Cars are so over-rated..

I have always thought cars as over rated machines. Why wouldnt I when I see the younger generation dreaming about owning a car. The problem is that this dream is usually the only ultimate dream they have in their minds, if achieved then its like they owned the world.

To think of it, let us make a comparison between cars and computers. Cars only main function is to move you and your things from place A to place B, plus it has several other mini-functions. Computers, on another hand, have much more main functions. Eventhough those main functions differ from user to another, but on a worst case scenario it has multiple main ones.

And yet, still having the car has the top priority. I have always thought of that as an obstacle in the way of evolution. I am sure if those gave 50% of their interest in cars to computers, we would have created our own processors long time ago. Or at least our own operating system.

"Ok. So? what does that have anything to do with Japan and living in Tokyo?!"
No. I did not fly away from the theme of my blog. This post also talks about life in Tokyo. How?

Owning a car here is not an ultimate dream. Actually many people here dream of selling their cars and getting rid of them. The public transportation in Tokyo is more than enough to get you around especially if you live near the station. And in the heart of Tokyo, everywhere is near the station! When I go out with my lab here or there, and the professor joins us, he rides the train with us. Can you imagine your professor riding the bus in Amman with you? Hell no. That actually made me look at the professor with respect and appreciation.

I know, I know. How dare I compare between the public transportation between Amman and Tokyo. My point is, eventhough oil is getting more expensive every year, and eventhough complaints about traffic jam is increasing day by day, yet people still dream of owning a car. No, they ONLY dream of owning a car.

As I said above, cars -in my opinion- are so over-rated. They only take you from place A to place B and thats their only main function. I wonder when we - the arabic world - would realize this fact.

The world as a Local Area Network..

I usually prefer quality of quantity, so I dont post except useful information about Japan in my blog. Since I posted yesterday, I never thought I would be posting today. But they forced me. They forced me very much....

Who?

The Internet Service Provider in Japan (ISP). Today I went to register with an ISP to have internet in my new house, which I still did not move into. Since I now have a 42Mbps internet line, I thought 24Mbps would be more than enough. No, 12Mbps would be great even. After several thoughts, I decided that if I got the 8Mbps for a good deal, I will go for it. After all, 8Mbps is still not offered in Jordan and I will be waaay ahead of my friends! (YATTTAAA!!!!) :p

Ohh those bad ISPs in Japan. Very bad ISPs.. They only had one offer. Imagine? ISP with one offer. 1 0 0 Mbps. ONE HUNDRED MEGA BITS PER SECOND. I needed 3 minutes for recovery after hearing the news. 100Mbps for almost 15JDs per month. no, around 18JDs to be honest!!! I had to check again. Did they mean 100Kbps??? No no. Its 100MEGAbps...!!!!!! 18JDs??? OH MY GOD!!!!

Now is a good time to start negotiating the download limit. Since I download alot to my hard-disk, I had to know how much I am allowed to download per month before they cap my bandwidth. In Jordan you are -as a best case scenario- allowed to download 12GB before they cap your bandwidth. I though 100GB would me more than enough in my case. Talking in Japanese, I started the following conversation:
- Execuse me, May I ask about the download limit?
- what?
- the download, how much I can download per month.
- oh oh 100, 100 Mbps.
- no no, how much I am allowed to save on my hard-disk??
- oh, it depends on your hard-disk space!!!
- no, sir. How much bandwidth I am allowed to use for downloading, movies, songs, whatever..
- ????
- download? limit? hello?
- !!!!!

!!!! They dont know whats a download limit!!!! 100Mbps without a download limit!!!!

100Mbps is like connecting to another computer in your house. 100Mbps is whats called a Local Area Network (LAN). But in my case, thats the internet! the world for me is a LAN. I connect to a computer in USA as fast as I connect to my laptop at home! I connect to Jordan, as fast as I connect to Africa!!




With a 42Mbps I used to stream everything I watch. No more hard-disk space usage. What can I do with a 100Mbps??? Stream 720p high-def movies? maybe 1080p?

The joke is becoming for real!! Once I told my boss that when we have 100Mbps connection, it could be easier to access the hard-disk via the local host! the request goes throught the internet and then comes back to access your hard-disk as a remote computer!!! :p

They helped me alot. In writing the contract, in choosing my ISP, and in everything. They were smiling thanking me all the time. VERY polite. At the end, I paid nothing. Nothing at all. I only have to pay the monthly fee, the 18JDs. Oh btw, they gave me a new land line as a gift!!! and I will pay 5JDs per month for that!

Still, dear blog readers, having a faster internet does not mean I will be posting here faster. Remember, quality over quantity ;)

Bye Bye Komaba, Hello Misato!

Amman, the city of seven mountains, does not have rivers -ofcourse except those which are made artificially by the rain in Winter-. Natural water scenes in Amman do not exist.

This introduction can help understanding how I am feeling right now. I am moving out of Komaba, to a place where I will see 2 rivers everyday while sitting in the train. TWO RIVERS! not one, two! not a lake, but a RIVER! This scene is very very beautiful. In the train I jump from window to another just to make sure I do not miss an angle of the scene, up until the train goes underground.





Its almost nine months now. Do you know what nine months mean? It means I am officially not allowed to participate in the Japanese speech contest organized by the Japanese Embassy in Amman. I lost my chances in taking over the world, as the emperor from outer space! =(

Since laws and regulations force me to move out of Komaba International Lodge that belongs to the University of Tokyo, I will need to find a new house. Finding houses in Tokyo is as easy as double clicking your mouse. The problem is to find a house that suits your daily life. Your budget, your university, and where your friends live.

Misato, the area where the Muslim community lives.

I will be living in Shin-Misato (the new misato). Muslims, many of them, live there. When I entered the place I practically felt I am living in an Arabic Muslim country that has all the technological advancements of Japan. I chose Misato because it is a nice neighborhood, on the other side of Tokyo. And eventhough it is practically considered in Saitama, it is still very close to Tokyo in general and the University of Tokyo in specific.

What I like about living in Misato that the trip from and to the laboratory needs to ride a JR train. Thats a train ABOVE the ground. Finally I will be able to see the beautiful scenes of Japan everyday, and by that I mean the two rivers, which are not a usual sight for Jordanian people.

I will be posting more details very soon. Details about my new house, the scenes, Misato, and general news. Keep following the blog and Japan lovers will have some Candy! v(^_^)v

Yellow Dreamy Autumn..

Amazing Autumn..
Amazing..

Its the first time in my life to witness such a beautiful scene.
B E A U T I F U L..

I will leave the pictures, and the video to speak for themselves.

By the way, all those pictures are taking from the heart of the University of Tokyo.

Its shinjuku..

Dont make the mistake I made, and think to walk from side to another in Shinjuku. It took us 30min to walk through the station only. A station that needs 30min of walking? hmm, lets see:
- Hussein to Shmesani takes 20min walking.
- Side to Side in the Jordan University takes 10min.

Can you imagine it now? Imagine Alhussein + Shmesani and Al-Abdali to be just a STATION! train station!! thats shinjuku station. According to wikipedia, its the second largest station in the world. 3.3 million people use that station every day!! WOW!!!

I was not really amazed when I first saw shinjuku, the city. I thought shibuya was bigger and more beautiful. Not until I saw the southern exit of the station, where it leads to one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. HUGE buildings, WIDE streets, and LOTS of people.



In shinjuku, which means "the new ward", you can find malls, department stores, restaurants, stores and shops. Actually you can find more than one branch of the same shop in shinjuku! Once I planned to meet friends of mine infront of Sakura-ya, the electric shop. After 1 hour of waiting, I discovered they were waiting infront of another Sakura-ya place, that has at least 5 or 6 branches just in Shinjuku.

I wish I can live near that place. But, its too expensive even to dream about it.. :(