Charles Hamel.com

Asahidake Trekking

Charles Hamel — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:19:34 +0000

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A few weeks back we got a break from the rain and the ropeway at Asahidake dropped the prices for the off peak season. What better time to do some Asahidake Trekking. Normally the gondola tickets cost around 2,800¥ which is about $26 dollars US, but to are good fortune the prices dropped to 1,000¥ round trip and school kids were free.

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Having not made a trip to the big hill in my backyard this year I felt this was the perfect time. We stopped to ask some friends if they wanted to go along and they agreed. Two van loads of people took off on the 15 minute drive to the bottom of the ropeway. It was a busy day, and everyone had the same idea. The gondola was full going up.

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My sons and I have made the trek up on foot to the sugatami station (すがたみ　駅）but this was my wife’s first time on the mountain, and I was a little excited for her. The day was beautiful and cool temperatures on the mountain which was a break from the hot weather we had been experiencing as of late. Mountain weather as it is would be all blue skies one second and all cloudy the next. From the pictures you can tell I made the most of the clear breaks on our Asahidake Trekking visit.

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The smoke that pours out of the active volcano that Asahidake is always amazes me, with a constant whooshing sound that never stops (If it stops were in trouble). I always think how much geo thermal energy is wasted. And if the wind blows in the right direction, you will get a nose full of rotten eggs smell from the sulfur. Fortunately that day had the wind blowing in the opposite direction from us.

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I thought this year would be my chance to make it to the peak, but it looks as if another year will go by without me standing on the very top of the highest mountain in Hokkaido. Oh well theres always next year. I heard on the news last night that we got the first snow on the top of Asahidake, which makes it 12 days later than last year but a week earlier than the average. Not much longer and it will be my favorite season winter, and snowboarding time.

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We didn’t have much time to hang out since we had to prepare for the Obon festival in Shibinai, so we headed back home after seeing some beautiful sights. Enjoy the view through my camera lens, on a Asahidake Trekking trip.

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Higashikawa Town

Charles Hamel — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:29:55 +0000

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The weather was so nice today, I couldn’t waste it by staying inside so it was time for a bike ride. My son and I set out around 12:30pm along the bike trails of the small village that we live in headed towards Higashikawa Town. The sky was blue the mountains were visible and the temperature was around 18c (64 F). Once we reached Higashikawa town we traveled to a nearby park behind the Michi no Eki 道の駅 (Roadside station).

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After a short rest and water break we continued our journey to Kitoushi Forest Park (キトウシ森林公園家族旅行村), which is a Park, Hotel and Onsen, and ski park. There is a castle type structure 3/4 of the way up the mountain that we decided to visit, so partially riding and walking we made the trek up. We were awarded some great views of Higashikawa town from the mountain top, but the journey was tough to get up there. But keeping in mind that it would be a fast and fun trip back down on bike.

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On the way back we stopped by a Buddhist temple and took some pictures of the beautiful architecture, and then took a drink break at a local sake shop. (No we didn’t drink sake ) Milk tea and ice cocoa. Continuing on our way we took backroads through farmlands until we arrived at another park in Higashikawa town near our house to use the facilities and to take another break.

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Making the final leg of our journey my son was hoping we would reach the 30km mark before we arrived home, and we did just that. The total trip was about 4 hours with a distance of a little over 30km. You can see our exact path and stats at our Walkmeter page.

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Walkmeter is a cool Iphone app I have been using recently that maps your path using the built in GPS function and speaks your time traveled and distance every kilometer. You can set it for Walking, Cycling, Running, or Snowboarding. Check it out if you are the active type. We had a great father and son outing today in Higashikawa Town as you can see from the pictures.

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Charles Hamel

Numata Yotaka Andon Festival

Charles Hamel — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:07:49 +0000

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A few weeks back the family and I traveled about an hour and 30 minutes to the small town of Numata in Hokkaido Japan to take part in the Numata Yotaka Andon Festival. This was the first time my family members had seen this festival and my second year in a row to attend. The festival didn’t disappoint as expected. The Numata Yotaka Andon Festival is one of the top 5 biggest festivals on the far northern island of Hokkaido. (日本語: 北海道沼田町の夜高あんどん祭の模様)

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I attended the Numata Yotaka Andon festival last year after taking a photography class at the Numata Kominkan, so I kind of knew what to expect, unfortunately I couldn’t take part in the adult beverages last year because I had to drive back home, but this year we decided to camp out in the van, so party mode was on. The wife was very impressed and had a wonderful time while accepting free sake from the floats that passed by. My kids also enjoyed the festival, for the sites the sweets and the toys.

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A little information about the Numata Yotaka Andon Festival. The festival was introduced by Kizaburo Numata, the town’s founder, from his hometown of Oyabe, Toyama Prefecture, in 1977. “Andon” is another way of calling “chochin” or paper lanterns, but the andon used for this festival are gigantic being as large as 7 meters (23ft) tall, 11 meters (37ft) wide and 5 tons heavy – which may rather be called a dashi (float). It is one of the Three Great Andon Festivals of Hokkaido, and is also the only “kenka-andon” or the “fighting-andon” in the prefecture. By this, the term describes a kind of festival where more than ten andon (which again, are more like dashi) goes around the city ending up crashing into each other at the climax. The festival commemorates its 30th anniversary this year and on the 24th, all three greatest andons of Hokkaido get together allowing the audience to see three of them at once.

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When the festival was winding down we had sat down on the curb to watch the final fireworks display and grab a bite to eat when from behind me I heard someone say “Hey Charlie”, turning around to see where the perfect English had come from, my good friend Snowman and his lovely wife were standing behind me. Snowman had is Canon Eos in one hand and his HD Video Camera in his other with both full of great shots.

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I caught a few good shots myself as you can see in this post. All in all it was a great night out with the family and lots of fun. I can’t wait until next year to do it again, which will be a anniversary year for the festival and no doubt special things in store. If you are in the area , I highly recommend the Numata Yoyaka Andon Festival for a must see.

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Charles Hamel

Best Way to Learn Japanese

Charles Hamel — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:37:10 +0000

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After living in Hokkaido Japan for the past 3 years, and knowing a lot of the language, I feel it is time for me to buckle down and get a serious handle on the language. Sure I can get around town, buy anything I want, ask for directions, and basically survive. But I want to become proficient in the language so I can communicate freely with others in Japanese. Luckily for me I have a good base, but I might have picked up some bad habits as well, that I will need to loose.

So the question stands, What is the Best way to Learn Japanese? I am not sure there is one answer to this question, but a multiple assortment of means that work well for some and not so well for others. So having said that, I will not claim that my method is the Best way to learn japanese, but rather the one that I am using at the moment, and this is subject to change over the course of my studies, as I come across new material.

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Please feel free to share your methods in the comment section and by sharing ideas and techniques, we can put together a nice resource for others who are studying or want to study the Japanese language.

So now on to the methods that I am using at the moment.

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I started off learning the written language first, I wanted to get the easier Hiragana and Katakana down before I tackled the very complex Kanji. The methods that I am using to study Hiragana and Katakana are a couple. First off the website Smart.Fm is excellent in my opinion to learn the Hiragana and Katakana, but the only complaint that I have is that the regulating of time that I can study sometimes is frustrating. For example, I am now on a 2 day wait before I can study further because the website regulates the speed that I learn.

When I am on the go, I have been using an Iphone application called iFlipr which works in almost the same fashion as Smart.Fm does. Right now I have basically mastered Hiragana and am about 95% on Katakana, then It will be on to the 1st Grade Kanji. Now when I say 1st grade Kanji, I mean exactly as it sounds, it is 80 Kanji characters that Elementary students here in Japan learn. The 88 number is a bit of a misnomer though since sometimes one Kanji character might have up to 4 different sounds, in which you have to learn them all.

To give you an example this Kanji Character

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has 4 different sounds: Sa, Sou, Satsu, and Haya(i)

So actually you are having to learn 4 meanings, so is there really 80 Kanji in first grade, or just 80 characters??

Another reason that I have started to hit the books hard is because I would like to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has been offered by the Japan Foundation and Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (formerly Association of International Education, Japan) since 1984 as a reliable means of evaluating and certifying the Japanese proficiency of non-native speakers. At the beginning, there were approximately 7,000 examinees worldwide. In 2009, there were as many as 770,000 examinees around the globe, making JLPT the largest-scale Japanese-language test in the world.

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There are 5 levels, with 5 being the easiest and it is given 2 times per year. The test consists of listening grammar, and vocabulary. So what is the best way to learn Japanese?? I’m not sure but maybe together we can figure it out.

Charles Hamel

Hokkaido Culture

Charles Hamel — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:03:05 +0000

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This past weekend was spent taking in some Hokkaido Culture as in the form of traditional Japanese dance and singing. My family and I took off for the downtown area around 9:30am to attend a dance performance that I had been invited to by one of my students. I always enjoy walking around the downtown area of Asahikawa (旭川) it’s a relatively small city in the middle of the country.

We arrived at the performance hall just as my friend was starting to dance, I wanted to try out a new iphone application called ustream to stream the dance live on the internet, and I was very pleased with the outcome. My taping abilities leave a lot to be desired but I am learning still how to do this properly. You can watch the videos at my Ustream page which is located at　CharlesHamel.com Ustream.

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The performance was very nice, and I got an immediate response from a friend in Texas that was watching the event live. The app lets you know when and how many people are watching your stream, it also records it, so it can be watched later for those who missed it live.

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After the dance performance we went to Kaimono Koen (Shopping Park) which is a pedestrian only street that is lined with various shops to eat lunch. We settled upon a small cafe that served up an Italian style menu. My children had Omelet Rice, which is a mound of tomato sauced rice covered by an omelet with a thick rich sauce over the top. I had a Focaccia sandwich filed with smoked salmon, a salad and soup.

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After lunch we had a wedding to attend. Another one of my students and friend was having their wedding ceremony at a small Christian Church nearby, and had asked us to please come. The small church was new and absolutely beautiful. It is strange to see this type of structure in Japan for me, but also brought back some nostalgia. The ceremony was a good experience and was the first time for me to hear a christian ceremony in Japanese. The bride was beautiful and the bride and groom both looked very happy.

All in all a fun day and outing with the family and friends.

Charles Hamel

Japan’s Electric Car

Charles Hamel — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:21:09 +0000

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Do you remember the electric cars back in the 70′s?? �Probably not because the powers that be, quickly swept them under the rug and they disappeared from our culture. Thanks to other countries Japan’s Electric Car makes it’s debut. The ULV (�Ultra Lightweight Vehicle�), is a one-person electric vehicle developed at Waseda Environmental Institute, a business started at Japan�s Waseda University? Back in June a sneak peak of Japan’s electric car was shown, but now it is in full blown production..

To give you a rundown, the ULV is a three-wheeled, 72.6kg heavy and 2m long car that has a 80km travel range and a top speed of 40kph. One charge takes four hours and costs just $0.40. For production, Waseda used motor bike tires, a 400W engine and reinforced plastic in the chassis.

And now the price: Waseda is offering the ULV for a whopping $48,000 but says it plans to push down the price to $9,500 by 2015 through mass production. Target groups include small business owners, local municipalities, event organizers or advertisers. This huge beginning price is most definitely aimed at big companies to use Japan’s electric car as an advertising medium which is clearly explained in the video.

After the first push the price will drop to be affordable by everyday citizens. The U.S. could stand to learn a thing or two although with the fat cats, getting even fatter off of oil money don’t hold your breath. Check out the video of Japan’s Electric Car.

This video in English (from June) provides more technical insight on the ULV:

Charles Hamel

Ipod Nano 6th Gen

Charles Hamel — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:40:07 +0000

Apple does it again with a complete redesign of the Ipod Nano 6th Gen line of MP3 players. I have provided a picture of the 5th gen and the Ipod Nano 6th gen side by side for your comparison, so you can see the dramatic change.

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The new Ipod Nano 6th Gen is sleek with a colorful new take on the nano, It changes things up with a tiny 1.48? x 1.61? x 0.35? anodized aluminum case and a multi-touch interface for controlling your tunes.

Also with the newest Ipod Nano 6th Gen comes a new version of Apple Itunes with a new social network added called “Ping”. I have been known to be a big fan of Apple products, but they are just so damned cool. Shoot me already..

Check out the new Ipod Nano 6th Gen and you will definitely not be disappointed.

Charles Hamel

Resistance 3

Charles Hamel — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:34:13 +0000

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My all time favorite first person shooter Resistance and Insomniac games has just released a trailer for the newest version Resistance 3, and it guarantees to put a smile on many faces.

Resistance 3 plot involves a despicable alien race coming to earth and converting humans, with a chemical process to their kind. But this wont happen as long as I have a gun in my hand. Resistance 3, looks badass.

If you have never played Resistance, now is a good time to start with

Resistance 3.

My all time favorite first person shooter Resistance and Insomniac games has just released a trailer for the newest version Resistance 3, and it guarantees to put a smile on many faces.
Resistance 3 plot involves a despicable alien race coming to earth and converting humans, with a chemical process to their kind. But this wont happen as long as I have a gun in my hand. Resistance 3, looks badass.
If you have never played Resistance, now is a good time to start with�Resistance 3.

Charles Hamel

Nokia X3 Touch and Type

Charles Hamel — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:18:38 +0000

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Nokia revealed Touch and Type S40 lovingly named as the Nokia X3 Touch and Type. This new technology phone presents a unique combination of a touch screen and a traditional T9 keypad. Nokia X3 Touch and Type is the first combination touchscreen Qwerty S40 phone that includes a 5 MP camera, �and Wifi.

The Nokia X3 Touch and Type is a awesome new addition to the Nokia cellphone lineup.

Charles Hamel

Amazon Kindle 2 Accessories

Charles Hamel — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 11:23:22 +0000

Since getting an Amazon Kindle 2 E-book reader I have started looking for a cover for it and assorted other Amazon Kindle 2 Accessories. The first day I started searching for a cover that would protect both front and back and close with a clasp when I wasn’t using it I discovered a brand new cover coming out that included a retractable reading light built in, that gets it’s power from the kindle itself. What could be more perfect?

Blue Amazon Kindle 2 Cover

Red Amazon Kindle 2 Cover

Green Amazon Kindle 2 Cover

Pink Amazon Kindle 2 Cover

Orange Amazon Kindle 2 Case

Black Amazon Kindle 2 Case

Leather Amazon Kindle 2 Case

As you see they come in a wide variety of colors and will be available on the 27th of August 2010. The design with the light is the best part for me.

Light draws power from Kindle device. No batteries required
Built-in, retractable LED reading light pulls out from the back cover when needed, and slides away to become invisible when not in use
Stylish genuine leather exterior. Soft, grey, microfiber suede interior protects Kindle

New Kindle 2 cover with book light

Amazon Kindle 2 cover with light

Another cool �Amazon Kindle 2 Accessories that I ran across are gel skins that protect the front and back and also jazz up the plain white frame of the awesome E-book reader. A company by the name of �Gelaskins has come up with some very artistic Amazon Kindle 2 accessories. My favorite was a fantasy themed girl, but they had hundreds to choose from.

Amazon Kindle 2 accessories

So if you are in the market for some absolutely drop dead cool Amazon Kindle 2 Accessories I suggest you head on over to the Amazon Kindle 2 Accessories store and check out what might catch your eye and provide an adequate protection for your Amazon Kindle 2.

Amazon Kindle 2 retractable reading light