmin eTrex Venture HCに変えてから、gpsbabelでフォーマット変換をしたり、gpsPhoto.plで画像にgeotagを埋め込んでいます。
Venture HCの高精度測位には満足できるのですが、もう少し小さくして(液晶はいらない)電池の持ちを長くして、メモリを倍増してくれればなぁと思います。
画像によれば傾斜はそれほどきつくはなさそうですが、上りの傾斜はかなりのもので、下りは(革靴では滑ってしまうので)迂回して降りてきました。
2月だというのに、日本の5月から7月の天気です。快適そのもので、1時間ほどのトレイルを久々に満喫しました。この日の写真はPanoramioに載せてみましたので、ぜひご覧下さい。
旱魃が懸念されているカリフォルニアですが、今年の夏も非常に暑くなってしまうのではないかと思います。それでも異常に乾燥しているので、東京よりもかなり快適なようです。
ただ、いまの時期がHalf Moon Bayの一番良い季節のようで、Half Moon Bayは夏になると霧に覆われてしまうようです。今回トレイルした岬はMcNee Ranch State Parkの一部のはずです。自転車でダウンヒルしていた人によると「奥に行けばお花畑があるよ」という話だったので、次回はきっちり予定を立ててチャレンジしたいところです。
他のハイキングエリアにも足をのばしたいと思っています。調べると、Bay Area Hikerというページが参考になるようで、今回のエリアも紹介されています。
2009/01/21
How Quickly TOYOTA Hollywood Repaired My Car. - Jan 19th 2009 11:27
TOYOTA of Hollywood repaired my car in half a day. Japanese auto garages could learn a lot from them.
My car's engine check lamp began flashing on the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Because it was right after I refilled gas in South Las Vegas, I though the gas might have been bad.
I called AIG road service, but it couldn't help us enough. The road service only offered to call the towing service which could cost up to $75. They told me that we should find a car repair shop and the best solution while repairing by ourselves. When we tried to find TOYOTA dealers in Las Vegas with Tomtom PND, there didn't seem to be any dealers.
I wanted to have a TOYOTA dealer check my car (TOYOTA Corolla) because it can check the ECU (Engine Control Unit = a computer on the car) with PC which can exactly detect what is wrong on the engine. Usually, I think, car repair shops without dealership can only adjust the tuning of the engine. So I needed a dealer shop.
Fortunately, my car seemed nothing wrong except for the lamp at the moment. My wife and I decided to go to Los Angeles where a TOYOTA dealer exists near the hotel whose reservation I had.
As soon as we arrived directly at the dealer shop TOYOTA of Hollywood, a service agent asked me what was wrong. When I explained the symptom (and our travel schedule) to him whose name is Alex, he could understand me well in spite of my bad English pronunciation. Because it was after 5 PM, he scheduled to check my car early morning the next day.
He said to me that he tried to call me 10 AM, but I got his phone call before 9 AM the next day. He explained the report of the diagnostics by phone, I couldn't understand him because I am not good at speaking English by phone. I had him wait for me by my arrival.
When I arrived at the shop 10 AM, he showed me the report. There were many things to be repaired.
The most important trouble was the electrical breakdown of the air flow sensor, which caused the engine check lamp. Additionally the engine belt got almost broken, and the drive shaft boots had a crack. They need have been replaced as soon as possible, but not immediately. He explained symptoms and costs to me very carefully, but he never forced me to repair all of them. It totally cost $1600 to repair all, and he said it must have been really expensive and depended on me.
However we decided to do according to him because we wanted to use the car without anxiety and we didn't want to have any troubles in the desert between states of the US.
The cost seemed to the same to in Japan. But what surprised us was the time to repair. He offered that he could return my car by 5 PM! At first I thought that it took at least 2 or 3 days to repair all, and I suppose it is usual in Japan. But he said the incredibly period. It didn't affect out travel schedule at all. I asked him immediately.
When I came to the dealer after 4 PM, my car was repaired completely. The engine check lamp was turned off. I wanted to thank him, however he was not there because he had back problem and had gone back to home already. I appreciate his quick repairing.
My car's engine check lamp began flashing on the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Because it was right after I refilled gas in South Las Vegas, I though the gas might have been bad.
I called AIG road service, but it couldn't help us enough. The road service only offered to call the towing service which could cost up to $75. They told me that we should find a car repair shop and the best solution while repairing by ourselves. When we tried to find TOYOTA dealers in Las Vegas with Tomtom PND, there didn't seem to be any dealers.
I wanted to have a TOYOTA dealer check my car (TOYOTA Corolla) because it can check the ECU (Engine Control Unit = a computer on the car) with PC which can exactly detect what is wrong on the engine. Usually, I think, car repair shops without dealership can only adjust the tuning of the engine. So I needed a dealer shop.
Fortunately, my car seemed nothing wrong except for the lamp at the moment. My wife and I decided to go to Los Angeles where a TOYOTA dealer exists near the hotel whose reservation I had.
As soon as we arrived directly at the dealer shop TOYOTA of Hollywood, a service agent asked me what was wrong. When I explained the symptom (and our travel schedule) to him whose name is Alex, he could understand me well in spite of my bad English pronunciation. Because it was after 5 PM, he scheduled to check my car early morning the next day.
He said to me that he tried to call me 10 AM, but I got his phone call before 9 AM the next day. He explained the report of the diagnostics by phone, I couldn't understand him because I am not good at speaking English by phone. I had him wait for me by my arrival.
When I arrived at the shop 10 AM, he showed me the report. There were many things to be repaired.
The most important trouble was the electrical breakdown of the air flow sensor, which caused the engine check lamp. Additionally the engine belt got almost broken, and the drive shaft boots had a crack. They need have been replaced as soon as possible, but not immediately. He explained symptoms and costs to me very carefully, but he never forced me to repair all of them. It totally cost $1600 to repair all, and he said it must have been really expensive and depended on me.
However we decided to do according to him because we wanted to use the car without anxiety and we didn't want to have any troubles in the desert between states of the US.
The cost seemed to the same to in Japan. But what surprised us was the time to repair. He offered that he could return my car by 5 PM! At first I thought that it took at least 2 or 3 days to repair all, and I suppose it is usual in Japan. But he said the incredibly period. It didn't affect out travel schedule at all. I asked him immediately.
When I came to the dealer after 4 PM, my car was repaired completely. The engine check lamp was turned off. I wanted to thank him, however he was not there because he had back problem and had gone back to home already. I appreciate his quick repairing.
2009/01/20
I Successfully Upgraded My Room at a Las Vegas Hotel for $20. - Jan 18th 2009 22:08
I was able to get a better hotel room with the upgrade trick.
My friend told me about the trick. The way described in detail at http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/FAQ/ and http://www.frontdesktip.com/ is to pass $20 with a credit card to the front desk and say "Do you have any complimentary upgrades available?".
I was worried about embarassing myself because my English pronounciation is bad. So I prepared a memo of the words in advance. And I passed it with my credit card saying "Do you mind if I say?". The front desk person received the tip, and he tried to find the best room for a few minutes. He offered two rooms, a room that had a nice view with a king size bed. I chose the king size bed one because he recommended it to me when I asked which is better. After all, I could stay two nights in front of the BELLAGIO fountain show.
By the way I have one tip and one question. The tip is that the longer the stay is the more effective the upgrade trick is. Though I stayed two nights, for 20$, the longer I stay, the better the benefit.
And my question is whether $20 was absolutely needed, or not. It's because the front desk person didn't check the amount of the bill and put it into the pocket of his pants. Wouldn't it have worked for $10?
My friend told me about the trick. The way described in detail at http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/FAQ/ and http://www.frontdesktip.com/ is to pass $20 with a credit card to the front desk and say "Do you have any complimentary upgrades available?".
I was worried about embarassing myself because my English pronounciation is bad. So I prepared a memo of the words in advance. And I passed it with my credit card saying "Do you mind if I say?". The front desk person received the tip, and he tried to find the best room for a few minutes. He offered two rooms, a room that had a nice view with a king size bed. I chose the king size bed one because he recommended it to me when I asked which is better. After all, I could stay two nights in front of the BELLAGIO fountain show.
By the way I have one tip and one question. The tip is that the longer the stay is the more effective the upgrade trick is. Though I stayed two nights, for 20$, the longer I stay, the better the benefit.
And my question is whether $20 was absolutely needed, or not. It's because the front desk person didn't check the amount of the bill and put it into the pocket of his pants. Wouldn't it have worked for $10?
2009/01/10
I Drove a Big Pick-up Truck at the Silicon Valley Motor Show. - Jan 08th 2009 20:04
I drove a TOYOTA Tundra at the Silicon Valley Motor Show today. The Tundra is a big pick-up truck from TOYOTA USA, which isn't sold in Japan. It was my first time.
When I got in the truck, I seemed to be in a room because the cabin was soooooo wide! And surprisingly, the buttons of the radio/cd player were also big, twice the size of my index finger.
Although the car has a 5.7L engine, the sound was not very loud when I started it up. But I didn't feel the power because the gear was fixed to first, though I was surprised that it had a sports shift gear.
The test ridding course had several bad roads. When the road inclined, I saw even less of my surroundings.
Anyway, I was VERY VERY excited by the American car.
There were other cars such as Tacoma (maybe with Hybrid engine), FJ Cruiser, etc all provided by TOYOTA behind the wheel campaign though I was fully satisfied with Tundra.
2009/01/08
Prepared for Las Vegas
Today I received the entrance ticket to the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show).
Although I wanted to see the exhibition, I couldn't go because I had a lot of work to do.
Now I'm at the west coast of the U.S. and I can go the CES if I wish. I submitted the entry to the CES by myself, not through the company I work for. I registered my university as my mailing address and organization. So my business associate indicated that the CES is restricted only to people related to the consumer electronics and that I could not enter the exhibition. Umm, maybe... But I'm still a worker of a consumer electronics company. Even though I am on a visiting scholar program sent by the company, I still have my own company business card. So my admission was denied, I will show it. If my admission ticket is not accepted, I will just go to casinos right away.
At the moment, I think there is no problem because my ticket arrived at my office at the university by mail.
By the way I don't know the reason CES is held at Las Vegas. Why does the place have to be Las Vegas? Is it because there are so many hotels? After all, I wonder that might be the reason because people attending there want only to play at casinos over the nights. That is my secret reason : to check it while playing together:).
Although I wanted to see the exhibition, I couldn't go because I had a lot of work to do.
Now I'm at the west coast of the U.S. and I can go the CES if I wish. I submitted the entry to the CES by myself, not through the company I work for. I registered my university as my mailing address and organization. So my business associate indicated that the CES is restricted only to people related to the consumer electronics and that I could not enter the exhibition. Umm, maybe... But I'm still a worker of a consumer electronics company. Even though I am on a visiting scholar program sent by the company, I still have my own company business card. So my admission was denied, I will show it. If my admission ticket is not accepted, I will just go to casinos right away.
At the moment, I think there is no problem because my ticket arrived at my office at the university by mail.
By the way I don't know the reason CES is held at Las Vegas. Why does the place have to be Las Vegas? Is it because there are so many hotels? After all, I wonder that might be the reason because people attending there want only to play at casinos over the nights. That is my secret reason : to check it while playing together:).
2008/12/31
I Got Into a Trivial Accident This Year on Christmas Eve - Dec 29th 2008
Today I called my car insurance company, and got some car trouble tips.
On Christmas eve, I was driving my car to go to see the illumination of the Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos(333 Blossom Hill Dr., Los Gatos, CA). The park was decorated by many electric lights and opened as "FANTASY OF LIGHTS." It cost $15 to enter the park by car, we could see beautiful Disney-like illuminations while driving. It's another world only for 15 minutes.
By the way, we had to wait in traffic to enter the park. All of the cars had to be patient and had to repeatedly stop and go slowly. When I was stopping, the car behind me hit my car. I heard a big sound in my car. When I pulled over and got out of my car, the driver of the car behind said "I'm so sorry." I was a little surprised because I had heard that people in the US never say such apologetic words in accidents. But she said it. I was upset.
I said to her that "It was the first time for me to have an accident in the US. And I don't know what I should do. Is it usual to call the police?" She answered to me that "We don't usually call them for a small accident like this." Indeed, my car seemed to be undamaged. At last she wrote down her contact information for me. She seemed kind... However, I asked for her insurance information because I did not understand how much damage there was. She seemed to be offended because she seemed to be unwilling to give her details.
Fortunately, when I checked my car the next morning, the damage seemed little. When I talked to my insurance company (in Japanese), the agent gave me some pointers for traffic accidents in the US.
P.S. I had to turn off automatic headlights by covering them with paper bags of Trader Joe's. How pretty my corolla was!
On Christmas eve, I was driving my car to go to see the illumination of the Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos(333 Blossom Hill Dr., Los Gatos, CA). The park was decorated by many electric lights and opened as "FANTASY OF LIGHTS." It cost $15 to enter the park by car, we could see beautiful Disney-like illuminations while driving. It's another world only for 15 minutes.
By the way, we had to wait in traffic to enter the park. All of the cars had to be patient and had to repeatedly stop and go slowly. When I was stopping, the car behind me hit my car. I heard a big sound in my car. When I pulled over and got out of my car, the driver of the car behind said "I'm so sorry." I was a little surprised because I had heard that people in the US never say such apologetic words in accidents. But she said it. I was upset.
I said to her that "It was the first time for me to have an accident in the US. And I don't know what I should do. Is it usual to call the police?" She answered to me that "We don't usually call them for a small accident like this." Indeed, my car seemed to be undamaged. At last she wrote down her contact information for me. She seemed kind... However, I asked for her insurance information because I did not understand how much damage there was. She seemed to be offended because she seemed to be unwilling to give her details.
Fortunately, when I checked my car the next morning, the damage seemed little. When I talked to my insurance company (in Japanese), the agent gave me some pointers for traffic accidents in the US.
- Drivers are responsible to report any accidents to their insurance company. However if the accident is small, people sometimes skip it.
- At the time of an accident, drivers can call the police. But if the accident is so small, a dispatcher may refuse to send the policeman because they might have other crimes to attend to that are more important than a minor accident. Insurance companies can handle such minor accidents without a police report. But people sometimes tend to change their testimony. So my agent recommended that I try to call a policeman even if the accident is small.
- People in the US don't repair their car if the damage isn't big. In Japan, we call the police and our insurance agent to repair our car even if the damage is small. If the damage is small, the assailant can pay without using insurance not to affect the next insurance contract. It depends on him/her. Finally, we can solve and clear the accident only if the accident is small and trivial. But in the US, people is very willing to admit fault of their cars and forgive, right? It is thought that it depends on the culture about how much people take care of their cars, and I think it is interesting.
P.S. I had to turn off automatic headlights by covering them with paper bags of Trader Joe's. How pretty my corolla was!
2008/12/28
Is Santa Cruz Clam Chowder the Best? - Dec 23rd 2008 15:38
I like California clam chowder. I've eaten it in Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, Monterey, and San Francisco.
Santa Cruz clam chowder is less famous than of Monterey and San Francisco, isn't it? But I think Santa Cruz is the best. Of course this might depend on the restaurant.
My wife and I went to Santa Cruz to eat it, and she agreed with me, even though the clam chowder of that day was a little salty...
Tastes differ at each place, I think. I will continue to try to discover the best one!
Now I would recommend trying the clam chowder in Santa Cruz if you like this sort of thing.
2008/12/22
A Vietnamese Restaurant in Los Altos - Dec 20th 2008 02:18
Today I had lunch with my Russian friend, who leaves U.S.A. to Russia next week. The financial crisis brought damages all over the world. He had to interrupt temporarily his scholarship program and had to be back to his country to work again for his company.
So I invited him for lunch in a Japanese restaurant with my Japanese friend and my wife after taking him to Comcast (an ISP) to cancel his Internet account. According to my friend's blog, this restaurant called Sumika was supposed to be a good one. We were looking forward to it. But unfortunately the restaurant finished lunch time just 5 minutes before we got there. As a result we had to look for another restaurant. After walking the side street of Main Street, we found a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to enter into it because my Japanese friend likes Vietnamese foods.
Except for this friend, that was the first time for us to eat Vietnamese foods. I tried Bun-thit-nuong, a Vietnamese vermicelli (thin rice noodle) with sweet-and-sour sauce, beef and chicken, and vegetables. It didn't come with soup. That was a different point from Pho. The noodle itself had no taste, but the sauce complemented it. It was probably a delicious dish, but I didn't have any words to express the taste. Other people felt the same...
We were supposed to be talking about how we felt about the US, how much we like the US, what we thought about Mr.Obama, and where the US. was going to... But it was impossible while we were eating because each of us was trying to find out what the Vietnamese food was. Finally I wonder whether or not I was able to say goodbye properly to my Russian friend.
So I invited him for lunch in a Japanese restaurant with my Japanese friend and my wife after taking him to Comcast (an ISP) to cancel his Internet account. According to my friend's blog, this restaurant called Sumika was supposed to be a good one. We were looking forward to it. But unfortunately the restaurant finished lunch time just 5 minutes before we got there. As a result we had to look for another restaurant. After walking the side street of Main Street, we found a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to enter into it because my Japanese friend likes Vietnamese foods.
Except for this friend, that was the first time for us to eat Vietnamese foods. I tried Bun-thit-nuong, a Vietnamese vermicelli (thin rice noodle) with sweet-and-sour sauce, beef and chicken, and vegetables. It didn't come with soup. That was a different point from Pho. The noodle itself had no taste, but the sauce complemented it. It was probably a delicious dish, but I didn't have any words to express the taste. Other people felt the same...
We were supposed to be talking about how we felt about the US, how much we like the US, what we thought about Mr.Obama, and where the US. was going to... But it was impossible while we were eating because each of us was trying to find out what the Vietnamese food was. Finally I wonder whether or not I was able to say goodbye properly to my Russian friend.
2008/12/18
Cyclying in San Francisco - Dec 16th 2008 17:51
Last Saturday, I went to San Francisco with my bicycle.I planned to get on Caltrain from Palo Alto to San Francisco with my bicycle and to bike around there. It took about one hour.
At first it was fine when I arrived at San Francisco. However, once I had biked for 5 minutes, it was getting rainy and began to storm. Although I had heard that San Francisco's climate is changeable, I never imagined that it would change so quickly.Because I had no choice, I locked my bike near the station. Then I got on the SF Municipal Railway. It was very cute and cheap ($1.50 for several hours). Unfortunately, the weather was fine again as soon as the train started ;-)
I went to Pier 39 to eat San Francisco clam chowder. I've eaten it in Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, and Monterey. My favorite is from Santa Cruz. Eating San Francisco clam chowder didn't change my mind. Now San Francisco clam chowder is my third favorite. However I may change my mind again. So I have to keep trying other restaurants, don't I?
When I returned to Caltrain station, I found out that my bicycle had almost been stolen! The small thin wire had been cut! Although another thick wire wasn't cut, the rear brake wire had been cut, too. It was awful!
I now think it was my fault to have left my bicycle there... Going back on the train with my bike, I was thinking that I wanted to have my bike repaired as soon as possible...
2008/12/03
Can't buy HDTV in USA any more?
Now I want a HDTV(larger than 32inch, 1080/24p). But I may have lost the opportunity to buy it...
- Black Friday
- Fry's
- SamSung LN32A330(720p) $388
- Sony KDL-40S4100 $749
- Samsung LN40A500 $798
I went to Fry's at 4:00AM on Black Friday, but there had already been so many people trying to buy them... Above all, some families were great. They were well-organized and buying everything very effectively. I had been in line for about two hours, however I left there because I felt tired and a bit ill.- After Black Friday
- buy.com
- Toshiba REGZA 32RV530U $629.99
- I ordered it once. But buy.com suddenly cancelled my order without givining any reason. I asked buy.com why the company had stopped it. The company didn't reveal the specific reason but said that the verification of my credit card had failed. And they stopped selling 32RV530U... That I can't understand. My credit card information may have just been stolen by buy.com. So I don't want to buy anything at buy.com, EVER!
- amazon.com
- Panasonic TH42PZ85U $799+$65.24
- While I was considering clicking the button to buy it, the sale had already finished... orz=3
2008/11/23
Car Wash and New Theatre
Today I had two events. One was Car Wash, and another was about a theatre.
It seems usual to have own car(s) washed at car wash services in California. So I did it and it was the first time for me.
In Japan, I washed my car by myself and it usually took 2 or 3 hours because I did it very very carefully. Although it was difficult to find places to wash cars in Tokyo because Tokyo was very crowded, there are some places called COIN CAR WASH. I spent a few hours to wash my car usually (with the minimum service(=high pressure water shower)).
In California, although the land is very spread, there seem no places to wash cars by oneself. It may be because of 3 reasons. One is that almost all people in California have own single houses and can wash their cars if they like. Second is that people don't care whether their cars are clean, or dirty. The last is that it is fine almost always, we seem to have rainy days only in winter, so cars are likely to remain clean.
But what should we do if people want to wash their cars and if they don't have a single house like me? Those people seem to go to car wash services. Today I tried it as the first experience...
As soon as I arrived at the service, LOZANO CAR WASH (2690 W El Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040), which I chose and whose coupon I had, the agent conducted me to one of wash lanes. When I said "Can I use this coupon?", she ignored me... Then when I shout "Is this coupon available?", I showed me the reception sheet and indicated that the coupon was marked. Here are many Hispanic people in California. They can speak English as well as Spanish, but a few of them are not at English (but it is the same to some Europeans and they can use English very better than me). It seemed that we couldn't understand each other in English at first. With the coupon issued by Safeway supermarket, it costs US$10.99 everyday. I don't know if it is cheap or expensive. The service men and women worked very hard and quickly! It took about 15 minutes to wash my car. Although Pop corns, coffee, and juice were served at free, I didn't have a time to eat and drink them. The work was good, I think. Here are many Hispanic people in California, and California life, everything including economics, traffics, environments, and social systems, must consist of their existence. We must appreciate their hard work, mustn't we?
And then, I went to the AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square, 10123 North Wolfe Rd., Cupertino, CA 95014, to watch the new 007 movie, Quantum of Solace. Here, I avoid writing anything about the story. I'd like to mention the theatre.
The AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square is very new! It was opened in April 2007. So it was very clean and very comfortable. Because I heard that theatres are very old, cheep and dirty, I can recommend Japanese people to go there. The price is also twice cheaper, about US$8, than theatres in Japan (usually 1,800-yen(=US$18)). Also I was surprised at the size of drinks and pop corns cups! They were too big for me! I think it may be better for U.S. people just to reduce the amount of foods due to their health rather than to exercise... (Exercising needs more food and Oxygen to keep heavy and powerfully built bodies... It's not smart, I think.) The sound effects were appropriate, not roudly but not silent. Screen size was enough big. I'd like to go the AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square again to watch BEDTIME STORIES, released on Dec. 25th in 2008.
It seems usual to have own car(s) washed at car wash services in California. So I did it and it was the first time for me.
In Japan, I washed my car by myself and it usually took 2 or 3 hours because I did it very very carefully. Although it was difficult to find places to wash cars in Tokyo because Tokyo was very crowded, there are some places called COIN CAR WASH. I spent a few hours to wash my car usually (with the minimum service(=high pressure water shower)).
In California, although the land is very spread, there seem no places to wash cars by oneself. It may be because of 3 reasons. One is that almost all people in California have own single houses and can wash their cars if they like. Second is that people don't care whether their cars are clean, or dirty. The last is that it is fine almost always, we seem to have rainy days only in winter, so cars are likely to remain clean.
But what should we do if people want to wash their cars and if they don't have a single house like me? Those people seem to go to car wash services. Today I tried it as the first experience...
As soon as I arrived at the service, LOZANO CAR WASH (2690 W El Camino Real Mountain View, CA 94040), which I chose and whose coupon I had, the agent conducted me to one of wash lanes. When I said "Can I use this coupon?", she ignored me... Then when I shout "Is this coupon available?", I showed me the reception sheet and indicated that the coupon was marked. Here are many Hispanic people in California. They can speak English as well as Spanish, but a few of them are not at English (but it is the same to some Europeans and they can use English very better than me). It seemed that we couldn't understand each other in English at first. With the coupon issued by Safeway supermarket, it costs US$10.99 everyday. I don't know if it is cheap or expensive. The service men and women worked very hard and quickly! It took about 15 minutes to wash my car. Although Pop corns, coffee, and juice were served at free, I didn't have a time to eat and drink them. The work was good, I think. Here are many Hispanic people in California, and California life, everything including economics, traffics, environments, and social systems, must consist of their existence. We must appreciate their hard work, mustn't we?
And then, I went to the AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square, 10123 North Wolfe Rd., Cupertino, CA 95014, to watch the new 007 movie, Quantum of Solace. Here, I avoid writing anything about the story. I'd like to mention the theatre.
The AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square is very new! It was opened in April 2007. So it was very clean and very comfortable. Because I heard that theatres are very old, cheep and dirty, I can recommend Japanese people to go there. The price is also twice cheaper, about US$8, than theatres in Japan (usually 1,800-yen(=US$18)). Also I was surprised at the size of drinks and pop corns cups! They were too big for me! I think it may be better for U.S. people just to reduce the amount of foods due to their health rather than to exercise... (Exercising needs more food and Oxygen to keep heavy and powerfully built bodies... It's not smart, I think.) The sound effects were appropriate, not roudly but not silent. Screen size was enough big. I'd like to go the AMC theatre at the Cupertino Square again to watch BEDTIME STORIES, released on Dec. 25th in 2008.
2008/11/21
Winery Tour
Although I can't drink wines much, I was interested in wines in California.
California seems to be famous for wines because of the amount of productivity of wines, which raises 90% in U.S.A. To create wines, California winery factories seem to work on the fog which San Fransisco is famous for.
First I went toward the north, and then arrived at San Francisco. The town of San Francisco was covered with fog, but Golden Gate Bridge was very clear. The photos were taken from the north side of San Francisco. It was a grand scenery where artificial things are mixed with nature.
Then I was at Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Valley is one of big winery places as well as Napa. An official of the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau recommended me to go not only some typical wineries and cheese factories but also a place related to Jack London, who was a characteristic American author from Sonoma. When I said "I'm sorry, I don't know him", she seemed to be very sad... Sorry.
I visited the Sonoma Cheese Factory and Vella Cheese related to Cheese around the Visitors Bureau, and then went to the Buena Vista Winery and the Benziger Family Winery.
The Sonoma Cheese Factory was a shop to sell Cheese, Wines, and something about Sonoma. In the store, I could try many kind of cheese. Although smoked cheese was delicious, but unfortunately I didn't buy anything.The Vella Cheese was also a cheese shop, but also a factory. we can buy their handmade(?) cheese. I tried some cheese so that I bought a red cheddar cheese. It was a important point, especially in U.S., that the shopper was very friendly.
Buena Vista is a oldest winery in Sonoma. Although I went there and saw it, I couldn't find out what I could there. I could only see old buildings of factory from outside and some pictures with the history in the factory. It seemed to be needed there to make a reservation of a tasting tour.
As soon as I arrived at the Benziger Family Winery, the staff called me and offered a winery truck tour for US$25. It was very interesting me, but it included wine tasting. I couldn't drink because I had to drive a car to go back home. So I said no thanks, then I walked a little bit around the winery by myself. The winery was very spread with some small hills. It was very beautiful! It was very easy to imagine the good taste of wines. But they also offers only wine tasting for US$10 per a person. My wife tried it. In the tasting, we can drink 6 glasses of wines. There were many choices of wines. She looked very enjoying wines, and she said "I want to enjoy them with much time". So I bought a wine bottle that she chose.That's all. What an excellent place Sonoma is! I'd like to go again with my friends and family.
By the way, Palo Alto is safe place at the aspect of traffic. But in near Berkley, it was a little bit dangerous to drive a car because roads were very crowded like Tokyo... I'd NOT like to drive a car there no more if possible...
2008/11/16
Carmel, a Beatiful Place
We visited Monterey and Carmel via Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz.
Monterey was an old town and seemed to be nostalgic. But it was not suitable for sightseeing, I think. It is because the Clam Chowder I ate was not better than ones of Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz I had ate (you cannot believe, but the clam chowder did not include any clams!), and because the aquarium was quite expensive but very normal... So I think almost all Japanese whose country consists of islands can skip this place. But it's important for families with children to visit the aquarium because it is a good educational place (not for sightseeing). We can see pretty sea otters and enjoy quiz shows (of course in English).
Carmel is a beautiful place to see sun sets. Sand of the Carmel beach is white as if it is snow. You can see orange-colored sky when it is sun set time. The day I saw it was cloudy... So I'd like to try to see it again!Additionally Carmel has many natures and view points such as the Point Of Lobos and the waterfront of 17 Mile Drive. I could see wild otters and sea lions at the Point Of Lobos. They were very nice places even if they are only for seeing. I would also like to visit them again.
So if you come to the Silicon Valley, you cannot miss Carmel!
Excellent View from Hoover Tower
My wife came here last week, so I went to several places in California with her this week. We visited:
- Stanford University
- Monterey and Carmel
- San Francisco and Sonoma Valley
The Hoover tower is one of symbols of the Stanford University today. Because there are no tall buildings arround Stanford and Palo Alto, we could see good view of Sillicon Valley. You may know, the sky of California is clear and excellent. So we were very surprised when we got off the elevator of the tower.
I had wanted to go to the tower, the tower had been closed before October however. We were very happy to see all of the Stanford University and Bay Area!
2008/10/24
Autumn of Los Altos
Fortunitely, I arrived at the old town of Los Altos uncousiously.
The main street has trees colored to red and yellow... I had never thought that these landsace was in U.S.
The town was in silent, and time went slowly...
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