gadgets

I was looking for this at the Daiso stores around our area and finally found it at the Daiso near my dentist's office.

It magnifies your smartphone screen, so you don't need to sit too close to watch videos.

It costs more than 100 yen though, 220 yen (tax included).

Worth it.

AND "someone" already has taken it for himself...

guess I gotta go get another one...

 

1st world problems

How are you doing? Christmas is 2 days away and the end of 2019 is coming rather quickly.

Santa brought my new cell phone on Sunday.

The amount of time we spent at the cell phone shop was definitely less than when Satoshi got his phone.

Not sure, but I think the SIM card size for my new phone was different from the old one, so transferring the data wasn't as easy as Satoshi's phone was.

I tried to transfer my data but couldn't...I tried using iTunes, but accidentally used an old backup and sent my iPhone data back to 2014...gasp!

I would show you photos of pho for lunch at Thi Thi, but it got erased when I used that old backup...

A big heartbreak was losing all my LINE friends and the bazillion Tsum Tsums I had from playing the LINE game...

So, I "manually" put in my contact list using my old iPhone as reference...

And at least most of the apps I had could be uploaded and logged into.

Live and learn...Satoshi said he was glad it wasn't his phone (yeah, I'd hate to have to fix that...)

Dinner was hakusai shumai. I've been using hakusai instead of cabbage because these days hakusai is a little less expensive than regular cabbage.

I don't put hoisin in the minced meat instead we eat these shumai with dressing.

Also instead of molding the cabbage around the chicken meatballs, I just put a layer of julienned hakusai on the parchment, place the chicken meatballs on top, then add another layer of julienned hakusai.

We're still working on our Holiday cards for Japan, I sent the ones for overseas family and friends out last week.

Hope you all have a good week.

santa came early

Santa came early for Satoshi...he got a new phone...

We've been using iPhone for awhile now and we decided to get new phones because these days our batteries do not keep the charge for very long.

So Sunday, we went a little after his cell carrier store opened and even though he told them what type he wanted, they tried to get him to go Android.

At one point, he was going to switch over to Android...because it is WAY cheaper than an iPhone.

You should know that the main reason Satoshi uses an iPhone is because his "manual" (me) uses the iPhone (so I can tell him how to use it)...ahem

Man, when he first switched from flip phone to smartphone...you should've heard me (try to) explain to him (in Japanese) about how to use it, what wi-fi was, etc...

The part that frustrates me is that every time he has a problem with the phone, he asks me to help him and while he's asking me, he is tapping away on the screen trying to fix it himself...grr

At first he was going to get the iPhone 11 Pro with "medium sized" memory...but after much thought, he purchased the iPhone 11 with a medium sized memory chip instead.

gads...we spent almost 3 hours at that store because they not only try to sell you the cell phone but also cable television, combining your electricity and gas, in other words, all kinds of other stuff...

We were starving by the time we got out of there and went to eat lunch.

I thought I had posted about this shop but I think I only did on Instagram...

Aona serves beef katsu and other dishes...the first time we tried them, I tried their beef katsu but it was super sinewy...bummer.

This time around I had their beef stew...while I loved the rich demi-glace sauce and veggies, their beef was so dry and kind of hard..meh!

After re-fueling, we went to my cell carrier store and went to see if they had the model I wanted...nope.

I needed to put in an order BUT they couldn't give me a timeline as to when it would come in...boo!

So...for now, Satoshi has his present from Santa, there are some differences from our 5s to these 11 models, so I hope to figure them out on his phone before my phone comes in.

Aona (UPDATE: 6/2020 no longer in business)
5-13-1 Kamata, GranDuo East 6F
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5713.6426
Hours: 11:00-22:00
Open when GranDuo is

a year older & hopefully wiser

Last Monday night, Satoshi came home all depressed.

He dropped his phone in a stream close to our place.

Imagine, 10-something at night, I am shining a teeny flashlight and he is in that stream (the photo above) looking for his phone.

Luckily we found it.

We put it into a container with those silica gel packets hoping for it to absorb all the water...

The next day we went to the cell phone shop to see if they could retrieve his data...nope.

Among the things that were deleted were all his photos.

You might be saying, "how come you don't use the iCloud?" well, for some reason, it doesn't work with our computer.

They let him use a loaner phone until they could get a replacement for the one that got soaked.

And luckily with his phone insurance the replacement would cost a little less.

Moral of the story: don't text or even try to pull it out of your pocket while walking

Actually, this isn't the first time his cell phone has gone into water...still, I hope he learned his lesson.

Today is his birthday, hopefully with becoming a year older, he's become a little wiser too.

Happy Birthday Satoshi!

update

So, how does that selfie clip work?

Here's a shot without the wide angle lens.

with the wide angle, you can get more scenery (and more of yourselves) into your photo.

The fish eye lens is just plain fun.

This is a lotus flower without macro.

with the macro lens, it will focus on an object up to 1.3 centimeters away, kinda like a magnifying glass!

The only drawbacks I feel this lens has is that it creates a vignette when you put the wide angle clip onto your phone. Also because the lenses are teeny I always fear I'm going to drop them.

If you have something similar, tell me about your experiences using it.

gadgets

I've come to the point where I don't use my digital camera anymore and only use my iPhone.

Granted, the iPhone has its drawbacks, but, it beats lugging both around.

Recently, selfie sticks are being seen more and more around here.

Apparently, this trend started in Korea.

And just as I was pondering over whether to get one or not, it seems more and more places in Japan are banning them.

They are "dangerous" especially when the person using them is not paying attention.

Plus, if you need to talk to someone, you may look like that lady in the photo above...

So, bring in the next trend...universal clip lens.

In Korean they are called "selka lens", "selka" means "selfie".

This gadget is similar to the ollo clip and a little cheaper.

There is a fish eye lens, wide angle and macro lens.

I'll be testing it out this weekend, hope it won't disappoint!

Enjoy your weekend.

line

Ever since Satoshi changed over to the iPhone, he and I have been using an app called "LINE".

It uses very little data and you can make free calls with it to others who have the app. You can also call people who don't have the app or to people who have land lines but the call will cost a small fee.

A bad thing with this app is that if you try to call someone who uses the app but the person doesn't pick up, you can't leave a voice message for them.

A nice thing about this app is that you can also chat (text) with someone who also has the app. It is good for Satoshi and I because we are with different carriers.

In Japan, if you are not with the same carrier they charge you different rates for texting, emails and calling another carrier.

So the other day, he texts me this...

S: "Are your email address and passwords okay?"
K: "think so why?"
S: "Big hacking happened"
K: "where?" then I try calling him but he is on the train, so we end the call
S: "Is it only in Europe"
K: in Japanese "I don't know what you are talking about"
S: he calls me

Turns out he was listening to a podcast and they were talking about the time when Internet Explorer was hacked and everyone was told to change their passwords.

I told him this was quite a while back.

So, he says, "oh sorry, I thought it was happening now"

Anxiety level rose a little with that one but at least all was well...sigh.

love

I love riding the bus here.

Especially when it saves me the stress of looking for parking in some areas of Honolulu.

They recently changed how the transfer system works. Instead of only being able to transfer once, now you can transfer twice within the two hour period that they give you on the transfer ticket.

I also love how the google maps app on my smartphone will tell me the bus schedule here in Hawaii.

Super convenient and accurate too!

still going

Been using this Nike sensor for 4 years?!

The battery was supposedly only good for 2 years.

930-something miles later (give or take)...Thank you for keeping me motivated!

thanks santa

Merry Christmas!

Unfortunately, Christmas isn't a holiday here, so Satoshi had to go to work.

Just wanted to share with you what Santa brought...books!

and an iPhone5S (on the left)...Thank you!

(the girl at the cell phone shop was amazed that my 3GS (on the right) was still going strong after being used for 4 years...)

And from Satoshi, these pretty roses!

I know most of you will be having Christmas tomorrow, so I hope Santa brings everything you wish for!

p.s. Santa is bringing Satoshi an iPhone later this week too...truth be told, I'm NOT looking forward to explaining to him how to use it...

Merry Christmas everyone!

mindsnacks

I am always interested in learing a new language and brushing up on those I know too.

I read somewhere that Mindsnacks was a great app.

So, I uploaded Mindsnacks French for free, it comes with a free lesson, but for $4.99 + tax you can receive all 50 lessons, so I bought it.

Then, they went and had a sale on all their language apps for a one time price of $17.99 + tax...so I got all the ones on sale.

The lessons are in the form of games, most resemble flash cards, but it does keep your mind active and challenged.

So far, I've worked through French and am working through Japanese.

I've also tried a lesson in Mandarin and it is killer!

If you try them, let me know what you think.

wi-fi

We just got this portable wi-fi router. Our internet provider said for an extra 300 yen a month, we could use this router for 2 years.

Pretty good deal as my cell phone provider wants to charge 490 yen a month for wi-fi service at their gazillion spots.

Since we still have our LAN service (we still have a laptop not a tablet), I didn't set up our computer to use the wi-fi, just my iPhone.

Next step is to get Satoshi to start using a smartphone, though he's waiting for the iPhone 5...

Oh and our rainy season has started...let the humidity and uncomfortableness begin...

ramblings

Last year I wrote about changing my planner to a Moleskine Daily planner. Well, it was just too heavy to lug around.

So for the upcoming year, I did find this one by Mark's Diary called Ed!T, it is half the thickness of the Moleskine while still having the space to write on a daily basis.

Oh and remember my motivator?! Well, I've been using it for a year and 9 months and recently hit 500 miles with it...woot!

I'm on Instagram now, if you're using it too, you can follow me (if you'd like), just type in "katnhwi" in the search and click "follow". I sometimes post photos that I don't blog about. If you're not using Instagram, you can also check out my Flickr set labeled "Instagram". UPDATE: I closed my Instagram account

Satoshi's off today, so we're doing our O-soji today, hope your week is going well!

made in japan

Do you have a touch panel screen cell phone?

If you live in a country where you need to protect your hands from the cold, then you may want to get a pair of these...MUJI's touch panel gloves.

It is such a pain (and cold) to take off your gloves when you need to use your phone, then put them back on after you're done.

These special "finger-tips" (thumb and pointer on both gloves) help you maneuver the screen.

I got black because all the other finger tip colors kinda stood out.

Best thing, they are made in Japan.

It'll be awhile until I can use these though...the weather went back towards summer...we're talking mid-20sC (mid-70sF) during the daytime...it is November isn't it?!

daydream

The weather in Japan at the moment is still, in my opinion...miserable. Winds do blow, but very warm winds...blah!

This is great for laundry because it dries in like seconds...but bad for plants because it needs more water than usual.

At least if you are in the shade it is a little cooler, but not as cool as I would like.

Have a feeling that "Autumn" here will be somewhat delayed and shortened. Hopefully figs will start popping up in the market to cheer me up.

In the meantime, I have been gazing at my photos from Hawaii and praying for tradewinds.

Hope you have a nice week.

mini dreams

When I was in high school (I think), my Dad let me take his car to learn how to drive manual shift.

It was a little stressful because his clutch was short and I wasn't too good with balancing the clutch and gas...let's just say there was a LOT of peeling out and jerking.

Then in college, I worked part-time for a rent-a-car company. We used to shuttle the cars from the airport to various Waikiki hotels for guests to rent.

It was a fun job, driving different cars (big Lincolns, small Sentras, etc), some automatic, some manual.

The most challenging cars for me were the type that the seats would only move up so far, like Jeeps--I can remember having to sit at the very edge of the seat because my feet couldn't reach the pedals.

You may or may not know that I love the Mini Cooper...my first car was actually a manual shift Honda Civic, but I sold it before moving to Japan.

Anyway, we don't have a car here and don't plan to get one because public transportation is excellent, but if we were to get a car, it would be a Mini (with manual shift).

Here are some that I've oohed and aahed at on my walks.

This blue one was "hiding" behind a red Ford station wagon...I wonder how they got the car in there...

At first, this dark green Mini was hiding behind a big delivery truck. Luckily when I got closer, the truck was leaving.

A couple of feet away, this red Mini sits in an open parking area. I like how they have the British flags on the roof and side mirrors.

This blue mini was in a parking lot near the DIY store, I felt a bit funny going into the parking area, but am glad I got a shot of it.

If you could get any car, what kind would you want?

my motivator

The second month of the year is almost over, are you still keeping to your resolutions? I'm trying to...

One of the features on my iPhone is a program made by Nike.

It uses a sensor, which you have to buy separately, you calibrate it according to your walking or running pace.

The sensor fits at the bottom of several Nike shoes, but you don't have to go out and buy their shoes (though that IS what they would hope).

I have a little rubber pouch that this sensor fits in and it attaches to the laces of my shoes.

The instructions on their website states that only if you will be going for a workout, should you use it. Meaning, if you are just going to the mall, where your walking may be stop and go (I think it only records after you go a certain speed, otherwise it doesn't detect movement and goes to sleep), then it wouldn't be favorable to use the sensor, plus you'll wear out the battery faster.

After you walk/run, you send your data to Nike through iTunes, and it tracks your progress. You can set goals, like you will run 10 miles by a certain date. Or like me, my recent goal is that I will burn 2000 calories within 2 weeks.

Anyway, the good thing about this sensor is that it sends the mileage info to your iPhone or iPod and calculates how many miles you walk/run, plus calculates how many calories you have burned.

You can set different types of workouts: by time, by distance, or by calories.

The bad thing about this sensor is that you never know if it is off or on. The battery is supposed to last 3 years but it would depend on how often or how long you use it per walk/run. And, it isn't eco-friendly, you need to buy a new sensor when the battery goes kaput.

Still, I've used this for about a month now. I used to think that my regular walks to the grocery store in the mornings were enough, but they weren't.

I am pretty proud of myself because it has gotten me out of the house even during these cold months. So on top of my walks to the grocery store, in the afternoons, I walk for about 30 minutes to an hour about 4 or 5 times a week.

Hopefully, by the time my sensor's battery goes kaput, I will have lost a little weight and Nike will have come up with a way to change the battery.