Asian angels.. cont!

Zainaba : One,
by 18CRoWNs.

What an angel..

A pity only I can post the small size of this picture! She  is just amazing..

But not only her, also the gorgeous photographer who took this picture, 18CRoWNs-Ying:

03:00 P.M., by 18CRoWNs.

B&W : Fuck, by 18CRoWNs.

mariashura,
by 18CRoWNs.

Swatch FIVB Stavanger 2009

Start of the second week of Swatch FIVB Stavanger 2009 beach volley tournament.. yes, second week! New formula this year for this special stop of the FIVB 2009 calendar: giving the great money investment from ConocoPhilips (probably before the Ekofisk problems ) the local tournament has become a clear sponsor hostage, more about business than sport! At least, this is my point of view!

Less fields with official games, more focus to the central arena, larger it seems than the previous years, where there are more matches for a paying audience. And a different structure: no more qualification and pool main draw first phase, but straight to the pool phase.

And that meant a serious cut down in the entry list, resulting in NO Japanese teams, neither male nor female.. Giving that my main interest are the female Japanese teams, this 2009 beach volley tournament in Stavanger lost most of its interest!!!

I have been a little around anyway taking pics, especially with Nikon D200 and the nice lenses, but I will not spend too much time for volley this year. I regret I will not enjoy as the previous years, but there will be pictures coming.

For now I post pictures of who I really miss:

Miwa Asao, 浅尾美和	Take Nishibori, 西堀健実
Shinako Tanaka, 田中姿子	Eiko “Kae” Koizumi, 小泉栄子
Chiaki Kusuhara, 楠原千秋	Mika Teru Saiki, 佐伯美香

Bye bye dear friend!

Pål and Kris,
by ..AikiDude...

Back from a business trip, the first email I read brings me the terrible news that Pål, on the left in the picture, passed away at the incredible young age of 38 y/o, during a bike trip with friends…

I met him through Aikido in Oslo and he always amazed me for the energy in the many activities he did, both in free time and work.. and he was an extremely nice guy!!!

Great company always!

That’s how I will remember you, my friend!

This is the way I will remember you, after the great trip to Japan in 2008, always so full of life, so smiling, so positive, so energetic……

Different Monday..

..different from last week, from a shitty Monday.. mostly thank to this video I found on the net.. after a suggestion from a friend, a mention of a great band from my youth:

A mind blower.. pure energy, that unfortunately my little Eee pc cannot play properly for lack of RAM..

So this Monday, apart from Faith No More, has being also characterized by a very good Aikido session here at our dojo in Stavanger, thanks to the visit of Pedram from Oslo.

And the practice has been followed by the best sushi in Stavanger, at the little take away Far East, where not only the sushi is great but the people there at the restaurant are really nice.. in fact we enjoy quite often to stop there for not only a good meal.. but also to relax!!

Even from work today there came good news, even if I have probably contribute very little, but finally we close a testing phase long overdue. Always good to get results, even if they did not really depend on my direct efforts.

Like a girl!!!!

After a quite shitty week, started with a shitty monday and continued not in a much better way, with my mind full of dark thoughts, I felt like finding a release valve yesterday: shopping!!!! I started with a morning shave (a few females lately told me that I am much better with beard, but I am so lazy..), just to meet the decency standards for society Or maybe just to let more of my female side out.. but who said that shopping is only a girl privilege? Besides, I had already enjoyed things usually associated only to girls!

It’s true, I haven’t been much in town on Saturdays this semester, or weekend at all, trying to avoid the place and the feelings.. So yesterday I took a tour to the local shopping center, Kvadrat. And even buying something that I needed at home, the main point was shopping for myself

While I was there I thought it was a bit sad shopping alone, but actually I realized very fast that I had only once in Stavanger spent a wonderful shopping day with a pretty asian angel. So basically I am used to it, before, now and in the future. I admit the feeling of trying new clothes and see the funny expression on her face was really nice..

But even alone, I managed to buy myself a nice set of shirts, my very first white shirt too (by Jack & Jones), jeans and summer pants.. thanks to some offers and some madness.. yeah, shopping madness..

Yesterday night I also enjoyed a night out in town with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time.. trying a new restaurant (Amici) and a new club (23:25), dancing, drinking, having fun. And going home alone, yes.. like old times!

Today, just for feeling very Norwegian, I forced myself out: sunny day, then you have to go out and enjoy it.. and I went for a short walk, taking some pics with different lenses of my Nikon, just for test. Stavanger is getting ready for the season beach volley event and I knew for a fact I did not risk to meet any person from my past that would have made unpleasant, for me, the afternoon.

What a shitty day!!!

clouds…… part 1,
by ..AikiDude...

Today, it really was.. and not because of the weather, that was sunny.. ok.. just for.. anything else..

Not only shitty feeling brought up to my mind from the past, but even shitty feeling from the present, about not even a romantic encounter but just the hope to know better a pretty girl..

Too pretty for me, too pretty to even be interested in talking or wasting time with me.. and the worst thought is that probably this one too is having a big laugh about me, like the one in the past.. again how could I think anyone would be interested in me?

Reality sucks and I have just to get used to it..

Let’s stop hoping, no glamorous future for me, I must start accepting my dull, colorless present..

Norwegian sunset

An advantage when we work late in the evening is remembering to watch the sky, when taking a break for a coffee and just stepping out from the workshop..

So, then, yesterday night, even after another of those very long day, I was able to appreciate what the gorgeous Norwegian sky was offering me:

Even a service platform in the fjord can become an intriguing landscape: