Globalized Broadband in ACTION

In my previous blog I talked about the "need for speed" and how high speed broadband internet access is changing everything everything EVERYTHING about our lives. This is not just from a child's perspective who grows up with e-mail and no longer needs to even comprehend how it took one month for a letter sent to get a return reply when I first came to Japan 20 years ago. Now they contact their friends in Timbukthree instantaneously to ... coordinate shoelace colours for the day!

No, I mean on a deeper level... business has changed dramatically, jobs have shifted and continue to shift to "cheaper, less developed countries". Those countries GDP and economy is skyrocketing while their generation gaps fly apart at a pace us in the west cannot even comprehend. Where our food comes from has changed, how we educate ourselves, argue, get news, make decisions, carry out terrorist activities, are brainwashed by our own governments and foreign multinationals ... it has all changed.

And not entirely for the good of humanity.

But today don't want to point out the negative aspects of this technology; I'll leave that to the naysayers and harbingers of Armageddon (a Jehovah visited me this morning to tell me about .... can you tell?) I want to show you one of the GOOD things that this instant communication high-speed broadband has brought us.

As you know, people are living much longer than they used to which means that they need a lot more care than they used to need for a much longer time. Life has gotten tougher forcing families to "splinter" into nuclear units where the parents live on their own while their children bring up their own families. As the elderly continue to age and are no longer able to care for themselves they require more attention...

A company in Sweden has started exploited the power of the internet to meet this very important need:  ACTION

Here is what they say on their top page:

"ACTION is a service for frail older persons who prefer to stay and live in their own homes but who are in need of support from nurses and relatives. These old people and their relatives are provided with information and training to help them make their everyday life easier and more comfortable. The ACTION service includes the provision of a videophone which can be used for communicating with the nurses and other ACTION families."

And here are just a few of their results from their website:

• family-carers feel safer and more competent in their role of caring
• the older people and their relatives develop informal support networks with other families more readily and with greater ease
• whilst there are cost savings for municipalities, there is at the same time improvement in the quality of life of both the cared and the carers

I think this is an absolutely WONDERFUL way to show love and care-giving for those who raised us into this world. It's a fantastic way to exploit the power of a system that interconnects us all.

Take a look at their website and see what it's all about. It won't take a lot of your time, but it will show you how we can utilize the tools we have developed for the greater good: ACTION

Globalized Love is not just about us here on the blogs, it extends waaay beyond that to all the nooks and crannies of the multiverse. All you need to do is take a little time and think about how you can make a difference.

Mari, my friend from Sweden who bought a huge number of kimonos to make her rag rugs, is involved in this project. This is not just "a company out there" doing this; this is the business that Mari is in! And it is wonderful!! Thank you Mari for sharing this with me.

I love you!

Cam

The Need* for Globalized Speed

Broadband is getting faster and cheaper every day so it surprises me when I try to share this information with Masaki and he continually resists, saying, "I'm not interested; dial up is fine for me." It's funny because broadband these days in Japan is cheaper than dialup. In addition to that, it doesn't tie up the phone lines. There are plenty of times I want to call Masaki, but I can't because he keeps his cell phone off unless he goes grocery shopping, and when he is online, he is using up the phone line so I get a busy signal. I also know that part of this reason is that he doesn't want to be "bothered" with having to learn something new or to have to make "chchch changes" to his world. That puts him in a discomfort zone as I have seen in the past.

He doesn't use his computer or the internet all that often which again seems unusual to me in our day and age. I can see so many ways he can improve his business utilizing the power of the net, but he doesn't want to. And when I have tried to show him how in the past, I watch his eyes "glass over" and see him "tune out" and "go analog" on me. In fact, yesterday during our ride, he said he would love to just go into the mountains and live where there was no net access, no electricity, no nothing.

And you know what? I believe him because he has continually refused to consider upgrading the family internet to a faster, cheaper system; he just does not care about that stuff. Even his parents have thought it might be a good idea, but as he is the "chonan", the elder son, I guess they let him make the decisions now, as is often the way here in traditional Japan. He checks his email about once a month, IF I am lucky so I don't bother sending anything via email to him anymore as I always have to follow it up with a call... "go check your email".

Maybe having no girlfriend, living with your mother and father, brother and sister, and working with mom and dad in the same house (at 38) all the time does that to you. Maybe he needs no further outside contact other than his six mountain bikes and the dirt that his tires kiss... Maybe he's just like that...

I, however, LOVE being on the cusp of technology and am always investing in newer, faster computer-related "tools" because for me, it is a form of communication that I love to embrace. I love how we are progressing with the advances of instand broadband communication. Of course I am not blind to the terrible side effects that the local communities are suffering due to the global "reaching out". There is a flip side to the wonders of our current internet advances. That aside...

I recently switched my broadband from Yahoo! BB ADSL 50MB (agent of Softbank internet services), to Nexys BB ADSL 50MB (agent of Softbank inernet services). It's weird... The system, the lines, everything are exactly the same. Even the new router that arrived came from Softbank and looks exactly like the old one (just a slightly newer model). The tech support line dials into Softbank with Nexys.BB just as it did for Yahoo! BB.

At first I wondered what the REAL difference is beside from the price. So I called Softbank to ask if they had some hidden deal that would give me the same price Nexys was offering compared to what I was paying Yahoo/Softbank for the same service.

The answer?

There was absolutely nothing different in the service, other than the price.

And it is a LARGE difference in price.

I don't agree with "price hopping" as it loses me a lot of business in my work when the Chinese companies go to someone else because it's a bit cheaper and expect me to lower my prices to the other competition if I want to keep the job. I won't because I know how much effort, time and (cost) goes into providing that extra support, and service. And because I believe in this, even if a price is higher, if I can get better service I will stick with a "provider" of the service, or product.

Think of it like buying a new bra, ladies... You can go to Wal-Mart and get your $11.99 bra that gives you some so-so support for a little while (but may be made in China with who-knows-what kind of metals and materials), or you can go to Victoria's Secret and get the latest, most technical bra-tanktop for $49.95 and have years of amazing support, comfort and versatility.

Well, I did my due diligence, and I switched because the only difference was Yahoo!BB @ JPY 4500/mo vs. Nexyz.BB @ JPY 2950/mo. That's a surprising difference considering they both are agents of Softbank selling the exact same service utilizing the exact same lines crossing the country. It's baffling, really...

It turns out that I was really fortunate to have this chance come upon me. We have two phone numbers to this home, one that I had registered with Yahoo!BB and was using for my fax line only, and the other which was just a phone line. Had I only had one number I would not have been eligible for this campaign because the service agreements state that you cannot switch to another provider during the first six months of your contract without being penalized by having to pay the original "up to three months of free service" (not included in the six month promise) that was part of the enticing sign-up marketing ploy.

But, since I have another line, I was able to sign up with Nexyz.BB on the phone line, cancel the Yahoo!BB service on the other line, and get up and running in no time flat!

All I needed to do was unplug one router, and plug the other one (that looks the same, but has a different number) in. And everything is running like a charm.

You know how ADSL works, right? It sounds GREAT but it depends upon where you are actually located because the closer you are to the "box" where the phone lines all meet up (the circuit box?) in the neighbourhood, the better your speed, and the further away you are, the slower it is. In most cases, apparently 50MB refers to the download speed that is the ideal maximum, but in most cases the actual speed is between 5-10MB. For upload, it is dramatically slower (did you know that?) Usually the 50MB ADSL services offer between 0.5 - 2MB of actual upload speed depending upon how far away you are from that "box" somewhere in the neighbourhood.

We are quite close so are quite lucky, actually and our speeds seem to be about 14MB download speed and 1.5MB upload speed.

Of course this is piddly compared to those who are on a cable connection, because cable gives you exactly what you pay for without any dilution due to distance from the "box". But cable is usually more expensive. Right now in Japan the "fibre optic" lines (cable lines) run at about JPY 7500 ($75) per month for 100MB of speed. But in addition to that, you need to pay for the cable channels, and all that other stuff so it does add up. I'm not quite ready for that since I have no interest in watching TV so it would be a waste for me to pay for TV just to get faster internet.

I am quite happy with this speed and access we have here in my little village of 3,000 people. It suits my needs exceedingly well.

I know that many of you have cable lines, some are on ADSL, and some still use "squirreloptics" for your dial up. I would be curious to hear how your internet connection fares with a speedtest. Why don't you log into Speedtest.net and let me know how well you fare? I'd really like to kow what it's like out there in the rest of the world.

Here is Speedtest.net result:

 

In addition to this switch, what I was able to do was cancel the second phone line that was for a fax-only line (and the ADSL internet line), and use the BBPhone (IP phone) that comes with it as my fax! I can also use it as a fax/phone so that people can call me on that new 050- number or fax and it is actually cheaper from anywhere in the world (ask your local carrier how much to call a 050 internet phone number in Japan if you want to see the difference for comparison to the regular rates for an 0776 number issued by NTT). So I cancelled the second line yesterday and that also saves us an additional JPY 1600 per month! All in all, by making this shift, we will be getting the exact same service, but saving JPY 3000 (about USD $30) a month on communication charges. And I like that!

Use some of that bandwidth you have to spread the Globalized Love! I love the communication we all have via mail, chat, voice, blog, and mind. I appreciate this connection because it brings me all closer to you! And I cherish that! Thank you for being in my life!

Have a great evening, night, morning or afternoon where ever you may be, and NetSpeed to you!

I love you!

Cam

* This is, of course, not a "need" but a "want"; however, "The Want for Globalized Speed" sounds really really dumb...

Globalized Trash - Act Local, Share Global (Lite Version)

As long as we live, and even in death, we will leave our footprint on Mother Earth. I believe that through a concerted effort locally we can dramaticallyreduce our footprint globally.

Through sharing our thoughts, ideas and practices regarding how we cut back on our trash, we have the potential to affect others around the world.

We are no longer confined by distance; we have technology that allows us to amplify our local efforts so that others around the world might find new and creative ideas that they can apply in their lives. The opposite is also true in that those who share with us have the opportunity to help us grow, and become even more green than we already are.

It is my sincere hope that you will watch this video (you can watch the "full" version here to see more examples), and then post a video of your own in response, sharing your thoughts on reducing, recycling, reusing the things you create as you move through life.

We can make a difference. We can make a very big difference just by sharing small things like how we take care of our refuse.

Please make a video response and share your thoughts, as well as your acts with the rest of the world on YouTube.

And please help me to expand this concept and make our use of YouTube more than just a "fun place to be"; help us all to make it an eco-conscious experience.

I love you!

Flowergasms! It's Springtime in Japan

April, May and October are usually the best months of the entire year here in Japan. Since October is a little while away, I thought I would capture some of the sakura blossoming in my neck of the woods. Although later than in Tokyo, out here in Fukui it is still just as, if not more beautiful to see a little bit later.

Cooking with Cam: Simple Fare from a Simpleton

I enjoy cooking simple food. In fact I enjoy opening up the fridge and making dinner up on the spot with absolutely no planning whatsoever! It makes life, for me, and dinner, for us, always a surprise!

I love you!

Spring on Jouhouji

Yesterday I went for a bike ride. I thought it might rain, but the clouds did not turn so the ride was a success.

I have not been on my bike since last November so I don't have the legs, arms, hands or back for it yet. Therefore I decided to take it easy and just road ride my bike up into the mountains.

Across the Kuzuryu River is a campground up at the 500-600m elevation (1m = roughly 1yard). The paved road that goes up is fairly steep and yes, it kicked my ass. Luckily the BCAAs I took gave me the energy to make it to the top because when I got there, I was once again able to enjoy the beautiful sakura still in full bloom at the higher altitude.

Although the spring flowers are coming out at the lower altitudes, the mountains are still wearing their winter cloak: brown. I think that in a couple of weeks we will start to see the brilliant spring green that I love so much. But for the time being, we are still living in a world of blue skies, brown/grey mountain peaks, and budding flowers amidst water-filled, reflective rice paddies.

It was a 12km trip from door to campground. The trip took one hour and fifteen minutes to get up to the top, and thirty minutes to get back home. My max speed coming down the winding mountain road was 55kmh (about 30mph). The steepest part took about 50 minutes to climb, and only 10 minutes to descent so you can visualize the kind of trip it was.

Enough of the textural descriptions... Enjoy the scenery as did I.
(photos taken with my cell phone so the quality is not as good as it could be).

I love you!

Cam

Internet Axe Murderers In Kyoto, Second Parts: Dining on the Day Tour

On the second day of our Conference we took a full day tour of Kyoto and visited palaces, castles, temples and shrines. It was a wonderful experience! We had a blast!

Internet Axe Murderers In Kyoto, First Parts: Meat & (gr)Eat!

Pandasu (SueEllen) from the USA brought her four friends on a whirlwind trip of Japan. We decided to meet up in Kyoto for yet another IAM Conference.

It was wonderful!

Sick Around Japan

I was talking with Jen the other day about a variety of things and she had mentioned that her husband watched a TV program by Frontline, called “Sick around the World” on the “social” healthcare systems in five countries that “worked” compared with the USA system. He was interested to know what Jen’s “friends in Japan” thought about the discussion so he forwarded her a link to the program after it came online. She sent it to me asking if I had any thoughts on the topic. Rather than watching the actual interviews, and the program, I thought that the more important thing would be for me to read the transcript of the interview with the Japanese Healthcare Economics specialist. And so I did. It was a good read, and it reaffirmed pretty much what I experience in real life and have always thought about the healthcare system here in Japan. Of course it isn’t perfect, but it does work extremely well, and the most important thing is that nobody is “left to rot”.

 

I agree with everything the specialist Naoki Ikegami is saying in the transcript of the interview in Japan. There is nothing incorrect here in the interview that does not correspond with “in the street” or “real life experience” as so often happens when “global reviews” take place. A good example of this “gap” is what happens in Europe when countries switch to the Euro; the governments say that things become more expensive by only a few single digit percentage points, but in reality, (in Italy and other countries where I have real friends), they say that their cost of living expenses have gone up by 30- 50% since their currency has been dropped for the Euro. These are real-life results as opposed to “government statistics” and you always have to be careful when you look at things like this, to go to the street as well.

 

I will include the comments that I believe are, to me, of the most value in the interview, although I recommend reading the entire interview through to get a good overall picture of the differences between the Japanese and American systems.  Before I do so, I would just like to give my own thoughts on this overall system with a few short examples of when I needed major care in the hospital (cut my fingertip off and had emergency appendectomy).

 

I love this system, and have never found my "copays" to be overly expensive.

 

When I cut my fingertip off it cost me about JPY 3,000 I think for the initial visit. Then I went back every day for two weeks and they changed the bandages. The cost per visit then was just a few hundred yen a time and the amount of time I was in front of a doctor was like he says in the interview, just a few minutes. I would say that I didn’t pay any more than JPY 15,000 in total when all was said and done, and that includes medication, antibiotics, and all the follow-up visits. The wait time was less than 30 minutes. It was no problem at all.

 

One of the reasons why we have “3X then number of visits to hospitals compared with Americans” that the interviewer mentions is that the doctors have us come back regularly to continually inspect, change bandages, and watch the healing process. I don’t think it is like this in the USA, as far as I know, and once the initial procedure is done (unless of course it is a major procedure), you are on your to take care of it properly.

 

When I had my emergency appendectomy, the entire thing, including 10 days in the hospital didn't cost me any more than $300 to the hospital. That was it. Of course there was the national healthcare I pay which varies every year depending on how much money I make in the year. If I make very little money, I pay very little. When I made a fair deal two years ago, I ended up paying about $2,000 for the entire year. That's about $166 per month. It’s peanuts, really.

 

There are two kinds of coverage; one is funded over 50% by employer. Mayu was in that when she was working. The other one is national health care and I have opted for that. It revolves around your salary, and the copay used to be more than the employer based, but now it's the same: 30%. I did my calculations years ago to decide which one to go for and chose National because I don't get sick much at all.

 

Also the company-related one includes deductions for pension, etc. and since I don't pay pension here I chose not to, even though it is mandatory and instead invest overseas my monthly pension contribution for my future. The reason I chose not to is that in order to get pension I have to be working in Japan for minimum of 20 years. At the time I did not know if I would be here in Japan that long and chose not to invest in something with "iffy" returns. Now, 20 years later I look back and am still glad I invested on my own because the pension plan system in Japan is collapsing and the government has made a mess of it (they "lost" the pension payments of 500,000 people. It's a debacle).

 

Also the number of elderly and retiring baby boomers is skyrocketing, and we are at critical mass plus the numbers of young not working, and not paying pension is at an all time high, a very bad situation. This is a separate problem, and not really directly related to healthcare, but related to the amount of money the elderly who get sick more often have to use on healthcare, so it indirectly affects the situation.

 

It works very smoothly indeed, and because the government is involved, it can be considered "social medicine" but it is in no way anything like it is portrayed as in the USA "socialized (communistic) medicine".

 

Please be sure to read the interview and then you will understand my next comments: I can see doctors in the USA screaming "government control!!" over this system because the Japanese government does control the amount of money they can make and how much can be billed; it is highly regulated.

 

I believe that "the business of healthcare" should NOT be treated in the same way as “the business of products and services”. In the latter you provide basic commodities, luxuries and services to people at a price, and try to make as much money from it as possible. That’s business. The people who can afford the product at the highest profit margin, will pay it, and those who cannot will go elsewhere to find a lower level, lower quality basic product that suites their needs. If they can afford it, they will purchase, but if they can't they learn to do without.

 

In healthcare, if you can't afford the product you have a good chance of becoming extremely ill, or even of dying. It isn’t a matter of “doing without” if you’ve cut your fingertip off, or just finding some “discount 100 yen shop” to run in for an appendectomy. It doesn’t work that way. And it shouldn’t, in my opinion. I feel there is a fundamental difference in these “businesses” and only those who understand this difference should be in "the business of saving lives". Healthcare should not be about making the highest profit margin that the market will support. It is not the same.

 

I think this pretty much covers my experience here in the Japanese system that runs very smoothly. It will be interesting to see how it works over the next 10 years as the baby boomers, retirees all age and our aging silvers are more than the paying and working population. There will likely be a big stress on the system. It may get more expensive and they may find way to shift taxes around, and the working population may have to pay more in taxes to cover the retired, but it won't break us; we won’t be put out on the street wandering around confused, and drugged because we don’t have the funds to pay grossly over-inflated prices. The country will most likely continue to provide medical care to everyone who needs it, without making them go broke. - Cam

 

Here are the key points that I believe hit home in this interview:

 

So here we are in a country with the longest life expectancy, good health results, low costs -- sounds like paradise. Are there problems in paradise?

I think it's a mirror image of the United States in that we [underspend] on health care. For example, in the year 2006, health expenditures only increased by 0.1 percent, whereas the nominal GDP increased by ... 1.5 percent.

 

Health care went up 1/10 of 1 percent?

Right, and the reason why the government has this tight control over all prices is because the national government funds one-quarter of health expenditures, ... and the Japanese government now has a huge deficit amounting to 1.5 percent [of] GDP, and the debt is still increasing as a result of having to make tax cuts and investing in public works during the 10 years of deficit.

 

So in order to [start] paying back, they are making every effort to cut expenditures. This is across-the-board cost containment, and health expenditures are under that umbrella.

 

And remember that this is happening at the time when Japan is having a very rapid growth for the elderly. According to my calculations, just aging within the population should contribute a 2 percent increase, so the fact that there has been only a 0.1 percent [increase] means that real ... expenditures did decrease. ...

 

I think what you're getting at here is that they've got a system that makes sure people don't go broke paying medical bills.

Right. I think the main goal of a public health insurance system is to prevent people [from] going broke.

 

How many people in Japan go bankrupt because of medical bills?

None, or at least there should be none, because first of all, they should be covered, and if they're not covered, then they can get covered by paying back one year's premiums. And if they can't pay back the one year's premium, then they will be on public assistance.

 

If somebody in Japan loses [her] job, does she lose her health insurance, too?

She loses the employment-based insurance, but then there's the community-based insurance, which is mandated for her to enroll and for the local government to enroll that person.

 

Can they turn her down if she has heart disease or something?

That is forbidden. ... Neither can the employer deny in hiring someone because of health conditions.

 

So if lose my job I don't lose my health insurance; in fact, I'm required to buy it, but from the city instead of an employer?

Yeah. ... It's more like taxes rather than having something that you want to pay or must pay. ...

 

These health care plans covering basic health care for a worker and his family, do they make a profit?

No, because they are not allowed to make a profit. And anything left over is carried over to the next year, and if there's a lot carried over, then the premium rate would go down.

 

Do you think the Japanese people feel that everyone in this country should all have a basic package of medical coverage?

According to opinion polls, I would not only say basic but egalitarian coverage [for] all. Over 70 percent of the Japanese, when they're asked that question, say they're not only in favor of basic coverage; they are in favor of egalitarian coverage.

 

Notes:

Link to Interview Transcript:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/interviews/ikegami.html

 

Current Exchange: JPY 100 = USD $ 1.00

 

My Blueberry Nights

Rating:	★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Other

Mayu and I arrived 20 minutes late into this movie, but it didn't make a difference. I found it extremely tedious, the cinematography was a failed attempt at mixing euro-style, with sundance and the weirdness of David Lynch.

Nora Jones was like a zombie in the movie, and I hope I never have to see her act again.

Jude Law and Natalie Portman played their roles very well. If they weren't in this movie I swear I would have walked out.

If you haven't seen this movie yet, most definitely DO NOT see it at theatre prices; it is NOT a "must see on big screen" movie.

And in my opinion, if you haven't seen it, don't spend any money on it at all.

This was Wong Kar Wai's first English language movie, and um... well, the next time I go to the movies I'll make sure he's not directing them. I was left with the impression that they were trying to "cut costs" by having it done "in china".

Please... having a distorted closeup of someone chewing on blueberry pie for 20 seconds, through stained glass headlamps was just too much.

I hope that Norah sticks to singing, even though I must admit that her "cool jazz" voice bores me and although we both have tried our best, neither Mayu nor I can listen to more than one song, two at max, consecutively of hers.

At least Jude Law was quite good looking in this one (as usual). So there was "some" redeeming factor to it...

Here's Yahoo's review if you want a little more than my un-cultured opinion...

After a rough break-up, Elizabeth sets out on a journey across America, leaving behind a life of memories, a dream and a soulful new friend; a cafe owner--all while in search of something to mend her broken heart. Waitressing her way through the country, Elizabeth befriends others whose yearnings are greater than hers, including a troubled cop and his estranged wife and a down-on-her luck gambler with a score to settle. Through these individuals, Elizabeth witnesses the true depths of loneliness and emptiness, and begins to understand that her own journey is part of a greater exploration within herself.

Production Status: Released

Genres: Art/Foreign, Comedy, Drama and Romance

Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min.

Release Date: April 4th, 2008 (limited)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material including violence, drinking and smoking.

Distributors: The Weinstein Company

Production Co.: Jet Tone Films, Block 2 Pictures, Lou-Yi Ltd., Studio Canal

U.S. Box Office: $74,146 <--------- (tell you anything?)

Filming Locations: New York, New York, USA
Las Vegas, Nevada USA
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Ely, Nevada, USA

Produced in: Hong Kong

I.A.M. Kyoto Part 2: The Kyoto One Day Tour, April 16th

Hugging Pandasu on the bus tour.

 

I awoke at 3.45 in the morning to someone out in the street opening and closing the big metal shutters in front of their business. I dozed again, to be awoken another 15 - 20 minutes later to the same effect. If you have ever heard these shutters that they open and close in front of their entire store front, you will know the sound; it ... grates... garagaragaragaragaragggggrrrraagggggg. Sort of like that. And early early in the morning, it is not a pleasant noise to be awakened by.

 

Right next to my head was an air duct vent in the wall that stuck out. I could hear the five Axe Murderers above me snoring all night long. I awoke and dozed to their orchestrated symphony of varying decibels as it echoed up and down the pipes.

 

The pillow filled with rocks made my neck and face sore, but I survived that as well as the fact that even sleeping diagonally was not quite long enough for me and my shoulders and feet stuck out at both ends of the futon. But I survived that, too.

 

Then at about 5 in the morning I heard some women through the paper thin walls and that got my attention, but not enough to really understand what language they were speaking. Likely it was a foreign language as I couldn't pick out any words I really understood.

 

At 6am I heard through the pipes again from the floor above me the Axe Murderers above all up and moving around, laughing, joking, and teasing.

 

At 6.45 I got "the call" saying they were all downstairs and ready to go.

 

We walked 30 minutes to Kyoto station and some of the other women were kind of worried that NOW maybe I was really going to do them in because I was taking them through "questionable" parts of town. But they made it all in five pieces to our Tour Pickup point, The New Miyako Hotel. We dropped off our luggage, and walked 10 minutes to a Skylark restaurant for a great JPY 800 breakfast buffet that filled us up with good protein for the day.

 

Then we headed back to the hotel, and loaded onto the bus for the Kyoto One Day Tour by JTB Sunrise Tours. Here is how JTB markets it:

 

Experience Kyoto, Japan’s capital from 794-1868. Visit Nijo Castle, the residence of the Tokugawa era shoguns, and the gold-leaf covered Golden Pavilion, which houses sacred relics of Buddha and is surrounded by exquisite gardens renowned for their beauty. Walk through the Kyoto Imperial Palace and watch traditional Japanese artisans work their craft at the Kyoto Handicraft Center. Visit Heian Jingu Shrine, a partial replica of the Imperial Palace. Walk through Sanjusangendo Temple, Japan’s longest wooden structure, famous for its 1,001 human-sized Kannon statues, and browse through the specialty shops leading up to Kiyomizudera Temple for a sweeping view of the city.

Here is their itinerary with some photos that I took, stuck in between:

 

Nijo Castle

The Kyoto Residence of the Tokugawa Shogun built in 1603, Nijo Castle is noted for the contrast of its solemn appearance and gorgeous interiors.

Visiting the Shogun's castle in Kyoto was fascinating. The nightingale flooring, a security system designed centuries ago is unique, and utterly brilliant!

Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion)

The most authentic and exquisite Japanese style garden in the world, plus the celebrated Golden Pavilion.

 

 

The Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan is one of my favourites

Kyoto Imperial Palace

The ancient Imperial Palace clearly shows the Japanese taste for purity, simplicity and calmness.

The sakura in Kyoto were still in bloom so we were very fortunate.

This is one of the most beautiful publicly-owned gardens in Japan.
The Kyoto Imperial Palace is owned by us, the taxpayers, so it's "ours"!

Kyoto Handicraft Center

Enjoy buffet lunch (free soft drinks included except alcoholic drink) and shopping at Kyoto Handicraft Center.

Heian Jingu Shrine

Graceful old court life is reflected in the brightly colored shrine with its vermilion pillars and green roof, and in its enchanting inner gardens and ponds.

There are many kinds of Sakura. This is one of the bigger ones. But just as lovely. Wouldn't you love to have something like this on your lapel for an April Sakura Wedding?

It started to pour as we walked through the gardens at Heian shrine in Kyoto.

Sanju-Sangendo Hall

A renowned long wooden hall housing all of 1,001 statues of Kannon that date back to the 13th century.

Kiyomizudera Temple

A quaint old lane lined with pottery shops leads to the temple. Enjoy a sweeping view of the entire city from its lofty terrace.

It was crowded going up to Kiyomizu-dera, as usual.

 

This temple is one of the busiest and most popular in all of Japan.

 

When all was said and done, we made it back to the hotel, where we picked up our stuff, and wandered into the Kyoto Station. We found a good restaurant up in the department store, enjoyed dinner together, and then headed back down to the Shinkansen Gates where we hugged our goodbyes and they walked off into the sunset, happy, tired, but alive and in five pieces to ride the 19:29 Shinkansen back to Tokyo where they planned to meet yet another Internet Axe Murderer, Jaime, the very next day!

 

Pandasu and her "adepts", learning the Axe Murderer ropes.

 

I loved meeting all five of them, and I hope they have great memories and stories to take back with them to their homeland. I loved it!

 

If four "normal people" can hug an unknown MALE Internet Axe Murderer, I have to conclude that it was yet another mission accomplished successfully!

 

More photos can be found on Flickr.

 

I.A.M. Kyoto Part 1: Sharpening the Axe, April 15th can be found here!

BCAA Experimental Data Log

* Note: I will continue to update this blog with new information.
           Previous logs will be "greyed" out (like this).

Date: 2008/04/08
Workout: Lower Body Weights @ Gym (2hrs)
BCAAs: 15g (after workout).
Results: Recovery was phenomenally fast. Usually with these huge heavy weights I do I'm dragging my ass for a week but with this, I was up and running in two days. I was amazed that I didn't have the usual "hangover" after the workout. It was first time to purchase and use.
Side Effects: Don't recall as I wasn't thinking about it at this time.

Date: 2008/04/11
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.1 (1.1 = 1st week, 1st exercise) (1hr)
BCAAs: 15g (before, during, after workout).
Results: Noted increase in workout energy. Sweat more than usual.
Side Effects: Dehydrated mouth feeling, cotton mouth, restlessness at night.

Date: 2008/04/13
Workout: Upper Body Weights @ Gym (2hrs)
BCAAs: 20g (before, during, after workout).
Results: Huge increase of energy during workout, no fatigue at all. Copious amounts of perspiration compared to ordinary times. Recovery was fantastic, and felt "normal" in 2 days instead of exhausted even at 5.
Side Effects: Dehydrated mouth feeling, cotton mouth, restlessness at night, weird dreams.

Date: 2008/04/14
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.2 (1.2 = 1st week, second exercise, etc.) (1hr)
BCAAs: 15g (before, during, after workout).
Results: Noted increase in workout energy. Sweat more than usual. Recovery was rapid, did not get sleepy at all afterward.
Side Effects: Dehydrated mouth feeling, cotton mouth, restlessness at night. Weird dreams.

Date: 2008/04/17
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.3 (1hr)
BCAAs: None
Results: Noticeably Less than with BCAAs. Typical "instant sleepies" after workout. Tired next day, more sore than with BCAA, recovery slower.
Side Effects: No dehydration, no dry mouth, no strange dreams; i.e. no symptoms similar to carb overload.

Date: 2008/04/19
Workout: Mountain Biking 24km, 500m elevation (1hr 40min) / Pilates Lesson 1.4 (1hr)
BCAAs: 10g before, 5g during pilates
Results: No crash, extra energy when I thought it was time to give up the climb. Recovery was great as witnessed in tomorrow's ride.
Side Effects: Quite dehydrated while riding with metallic taste in mouth. Strange dreams. Cotton mouth next morning.

Date: 2008/04/20
Workout: Cycling 35km round trip to Starbucks in Fukui (2hrs)
BCAAs: 15g
Results: Lots of energy, with little to no fatigue from yesterday's exercise. I was surprised.
Side Effects: So far, dry mouth...

Date: 2008/04/21
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.5 (1hr)
BCAAs: 15g
Results: Heat, sweat, energy
Side Effects: Dry mouth

Date: 2008/04/22
Workout: Gym 2hrs, heavy workout
BCAAs: 15g
Results: Heat, sweat, energy
Side Effects: Dry mouth, thirst

Date: 2008/04/23
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.6 (1hr)
BCAAs: 5g
Results: Heat, sweat, energy
Side Effects: Dry mouth, thirst, very tired the next day (maybe from 4/22 workout)

Date: 2008/04/24
Workout: No workout. Testing BCAAs on passive day
BCAAs: 10g
Results: Rapid recovery from earlier fatigue.
Side Effects: This is very interesting... I feel quite hungry (which is a side effect of eating carbohydrates as well), and am finding that I need to urinate a lot as well. The guy at the gym who also takes this stuff told me that he feels he needs to go to the bathroom a lot when he takes BCAAS and that he always gets hot, and sweats profusely. The excessive insulin production can likely devour the sugars in my bloodstream causing me perhaps to have a "sugar slump" which might activate my body to want food. I crave meat and cheese and stuff like that, not sweets, etc. like most people because my diet has changed. But still, to feel hungry like this just 3 hours after a very big lunch of ground beef, vegetables, cheese, eggs, and salad is extremely unusual...

Date: 2008/04/26
Workout: Cycling with Masaki (100min up a mountain, along a ridge, and down to the cars)
BCAAs: 10g on empty stomach
Results: Lots of energy on the ride to keep me going. Core heated up.
Side Effects: Consuming then riding on an empty stomach (i.e. bypassing lunch and riding during that time when I had breakfast 5hrs earlier) was a mistake. I could feel the hunger and the sugar drop kick in as I was driving to meet Masaki. I felt some agitation and weakness as well but the "energy" was sustainable. It was interesting. We stopped along the way and I ate two franks and then was fine for the rest of the ride. Had lots of energy to do a ride that I haven't done since Autumn. Surprised myself when the ride was done that we finished in our "fast time range".

Date: 2008/04/27
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.7 (1hr)
BCAAs: 10g on full stomach
Results: Core heat, sweat, energy. It was a good workout (bodyshape is definitely changing from this pilates).
Side Effects: I had no strange crashes I guess because of the food I consumed first. I feel better (so far) with 10g than the recommended 15g.

Date: 2008/04/28
Workout: Gym Upper Body (2hrs)
BCAAs: 10g on full stomach
Results: Core heat, sweat, energy. Quick Recovery
Side Effects: Weird dreams, dehydration, lots of urination, cotton mouth.

Date: 2008/04/29
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.8 (1hr)
BCAAs: No BCAA
Results: Didn't notice much, but not as internally hot.
Side Effects: No dehydration, no cotton mouth, no weird dreams, no extreme thirst.

Date: 2008/05/01
Workout: Mountain Biking up my backyard mountain (1hr)
BCAAs: 10g BCAA
Results: Did well, got tired but got second wind that took me to the top.
Side Effects: Dehydration, cotton mouth, weird dreams, extreme thirst, quick recovery.

Date: 2008/05/03
Workout: Mountain biking with Masaki (2.5hrs)
BCAAs: 10g BCAA before, 5g after
Results: Had a lot of energy for climbing, and only crashed once, denting my shin on the single track that was too technical for me and my bike, but perfect for Max and his downhill bike.
Side Effects: Dehydration, extreme hunger (didn't eat lunch first), cotton mouth, weird dreams, extreme thirst, quick recovery. Gave same to Masaki and this is the first time ever that he experienced my "so hungry I'm going to puke" feeling. All he could do was think about food the entire time. In fact once I even heard him saying to himself (and he never talks to himself, unlike me), "Mmm... I love the smell of green. I wonder what kind of food green would be?" He was also saying things like my legs looked like very long sausages, and that he wanted to eat meat, any kind of meat. It was really funny because he isn't used to that, while I have lived with it for decades. Very funny. But as soon as we got back and had something to eat, that "puke hunger" immediately disappeared.

Date: 2008/05/05
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.9 (1hr)
BCAAs: No BCAA
Results: Didn't notice much, but not as internally hot.
Side Effects: No dehydration, no cotton mouth, no extreme thirst, yet.

Date: 2008/05/09
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.10 (1hr)
BCAAs: 10g BCAA
Results: Internally hot, plenty of energy for workout.
Side Effects: dehydration, cotton mouth, extreme thirst, very weird dreams...

Date: 2008/05/11
Workout: Cycling to Starbucks (2hrs round trip)
BCAAs: No BCAA
Results: It was windy and it was tiring, and it was cold....
Side Effects: No dehydration, no cotton mouth, no extreme thirst, but also very wiped out the next day.

Date: 2008/05/12
Workout: Gym Lower Body (2hrs)
BCAAs: No BCAA
Results: I was tired during the workout and got quite sleepy. This workout is "shorter" than the other one in duration, but takes just as long as the weights are much heavier.
Side Effects: No dehydration, no cotton mouth, no extreme thirst, but very tired. Had some trouble driving home.

Date: 2008/05/15
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.11 (1hr)
BCAAs: 10g BCAA AFTER exercising
Results: Exercise went smoothly without but felt like it's been a while... has been! Almost a week!
Side Effects: We shall see ...

Date: 2008/05/17
Workout: Hike & Bike (Lake Biwako 4hrs)
BCAAs: No BCAAs
Results: This was an exhausting hike hauling our bikes up four mountains and then riding a few minutes between each where we could. I was totally exhausted when we got home, but didn't take any BCAAs. I expected leg cramps at night, but had none.
Side Effects: Tired, but not tired enough from preventing me from riding the next day. No leg cramps at night, no weird dreams.

Date: 2008/05/18
Workout: Road Cycling (2hrs to Ishikawa Kenmin no mori)
BCAAs: None
Results: I was quite tired after this one. I came home, did calf raises in the evening on each stair (total 150) on the way up to bed and my legs went crazy in the night. Must stop calf raises before bed!
Side Effects: Very tired the next day, but no "sugar side effects".

Date: 2008/05/23
Workout: Ura Yama mountain biking (1.5hrs)
BCAAs: None
Results: Cycling up my backyard mountain, and through the landslide areas. On the way down I stopped at a concreted area and slept in the sun for 30mins, out like a light! Very tired that evening.
Side Effects: No insulin-induced side effects, but very tired Saturday.

Date: 2008/05/25
Workout: Pilates Lesson 1.12 (1hr)
BCAAs: None
Results: Got very hot, and it was tiring, but perhaps because it has been over a week since I last did it. I love how that little bit of workout positively affects my body so greatly and throwing in the aerobic part of the circuit between the pilates mat work, is brilliant! One minute of "stop-frame jumping jack squats" X 6 and my thighs and my cycling leg muscles are screaming! It's unbelievable how much that has developed my scrawny (but strong) leg muscles right around the knees. I have muscling down there that is usually only developed after a season of hard and frequent mountain biking!
Side Effects: No insulin-induced side effects, did meditation afterward for 90 minutes and probably was sleeping for at least half of it..., ergo, I was tired.

Date: 2008/05/26
Workout: Ura Yama mountain biking (1 hr)
BCAAs: None
Results: Cycling up my backyard mountain. Did not go through landslides, but came back because it might rain. Beginning was exhausting and breathing hard, but once I moved into a continual stream of "presence in the moment", the time and distance were eaten up smoothly.
Side Effects: No insulin-induced side effects. Feel good

*****************************

End Research Data Collection

I'm done with my experiment. The results are consistent and when I don't have the BCAAs, and don't have the carbs, the body is healthy, active, yet gets wiped out from the heavy exercise.

Conclusion: Branched Chain Amino Acid supplementation provides me with energy and recovery (maybe muscle building) while at the same time seemingly activating my pancreas to excrete insulin which gives me all of the bad side-effects that I have been attributing to the sugars in carbohydrates over the years.

This helps me to understand my body even better, possibly making a connection that nobody has yet done, and I plan to find some way to pursue this in the future and see if I can develop something positive out of it to benefit people in some way.

I will be continuing to take these BCAAs until the container is done, but not on a regular basis; only with the intense exercise that is followed by days of exhaustion. I also know that I must eat beforehand to prevent the "sugar nausea" that goes hand in hand with copious quantities of coursing insulin. And most of all, I will be careful. I don't plan to purchase it again.

Thank you for popping in and sticking with me on this.

I love you!

Cam