Posted in Ramblings on Dec 18th, 2007
Well i can live without them, it’s just wouldn’t be as catchy a title, and there’s a lot more than five too.
Truth be known, there’s really only one i must have and that’s for my Internet Banking, so i guess this is just a list of a few of the sites i visit on a day to day basis. Maybe there’s something in this lot that interests you?
Japan Probe for the lighthearted goings on in around Japan. Many an article featuring Japanese Gravure Idols and the stuff you won’t hear so much about in main stream media.
Sly Bald Guys and their blog for all the tips on caring for a bald head. Let’s face it, Bald is Beautiful, let’s keep it that way.
John Cow a parody site based on John Chow and all about “Making Moooney Online”
News On Japan for a collation of interesting news articles from various sources in Asia, they happen to be nice enough to pick up my feed on a regular basis.
The Age the newspaper from the last state i lived in, Melboure Australia, before moving to Japan. I’ll be back there for the first time in a year this Friday.
Paul Hartrick for anything Apple or Vista related along with Photography and anything Japan
It wouldn’t be a post of mine if i didn’t have a picture of a couple of Japanese Melons, so to break the list up a bit and add a bit of colour, here you go.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Japan, Photo Hunt on Dec 15th, 2007
One of the best things to come out of the recent competition i held was my discovery of new sites, and specifically The Photo Hunt.
The idea behind this site is that each week there’s a new theme you’re supposed to follow. The themes are already listed through the first few months of next year so there’s no great surprise as to what comes next week. If nothing else it’s a good way for me to get the most out of my Canon Camera and also learn new words in Japanese.
I intend taking part in The Photo Hunt as often as i can and i’ll be sure to try and put a Japanese flavour into each of my photos. Here’s one i dug up from a few months back, i’m not going to win any competitions for photography but i’ll still have fun trying to get a photo for the theme each week.
This weeks theme is as the title suggests - Small or Chisai (ちさい) in Japanese. I had 2 photos i wanted to post for my version of “Small”. The first was taken at a summer Hanami Party in Hon-Atsugi, the area i work, and the second at Meiji-Jingu Shrine in Harajuku, just near my home, on New Years Day this year.
On the topic of Harajuku, i had an email earlier this week from Erik Van Loon asking me to plug this weekends ‘Fight For Love’ so here you go Erik.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Food, Japan, Ramblings on Dec 13th, 2007
Even though Christmas isn’t that widely celebrated by the Japanese the month of December is full of drinking parties and celebrations to see out the end of the year and get ready to bring in the new one. I’ve never attached that much importance to Christmas but having all these year end drinking parties does atleast give me some kind of feeling i used to get back home in the lead up to Christmas, even if the purpose of them differs somewhat.
In a busy week full of Bonenkai , a Japanese tradition which means “forget the year gathering”, the local Karaoke bar i often frequent has decided to close it’s doors and re-open in the new year as an Izakaya Restaurant.
Tonight it’s on again as Mama-san closes the doors on Sudo 1, a local Karaoke bar than if nothing else was great Japanese practice for me. Late nights in a bar frequented by typical Japanese Salary Man types is a great way for me to practice my Japanese communication skills and on the odd occasion a spot of Nampa. Actually, last night at my local Sushi bar, as the clock struck 11, it dawned on me i could justify my many hours of drinking each night by calling it “Japanese Conversation Classes”, so from here on in, i will.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Making Money, Technology on Dec 11th, 2007
Towards the end of last month i made a spur of the moment decision to buy a new Canon Camera. This left me with the issue, “What do i do with my existing camera?” ….. hold a competition of course.
What are the benefits / reasons behind me holding a competition? There were 2 main reasons;
1: New Readers - the competition was a good way to draw new readers to my blog by getting the message out through other blogs.
2: Existing Readers - keep those people that come back and visit my blog regularly interested and encourage them to become regular commentators.
The result of all this was a very positive one. I had a total of 302 entries in to the draw for the Camera. I sold some ad space, i had a good increase in subscribers to the blog and a few key rankings within the blogging domain rose favourably, namely my Alexa Ranking and also my Technorati Ranking
Will i hold another competition again in the future? You bet i will, in my opinion, and now experience, it’s a much better return on investment for your advertising dollar than a once off review from another site. When will i hold another competition, i don’t know, i would definitly suggest in the not too distant future or at the VERY least, the same time next year when the new Canon Camera is out and i need to upgrade.
Read Full Post »
Posted in Japan on Dec 7th, 2007
I`d never heard of the term Salary Man prior to coming to Japan, now i hear it and often refer to it all the time, infact i am one. A Salary Man basically describes a Japanese businessman aged between 25 and 50 living a very typical existance of long hours at work, long hours at play.
Living in a city like Tokyo i can totally relate to it, Tokyo is driven by routine. Whether it`s catching to train, working or socialising, everything is planned and executed by intervals of 1 minute. As a lover of routine it`s great, although even for me i sometimes find it frustrating to be driven by such a time managed life. I kid you not, when i say, i see the same people day in day out on the train, at the station, in the same seat on the bus, the list goes on. I don`t think they notice me as much as i notice them, especially the cute girl who catches the 7:15 and looks better in a skirt or dress than she does jeans, but i digress.
My schedule is repeated day in day out with nothing spontaneous about it, but i still love living in Tokyo and i busted my first few `public un-alcohol assisted` Nampa moves on the return journey the other night, the result was less than ideal, but it made for a good laugh.
Read Full Post »
