Lunch at Pegase

Lately i'm a little lazy for cooking. So, few times i went to the Restaurant in the Same building as the school. I have to say that the food taste is nice !

The above menu (This Monday), including a drink (Coke, coffee, tea or similar) is only 490 yen (CHF 5.50) for students, which is very nice.

One interesting thing in japan, is that when you order your menu and the drink, they ask you if you want your drink with your meal, since normally they bring it after lunch. I have no idea why one would like to drink his coke or iced tea after lunch, but it's like this.

Since water is always provided for free, i normally take Iced Coffee after lunch.

Amazing enough, for the same price of a beer in switzerland, i can get a full Menu in Japan :)

Ok, this was a student Price, but on Tuesday, since the restaurant was closed, i walked near the station and i found an special offer for "Tonkatsu-don" and "Miso Soup" for only 390 yen instead of 650 (see the picture below, not taken by me, but showing what "Tonkatsu-don" is).

If you visit japan, Don't forget to try it! :)

My Little niece Sleeps....

She is my little niece Tea. I wonder if i can find a pillow like this big enough for me too! She looks like she is having really nice dreams ... :)

Guilty until Proven Innocent

In Japan, as in other countries, you are Innocent until Proven Guilty. It means, if you are suspected of a crime but there are no evidences, you are free to go.

But in Japan there is an exception ...

Male Japanese, apparently, are very keen to touch women on crowded subways or trains. It is something that happens daily. The above picture is of an article appeared in the magazine "Hiragana Times" talking about this topic.

Although i don't doubt that this happen, things might be a little more complicated. Last year, a woman accused a man of molesting her. The police took him in custody.

In such case, the legal system gets reversed. The police assumes that the guy is guilty and he has to prove his innocence. I have no idea how you can prove you didn't touch someone, since nobody saw anything. The procedure, as stated by the police officer interviewed, is that the guy will be detained until he confesses the crime. It doesn't matter if he is guilty or not. He will not be release nor allowed to contact anyone until a confession for the crime has been made. Once confessed, he is free to go.

In any case, if he admits, he is released, nobody will know and the case is closed with a minor proceeding. The problem is that if the family or the employer finds out, he would be immediately fired and the family might have troubles.

The problem is not with people guilty for the crime, but innocent people. Last year, a woman accused a man of molesting her, to get some money from him. Fortunately, for him, she confessed that the whole thing was a set-up and the matter endend happily.

In the interview, the policeman was asked why men's statements are ignored in such case. The policemen replied that if they allowed man to defend themself taking their statements, they might get away easily and the number of molestors could increase 100 times.

One of the solution proposed was to have mandatory separate train cars for man and women... the problem was how to explain this to families and tourist coming to japan that is not a racial thing but to avoid women being molested...

I witnessed a similar case last year in may. I was travelling on a train at night from Kobe to Kyoto and i was using one of the 4 seats available in the train. The seat next to me was free as well as the one in front of me. in front of me on the left side, was sitting a young woman and she was asleep.

After some time, a strange man came and sat next to me. I was reading a book, so i didn't pay much attention. After some time, i saw that he was slowing moving his hand to touch the woman's knee. At that point i said "What are you doing??". This was enough for him to take of and disappear. What surprised me is that other people in the train saw, but didn't say anything. Only the girl, thanked me and changed seat moving in front of me. We told the train attendant, but i don't think they got him.

So, apparently, maybe out of 100 cases, only few are reported to the police... in which case, the problem might just be much bigger than what they think...

"Homuraisu" - Japanese Homelette

This is the picture of a "Homuraisu". It is an omelette with inside fried rice and topped with seafood. This is one of the many kinds. The original one is just an omelette with fried rice inside and ketchup on the outside.

When you order your "Homuraisu" you can even tell them if you want it small (2 eggs), medium (3 eggs) or large (4 eggs). I'm not sure you can go further, but every egg is counted about 100 yen, so, i guess that if you would want, you could ask for more ;)

I took the medium one with 3 eggs and it was quite satisfying. The Price is around 1,000 yen, so not the cheapest food around here, but still worth to try...it was delicious! :)

Buy our suit and get -4°C !!

This was an add received by mail. If you buy their suits, they guarantee 4 degrees less compared to normal suits. I think what they want to say, is that actually you don't feel soo hot...

But still, i find amazing, the message that they try to give ... but for 20,000 yen, (CHF 250.--) still a bargain price ;) too bad i don't wear wool as I find it kind of ichy...ouch!

I'm away 3 months...and what happens in Europe?

This saturday, looking on amazon, i saw that hey had the Friday Edition of the "Corriere della Sera" for Kindle. So I thought...let's get a copy and see how they are doing back in europe...

Well, I prefer swiss newspapers, less gossips, but since this was the only italian paper i could get, i bought it for Euro 0.75 and started to read...

Wow! I'm away from there 3 months...and a lot of things happened. One of the news said that The formula 1 race events were completely turned upside down. The major players left and apparently there is a big thing going on there. I'm not a F1 or sport fun, so i don't really know what is going, but seems to be a big thing for a business like Car Racing...

4 or more articles where on the "happy time" of the Italian President Berlusconi (see picture) that apparently had some fun with girls in his palace. Well, i don't know, but plenty of articles on this one, enough to quench the thirst for gossips of the readers...

Sure they know how to make reading newspaper fun in italy ;)...

Free Fashion

One nice thing in japan, as in USA is the "Free Fashion" Thing. I wouldn't go and wear myself to different pairs of shoes as one of my classmates did last week, but sometimes, i think in switzerland people is a little too narrow minded on clothing.

For instance, if you wear a shirt that is not perfectly ironed, in switzerland they would look at you a little bit as you were kind of strange. Here, they might notice, but they don't really make a big thing of it. And believe me when i say, that sometimes, what you see, cannot be explained...

Unfortunately, for the time being, you need to take my word for it...because as strange as you can be, and as known japanese are to be fanatics of Photo cameras when they are on holidays, here, is really taken badly if you shoot pictures in the wrong place.

The picture thing has come to this level because some japanese used to go "underwear picture hunting" at train stations. Some used mobile phones, some used hidden cameras. So, now, if they see someone taking pictures, they might not take it the right way.

By the way, i only discovered a while ago, that in japan, mobile phones, even if set to "Quiet Mode", they cannot silent the camera taking pictures. So, you cannot just pretend you are playing with your phone...while you take a picture, or anyone around you, would know instantly what you are doing when they hear the shutter sound...

Sun Umbrellas

In japan, as in major asian countries, girls carry umbrellas all the time. If it rains, to protect them from the rain, if it's sunny, to protect them from the sun.

It has nothing to do with the heat. It has to do with UV Rays and the risk for their skin to become brown. In switzerland, we use any opportunity to lay out in the sun like lizards and hope for a nice browny sun tan. We even have "Sun Shops" where we can get tanned. In japan they cannot believe we actually pay money to become brown!

Well, they say is not ealthy to get to many UV rays, and that's the reason behind it. Actually the real reason is a little bit more complex.

The tradition of a white skin, was there in Europe too. The original meaning was that high-class women and girls, didn't want their skin to become tanned, otherwise they would look like they were working in the fields. Therefore, a pure white skin, would guarantee that the family was well off enough to not have to work, but they had servants.

...believe me... some women here, are soo white, that you wonder if it's ealthy. My opinion: nothing on both extremities is good... and i like to get tanned from time to time ;)

How to Make Japanese Plum Wine!

In japan, is currently Plum season. I should say "Unripe" plum season. Yes, because the only plums on sale, are green, uneatable, plums.

This plums are used to make Plum Wine. I'm always amazed how in japan, everything is organized by "Kit". What I mean by "kit"? Well, besides the instruction sheet above, check this out:

This is the kit to make plum wine. As the instruction states, for 3.6 Liters of Plum wine (not 4!! 3.6!!) you need:

2.0 Kilo of plums (guess what! Already sold in 1kg-sized bags!)
3.6 Liters of Sake (guess what! every bottle is exactly 1.8 L!!)
1.0 Kilo of Fruit Sugar (Notice that the bag has Plum wine on it!!)

Once i've got all the necessary gear and ingredients, i start opening up the big Jar that will be the new home of my plums for the next six months!! (yes! 6 Months of waiting!):

Wash, clean and make tiny holes in each of the plums...

Once done, put all the plums in the Jar, add the sake and the sugar...

Now, once closed, the jar has to stay sealed for 6 months...and once a day need to be turned upside down a few times to keep the sake and the sugar well mixed...

The total investment was 5,200 yen (55 Swiss francs) for about 4 L of Plum wine. In shops, the plum wine costs about 20 swiss francs for 1.5 Liters...but the just have few plums ;)... besides... we would miss all the fun, woudn't we? ;)

Yamada Sensei

Yamada Sensei is our Friday Morning Teacher. He is quite new in the school, but he is catching up quickly in finding ways to catch the class attention ;)

Few days ago, we met his friend "Panda-San"...check it out ;)

JR SUMA Video

This video was taken yesterday at the SUMA Station. One nice thing when waiting for the train, is the music, telling you that a train is approaching. The Music starts about 30 seconds before the train arrives.

I don't know if you can hear birds in the background...they are not birds, are the Station speaker s chirping...but i don't know what is the meaning of the chirping sound... I will investigate it further and report back ;) ...

A Trip to SUMA Beach

Today, was a sunny day. I was looking at the weather forecast for the whole week. My classmates told me about suma beach and i wanted to check it out.

I expected to be nicer, but it was kind of dirty and not really good taken care of. In addition there were a lot of ongoing building work, probably to prepare some facilities for the upcoming summer holidays in july and august.

It's a pity, because the place could really look nice if cleaned up a little. There is stuff lying everywhere. I heard that in summer, the beach you see above, get full during weekends. If i want to find a place where i don't risk to touch a neighbour stretching my arms...i think i might have a chance coming here on weekdays after school (just 20 minutes train ride)...

Let's see how the beach will change in the next few weeks ;)...

Dear Colleagues: Thanks!!

My Colleagues at Acer Europe, when i left, gave me a nice gift. Over $200 in amazon Gift Certificates! Wow! I thought about for a while which books to buy. So, last week, i sent the order, because here in japan, English books are about double price than the retail price in USA. In addition, the choice is really small.

So, I've order about 7 or 8 books...and I've already received some! Thanks again!

Two books above are for the Java 6 certification exam and 3 others For learning Japanese Expressions and Characters.

I would like to take the Sun Certified Programmer Test still this year in the coming months. There is only one problem: Can you believe it? The Testing center is Prometrics, but in japan they have only 3 centers and only test on Java 1.3 and Java 1.4. Moreover, they have announced that the last tests need to be taken before November 30th 2009. I have no idea what happens but it looks like they might shut them down.

So, the alternative choices are: Fly to USA (Hawaii is the nearest place) for about $1000 for the flight and $300 for the test, or Fly to Taiwan for about $400 and $300 for the test. It looks like the most probable choice would be to fly to Taiwan.

Just to give you an idea, Japan has currently 3 open test centers. Taiwan, being smaller than japan, has 44 testing centers.

If I could find a ticket for around $500 to Hawaii... i wouldn't mind spending few extra days relaxing under a palm tree ;)... let's see!

Bunraku: Japanese Puppet Theater

Today, with the school, we went to Osaka and watched Bunraku. Bunraku is the Japanese Puppet Theater. The difference with europe is that the Puppet is moved by 3 peoples. 2 Of them wear a black suit from head to to toe. You don't even see their face.

Apparently Bunraku was born in Osaka long time ago. Here the entrance of the Theater...

For a deeper insight of Some history of the Japanese Buraku, you can check it out on wikipedia.

The settings and the design were really nice, but we were not allowed to take pictures inside.

They kindly showed how the puppet works. The Master, uses one hand to move the head and the right hand. One Helper is responsible for the feet, the second helper for the left hand and, if necessary, help the doll wear other accessories, like a fan or an umbrella during the performance.

Some Japanese never watched Bunraku. If they did, it was when they went to school. Is not something you watch often. I think is more a cultural thing.

That Said, maybe for the difficult language, maybe because it was too "Cultural", half of the class spent the time sleeping during the performance... I hope the Actors and Singers didn't see that ;)

Margarine....

This is a box of Margarine. It looks ordinary except that is salty and has a small door ;). In Japan as in other Asian countries and America (But Not Europe!) Butter and Margarine are salty. I have no idea why. Probably they find it more tasty than their plain version. You can still find the unsalted one, but you really need to look for it.

About the small door... this is an interesting one. How many times you have been using a knife to get some Margarine and then you had to wash it.... wouldn't be handy to leave the knife or spoon already there?

Check this out...

The small door is for leaving a knife or spoon always there, saving time and water ;)

Even with the top on, still looking good ;)

How could i survive without it?...even few seconds, saved in the morning, will help not getting late to school !! ;)

Finally Sunshine! (Only Today!)

Today i took this picture (click on it to see it larger). It was an amazing sunny day! Since i came here about 2 months ago, it has been raining 40% of the time, cloudy 45% and sunny 15%. In fact, starting tomorrow, there will be rain again. By the way, here is now rainy season.

To take the picture i went on the 24th floor of the city hall. Nice view :). There some japanese kids looked at me really interested "Who is he with big eyes and big nose?..."...luckily i'm not green or they would have thought to have found SHREK.

Now is quite a busy time at school. There is a test each week and we need to learn 9 new Kanji (japanese Charachters) every day. That is not too hard. The problem is that each charachter has an average of 3 way of reading it. In addition some kanji are read the same way. Like "HI" can mean "day", "fire", "light", "Shuttle", "Water Pipe", "Ratio", "Mistake", "Maid", "Tombstone", "Scarlet Color" and i have no idea how many others. This is one of the most difficult things of the japanese language. Many words are pronounced identically, no different intonation, but you have to figure out from the context what they are talking about.

I said "one of the difficult things" because there are others. Maybe sometime soon I will introduce you to the good and odds of the japanese language ;)

New week...Happy, Sad and Bio-Weapons...

This was our Whiteboard today. It's about the weekend spent by our Monday Teacher Watanabe-Sensei. She told us that during the past weekend, on saturday, she went to a wedding. She told us about it and wrote some useful words on the whiteboard. They were very happy.

Unfortunately, as soon as they got home (she has two kids), the dog apparently fell down the stairs and died. The poor thing was 13 years old and not in good shape. She said he was really part of the family. She put him in blanket in a paper box, lighted a candle and few Incense sticks and they took turns on watching him the whole night. They said it's custom in japan to watch dead people during the whole night, they did it for the dog, too, since it has been with them quite long time, so they felt they owed it to him as a last goodbye.

In the meantime, during the whole story i was busy trying to breath some oxigen. I have no idea what my classmates eat for breakfast, but the air was really heavy with garlic smell. I've tried to ask some of them and some suggestions were that they probably had some kimchy (spicy cabbage with garlic...some kind of sour taste. I thought they eat it in Korea only, but it seems that in china they eat it a lot, too).

Anyhow I've tried to inquiry at the source of the smell, and the answer was "I had nothing for breakfast". Wow! i thought...then it was from yesterday night...

I heard soo many theories about Garlic during the past years. People eating garlic swear that garlic has no side effect if eaten as they say. Some say "If you eat it Row doesn't smell". Others say "If you cook it, no smell", some others "Swallow it in one piece", "Smash it and drink it with water", "Just add it in big pieces to the food and take it out when done cooking". Then others, defending the natural healing power, suggest to mix it with pure alcohol, leave it there for few weeks, and drink a spoon each morning. But guys, i've always smelled it, that's why i've enquired and you told me how you got to eat it daily... no matter how, and no matter how healthy is... it kills anyone near you ;) !

I remember when i spent few weeks in Thailand on holidays. There, everyone eat garlic everyday and quite some amount. But it didn't bother me too much...maybe because in thailand, is soo hot, that you almost never find yourself in closed spaces. In the outside, then, is not too bad...

Well, history tells that if your counterpart has a powerful weapon, you need to have a mightier one... watch out classmates... you don't want me to have to do that...do you? ;)

M/V African Kingfisher

Here it's me, in front of a new Ship, the M/V African Kingfisher that was ready for her first Sailing on June 6th. I've never seen an event like this, so...here we go!

The boat was really big...long about 200 meters and about 32 meters tall and 18 meters wide. An engine of 8,200kW x 110rpm. Made by Kawasaki. The "Launch" was scheduled for 11.00 AM. I was there already at 9.30. By 11.00 AM when they started the speech, i guess some 1500 people were present. Few music pieces played by the Firefighters Brass band and a few words of Farewell, at 11:10 the champagne bottle kissed good luck...

After exactly 15 minutes, the ship was sent to Sea...

"Have a Safe trip! King-Fisher-San!"

Follow your Lane (on the right Side!)

Well, or maybe not...the right side is not the RIGHT side, the Right side is the Left side. Yes, because for the ones that didn't know yet, in Japan, you need to drive on the left side of the road. The same is for walking.

The above is a stair at the train station, during the rush hour, IS IMPERATIVE that you follow your lane or consequences might just be too catastrophic.

So, remember (and don't do like i do...and always forget) that in japan, you need to keep the left to keep safe! ;)

Don't trust that Cheap Pillow...

Well...here again, going for shopping. This time the target was a "Pillow". I went to Daiei and on the 4th or 5th floor, here they are. Plenty of choices, different prices.

I spent a while wondering which one to take. I saw many below 1000 yen (12 swiss francs) so, it was just matter of choosing one. One that caught my attention was the one above, 750 yen, and guaranteed of real feathers. "Wow" i thought... it was inside a plastic bag, but at the touch seemed soft, so i went for it.

Well...imagine what... Yeah, the pillow is made of feathers...but...Chicken Feathers. That's why was so cheap. I know, I know, you will tell me "don't be a spoiled kid, just enjoy it!"...well guys, i really tried !! Believe me! but... the pillow smells really like chicken home.

Have you ever been in a chicken farm? Remember the smell? Well, it's really that one! Believe me when i say, that it was impossible to put my head on it...the smell was really too strong. I'm not sure if and how the washed the feathers...but no way i can use it. I've tried to leave it out of the bag getting fresh air for a couple of nights...but no changes.

Let's say, that if you are a former farmer and you miss your old job...let me know, i will ship it to you ;) a gift, really!

ATMs and Banking Hours

After a couple of months since my account was opened, i finally transferred some money from Switzerland to help me survive. Interesting is that after you open an account in japan under Student Visa, your account is closely monitored for the first 6 months. Therefore, if you want to send money from abroad, you need to call the bank first and tell them the amount that will be credited, i have no idea what happens if you don't do it... maybe they'll just send the money back, but i thought is not worth to try it even if i'm sure you might have loved to know it ;)

Anyhow, everything went smooth. A transfer from switzerland to Japan, costs Fr. 25.-- as transfer costs in switzerland and costs about Fr. 5.-- as credit cost in Japan. It means, for a single transfer, you need to pay in total about 30 swiss francs (20 euro).

So, during these days, for the first time, i went and tried an ATM. Surprise surprise! If you withdraw money outside banking hours, there is a commission fee between 105 yen and 450 yen. (between 0.90 cents - 3.80 euro). Some ATMs (like the one above) i think is charging a minimum of 105 anytime. If you withdraw at your own bank's ATMs you pay only 150 yen, if outside banking hours.

Actually, i thought ATMs are supposed to be FOR outside banking hours. I didn't expect to have to pay any fee withdrawing money at my bank's ATM. In switzerland, in USA and in Germany, at the time i lived there, there was no commission fee for withdrawals....

Anti-spill Coffee To go

This one has been a busy week...that's why the post for Wednesday and the days thru Sunday, have been posted only now...

We had some unannounced test on wednesday and i had to study all at the last minute. The test didn't go well, but i will have time to catch up. Chinese people seems not to have difficulty to keep up. I think their advantage is anyhow limited...as sometimes they know how to write "Car" because they know the sign (Kanji), but they don't know how to pronounce it... is kind of an odd thing, but nevertheless, they have an advantage.

We, foreigners, have been excempted from the Kanji Test. I wonder why, maybe they feel it's too difficult for us...so, here we go! I asked the school to include me in the daily testing. It means i need to keep up with 9 new kanji a day. Let's see ;)

So, to manage the brain load, i bought a Milk-Coffee (cafe-o-re). This shop has an interesting think. If you look at the picture above, you can see that the opening of the cup, is sealed using the spoon (see below). It's the first time i see this trick. Normally other coffee shops, they put a sticker on the opening so that on your way to work or school, you don't spill it. Really useful! :)

Japanese Anti Stress

This is a Japanese Anti Stress... It's a box-like-device where on the side you have an opening to insert your finger. Sensors inside the opening transfer your finger movements to the display...

The purpose of the game is to try to catch the little guy 5 times. If you can manage you advance of level...

In the next level, the little guy gets more skilled and uses some Karate moves as well.

Beside this game, there are other 3 or 4 games, like bouncing a ball or playing with water drops. It's kind of interesting, but the reaction is kind of slow when you move your finger...

So, in the end, i'm not sure if its more an Anti-Stress or a Make-You-Nervous Device ;)

First day of Summer!

You read correctly! Today, 1st of June, is the first day of Summer in Japan. Unlike back in Europe where Summer will start on June 21st, here it starts June 1st. As i heard it's the same in China and Hong Kong. Therefore, as we have been explained at school, Today kids can change the uniform to the summer type, a.k.a. they can wear shorts.

How to spend the first day of Summer? Well, the weather is not soo hot. We have about 26 degrees at the moment and a little windy, so it's not too hot and at night is kind of chilly... so, today i went to the park near the school and ate my 2 rice balls and read a book for a while.

I'm currently reading a book called "Shockwave" which tells the story of the first Atomic Bomb, from both sides...the Americans...and the Japanese. I Will not go into the matter of right or wrong, but if you want to get a feeling of what happened during that time, this book is really well written. I'm about at 30% of the book right now.

One of my dormitory roomate, didn't start well this season. Going to school with his bycicle he had an accident and was taken to the hospital. He had quite a concussion on his face and legs but nothing very serious, but still, he needed medical attention. Well, imagine what... the Thai Guy in our class witnessed the accident...and... just kept walking to school. In class when we asked were is our classmate (since we saw him at the dormitory) he just said..."Oh, he had an accident, i think they will take him to the hospital". We wondered why he didn't stay there and help him, since his japanese is quite good as he has been living in Japan for the past 4 years... I guess we will never know...

Anyway, beside this little accident, on the afternoon i bought a ticket for the "Star Trek" movie (see picture). The first day of the month and the 16th day of the month, the ticket is almost half price, 1000 yen (12 francs) instead of 1800 yen (20 francs).... If you like adventure and Sci-fi... it's a nice movie :)