Withoutsails Blog

So I just realized that I hadn’t blogged in over 4 months. Wow! I suppose that’s better than the one Christmas card per year thing though.

Life in Japan is great! Aside from the earthquakes and typhoons over the past few days, the weather has been great. Hot and muggy, but great. A friend complained that I didn’t have air conditioning the other day and that prompted me to purchase a unit for my living room. I have to admit that it is a lot nicer now. I’m not a big fan of the A/C but it has a de-humidifier setting that I am getting used to.

I am still playing vollyball.

Last month I made a trip to Korea. We have an office in Seoul and I visited it and did a tiny bit of shopping. I was surprised to see that pastel ties decorated with rhinestones seem to be in fashion in Korea right now. Kinda funny. The food was nice in Korea. A coworker took my party to Todai (an Asian buffet they have in Las Vegas too) which was really nice. The yen is very strong against the won right now as well so that made things all the nicer.

If anyone is every going to Seoul, I suggest staying at the Seoul Residence located near Samsung station and COEX. For 70 bucks/night you get a huge room with a kitchenette, washing machine (free), big bathroom, and lots of closet space to hang up clothes.

This week also marks the start of the O-bon holiday in Japan- a Buddhist holiday. A lot of my clients are closed, but we are all busy at the office. I am taking Monday off though and have lots of plans with friends over the weekend.

So things are good.

If anyone else has had an adventure this summer it sure would be good to hear from you!

Cheers!
Captain Adam

Tags: Fun, Japan by Captain Adam
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Well, the year is coming to a close. Though I didn’t make it back home for Christmas, I was able to get a little bit of that Christmas feeling here in the land of the rising sun. The picture below is of my employees and me at a mall near my office.

ML Japan staff in Queens Mall

Most of Japan celebrates Christmas like we do Valentine’s Day. It’s a big date night and lots of people propose. The big holiday of course is the New Year. Most of Japan shuts down for a few days on either side of the 1st (this year from Dec. 29-Jan. 4) and heads back home to spend time with family and friends. Quite a bit of sake, beer, wine, and anything else that will get one plastered beyond silliness  is consumed and good food is enjoyed.

Also, there is a tradition of doing a deep cleaning of one’s home and workplace. You know, cleaning all those things that you have put off all year long!

One thing we don’t have is snow. The mountains get it, but down here on the coast it just gets really cold. I suppose that is a blessing considering the incredible amount that the Northwest got this year. Have fun shoveling all that!

At any rate, I wish everyone the happiest and safest of holiday seasons!

Cheers,
Captain Adam

Tags: Fun, Japan by Captain Adam
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So it’s been a while!

I went to Hokkaido with my volleyball team to participate in a tournament and had a great time!
We didn’t do all that well in the competition but the good food and great friends made it all worth it.
Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone.

A flower at the restaurant that we had lunch at the first day. Best curry soup I have every had!

A boat ride out into the ocean. Lots of fun!

A little more of the cliffs of Otaru. This is called the “Window Rock” for good reason!

And finally me bouncing on the waves!

Tags: Fun, Japan by Captain Adam
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Well summer is here in Japan and it is really muggy. I don’t think that the temperature will get over 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) but the super high humidity makes it feel like you are baking in a wet sauna pretty much where ever you go. One word- bleh.

The diet/gym is going really good. I have lost a total of… drum roll please…
10 kg! (that’s 22.05 pounds for you yanks)

So I suppose that things in that department are right on track. Only 8 more kilos to go to reach my goal! Hopefully I’ll be almost there by the time I go home for a visit in the early Autumn.

Here’s a recent picture of Yokohama at night that I took on my way home from the gym the other night. I know, I need to take more pictures… and I’ll try. I am traveling up to Hokkaido in a couple weeks so I’ll definitely get some good photos there.

Cheers!
Captain Adam

Tags: Japan by Captain Adam
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Ahoy!

Man time goes by fast! I have been really amazed at how fast this year is going. It seems like yesterday I was on an airplane flying back to Japan for the New Years festivities and now the year is more than half over… So many resolutions, so little time!

Japan is in the midst of the rainy season but today was uncomfortably hot, sunny, and humid… with emphasis on the humid part. I’m looking forward to the fall already! I believe that we have a typhoon coming in this weekend as well so I’ll probably need to find some tame indoor activity to tide me over. Oh, and for those of you on the other side of the international date line, typhoons are the same thing as hurricanes.

Translation work continues to plug ever onward. I spent time in central Japan today at a well-known automobile manufacturer (think everything that is not Ford/GMC… lol). It’s kind of fun to be riding the wave of the cutting edge of technology.  I highly recommend it to all. At any rate, we are growing slowly, but steadily and will undergo our first move of offices (albeit upstairs) next in early August. I’m filled with mixed emotions about it of course.

As a business administrator, making a company profitable and keeping it there is a difficult task. Finding the right people is probably the deciding factor in the entire equation and for all those who are considering starting something up, make sure that you have the right people. It is a sad but true fact that people are generally lazy and prone to cut corners whenever they think they can get away with it. Finding people who are truly dedicated to excellence, both on a personal and company level, are few and far between. Most people just want to sit back and never take responsibility, simply letting others make the decisions for their lives. I affectionately refer to these people as “slugs” because they really serve no real purpose and recoil at the smallest bit of salt (difficulty). But I digress…

Japan is good. The diet is good. Volleyball is good. I’m excited about a trip to the US in mid-September (first vacation of the year).

Cheers!
Captain Adam

Tags: Fun, Japan by Captain Adam
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Yesterday I had my first scrimmage with the volleyball team I am playing with. It was a lot of fun and the other team was really good so that made for a good set. We played about 5 sets and were able to win twice. I played in a couple of the sets, but still am having some problems adjusting to the way they play over here. I’ve only been to 2 practices so that’s not surprising.

We had a “nomi-kai” after the game with the other team and it was a lot of fun. It’s always good to meet new people and make new friends. Next Saturday we are having another scrimmage and the same team is going to be there as well.

Other than that, things are pretty tame here in the land of the rising sun. Everyone is talking about the US presidential elections. With the primaries wrapping up, the candidates should step their campaigning up a notch. That’s all fine with me, as long as they don’t drive around with megaphones attached to their vans, blasting their slogans and rhetoric (that’s how it works in Japan).

Cheers,
Captain Adam

Tags: Japan by Captain Adam
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