Just a brief update here...
I have recently been very fortunate to make a few more friends. Firstly, I have made a lot more Japanese friends at my local university. I've met about 10 people so far - they are all very nice people and I think they will become good friends of mine. Apparently, they think I am very Japanese.....is that correct??? I'm not sure what that means but I'll take it as a compliment. hehe. I hope to show them more aspects of the British culture in the near future.
I have also made more friends at my workplace and become closer with my team. Last Tuesday there was a night out in London for just the people in my team, expensed by Cisco as a treat for all the recent hard work. As a gesture from the team leaders for my hard work I also received a bottle of champagne. The night out was pretty good - we went to Soho for drinks, food and had a few giggles along the way.
I've been writing a few more songs now and then but nothing new recorded yet. Yeah, I know I'm lazy but I've also been really busy with work.
A couple of weeks ago I took another grading for karate and obtained my yellow belt. I'll end this blog with a video of the kata I had to perform as part of my grading. The kata is called "Heian Nidan" and, no, it's me in the video! ^_^
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Saturday, 1 September 2007
My brother's wedding
After months of preparation and wondering whether it would go ahead or not, the day of my brother's wedding arrived and the pressure was on to make sure everything went well. Luckily, everything went extremely well with almost no problems.
He had to take powerful drugs throughout the day in order to relieve the pain from the arthritus in his foot. He experienced some stiffness in his foot during the day but was able to walk without crutches.
After spending the night at Great Fosters, which is a famous 500 year old hotel about a 15 minute drive from my house, my brother and I got a taxi to Windsor. He was super cool about the whole thing. I know that inside he must have been feeling a lot of pressure, but it wasn't showing and he wouldn't let the pressure spoil his day.
The wedding ceremony was very nice - fantastic building, didn't go on for too long, very nice. I very nearly messed it up though....when I had to get the rings out of the box to give to the bride and groom I could not get the rings out. I thought they would just lift out easily but they wouldn't. I then realised the rings were on like a hook inside which you had to pull them out of...oh well, they did come out after 15 seconds of difficulty. I still feel pretty stupid about that.
After the ceremony we went for a few drinks at The Two Brewers pub right next to the long walk. The pub is where my bro proposed to his wife. We then took coaches back to Great Fosters for the wedding reception. Lots of drinks, lots of photos, lots of laughs.
Right before dinner we had speeches. As best man I had to make a speech, and this is where Jody mistake no.2 happened. hehe. Basically, my bro made a totally unexpected speech which, although long, was really funny and went down really well. So, here's what happened with my speech....I had this joke that I was going to use at the beginning. I said it and....guesss what....no one laughed. haha. So, I basically decided to do away with the speech and I just said some nice words about the bride and groom off the top of my head. Hopefully I made up for the stinker joke. I still think the joke was excellent though - maybe my drunken delivery was not so good...?
The food was absolutely fantastic. I was very impressed and ate every last bit. My bro had planned a bit of a surprise for during dinner and out came a Frank Sinatra impersonater to sing a few songs. The guy was absolutely excellent - sounded just like Franky baby. The night ended with a usual disco, drinks, partying, more food, cake cutting, etc. I had a really fantastic time
Above all, I'm really happy that my brother and my new sister-in-law had a great day and I helped to make it a great day. They were both really appreciative to me, but really I have to thank them both for being so great to me.
Brian and me
Me and Steve
Kieran and me
Mum and me
He had to take powerful drugs throughout the day in order to relieve the pain from the arthritus in his foot. He experienced some stiffness in his foot during the day but was able to walk without crutches.
After spending the night at Great Fosters, which is a famous 500 year old hotel about a 15 minute drive from my house, my brother and I got a taxi to Windsor. He was super cool about the whole thing. I know that inside he must have been feeling a lot of pressure, but it wasn't showing and he wouldn't let the pressure spoil his day.
The wedding ceremony was very nice - fantastic building, didn't go on for too long, very nice. I very nearly messed it up though....when I had to get the rings out of the box to give to the bride and groom I could not get the rings out. I thought they would just lift out easily but they wouldn't. I then realised the rings were on like a hook inside which you had to pull them out of...oh well, they did come out after 15 seconds of difficulty. I still feel pretty stupid about that.
After the ceremony we went for a few drinks at The Two Brewers pub right next to the long walk. The pub is where my bro proposed to his wife. We then took coaches back to Great Fosters for the wedding reception. Lots of drinks, lots of photos, lots of laughs.
Right before dinner we had speeches. As best man I had to make a speech, and this is where Jody mistake no.2 happened. hehe. Basically, my bro made a totally unexpected speech which, although long, was really funny and went down really well. So, here's what happened with my speech....I had this joke that I was going to use at the beginning. I said it and....guesss what....no one laughed. haha. So, I basically decided to do away with the speech and I just said some nice words about the bride and groom off the top of my head. Hopefully I made up for the stinker joke. I still think the joke was excellent though - maybe my drunken delivery was not so good...?
The food was absolutely fantastic. I was very impressed and ate every last bit. My bro had planned a bit of a surprise for during dinner and out came a Frank Sinatra impersonater to sing a few songs. The guy was absolutely excellent - sounded just like Franky baby. The night ended with a usual disco, drinks, partying, more food, cake cutting, etc. I had a really fantastic time
Above all, I'm really happy that my brother and my new sister-in-law had a great day and I helped to make it a great day. They were both really appreciative to me, but really I have to thank them both for being so great to me.
Brian and me
Me and Steve
Kieran and me
Mum and me
Sunday, 26 August 2007
Wii party!
The past week has been a big test of my attitude towards working at Cisco. I have been given a task of considerable responsibility which has been really time consuming. The work has even required me to work during the weekend. Luckily I am able to work from home which makes it a lot easier for me. I managed to get almost all of the task done so I am quite proud of that. Speaking to my boss earlier in the week, he said that I am fitting into the team very well and he is happy with my work. It was nice of him to say that and it has given me more confidence that I am on the right track.
Speaking of the team, it just seems to keep getting bigger. We had a new lady start a week ago and then this week two new temp people started. Apparently another two permanent people look like they will be employed before the end of the year. It's exciting that the team is increasing.
After a busy day of work on Saturday I decided to have a small party at my house. 3 people came, one of which was a new exchange student over here in the UK. He was a nice guy and I was happy to meet him. We played on my Nintendo Wii, had a few beers and a good laugh.
My brother's wedding is fast approaching (this Friday) and it was good to see a change in weather this weekend. The weather has been awful these past few days but since yesterday the weather has been lovely, real summer weather. Fingers crossed it will be like this for the wedding.
I have also been working on my wedding speech. It hasn't been finalised yet but I have a general idea of what I'm going to say. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post on my blog sometime next week.
I'll leave this blog with the video for a song from an album I recently bought and really like. The song is by Machine Head called Old. I didn't think I liked Machine Head until I heard this song. Rock on!!
Speaking of the team, it just seems to keep getting bigger. We had a new lady start a week ago and then this week two new temp people started. Apparently another two permanent people look like they will be employed before the end of the year. It's exciting that the team is increasing.
After a busy day of work on Saturday I decided to have a small party at my house. 3 people came, one of which was a new exchange student over here in the UK. He was a nice guy and I was happy to meet him. We played on my Nintendo Wii, had a few beers and a good laugh.
My brother's wedding is fast approaching (this Friday) and it was good to see a change in weather this weekend. The weather has been awful these past few days but since yesterday the weather has been lovely, real summer weather. Fingers crossed it will be like this for the wedding.
I have also been working on my wedding speech. It hasn't been finalised yet but I have a general idea of what I'm going to say. Hopefully I'll have some photos to post on my blog sometime next week.
I'll leave this blog with the video for a song from an album I recently bought and really like. The song is by Machine Head called Old. I didn't think I liked Machine Head until I heard this song. Rock on!!
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Losing faith...
As much as I have been anticipating some new j-pop albums to be released this year, I have so far been pretty unimpressed with what I've heard. Today, Spitz released another new single - just listened to it on youtube and it was really dull. Tokyo Jihen also have a new song to be released this month called "Killer Tune" which isn't really my cup of tea. On top of that, the news that Shiina Ringo didn't write any of the songs for their new album totally peed me off...
However, my one piece of hope for their new album was the recently released song "OSCA". Hated it at first but after about 4 listens I am totally sucked into it. So good in fact, I decided to post it on my blog.
It has inspired me to work harder on recording my own songs. I've been pushing harder to record my next song during my limited time off in the evenings. Hope to have it done soonish...
However, my one piece of hope for their new album was the recently released song "OSCA". Hated it at first but after about 4 listens I am totally sucked into it. So good in fact, I decided to post it on my blog.
It has inspired me to work harder on recording my own songs. I've been pushing harder to record my next song during my limited time off in the evenings. Hope to have it done soonish...
Friday, 27 July 2007
Jody DS (Jody desu)
10 days into my job at Cisco and things are going pretty well. With my computer not having access to the computer systems I need and without email, there has been little work that I have been able to do. Luckily, due to Cisco's relaxed atmosphere, I am able to chat with my colleagues while I work and go for breaks regularly. The team are really nice, including the two most senior people - even though they are very busy they always have time to answer my questions and help me out. The people in the team also have a great sense of humour - I am constantly joking around with the guy that sits next to me. Lunches here are excellent - they have so many choices, including a wok guy who cooks you fresh soba noodles with your choice of extras. All reasonably priced and tasty. This morning I joined the gym so I'm planning to go there every day of the week before work starts in order to burn off the extra calories from the desserts I've been eating here...!
Whilst I haven't had that much work to do, it seems that will all change by next week when the busy period begins. Apparently that's when people in the team have to stay until midnight every night to get stuff done. This period will probably go on for about 2 months. Hopefully those rumours are exagerations, but in any case I'm not looking forward to the heavy schedule. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for me to shine and may help me be offered the permanent role.
After thinking about my trip to Japan in December, I decided to purchase a Nintendo DS to keep me occupied during my long flight. Yeah, I know my trip is months away, but it helped convince me to buy one. hehe. I'm really glad I did and I can see why it's so difficult to get one in Japan.
I've also tried to get a bit more serious about songwriting and recording. I was doing a bit of it last weekend and will try to continue this weekend. Although it's very time consuming, I'd really like to build up my song list - maybe I'll have enough for a full setlist including encores sometime soon. :o)
Jody
Whilst I haven't had that much work to do, it seems that will all change by next week when the busy period begins. Apparently that's when people in the team have to stay until midnight every night to get stuff done. This period will probably go on for about 2 months. Hopefully those rumours are exagerations, but in any case I'm not looking forward to the heavy schedule. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for me to shine and may help me be offered the permanent role.
After thinking about my trip to Japan in December, I decided to purchase a Nintendo DS to keep me occupied during my long flight. Yeah, I know my trip is months away, but it helped convince me to buy one. hehe. I'm really glad I did and I can see why it's so difficult to get one in Japan.
I've also tried to get a bit more serious about songwriting and recording. I was doing a bit of it last weekend and will try to continue this weekend. Although it's very time consuming, I'd really like to build up my song list - maybe I'll have enough for a full setlist including encores sometime soon. :o)
Jody
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Fantasticisco
After a week of relaxing and getting ready for my new job, today I finally had my first day of work at Cisco. I arrived at their offices in this morning and had my induction, including a tour of the premises. The company has 3 main offices right next to Bedfont Lake.
They also have an on-site gym (only £15 a month), several sandwich bars, subsidized canteen, and free tea, coca-cola, mineral water and even fruit! Sounds more like a hotel than an office, right? Well, even though the amenities are very nice, I anticipate a lot of hard work in the near future. However, I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.
The people in my department seem very nice. Actually, a new person already started yesterday and another new person a week before that. The team is currently 12 people, but they are budgeted for it to increase to 29 next year. I'm looking forward to getting to know the staff more and networking.
Talking of nice people, it was a shame to leave P&G. On my last day I went out with my colleagues for lunch. They gave me a goodbye card and some bottles of wine as a leaving present. Even though I was only there for a short time, the people there were really nice and I enjoyed working with them.
I'll update my blog with more details over the coming weeks of my time at Cisco.
Jody
They also have an on-site gym (only £15 a month), several sandwich bars, subsidized canteen, and free tea, coca-cola, mineral water and even fruit! Sounds more like a hotel than an office, right? Well, even though the amenities are very nice, I anticipate a lot of hard work in the near future. However, I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.
The people in my department seem very nice. Actually, a new person already started yesterday and another new person a week before that. The team is currently 12 people, but they are budgeted for it to increase to 29 next year. I'm looking forward to getting to know the staff more and networking.
Talking of nice people, it was a shame to leave P&G. On my last day I went out with my colleagues for lunch. They gave me a goodbye card and some bottles of wine as a leaving present. Even though I was only there for a short time, the people there were really nice and I enjoyed working with them.
I'll update my blog with more details over the coming weeks of my time at Cisco.
Jody
Monday, 16 July 2007
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