Posts

Population Control US, Japan and Singapore

Image
US has a lot of land and welcome immigrants (to a certain extent of course). Japan wants to welcome foreigners but difficult to accommodate foreigners. Singapore welcomes foreigners despite not enough land...

Momiji Corridor at Kawaguchiko for red leaves viewing in autumn

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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...