Posts

Momiji Corridor at Kawaguchiko for red leaves viewing in autumn

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This year hasn't been good to see red leaves due to the more than usual number of rainy days. One of the popular spots is the "Momiji Kairou" at Lake Kawaguchi. Momiji means red leaves and the English translation can be "Momiji Tunnel" or "Maples Corridor" although they are two separate but close-by places on the map. A "Momiji Matsuri" festival is held every year from the end of October to mid November with road stalls and romantic night illumination so it is a popular destination during November for people to see both Mt Fuji and red leaves.

Break Time during Life Drawing Sessions

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I was surprised when I attended a life drawing session here and all the artists flipped their pages as soon as a break was announced as if they are fearful of people seeing what they drew... Perhaps Japanese do not like to show off their work and prefer to keep things to themselves...

Tokyo One Piece Tower

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Tokyo One Piece Tower is an indoor amusement park based on the famous manga/anime series "One Piece". It was officially opened in March 2015 with much hype, so is it worth the trip and your 3,000yen?

CLIHO Shimoakatsuka Shared House for long-term stay

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It is very difficult for foreigners to rent apartment in Japan due to language barrier and lack of guarantor. The rental procedure is also very complex and you are required to pay lots of fees like gift money, key-change fee, agent fee, deposit and first month rental. I blogged about this bad experience 4 years ago when I first went for my house hunting: Rental Nightmare in Tokyo . However with this CLIHO shared house, you can rent your own private room in a Japanese house setting and environment easily.

Odd Japanese English: High Touch

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High Touch in Japanese actually means high five! I guess they don't like to assert too much force when happy?

First time to Tai Chung, Taiwan

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Feng jia Night Market 逢甲夜市 This was my 3rd time to Taiwan but I had never visit Tai Chung City. Locals say that the only night market that is crowded all the time is the Feng Jia Night market. My brother booked an airbnb location close to the night market so it was really convenient to visit there almost every night. However because I was traveling with my mum, siblings and young nephew, so I had to help bring back food each time...

Translation of article on Vietnamese newspaper

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There was a publication on Tuoi Tre, which I was told is one of the biggest daily newspaper for youth in Vietnam this morning. Here is a quick translation by Doanh Nguyen from  Vietnam IPR Infringement  to update my readers: ------------------------------------- Foreign author requests Muc Tim magazine to compensate 2,300 USD. http://tuoitre.vn/tin/van-hoa-giai-tri/tac-gia-nuoc-ngoai-de-nghi-bao-muc-tim-phai-boi-thuong-2300-usd/991168.html Surrounding a series of incidents where comics on Muc Tim magazine was found to be originated from a foreign author's work made online community tumultuous. On Oct 25, talking with Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Khac Cuong – Muc Tim’s Chief Editor, said that after he was informed of this incident, Muc Tim magazine found that these comics have been sent from a reader collaborator for a comics corner of an entertainment sector in Muc Tim. Muc Tim magazine discussed with the author Evangeline Neo, and then cut off royalties to that reader and tr

Eating in the street of Japan is considered rude

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There is an exception if you are visiting a festival or fair in Japan where there are many street food stalls. However, people still tend to gather at one place to eat finish their food first before moving on :P~ (BTW, I originally planned to post a comic about the recent incident, but because I received a good reply, I decided not to go ahead but post on my Patreon account only instead).

Tạp chí dành cho tuổi tin Việt Nam: Mực Tím lấy cắp tác phẩm của Evacomics mà không thừa nhận (Vietnamese version)

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This is the Vietnamese version of my original article: " Vietnamese teenage magazine: Muc Tim stole Evacomics artwork and refused to admit ". Thanks to Doanh Nguyen for the translation! Tôi đã được thông báo vào ngày 4/9 bởi một người hâm mộ ở Việt Nam, người này muốn xác nhận với tôi xem tôi có cho phép tạp chí có tên là “Mực Tím” sử dụng các tác phẩm truyện tranh của tôi vì đã thấy chúng trên vài số báo. Tôi đã sốc và trả lời là không. Bởi vì tôi không hiểu tiếng Việt, tôi đã đăng việc này lên trang facebook (như hình ở trên) để tìm kiếm sự giúp đỡ cho việc liên hệ với nhà xuất bản nhằm giải quyết vấn đề này. Sau khi nhiều người hâm mộ “tấn công” trang facebook của họ, họ đã buộc phải trả lời tôi vào ngày hôm sau bằng một tài khoản gmail miễn phí từ một người không rõ chức vụ nói rằng đó là một sự cố kỹ thuật và sếp của họ thì đang đi nghỉ mát…. Luật sư bạn tôi nói với tôi rằng việc đó không đúng luật và tôi nên yêu cầu Tổng biên tập của họ phải liên lạc với tôi

Vietnamese teenage magazine: Muc Tim stole Evacomics artwork and refused to admit

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I was alerted on 4 September from a fan in Vietnam, who wanted to verify with me if I had given permission for this magazine called "Muc Tim" to use my comics because they had been appearing for several issues. I was shocked and replied no. Because I don't understand any Vietnamese, I posted the above on my Facebook page to seek help to contact the publisher to settle this issue. After fans bombarded their FB page, they were forced to reply me the next day with a gmail account from someone with an unknown job title saying it was a technical mistake and their head is on vacation ... My lawyer friend told me it doesn't look right and I should demand their editor contact me through a proper company email. So I requested and their editor contacted me to ask for my bank account information to transfer my royalty and said they will also publish an apology on issue #37. I gave them my account number and asked how much they will be paying. At the same time, fans were