EVACOMICS BLOG

I was shooing a spider out of my room to the veranda when I spotted this large cute looking praying mantis. If you remember, my place had a lot of insects like worms , cicadas and mosquitoes . However, this was my first time seeing a live praying mantis in such close proximity. It certainly looked clean and green like our Singapore courtesy frog. Its body was approximately 7-8cm and its head can turn backwards. I was crazily taking macro photos and video for about 10mins. 在趕一隻蜘蛛出去陽台時，發現了一隻又大又可愛的螳螂！假如讀者還記得的話，我的房間有很多昆蟲類，例如 蟲子 ， 蟬 和 蚊子 。不過，這是我第一次看到還活著的螳螂!!! :D 它的身體就像我們的新加坡綠化青蛙一樣綠油油的。身長約7-8cm，頭也能往後轉呢！我就這樣在那裡蹲了約10分鐘狂拍照片。

If you think that girls keep their places clean and tidy all the time, you are wrong! In fact in our international dormitory , kitchens and wash basins at the girls' floor are even more dirty than the guys'. Besides lacking in hygiene, some lack common sense as well. Eggs, curry, mushrooms, vegetables, rice, seeds, and even plastic wrappers are some typical recipe to our dirty sink mixed dish. Even the filter inside the kitchen sink was never emptied by the culprits themselves, causing the sink to be clogged all the time. 假如你認為女生都一定保持場所乾淨又整潔的話，你就大錯特錯了！特別是在我們的 國際宿舍 裡，女生的廚房和洗面所竟然比男生的髒！有些女生除了沒有清潔意識之外，還缺乏基本常識。倒入水盆裡的雜物包括煎蛋，咖哩，香菇，菜，飯，種子，甚至連塑膠包裝都不放過！水盆裡的過濾網也都完全沒清理，導致水盆常常堵塞。

Well old friends and readers will know that I'd now "fallen from grace". From a rich lady with credit cards in hand, flashy branded handbags and always attending fashion shows, to a poor scholar living in a tiny dorm in Tokyo eating cup ramen (well, actually it's sushi). 讀過以前貴婦系列的讀者就知道我以前是一手拿信用卡，一手握名牌包，常去看時裝秀的貴婦啦。但是現在已經淪落到一名住在東京破宿舍，吃著杯拉麵的窮學生（其實我是吃壽司的）。 So here's my tips to save some money in Tokyo: 所以這是我在東京省錢的一些小祕方和大家分享： 1. If you need to buy books, either purchase used books from stores like Bookoff , or purchase a  Tosho card from a discounted tickets store . Use the discounted Tosho card to pay for all your books which are new, at those big bookstores. 假如需要買書，就去 Bookoff 買二手，或到 折扣票店買折扣的圖書卡 。買新書就用那張圖書卡買。 2. Even better, just stand in the bookstore and finish your book. I saved money for 2 magazines this way! 更好的方法：站在書店內看完書。我因此省下2份雜誌的錢！ 3. For girls, if you want to satisfy your craving for shopping, you can buy those magazines with freebies. Many magaz

After sticking around for 6 months, aliens in Japan are allowed to open a bank account besides Japan Post Bank to access more banking services including online banking. However here's the catch, if you arrive as a group of 7 foreigners, the folks at Mitsubishi UFJ will try to split you up and have a few people apply for the account themselves at isolated "TV rooms". 過了6個月，在日居留的外國人可以申請任何銀行的戶頭來進行網上交易。可是當我們7個外國人到了三菱UFJ銀行時，工作人員竟然要我們幾個分開去“電視房”來自己申請戶頭。 I was persuaded to enter into a "TV room" which was an isolated cubicle with a computer kiosk which could perform webcam functions with a personnel stationed remotely. I talked with her using the attached phone receiver and she'd bow, stay bowed, until the webcam screen went off each time. This marvelous piece of high-tech equipment combined with first-class service was supposed to speed up the application and reduce workload for the bankers. However, they forgot that I am a bloody foreigner with limited Japan

One thing to enjoy in Japan besides food and scenery is shopping. Especially if you're on a tight budget like me, buying Japanese magazines with freebies will actually satisfy any shopaholic's craving. They usually cost cheap like 700-1500 yen, and come with branded freebies, usually a collaboration between the magazine and the design house. Because of this, the "freebies" are usually well-designed and don't look like those cheapos in Singapore. 在日本，除了享受美食和美景，就是逛街了。假如妳像我一樣沒什麼錢的話，購買附有贈品的雜誌（稱：付錄）將滿足任何購物狂的慾望。而且一本雜誌的售價約700-1500yen之間，相當便宜。因為贈品是雜誌和品牌公司一起合作的，所以設計方面都蠻好看，不像一般在新加坡找到的那種便宜貨。

Finally Fall is here as the weather gets cooler and cooler. Eating mackerels is a Japanese customs or habit to welcome the new season. This also marks the end of our simmering hot days! 秋季終於來了！ 吃秋刀魚是日本人歡迎新季節的習慣，也代表炎熱夏天的結束！

Discount ticket shops are shops where people sell their unwanted tickets, cards and vouchers, and where people can buy them at a discount of up to 5% off the original price. The shops are always located around major train stations with a shinkansen stop. In Shinjuku, there are many outside the West gate and I find that the furthest one provides the best savings, although negligible to most people. 折扣票店賣的是比市價便宜5%的各類門票，車票，讀書卡，電話卡，購物券等。因為這些都是那些不需要它們的人賣出去的，所以大家可放心購買，都沒問題的。店鋪通常都位於有新幹線的主要電車站附近。在新宿西口也有不少，越遠的會賣得越便宜。 These shops sell anything from concert and baseball match tickets, shinkansen tickets, rail passes, department store vouchers, to telephone and Tosho cards. 任何演奏票，演唱會入門票，賽票，新幹線車票，電車票，購物券，電話卡或圖書卡都能在這些店買到。