Not my post, but an interesting one, enjoy!
http://youtu.be/Bi_sFSFCv3k
Friday, November 13, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Common Kanji
I've got 4 kanji for you today; these are very common and very important.
The first two are Chiisai and Ookii.
Ookii is a person standing with their arms and legs spread to make themselves bigger. Chiisai is a person standing side-on, with their arms by their sides, to make themselves smaller.
In case you're wondering ... I took this photo in a toilet. You can probably work out why these symbols are important.
The next two kanji are tojiru/shimeru (to close) and hiraku (to open).
The key thing is to look at the 'flags' which look like a set of elevator or train doors ... Then look at the little 'man' between the doors.
Akeru is a man holding the doors open, using his arms to force the doors apart.
Shimeru is a man diving through, right before the doors close.
Bonus question: knowing what you do, what does this mean?
The first two are Chiisai and Ookii.
Ookii is a person standing with their arms and legs spread to make themselves bigger. Chiisai is a person standing side-on, with their arms by their sides, to make themselves smaller.
In case you're wondering ... I took this photo in a toilet. You can probably work out why these symbols are important.
The next two kanji are tojiru/shimeru (to close) and hiraku (to open).
The key thing is to look at the 'flags' which look like a set of elevator or train doors ... Then look at the little 'man' between the doors.
Akeru is a man holding the doors open, using his arms to force the doors apart.
Shimeru is a man diving through, right before the doors close.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
A trip down memory lane
A few nights ago, we took a trip down memory lane ... Literally. "Omoide Yokocho" is a tiny alleyway in Shinjuku, crashed between high rise buildings and department stores where a plain white children's t-shirt details for about $130AUD (not even joking, right now).
This tiny alleyway is crammed with tiny yakitori shops where anything that *can* be stuck on a sick and grilled, *will* be stuck on a sick and grilled. Yakitori is an old food tradition in Japan, but Omoide Yokocho came to popularity after WW2 when food was scarce, winter was cold and people had to make do with what they could get. For the Japanese, it's symbolic of an attitude ... To overcome adversity while dreaming of a brighter future.
Of course, nothing is ever so simple. The alleyway has another name "Piss alley" which is testament to the fact that people would frequently drown their sorrows at the yakitori bars and then relieve themselves on the street outside.
We took our children there and were meet with alternating excitement, shock and disapproval. Even now, Omoide Yokocho is not somewhere people take their kids, apparently. Either way, out boys liked it and got "cute face service" (read: free stuff) all night.
Last night, we took a figurative trip down memory lane; catching up with Aya, an old friend of mine, who some of you will remember as an ALT from a few years ago.
We went out to an izakaya (a type of restaurant where you order many small dishes and share them). Aya typically works from 10am until 10pm 6 days a week (actually pretty normal in Japan), so she got of work early to meet us ... 7:30pm! By the time we ate, it was about 9:30pm and when we left at 11pm, there were still business men coming in for a meal and a drink after work.
3
This tiny alleyway is crammed with tiny yakitori shops where anything that *can* be stuck on a sick and grilled, *will* be stuck on a sick and grilled. Yakitori is an old food tradition in Japan, but Omoide Yokocho came to popularity after WW2 when food was scarce, winter was cold and people had to make do with what they could get. For the Japanese, it's symbolic of an attitude ... To overcome adversity while dreaming of a brighter future.
Of course, nothing is ever so simple. The alleyway has another name "Piss alley" which is testament to the fact that people would frequently drown their sorrows at the yakitori bars and then relieve themselves on the street outside.
We took our children there and were meet with alternating excitement, shock and disapproval. Even now, Omoide Yokocho is not somewhere people take their kids, apparently. Either way, out boys liked it and got "cute face service" (read: free stuff) all night.
Last night, we took a figurative trip down memory lane; catching up with Aya, an old friend of mine, who some of you will remember as an ALT from a few years ago.
We went out to an izakaya (a type of restaurant where you order many small dishes and share them). Aya typically works from 10am until 10pm 6 days a week (actually pretty normal in Japan), so she got of work early to meet us ... 7:30pm! By the time we ate, it was about 9:30pm and when we left at 11pm, there were still business men coming in for a meal and a drink after work.
3
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The safest city on Earth?
Some of you may remember me bragging that Tokyo is the safest city on Earth. Here an example of what I mean. I'm topping this blog in my mobile phone. It's the same phone I bought 2 weeks ago. It's also the phone I left on a train, yesterday evening. It's the same phone that a business man, in his early 20s, picked up and ran of the train to give me, getting caught in the for of the train as he did so. Imagine how likely it would be that this happened on a Sun bus. Of course, it might ... But it's far more likely that I would never see my phone again.
There was an 'experiment' fine by some school students where they left 10 wallets on 10 trains with 1000 yen in each one. They put a return address of a fountain in Inokoshira park ... 8 out of 10 were retuned within a day.
Monday, November 9, 2015
All about the money ...
So, today we visited the Studio Glibli Museum, which was an incredible adventure but which should be the focus of its own blog post. Right now, though, it's time to talk about money.
The current exchange rate is ¥80 to the $AUD. That means that for every 1 dollar I exchange, I get 80 Japanese Yen.
Yen, like Australian dollars, comes in 2 main forms; notes and coins. Notes are made from paper (like Australian money used to be) and comes in denominations of 100000, 50000, 2000 (very rare) and 1000. Coins come in denominations ranging from 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 ... All the way down to 1 yen (which is practically useless, and not actually made from metal).
The last form of money, widely used in Japan, is IC Cards. Passmo and Suica are the most popular, although there are many other brands. These cards are primarily train and bus passes, but are also accepted as payment at conbini (convenience stores), vending machines and even some department stores.
I've attached pictures of all the main denominations (out at least the ones in my wallet, tonight).
The current exchange rate is ¥80 to the $AUD. That means that for every 1 dollar I exchange, I get 80 Japanese Yen.
Yen, like Australian dollars, comes in 2 main forms; notes and coins. Notes are made from paper (like Australian money used to be) and comes in denominations of 100000, 50000, 2000 (very rare) and 1000. Coins come in denominations ranging from 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 ... All the way down to 1 yen (which is practically useless, and not actually made from metal).
The last form of money, widely used in Japan, is IC Cards. Passmo and Suica are the most popular, although there are many other brands. These cards are primarily train and bus passes, but are also accepted as payment at conbini (convenience stores), vending machines and even some department stores.
I've attached pictures of all the main denominations (out at least the ones in my wallet, tonight).
Sunday, November 8, 2015
"Living" in Tokyo
Hi ladies and gents, and hello from Tokyo! Our apartment is right in the centre of a residential suburb in Yoyogi (we can walk to Shinkuku park and the Yamanote Loop Line is, at most, a 10 minute walk). Lawson Convince Stores abound in this neighbourhood (2 within 100m of the apartment) although I'm personally keeping my eyes pried for a Family Mart.
The apartment itself is right beside the freeway, buy double glazed windows mean that noise isn't too bad. We're just enjoying looking out at the Tokyo skyline, and we'll be heading to the Tokyo Metropolitan building to visit the observatory and pick up our gruntt passes which, despite the funny name, it a really cool way to get access to Lloyd of Tokyo's museums, galleries and zoos, very cheaply. On a clear day, you can see Fuji Sama from the observatory, but it's quite overcast here today, so photos of Fuji Sama will have to wait until Thursday (fingers crossed).
Did you know, Mount Fuji is called Fuji Sama because the Japanese people revere it so highly, they give 'him' an honourific usually reserved for humans?
Lastly, summer hiragana practice ... We're in an elevator ... What does the hiragana in red say? What does it do?
The apartment itself is right beside the freeway, buy double glazed windows mean that noise isn't too bad. We're just enjoying looking out at the Tokyo skyline, and we'll be heading to the Tokyo Metropolitan building to visit the observatory and pick up our gruntt passes which, despite the funny name, it a really cool way to get access to Lloyd of Tokyo's museums, galleries and zoos, very cheaply. On a clear day, you can see Fuji Sama from the observatory, but it's quite overcast here today, so photos of Fuji Sama will have to wait until Thursday (fingers crossed).
Did you know, Mount Fuji is called Fuji Sama because the Japanese people revere it so highly, they give 'him' an honourific usually reserved for humans?
Lastly, summer hiragana practice ... We're in an elevator ... What does the hiragana in red say? What does it do?
Cairns to Tokyo.
Our trip started at about 9:15am, and I'm writing this from a train station platform at 8:35pm. I've got about another hour and a half before I make it 'home' to the Yoyogi apartment we booked.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on conversions at the airports and on the plane. Traveling certainly tests your language skills and I'm happy to say that we got where we needed to (although I as a little bit of help from a lovely, English speaking woman who was about 85 years old).
Standing here at the platform, we meet a young woman from Cairns, traveling on her own, for the first time. She was 17 years old. Her passion for language (and anime) caused her to travel here ... Maybe one day that will be you?
I've attached a couple of photos from both airports and will post pictures of out train tomorrow.
It's been fascinating to eavesdrop on conversions at the airports and on the plane. Traveling certainly tests your language skills and I'm happy to say that we got where we needed to (although I as a little bit of help from a lovely, English speaking woman who was about 85 years old).
Standing here at the platform, we meet a young woman from Cairns, traveling on her own, for the first time. She was 17 years old. Her passion for language (and anime) caused her to travel here ... Maybe one day that will be you?
I've attached a couple of photos from both airports and will post pictures of out train tomorrow.
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