Japanese Golf Clubs @ Inpakuto.com - All about Golf, JPOP and Japan

I've been on the search for a new case. Summer is here and my PC is running hot. I initially was going to go water cooling but I have changed direction more than anything because of the cost of water cooling parts especially with a dual gpu setup. So I went on the search for a unique air cooled case.

I think I have found it, the Abee AS Enclosure 450ST. Abee is a premium case designer and crafter here in Japan. All made and designed in Japan with the best quality in mind. The 450ST is a combination aluminum and stainless steel case. It is considered mid size but rather long. Even at mid size it weighs a whopping 32 pounds. This classy case is segregated into 3 zones, the power supply zone, the video card zone and the PC Zone. By separating each zone, it reduce heat as each compartment is cooled seperately. I have not ordered it yet but I am almost ready to pull the trigger!

Having  been unable to walk much for the last month I have not posted any houses from the neighborhood here in while. We just love walking here in Kiminomori and usually walk at least an hour a day and sometimes even up to 4 hours!! Exploring the streets and houses and the forest and natural surroundings is more than we could have wished for. We still cannot get over how lucky we were to get one of the last houses here and how great this area turned out. Well here are a couple of more houses we like. The first one we dub "the hospital", as it is all white, modern and square and the second one we call "the embassy" as it has a secure and official look to it. These houses also back on to the golf course and are two of the very nice ones!

As more and more Japanese manufacturers move to custom built clubs direct from the factory, we are also seeing the appearance of custom grinds from some of Japan's best forged names. Of course you can get the ultimate in custom grind from a total custom club maker like Gold's Factory. But now you can also get custom grinds through TSG from Mizuno and Miura. 

I recently had the pleasure of sampling two different Mizuno grinds as well as a set of Miura MB5000WA wedges with a TVD style grind. So not only can you get the clubs built to the specs you want you can also get the grind you want while you are at it!

With the summer weather in full swing, my wife and I decided to make some changes to the garden and dress up my office window ledge. She added a three planters right outside my second floor window which does add some nice color. The neighbors across the street have thanked us for adding something nice to their view. (^_^)

In the back we removed a bunch of the generic "builder's" trees and added so far from second pic below to bottom, Kiwi, Biwa tree, Yuzu tree and a Mikan tree. I've got a 2 meter tall Momiji (Japanese Maple) coming that will round off the center of the backyard.  Sitting in the tatami room now and looking out on the garden is quite fun as is all the gardening work. Saku our dog sure loves it... I think.

Since moving to Japan and working from home I just cannot seem to get my desk organized properly.  Working around the clock and constantly referring to golf materials and doing picture taking just leaves my desk and office are a mess always after a day of work. My wife complains and I clean it up and the next day its messy again. I either need more shelves or just far less stuff. I guess its not so bad but with such a big desk I need to keep it more organized somehow!

With the heat really coming on now in Japan, it hit 30C early this week, Saku our Shiba is shedding every day. When he comes home from his walk with my wife, she has to always comb him or the house gets littered with his hair. He seems to enjoy playing every day while he gets combed!

He will be 5 in September but spent his life growing up in Canada. This past winter was his first without snow, which I know he will miss playing in a lot (my wife and I will not miss shovelling snow at all!). Saku will get to experience his first humid Japan summer and I hope he can survive it! He is already panting away in early May from the heat.

I don't know how all these Shibas in Japan live outdoors. I guess Saku is spoiled. (^_^)

Getting stuck at home injured isn't such a bad thing especially in Japan. There is still good TV to watch and great food to eat. We've had great meals staying at home this past week.

I'm not much of a drinker. Those who know me will know I do not drink at all which makes me a social outcast in Japan (^_^). I have been trying much lighter drinks like Chu Hi (second drink on the right) and coctails that they sell at the super.  I can pretty much have half a can shared with my wife! We also found Hoppy (first drink on the left), a beer like drink with 0.8% that supposed to be mixed with Shochu but I drank it straight. 

Meals this week were good! Starting from the second row below and left to right, minced katsu with Japanese curry! Kimchi fried rice, Miso soup with chives and eggs, boiled spinich with natto sauce, tofu, fish and veggies!

Third row features more veggies and bincho maguro sashimi with rice and tarako (fish eggs). Next to that was hayashi chu ka, cold ramen noodles with vegies and fried eggs and sauce.

The last row was home made okonomiyaki and more fish and pototatoes and rice with... yes butter! Butter gohan and Miso!

Bad news. I suffered a bad stress fracture in my right heel the other day after stepping down hard off a ladder onto my heel. It swelled up and was in considerable pain so I visited, for the first time ever, a hospital in Japan. My wife took me to Oami Hospital which was about a 10 minute drive away.

I was pleasantly impressed with the organization and facilities for small town Oami. The hosipital was busy but everything moved quick and what surprised me the most was the cost. A visit with the doctor, 3 x-Rays and crutches on loan and the cost for everything was 6,900 yen (about $70.00). 

While the price was the good news, the bad news is no weight on the foot for 4 weeks, maybe even more depending on how it heels which means no golf for me and home confinement for the next few weeks. Boy the wife will have to work hard now take care of me!

Yesterday four of us went to Shibuya to watch the AKB48 Concert and see Oshima Mai or Maimai as she is affectionately known graduate from AKB48. What a horrible day to go to Shibuya as it rained hard and all day. Shibuya was still crowded though as even heavy rain does not stop people in Japan from shopping or tourists from visiting. No signs of a recesssion even in foul weather.

One very challenging thing was walking in Shibuya(which is hard enough on a sunny day) with an umbrella. Unlike back in Canada where walkers frequently get caught in a rain storm without an umbrella, the typical Japanese will not leave home without one even with a hint of rain in the forecast. So with a big rainstorm going on, Shibuya was covered in umbrellas bumping into each other and looking almost like a parade of some sort. I should have taken a picture but with it raining so hard I had a tough enough time holding my umbrella.

The concert was great. The atmosphere kicked ass and my wife enjoyed it much more tha Hello! Project Winter back in 2004 at Yokohama arena. Perhaps it was the more intimate surroundings of NHK hall or simply the more well behave otaku, we danced and sang along for the whole concert which my wife's best friend and boy friend also enjoyed (first time jpop concert go-ers!)

Pictures with my keitai below of outside NHK Hall and the lobby where many well wishers sent flowers for Oshima Mai's graduation.

First of all I have decided to take advantage of the new keitai (cell phone) I have and take all pics for this blog using the Docomo D904i I mentioned in yesterday's post. So from now on all the pictures on Japan will be taken using the keitai (I will still take pictures of golf clubs with my real camera).

Today after visiting the Geotech Office in Chiba, my wife and I headed over to Parco by Chiba Station. We ate Hamburgers at Village Vanguard on the 8th floor. It's a well known burger chain with a fusion of whopping big juicy Japanese and Western style sloppy burgers. I must say it was quite delicious and I was stuffed all day. But it gave me the energy to shop all afternoon with my wife.

The other day Sasaya-san from Gold's Factory and I were discussing views on the so called recession in Japan. He and I agreed that we should appreciate the great things here in Japan, just like the way I do. Honestly when I go shopping, I rarely ever see or feel any evidence of this recession in Japan. Stores are stocked with the latest goods and new arrivals. There are still cool clothes and gadgets to buy. Restaurants are still full with people eating out. We dropped by ABC Mart to check out shoes and all the latest Limited editions were there and we bought new shoes. My wife got a pair of funky high cut New Balance shoes and I grabbed the ABC Limited Adidas SuperStar II CH as featured by Jpop group Dragon Ash.

Japan is a place where there are always many "limited" editions. It can be winter version of Melty Kiss Choco,  or Hokkaido only Nama Caramel, Limited Edition Black Driver from Mizuno or these Limited Edition Adidas shoes.  The fact is people buy them until they are sold out. People line up for them and pay top dollar for them. That doesn't seem like a recession to me. (^_^)