Best of Jamaipanese.com from 2015

It seems just last month I was crafting my best of Jamaipanese.com from 2014 post at the start of this year and now that “new” year is long gone! Hello 2016, I trust you will stick around longer that 2015 did? Throughout last year I have been diligently updating my blog, albeit I am unable to spend as much time as I used to crafting posts due to school and work. Speaking of school is all goes as planned I should be completing college this year, but thats for another post. Check out my handpicked list of the best posts I made to Jamaipanese.com in 2015. Please continue to support my blog in 2016 and if you are new here say hi on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!

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Motivating and Inspiring the kids from the St Patricks Pre-Youth Group – My presentation was aimed at motivating and inspiring them and I pulled from my experiences growing up in that same church to attending college, visiting Japan and more. Unsurprisingly the section of my presentation involving anime characters as well as videos and pictures from Japan was most well received.

Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run 2015 – The yearly Sagicor Sigma Corporate 5.5-kilometre walk, run and wheelchair road race is one of the biggest charity events in Jamaica. This year I decided to sign up and participate due to my job and I happy to report that I survived the whole race! I intentionally didn’t do any training to see what kind of physical condition I am in. I completed the 5.5 in just under 40 minutes and placed  3962 out of 12,000 finishers.

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Star Wars: Tarkin – I’ve always been a fan of the costuming of the high-ranking members of the Imperial military and if/when I ever cosplay as anything Star Wars related it would most likely be as a Moff. The book is very well paced with generous servings of action while fleshing out many of its characters enough for you to become interested in their fates. Its the interactions between Tarkin and Lord Vader that are most intriguing however and by the end Star Wars fans will come to understand why Vader held Tarkin in such high regard.

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Japanese Anime Festival in Jamaica – Recap – I would first like to thank the Japanese Embassy in Jamaica and the Japan Foundation for putting on such an event locally. I really feel like the last few years have seen a steady increase of Japan related events locally which has greatly expanded the base of persons who appreciate or are interested in Japan locally. I managed to catch three of the anime movies from start to finish; Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie, Planzet and SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next.

2015 send-off reception for successful JETs – Another year another send-off reception for Jamaicans who have successfully navigated the multi-step process to be selected as an assistant language teacher (ALT) for the JET programme. This year was the biggest group yet – a huge group of 40 persons almost doubt the largest group to have gone at one time. I am told this is testament to the success of the previous and current JET participants from Jamaica who are held in high esteem and are always in demand by schools in Japan.

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Marc Mundy: Jamaican JET talks life in Japan – The first interview is with Marc Mundy a Jamaican JET who arrived in Japan in July 2014 (almost a year to the date of the interview). I met Marc during the send-off reception for the 2014 JETS, similar to the recent one I went to for the 2015 JETS from Jamaica. Marc is a very friendly person with a great personality and we share an interest in gaming and and love for Japan which started with anime/manga etc but expanded as we matured. I’ve been following his time in Japan primarily through his Youtube Channel. My favourite video of his so far being the tour of his Apartment in Japan.

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Usain Bolt delivers 100m Gold again amid doubts – The 100m at the ongoing World Championships in Berlin like all major athletics events is the headliner event. In 2015 it has taken on added significance as pundits christened as a “Battle to save the sport” and a “Fight between good and evil”. The evil in this case being Justin Gatlin – a two-time drug cheat running the times of his life at an age when many former sprinters  declined and the good being Usain Bolt – the fastest man alive with enough titles that if listed would be long enough to be a blog post within its own.

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Nicola Williams: Sharing the Japan Experience – This interview shed some light on why Nicola was/is so confident and I believe that it could be very good read especially at the end where she says that many times “misunderstandings are brought about by projections of our own expectations rather than the intent of the people with whom we interact”. Thank you very much for participating in this interview Nicola and I trust your words, experiences and advice will prove useful for many.

Top 7 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Toys – Star Wars is an iconic franchise loved by millions of all ages and nationalities. With Star Wars now being a Disney property and also a plethora of books, movies, toys, memorabilia etc being released for the Star Wars its an exciting time to be a fan (if you can afford it).

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Kyoto Station

11 Photos I took in Japan with memories attached – Four years ago on this very day (Sept. 25th) I was making my way back from Tokyo to Kingston via New York. The days I spent in Japan though in the past, continue to provide powerful fuel that empowers and motivates me through various challenges in life since and will for a long time. The hundreds of photos, the dozens of videos, the people, the experiences are daily reminders of an important personal victory for me.

Nobunaga’s Ambition Sphere Of Influence – I love me some video games, but college life continues to team up with my full-time job to attack my free time. Over the last few weeks though I have been managing to sneak in some gaming time and the main title I have been losing my weekends to has been Nobunaga’s Ambition Sphere Of Influence.

My University “Adventure” Continues – Last time you heard about my college “adventure” I was starting my third year. Time has flown by and its been over a year since my last update. I am crossing my fingers as I enter the home stretch with the goal of completing my undergrad studies by August 2016. I just completed another set of final exams for yet another semester and guess who is happy?

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Zelotes LED Optical USB Wired Gaming Mouse – I picked up a new mouse recently. The Zelotes Optical mouse. I’ve never heard of the brand Zelotes before and was reluctant to spend my cash on it: even if it was us$9. I checked out the reviews on Amazon and a few Youtube reviews and most of them were positive so I made the plunge.

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