Japan Blog
Procrastinating!! ~ Connor Perrin
27th October 2018, 12:40 pmInstead of revising for a test I have in two weeks, I've decided to post some stuff to the website...
So what's been happening since I last posted something to the website, just over 5 months ago lol. Well I spent the entirety of the summer playing golf awaiting Wennie Dennie's return from China. After she returned it was time to search for houses, which was the most stressful September I've ever had. First we decided to live in Reading but due to the expense of travel we decided to live in Newbury, but then due to my god awful timetable, we decided to live in Bath (Much to my disapproval). So now we're in the beautiful city of Bath.
It's been nearly a month since we moved to Bath and so far the course seems to be running smoothly with the exception of two of my modules, Autonomous Systems Engineering and Statistics, both of which are taking up the majority of my time. However I've been working hard (expect for right now of course) and I seem to be getting the hang of statistics, however only time will tell as I've got a test on the 9th of November.
Right, as it's the weekend, Louise and I are going to go out for lunch and then off to a stationary shop as Louise is addicted to buying stationary.
And That Marks the End of my Undergraduate Education! ~ Connor Perrin
26th May 2018, 8:25 pmSeems like only yesterday we started our final year of undergraduate education and now we’re all finished… scary stuff
Anyway, now all our exams are finished I’ve decided to mess around with the website again. I’ve got lots of videos to edit and pictures to upload so “stay tuned”.
So what have we been up to?
Well honestly, not an awful lot, we’ve been one on two big adventures (Venice and Bruges) but other than that, not a lot. We haven’t done anywhere near as much as we did in Japan, but in all fairness this is our final year.
So how did my final year go?
Well after taking on average 10 modules a semester at Waseda, I thought this year would be a breeze, now it was easier than my second semester but it wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. My goal for this academic year was to achieve an average of 83% over my five modules, meaning I would have achieved an 80% degree (bearing in mind 70% is equal to a first or A* if you like).
Now after my first semester I was on track averaging exactly 83%
| Subject | Result |
|---|---|
| Advanced C++ Programming | 89% |
| Computational Intelligence and Software Engineering | 76% |
Now I can’t say for sure what my second semester marks will be as my results haven’t been released yet. But with my predictions, I’d say I’ve fallen short of my goal, mainly due to one of my exams and the realisation that there’s no way in hell my lecturers would hand out an 83% mark for my project.
So here’s my prediction for my second semester
| Subject | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Big Data and Predictive Analytics | 84% |
| Analysis and Design of Algorithms | 72% |
| Third Year Project | 74% |
Which means I’d average 78% for the second semester, which is short of my goal of 83%, but still means I achieved a first class degree, which is the main goal at the end of the day :D
Right, the footage from the GoPro has finally downloaded (26gb lol), so I’m going to start editing a video. Hopefully I’ll upload it by the end of the day but not sure how long it’ll take me as it’ll be the first video I’ve edited in over a year
Results for semester two have arrived!! ~ Connor Perrin
11th September 2017, 10:57 pmThis will be my last post on the “Japan Blog” section but don’t worry, I plan to create a “UK Blog” section, so you’ll still be able to see what we’re up to :)
Waseda Second Semester Results:
| Subject | Last prediction | New prediction | Actually results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wireless Network Communications | A+ | A+ | A+ |
| Image Engineering | A | C/B | B |
| Operating Systems | A | A | A |
| Algorithms and Data Structures | A | B | C |
| Image Processing | C | C | A+ |
| Computer Systems | C | A | A |
| Data Mining | A/A+ | B/A (Wasn't very well) | A+ |
| Kanji | B | B | A |
This gives me a GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.00
In terms of the results, I’m actually surprised just how well I did. The funny one is Algorithms and Data Structures as that was actually my favourite module :D The exam just didn’t sit well with me but we can’t get A’s in everything can we.
Now if we compare this to the first semester:
First Semester
| Subject | Result |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Logic | A+ |
| Digital System Design | A+ |
| Advanced Intelligent Software | A+ |
| Perceptual Computing | A+ |
| Wireless Communications Network | A+ |
| Logic Circuits | A+ |
| Kanji | A+ |
| Information Retrieval | A |
| Japanese Through Life | A |
GPA = 3.81
Second Semester
| Subject | Result |
|---|---|
| Wireless Network Communications | A+ |
| Image Processing | A+ |
| Data Mining | A+ |
| Operating Systems | A |
| Computer Systems | A |
| Kanji | A |
| Image Engineering | B |
| Algorithms and Data Structures | C |
GPA = 3.00
This means my GPA for my year in Japan is: 3.42
It has occurred to me that I never uploaded any pictures from China or my last days in Japan, so I plan to upload some pictures here and there before I swap over to the UK section of the website.
In nine days I’ll be picking up Louise from the airport, can’t wait to see her, feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen her, hopefully the new house will be ready for her arrival.
Fireworks, mosquitoes and grade predictions ~ Connor Perrin
29th July 2017, 2:04 pmSo far all I've done is watch films and relax... and it feels GREAT!
Last night something horrible happened :( Both Louise and I were attacked by mosquitoes, I was bitten at least ten times and same for Louise, very very very annoying :(
After chatting to Mum the other day, I've decided to update my grade predictions now I've actually taken the tests, sadly most of my predictions have gone down, but it'll be interesting to compare when I get my results.
| Subject | Last prediction | New prediction |
|---|---|---|
| Wireless Network Communications | A+ | A+ |
| Image Engineering | A | C/B |
| Operating Systems | A | A |
| Algorithms and Data Structures | A | B |
| Image Processing | C | C |
| Computer Systems | C | A |
| Data Mining | A/A+ | B/A (Wasn't very well) |
| Kanji | B | B |
Oh and tonight we're off to see the largest firework festival in Japan, approximately 20,000 fireworks with around 1 million people in attendance. We plan to leave an hour or two before in order to get into a good position.
My Waseda adventure has come to an end ~ Connor Perrin
27th July 2017, 11:10 pmThis will be a very quick blog post as I am very tired and in need of some well deserved sleep.
Today was my last lecture at Waseda University, it's all over. Louise came to pick me up, which was very nice. I then asked Louise to take lots of pictures of me on campus :D
We then went home and watched two films in a row, we haven't done that once in Japan, or ever for that matter lol. (Inception and The Shawshank Redemption in case you were wondering)
Right, we're going to watch another episode of The Great British Bake Off in bed and then SLEEEEEP.
Thanks to the whole family for letting me go to Japan and experience this wonderful adventure and thank you to all who helped me with my modules and revision throughout the year.
Love to all, not long now until your favourite child/grandchild will be back in your loving arms
Three exams left! ~ Connor Perrin
24th July 2017, 11:29 pmToday I had two exams, one was for Image Engineering and the other was my Operating Systems second chance. Lets talk about Image Engineering first.
So for the first exam I could bring a 'cheat sheet' with me as we couldn't possibly remember 15+ algorithms and how to use them. After looking through them, I decided that two of them were just too hard and come on, what are the odds of these two questions coming up in the exam? So the exam consisted of six questions... two of which were the questions I hadn't revised... bloody typical.
The second exam was interesting, I think I'm not alone when thinking that a resit exam won't have much in common with the original, well this exam was exactly the same as the original, word for word, even the typo was there, the only thing that was different was the date. How very odd. (And yes, I can still get full marks, it's not caped).
Taking a step back a few days, Friday was Louise's last day at work. I decided to surprise her with flowers and a cuddly toy. She was very happy :)
Anyway, the following Saturday, Louise decided to catch up on some well deserved sleep and I couldn't help but take a few pictures of her cuddling her new toy. (See blog picture for an example)
Paul and Sarah (Friends of Andrews) are coming to Tokyo soon and we'll be meeting up for a meal. Just found out that their vegans, I'm not exactly sure what a vegan can and can't eat, so I asked Louise
Me: "Lousie, what can a vegan eat?"
Louise: "Vegans can't eat anything..."
Louise was actually pausing to think about it, but I just loved how it sounded :D
Anyway, I need to revise for my Algorithms and Data Structures exam tomorrow, should mention, I only just started revising for it...
One Week Left! ~ Connor Perrin
20th July 2017, 10:20 pmWould you believe that exactly one week today, my university life at Waseda would have come to end… scary to think it’s already been a year… “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it”
Just thought I’d give you all a quick update of life in Japan. So far I’ve had 4-5 exams, all of gone okay so far, I’ve got a kanji test of which I should be revising for now but I thought I’d make a quick blog post.
Oh and tomorrow is Louise’s last day at work, she’s very happy :D
Went to the office today to ask for a transcript, the guy there was really nice and said I should also request all these other documents like ‘letter of graduation’ and why not. I asked “Would it be possible to have it in Japanese as well?”, he asked me why and I said “Because it looks cool”, not sure that was the right answer but he laughed. Damn things gonna cost me around £35 in posting and handling charges, but I think it’s worth it.
In case you’re wondering, here’s my prediction for the modules this year.
Wireless Network Communication: A*
Image Engineering: A
OS: A
Algorithms and Data Structures: A (Maybe A* depending on how hard the test is lol)
Image Processing: C (Royally messed up the first test, very hard to get a good grade now)
Computer Systems: C (Would love to get a B though)
Data Mining: A (Maybe A*, hard to say)
Kanji: B (Should be an A but the teacher is having an affair with the devil)
Not as good as the first semester but it’s not bad, I would workout the GPA but I’m too tired and should get back to revision.
Night all
Exam month has begun ~ Connor Perrin
5th July 2017, 8:21 pmLong time no blog.
Where to start... on the 3rd of July I had my N4 JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), the fourth hardest Japanese test, so that was fun, oh did I mention it was four and a half hours long? No? whoops, that must have slipped my mind, it was FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LONG! Luckily we had two 30 minute breaks, so not that bad I guess.
I've made a list containing all my exams, report and presentation dates, so sadly nothing to talk about other than revision revision revision :(
The Dates
N4: 02/07/17
Operating System Report: 03/07/17
Kanji Presenation: 14/07/17
Image Engineering Presentation: 17/07/17
Operating System Exam: 17/07/17
Image Processing Exam: 19/07/17
Kanji Exam: 21/07/17
Wireless Network Communication Report: 21/07/17
Image Engineering Exam: 24/07/17
Operating Systems Exam (take 2): 24/07/17
Algorithm and Data Structures: 25/07/17
Computer Systems Exam: 26/07/17
Data Mining Presentation: 27/07/17
And it's not just me who has exams, Louise has an English Exam this Saturday, but I don't thinks she too worried considering her english is better than mine, but in all fairness, that's not hard to beat :D
Oh and you be pleased to hear that Louise has just finished learning a new piano song, so HOPEFULLY expect a new video this Sunday (won't be edited as we don't have the time)
P.S. Picture is from May during our Japanniversary.
Master Procrastinator! ~ Connor Perrin
23rd June 2017, 3:45 pmAfter todays Kanji class, I've found it incredibly hard to find the motivation to do any work, annoying considering the amount of work I actually need to do :D
I did actually complete my Operating Systems homework which is due in on the 3rd, so that's a nice weight off my shoulder, just need Boris or Louise to proof read it for me.
I know I said I was going to give a full update on everything I've been doing but I know if I spend all the time writing a nice blog post I'll regret not actually doing any work, so I think I'm going to write yet another short blog and attempt to do some Japanese revision for my N4 test.
N4 mock examination ~ Connor Perrin
18th June 2017, 10:31 pmAbout 5 days ago, Louise said "Oh yeah, you have your N4 mock exam this Sunday" and before you ask, no, no I was not ready and by "was" I mean "Still not" :D
So I spent the last 5 days trying to learn 1,200 news words... I got to 200. So the test today was about 3 hours with breaks, it went okay I think, I'm not sure if it's a pass or not, but who knows.
This is a quick blog entry as I'm trying to get back in the blogging mood. I'll give you a full update on what we've been doing for the last month tomorrow. Nighty night all.
Oh and the blog picture is atop Mt. Mitake, a whopping 830m, our next goal is to break 1,000m
Free Time?!? ~ Connor Perrin
2nd June 2017, 5:00 pmToday is the first day in a while when I've had, pretty much, nothing to do... interesting feeling lol.
This Tuesday I was given some C (programming) homework, so I decided to finish it Wednesday morning.
This Wednesday I was given a Computer Systems report to write with a due date of the 15th of June, so I decided to finished it yesterday, with some help from the old man.
I've also been given an OpenCV group project task which involves making several scripts in OpenCV that manipulate pictures (Sharpen, 8-bit conversion, etc). I wasn't looking forward to this as I couldn't even get the OpenCV editor working, then the group messages me saying that one of the members is going to do all the programming for us... well I'm not going to complain :) I should mention we still have to write a report and make a powerpoint, so I've still got somethings to do.
Oh yeah, got my Kanji Midterm results back... 1 mark of an A.... 1 MARK!! 79 out of 100 isn't too bad, just annoying lol.
Right, going to edit another video, hope you liked the rowing video :)
Kanji Midterm Exam is OVER!! ~ Connor Perrin
27th May 2017, 1:59 pmPhew!
Finally some time to myself, this last week has been stressful, but final we have some time to just chill... for another week as I've got more exams coming up in two weeks :( Yes I've still got homework todo but at least I don't have to revise for anything.
What are the plans for the weekend?
Well we just had breakfast (2pm) and we're planning to go do some karaoke and then hit some balls at the driving range (preparation for Portugal)
On Sunday we're meeting up with some friends for a nice meal, which will be lovely, although we're having some trouble finding a place to eat as in Tokyo it's very hard to make a booking between midday and 4pm as most restaurants don't allow bookings... very odd.
Oh and I bet you're asking yourself "I wonder when Connor will upload another video", well I still need to actually edit another video, but hopefully I'll do that tonight :)
Busy Busy Busy, so very busy :( ~ Connor Perrin
24th May 2017, 10:06 pmToday I submitted my Computer Systems report, at long last. Funny story about that actually, so today Louise decided to take the day off work, when the clock struct 1:00, it was time for me to go to university, said my goodbyes but then all of a sudden, Louise gave me this confused look, ran to the lounge and came running back... with the Computer Systems report I had left on the desk :D Funny how things workout ;)
Am I done? Nope! I've got a kanji test on Friday for which I am woefully unprepared and then I've got more tests next week, although that's what the weekend is for :D
Currently trying to upload a new PoW but for some reason I can't :( Will look into it tomorrow, or now lol
Midterm exams.... ~ Connor Perrin
19th May 2017, 6:08 pmToday I noticed that I hadn't uploaded anything to the website for nearly a week, just thought I keep you all up to date :)
So as of next week I've got midterm exams, luckily I've only got one however I've got several reports due in.
Last weekend we went to Yokohama so Louise could take part one of her French C2 test (the hardest French test in the world). While Louise was writing a report in French, I spent three and a half hours in a McDonalds trying to complete my homework... got stuck... called Boris :)
We're heading back to Yokohama this weekend for part two :D And yes, I've got homework to do lol.
Other than all of that, not a lot has happened, it's getting hotter in Japan, no earthquakes recently, nothing to report really, hence the lack of activity lol.
The end of Golden Week and sad news :( ~ Connor Perrin
8th May 2017, 10:56 amSo today marks the end of Golden Week, it's a shame for it to come to an end because it was lovely to have Louise with me for a whole week, see normally I'm on my own all day (hence why I pick her up from the station everyday lol).
We did an awful lot during the break so it makes the whole holiday worth while.
Wednesday: We went to Kamakura and Enoshima (Expect a video...)
Thursday: We went to Yoyogi park, which is located in Tokyo near Harajuku, and played with giant bubbles, we then planned when we wanted to leave Japan :(
Friday: Louise had to go to work, which actually worked for me as I had to do some homework.
Saturday: We returned to the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo and then OFFICIALLY booked tickets for China and for home :( (the sad news)
Sunday: We went to Nagatoro and Chichibu, this was, believe it or not, the first trip I actually planned. However we did spend about 4-5 hours just travelling, through out the whole day.
All-in-all, a fantastic little holiday, we are evening thinking about popping to Okinawa sometime soon for a little weekend adventure :)
So! I'm guessing you want to hear about our flight plans.
On the 7th of August, we leave Japan for Shanghai, spend 9 days in China and then on the 15th of August, I leave for England, arriving in Heathrow at 17:25 UK time... I really didn't want to book my flights :( Seems a shame to leave :( But this day was bound to come sooner or later, just got to make the most of the time we have left :)
Been Busy... so no change really ~ Connor Perrin
3rd May 2017, 12:32 amHello all, it's been a while.
Yet another 'Quick Blog' before bed. This will be really short post as there's a lot of want to update you on, so just keep your eyes out for more content coming soon.
So it's currently something called 'Golden Week' in Japan which means I get 9 days of Uni and Louise gets 9 days of work, however Louise agreed to work on Friday so it makes it hard to go somewhere far away, so instead of going somewhere like 'Okinawa' (really far south), we're planning lots of short adventures, for example, today we went to Yoyogi park (Central Tokyo), can't believe we've never been there before, expect a picture of two soon :)
Tomorrow we're off to Kamakura and Enoshima, and to make things even better Louise has found a Travel Card which will save us around 2,000 yen (~13 pounds?). Will let you know all about it soon.
Oh and I know I said to keep an eye out for a video or two... yeeeaaaahhh still working on them, I've literally got 5 or 6 to upload and or edit :( My bad.
Anyway, bed time, please excuse any typos in this post as I most likely won't proof read it because I'm tired lol, night all :)
P.S. Can you guessed what happened next in the blog picture? lol
Getting stuff done! ~ Connor Perrin
18th April 2017, 12:22 pmQuick blog entry as I'm fairly busy today.
So I've added several new things to the website:
Added a new Noughts and Crosses image
Added some new markers to the family map (still not complete)
Added a new PoW
And added a new blog (the one you're reading now lol)
Last night was a bit annoying, so we decided to play Table Tennis instead of badminton, now the doors open at 7:15 and we were in the queue by 7:00. When the doors opened, we rushed up stairs (it's on the third floor), got ready before everyone else, rushed into the room to get a table and it was EMPTY!! We made it in time, phew... hang on, there's a bottle or a jacket on every table... So it turns out, a jacket or bottle means that they've got to that table before anyone else... ANNOYING!! So we came home and watched the end of Jurassic Park, wasn't a bad evening, just wish we could have played Table Tennis (Although I was very tired, so not too disappointed lol)
Hacked... YET AGAIN! ~ Connor Perrin
14th April 2017, 7:57 pmSo someone or 'something' tried to hack me again, I'm pretty sure they didn't get in but only time will tell.
I've made several backups so if anything does happen I should be able to put everything back.
Now I say 'something' as it wasn't a person who 'did' the hacking, it was a piece of software. I've checked the log files and I to my knowledge, none of his attempts have worked.
Hopefully this will be the last attempt, just means I need to be more careful when making new forms.
First Week Done (nearly) ~ Connor Perrin
13th April 2017, 5:14 pmI haven't been uploading recently due to lots of reasons but mainly just been busy with uni and socialising.
So far all the modules are really good expect for one, as I got an A in level 1 Japanese, I assumed that I would be okay to take a level 2-3 class.. I was wrong, it was all Japanese and I couldn't even read the introduction form, sadly I left within the first 5 minutes. On the plus side I've finally registered for the JLPT N4 test (4th hardest Japanese test) and instead of taking another Japanese class, I've decided to do selfstudy and ask Louise questions in the evening.
This Monday, Louise and I played badminton again and we made some new friends, one of them was from Peru, never had a friend from Peru before. He said we should play with them next week, so we might have our first 2 on 2 game :)
In terms of videos, I've got three to upload, I think I'll finish one now and upload it, but not sure what music to use.
Oh and one of my modules have just three students :D Oh Oh and one of my lecturers has been to Milton Keynes :D
~~
Sidenote, the picture was taken in a ramen restaurant called 'Ichiran Ramen'
The Second Semester Starts Now! ~ Connor Perrin
10th April 2017, 10:38 amAs you probably guessed, my second semester starts today :)
Taking nine modules again this semester so this should be fun. Unfortunately I have two, three module days so that's going to be a pain but that does mean I have three, one module days, tit for tat I guess.
Oh and Granny and Norman will be pleased to hear that I now have my host family address :)
Not sure I like the new 'menu' section ~ Connor Perrin
5th April 2017, 11:26 pmAfter spending some time just looking at the menu section... I'm not sure I actually like it lol, I think I'll keep it for practical reasons but I think I'll hide it from the general public.
Anyway! Today has been very uneventful, I went for a walk through the wonderfully pretty sakura blossoms, I took lots of videos so expect some 'arty' video soon :)
Oh and finally got some kind of approval for my final year project, just need to get it... approved lol.
New Section ~ Connor Perrin
4th April 2017, 1:31 pmI've recently been working on a new section of the website, currently called 'Menu', it's currently in Alpha testing and what not.
Louise and I will ponder what we should have for dinner most nights and often we can't remember what we can actually cook, so I thought I'd make a new section on the website helping us remember lol and then it occurred to me, why not add a 'suggestion' page, letting you (the reader) suggest food for us to cook :D
I'm expecting great things from Granny and Norman :D
Currently I've got 9 things my 'todo' list and so far I've done, one second, let me count... none :( I think I'll stop programming after lunch :D
We played badminton for a second time!! ~ Connor Perrin
31st March 2017, 4:43 pmFor the first time in Japan, Louise and I played the same sporting activity for the second time!
So far we've played:
Badminton
Table Tennis
Ice Skating
Baseball
Golf
Up until today, we've failed at trying to do any of these for a second time and we nearly failed again today. Louise took a day off work today so we could play badminton in the morning and then she could work on getting another internship for when she returns to China (sometime in August). So we got up early, left for the gym and.... full, we we're too late, yet again. So we went home and decided to try again at 12:30 (The next session) and we were in luck!! We played!! It was great fun :)
I had planned to take a picture in the hall but forgot, so the icon is a bit random lol.
Worst Lunch EVER! ~ Connor Perrin
30th March 2017, 4:46 pmJust finished cleaning the house and I thought it's about time for lunch, now I normally have a 'don' which pretty much means a bowl of rice and some meat. Unfortunately I don't have enough rice, so it was time to be... creative...
Yes, I could have just walked down to the shop at the end of the road but that's too easy, I decided to raid the fridge and found some noodles, so ramen? Well after cooking the noodles I realised something wasn't right as it was covered in some kind of ooze, the best way to describe it is the mucus that slugs produce. Either way, I pressed on and plated up my new meal... After about 5 minutes I released my mistake and stopped eating it and decided to have a couple of apples instead.
End of the story? No, it gets worse. So I couldn't just leave a bowl full of... noodles and slug mucus, I attempted to bin it without touching it... unfortunately I missed the bin and.... SPLAT!... oh dear :( I think I'll just stick to rice...
Hacked? ~ Connor Perrin
29th March 2017, 11:16 pmSo someone logged into my account and posted a picture and made some posts, not sure why but no damage was done :)
Changed some things here and there, so the you'll need to re-login for the cookies to be set :)
Expect more picture content tomorrow
Back in action! ~ Connor Perrin
24th March 2017, 2:26 pmAfter a couple weeks of traveling with the family, it's time to add some pictures to the website :)
I would give a you a run down of our adventure, but that would take a long time, so I've decided to make a video.
Unfortunately I didn't take any videos on the GoPro, so it'll be more of a slide show video.
Expect it some time in the next week or so.
Getting everything ready ~ Connor Perrin
28th February 2017, 10:24 pmSo, Boris and Sister Child are due to arrive in Tokyo in less than a week!! Amazing! Have we got everything ready? No... That's my bad.
We've nearly got everything ready, just need to clean the house, book the bullet train and get another pillow for Sunday night (as Boris and Sister Child are staying with us).
Louise has been amazing! She has found wonderful places to eat, visit and even things to do; and to top it all of, she has done all this whilst working so hard; today she came home an hour late, the poor girl works so hard sometimes. For a treat we had a curry.. DELIVERED!! It was very nice. We also watched the end of The Parent Trap, which Louise rated NyanNyan/10 :D
Oh and the picture was taken in Yamagata before we jumped in the Onsen.
Updating the website ~ Connor Perrin
15th February 2017, 2:07 pmI haven't really been uploading to the website recently, however I have been working on the website everyday.
So not an awful lot to talk about.
Things I've updated:
A new image viewer as the old one was horrible.
On the front page, comments are automatically added without needing to refresh the page.
On the map page, you can click 'Show Locations' and it will list all the locations we've been to. I intend to have it so that you can click them and it'll show you where they are in Japan (but that's a bit hard lol - EDIT, scrap that, just did it lol, )
The order in which comments are seen has been flipped (Newest at the top).
The comment box has been placed above the comments.
Comments on the 'Pictures' page are defaulted to 'closed', simply click 'show comments' to see the comments
Oh and I've got an ANNOYING story. So I went to the ATM machine as I needed some quick cash, I wanted to withdraw about 3,000 yen (~£20). Now in Japan, you can select the language you want, normally I just select Japanese, now in Japanese they have two characters ? (sen, meaning thousand) ? (man, meaning Ten's of thousands). Now for some reason I clicked English, so these characters were replaced with (0,000 and 000). Now I was in a rush so typed '3' then pressed '0,000' assuming that was the thousands button... it wasn't, so instead of withdrawing £20... I withdraw £200.... ARRRRGGHHHHH... very annoying.
An Amazing Weekend! ~ Connor Perrin
12th February 2017, 10:55 pmThis weekend has been simply wonderful!
As this Valentines days falls on a Tuesday, we decided to have a Valentine weekend.
I'm not going to give anything away here, but be sure to keep your eye out for a new video, just know that it was amazing!!
In terms of the lack of content, that's mainly my fault as the for last couple of days I've been working on some new code that will improve the image viewing experience, unfortunately I run into several problems, this met I spend about 6 hours putting everything pack (hence why you can't tell the difference lol). I plan to work on it some more tomorrow.
Anyway, it's late here and I've got to get up early tomorrow to have a chat with an old friend.
Night all
Slow Day ~ Connor Perrin
9th February 2017, 6:11 pmHaven't done a lot today :(
I wanted to add 'Push Notifications' to the website so that the family wouldn't have to check it all the time but that has proven about 10 times harder than I had previously expected... I think I'll look into it in a bit more detail later :)
That being said, I did spend about 3 hours revising Japanese, defiantly going to take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N4, maybe even the N3 if I'm feeling up to it. This means I need to do a LOT more revision :)
SIX MONTHS!!!!!!! ~ Connor Perrin
8th February 2017, 10:08 pmSix months ago today I arrived in Japan!
I remember receiving one of the warmest hugs by a girl dressed in yellow, later being told she wore yellow to make it easier for me to spot her; I remember thinking I that I could spot her in a crowd of thousands.
Today also marks mine and Louise's six month anniversary of living together!! Scary how fast time flies
Exams are over! ~ Connor Perrin
7th February 2017, 5:05 pmWhere to begin...
Last night I officially finished my first semester at Waseda University.
Not sure if you know what modules I was studying, so I will post them now:
Kanji Level 1
Japanese Through Everyday Life.
Perceptual Computing
Information Retrieval
Logic
Logic Circuits
Digital System Design
Advanced Intelligent Software
Wireless Network Communications
Considering I normally study just four modules in a semester, this has been a challenge.
So far I've had one day off and I'm already bored... I need to find something to do... I might take up Kendo lessons... seems interesting lol.
Oh and today marks six months since Louise came to Japan, meaning tomorrow marks my six month anniversary since I came to Japan and it also means that Louise and myself have been living together for six months!! Scary stuff :D
Adventure Booked ~ Connor Perrin
19th December 2016, 10:57 pmWOW! What a couple of days.
Only students can plan, book and go on an adventure in the span of around 72 hours. I remember talking to Boris and Mum about how long it would take them to book and plan a family holiday.
We've had some heated discussions about where we were going to go, how we were going to get there and where we would stay but it's all done!
Should I tell you were we're going or should I make you wait for the 'Winter Adventure' video? Hmmmmm
So much to do, so little time... ~ Connor Perrin
14th December 2016, 5:39 pmWell, this has been yet another hacked couple of days.
As always, my Mondays and Tuesdays are horrible due to the amount of work I have to complete but now it's Wednesday everything just clams down :)
Today I've already completed lots of my homework but I wish I could have done some more, but I've still got some time.
Would just like to say a big thank you to Granny and Norman for reviewing the properties, viewing the properties, selecting the best property and for paying the deposit and key money (although we're not happy about it). It's a massive help to us both and a big weight off our shoulders, we couldn't have done it without you guys, hopefully we can Skype them soon to show just how much we appreciate it :)
We'll be celebrating today by having... SUSHI!!!!
Marlon Brando ~ Connor Perrin
4th December 2016, 8:30 pm"You come to me.... on the day of my daughter's wedding"
N1 exam day! ~ Connor Perrin
4th December 2016, 3:20 pmToday Louise is undertaking her N1 exam (N1 being the hardest Japanese test there is).
I'm currently sitting in McDonalds programming and learning a bit of Kanji waiting for Louise to finish her exam.
Should mention that this exam will take 4 hours!!
Just got a message from Louise as she's on her 30 minute break, she said she feels it went well, which is great to hear :D
No picture currently as I've got nothing to upload lol, will upload one tonight :)
Uploading picture problems ~ Connor Perrin
2nd December 2016, 3:42 pmUnfortunately I can't upload pictures larger than 3mb currently.
I've been in contact with FatCow and they're working on the problem. So no picture today, so check back tomorrow :)
Picture of the Week, some well needed updates. ~ Connor Perrin
29th November 2016, 10:32 pmRecently I haven't been uploading many pictures to the PoW section, mainly because I'm being too picky as to which pictures I choose, but I've decided to scrap this idea as I'm currently not uploading anything at all. So this weeks PoW is a picture of my face to break that trend :)
Also, the section will still be called Picture of the WEEK, however I'm going to upload pictures randomly throughout the week as I see fit, I was focused too much on 'When' and 'What' I was going to upload and as a result I stopped uploading altogether. So henceforth, you'll see some, not very amazingly stunning pictures, but more 'Life' pictures (if that makes sense).
Don't like it?
Tuff :) My website, my rules :D
Oh and a new video is on the way, just need to finalise the editing :)
P.S. Forgot to mention, expect multiple pictures of the same setting, a few times now I've wanted to upload multiple pictures of the same area but didn't as I felt it wouldn't go with the 'flow' of the website... ignoring this rule now, however I will only upload one PoW a day as to avoid people missing pictures.
I know I could have another section on the website, one for PoW and another for random pictures, but I like the idea of just having one section for pictures and one for blog, as they say "Simplicity is the solution"
Jellyfish ~ Connor Perrin
27th November 2016, 10:27 amSo I woke up this morning, not next to my girlfriend but a jellyfish, a jellyfish in the form of a person, this person would continue to kick her legs saying "Jelllllllyfish jelllllllyfish, I'm a Jelllllllllyfish".... so that was my morning.
Today Louise has a surprise for me, no idea what it is :D
Picture of the week ~ Connor Perrin
15th November 2016, 11:07 pmLast time I 'blogged' I said I had loads of Pictures of the week, this is true, however I can't decide which ones to upload, this is a very stupid problem lol, I should just upload them all, but that defeats the purpose of a picture of the WEEK lol.
Today I had to deal with a (for the sake of Louise, I will be very vague) bugs nest located under the router... very scary however being the man I am, I dealt with it... with minimal swearing :)
Oh and yesterdays Kanji example went really well, I know I made two mistakes, so I think that will be a 95+-% result, not bad.
Today I had a Japanese test, went very well. Interesting thing happened, so I was struggling with a question, then the gentleman to the right of me learned over and said "The answer is 'to'"
Side note:
'to', ? in Japanese, pronounced 'tou' and not 'too'. *Hard to describe, but not relevant.
Very odd for two reasons.
1) He's happy to cheat.
2) He's happy to read my paper
2a) He's very good in Japanese, so he wasn't cheating lol.
So I took his 'advice' as what I had wasn't very good, only time will tell if he was correct.. or just f***ing with me lol.
Not uploading recently ~ Connor Perrin
14th November 2016, 8:24 pmFor some reason, I haven't been uploading to the website recently.
"But Connor, you must have been really busy with uni right?"
Actually... no, not really, last week I had nothing to do on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday... which was scary, felt very wrong, but then I remembered I had a Kanji exam (Side note, Kanji is the Chinese characters in the Japanese written language). So I spent all day Saturday and part of Sunday revising for that.
"So Connor, where did you go on Sunday?"
On Sunday we went to Shibakoen, Minato. This is where the famous Tokyo Tower is.
Like I said, I was revising on Sunday, so we went in the evening as Tokyo Tower is amazing by night (so the forums say). So we left around 3pm (sunset 4:30 ~ 5:00pm). Got there for about 4pm, had some lunch, which by the way, nearly impossible in Shibakoen as nearly every restaurant closes at 4pm and opens again around 6pm. Luckily we did find a nice eating establishment that was open.
Anyway, after our meal we went to the park near Tokyo Tower, where we sat and watched the Tower light up, a very romantic moment if I say so myself.
We also saw the largest moon since 1948.
After we decided to go up to the Tower for a closer look. From there we saw some christmas trees, very christmasy :)
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend adventure, although short due to my revision :(
P.S.
Off topic, but I currently have about 4~5 PoW's I want to upload, so throughout this week I'm going to upload a few PoW's at random points, maybe one a day to catch up? You lucky buggars
5 DAY WEEKEND! ~ Connor Perrin
2nd November 2016, 10:23 pmThat's right, I've got a five day weekend! And what do I plan to do you ask?.. well study of course. I've got 5 pieces of homework to complete within the next couple of weeks, so I'm taking full advantage of this spare time.
That being said, tomorrow I plan to start editing the Yokohama video (my birthday). I've been meaning to do it and I think I'll drop a couple of hours on it tomorrow while Louise goings shopping for some winter clothes (She didn't bring any jeans nor jumpers, silly girl).
Any updates?
Not really, got a new radiator which is surprisingly amazing lol. It's got a timer on it so it turns on in the morning so we have a lovely warm kitchen :D Oh forgot to mention... It's very heavy lol. We collected it from a Polish family, who had the most amazing kitchen known to man. She was very nice although it was a 30 minute train ride and a 20 minute walk at either end but was most certainly worth it.
I'm sure Norman is wondering how Logic is going, well it's become a lot easier as of recent or though there are some confusing bits and bobs here and there, but nothing to worry too much about :)
Wrong date formate ~ Connor Perrin
28th October 2016, 8:45 pmJust working on the website.
I can finally upload PoW straight to the website, which is really nice.
Also just noticed that the date format on past posts was in the American format (MM/DD/YYYY). So a quick change and everything is better :)
Going to work on a birthday section soon, I think it would be nice to have a gallery of all the pictures from my birthday on the website, but that might take a while to collect all the pictures and resize them, so maybe a task for an afternoon and not 8:45pm lol
Been Busy ~ Connor Perrin
October 20, 2016, 3:21 pmHello all,
Sorry for the lack of content on the website, been rather busy with uni studies and what not.
Lucky for me, I have access to Norman and Boris, both very helpful in this field of work.
So, what's been happening and what's going to happen.
We've been very busy on the weekends, yes, we are still doing our weekend adventures, just for some reason we haven't had the time to upload pictures or blogs :(
But don't worry, I'm going to upload a PoW now (of this weekend just past) and Louise is going to write two blogs on the last two weekend adventures :) Expect a long, detailed post... tonight? Who knows lol, she was going to write them last night although... I kind of asked her for some maths help and then 3 hours later it was time for bed, so that's my bad.
Oh and this weeks PoW is going to be small in size as for some reason when I send pictures from Louise's phone they are sent in a smaller size than if I downloaded them, so will hopefully update the PoW tonight (when she returns home from work).
So why am I writing this blog post now?
Well I have just finished my homework :) So I have some time :)
Oh and check out the 'Maps' section, you'll see a new marker, it's our longest adventurer yet.
Just a thought, I'm thinking about making the last/most recent destination a different colour... might be interesting :)
P.S. FINALLY ORDERED CURTAINS FOR THE KITCHEN!!
P.S.S. It's 28 degrees today.... I'm dying!! Why is it so hot in October! Not use to this lol
"One post a night is the goal" ~ Connor Perrin
October 5, 2016, 9:24 pmHmmmm, didn't really achieve the goal of "One post a night" did I?
So what has happened this week so far?
Once again, not a lot. Had a few class' this week. Had an interesting class last week, it was so terrible that around 80% of the students have decided to drop the it. So the class isn't really a class, it's more like self study where you get marked. Sound pretty good, however, you have to learn an entire programming language in around 5 weeks with no help whatsoever from the lecturer (Who arrived 10 minutes late) and seemed to care more about his coffee than the students. So, not for me.
Last Friday I had my first Japanese lesson... OH MY GOD! I chose the wrong level, the lecturer only spoke Japanese (but could speak excellent english). I knew I had made a mistake before the class had even started. I was going to the classroom with a friend of mine, assuming he was in the same building but a different room, once realising that he was in the same room as me I realised my mistake, you see, Sam is very good a Japanese... and I am not.
After what seemed like 2 hours (20 minutes), the lecturer did the unimaginably... he asked me a question... arrrrrr shit.... I told him that I had bitten off more than I could chew and that I was on the wrong class, lucky for me he was the nicest lecturer I had encountered. He told me stand up and face the class ("Nicest Lecturer"? Just wait, it gets better). He then put he head on my shoulder and held my name sheet (We had to write our names on a piece of paper) on my chest (had his arms around me, almost like a hug from behind) and said "repeat in English".
lecturer - ç§ã®åå‰ã¯ã‚³ãƒŠãƒ¼ã§ã™ã€‚
Me - My name is Connor
lecturer - ç§ã®è¶£å‘³ã‚ゴルフ。
Me - My hobby is golf.
lecturer - ã‚よã—ããŠé¡˜ã„ã—。
Me - Pleased to meet you.
During the other student introductions, he sat next to me and explain what everyones hobbies were.
A very very nice man.
All in all, it was a great class and an good experience for me. I said my apologises to the lecturer and he told me that I could still take the class if I wanted to... I politely refuged :D
~~~~~~
Oh almost forgot, please enjoy another video.
This video is short but shows the sunset from out kitchen window, sadly you can see the bug screen in the video as I didn't push the camera close enough to it, but you get the picture :D
I know I know ~ Connor Perrin
October 2, 2016, 12:33 amYes, I know I said I was alive and then appear to be dead.
University has been hard work this week so I haven't had time to do anything to the website.
But this next week, I'll be better :) One post a night is the goal... but we'll see :)
Oh and please enjoy a new video :)
IT'S ALIVE! ~ Connor Perrin
September 24, 2016, 11:02 pmYes yes, I'm not dead, I'm in fact alive.
Sorry for not updating the blog, I've been busy with University and life, but I'm back :D
So what's been happening? Before today? Not a lot really, just been going to Uni nearly everyday getting things sorted and chatting to people from around the world, finally made a friend from Russia which is pretty cool if you ask me :D
I've finally chosen my courses although I couldn't take a module called Acoustic (A-Koo-Sticks) Systems, sounded really interesting but they said it was for other students but I'm going to ask if I could still go as it would help my final year project :)
Anyway, today Louise took me to a really cool shrine, I'll upload it to the PoW. It was a great day :) Louise also spent WAY too much on my birthday present, little bugga, although she was going to spend over 12,000 yen (around £100) on a pair of shoes for me, I couldn't let her do that, no way.
Forgot to post! ~ Connor Perrin
September 12, 2016, 10:24 pmOh, forgot to mention that as of the 9th of September I have been in Japan for one month!
"This marks the longest I've stayed in one place since I left the farm at 17"
This definitely marks the longest I've been away from my family, I'm pretty sure that includes time at University, just couldn't stay away from the golf cour.... family... couldn't stay away from the family :P
Anyway, how did we celebrate me being in Japan for one month? We had ramen of course :D
Speaking of ramen, tonight was the first night we cooked in the house... well, I say cooked, we had instant noodles but cooked some chicken, this is cooking in my books.
We ate and watched a film called "Le Petit Prince", I wonderful film, filled with amazing animation and desktop wall paper scenes. A top 25 film me thinks :)
Gaming with Fergie ~ Connor Perrin
September 8, 2016, 10:44 pmToday I played my first intentional game with friends, interesting mile stone.
All finished now however Louise is being very annoying, resembling a cat snuggling up against its owner.
Tomorrow marks my first day of Uni, although its only an orientation meeting, the hard part is going to be finding the building.
Time to end this post as Louise is still being annoying, this time blowing on my face... very annoying. Oh and should mention, I'm having an old friend for dinner tomorrow night.
My friend Oli is coming down from Kansai to see Tokyo for a couple of days, so that'll be interesting :)
P.S. Louise can't read this post as she's not wearing her glasses, very funny :)
Uploading Picture. ~ Connor Perrin
September 8, 2016, 4:58 pmJust testing the upload picture button. Seems to work although the picture isn't resized, so need to work on that at some point.
Changing stuff! ~ Connor Perrin
September 8, 2016, 4:32 pmSo today I decide to change some stuff to the blog, I added a title section and changed the date format as it looks nicer. Haven't fixed the picture upload yet, but that's a weekend problem :)
EARTHQUAKE! ~ Connor Perrin
07/09/16So today I experienced my first (large) earthquake. It was at around 1:30pm and a 4.9 earthquake hit, not a big earthquake but big enough for me to release it was an earthquake and not just some large truck.
First Blog ~ Connor Perrin
06/09/16Hello, this is the first blog post.