Hello

it's been a while since my last post. Actually there's a reason for it, bascially only ONE, but I'll explain that later. Indecisive me might also need YOUR help!
But first things first. I'm sorry that it took me so long and I should have posted this RIGHT AFTER I came out of the cinema *hits herself*

Yepp, I FINALLY went to watch "Ningen Shikaku (人間失格)" starring Ikuta Toma (生田斗真)
My No.1 Japanese actor and Johnny (*_*)v



Of course I couldn't resist and bought the movie pamphlet as well (and as you can see I also already grabbed the "Liar Game" one, too XDDD).

So, how was the movie?
Hm. Not so easy to answer. Beautiful pictures, partly very depressing and strange. I'd say it's a very artistic movie that might not be for a mainstream audience.
Ikuta Toma is very beautiful in this movie and his acting skills are soooooooooooo convincing! He's playing a young artist that is very popular among women which some other men close to him don't like that much.
He's trying to kill himself several times in this movie, is an alcoholic and later also a drug addict. Sometimes you just wanna slap him!



Ishihara Satomi plays the woman he finally gets married to. They're really cute together! For her he stops drinking alcohol. Life is getting better, work goes well, too ... until .... something happens (sorry don't want to spoil too much) and he tries to kill himself AGAIN (x___X)/ ... GROAR!
The Japanese in this movie was easier to understand for me than I first thought, although some people used a dialect that was a bit difficult for me to grasp.
Anyways .... a very interesting, artistic movie with beautiful pictures. It might be kind of depressing to watch and gives you a lot to think about afterwards. If you're just looking for plain entertainment this might not be the right movie for you.



And also, an absolute MUST for Toma fans, I guess that goes without saying. And now let me say one final thing about the movie:
IKUTA TOMA WAS COMPLETELY NAKED!!!! COMPLETELY!!!! HOMFG!!!!! *GASPS* I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! I WANT A POSTER OF THAT!!! HOMFFFFGGGG!!!!! (*____*)
...........
......................... That's all (^-^)> .....

Cinemas in Japan are quite expensive - at least compared to what I'm used to. I paid 1800yen (18$)!!! That's just crazy!
It was a Warner Brothers cinema and they have all that "cinema manners" on screen before the actual movie starts. We do have that in Germany, too, but "don't talk at all during the movie" I've seen for the first time!!!! (O__O'') .....
After that, there were Looney Tunes on the screen explaining one more time about manners and the cinema in general *shakes head*
The best thing was that when the movie was already going on for like 15min. a couple came in, used their cellphone to see the rows, they were talking to each other, disturbing quite a bunch of other poeple until they finally found their seat. They kept talking and the woman had a plastic bag and she was rustling with it THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME!!! Good cinema manners, anyone? Japan!!! *fail* A lot of people were staring at them XDDDDD




The Liar Game movie just came out a while ago and I wanna go and watch it, too, but I'm pretty sure that it's too difficult for me to understand. The games are always quite complicated, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to enjoy the movie.



Either way, I can't wait to watch it. DVD, download or cinema, I don't care (*__________*)
Also, because I saw THIS in my pamphlet:



*SQUEEEEE* (*________________*)v



Enough about movies, but what kept me from posting? Actually I'm super tired right now, I feel like a zombie and it's my fault! I'm completely OBSESSED and I really hope by posting that, I can get rid of my obsession and finally DECIDE!!!
I'm talking about SLR. As I already mentioned in one of my previous entries I was thinking about getting a SLR. Why? I think it's time. I've been in Japan for 2 years now, only using a normal compact digicam. Although you always praise my photos, they could be so much better, sharper, more colorful etc. Especially when you have awesome motives such as castles, shrines, temples or CHERRY BLOSSOMS, right? I hope that's the right thing to do.
Well, the problem is not whether to get one or not, but WHICH ONE!!! After reading tons of tests, reviews, forums and watched thousands of youtube videos about the latest first-time user DSLR I was able to narrow it down to these 4



Pentax K-x, Canon EOS 500D (or Kiss X3 in Japan), Nikon D5000 and Olympus E-620.
After reading some more reviews, tests and stuff, I threw out the Olympus E-620.
So there's only 3 left, but basically I'm somewhere between the Pentax and the Canon again and again.
I'll tell you what I know about these and my opinion and maybe you might understand why I can't decide (x___X)
Also, if you have ANYTHING to say that might help me with my decision, then BY ALL MEANS please do so, because I'm really mad already!!! COMPLETELY CRAZY!!!!!!!!



Pentax K-x:
(+) It comes with 100 different color combinations, ONLY here in Japan. That's a great chance and also will be a good value when reselling it.
(+/-) It uses 4 batteries instead of an akku. That makes the body heavier than that of the other 2 cams, but at least you can get new ones in ANY store in the world easily.
(-) I'm not a fan of batteries, I've had bad experience with them in my last cam and I also heard it's an issue with the Pentax, that has been solved with the newest firmware, though.
(+) If you use the "right" batteries with this cam, the akku performance is much better than with the other 2 cams
(+) built-in stabilizer in the body (that makes the body heavier, but you don't have to buy lenses with built-in stabilizers then, that makes the lenses cheaper and lighter than that of the other 2 cams!)
(+) very easy menu, good for first-time users and many automatic modes / scene modes / filters / a lot of playing around gives you awesome photos right from the start / a camera that is definitely a lot of fun
(+) not much noise even in high ISO, partly even better than the Canon
(+) for the price you get really a lot
(-) Pentax doesn't have so many lenses compared to Canon or Nikon, so it might be more difficult to find fitting equipment

Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i (in America) / Kiss X3 (in Japan):
(+) lightes body of the 3
(-) no built-in stablizer, so you have to spend more money for lenses that have one and those lenses will be heavier
(-) if the body is so light, but the lenses are heavy, then it might be difficult to hold the camera accordingly (heavier body and lighter lenses like with the Nikon or Pentax would be better?!)
(+) best video quality of the 3
(+) best LCD with super high-resolution, Live-View only in a few modes possible, Live-View turns off automatically when you face comes close to the viewfinder, very nice
(-) the menu seems to be quite complicated at first and second sight, esp. for beginners like me
(+) uses an accu, so I'd feel more at ease, but knowing me I'd have to buy a second one just in case and that's way more expensive than buying 4 normal batteries (needed for the Pentax)

Nikon D500:
(+) movable LCD display
(-) videos are limited to 5 min. only
(+) nice menu, beginner-friendly with a help-button to explain more about what each function actually does
(-) the heaviest and biggest body out of the 3
(-) no built-in AF motor (you have to buy lenses that have => more expensive)

Conclusion:
As for image quality they all seem to be pretty much the same. They also cost ABOUT the same. I wanna get the double zoom kit. They all are around 65.000-71.000yen (650-710$ in the double zoom kit - which means body + 2 lenses). Price can't be a criteria then.
All 3 can record videos, but while the Nikon is limited to 5 min., Pentax and Canon are not. The best video quality offers Canon.
The lightest camera (body only) is by far the Canon, then the Nikon and then the Pentax (because of the batteries it uses). Ony the Pentax has a built-in stabilizer which makes lenses lighter in the end.
I already went to Big Camera TWICE this week to actually test those cams. At first touch I liked the Canon the most. It felt best in my hands, but the menu was giving me headaches. Second best was the Olympus, but I already threw that one out. Then came the Pentax and then the Nikon which just felt to heavy after a few minutes of holding it.
I might have to go one last time, maybe tomorrow, but I'd REALLY APPRECIATE ANY SUGGESTIONS FROM YOU GUYS BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND AT ALL!!!!! And I'm spending just way too much time, reading tests again and again, looking for more reviews and just getting more and more confused and indecisive after reading them, so PLEASE HIT ME A FEW TIMES MAYBE THAT HELPS, thanks.

Side note: Pentax color variations (small selection out of the 100!):



The last one is probably what I would get if I decide to get the Pentax!
Although it might look strange with all the black lenses and stuff:



I would go today to a store, BUT .....



It was snowing like WOAH! yesterday and the day before yesterday! People who read my Twitter already know.
It was really .... a surprise, because it's very rare! Snow at all, but then in March, that's a "first-timer" for most people here and of course for me as well.
While I felt like I'm back home where almost EVERY DAY is like this, I didn't expect this to happen in my part of Japan (O__O')
My good winter boots are thus back home in Germany.



I couldn't use my bicycle yesterday, there was too much snow on the pedestrian path and the street was too dangerous.
My shoes are not waterproof, so I came to work with completely wet and cold feet, meh x_X (but I brought a second pair of socks, so it was okay XD)
In Germany, people are supposed to shovel the pedestrian path in fron of their house. It's their duty by law. If they don't do it and somebody gets hurt they have to pay!
If police sees that somebody didn't shovel snow, they might have to pay a penalty fee. But here in Japan they don't seem to have a law like this. Apart from Hokkaido that might not be necessary anyway XD



And after 2 days of snowing almost constantly that's how it looks today (^-^)>
It finally stopped and the sun is shining, but I still can't go with my bike anywhere. Furthermore, it's just toooooooooo cold (x___X)
Also, because the weather was so horrible (well, normal for me. Like I said that's how it is back home every day) and Japanese cars here have no winter tires, most students didn't come yesterday.
I ended up with a class with ONE student only!!!! WOAH!!!!!!!! So yesterday was quite ..... slow? at work (x_X)



Also, while taking the snow photos earlier I ended up seeing these glowing drops. So beautiful! (*_*)v



Zoom. Please ignore the Kuroneko van there XD



And from farther away (*_*)

Oh, before I forget. My bike's tire bursted AGAIN (on Monday). That was the third time! (-_-) Each time I had to pay 1000yen to get it fixed. I was really thinking about getting a new bike after that. But if I really buy the SLR I need to save money, so no no no!!!
They couldn't repair my bike right away, so I had to walk to work the next day. Finally I went to a really small one-man repair store and I got a new tire for 4000yen. I've already spent over 6000yen on this bike ... maybe buying a new one would really be better, but I hope it will be okay for a while now. I was also told by the old man who repaired my bike that I have to pump in air more often, at least twice a month! I was like: (O_O*) ... Oops ... XDDDD



We all got "Sakura mochi" for "girls' day" (aka Hina Matsuri) on March 3rd (*__*) They were yummie! I like sakura mochi <3



And that's things I recently bought. I couldn't resist when I saw the strawberry cup in a 100yen store (*__*)
Sakura soda!!! Not too bad :)
And one old and one new Nescafé flavor <3333333


And who can guess what I was watching there gets a cookie XD



Everyday has been so busy and different. I'm a little bit exhausted, but that's mainly due to my obsession with finding a good camera that also kept me awake until 2am the last few nights, reading more reviews and tests etc. Giving me even nightmares about SLR cams (no joking
XD) ....
There's a lot of things coming up soon, so I should eat and sleep properly to get my strength back and stay healthy (^-^)>

Thanks for reading. Sorry that it got so long today (°__°')> .........
Once I've decided which cam to buy, I will have more time for LJ, life and Japanese studies again (〃´o｀)=3 フゥ
And I have to go and wash my dishes now x__X ....

☆~~ヾ・ェ・)o尸~ マタネ~