But the next one happened in the lavender farm in Nakafurano. It was at a stall selling the lavender soft which was far more interesting.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Some Engrish I Learnt From My Travels
But the next one happened in the lavender farm in Nakafurano. It was at a stall selling the lavender soft which was far more interesting.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A Bus Out Of The Ordinary
Same thing applies to the Hakodate Tourism Board.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Battle Robot
One of the subject I am currently taking in the 3rd Year of Mechanical Engineering course is called 総合製作 or General Manufacture. We were given two choices between Battle Robot and Miniature Steam Locomotive. I have heard and seen the famous Robocon from various sources before and indeed, the robots they built was impressive and amazed me. I did not have to think twice into deciding between the two.
There will be two person in each group and I teamed up with my tutor. It started with some brain storming on the designs, then sketching up the robot, get those materials which are needed and start working on the robot. We were only provided with two motors and that's all. The rest of the materials will be from the junkyard-like lab. Fortunately for us, the sensei allowed us to order some unavailable materials under a tight budget.
A month ago
To be honest, the progress of the robot was not as I had expected earlier. During the whole process, we had fixed and taken off the parts; re-designed it so many times that in the end, we did not manage to make it on time for the battle which was yesterday.
Sour grapes it might sounds, but our sensei hardly give us any advice when we were working on our robot. I know it is just a lame excuse as other teams (not all, but the majority) managed to finish up theirs in time.
my Dancing-cum-Amok Robot
As for ours, instead of calling it a Battle Robot, I guess it will be more appropriate to name it Dancing-cum-Amok Robot. I feel sorry for my robot, but at the same time, watching at its movement is quite hilarious.
For the 1st Battle yesterday, the first thing was to hand-up every robots to be inspected. You get a ○ : circle if the robot pass every pre-underlined specifications and a × : cross if the robot fails to meet those specification. Our robot got neither of the two. Instead, we got a △ : triangle. The battle is a 2-minute battle and winner will be determined on the robot which manages to knock down its opponent; or push its opponent out of the ring for more than 5 second.
In total, out of more than 10 robots, only 10 was put into the battle. Those 10 robots include 3 robots which got a triangle. Then came the drawing of lots. We did not get to draw it as we happened to be the last on the list to pick the lot. Two team, which are considered as the best two was given a bye in the quarter-finals.
Game ①: 2 田中・カルビン (Tanaka ・ Karubin). Karubin is me by the way.
It was the last thing we would have hoped. We were drawn into the first battle. See this video of my robot in action at your own risk.
It wasn't even a battle, no? Our robot was practically stood stationary there and just waiting for the opponent to approach it.
Soon, one after another battles continued.
Note: The following videos will be totally in Japanese and just get prepared to get those shouts of "yabeehh" and "sugeehh" in them.
It wasn't like the battle you watch in Transformers. But nevertheless, it was fun and sometimes, funny. Some ended up losing the tires in the middle of the battle.
For some, it moves slower than any snail you can see. I call it The Snail. It was like taking its sweet time moving one step after another, even without having the controller fixed on but yet, ended up in the winning side.
Although you can come out with a cool and neat robot, but sometimes if luck is not on your side, then it will still be useless. Just like what happened to one of the robot. He later realized that he inserted the battery do ba let*. So, instead of moving forward, it moved backwards, away from the opponent and out of the ring. In other words, it was like a suicidal act of scoring an own goal for your team.
This is the battle between one of the favourite and the one which 'beat' our robot. I will call the favourite one as The Hyperactive based on its speed. As the time was up, the winner was determined based on the overall performance of both robots and nothing surprising to see the favourite advanced to the next round.
This is one of the most hilarious battle. It was against another top-two robot and it was almost impossible to beat it as it has an arm as a mechanism to tumble its opponent. It just stopped and waited there for the underdog to approach it as if it is saying "Come and get me if you can".
When its opponent was close enough, then it started its mission, chasing it and at the same time, using its arm upwards and downwards trying to tumble its opponent. Seeing that coming, first step was to shout out "Yabai! Yabai! Yabai!" (Alamak! Alamak! Alamak!). The second step was to immediately run away from it but it was little too late. The Predator won the battle.
Then came the semi-finals. First battle was between The Hyperactive and The Snail. As The Snail had yet having the controller fixed, it could not be controlled. That guy ended up breaking the rule by moving the robot's direction by pulling the wire over.
Apparently, that breaking-the-rule tactic was still not enough. How will a snail beat a cheetah in a race, no?
Semi-final 2 was between The Predator and another robot. The opponent tried putting a board in front of it to avoid it from being tumbled over by The Predator and initially, it seemed that it worked.
However, once it was hooked up, there was nothing it could do. In the end, it lost to The Predator not because it was tumbled down, but because it was pushed out of the ring.
It wasn't a surprise to see the two favourites - The Predator and The Hyperactive to be in the final.
They allowed both teams to do some final adjustments and soon, game on!
Here is the first battle of the final.
Not satisfied by how easily it ended, they requested for a second round and it turned out to be better. The verdict? Watch the video to find out who was the champion.
As expected, it was The Predator who had the last laugh.
P/S: There will be another battle coming up towards the end of December. Until that day, I will be working on our robots again to improve and make some minor remodeling to make sure it will be far better than what it is at the moment.
*do ba let: a term introduced to me by Fritz which comes from the word "terbalik". Literally, it means opposite.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
It Is Autumn
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Pear Hunt
Friday, October 26, 2007
Another Naughty Thought
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Best Of Ramen From Hokkaido
One of the highlight of my trip to Hokkaido was trying the famous ramen they have. Ramen is a noodle dish that was originally imported to Japan from China. However, over the last few decades, ramen has become a typical Japanese dish and gained great popularity inside and outside of Japan.
Ramen noodles are about as thin as spaghetti and are served in a soup with various toppings. My favourite ingredient in a bowl of ramen will be chashu (sliced pork), the Japanese version of char siew. Compared to our very own char siew, the one they have here is thinner and wider. Having said that, I still prefer our dark red char siew which you can see often on wantan mee (Chinese noodles with Chinese dumpling and BBQ pork).
Ramen restaurants can be found all over Japan, just like mamak stalls back home. That aside, a large variety of instant ramen and cup noodles is available in supermarkets. In other words, it is the Japanese version of our very own and all-time favourite Maggi and Cintan instant noodles.
There are many different ramen dishes differing in the soup base and the toppings. But the main three ramen in Hokkaido are Shouyu Ramen, Miso Ramen and Shio Ramen. Each of the ramen are famous at a particular place.
The first one we tried was Shouyu Ramen in Asahikawa.
Asahikawa's Soy Sauce Ramen
Shoyu Ramen is made of soy sauce as the base of the soup with a combination of seafood, pork and chicken carcass meat as its topping, prepared in a simply style. As Asahikawa is located at the northern part of Japan and being exposed to cold climates almost throughout the year, lard is use to maintain the heat of the soup. However, using lard still make it taste bland.
It wasn't a hard thing to get into the shop that serve the best Shoyu Ramen in Asahikawa. We just enquired at the Tourist Information counter at the train station and that Chinese young lady, recommended us to this restaurant called 旭川ラーメン - 梅光軒 (Asahikawa Ramen - Baikouken). The fact is that it has a branch in Singapore at North Canal Road, which you might want to have a try on this Shoyu Ramen.
During our time in Sapporo, we did not manage to try the Miso Ramen there. However, we still wanted to make sure we had a taste on it before we leave. We had it in Noboribetsu instead, after our visit to the bear park.
Sapporo's Soy Bean Ramen
Thick soybean paste, with garlic and a large quantity of lard are used to create the distinctive punch in Miso Ramen. The soup and stir-fried vegetables are boiled together, with soybean paste being added into them.
The third and final ramen I tried in Hokkaido was Shio Ramen from Hakodate. The main characteristic of this ramen is its salty soup. It is a bland pork bone-based transparent soup prepared under low heat with salt as the seasoning. Some prefer slices of cheese as the topping of the ramen as well.
Hakodate's Salt Ramen
We were taken to have the Shio Ramen at a restaurant called 味彩ラーメン (Ajisai Ramen) by Chang Yuan during our one day in Hakodate. Although the ingredients of Shio Ramen is similar to the other two, i.e having chashu and menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), the aroma of the soup makes Shio Ramen stands out from the rest. As for me, after trying all those three ramens, my personal favourite will definitely be the Shio Ramen in Hakodate.
You have to try it one day to get what I mean here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Most Bizarre Souvenir
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A Pink Envelope
P/S: I want extra peanut in that sauce! And yes, your handwriting is damn small, neat, and cute ^.-
Monday, October 22, 2007
Elasticity In Man
だんせい【男性】dansei: man
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A New Raya Experience
April 18, 2015 - Top 10 Things To Do In Bangkok
March 06, 2015 - Mangrove Forest And Charcoal Factory Of Kuala Sepetang
March 04, 2015 - Welcoming The Goat Year
February 28, 2015 - Celebrating The Jade Emperor's Birthday a.k.a. Pai Thnee Kong
January 31, 2015 - A Long-Awaited Homecoming
January 28, 2015 - Japanese Spiny Lobster Bento Of Oonoso
January 25, 2015 - Maiwai - Traditional Craft Of Chiba Prefecture
September 30, 2014 - Chiba Prefectural Boso-no Mura
September 26, 2014 - Mouthwatering Unaju From Kanetaya
September 23, 2014 - Pear Picking In Kamagaya City
September 15, 2014 - Kiyose Sunflower Festival 2014
For the rest of the entries, go to Archive.