EVACOMICS BLOG

I am not sure if it is because my friend looked like a foreigner during my latest trip to Japan or sales staff are now more courageous to speak English. Even an " obaasan " (auntie) waitress could ask us "English Menu?", which was quite a surprise for me. It seems that the depreciating yen really helped Japanese tourism and the service line is finally picking up English. Now... I wonder if that Immigration Bureau at Shinagawa has more staff who could speak English or Chinese. It was strange that nobody there could speak a foreign language although everyone who goes there is a foreigner. Luckily the forms are in English and Japanese, whew!

Yup, it is a battle at our airports with people and carts crowding near the belt... I miss flying~

If you want a nice restaurant in Tokyo to chill out with friends/colleagues and experience traditional Japanese culture at the same time, this is it! Shinjuku Awaodori Restaurant  (新宿 阿波おどり) is a new Japanese traditional dance themed restaurant located right outside Shinjuku station's East exit and sits right next to ABC Mart (shoe shop). Very convenient!

Kochia is actually Bassia scoparia (syn. Kochia scoparia), which is a kind of grass that turns red during fall. You can see the sea of red at Hitachi Seaside Park (ひたち海浜公園) in October but 19th Oct was the last day in 2014 to see this plant before they change to brown.

Kawagoe Festival is an annual event held every year in the 3rd weekend of October. The place is within 40mins train ride from Ikebukuro and has buildings preserved from the Edo period.

Based on Trompenaar's dimensions of culture: Internal Direction Versus Outer Direction (How People Relate to Their Environment) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/seven-dimensions.htm Americans are vocal about their opinions and believe they can change their environment. On the other hand, Japanese tend to avoid conflicts and remain silent to maintain harmony with other people. Foreigners often find it irritating because we do not understand if their silence means consent, still thinking, or rejected. As for Singaporeans, we are a mix of both due to our traditional values but westernised education. Previous cultural dimensions: Collectivist and Individualist Neutral and Emotional Universalist and Particularist Specific and Diffuse Achievement and Ascription Sequential Time vs Synchronous Time

Akihabara Well actually we went to Tsukiji for early sushi lunch first but I won't blog about it since I already covered the topic in my  Tsukiji article  last year. Do note that they will be moving out of Tsukiji in early 2016 to allow redevelopment for Olympics 2020.