Category: General

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General Technology Travels

4 Hours in Malaysia / 26 Hours in Tokyo – Part 1

After leaving Bangkok, I landed in Kuala Lumpur for a 4-hour layover. Just long enough to get bored to tears in an airport but not long enough to leave said airport.

I wandered around the duty-free shops for a bit and decided to get a bite to eat at the Malaysian noodle place called Nööödles. I got the “beef balls and herbs soup” and a Coke for what equated to around $7. After that, I stumbled onto the airport Starbucks which had a free open WiFi connection… Sweet! Only problem, though: No way to charge my devices.

Kuala Lumpur is the only stop on my trip that doesn’t use the standard US two-prong wall socket, and I didn’t bring my adaptor kit with me. Luckily enough, there was an electronics store right below where I could pick up one of those little adaptor switch boxes for around $10.

I did have a momentary nerd out moment in there, however. They had TONS of Japanese video games for sale and all sorts of bizarre bootleg devices. This was the kind of stuff that 10 year old me dreamed of. I got really, really excited at the idea of buying something to bring home and play before I remembered that this isn’t the days of old where you could get a cartridge adaptor for your NES and play Japanese games. The whole industry has switched to optical media that simply will not work without having a modified system. Unfortunately, thanks to the DMCA is illegal in the United States. And, as such, companies like Microsoft will block your system from connecting to its service. Sigh.

After I got over my disappointment, I went back to Starbucks, plugged in, and I was up and running! (Note: the iPad’s battery would have no doubt made it fine through my flight to Tokyo, but I knew I was going to use it heavily in the next day, so I wanted to start with a fresh full charge.)

I arrived at the Narita airport and wandered around a bit, taking a moment to use the bathroom, clean myself up, and change into jeans. It’s 84 degrees here, a huge break compared to the sweltering heat and humidity of Thailand; I’m excited to be wearing jeans again.

I took an hour-long bus ride to the downtown Tokyo train station, a place I figured would be a good starting point. From there, I set off wandering and began laughing when I realized I had managed to orient myself solely by the placement of the sun. The Boy Scouts would be proud. I found myself feeling extremely grateful for my iPhone as well, as none of Tokyo’s streets are clearly labeled. That said, there are many maps placed throughout the city that denote where you are, which is very helpful. Navigation in Tokyo is entirely based on neighborhoods and landmarks, which is surprisingly clear for someone who can’t read a word of Japanese.

First thing on my agenda: find the Apple store. I was able to accomplish this very quickly. I promise you, my dear reader, that there is a method to my madness: Apple is very selective in their stores’ placement. They are usually in upscale, popular/trendy areas, which can immediately give you an idea of a good place to check out; on top of that, they offer free WiFi, accessible power outlets, clean bathrooms, and friendly multi-lingual staff.

That decision paid off big time. I was able to find an employee who had moved here from Estonia, who was kind enough to give me a brief run-through of Tokyo basics. First thing he told me: Enjoy the free WiFi because I won’t find much of it elsewhere. Not even Starbucks offers it, apparently, and McDonald’s does but only to Nintendo DS users. Great. I also found out the post office here doesn’t sell stamps. Weird. I’ve yet to mail out my postcards, so that is priority #2.

My friend’s father was able to get me a great hotel rate for tonight, so I booked a room at the Sheraton Miyako Hotel. While this goes against my usual traveling rules, I could use a clean bed and shower using my normal methods, so I’ll take it. Unfortunately, check-in is not until 2, so I’ve got some time to kill.

I’ve heard a few suggestions/requests of things to do for tonight, which I’m excited to start tackling as soon as I put my bags down. I’m still open for more though, so hit me up in the comments or on Twitter. More later!

Categories
General

Everybody’s Working For The Weekend?

A few days ago Tim Jahn posed an interesting question on his blog.

In short, Tim’s looking to discover why people work, when they do, and do they draw lines between personal and business at certain hours?

I’m pretty sure I can relate to Tim on this question. Like many others of our generation, Tim leads more than one life, with two jobs (his web development business and his excellent video podcast Beyond The Pedway), and he’s about to be a father. With so much going on, it can be hard to figure out where to draw the line. If anywhere.

This is a question I’ve posed to myself lately as well. I’m pretty darn busy these days. Between working for Apple, taking improv classes, working with Long Pork, blogging, assorted photo and video gigs, and trying to stay active in the social networking scene of all these communities so I can live up to the “localcelebrity” moniker, it’s hard to keep it in control. In some regards, my personal life has taken a hit, not to mention my sleep routine.

The thing is though, I’ve never been happier. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m doing the things I love; I’m “working,” being pretty successful at all of it, and barely any of it feels like work. To me, there is no line, if you love what you’re doing, it won’t feel like a chore, and you won’t need to take a break from it all that often.

I love what I’m doing. I love the people I’m meeting in these different communities. I love the skills I am learning and the things I’m creating. This, to me, is what life is about: constant growth and enrichment. Yes, there are some things I need to change and cut out. But, I am confident that if I keep working at it, keep doing the things I love, and if I don’t let anything get in the way, that it’ll all eventually fall into place.

I read once that Steve Jobs looks himself in the mirror every morning and asks if he wants to go to work, and the day he says no are the days he realizes he needs to change something, and he does. That, to me, is the right mentality to have.

If you love what you do, there are no hours, and you won’t mind.

But who am I to say that? I’m just some jerk blogging from a hostel in Thailand and “working” through the vacation of a lifetime.

(and I couldn’t be happier doing so).

Categories
General Travels

Another Day, Another Bus, Another Buddhist – Thailand Part 6

A photograph of a man's hand holding the handlebars of a motorcycle.

We got up this morning, had breakfast, and caught a motorbike taxi to the bus station. We were actually walking there ourselves when we came across an older man who offered us a ride as we walked past his house. He was a funny little man with a great big friendly smile so we couldn’t help but accept his offer.

As we walked up, we saw his back was covered in a large tattoo written In the Thai alphabet, so while it was illegible to me, it was very detailed and very beautiful. Christine informed me that she’d seen the same design before and that it was a spell of protection that the monks do. Sadly, I did not get a picture, but the idea is fascinating to me.

Thailand is one of the most populous Buddhist countries in the world, and it has greatly changed a lot of my outlook on Buddhist culture. I suspect and hope that I may be misinterpreting things, but at first glance, there seems to be a lot of materialism and superstition around it here, which was not at all what I had understood from the beliefs previously. I also, in general, know very little about Thai Buddhism and how it varies from other forms. This is something I plan to research further when I return to having a regular Internet connection.

I have noticed that meat is very popular over here, but beef is almost nonexistent. This fascinates me because my perception was that spiritual Buddhists are often vegetarian. As such, I would have suspected to see a lot less meat as a whole. But the no beef thing, one would guess to be influenced by Hindu beliefs? One thing I’ve seen for sure is a friendly, laid-back culture of lovingkindness here. I definitely need to read more before I go on talking about this. Otherwise, I’m sure to make myself sound ignorant.

We are headed now to Ayutthaya, which used to be the capital of Thailand before Bangkok. We’ll be meeting up with some of Christine’s friends from her job over here (note: I forget if I mentioned this but Christine is over here teaching English as a foreign language). She tells me it’s among her favorite places here. I’m excited all around.

Categories
General Photography Travels

Elephants, Dragons, and Bats (oh my!) – Thailand Part 5

© 2011 John Morrison - subism Blog entry here: subism.com/2010/04/08/elephants-dragons-and-bats-oh-my-thailand-part-5/

What a day.

This morning, we woke up and had breakfast on the river before catching a ride to the elephant ranch. We sat in the back of a truck for the half-hour ride through the countryside. The weather was beautiful, and it was really nice to have the wind in our faces and enjoy the ride. When we got to the ranch, we bought a bag of bananas, were helped onto an elephant, and rode through the hills. The wrangler handed Christine an absurdly pink umbrella to block out the sun as we rode. He lead us down a path to the river where we dismounted, and Christine begrudgingly returned the umbrella. We each got another elephant to ride in the river. The wrangler provided us with some dish soap and a scrub brush to bathe the elephants. They are such amazing creatures. I sat around the back of an elephant’s neck as it pushed its ears back against its body to hold onto my legs as it dunked itself sideways underwater. An incredible life-affirming experience that exemplifies the intelligence of the animal on almost an emotional level.

That whole adventure cost around $25, which was money well spent. From there, we headed back to the hostel, showered, and rested up. While relaxing, we just happened to catch a glimpse of a giant monitor lizard swimming through the river right in front of our place. As I write this, Christine will not stop going on about it and demanded I fit into this entry. To be fair, it was pretty cool (Editor’s Note: that monitor lizard – aka dragon – is the embodiment of awesome!) (Writer’s Note: Christine is never going to be asked to edit my entries again.)

After that, we rented a motorbike and took off on the open road, eventually finding our way to the “Death Railway” and “The Bridge over the River Kwai.” I bought a much-needed pair of sunglasses, and we proceeded to get lost until we found a passage over the river we could take on the bike (the “bridge over the River Kwai” is train or foot only, no vehicles allowed.)

We spent some time getting lost, asking directions, and having a good laugh before we stumbled onto a bridge and eventually made our way to the Khao Pun Caves and the Buddhist temple built in and around them. It was quite possibly the most peaceful experience I’ve had here, which is saying a lot. The caverns went deep underground, and we stumbled onto a massive amount of bats lurking up above us and proceeded very carefully as not to disturb them. Despite our efforts, one or two still took flight here and there, giving us a mild spook.

The place was filled with an astonishing amount of Buddha statues stashed throughout the caverns, and many of the passages got absurdly tight and short, causing my lanky self to have to duck often. We were both very thankful for not being much larger in size. It reminded me of the scenes from “In Bruges” where Colin Farrell’s character is heckling the fat American family, telling them they won’t be able to climb to the top of the bell-tower. Fortunately, we’re not that large.

The caverns were beautiful beyond what I can describe, and it was nice to find some naturally cool air here (it has been in the 90’s this week). As we were leaving, a monk set himself up in front of a massive Buddha statue and started to pray. It was an extremely moving thing for me to witness, but I made a conscious effort not to disturb him. After that, we biked back into town for some dinner at the “Tofu Bar Vegetarian Food” restaurant, which thankfully had free WiFi for customers. We watched the sun go down over a few beers, listened to some John Lennon, and caught up on the news. I’ve enjoyed being detached from just about everything aside from Twitter, but it’s good to know what’s going on as well.

Tomorrow we’re heading out to Ayutthaya, Thailand’s old capital, and Nakhon Sawan, a small city where Christine is teaching. As much as I’ve enjoyed the tourist stuff, I’m excited at the possibility of getting into a less touristy area and seeing things a bit more like a local.

As for tonight, back to the bar, we found last night to share a pint with a couple of Belgian girls while listening to our new Thai friend Juan (definitely spelled wrong) play music.

Until tomorrow friends, cheers!

Categories
Design General Technology

“F#¢k Thomas Edison. Seriously.” OR Death, Humor and Subism

This got me thinking last night, especially when contrasted with this. Tesla’s letterhead is striking, artistic, and thought-provoking. Edison, however goes for a more distinguished look that I think is boring, unoriginal, and lacking creativity.

Those who know me will tell you, in addition to being a design nerd, that I’ve got a quirky sense of humor. This is often misinterpreted and rubs people the wrong way because I tend to appear like an opinionated jerk. In reality, I like to challenge people’s ways of thinking, I enjoy arguing strange or absurd points and do so with a passion. I don’t always agree with the point I’m making, but I enjoy provoking someone sure of their beliefs out of their comfort zone.

I have been known to joke about the concept of death, and I am fascinated by people’s seriousness around the topic. Whether you are religious or not (I’m not), death to me has always seemed like just another phase of life. I’ve lost people I love and in some pretty tragic ways, and I don’t make light of that. However, when I talk of my death, I want people to chuckle, I don’t want to be mourned. I’d much rather there be a big party in my honor than a grieving. I want my sense of humor to be reflected; normal is boring.

I’m very fortunate to have made some amazing friends who, thankfully, appreciate my antagonistic behavior and sense of humor. In the event of my death, I’ve made two of them, Dan and Christine, responsible for certain things.  Dan, I’ve asked to eulogize me but only if he leads off with the following:

“John was not a great man, he wasn’t even a good man, but he did have a really sweet setup for his Sega Dreamcast”

The thing is, I’m not kidding. Dan thinks I am, but I’m not. I’ve made him promise to say that under penalty of haunting. IE: If he doesn’t say it, and there is a way for me to do it, I will haunt him from the afterlife. And believe me, I will, he knows it too, and assuming he outlives me, Dan has reluctantly agreed.

The other ritual in the event if my death is my headstone inscription, for which Christine is responsible. To explain that, you need to understand something else.

I hate Thomas Edison.

Yeah, I know, pretty random. That statement tends to piss off or confuse people. Especially coming from someone who works in technology, claims to be a Buddhist (it’s called “practicing” for a reason), and tries not to use the word “hate” anymore.

But seriously, fuck Thomas Edison.

I’m not discounting his impact on the world at large; I just think the man was an asshole. We grow up being taught a lot of things in elementary school that we accept as truths that later in life, we often learn the horrible reality about. Need an example? Christopher Columbus was a brutal murder who discovered nothing, Gandhi beat his wife, and Sylvester Stallone is not that tall in person.

People tend not to know the truth about Edison. The more I learn about him, the more respect I have for him as a businessman and the less respect I have for him as an actual human being. It doesn’t take much research to learn that Edison is a thief who ripped off the bulk of the work he is credited for and employed thugs to do his dirty work.

However, when I tell this to people (especially those from New Jersey) they often don’t believe me, “How could you seriously speak ill of ‘The father of invention?!'”

Then I show them this:

They usually get it then.

Yes, Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant to show the “superiority” of his direct current vs. Nikola Tesla’s alternating current. Edison’s rivalry with Tesla is extremely well documented, and the man went to outlandish lengths to prove himself right, to discredit Tesla and to destroy his life.

In the end, Edison was wrong, but he managed to nearly erase Tesla from the popular vernacular. To this day, most in our society have no clue who Tesla was and think of Edison when they think of electricity.

Learning of this made me rethink much of what I thought I knew. I love occurrences like that, stuff that subvert and disrupt the status quo and evoke thought. That, to me, is what subism is about.

It’s because of my beliefs as a subist and these enlightening truths that I want my death not to be taken seriously. I’d rather make someone laugh at society or think than cry for me. This is why I’ve also made Christine responsible inscription on my headstone, which will read exactly as follows:

“Fuck Thomas Edison. Seriously.”

If that offends you, good. If it makes you smile, even better.