Trendy Japanese Exchange Students

We currently have some exchange students from Japan and during the multi-cultural festival recently I was privileged to have met some of them.  They were as usual - one of the most trendy group amongst the various I’ve met during these festival but that’s to be expected.  We exchange conversation and shared my love for sushi and sashimi and of course the fact that I loved maguro more than salmon sashimi made them laughed.  We talked a lot about fashion and I asked one of them about the shoes they were wearing from Nike and they told me it was for skateboarding and they were so looking forward to skateboarding this summer at our newly build skateboard park.  The skateboard shoes looked really light and trendy - I wonder if I can wear them just for walking around?   The students were extremely friendly and we promised to have lunch soon.

A Wedding Invitation From Japan

The bride was beautiful - they met when he was stationed in Japan for a teaching job and the  invitations from invitationbox.com was just as beautiful and unique as the bride.  We would love to go - but that would mean a very long flight - but that would mean that I can go crazy with shopping when I am in Japan.  They had such a nice wedding invitation card that I’m going to keep it and I also looked into getting some birthday card for my kid’s birthday too.  The invites is so affordable - and pretty - it was definitely a useful site.

Eating With A Sumo Wrestler

So I bet you’ve never eaten with a sumo wrestler right?  not many people have - but my girlfriend’s spouse works for the sports edition in the local papers in Japan and had a change to do that for an interview.  While we loved sushi and sashimi - the sumo wrestlers eat lots of fried stuff and also stuff with lots of protein and carbo - I don’t know if they used any  creatine supplements but they sure put on lots of weight and body mass fast too.   According to my girlfriend’s spouse - the amount of food they eat the entire day was 20,000 calories while normal people eat about 2500 - 3000 calories so you can imagine watching a sumo wrestler eat.  I would love to have a meal with a sumo wrestler - then I can try and compete with him and eat - now that would make me look like a bird - hahaha!

Health Care In Japan and USA

While health care is quite different in Japan and the United States - I have to say that it can be quite devastating if one needs to go for detox in Japan - because  drug detox center program are not as readily available in Japan as they are in USA.  Like they say - you can find Miso soup in Japan but not always in United States - and health care is just like a miso soup - a necessity for any Japanese in United States but not always available.  So what do the teachers in Japan do - when they have a health problem?  I know of many who would fly back to United States to get treated.  Seeing a doctor in Japan if you are a local can be a problem - therefore, if you have an addiction problem in Japan - I think it’s even harder to get help.

Road Trip Around Japan

Japan is quite a huge place - although this map does not do it justice - so come this summer - my friend originally from San Francisco will be taking a road trip around Japan with her hubby and new born baby boy.  They had taken a sabbatical in conjunction with having a new baby.  As soon as she told me she was going to drive around Japan - I told her about  rv repair and insurance in case the RV breaks down.  I certainly admire her but stuff like health care, travel insurance or an emergency number for the RV - she didn’t seems to know at all.  Lucky for her - I was able to give her some last minute tip before she heads out for the around Japan trip with the entrie family.

Mini Laptops For Expats In Japan

Visiting Japan can be quite a lucrative trip if you know a lot of expats living there.  A friend who just came back from a teaching job in Japan told us that laptops are expensive in Japan - plus they come with the Japanese version of software for the operating system.  So if you are going to Japan - you can buy some  cheap laptops or netbooks aka mini laptops and sell it to those working or teaching in Japan - that would be really a paid work trip wouldn’t it. So this friend of mine told us that when he finishes his vacation - he was going to do just that - take some orders from his friends living in Japan and sell them the laptops he brings from here.   But how many laptops can one carry thru’ custom we had asked him out of curiosity.  He said quite a few - in his luggage if we were looking at netbooks - and all he needed to do was to tell custom that they were gifts.  Well, you need to gift wrap them of course.  Haha ! pretty smart and an entrepreneur in the making.

Offices In Japan

I was stationed in Japan for 6 months while a hotel was being built - many years ago and I’ve had found memories of working in Japan - from buying discount office supplies for the hotel - to working on the Standard of Procedure before the hotel was opened.  But working in Japan and the offices in Japan is quite different from working in the West.  While the Japanese are very high tech folks - they believed that getting office supplies are for the women folks in the office - the executive secretary is not any more superior than the other secretaries in the office.  And when you work in Japan - it is preferred that you leave after the boss and not before.  In Japan, the ladies are the ones who make the coffee and tea - and they clear the garbage before leaving.  Men are treated like the king too in the office it seems but you should hear the screaming - at a Japanese office - I don’t know if it is the norm - but the office i was in - was quite the drama.  But I do love Japan and if I had a chance to go back to work - I probably would but not too long.

Mother’s Day

My girlfriend who currently lives in Japan now - wants  a few mothers day gift ideas from me since she won’t be home again this year for Mother’s day.  Now that she is a mom herself, she said she appreciates her mom more than anyone in the world.  I bet a lot of us feels the same way about our mothers eh. And thank God for the internet for one can order flowers or gifts online and have them delivered to our loved ones.

I suggested this Tender Heart Platter for her grandmother too - now isn’t that cute or what!  So for those who are like myself who loved personalized gifts - you could get something like this too - i’m sure your moms, grandmere or even aunts would like this.

Japanese The Smart Consumers

Love my japanese friends and when it comes to buying just about anything - it has gotta be cute first and then the presentation must be equally great but the most important thing is they do their research really good before buying anything.  I called them the smart consumers - the Japanese don’t buy anything that is not of good quality - like my girlfriend who married a Japanese - she said she don’t even buy creatine powder without making sure she reads the real review for it - and if it really works and so forth.  After marrying a Japanese - she like them prefers quality more than quantity.  Even the 100 yen stores in Japan - they only carry the good stuff unlike the ones in the west.

Serene In Kyoto

Given what had been happening around Japan - I was quite pleased to see pictures on my g/f’s facebook - showing me about her short vacation in Kyoto.  Pretty serene as you can see it here - in fact - there were a lot of tourist from around Japan during the time she was there.  Older couples mostly with  social security disability insurance - taking a day drip to Kyoto she thinks. I really think it is so cool that they get all kind of help with their disability insurance - for back home where I am from - I don’t think the government do as much for us as they do in the States and in Japan.  But Japan is a aging country - as you can see the majority of the population are older folks - so it’s good to have the disability insurance in placed because we all know it’s not easy with the health when one gets older.

Kyoto is full of these gardens and tea houses  like this one.

feeding of carp is allowed here.

This place is so serene - according to my girlfriend - her boisterous kids were so calm here she was quite intrigue.  She said if they were like this the whole time - she can even live here.