Distinctively different yet similarly invariant...

Been living in the darkages...

2010-08-26T20:57:00.007+09:00

Lord! I see the light. What a revelation it has been!

Recently, I pampered myself to a little bit of technology. I got myself an HTC Legend. I must have flipped for the last 2 weeks or so. At least my wife seems to be very much irked by new a new competition on the block :). I must admit, I have been totally engrossed by its little 3.2 inch AMOLED screen, not to mention a host of downloaded apps that I have just begun to immerse myself in.

Now that technology is more affordable, in the form of Android mobile phones, I think that the lives of those who embrace technology will be turned topsy turvy, yet again. To me, this is at least as big as email was in the 90s.

As an academic, I see that a whole new mindset is needed to make full use of this technology in the classroom. Not unlike how podcasting of lectures changed the lecture theatre landscapes of yesteryears (what am I saying...). I mean, people are going to have to get used to the invasion of smart phones into their lives. Soon all school kids will carry one. And teachers will have to adapt their syllabus to make full use of this device. Right off the top of my head, I'd say that programming skills for smart phones will be a must for future computer science students. Engineering students would have take Linux more seriously to be able to access the hardware inside these phones. Make a bridge or building and embed these phones into the structure to monitor for seismic activities etc. It suddenly opens up a whole new learning and living experience.

Well, I am not going to let the smart phone bandwagon pass me by and not doing anything about it this time. I hereby pronounce myself an amateur Android App developer. Proud of the fact that I posted my first, and not by any fat chance my last, forum reply here too).

Amen.

Just swear it, you'll feel much better

2009-07-28T20:34:00.008+09:00

I feel a bit out of whack today. So pardon the rude entry.

To me, and I am pretty sure everyone of you out there, learning a new language is a daunting task. There's an easier way, of course. Start with swear words first. It's fun, easy to remember, and most of all, it makes you feel good/bad. Either way you feel a little lighter, if you are like me and understood one of my past lecturers who thinks that a joke is not effective unless it is vulgar. Or my favourite, "how can he talk if he ain't vulgar" from an unknown Hong Kong actor.

I didn't know why but suspect that our brains are wired in such a way as to make swearing evolutionary profitable? Now scientist thinks that swearing also eases pain and lessen stress.

I must admit that I had lost my sense of humour a few years ago. I think being Permanently head-Damaged has something to do with it. Anyway a few days ago, I had a whale of a time as I silently thought to myself about asking my guest if they wanted Dilmah tea ('tiu-mär-chä) and subsequently burst into laughter. It's nice to have a laugh once in a while. Sorry if you didn't get the joke. Perhaps if you speak Teochew you might get this one?

Local products

2009-07-05T20:42:00.010+09:00

If you ever talk to Uncle Merv, inadvertently you will come to the topic in which he is adamant that local products are the best in the world. Well to be fair, occasionally, he does talk about Nivea cream, which purportedly originated from German. When I talk to older people here, the converstion always gets a little emotional when it comes to buying a product with the kangaroo logo on it. Well, almost always more emotional without.

There was an article in the Age today, about locals being drawn to purchase products which has this logo affixed to it. It goes further, and divided the consumers into those between 18 and 45 and those aged 45 and over. A study of 900 people by TNS found that while the two generations may support local products, they have different reasons for doing that. Generations X or Y who see themselves as more globally connected, are less emotionally attached to this notion. The fact that something is made locally appeals to them only because they perceive local products to be fresher or of better quality. This is in contrast to the older generation who support local products because they think that they are, in a way, helping to create jobs and in doing that make Australia a stronger country. Either way, this creates local demand for local products, which is a good thing.

If you go to Japan, the same sentiment applies. Over there, things can even go to extremes, where a competing product is never ever imported. Seriously, I have never seen Hyundai cars, or Samsung cameras in my six years living in Japan. I am pretty sure there are thousands of budget conscious people there who would not mind getting a similarly spec-ed product with a lower pricetag. I know I would.

I remember when I was in my secondary school days, there was a government campaign in Malaysia which encouraged people to buy Made in Malaysia products. Beli-lah barangan buatan Malaysia, the then Malaysian premier would urge us. The idea was pretty much the same. Spend money on locally made products to keep the economy going, stave off unemployment, and prevent precious local currency from flowing out of the country. Except at that time, the mentality of the general public was that local products were very much inferior to imported goods. So, the idea didn't catch on very well then. Nowadays, with a proliferation of companies that are promise tax breaks to come ashore, a lot of consumer products like TVs and fridges are made in Malaysia. How times has changed, the computer that you are reading this blog on could very well have been assembled in Malaysia or at least the chips inside it is. Now, I feel proud to buy good quality made in Malaysian goods. Some may argue that local currency are still flowing out when these foreign companies report back to headquarters. At least, spill over effects like generation of jobs are still there.

With the global economy in such a mess now, it is no wonder that people are more cautious about spending. But is it really good advice to be biased towards locally made products no matter the cost? In times like this, I am reminded of the old saying, "Don't be penny wise but pound foolish". I will start to grow my own vegetables, only if the time spent doing it, outweighs the benefits that I get. So, unfortunate as it may seem, I don't see why I shouldn't buy cheap imports. In the long term, it doesn't make economic sense to support an inefficient way of doing things. If a farmer somewhere in the world can produce a cheaper way to grow rice, I would not reinvent the wheel and plough my own padi fields. I'd just buy it from the supermarket and choose to spend my time making an iPhone which that farmer may want to trade for. Makes sense? What do you think?

Our hormones and the economy

2009-02-12T03:12:00.015+09:00

The drastic meltdown of the finance world is a subject which is being scrutinised under the microscope of not only economists but recently, scientists. Now, men are being blamed for this unfortunate worldwide event. Scientists who study traders in action found fluctuating levels of testosterone and cortisol. It was found that the levels of testosterone tended to correlate with the size of profit, while cortisol levels rose when the trader suffered increased volatility [1].

Such profound insight! Who would have thought that a couple of nanometer-sized molecules caused the collapse of global finance companies, bankrupt an entire country and make millions of people unemployed. Before we get too carried away with this failure attributed to hormone in men. Let's review the history of science, and scientists. The same hormones surely must have played its role during the defining moments for Archimedes, Newton, and Einstein.

So, while we may point the blaming finger on greedy men who gets a kick out of messing the economy of the entire world, we should keep things in perspective as these men are 99.9% similar in chemical composition to scientists whose contributions have helped advance human civilization.

[1] A. Wasley (Feb 2009), "Blame men for global meltdown," The Daily Telegraph, [Online]. Available: http://www.news.com.au"

中途半端

2008-03-31T12:08:00.001+09:00

Now this is a very useful phrase. 中途半端（ちゅうとはんぱ）. If you remember, not too long ago we dealt with two words from this phrase 「半端ない」. Here, 中途半端 is used to express dissatisfaction or regret over a job not well done. The closest English equivalent is half-hearted or in the case of a slang half-ass.

Let's take a look at an interesting example. Dave's Japanese boss is expecting a full report on the effects of margarine mixed in honey lime juice and seal blood on the appetite of a desert survivor by Friday. Dave, who comes from the North Pole, could not in his life fathom what a desert is like, just made something up. Now, when his boss receives a half-page report about how a desert survivor would drink the concoction anyway, he would remarked 「デーブさん、これは中途半端な努力やな．．．」. In English, it would be "Dave, I hate to say this to you, but I think this is the most half-ass job I have ever seen in my life..."

OK, now you will be able to go out and express your dissatisfaction to customer service people, the newspaper delivery guy, and friendly neighbors in a natural Japanese way. New friends will be made today!

The ways to a man's heart

2008-02-19T15:45:00.016+09:00

I would be lying if I told you that the stomach is the only way to a man's heart. I think there are three main channels to a man's heart. One is through his stomach, another through his eyes, and the last, well, make a wild guess. The first channel is actually a well known fact, and is the topic of this blog. The second has to do with us humans being creatures of sight, I mean we depend heavily on our sight in our daily lives. So it is only natural that we get pretty excited about what we see. Finally, the last channel, let's just say that it has to do with our biological reproductive urge.

While in Japan, all three channels will automatically shift into hyperdrive. But, let's limit this article to food for the time being. Having been deluged with a barrage of spicy food since young, my initial impression of Japanese food was that they were all pretty bland. Unlike tabasco sauce-laced pizza or a typical Szechuan steamboat affair, it is generally agreed that Japanese food does not assault our gastronomical senses. It takes time to get acquainted with and grow fond of Japanese cuisine. Recently, I am rediscovering Japan from a different perspective. Through its food.

I had yakiniku (焼肉) or grilled beef lunch today. Coming into existence into the Japanese gourmet scene only fairly recently as a foreign import, yakiniku is basically beef slices barbequed over open fire. There would be nothing much to say about yakiniku using imported beef, however yakiniku using wagyu (和牛) or Japanese beef need only be tried once to understand how mind blowingly delicious it is. The restaurant I had wagyu yakiniku this afternoon had the most perfect setting. Traditional Japanese music, antique decors and ambient lighting all served to heighten my mood for the feast.

Wagyu meat is tender and juicy even after being grilled well done. I don't know how true it is, but I once heard that Japanese-bred cows live a life of luxury, being served beer and massaged until all their fat disperse into the meat. In the past, only the rich and affluent could afford wagyu, but now with recent cost cutting measures hitting everywhere across Japan, even average Joes like me can afford a nice wagyu lunch. Still, a typical meal might cost 2-3 times what you would pay for an average lunch in Japan.

I truly enjoyed my lunch today. After I paid the cashier, and stepped out of the restaurant, I got a strange feeling that I just had my first out of this world experience. It was that astounding.

半端ない

2008-02-19T13:51:00.004+09:00

"That's just unbelievable". How many times did you wanted to say something like that in Japanese but couldn't think of a better phrase. There's a neat phrase that sums up that feeling. And it's 半端じゃない（はんぱじゃない） or just 半端ない（はんぱない）.

So for example, when you see the Big Mac hamburger tower on the left, your first impulse might be to say, "Oh, my god, that's an unbelievably tall hamburger." In Japanese, you would say　「おっと！それは半端ないです」.

半端ない is usually used as an adjective. Stressing the absolute totality of word following it. An example would be 「彼は半端ないお金持っているね」， which roughly translates to, "He's has money beyond your wildest dreams". Put simply, 半端ない is 10,0000,0000 times more potent than the adjective "too".

So what the heck is that...

2008-02-19T01:54:00.015+09:00

Can you guess what this is? Let me give you a hint; it's something that everyone uses. It's found at home, in hotels, on beds and sofas. Well, usually it is located under the head but it can also double as a bolster. Can you guess it by now.

Yes, it's a pillow. This pillow is actually made of rattan. So it might sound hard to sleep on. It's also super airy thanks to the loose weaves. I have never seen one of these in Malaysia, only recently in Japan. The first time I saw one of these was at a local hot spring establishment. After a nice dip in the hot spring, your hair is usually still pretty wet, so I think this kind of pillow must have been quite phenomenal before the the hair dryer was invented.

I had a go at it the other day, and it didn't feel as hard as I expected. In fact it was kind of springy. If you have tried a rattan chair before, you may know what I mean. Here's a picture of myself using one, while resting on the tatami area, right after a wonderfully therapeutic dip in the hot spring and steam bath room. It was heavenly to say the least...

Japanese Houses: Past, Present and Future

2008-02-19T01:10:00.013+09:00

Japan is a country with many surprises. As I was driving around the Nara-Kyoto border the other day, I made a very interesting observation. Within a short driving distance, I was zipping past very traditional houses, yet moments later I was surrounded by ultra-modern homes. It was as if I was in a time machine and going back a few hundreds of years, back to ancient Japan. It was so amazing that I made it a point to go back and take some pictures of those places.

Past

Japan in the past was very much an agricultural country. With rice being the staple food, you can see rice fields every where. Houses here are made of wood and the flooring are often wooden planks and tatami straw. One peculiar characteristic of these housing estates are the almost impossibly narrow, steep and confusing roads running through them. Originally meant for pedestrians only, these roads are totally unsuitable for modern cars. So if you plan to get lost here, make sure you drop pebbles on your way in.

Present

After the second world war, the Japanese economy saw tremendous growth. This baby boom period brought with it the necessity for cheap housing communities. Hence, houses began to climb vertically. Many people stayed in these government housing estates called danchi (団地), while the more affluent society built their own houses. These houses form the landscape of many suburban areas in Japan.

Future

Occasionally while on the road, you may notice sign boards leading to new research parks. As you drive into these towns of the future, you will notice the vast difference between the houses here and those of the past. Roads here are wide and straight, and the atmosphere feels expansive unlike the stuffy layout of the Past. The designs of houses are very modern, and even the schools here look like some sort of art museum.

Here is a video I compiled using MS free Movie Maker. The program is actually pretty good for amateur video editing.

Valentine's Day in Japan

2008-02-14T13:57:00.006+09:00

If you are in Japan on Valentine's Day, you might be surprised to find out that those cute and fancy chocolates that you see displayed prominently in supermarkets and shopping malls are actually meant for guys. I mean, here, the girls are obliged to give chocolates to the guys. Crazy as it may sound it is true, although my wife swears she will never get accustomed to this marketing ploy.

Every year, today, the girls will present something to the guys, secretaries to bosses, female colleagues to male colleagues etc. And yours truly did savior something sweet today, courtesy of the girls in the laboratory. Called the giri-choko (義理チョコ) from the words giri ("obligation") and choko, ("chocolate"), these gifts are meant for co-workers. What is termed as the honmei-choko (本命チョコ) are chocolates reserved for loved ones.

人間関係

2008-02-12T16:34:00.000+09:00

つい先病院の検診受付に電話をしました。電話中、相手はもうちょっと親切に話していただいてもいいなと思っていました。正直、ちょっと驚きました。「これ、なんか国の公務員らしいじゃない？」と思いました。

しばらくして、落ち着いた私はこんな感想をしました。私は日本にいる時、気をつけながら、なるべく日本人らしくしゃべります。ま～、お願いがあるから、やはり声を下げて話すべきです。一方、先ほどの受け付け係はわざわざ外国人らしく話してあげるのではないかと思います。もっと深い意味が入っているのかもしれないが、例えば外人嫌うとか、滅多に本音が示されるとか、とにかくとても聞き辛かったです。小さいころから差別されてきた私は、日本に来てよかっただと思います。ところが、時々あまり親切に対応してくれない日本人もいるわけですね。

この経験について最初文句を言いたかったのですが、よく考えたら、結局人間は人間だから、人間関係は、国籍や習慣などに関わらず、どこでも同じだろう。諺にもあるように「郷に入っては郷に従え」です。即ち、日本にいる外国人は日本人みたいになりたがるケースが多いだし、海外にいる日本人は海外のことを馴染めるのは多いのではないでしょうか。それは人間関係だ。

Theft in Japan 2: a police story

2008-02-08T18:14:00.003+09:00

note: This is a short story and is longer than my usual blog entries.

Sypnosis: My bike got stolen, and then found, albeit in pieces. A rather unexpected ending follows.

About the same time last year, I wrote about theft in Japan. Since then, I have had the most peculiar experience. What I had thought would never happen to me, occured right before my very eyes. I woke up one fine Sunday morning, and having had breakfast with the kids, proceeded downstairs to clean my car. When I had finished, I packed up and was about to head back to my apartment when I noticed that my bike is no longer where I thought I had left it the night before. "What the, where's my bike!", I cursed.

Immediately, I went into denial mode. This can't be happening. OK, maybe I had left it at the school parking yesterday and my wife brought me home, I thought. This is fairly common as I stay quite near my work place and sometimes my wife comes over and pick me up for dinner. But on second thought, I remembered clearly how I had parked my bike there and walked up upstairs yesterday evening. I slowly began to visualize what happened. I remembered vividly how I removed the ignition key, removed it, took off my helmet and stored in under the seat. And now, the whole bike is gone. Frantically, I began to search the neighborhood parking spaces. No luck. I talked to my wife and decided to make a police report.

At the neighborhood koban (交番), I pressed the intercom button and waited for a couple of minutes before the police officers returned from their inspection round. There were 3 officers that day, including one very cute lady officer who took my statement. Having satisfied their queries, I left and went home.

I was still reeling about what had happened that day when I received a call from the police in the evening saying that they have found my bike. I was more than elated. The time it took to find my bike, surely it must be a candidate for the Guiness World of Records. When I finally saw my bike, I crashed back to earth. Well, the police brought back my bike alright. In a few pieces that is. On closer inspection, I finally concluded that it would take me more time and money to fix it.

Over the course of the next few days, I was contemplating on what to do. I mean, I needed my bike to get to work. Without it, I felt like one leg was missing. Finally after suffering for 2 weeks, I decided to get a new used-bike. Although a little expensive, the new ride sure felt great. I brought the kids for a spin around the neighborhood ever careful of the watchful eyes of the law. Don't want to break the law in Japan by riding like a rural Malaysian family on a kapchai.

I had more or less forgotten about my unfortunate experience in Japan when I received yet another call from the police. This time, I was told that the thieves were caught and identified. I was told that they were minors, junior high school students. When I related this incident to the lady living upstairs, she mentioned empathetically that it was the work of some pranksters. Hmmm, I wonder how she was so sure about that. Anyway, the police asked me if it was OK for them to let the parents of those misguided kids about my contact number. I said it was fine with me. So, the next few days, I talked to the parents of the kids. Mentioning to them about how I myself is a young parent and how this was a new experience for me. I finally met up with them one evening, and together with the two young boys, they came pouring out words of apologies for what must have been 2 minutes but felt like 2 hours. And you know what, they prepared to compensate me with a BIG box of cookies (which I still haven't open yet) and some cash.

This episode got me thinking. I was a victim of 2 bicycle thefts in Malaysia. When my very first and favorite BMX bike was stolen I made a police report about it and cried my eyeballs out. The police officer who took my statement was pretty casual about it. Let me put it this way he said, "Why don't you study harder and hope that your dad will give you another birthday present". When my second bicycle was stolen, I was cool about it, told my mom that I had outgrown the bicycle and was ready for manhood. Then, Dad said that I can start taking motorbike lessons. He then passed me the keys for his very first Honda C70.

If you ever have your vehicle stolen, I am sure you can empathize with my story. I bet that you, just like me are surprised with the efficiency of the local police here in Nara. I am so filled with admiration that I wrote them and told them about it. Below is an excerpt of my feedback at their website.

この間とんでもないことが起こりましたので、ここで書かせていただきます。

去年、私の通勤用の原付が盗まれました。なにも期待しない私は近くの交番にとどけを出しました。そして当日の夜その原付が見付かりましたたという連絡がありまして、ちょっと驚いた。迅速な対応していただいた警察官に感謝した後にこのことを忘れました。

数ヵ月後突然警察から犯人が見付かったという連絡がありました。それは、さらに驚いた。国で２回でも自転車が盗まれた私は、そんなことは全然想像できませんでした。しかしこれだけではとんでもないこととは言えません。２週間前、少年の泥棒達２人の保護者の方は私に連絡してお詫びしました。そして２人の少年と一緒に私と会って、深く反省を示しました。

私は日本に滞在する期間は長くもないですが、ニュースや新聞で聞いたことにより日本の警察官に関してあまりよい印象しか残りませんでた。しかし、今回の経験によってそのイメージが全て消えて、日本の警察はとても素晴らしいと思います。大感服しております。これは警察の手本になるのではないでしょうか。

微妙

2008-01-27T19:27:00.001+09:00

Let's take a look at another very useful Japanese word, 微妙［びみょう］. Literally it means, subtle, or delicate (usually of a situation). This word is used in daily conversation where a clear yes or no cannot be clearly distinguished.

Let's take a look at a few examples to get a feel for this word.

1. 微妙な違い or subtle difference. As in, there is a subtle difference between half full or half empty.

2. 微妙な感じ as in a strange feeling that is difficult to describe.

Once, a friend who was in the same Japanese class described a delicate hand in Japanese as 微妙な手. Here, it means, "somewhat like a hand." So instead of her intended meaning, it sounded like a description from an autopsy report. We all laughed, but learned a great lesson from this episode.

So, learn to use this word well and you will be surprised how natural your Japanese will sound.

To be, or not to be (assimilated)...

2008-01-20T17:57:00.004+09:00

If you are a Star Trek fan, you may be familiar with the Borg expression, "You will be assimilated" or "Resistance is futile". The Borgs are a fictional race of cyborgs who goes about adding other species in the known universe into their own, in order to achieve perfection. And they achieve this through forced assimilation, a process which transforms individuals and technology into Borg, enhancing individuals by adding synthetic components.

Science fiction aside, I cannot help but draw on this analogy to the real world. Let's take a look at two very different situations.

1. Recently in Malaysia, there are increasing efforts in converting non-believers into Muslims (be they alive or dead). Overzealous parties are eager to "assimilate" people as one of them. Or do they? I shall not speculate, save to say that this situation is akin to hearing someone say, "If you're not with us, you're against us."

2. In Japan, quite the opposite is happening. The authorities and general public are grappling with two very grave problems; aging society and immigration. On the one hand, a country faced with an aging society needs population growth in order to power her economy and counter other instabilities. On the other hand, a country that has pride herself with deep traditions and customs is finding it exceedingly difficult to accept gaijins (外人) with open arms. Foreigners who have been working in Japan for years are totally bewildered by this fact, and finding out a sense of non-belonging living amongst the society here. Forward thinking immigration-based nations might find this hard to accept too. But, don't feel too bad, I am sure you will be consoled by these wise words, "if you asked me, I think them Japs are a lot of things, they just ain't no Borgs".

This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a naturalized Japanese. This nice chap whose father is Korean and mother Japanese holds a permanent residency in Japan. He has a foreigner registration card just like every foreigner who is on extended stay in Japan. However, in all respect this guy IS practically as Japanese as any other "pure" Japanese friend that I know. The funny thing is he has two surnames, one Japanese and one Korean. So officially his name reads something like Yoshida a.k.a. Lee (吉田　コト　李). Because Japanese still cannot accept a foreigner with a Japanese name or a Japanese with a foreign name, he has to hide this fact from the world. I guess this is true anywhere else in the world. Being of Chinese-heritage myself, people might think I am a wierdo if I adopt a Bred Pid- or Mohamed Gundhi- sounding name. Not the mention the whole lot of confusion it will create amongst HR and immigration folks.

Anyway back to the topic of assimilation, I mean immigration. Recently, the Japanese government is beginning to relax their hard-line approach towards foreigners hoping to gain permanent residency here [1]. Let's hope that in the future, man can be united as one nation without borders. Perhaps not as unfriendly and unforgiving as the Borgs, but united in a sense that binds us as brothers and sisters with respect for each others individualisms.

[1] Eric Johnston (2008, Jan 26). Shaping the future as an immigrant nation. [Online]. Available: www.japantimes.co.jp

仕方がない

2008-01-14T11:10:00.002+09:00

I would like to talk a little bit about a very useful Japanese expression today. Apart from the constant おはいよございます、こんいちは、ありがとうございます frequently used Japanese greetings, you might have heard of this all too common expression 仕方がない［しかたがない］ or 仕様がない［しようがない］.

I didn't fully understand this expression when I first heard it. However, by looking up a dictionary and having heard it in so many different situations, I think I have a good grasp of its meaning. Literally translated it means, nothing can be done, usually used by the speaker to imply futility in pursuing the matter further, and acceptance of the current situation as is. Let's take a look at a few examples to get a feel for this expression.

Let's say a 3 year old kid accidentally spilled milk all over the floor while pouring himself a glass. You might get a little angry at first, but what can you do over spilled milk right. Especially if the 1.5l milk carton is a little heavy for the 3-year old. So you say it's OK. In Japanese, you'd say something in the line of 「ま～、しかたがないな、片付けようか」. Literally means, "Well, let's not cry over spilled milk, so let's clean it up."

Let me relate a personal incident which happened last year at a local coffee shop in Ueno. It was raining since morning that day. Without an umbrella, it would be almost impossible to travel by foot. So, I went to a local convenient store and got myself a pretty good looking, and sturdy transparent umbrella. I then proceed to meet a friend for yakiniku in Ueno. After that we went to a coffee shop. I placed my new umbrella outside the shop, together with half a dozen of other wet umbrellas. I think my brand new umbrella stood out compared to the old looking ones there. One hour later, when we were ready to leave, I realized that my pretty umbrella was gone. The manager came out sensing something amiss. I told him some jerk just took off with my umbrella. Can you guess what he said. 「ま～、仕方がないね、適当に取ってください」 which translates to something like, "Well, there's nothing we can do, just take one that pleases you," mumbled the manager in a hush-hush tone. I left the shop with a beat-up umbrella, reminding myself to be extra careful next time.

Did you understand this phrase. Good, go and show everybody how immersed you are in Japanese culture by using it liberally in your daily conversation.

も～まんたい

2008-01-10T13:52:00.003+09:00

In Cantonese this slang word means "no problem".

First temple visit of the New Year （初詣）

2008-01-01T20:54:00.001+09:00

My 2008 Nara hatsumode pilgrimage

I performed my very first hatsumode （初詣） on the Jan 1, 2008. It was a very spiritually experience for me. Hatsumode literally means the first temple visit of the year. And every year, on New Year's eve, Japanese would flock in great numbers to their favorite temples to count down to the new year. However, recently, even sacred places like temples have to fight for attention as many younger generations are following western culture by celebrating the New Year at popular watering holes.

If you are in Japan, don't miss the great opportunity to open your eyes and heart by celebrating new year in a temple. Let me briefly describe how I spent my New Year's eve and the first day of the year. The map that you see shows Nara park （奈良公園） which is located towards the East of Nara city. There are many temples and shrines here, amongst them, the famous Todaiji temple （東大寺） which is said to be the largest wooden structure in the world.

① I alighted from the Kintetsu Nara （近鉄奈良） train station and worked-up an appetite for dinner by walking aimlessly around the station. There wasn't many places open that day, so I settled for an udon and curry rice set meal. Having had a very satisfying dinner, I walked East casually towards Nara park. It was 9 pm, and only a few people were scattered along the way. But the yatai were already lining the streets, ready for their customers.

② I reached Nigatsu-do （二月堂）, literally February hall, some 1 hour later. From its balcony you can have a bird's eye view of Nara city. There, I rested for a good half an hour before making my way down.

③ Midway between Nigatsu-do and Todaiji is a huge shoro （鐘楼） or bell tower. About 400 people were already lining up to strike the bell at the stroke of midnight. This was the highlight of New Year's eve. Waiting patiently for 1 hour out in the cold winter night was not something everyone would like to do, but the wait was worth it. If I remembered correctly our group was number #48, so about 376 people had already struck the bell. When it was our turn, 8 of us would pull big thick ropes that is connected to a huge tree trunk, not unlike a battering ram, and let go. The bell gave a resounding gong and we were all very pleased with ourselves. From there, I moved over to the Kasuga grand shrine.

④ Along the way, I had amazake （甘酒）. It's an alcoholic beverage made from rice and a little sweet. It tasted a bit like bubur charchar without the sweet potato. By now, the streets are already swelled with a crowd. It was begining to looks more like a summer matsuri （祭り）. There was a long line for Todaiji, so I decided to give that a miss. On the first day of New Year, I heard that the window pane that blocks the giant Buddha statue's head will be open to the public.

⑤ The line for Kasuga shrine （春日大社） was not short either. After a short detour to the surrounding smaller shrines, I made it into the grand shrine. But not before I got some more sake. It felt good to have hot sake in the cold winter. I finally understood why Russians likes vodka.

⑥ The grand shrine was pretty crowded. That's because instead of a box where you usually toss coins in before you pray, there's a big stage where. Also, people were lining up to get their fortune told. While you can also get your fortune told in temples in Malaysia, the amount that you offer is usually up to your own digression. Here in Japan, you pay a fixed amount. On that day, I had the option to pay 200 yen for a basic fortune, or 500 yen for what I think was a higher grade (better luck perhaps?). Anyway, I was quite lucky to get a good fortune, my very first omikuji （おみくじ）.

It was already 3:30 am when I reached home. I was spent but otherwise quite happy on the first day of the year 2008. So how did you spend your New Year's eve/day?

My fortune for 2008 looks pretty good (beginner's luck, perhaps)

Year End and New Year activities in Japan

2007-12-31T21:20:00.000+09:00

Towards the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, there are a couple of events that you might notice if you happen to be in Japan. Here's a typical list of things you might encounter.

1. Year-end cleaning
It's an annual event where everybody goes all out to clean their class rooms, offices, homes, before ushering into the New Year.

2. Sending out New Year's card
About 1 month before the New Year, supermarkets, post offices, photo-printing companies, and even websites will start to remind us of the New Year's card. Read more about this activity here.

3. Year-end party（忘年会）
Usually after the big year-end cleaning event, a sort of celebration is held. This is called bonenkai （忘年会） which literally means forget-year party. The MC of this party usually will start off with a customary speech telling us to forget all the unfortunate events of the year and look forward to the New Year, before every body starts to dig in.

4. End-of-the-year jumbo lottery （年末ジャンボ宝くじ）
Depending on your habit, you might like to try your luck with the lottery. In Japan the only lottery license is given to a bank. So a bank runs the national lottery making a big bonus for all their employees at the end of the year. If you attend Christmas parties, a common thing nowadays is a Bingo game.
The End of the Year Jumbo Lottery that won me 300 yen. That's a 90% loss for me. Goes to show that gambling never pays. But then again paying 3000 yen a year for hope is not too much a price to pay, is how I always console myself.

5. New Year Food（おせち料理）
Traditionally housewives have to prepare a special meal for the New Year. Nowadays, you can order from the supermarket before hand. I have never had a traditional osechi ryori before, so I can't really comment. One would imagine it to be similar to the big meal for those celebrating the Lunar Chinese New Year.

6. Visit to temples （初詣）
Every year, hordes of people would throng temples and shrines to perform hatsumode. I went for my first hatsumode too. Here's a description of my experience.

7. Prosperity bags （福袋）
On New Year's day, shopping malls and department stores will display what is called a prosperity bag. In the bag are usually clothes, perfume or jeweleries. During this day only, a set of clothes that might cost 20,000 yen if bought separately are sold at half the price to attract customers. I would say this is the best time to get that set of winter clothes that you always wanted.

New Year's Card (年賀状)

2007-12-23T23:01:00.000+09:00

2008 is just around the corner. As with previous years, the heavy responsibility of designing next year's New Year card rest on the shoulder of yours truly (seriously, what will mom ever do without dad, eh). So in order to keep the tradition alive, like previous years, I have come out with this years 年賀状 which need to be posted before the post office deadline. I heard somewhere that the cut-off date for sending is Dec 25 if they are to arrive on Jan 1.

OK, what is this New Year's card about? Essentially, it's a postcard that people send to their to friends, acquaintances, teachers, bosses, clients, and just about any other people that they wish to keep in contact with, as greetings for the new year. Think of it along the line of a Christmas greeting card. However, on the card, it is customary to write Happy New Year, or あけましておめでとうございます in Japanese。Then you thank whoever it is you are sending to for all their help during the previous year, and maybe write something memorable and nostalgic about last year, and most important of all, to add a よろしくおねがいしますat the end, which basically means thank you in advance.

So, how did the tradition of sending New Year's card in Japan came about? It all started a long, long time ago according to the Museum of New Year's Card website (年賀状博物館H/P), sometime in the 7th century. But with the establishment of a fixed rate postal service in 1873, it started to gain widespread popularity. Near the end of the year, if you happen to pass by a post office box, take a good look at it. You will be surprised to find one of its slots dedicated to the collection of New Year's cards.

Here's my collection of previous New Year's cards. OK, there are only three. Well, I started four years ago. I reckon, I will continue to do this until the novelty wears off, or when the printer runs out of ink, whichever comes first. Year 2008 card.

Year 2007

Year 2006

Year 2005

Let's Talk Laundry

2007-07-07T10:18:00.000+09:00

Have you ever grow tired about all your stacked up clothes in the laundry basket just begging to be folded. Yeah, we all have this household chore since time immemorial. Betcha didn't know that the Japanese with their ever creative ways, have come up with a great and fun way to fold shirts. It only take about 5 s, with practice. Take a look at this video. It's not too difficult. After a couple of tries, my daughter who is into origami really enjoy folding her own shirts now.

Instructions:

1. Pinch shirt 1/4-way from the top with left hand,
2. From that position, run along horizontally to the top of the shirt with right hand, and fold to the bottom,
3. Heres the tricky part. Hold up both hands, which should be criss-crossed, and pull them apart.
With some practice, you should be able to get it right.

Religion

2007-06-04T22:22:00.004+09:00

Let's talk religion today. If you ask a Japanese what their religion is. You will surely get a very obscure answer. At best you may hear them say that they are Buddhists, at worst, you may be surprised to hear that they have no religion at all. The average Japanese might not think too much about their religion, but they are surely steadfast about discipline, being on time, and team work.

Officially, I am a Buddhist. That's what I will write on a form if this information is required of me. But I am not a real Buddhist at heart. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a devout Buddhist, I think I am hovering somewhere between 0.922 and 0.931. At home, I pray to my ancestors, the Earth God (土地公) and Celestial God (天公). When I was a child, usually I take turns with my elder sister to do the morning and evening prayers. Its a simple process where we burn joss sticks and ask for good health for the family. And if exams are coming, then we spend a little bit more time praying.

The great thing about my family is the multi-religion tolerance. My mom is a Catholic. But she has no problem whatsoever with with an altar in the house. Who can ask for a cooler mom. Dad's a diligent Taoist. He never misses any important events on the lunar calendar that means celebration and simple offerings to the gods. Maybe it's the businessman in him that motivates him. When we were young, my sister, two younger brothers and myself would help with the preparations of offerings for the prayers. Looking back, I am proud of this tradition and hope to continue it in my future home too. My wife and her family turned to Buddhism for comfort when the eldest boy in the family died in a freak accident in the sea. She used to abstain from meat on Fridays until MacDonald's appeared in her hometown. She still does unless there is other no choice. I think practicing religion is a good way to self-discipline.

God of Heaven

Some of the Japanese homes that I have visited have a special room Japanese style room where an alcove (床の間) is present. This place is decorated with ornaments and cloth paintings and words of wisdom. Come Mar 3rd, when Girl's Festival (雛祭り） is celebrated across Japan, these alcoves will be decorated with elaborately-dressed dolls. One thing great about Japanese is their tolerance for multi-religious celebrations. Christmas as with Valentines are celebrated without hesitation (with full fervor thanks to the department stores of course). I hear that young Japanese can be born in Japanese tradition with the blessings from Shinto shrines, gets their marriage solemnized by a pastor, and die as a Buddhist. What a way to live a life wouldn't you say. My Japanese teacher used to tell me that if Islam were to be introduced in Japan, it might have been adopted and assimilated into Japanese culture are well.

Hina doll set

What is religion but a guide to one's life. Each religion come with teachings (a manual?) about the wisdom that it has to offer, but ultimately it is up to us to interpret those teachings and let us live a life as we see fit.

Job Search

2007-05-29T17:05:00.000+09:00

Starting this year, in Japan at least, since the economy has started picking up again, recruitment drive for new staff is also heating up. Looking for a job in Japan can be very different from how you are used to. University students in the bachelor and master's level usually start looking a full year before graduation. PhD students are a little different, while some do look for jobs pretty early, there are those who take are constantly on the lookout for a good match between their skills and the job requirements. A lot of jobs can now be applied on-line. Compared to 5 years ago, recent candidates find themselves inundated with plenty of options for on-line job applications. The other thing that is different about job search in Japan is their resume. A standard form (履歴書) is available in most bookstores (bet you didn't know that! Me neither). You just need to fill in your personal particular including photo, education, work experience, certification all in a chronological fashion. Other misc information like major, interests, work preference, and marital status are also required. My own experience in producing a resume (in English) has been a mixture of creative layout and ideas to spice up the information contained within. Nothing of that sort is required in Japan, as far as I know. Perhaps it's better that way since, we are not applying for a job in the Creative Arts department anyway. On the other hand, no sloppiness is tolerated. That is not to say that you can get away with carelessness and mistakes in the English version. One thing that is absolutely necessary when working in a Japanese company in Japan is proficiency in Japanese, what else! Although I have been toying about that idea for sometime, I am revisiting this option of a working in Japan. Let's see how things go. This is my barebone dual-language resume.

It's a bargain

2007-05-15T01:21:00.001+09:00

Malaysia, unlike Japan, is a country where lively bargaining was promoted to an art form. From a tender young age, children taken by their mothers to the wet market learn unwittingly the art of bargaining. Until a few years ago, before the government decided to 'help' consumers who lack this survival skill by making shop owners display pricetags on all goods, some people actually enjoyed their shopping. Such a conversation would go something like, "10.45" says the shopkeeper, "wah! so expensive, 5 lar" comes a reflex response from mom, "5 cannot lar, tell you what, round to 10 just for you-lar" replies the shopkeeper instinctively, "like that dun wan-lar". "OK, auntie, 8, final offer?, And mom would reach for her purse and the deal is sealed. Usually, the bargaining process can extend longer that that. Then it would be a power or stamina struggle. To see who gives up first. It can be quite fun watching the process.

Nowadays, lively conversation like that is nowhere to be found. Of course, you hear stories about customers from hell that bargain with street peddlers just for the sheer fun of it, but I think there is a lot to be learned by knowing how to making your verbal-sparring partner agree to your point of view. I know that bargaining is still pretty wide spread in some other Asian countries. Thailand and China for example where you can practice your persuasive skills. In countries where shopping are done in supermarkets and huge hypermarkets, you get a bargain only when there is a sale going on. Come to think of it, bargaining may not be a lost art form. In Japan, I heard that big deals still go through some form of bargaining. But then, they call it business negotiation.

You can't handle the truth!

2007-05-15T00:45:00.003+09:00

Today, allow me talk about something different. About politics that is. Having no direct confrontation with this strange concept before, I found myself mysteriously drawn to it quite recently. In this one particular aspect at least, Japan and Malaysia are not so much different from each other. And that is, to deny their citizens the right to know the truth. There are obvious reasons for this. Mostly selfish, I think.

History may not always be what is seems. Propaganda from the ruling government to self-propagate often put them in the best light to the common citizen (voters). What ever the cause maybe, the interest of the disadvantaged are ignored or often trampled-on because of someone else's selfish agenda.

Take for example,
i) The lies that are being told of the rioting incident in Kuala Lumpur during that faithful day of May 13, 1969. Fortunately, we have blogs that gives us a second account of the real version.

If you tell one lie, you will have to tell another lie to cover that first lie, and so on. Pretty soon, your story will collapse under an Everest of lies. Those who know the truth but choose to remain quiet are just as bad as those protecting their own sick interests. Why, because as Thomas Jefferson remarked, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."

ii) Corrections upon corrections of the official version of the atrocities of Japanese troops during WWII.

Sometimes, the hardest things to do is to admit ones' mistakes or the mistakes of our forefathers. If the reason for seeking forgiveness is difficulty in swallowing ones pride, then I say the bitter pill of pride is just the medicine needed to sow friendship and trust. I believe that when children are exposed to a wrong, they can learn from that lesson much more than just being ignorant about it.

Having said that, without the privilege of knowing the whole story. I realize that my comments are just as shallow as my knowledge. Perhaps like Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessep barked in A Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth!"

One way to visualize the dilemma faced by politicians would be conjure a fake scenario. Suppose that the world is being threatened by an imminent deadly and contagious disease (bird flu, maybe). The government in all its earnest efforts wants everybody to stay indoors and, to reduce pandemonium, be ignorant about the current situation. Everything is on a strictly need-to-know basis. The government then diverts the peoples attention by staging a disaster to encourage people to stay indoors while taking care of the real outbreak. Finally, with the disease under control, the government then issues a statement that it is safe once more to come out, hence saving millions of lives instead of the thousands that died due to the outbreak. (Story adapted from http://www.slate.com/id/2126479/). However, what if the government couldn't contain the outbreak and the masses finally found out about the lie, or even if everything was OK but soon the information about the disease got declassified. What would happen? Would people be better off being ignorant?

I think that these are some of the dilemmas that politicians have to face everyday. They are controllers of information. Filters if you will. Good filters do their jobs unbiased. But how many Solomon-type filters are there to fill up all the politician jobs? I understand humans have feelings and feelings control our actions more than thoughts. Politicians face a lot of daily pressure and when they make a decision that pushes them into the limelight, they are assaulted by critics and supporters alike. Boy, I am just glad that I am not in that line. Otherwise, I don't think I can sleep soundly every night.

A fine country she is

2007-04-18T08:51:00.001+09:00

You know what they say about Singapore being a fine country. Well I have got a picture which says it all. It was taken inside the MRT train. To be fair, Malaysia is also a fine country. In comparison, in Japan, warning signs, be it no smoking or no littering, do not come with an offensive deterrent.

I was just talking to my wife about civic-mindedness in Singapore the other day. I think that Singapore will need to work harder to get rid of the stigma of fines and concentrate on the real problem that they are trying to address. The government are taking many positive steps, of course, like public awareness campaigns to educate their citizens to be more civic-minded. But why do you think the results are less than desired. I guess if one cannot see beyond a direct cause-effect scheme to things, there will be less incentive once the effector is no longer around.

Why is it then that Japanese are so successful in getting their act together. I suspect that it is ingrained in their culture as much as their language. Everyone here is so considerate about the feelings of others. It is so apparent in their language. Try to count the number of すみませんs (I am sorry/excuse me) you get when you next meet a Japanese, or, the number of "I am so sorry to have troubled you". You will be surprised. Japanese are even sorry when their name seems hard to pronounce. All this high-level empathy just makes it easy to be civic-minded. Think about it, if people feel that when they litter, they would inconvenient others. When they smoke, speed, or behave irrationally, others will be annoyed, endangered or honestly concerned, then everyone would practice self-restraint. Isn't this much better than mere punishment or fine. I am not questioning the effectiveness of punishment as a deterrent, but then, an enforcement agent is needed. Whereas, civic-mindedness just takes care of itself and the problem.

While we can definitely learn from the Japanese, short of being a Japanese, how can we install civic--mindedness. Some examples I think which promotes such a desirable quality are religion and education. Civic-mindedness is indoctrinated in most rational religion and this is where religious institutions can help. The other being education. I believe, most educated people have the propensity to be level-headed enough to be civic conscious. If, when next I see a warning sign without a fine tagging under it in Singapore, I would finally agree that she has reached a higher class of social maturity.

A sign pasted inside the MRT train

A sign pasted at the Putra LRT station

Bento lunch-box

2007-03-02T16:54:00.001+09:00

Recently, my bento lunch boxes has grown in number. From 2 to 4. Previously, it was just a rice and one-dish stacked box. Now, it's a super combo meal which includes, 2 side dishes, rice, and snack/fruit. With that kind of combo meal two things generally follow. Great urge for afternoon siesta and bulging tummy. Let's talk about the bento and leave out the side-effect for next time.

Although getting no less popular nowadays, the bento has been traditionally prepared at home and brought to school or work. With advance in food-packaging technology and catering services, more and more bentos are bought elsewhere or ordered and delivered. I once read an article on the newspaper that mentioned about the additives that is put into the bentos sold at convenience store. In that article, the author, who has worked for many years preparing bentos said that he wouldn't let his family eat the bentos, for they contain so much presearvatives, it would make it to the world record for the most amount of preservatives used to keep the food looking fresh. So be extra careful when where you buy your bentos next time.

When I was in Malaysia and Singapore, I wasn't really acquainted with the concept of lunch boxes. Food was pretty much available everywhere and cheap too. I guess the hot weather there will make your rice with 汁 (broth?) into anything but palatable food by noon.

So what did I have for lunch today? Take a look at the picture. Rice with furikake (an assortment of minced fish, sesame seeds, seaweed), siew mai, pickles and kacang kuda. Needless to say, after this hefty lunch, I needed a lengthy workout.

2nd hand (recycled) goods shop

2007-02-24T13:33:00.000+09:00

All the talk about waste management got me thinking about recycling in Japan. And where else can you find 2nd hand goods with such good quality but Japan. In Malaysia, about the only recycled stuff worth buying is probably a motor vehicle. But even then you'll have to be careful with kereta potong (literally, cut-up cars).

The proliferation of recycled shops in Japan, I believe, all started with the annual winter/spring flea-markets. Then someone must have thought of the cool idea of making it a permanent event, in the like of shops. Now recycled shops are the next big hit after the 100yen Daiso. Just google 中古 or 創庫 with your local area name and you'll bound to come up with in inexhaustible list of links. Some of my favorite ones are See You, Book Off, and the local favorite on route 163. When I first arrived here in Japan, and couldn't afford the outlandish prices for brand new electrical appliances, these are some of the places that I looked at. If you can find the things that you want, and don't mind that it's not new, you will surely get a bargain at these shops. I once sold a baby stoller (ベビーカー) for a handsome profit there. Of course, these shops do keep their standards. The other day, after spring cleaning, we wanted to get rid of an old computer but the shop refused since it has no resale value. It was understandable.

So if you are in Japan, do consider these recycled goods shops. You never know what you may find.

Waste management in Japan

2007-02-23T21:27:00.002+09:00

Rubbish is big deal in Japan. I only realized how I missed the waste management in Japan when I visit other countries. In Japan, different municipals have different management styles, but generally, rubbish are sorted by 2 categories at the-point-of-disposal. They are burnable and non-burnable waste. These categories are further divided into categories such as PET bottles, cans, foam (polystyrene) packages, paper cartons, etc. If you had visited the 2005 World Expo at Aichi, Nagoya, you would be surprised at the number of categories that were available.

I can understand how this came about in Japan. First of all, Japanese are crazy about presentation. Everything must be presented such that they are pleasing to the eye. You won't believe how many layers packing goes to gift-wrap something. And once you open the gift-box, you are presented with even more packaging before you even lay your eyes on the gift. You can say that the power of anticipation is brought to a new level here in Japan. With so much packaging materials to dispose of, you will need to have a good way to handle all that.

Also, Japanese are generally pretty civic minded about the environment. I believe this happened after WW2, and after Japan became industrialized. I once watched a Japanese movie, I believe it's called Hula Girl (フラガール) about this soon to be bankrupt mining company that tried to reinvent itself. It then occurred to me that the developing Japan was just like the developing China, or Taiwan or Singapore. During the time of economic boom, money is always first, while the environment takes second place. But the general public will sooner or later realize unchecked pollution and contamination due to improper waste disposal will only lead to more problems in the future. That is why the Japanese has a great system for garbage disposal. I think it is something other city municipals should really learn from. All this talk about rubbish reminds me that it's take-out-your-rubbish time today. Yes, we are limited to just twice weekly for disposal of burnable waste here in Nara-shi.

Theft in Japan?

2007-02-14T09:41:00.001+09:00

I have parked my scooter next to this superbike at the school compound for the 2nd day. And this guy just left his keys stuck to his bike all this time. I think in some other parts of the world (Malaysia?), this poor chap would be at the police station crying out his eyeballs while reporting his lost bike. Theft cases in Japan are extremely low (I think). It could be that everyone (well, almost everyone) are contended that they don't touch other peoples' stuff. Or it could be that their are too chicken to deal with the consequences of their actions be it mental anguish or just plain physical torture when he is confronted by the owner with a steel pipe.

A friend that came by to visit me in Japan noticed all those nice umbrellas stacked up at the bus stop. "Doesn't anybody help themselves with those umbrellas?" he asked. The truth is I hadn't noticed them before that. So I just made a passing remark that those umbrella's were for good people with good intentions who will use and return them. Or it could be that the owner left it there for a rainy day. In anycase, if you don't want to loose any of your belongings, leave them in Japan. I think there's a good chance you'll find them at the Lost and Found.

All this reminds, me of my own experience about lost and found. I was maybe 7-8 years old then. Walking back home, minding my own business when I saw a guy had accidentally dropped a MYR50 note on the floor. Without hesitating, I took the money and handed it back to him. There was a witness nearby. An old lady selling bean curd. She related the story to my mom and she keeps reminding me of this up to today.

And yes, the last time I checked, the bike was still there, minus the keys. Only in Japan I suppose.

Cortisol and Stress

2007-02-13T13:38:00.001+09:00

I talked about my stress induced sickness sometime ago. And recently I just read about how stress can change ones brain literally. It seems that stressed-up people are not normal. OK, we all knew for a fact how our stressed-up spouse should not be called upon to sharpen that blunt kitchen knife. Or iron our favorite shirt. But how abnormal can stressed-up people be?

An article from Time magazine talks about stress and how it affects our body. It seems that stress causes a certain chemical (cortisol) imbalance in the bloodstream. And the higher the stress level, the higher is the amount of cortisol found in the blood. Our brain is equipped to handle a reasonable amount of stress. When the hippocampus part of the brain senses excessive cortisol level flooding into the cerebrum, it sends out signals to shut down that cortisol cascade. In other words, its our feedback control system to reduce stress. However, beyond a certain threshold level, damage-control should be the next course of action. Try a long-vacation, or a guilt-free trip to the masseur. One thing is for sure, constantly elevated cortisol levels can only mean one thing, bad mojo. Health related illnesses like accelerated aging (read: wrinkles), unresponsiveness, and withdrawal syndromes. So try to keep that stress level low. For me, some quick aerobic exercise like jogging helps.

Pornography

2007-02-13T13:08:00.001+09:00

I always wonder about the social impact of censure and control of pornographic materials on the general public. In Japan pornographic materials are within easy reach, as even local convenience stores carry hordes of softporn manga and magazines. When I tell my friends here in Japan about how closed the society is in Malaysia and Singapore, I often get raised eyebrows from them. Pornography is outlawed in those countries. Anyone caught in possession of pornographic materials there can be fined. But the internet is changing all that. The once exclusive distribution channels for porn has been evolving so much so that anyone with a hand phone may be deluged with indecent and suggestive materials almost daily. And if you have an internet connection and an innate adventurous spirit of the unknown, you too will soon discover the world of porn. Just be careful of trojan horses, malware and spamwares. If unsure, always use your friends computer to surf for porn.

I don't want to go into issues regarding pornography and sexual related crimes here, but from casual observation it seems that there maybe an inverse relationship between the two. I am sure more thorough investigations may come up with actual numbers. But, let's digress and talk about some thing I find really funny. In Malaysia recent news about social politicing have again reach the lime light. There are suggestions by religious leaders that 'Mat Skodengs' and 'chastity belts' be enforced to lower sexual crime. How backward in thinking can these people be. This must be the epitome of moral policing being taken to the hilarious levels it sounds like some kind of mental-illness. Are you going to tell an adult how to behave? And for how long can one keep this up? Although I think that sexual crime and abuse is nothing to laugh about, there must be a better way to deal with erosion of morality and sexual criminals. What do you think?

I may be wrong, but why is it that the religious leaders are the ones most vocal on subject of this nature. Could it be that they are the ones needing the most help, and not the other way around. Or maybe they have figured out what pornography producers knew all along. Sex sells!

Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)

2007-02-09T14:00:00.000+09:00

I just got word that I passed my JLPT Lvl1. Now that's cheerful news. Both me and my study companion, my wife, have been struggling with the preparation for this test for the past year. Actually I only started 3 months before the test. But it was pretty intense mind you. The test as well as the preparation. Early mornings, hectic lunches, busy weekends. Phew! That was some ride. I'm glad that's over.

Now, back to my original objective. Must get rid of my stupid Kanji-phobia. I have this phobia ever since I started learning Japanese. I really would like to be able to read a Japanese book or newspaper without sweating it out with the dictionary. Maybe I should start with manga. But for now if you'll excuse me. It's time to open that expensive champagne and party!

My proud certificate. BTW, passing mark is 280

Melbourne

2007-02-08T11:23:00.000+09:00

I am on a one week trip to Melbourne courtesy of NICTA. My first impression of Australia is the wide and expansive landscape. From the airplane, you can really see up to the horizon and to the clouds where flat land and sky meets.

Melbourne city itself is a very pleasant city. There are so many foreigners here that I am sure a that a local might find himself being the foreigner (a joke that a friend shared with me when he was told by a local Californian how he felt about LA).

After being used to the clockwork transportation system in Japan I was a little bewildered when I reached Brisbane international airport. Being a bumbling idiot like I am, I almost miss my connection flight. I was really glad when I found my seat on the domestic plane to Melbourne. I wanted to tell how all that running was the best exercise that I ever got in a year but the guy sitting next to me promptly changed seat when the seatbelt sign was turned out. Go figure. I mean, I was huffing and puffing and that might put some people off, I thought he just went to the toilet but he never came back. That wasn't the best of it. It seemed that my luggage was stuck in Brisbane when I arrived in Melbourne. I had to make 4 calls to get my bag back and it was 1 day late. Not bad huh for my second trip to Australia. I had an exciting day in Melbourne yesterday evening. I locked myself out of my apartment and the key was left in the office which I had no access to. Talk about being a perpetual bumbling idiot. You know that was not the only airport drama that I had while traveling. Did I tell you about the time I forgot about my poster while on the way to my New York flight at Narita airport last September. Which reminds me, I should document that trip on this blog soon.

Anyway, back to Melbourne. There's a lot of things to like about this city. The buildings, the attractions, and most of all the food. I had no idea I would be having claypot chicken rice with Chinese ginseng soup for dinner. It was after dinner that I found out that I was near Chinatown. The tram ride was cool. Just like the tram ride in Frankfurt. These electric trains share the road with cars and they run in the middle of it. What more can I say about this city. It's pretty clean. No, not squeaky clean like Singapore but fairly clean. There are giant vacuum cleaners on the walkway in the city that keep it that way. And I am lucky to be experiencing mild weather during this summer period in Melbourne. I heard it can get a scorching 40degC sometimes here. Boy am I glad that's not happening right now.

OK enough talk. Here are some shots of the city and the university. I wonder if I will have time to see more of it before I head back to Nara this Saturday.

somewhere from Brisbane to Melbourne taken from the airplane

Visitor Center at Federation Square

St. Paul's Cathedral (opposite Flinders St. Station)

Outside the Claypot King restaurant at the end of Chinatown along Swanston St.

Old Quad Upper Theater in the University of Melbourne (looking from the South lawn)

Life is like a used towel

2006-12-13T13:35:00.000+09:00

Do you ever get the tired feeling that, you are so wrung-up that you don't have anymore to give. Do you ever feel like a used towel? Well sometimes I do. Which lead me to think that a person can be just like a towel. I just came out with this interesting analogy and decided to pursue it further.

Now, let's assume that a person IS a towel. Just like there are an infinite variety of people and their characters, there will be many types of towel too. Here's my version of it

Novice: like a new towel - can't absorb much.

What goes out is exactly what what comes in. There are many juveniles out there that are very impressionable and can be colored by their environment. Once dyed to a certain color, you can bleach all you want after that but stains and faint color remains. So remember why youngsters are so impressionable and why it is so important to teach youngsters the right from wrong before they are stained to the color that you don't want be.

Intermediate: used towel - absorbs a lot.

What goes out is what comes in with some extra flavor and minerals. These are the matured lot. They have been stained by the colors of life. And they contain enough colors to rub on the novices should they wish to. Seeking advice from these people are good. But just like the multi-faceted people around us, there are totally soot-blacken ones that should be avoided and there are rainbow colored ones to which advice should be seek from.

Expert: water fountain - source of mineral water.

A role model for all the others. These are wise people. They have liven their lives to the fullest and now due to physical conditions, they are constraint to stay at some place. Young people should come seek advise from these people are they are a source of wisdom. Sometimes, history can teach us a lot and through history we learn not to repeat the same mistakes again.

I have been searching for my role-model for as long as I remembered. I have looked up to leaders, scientists, and practically any older people that I can find. But I have yet to find anyone who is willing to commit themselves to spend time talking to me. Maybe technology will be my saviour. I would use the immense pool of knowledge from the internet for advise. What about you, do you have a mentor?

Japanese women

2006-11-03T19:49:00.000+09:00

The worlds' perception of Japanese women must have been further distorted with the recent premier of Hollywood's Memoirs of a Geisha. I have not seen the movie myself apart from the cinema preview, but I think the mass media simply doesn't do justice to Japanese women by putting the wrong images forward.

I present my own views of Japanese women and I realize that they are not a generalization of the entire Japan demography nor should they be treated as such.

At home

There are many virtues of Japanese women that deserve to be depicted or mentioned. Japanese people have been trained to follow a strict regime and guideline since young. Everybody has their roles. A father is the sole bread winner. The mother takes care of household chores. And that's how it has been ingrained by social pressures into the perception of most general Japanese. However, it is perhaps due to this ingrained image that every Japanese woman have that makes them ideal housewives. They are meticulous, unquestioning, and devoted. With virtually no questions asked, Japanese housewives goes about their daily chores like a carefully programmed robot. Everyone is supposed to know and follow the unspoken rules. And this probably leads to very little conversation at home. Recently, with more influx of Western ideas and thinking, a new wave of modern Japanese housewife has emerged. They demand their husbands to do their share of the housework, child rearing and other social activities. Is this a good development? Perhaps this will lead to a more solid relationship as the spouses have more in common when they perform the more activities together.

At work

Never in any other advanced countries will you see gender discrimination being so obvious as in Japan. I think Japanese men doesn't know what treasure they have living beside them. Japanese women are so taken for granted as if they were born to serve the opposite gender. Historically, this may be so, but in the modern society, people see this as unfairness and maybe even abuse of authority due to status or power. I had a brief conversation with a friend who has stayed in Melbourne for more than 10 years. And she remarked that she has not seen a single Japanese postgraduate lady student during all her travels. I agreed. Me neither. The status of Japanese girls take a sharp decline compared to their peers of the opposite gender upon graduation and when they finally start working. The future of Japanese women is to get married and take care of their home while the men are shown the way up the career ladder. Of course it doesn't make economic sense to train someone only to loose them when they tie the knot. But it's a social dilemma, employers are taking huge risks when they promote a women only to loose them when they start a family. But I don't disagree that women can't be more capable than their male counterparts. So unless science can come up with a solution and tip off the balance, as in Arnold Schwarzenegger in Junior, in the future, women may be continuously discriminated upon.

So, I think that Japanese women are extremely well educated and can be very independent if they want to. But at the end of the day, they would have to stand up for what they believe in and not submit themselves to general views.

Love hotels, a special place for love

2006-10-23T03:10:00.000+09:00

My wife and me, we had our first love hotel (LH) experience the other day. I find it rather amusing that there is a special place where you can you know, get cosy without the kids. Do love hotels exists in Malaysia and other parts of the world. Probably do. But it will be so bland, you might think its a tailor shop or a unisex salon, Heh heh. Not in Japan will you ever find a bland love hotel. These places are about as outrageous and loud (in terms of decoration) as they can get. Imagine the costumes that samba girls wear. Now replace that girl with a hotel. Guess what, the rooms inside hold even more surprises. In order to attract customers, LH operators must be running a theme-park side business too. I mean, the attractions inside are equally outrageous sometimes. Of course, you have your usual karaoke, PS and AV. But then I heard that competition has driven up the standards in some places and you can get all sorts of toys and costumes, on demand. As these places are not exorbitantly prices, any couple looking for a nice place to stay for the night can really pamper themselves at these LHs.

During the peak summer season in 2005, there was this World Expo near Nagoya. We couldn't find any reasonable hotels and we almost wanted to book into a LH with the kids. Thank goodness we didn't. Even if we could get past the watchful eye of the hotel people with their CCTVs who probably have driven us out, there will be plenty of questioning by those impressionable kids once they get into the room. So if you wanted to go in with kids, Don't. Trust me, it ain't worth it. So what did we do? We slept in the car. All four of us. It wasn't pleasant, but I guess it was better than having to explain about the birds and the bees to a 3 year old.

Self promotion

2006-10-13T10:56:00.001+09:00

OK, I thought I should do some self promotion today and post a little speech that I made some time in March. I made it during my graduation day. It was my graduation speech so to speak. It's not every day that you can make a speech in front of the university president, as the student representative. To be fair, I didn't write this myself. A close friend Dr. Furumiya Tetsuo helped me draft this. So most of the credit must go to him. The speech is reproduced below but is officially located here.

物質創成科学研究科修了生を代表して、ご挨拶させていただきます。

本日をもちまして、私たちは奈良先端科学技術大学院大学物質創成科学研究科博士前期課程および博士後期課程を修了します。今日の日を迎えるまでに、安田学長をはじめ、先生方、事務局の皆様方に多くのご支援を賜りましたこと、修了生一同心から御礼申し上げます。同時に、日頃お世話になった研究室の皆様、暖かく支えてくれた家族にも感謝の意を表したいと思います。

思い起こせば、私の大学院生活は人との出会いの場であったような気がします。4年前に博士後期課程に進学するためにマレーシアから来た当時は、研究に対する期待や不安より、まず「環境に馴染めるのだろうか?」という不安を感じていたことを覚えています。しかし、いざ本学に入学してみると、素晴らしい先生方や仲間たちに恵まれたお陰で、それらは杞憂に終わり、研究に打ち込むことが出来ました。本学は、留学生や異なるバックグラウンドの学生を積極的に受け入れるという、素晴らしい特色を持っています。このような環境の中で、私は多くの人々と知り合い、議論しながら研究を遂行してきました。私の母国語の諺に「Jauh perjalanan, luas pengalaman」というものがあります。これは「旅をすれば人生の糧となる」という意味です。私にとってこの経験は、何物にも代えられない貴重なものだと思います。

私たち修了生は、様々な思いを胸にそれぞれが選んだ道へと旅立ちます。その前途は決して容易なものではないでしょう。今、社会は国の垣根を越え、グローバル化が一層進んでいます。そのような中で私たちは単に国という枠にとらわれず、視野を世界全体へと拡げ、国際人としての資質を身に付け、各々の課題や責務に対して積極的に対処していかなければなりません。しかし、私たちは本学で学んだことに誇りをもち、広い視野と研究で得た知識と経験を発揮し、社会の発展に広く貢献して行きたいと思います。

最後になりましたが、本日お集まり頂いた皆様方の今後のご健康とご活躍、ならびに本学の益々のご発展をお祈り致しまして、修了生一同の感謝の言葉に代えさせて頂きます。

平成18年3月24日
物質創成科学研究科　修了生代表
David Ng Chee Keong

p.s. For the record, I forgot to finish the speech by saying my name and my department. Must remind myself to do that the next time I make a speech.

Toilets

2006-10-13T10:48:00.000+09:00

Today, I'd like to talk about toilets. Toilets are used many times during the day. In Japan, toilets are free for use. That's not the case in Malaysia. Foreign visitors to Malaysia will be surprised to find out that they have to fork out 20 cents for entry. Once, I met with a group of Japanese students. And when asked about their experience in Malaysia, most of them agreed that it's their first time being charged to use the toilets in Malaysia. I hope they don't ever have to use toilets that are free for entry like those in gas stations, public schools etc.

Why Japanese can't seem to master English

2006-07-07T14:04:00.000+09:00

I think it's the perfectionist character of most Japanese that is their downfall in trying to master English. Japanese can't learn English because of their culture of being a 'perfectionist'. This, coupled with the 'hazukashi' feeling when they make mistakes, make it very difficult for them to learn the language, as they keep on apologizing over every little thing. Those who mastered the language probably did away with those barriers.

Recently, I heard a distinguished speaker in the 15th anniversary celebration at NAIST say that, Japanese as with other non-native speakers, are actually communicating in 'broken' English with each other. So there should be no feeling of inadequacies when they speak the language.

I know that Malaysians with their Manglish and Singaporeans with their Singlish may be taking things a little too far. Native English speakers may have a hard time trying to understand words like 'cannot meh', 'so, so lar'. Similarly, if you study Japanese, I am sure that you will come across many borrowed words like ケーキ(cake), of テレビ(TV) etc, that may be confusing to English speakers.

But then again, I may be wrong. I see many examples of Japanese people trying really hard to master English. Let's hope that the people who make fun of them, are kind enough to correct these errors.

Mama in the papers

2006-07-05T19:39:00.000+09:00

We are all very proud of mama. She was in the papers the other day (Asahi Shimbun, 2006.6.26).

We know it's not easy to take care of the kids (big and small), clean the house, fix a great meal, do the laundry, and work at the same time. And all these hardwork are being done in a foreign country, with little support from family. Now, if you look at it from that perspective, no wonder mothers are often referred to as superwomen. Now top that with getting published in the newspapers, now I call that a feat that should easily earn her a PhD in social interaction.

Hurray for all the mothers of the world! ママ達、万歳！

I love my school

2006-05-03T18:28:00.000+09:00

Before this, I wouldn't have thought that I could love a school. But that's exactly how I felt. All the schools that I have attended, from kindergarten through secondary schools to universities. I have strong feelings for my alma matters. I guess that's why there are alumnis, which basically let's OBs and OGs get in touch with their old classmates as well as their schools.

Here is a list of all the schools that I have attended. I will make it a point to take pictures of all the schools and compile them here.

2002-present Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST)
1998-2000 NUS (Graduate school of Engineering)

1993-1997 NUS (Mechanical Engineering)

1986-1992 Sultan Abu Bakar Secondary School
1982-1985 Sekolah Rendah St. Thomas
1980-1982 Sekolah Rendah Jalan Hang Tuah (previously Jalan Shaw)
1981 Kindergarten at Church of The Holy Rosary

Preserving history

2006-03-06T16:54:00.000+09:00

If you've been to Japan, you will see many historical sites, beautiful gardens etc. You will be surprised to see how new things are embraced and harmoniously existing with the old. You will see MacDonald's being everywhere. But take a casual stroll down town and you may ocasionally notice a little shrine sandwiched between high scrapers.

You may snicker at how Japanese people are so fond of everything foreign. Deeper below the surface, you'll see that the Japanese culture is very ingrained in its people. They do seem to import all things from the states. However, they make a stand beyond which they do say NO. No to lousy beef imports. No to any vulgarities. No to American made cars. I really admire this quality of the Japanese people; trying out new things but not at the expense of the culture that they hold dear. Temples and shrines from antiquity are preserved, together with their culture and customs.

In Malaysia, you often hear that old buildings and structures are torn down. Town clocks, old cinema's, places of worship all destroyed in the name of development. There has been so many cases where the voices of people are ignored and the over zealous city hall people come in with their tractors and tear down those structures. But occasionally you do hear happy stories where the authorities listen to the public as the coliseum case in KL. Let's hope that more cultural places will continue to be preserved so that our children and their children may have a glimpse of how their ancestors spend their time before the age of video games or the internet.

Depression and Stress: A direct correlation?

2006-02-27T15:38:00.001+09:00

I recently self-diagnose myself as suffering from mild depression. My symptom, a total lack of initiative to devote myself for social activities. I remembered it wasn't like that 4 years ago when I first came to Japan. Somehow, the situation slowly degraded and I am now just a pile of slime oozing out a sorry existence doing the absolutely minimum to survive. I am thinking that stress at work has plenty to do with this condition. And folks living and working in the city has plenty of that. Why is it that we hear people say that although staying close by in highly concentrated apartments, yet hardly know their neighbors. Is it an indication that these highly dense dwellings of convenience actually crosses the boundary threshold for comfortable living. Wait a minute, I think there is two issues here that are somewhat interconnected.

1. Depression from Stress.
2. Close-up living quarters from apartments.

People suffer from depression for a variety of reasons. I know that women who are taking care of their children constantly without reprieve do sometimes develop symptoms of depression and in the critical state, feel the urge to commit suicide. You hear stories about 'salarymen', school children, etc feeling depressed. I know there must be numerous studies by shrinks to diagnose and cure these people. I also heard somewhere that you can take medication for it. Wouldn't it be nice to take a pill, and then you feel that you can give a presidential speech the next day, join in 'gotong-royong', or perhaps be the star used-car salesman. I guess, depression is a disease of the mind. Somehow, the chemicals in the brain is not in equilibrium, or the wiring is screwed-up. The best way to beat it is perhaps to get a hold of the brain and tell it who's boss.

I am staying in an apartment in a huge living area called "danchi". Here in Japan, people respect each other's privacy so much that they end-up not talking too much to each other. I know when I was in Singapore and was staying in the HDB apartments. Things wasn't that bad. Of course, you can't throw a rock party and expect your neighbors not call 991, unless ofcourse if you're staying in the university dorm. But people open their doors at least and play their favorite Hokkien songs, Malay prayers, Indian songs what have you and people don't mind too much. Here, in the danchi apartments, you shouldn't talk too loudly, let the kids run around, turn up your TV volume, do repair work etc. And if you need to, you'll have to give prior notice to the entire block. Which explains the proliferation of love hotels. The walls have ears so to speak. So, there special places for people to 「作世界」.

I guess you noticed the lack of coherence in my blog. The reason for this is, I started this topic in February only to pick up the pieces now in October. Anyway, I would like to sum up by saying that, if you have the means, go and get a proper landed house. That will ease your stress having to deal with neighbors. And if you are stressed up from work, let somebody close to you know about it, talking does help to balance your brain. I know it helped me.

Japan's Peanut Butter

2006-02-05T23:01:00.000+09:00

I recently tried peanut butter spread after a long abstinence period. Guess, what, the Japanese version of peanut butter taste nothing like what I was used to in Malaysia. Frankly, I do not dislike it, but it's just different. The non-chunky version of it tastes like kaya in syrup. Here's a picture of the peanut butter that I am talking about. See, even the texture look's like kaya.

To be on-time or not on-time

2006-02-01T11:01:00.000+09:00

I sent my daugther out to kindergarten this morning. Like always, we were the last

one to get there. But like clockwork, the bus arrived right on time, 9.03 am sharp on the dot. In Japan, the public transportation is always on-time. The buses, trains and airplanes arrive and depart right on-time. Coming from another country, you may think that it is almost like magic how the bus drivers, train drivers and pilot keep to their schedule. And many a time, I have come to appreciate the fact that they do.

Japanese people, I realized, pay almost obsessive attention to time. Take a look at a typical train time table schedule. Can you believe that this is a time table. The first time I looked at a train time table, I almost blanked out. It looked more like an assembly language code that machines generate that no mere mortal can understand. It still baffles me how the Japanese people use these time table. Or do they?

Anyway, back to the topic. I marvel at the value that Japanese people place on time. I tell myself that if Malaysians place the same emphasize on time as the Japanese people do, there will be higher productivity across all levels. There will no longer be 2 hour waits for wedding dinners to start, no queueing up for MyKad renewal, no more traffic jams (OK, I'm exaggerating). Think of all the increase in efficiency and productivity, not to mentioned the time saved.

On the other hand, it's not all good news to be on-time. Recently there was a tragedy involving a train caused by human misjudgement. The train driver must be thinking of the repercussions of not being in time and not too much on passenger safety when he oversped and caused the train to derail. Although this is one example that depicts the devil of being on-time. I can vouch that 99.9% of the good things that do happen when things are on-time are almost taken for granted in Japan.

I learnt that Japanese have been constantly reminded of the virtue of being on time. Parents, teachers, strangers would tell their young ones that 一刻千金(いっこくせんきん）in other words, time is money. And being on-time is being able to keep a promise. I know for one, I am lousy at being on time. The clock in my room is always running 15 minutes faster. So that I would have ample time to catch up on in case I run out of time. It's really a bad habit, I know. But having been in Japan for quite sometime already, and having appreciate the fact that everybody else is on-time, I am beginning to feel that I too should start to run like clockwork. Less, I run out of time.

Boney M sang a song about money. And so does Sam Hui and many other artistes, but I have not heard a song that tells the importance of time. When you think about it, everybody has 24 hours at the start of the day. No more and no less. And how one use their time (wisely) is entirely up to them. I know for sure, the Japanese use it wisely.

Can't live fast enough

2005-12-27T12:58:00.000+09:00

Have you even wondered why students in Japan find job a year before they graduate. I was flabbergasted when I first heard about this. My initial reaction when I heard about this was, Wow! Occasionally, this strange custom would drift in and out as a conversational topic during 忘年会s or クリスマスパーティs. The fact that a student should start looking for a job long before they graduate was a strange concept to me, then, and I am sure to those who live outside of Japan too (please tell me otherwise). I never really thought much about it apart from the fact that Japanese are, well different. That is until I went to the immigration department this morning. I believe I am a little more enlightened now. Let me tell you why. I am pretty sure you'll appreciate the fact too.

Yesterday, I learnt that I was to receive an award to continue my research work in Japan for another year starting next April. The condition was, I had to graduate in time. No problem, I thought. In fact I'm just roughing out the edges of my thesis right now. So, then I thought, maybe I should go an apply to for a change of visa since it'll expire next April. So off I went happily to the Immigration office together with the letter confirming my award. Everything was pretty smooth until at the end of the procedure, the officer in charge told me that, they could change my status provided I can show them a 卒業見込み証明書. Aha!, that was when I realized why there's always a catch to everything. No, I realized that long ago, when the lady over the counter wouldn't give me the softcream I ordered when I didn't hand over 100 yen. I realized the speed and efficiency at which Japanese do things. I mean I saw how fast they build a mega shopping mall over Chritmas. I was impressed with the way they handled my check-in at the hotel. But it just hit upon me that these people, are just way too efficient, compared the folks back home in Bolehland. I mean, they still accepted my application without me producing the complete required documents. I was half expecting, OK, come again dude, when you got all your stuff readied like how I was accustomed to throughout my measly 20 year experience with government staff in Bolehland. But no, they cheerfully accepted my application. Gave me a confirmation number and told me to send then the rest of the stuff when I have it. Now, how's that for efficiency.

Which got me into thinking, the reason students here start looking for a job so soon is, well, just being prepared. No last minute applications rush etc. Or am I missing the whole picture here. Maybe, it's just the governments plan to make sure all their graduates get employed. And foreigners just get what's left over. Either way, I still think that they have a great system running here and other countries should come over and learn how things should/could be done differently.

Now, all this talking about efficiency has go me into thinking. Japanese people just can't live fast enough. They have the fastest train, the fastest lunch break, heck, the fastest delivery service, and heck even the fastest toilet flush (OK, I'm exaggerating here). These people are like, lean mean, efficient machines. No waste of time here. Trains run on right on schedules, movie shows are never late, and most of all, people look at you funny if you're late for an appointment. Which goes to show, the values the Japanese hold dear. Something great which I think would be good to rub-off of.

Santa-san(s)

2005-12-23T08:41:00.000+09:00

Tell, me how do you like your Santa. A potbellied, whitebearded, cheerful old man, who hands out presents from his giant magic sack. Or a skinny, no-beard, but still cheerful young girl who throws you kisses. Now, these Santas, you won't ever find in Malaysia. By the way, if you happen to visit the Everland amusement park in South Korea this Christmas where these photos were taken, remember to take shots of these Santas.

Oh, by the way, they do have ligers there you know. It's a strange half lion, half tiger hybrid. You may want to take a couple shots of those too on the way to Santa's pool. Want more, here's the link.

Of course, there are seasonal magic performance featuring tigers at the Genting's City of Entertainment too.

OK, animal lovers might know more about ligers and a whole lot of strange hybrid cats. Of course, you don't see these animals in Zoo Negara. Too controversial. By the way has Zoo Negara moved yet?

Blog title changed

2005-12-23T08:18:00.000+09:00

I thought I wanted to write about things in Japan. But I guess the pull for comparing things to my homeland in Malaysia is just too great. So, in the end, I changed the blog title from "Here in Japan, things are different..." to "No, not in Malaysia you d(w)on't..."

It used to be a blog about stuff I wanted to say about Japan or in the description of the blog "...or at least, done, viewed, cooked, talked about and played differently. So how do we foreigners address the age old question of adepting in the land of the rising sun. Here's my version of it."

But, I can't help but make comparisons at every turn. Putting in my own point of view in all the things that I see. So in this blog, I will include things that I experience or see that an ordinary Malaysian staying in Malaysia won't see, be it in Japan or anywhere else. Like they say, "Jauh perjalanan, luas permandangan (pengalaman)."

Message Contest (Seika Global Network)

2005-12-11T17:12:00.000+09:00

Just now, I was one of the 6 contestants who took part in the message contest held at the seika city hall "kouryuu" room. It was titled "マレーシア人の挨拶の仕方.” It was not a bad experience. Although I could have done better. Needs more practice I would say. Anyway, got a congratulatory cert. for my effort too. Made some new friends and it all ended on a pretty note. Maybe I will try again next time.

(by the way: my name is written デビッド　ン in japanese).

2006.10.17 after consulting with a Japanese friend, I think I will rewrite my name to be more Japanese friendly. As such from today I will be refered to as デイビッド　グ

For those who read Japanese

2005-11-25T16:48:00.000+09:00

I was asked to prepare something to say for a speech contest organised by a local volunteer group. I wanted to write about ほう・れん・そう, the Japanese way of doing things at work. But I ended up writing about the way Malaysians greet one another. I apologize for my 'koyak' Japanese, though. OK here goes...

　皆さん外国人と外国語で話したことはありませんか？その時、話を始める前にその人とどう挨拶されましたか？日本人同士だとお辞儀をして「こんにちは」と挨拶するのが普通だと思います。マレーシア人はどのように挨拶すると思いますか？実はマレーシアには主に3種類の民族がいます。それはマレー系、中国系、それからインド系です。マレーシアではそれぞれの民族によって挨拶の仕方は異なります。マレー系の人の場合は、年配や身分が高い人の片手を両手で軽く持って“apa khabar”（アパー・カバー）、日本語で言うと「いかがですか」と言ってから右手を自分の胸を触ります。この挨拶はマレー語で言うと“salam”（サラム）と言います。中国系の人は欧米人と同じく握手してから“你好”（ニーハウー）「いかがですか」とお互いに言い合います。インド系の人は相手と少し離れて合掌しながら“vanakam”（ヴァナカム）「いかがですか」と言います。これらがマレーシアでの一般的な挨拶の仕方です。
　また、友人などの親しい人とは別の挨拶の仕方があります。私は中国系の友達と会うときは“吃了馬”（チェレマー）「もうご飯食べた？」と挨拶します。あるいはマレー語では“sudah makan？”（スダ・マカン）と挨拶します。なぜ中国人はそのように挨拶し合うと思いますか？皆さんは何処かで「中国人はテーブル以外足が4本の物を何でも食べる」と聞いたことがありませんか？これは勿論冗談ですが、中国では昔から食事がとても重要だと考えられています。医食同源という言葉もあるように食事を薬として考えています。中華街を歩くときっと漢方などの薬として用いる食材を売っている薬局を見かける事でしょう。中国人は食べ物には薬理作用があると考えています。意外と思われるかもしれませんが、例えば、スイカには体温を上げる“湿熱”という働きがあります。それに対して、キュウリやメロンは体温を下げる働きがあり、風邪を引いた時に一番いいと言われています。また、私は母親から、「一日経ったゆで卵を食べると男性の体のある部分が大きくなる」、「ドリアンとビールを一緒に食べると死ぬよ」と聞かされました。このように中国人は健康の為にも食事をとても大切に考えていて、もしかすると起きている時間の8割は食事の事を考えているかもしれません。一緒にマレーシアに住んでいる他の民族も今では中国人の影響を受け、同じように挨拶するようになっています。と言うわけで、仲の良いマレーシア人同士は挨拶するとき相手に「もう食事をされましたか」と聞くのが普通です。
　このように挨拶などの人々の何気ない表情や動作も、実は民族固有の文化や伝統に深く根差しています。挨拶1つで相手が受ける印象も変わります。皆さんが今後、マレーシアに行く機会があったら是非“吃了馬”（チェレマー）あるいは“sudah makan？”（スダ・マカン）と挨拶してみてください。きっと相手は喜び、普通よりも仲良くなれると思います。

As for ほう・れん・そう. I will surely pen down a little something once I get inspired again. As much as I hate to say it, a dateline can be inspiring too, sometimes. Have you ever tried it or should I say 締め切りにさせられた. Works wonders.

Salam sejahtera Jepun

2005-11-25T08:57:00.000+09:00

After looking at posts of fellow Malaysians in Japan leaving their thoughts on their blog, it kinda made me want to put up my own blog. I wonder how much stamina I have left in me to do this.

I guess it's part of my 気分転換, a pathetic escapade attempt from the comfort of the armchair. Damn, it doesn't even have arms.

Anyway, you could say that I am just trying to fill in the little void I have in me, the feeling that I wanted to say what I always wanted to say.

Heck, let's see what happens tomorrow.

I should remember to update my blog links to these pages.

http://lronglim.blogspot.com/

http://phototravel.blogspot.com/

They are who inspired me in the first place.