i always around

i got some plans in life, now moving into phase 2
will update more infos soon once settle down

Hehe... no choice bah~ so at least can settle for the either 2.

Firedauz: Good to know you're alive!

I will be in Japan late Dec but only for 2 nights in transit.

Unfortunately I won't be in the Tokyo area - going for a short vacation in Yamanashi.
My family's already in Japan to celebrate the New Year so I will be joining them later. My kids' grandparents are getting old so it's good they spend time together while they still can. Since they don't like to travel out of Japan, my kids must go to them

Yes, I spent close to a year in the mid nineties working in Japan. At that time, there were quite a few of us expats in the Japan office so unfortunately I hung around mostly with them (non-Japanese). Most of us were useless in Japanese (I still am hopeless in Japanese) so it was natural to hang out together. I remember the yen was pretty low at that time so we all had a good time. English was widely used in the office so communication was no problem. It was funny though, although the company was not Japanese, the management was mostly local and the office culture was hybrid Japanese/Western - we wore slippers in the office, there was a whiteboard listing where/what all the sales guys were doing, and there were no cubes - all the desks were arranged in rows with the bucho's desk right at the front facing everyone.

However people didn't work crazy hours in my office. However, I remember going to one of my customers - Fuji Bank (they are no longer around). We were there for all day meetings and when we left at 9pm, 1/2 of the office was still there. The funny thing was that not all of them were working but they just couldn't go home because the boss was still there.

Item received from Tanoshi today......All item in good condition...but no receipt? where is the receipt? LOL

Received 3 AV DVD from tanoshi today...GG

UGPMed..
eh bro you workin in Airlines right like Bonzaimy...you should come often here maaaa! cari Japanese wife...its time for you right?

I am still here..
just to update..
My senior gonna quit job. now either i quit too, else continue and die because of stress....last option... duno yet..
so my weekend is spent with my friends for dinner or party.. to forget my work..

All,

My first trip to Japan after 20 odd years!

From my research it seems that Japan is pretty "dead" on the 1st of January.

I will be in Japan from 28/12 - 2/1 .. so I plan to do all my shopping in the first 4 days I am there and on the 5th day - I was thinking of going to some shrines / temples or maybe even Mt Fuji .. I am only planning to hang around Tokyo due to my short time there.

1. Can anyone advise what I can do on the 2nd of January?
- I was thinking Meiji Jingu shrine early in the morning then Hakone to view Mt Fuji in the late morning and then back in the evening.

2. Can anyone recommend a "decent" Japanese restaurant that accepts reservations on New Years Eve in Tokyo for my and my partner to have dinner? Is there anything / anywhere I should go after dinner to "usher" in the new year?

Thanks!

Stan

Working on Japan...really banyak stress la...that why I can go JAL or ANA or Air Do work but I dun wnat...rather stay at MAS work much better....in MAS got some enginneer from Japan also. hehe..

WOrk in Japan is high stress + work in Airlines Maintenance Line...is lagi Stress....stress + stress = no need 1 year can masuk Japan Tanjung Rambutan

This post has been edited by RegentCid: Dec 16 2009, 10:35 AM

Ahhhh~ wow... double the stress. Nvm, 忘年会 every Saturday and Sunday until new year~~~

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Added on December 15, 2009, 8:17 amHi stanleysi,

Yes, 1st Jan is pretty much dead (shop are not open, almost all places will be closed - entire supermarket or even hotels can close down for the New Year) BUT their temples and shrines will be SUPER PACKED.

I think you might have some difficulty with this plan. Both Meiji Jingu and Hakone will be packed on the 2nd and you'll find yourselves caught in a sea of people rather than having the chance to enjoy the scenery and serenity. If you want to go to Hakone, go before new year (eg your first few days in Japan).

There's really plenty of restaurants around and my recommendation is, rather than hunting for a specific restaurant in Tokyo, it might be better to look for a restaurant around the place where you'll be staying for convenience sake. You can try searching this site - www.bento.com for a listing of restaurants and their contact details.

This post has been edited by PsyCHZZZ: Dec 15 2009, 08:17 AM

Oops my bad - I mean 1st of January - not 2nd. Is Hakone and Meiji both super packed on that day? I thought people go back to their home towns etc and Tokyo is pretty dead (so I assumed Meiji would be pretty dead too!) . Ideally I would like to go to a quiet shrine in the Tokyo area and make a prayer.

In terms of restuarants - I was hoping some people familiar with Japan can point me to some "must eat" places and hopefully I can make a reservation there to avoid doing it in the last minute after I get there.

Thanks heaps!

Stanley Si

The line in blue is what happening to my office currently too and colleagues got warning of not coming in before boss and leave after boss

what to do.. haiz

This post has been edited by moody5: Dec 15 2009, 03:08 PM

皆さんこんにちわ。

1) i'm planning to take JLPT next year 2010 (miss out this year.....), so can anyone let me know how you learn and passed the JLPT? Self learning is possible?
2) I plan to buy Minanno Nihongo and prefer learn through chinese translation/way, is't better to learn using chinese translation/way instead of english translation?
3) And i want to learn Japanese by myself, hard to find weekend Japanese Class around my area, i stay in Serdang KL. Any good cheap class recommend?

どうぞよろしく。

This post has been edited by popcorn513: Dec 17 2009, 11:17 AM

Bro...FYI...here they dont go to Japan Tanjung Rambutan...they will SUICIDE...its common for me now...huhuhu! seriously dude!

Hi anyone, ohisashiburi. Ano, actually I had been like "It would be good if in the future, I get a chance to work and reside in Japan" kind of target. But seriously I don't know how to make this dream closer. Well now just try to learn as much Japanese as I could and keep up with Japan design industry (I'm a web designer). I can learn a lot of things working in Japan as I'm really impress with their design skill and philosophy.

Well, just had a question who are living and working in Japan like Tanoshi-san, PsyCHZZZ-san, musha-san etc, what's your thoughts on living and working in Japan? Please share your experience. Onegai Shimasu :3.

konichiwa sashiburin ne! genki?
Bro..Mmm..actually its depend...seriously its depend to individual and aspect.
Workin and reside:
1- Got offer direct from Japan co.?
2- Attached with Japan co. from Msia to Japan?
3- Married to Japanese and workin here?
4- Accompany spouse furtherin studies?
5- After grad then continue to works....?
and any senpai can sambung?

Me fall to no 5, so bout workin I only manage to get a 'part time permit' only for 28hours per week max. you can work.
But myself some time more than, part time with 2 different company (when I was) but now I did my own biz (not a registered biz by the way) like doin a mover service, workin in English cafe or community as a english host (even my grammar's broken) still can talk as long I can speak English. on Weekends I went to fleamarkets bout few places in Tokyo. And I have an opportunities to make kind of online biz or offline biz from here.
Bout livin, I'm cool...father of 2 (next june got another baby, Insyallah) most of the time I need to arrange my workin schedule due too babysit my kids..and its common you live with the family. I got my own time and wit my family too!
I can travel together with my family or by myself. I love Japan, even my family was selected by ZoomIn TV Programme in Japan (like Selamat Pagi Malaysia RTM lol) to interviewed bout 'foreigners that related to Japan' bcoz my kids got Japanese name heheh...I also salute their modern house architecture, sugui...!
Just to live n work in Japan I guess same like other countries too. You have to think the worst case scenario, and how to survive? If you can manage this, no worries bout the happy thingy..its automatically as your wish!

I'm sure you know the difference between shrines (Shinto) and temples (Buddhist). If want quiet shrines, unfortunately you're coming at the wrong time. New Year is like the biggest event in the Shinto calendar - everyone goes to the shrines the first couple of days of New Year. The temples will be quieter, but definitely not Sensoji (Buddhist) - it's nuts at this time as well because Asakusa Jinja (shrine) is right next to it.

#6 chinese say: "jump aeroplane". I've heard from some embassy fella that this is the #1 way by which Malaysians are working in NY, London and Tokyo.

my case is no2 which is Attached with Japan co. from Msia to Japan.

But having a con that I have to bind to my company. And my work sucks..

You're certainly very enterprising - lots of respect. Good luck for 2010.

Interesting that your kids have Japanese names. The Japanese take a lot of care picking out names - the meaning matters and so does the stroke count. I'm assuming that they were born in Japan? If their mother is Japanese, citizenship (like Malaysia) is conferred through blood i.e. jus sanguinis, so getting them on their mother's koseki tohon is easy.

Funny you should mention about houses. Back in June, we went looking at several show houses/apartments in the Tokyo area. The tech they put into houses is amazing. Heated floors, bathroom tiles that are specially designed to disperse and evaporate water, kitchen cabinets that automatically close softly, triple-glazed windows for heat and sound insulation etc.

I got a question here:

I'm going to Japan next month but I need to keep my mobile phone online internet to do my important stuff.

I heard that Japan are using 4G technology rather than 3G or HSDPA on mobile phone. Normally I'm using my mobile to online internet but I think if I'm in Japan I can't do that anymore because of the roaming internet tremendous charges unless I found WIFI nearby. But if without WIFI, I totally cannot online. Do you got any idea how can I do online internet on my mobile phone? If I buy the prepaid card there, can it be activate the internet service using on my 3G phone? And how much the cost there for a prepaid card?

Appreciated much that you can help me to solve this problem above, thank you!

This post has been edited by rstusa: Dec 18 2009, 08:21 AM