http://www.city-cost.comTue, 16 Jun 2026 12:14:54 +0900A teacher by profession, yet always a student of life. Currently living in Kanto, but in love with Kyushu.enCopyright © 2015 - 2026 City-Cost All Rights Reserved.webmaster@city-cost.com (CC Team)http://img.city-cost.com/static/blog_campaign_icon.pnghttp://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G6ar8-shopping_kyoto_shi_kyotoDuring my Silver Week trip to Kobe, I managed to squeeze in a day trip to Kyoto. I know, most foreigners will spend a minimum of one night at this popular tourist destination. Not me, though, and for two reasons: I’ve been there before, and I’ve always been more interested in places in Japan that have a East-meets-West appeal than the very traditional ones like Kyoto.From Sannomiya station in Kobe it takes only one hour to get to Kyoto by rail, on the JR Kyoto Line. That line could also get you to Shin Osaka and Osaka, and some of the rapid trips continue to Himeji on the JR Kobe Line. Luck was on my side that day Kitty-wise because before my train made its final stop at Kyoto Station, there was a Hello Kitty Sakura train that was about to leave for Hakata. I managed to snap a few shots of the cute train before it left its platform.I then quickly looked for the Shinkansen gates because that’s usually where the souvenir shops are. At this point in my nearly year-long Gotochi Kitty shopping adventure, I’ve already come to learn that the first places to search are shops located near the entry points to the city/town - airports and major train stations. I’ve also come to learn that in some cases (for example, in Hiroshima), the souvenir shops with the most amount and variety of choices are located inside the Shinkansen gates.As it turned out, while there were many Gotochi Kitty items inside the Kyoto Station Shinkansen gates, there were more at souvenir shops outside. So, that was where I did most of my shopping. The 150 yen I spent for entry into the gates did not entirely go to waste, though. Inside the gates I was able to buy a Kyoto-limited Starbucks snow globe which I wasn’t able to find at the Starbucks branch outside the train gates.After about three hours of going around the souvenir shops, I just bought some really nice bento and then I was on the train back to Kobe. Yes, I’m that foreigner who visited Kyoto just to shop for Gotochi Kitty items, hehe. I thought of visiting Nara, but I’ve been there as well, so I headed back to Kobe just so I can explore it some more.Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/ and https://linkpop.com/tokudeals. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G6ar8-shopping_kyoto_shi_kyotoWed, 12 Oct 2022 16:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G6ar8-shopping_kyoto_shi_kyotohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MxkJo-shopping_kobe_shi_hyogoThe last time I felt this excited for a trip was when I visited Nagasaki for the first time in 2015. It was also a Silver Week trip, and this was also my first visit to another major port city in Japan. This 4-day, 3-night trip to Kobe, though, was shorter than the one in Nagasaki.This was also only the second time I took an early morning domestic flight, so early that I was already in Kobe when I finally had some time for a decent breakfast. And by that, I meant a simple sit-down meal of a slice of quiche and coffee at what is probably one of the most charming and picturesque Starbucks branches in Japan - Starbucks Kobe Kitano Iijinkan.I also was able to properly stow my luggage immediately thanks to early check-in privileges. However, because I arrived at Kobe Airport hours before their souvenir shops opened (yes, I was THAT early), I wasn’t able to check if they carried any Gotochi Kitty items. Since I wouldn’t be using the Kobe Airport for my return flight (I flew back to Tokyo from Osaka Itami), this meant I had to schedule a separate trip back to the airport just to shop. The good thing was that the Portliner had regular trips from Sannomiya station to the airport, and a one-way trip took no longer than 30 minutes.Views of the Kobe port from the Portliner.Kobe Airport Hello Kitty merchandise.When I booked my hotel months before this trip, I already knew that it was located close to the Shin-Kobe station. What I didn’t know and pleasantly surprised me was that the hotel had direct access to the station. This was one opportunity that I definitely took advantage of even if I didn’t ride the Shinkansen, because the Shin-Kobe station housed quite a lot of Hello Kitty Shinkansen exclusive merchandise.In between, of course I toured around the city and enjoyed food tripping on Chinese food and steak burgers (with the world-famous Kobe beef, of course) at Motomachi, and spent some quiet time at Meriken Park.I initially included the Nunobiki Herb Gardens in my itinerary but the weather didn’t permit it. I was glad that my hotel was located close to it and my room was on a really high floor so I somehow had an idea what the view would look like from there.This view is best enjoyed with a Kobe beef steak burger.During my stay in Kobe I somehow managed to squeeze in a short side trip to Kyoto - mainly for Gotochi Kitty shopping, hehe. More on that here.Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/ and https://linkpop.com/tokudeals. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MxkJo-shopping_kobe_shi_hyogoSun, 09 Oct 2022 19:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MxkJo-shopping_kobe_shi_hyogohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MER4D-shopping_fukuoka_shi_fukuokaMy arrival at Hakata Station in Fukuoka was delayed by nearly 4 hours due to a typhoon that hit Nagasaki which, of course, affected all the trains departing from and arriving at Nagasaki City. I knew already that upon arrival at Hakata station, I had to apply the same technique I did in Nagasaki: Gotochi Kitty shopping before heading to my hotel. And I did it for the exact same reason: I will be departing Fukuoka two days after not by rail but by plane, so will definitely not pass by Hakata station again.Even when the shopping I did at the station was rather quick compared to my previous sprees, I still was able to snag quite a haul of Hello Kitty merchandise.One thing I have always appreciated about Fukuoka City is that its airport is only 5 minutes from the city center, unlike all the other major cities in Japan. Which is why it was not a big problem for me to visit the Fukuoka Airport for another go at Gotochi Kitty shopping even when it was not my departure date yet.Of course I did not leave Fukuoka without my obligatory photos with my Starbucks tumbler, and I definitely had my fill of their signature tonkotsu ramen.In case you’re curious, I flew to Sendai from Fukuoka after. I was hoping to continue my Gotochi Kitty shopping there along with those other things I usually do on my travels, but to my surprise, the souvenir shops at the airport and at Sendai station did not carry those merchandise. I didn’t have enough time to explore outside of Sendai, so I left the city with only a few pictures and none of the merchandise. At least I had beef tongue for dinner for two straight nights, so I was still happy overall.Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/ and https://linkpop.com/tokudeals. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MER4D-shopping_fukuoka_shi_fukuokaSat, 08 Oct 2022 23:34:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MER4D-shopping_fukuoka_shi_fukuokahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDYEx-shopping_nagasaki_shi_nagasakiTwo months after my short trip to Hiroshima, I was once again on the road, er, in the air, this time heading to the other prefecture that dealt with the atomic bomb during the second world war: Nagasaki.This trip was not the first time I visited Nagasaki City. The first time was during Silver Week in 2015, and my second visit was in winter of 2017. On both occasions I also toured Fukuoka and Kumamoto, so I was able to see the Kumamoto Castle before and after it was destroyed in the 2016 earthquake.Anyway, back to Nagasaki. For this trip I planned not only to revisit some of my favorite places like the Dejima Wharf and have a repeat of some of the experiences I truly enjoyed like eating shippoku ryori and riding their trams, but to visit the sightseeing spots that I had to forego during my previous visits, like the Oura Cathedral and the Glover Garden.In terms of Gotochi Kitty shopping, this trip is different from the other shopping sprees I did, since the items had to be bought even before heading to my hotel. Unlike in my other trips where I managed to stow my luggage at my hotel before I went out shopping, this time I had to immediately shop at the Nagasaki Airport upon arrival because this airport is almost an hour away from the city center and more importantly, I would no longer return here to depart for my next destination.I arrived at Nagasaki a little past 6 PM on a Saturday, and spent more than 2 hours going through and filling cart after cart with lots of exclusive Hello Kitty Nagasaki and miffy Huis Ten Bosch 30th anniversary items. I was one of the last customers to check out before they closed their shops for that day, hehe.As a result I arrived at my hotel quite late already (at half past 9 PM), and really tired. Which is why my temper ran off the roof when I learned upon check in that my hotel didn’t have in-room dining service (I stayed at a hotel that is part of a large chain and known to offer in-room dining at their other establishments in and outside of Japan). So, the tired, hungry, and angry me quickly went up to my room as soon as I had my keys, stowed my luggage and the airport purchases, and dashed out to get my late dinner. Thankfully, a Gusto restaurant a few steps away was still open. I would have wanted something different to eat but I settled for an all-too-familiar taste and resigned to waiting for the next morning to get a much nicer meal.At least my room had a view.I woke up the next day feeling well rested despite what happened the night before and was able to have a nice buffet breakfast (turns out, my stay came with breakfast) before heading out to Oura Cathedral. While at the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to see this small, unassuming souvenir shop right next to the hotel which turned out to be the shop that was recommended to me by the hotel staff for Gotochi Kitty items.So, I am guessing you already know what I did immediately after breakfast.The stop at the Hinomaru souvenir shop was the last Gotochi shopping I did in Nagasaki. The rest of my stay was spent on those places I intended to visit, and taking photos of those spots with my generic pink Starbucks tumbler in them.I was scheduled to board the express train to Hakata in Fukuoka at noon the following Tuesday, but the typhoon that made landfall in the Kyushu region the night before caused the trip to be delayed by nearly 4 hours. Upon arrival at Hakata Station, I decided to apply the same technique I did in Nagasaki: Gotochi Kitty shopping before heading to my hotel. More on that here. Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/and https://linkpop.com/tokudeals.They are also on Facebook,Instagram, and TikTok.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDYEx-shopping_nagasaki_shi_nagasakiSat, 08 Oct 2022 17:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDYEx-shopping_nagasaki_shi_nagasakihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9EZ9-livingIn 2021 I wrote a post here on City-Cost, on how to earn miles for two of your airlines of choice. At that time, I was actively collecting ANA Mileage Club (AMC) collection more than JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) and Delta Skymiles.Since that article, the termination of Yahoo Japan’s partnership with T-Point in favor of PayPay has led me to shift my collection focus from AMB to a frequent flier program from another Star Alliance member airline – MileagePlus from United Airlines. You may wonder: why did I choose another US airline when I already have Delta? The reason is that aside from the fact that MileagePlus miles also don’t expire like Skymiles, Delta Airlines’ decision in 2020 to move their Manila flight transfers from Narita to Incheon made me lose interest in actively collecting Skymiles, especially since I planned on using them for future homecoming trips. I still have my Skymiles co-branded credit card, though, and would use it once in a while on some purchases. Anyway, as for my mileage account with Japan carriers, I’ve already used up my JMB and not collecting any at the moment, so I’m now working my AMB while I use my recently-acquired MileagePlus co-branded credit card. And here are the two ways I discovered to collect AMB and another airline miles at the same time.First is to sign up for ANA Denki (ANAでんき). If you live alone and/or your electric bill is under your name, plus if your residence type allows it, switch your provider to ANA Denki and use your other airline co-branded credit card to pay for your monthly bill. ANA Denki lets you earn 200 ANA miles monthly (300 miles for ANA Card owners).Another way is to install the ANA Pocket mobile app and subscribe to the ANA Pocket Pro service. ANA Pocket is a free app which allows you to earn points on every mode of transport, including travelling on foot. These points can then be used to play for either ANA Sky Coins or coupons if you stick to the free version. The option to play the app points for ANA miles only becomes available once you subscribe to the Pocket Pro service for a 550-yen monthly fee. At first, I was hesitant to subscribe because I wasn’t sure if it was worth it but after seeing that I managed to earn 600 miles within the first month of my subscription, I was convinced. I won 50 ANA miles on just one play! Lucky me!JAL has a similar app called JAL Wellness and Travel. I haven’t tried it and honestly, I’m not planning on trying it anytime soon because unlike in ANA Pocket wherein using just the free version is possible, JAL Wellness and Travel requires you to subscribe right away.Unlike in my previous articles where some of the hacks I suggested turned out to be not effective due to credit card limitations, the suggestions I mentioned above are sure to give you ANA miles and that of your other airline of choice through co-branded credit card use.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9EZ9-livingMon, 08 Aug 2022 20:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9EZ9-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5EZO-livingThe start of summer this year coincided with the return to face-to-face teaching at my workplace. This meant I was back to the daily commute, braving the rush hours amid the scorching heat and with the threat of COVID-19 still hovering around us. To say that it took major adjustments on my part would be an understatement, I believe. I saw myself having my body adjust to increased physical activity amid the heat, and my mind retrain to exercise more patience and kindness.I didn’t know that the changes at work this summer would have that much impact on my mental health, until it did. Around the end of June, I experienced major resentment towards work, over the daily commute and the working conditions I had (the company classroom I work in had poor ventilation despite the office being located in Central Tokyo). I remember telling myself that this resentment cannot continue unresolved because truth be told, I love my job. I thank Divine Wisdom for leading me to ways of managing myself as I face my work challenges that happen to coincide with this summer heat.So, here are some of the items I’ve bought and methods I’ve done to help bear Japanese summer.First: fans. For many years I’ve stayed away from portable electric fans because I didn’t like the idea of spending extra on batteries. Thanks to USB technology, I regained my interest on those. Last year I purchased a handheld USB chargeable fan which served me well and was quite powerful. But when I saw these fans that you can wear around your neck, I got myself the most inexpensive one available on Amazon. To be honest, it wasn’t as powerful as my handheld one but at least it left my hands free to hold my other stuff. I also got those clip-on fans from Amazon but as of this writing they still haven’t been delivered. Hopefully they’ll be just as helpful if not better.Second: getting a haircut. Probably because I’ve always loved my long, thick mane that I’ve somewhat underestimated the comfort a short hairdo will provide. With all the adjustments my body and mind went through just these past couple of months, turns out comfort is what I actually needed and constantly craved.Three: checking in. Ok, of the three this is inarguably the most impractical step I did (and will still do) to beat the summer heat. In my defense, I do this for one other purpose: to break the monotony of having to commute daily week after week. I keep my hotel stays to a minimum and, except for my birthday “getaway” when I splurged in a luxury hotel, I limit my stays to the business hotels near my workplace. Also, I book them well in advance to get good rates. If you find my methods worth doing, especially the third one, of course you are more than welcome to do the same. If not, well, these methods get me by. I’m sure you have your own strategies as well.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5EZO-livingFri, 29 Jul 2022 09:55:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5EZO-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQ2KV-living_minato_ku_tokyoAround the world, summer remains to be the top season for travel, and Japan is no exception despite its scorching heat. I personally prefer travelling in the summer because one, I can carry a lighter luggage and two, there are just more options for travel destinations. Unfortunately, this year the need to return to face-to-face teaching has stopped me from planning even a single summer getaway. I even couldn’t make a decent birthday trip as a gift to myself.Given the circumstances I decided to find ways within Tokyo, particularly near my workplace, to both celebrate my birthday and somewhat enjoy summer while still being able to report to work. The option I came up with may not be to anyone’s budget, but I believe this kind of vacation should be experienced at least once in your lifetime.I’m referring to splurging on a luxury hotel stay.I figured, if I fly to a summer destination with today’s airline costs due to soaring fuel charges and stay at a really nice hotel outside of Tokyo for an entire week, I’d be spending pretty much the same amount anyway. At least with this type of once-in-a-blue-moon staycation, I don’t lose many work days and I won’t bother my co-workers.On the week of my birthday, I decided to check in at the Intercontinental ANA Tokyo. Before the check-in date I emailed the hotel and requested for an upgrade, citing that I’m celebrating my birthday. Well, they granted my request! So, here’s a hotel tip: don’t be afraid to request for a room upgrade. There’s nothing to lose anyway.As a hotel guest I had access to the outdoor pool for less than half the actual price. Honestly though, I was hoping my access was free. Then again, I guess it turned out to be a good thing since the steep access fee made the pool much less crowded, which I definitely appreciated.Since I was at the hotel to celebrate, I temporarily put a lid on my stingy ways like buying convenience store food in favor of room service and dining at the hotel restaurants. I could have also tried the spa but I wasn’t up for it.In the end I managed to enjoy the comforts of luxury hotel living (like always returning to a clean room with a made-up bed) while still being able to fulfill my work responsibilities for that whole week.So, perhaps if even domestic travel is not a viable option for you this summer, staycationing at luxury hotels within your city center could be an option worth considering.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQ2KV-living_minato_ku_tokyoMon, 25 Jul 2022 10:57:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQ2KV-living_minato_ku_tokyohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we1kd-shopping_hiroshima_shi_hiroshimaFrom my shopping-slash-tumbler-picture-taking adventure in Hokkaido and Kanazawa in March, I was once again on the road (or in the air) in June – this time to Hiroshima. This would be my third time to visit. The first visit was in 2010, a year before I officially moved to Japan and the second was in 2014, where I had the chance to also visit Miyajima. On this trip I only stayed in the city where I checked in to a hotel strategically located within walking distance to the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum, among other landmarks.Just like in Hokkaido, I was able to do the obligatory Starbucks tumbler picture taking almost immediately upon arrival. In Hiroshima I was even able to do it faster: I was already done with my first tumbler picture before I checked in to my hotel, and I managed to capture more a day before my departure.With the tumbler out of the way, I was now on my Gotochi Kitty quest. Prior to my arrival I sent an email to my hotel requesting for recommendations on where I can find Gotochi Kitty items. Unfortunately the stores they gave me yielded no results, so I ended up still searching on my own, starting with the nearby convenience stores. I was inspired by my experience in Kanazawa, so I was hopeful that I would get the same luck here. I didn’t.I finally found my luck at one of the stores in Hiroshima Station, outside of the gates. However, the selections they had were not a lot, so I asked for a bit of help from the station staff. One of them suggested that I visit the souvenir shop inside the shinkansen station gates. Before this trip, I didn’t know that for as little as 150 JPY, one could enter the station gates and not ride the trains. Once inside the gates, I immediately saw the souvenir shop and got ecstatic instantly.By the end of my first day in Hiroshima, I was pretty happy with my haul.Back at the hotel, when the hotel staff already had an idea of the items I was shopping for, they advised me to also check out the souvenir shops at the airport. So, by the third night of my stay I made sure that I packed my luggage well so that there is still space for the items that I planned to buy at the airport. I also made sure that I arrive at the airport the next day with at least an hour allowance.As it turned out, one hour was good enough for more shopping and a decent lunch for me.Stay tuned for my next Gotochi Kitty shopping adventure.Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we1kd-shopping_hiroshima_shi_hiroshimaMon, 04 Jul 2022 13:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we1kd-shopping_hiroshima_shi_hiroshimahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MYn5L-shopping_kanazawa_shi_ishikawaFrom Komatsu Airport I arrived at the Holiday Inn Kanazawa Sky at almost 8:00 in the evening, tired because I flew from Hokkaido to Haneda prior to my flight to Komatsu. I was already very hungry at that point and expecting a decent amount of food choices in the room service menu (after a great food experience at the Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino days earlier), only to be sorely disappointed by the staff telling me that they could only offer five dishes after 8 PM. The room service staff I spoke with was sympathetic (it definitely helped that he turned out to be a fellow Filipino), though he admitted that there was nothing he could do other than recommending places where I can still get food. He mentioned some nearby restaurants, though they were already closed or about to close around that time (that should say a lot about the remoteness of this place). We ended the conversation with him giving me directions to the nearest convenience store.Fortunately, I was able to find the convenience store quickly, and there still were plenty of tasty-looking bentos even at that late hour. As I was about to proceed to cashier to pay for my dinner and drinks, I suddenly saw a section filled with…yep, Gotochi Kitty Kanazawa items.Yes. At a convenience store. What a pleasant surprise!If you have read my Hello Kitty shopping adventure at the New Chitose Airport (if you haven’t yet, check it out here), that shopping spree and the Gotochi Kitty shopping I ended up doing at a Family Mart in Kanazawa happened on the same day.Just when I thought I would have a bad start for my Kanazawa trip because of the poor room service, turns out, it wasn’t so bad after all. Unlike my Hokkaido trip where the Gotochi Kitty shopping happened after I had done my obligatory Starbucks tumbler picture taking (the main purpose of my 2022 travels so far), in Kanazawa the Gotochi Kitty items were bought first and the picture-taking and exploring happened after – notwithstanding the rainy weather during my stay.Also, unlike in Hokkaido where Hello Kitty merchandise was almost everywhere, almost all of the Gotochi Kitty items I found were at that convenience store. I managed to find a Hello Kitty Shinkansen plush at the Kanazawa station, but that was it. Overall, I would say that trip to Kanazawa was still a good one, in terms of my personal travel goals and of course, Gotochi Kitty.Now that I have an additional purpose for my domestic travels, I am looking forward to my future ones. Next episode: HiroshimaHi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MYn5L-shopping_kanazawa_shi_ishikawaSun, 26 Jun 2022 21:58:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MYn5L-shopping_kanazawa_shi_ishikawahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zKb9k-shopping_chitose_shi_hokkaidoI arrived at the New Chitose Airport (CTS) more than an hour ahead of my flight on purpose. I wanted enough time to explore the shops, especially since I learned there’s another Hello Kitty-themed café at the 3rd floor: the Hello Kitty Happy Flight Café. I would say it is a must-visit for Kitty aficionados, though in my opinion their menu could definitely have more dishes added.With my luggage checked in, boarding pass printed out, lunch out of the way and time to spare, I began exploring the numerous establishments nearby, including Royce’s Chocolate World. I was leisurely walking around when I saw the Hello Kitty Japan shop, and immediately I said to myself “Uh-oh.” If you have been following my Gotochi Kitty shopping adventure so far, you already know what happened next.Truth be told, the amount of shopping I did at the airport paled in comparison to the sprees that happened in Otaru and Sapporo because of time constraints. Still, I was able to buy a good number of Gotochi Kitty mascot holders, towels, socks and pens. I had to make a mad dash to the courier service counter, though and arrange shipping of the goodies to Lara before heading to the gate just in time for boarding. Whew!Once on my plane seat, I focused my mind on the flights I have ahead – this one to Haneda and the one heading for Komatsu later – thinking that the Hello Kitty shopping I did at CTS was already my last for the day. Little did I know that before that day ended, I was Gotochi Kitty shopping again – this time, in Kanazawa. Next episode: KanazawaHi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zKb9k-shopping_chitose_shi_hokkaidoSun, 26 Jun 2022 21:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zKb9k-shopping_chitose_shi_hokkaidohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gyk6Y-shopping_sapporo_shi_hokkaidoBack in my hotel at Hokkaido’s capital of Sapporo, I began wondering again where I would go next, having already fulfilled my goals of visiting Mount Moiwa and Otaru and that day was also my last full day in Hokkaido. It was already lunch time, so I said I’ll figure out my next plan while having lunch.It was after having some nice tacos somewhere near the Sapporo TV Tower that I decided to go up to the top of that tower. If you plan to visit the Sapporo TV Tower in the future, the entrance ticket to the tower peak can be bought at the 3rd floor. As of this writing, the entrance ticket costs 800 JPY. However, entrance to the 3rd floor souvenir shop is absolutely free.After seeing Sapporo from the peak of Mount Moiwa, my expectations for the view from the TV Tower observatory were not that high anymore, and it was fine. My pleasant surprise, though, came after I went back down to the 3rd floor, where I saw LOTS of Gotochi Kitty (ご当地キティ) or area-limited Hello Kitty merchandise.If you have read my music box shopping adventure in Otaru (if you haven’t, you can read it here), you probably know what happened next. You guessed it: one phone call to my friend Lara from TokuDeals and not before long, I was piling up cart after cart of Gotochi Kitty stuff – from pens and keychains to T-shirts and bags. I left the shop having spent double of the amount I spent in Otaru – with absolutely no regrets. Sure, it was a bit of a challenge heading back to the hotel with all those purchases in all that snow but I assure you, I was happy doing that and I definitely would love to have the chance to do it again – though perhaps without the pile of snow.Back at the hotel, Lara and I decided to have all the Hello Kitty purchases shipped to her ahead of my departure because I wasn’t returning to Tokyo just yet. After Hokkaido, I would be flying to Kanazawa via Haneda. Side note: landing in Haneda Airport on a lay-over was definitely a first for me. After finally closing the box and making the shipping arrangements through the hotel, I really thought my Hello Kitty shopping in Hokkaido was done. When I reached the New Chitose Airport, I quickly realized I spoke too soon. More on that in the next article, which you can read here.Hi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gyk6Y-shopping_sapporo_shi_hokkaidoSun, 26 Jun 2022 21:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gyk6Y-shopping_sapporo_shi_hokkaidohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z12Bn-shopping_otaru_shi_hokkaidoAround March this year I decided to revisit Hokkaido, because the last time I was there was in summer of 2017 with my family and I never really got to enjoy Sapporo City the way I wanted to. It had just snowed heavily the night before when I landed at the New Chitose Airport on a warm Sunday morning, so I was definitely grateful I had my reliable snow boots on. I booked my stay at the Holiday Inn in the Susukino district in Sapporo, and luckily I had early check-in privileges. Because of this, I was able to stow my luggage, get my lunch, and have the obligatory Starbucks tumbler pictures at some of the famous Sapporo spots taken just before the usual 2 PM check-in time. Now that my personal goals in Hokkaido were already accomplished so early in the trip, I got stuck with a question: what am I going to do for the next 3 days? The answers to that question came gradually, starting with scheduling trips to the Mount Moiwa observatory (because when I visited there in 2017 it was so cloudy that I saw nothing from the peak) and to Otaru, which is an hour from Sapporo by train. In Otaru I initially planned to just have a meal at the Hello Kitty Café and walk a little around the area before heading back to Sapporo. I had no plans of staying there the whole day because the forecast that day was that it would rain around afternoon. Why Hello Kitty Café, you ask? That is because I wanted to document my experience of visiting Hello Kitty places for my good friend who runs TokuDeals, an online shop for Hello Kitty merchandise along with other kawaii finds.Unfortunately, the Hello Kitty Café in Otaru was closed when I got there, so I ended up just taking pictures of the café from outside. Not wanting to waste this trip, I decided to check out the area, starting with the interesting building next to the café. As it turns out, it was the one museum I had been wanting to visit: the Otaru Music Box Museum.Several years back I had the chance to visit the Kamakura Music Box Museum and was amazed with the music boxes there. From a quick web search, I learned of the other music box museums in this country, the biggest of which is the one in Otaru. Once I got inside, I immediately explored all 3 floors of it, though admittedly it was on the ground floor where I ended up staying the longest.It was at this point where I finally realized the other theme that will dictate my future domestic travels: Hello Kitty merchandise shopping.The moment I saw the Hello Kitty-themed music boxes, I knew I had to call Lara (my TokuDeals friend) right away to let her know. That phone call quickly became a Zoom video call with her telling me which music boxes to purchase. I left the museum with a 5-digit-yen worth of music boxes, definitely happy with the purchases made and personally hoping that I can return and buy some more in the future.I also would like to go back to Otaru because I forgot to bring my Hokkaido tumbler for the obligatory photo. Oh well…Next episode: SapporoHi City-Cost Readers! If you have friends from outside of Japan who are interested in exclusive Hello Kitty Japan items, please invite them to check out TokuDeals at https://www.tokudeals.com/. They are also on Facebook and Instagram.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z12Bn-shopping_otaru_shi_hokkaidoSun, 26 Jun 2022 20:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z12Bn-shopping_otaru_shi_hokkaidohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GoP4Z-livingAt the beginning of this year, I somehow mustered enough courage to return to that one thing I’ve always loved doing in Japan: domestic travel. Unlike before the pandemic where my travels would always be just exploratory, this time though, I chose my next destinations based on a personal theme. If you know me and you guessed the theme would have something to do with points, then you are right. Not shopping points, though. And not miles either, but the spending I did on this themed travel definitely had an impact on my shopping points and miles collection. Back story: around last year I started collecting Starbucks plastic tumblers, specifically the ones with the old Starbucks logo and with famous places in Japan written on them. At the same time, I also collected the 2021 “Been There” series Starbucks cards. The completion of those collections – particularly the tumblers - unexpectedly gave me an idea for my next travel goal: taking pictures of those tumblers at the destinations written on them.I started with Nagoya because I happened to be there with a dear friend (and I had my Nagoya tumbler with me) when that idea hit me. Next pictures I took were of the Tokyo tumbler, because I work in the area, and of Chiba because I live in that prefecture. I was able to take the Saitama and Yokohama tumbler pictures on a not-so-busy afternoon back in December. Around spring this year, I spared one weekend each to visit Ibaraki and Shizuoka for their respective tumbler photos.With those nearby places out of the way, I’ve turned my attention to the farther destinations, starting with Hokkaido and Kanazawa. Fortunately, I was able to score some good deals on stays at Holiday Inn hotels in those areas. In case you’re wondering, another thing I began building up late last year was elite status in the Intercontinental Hotel Group or IHG. As to what sparked my interest in hotel points and status, I’ll tell you more in a future article.Anyway, I managed to visit those two places and get those tumbler pictures taken in a span of one week. So, at this point you might be wondering: what else would I do there? If you want to know what I ended up doing in Hokkaido, then check my next article by clicking here.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GoP4Z-livingSun, 26 Jun 2022 20:27:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GoP4Z-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4BDJ-livingI love staycationing. I have been doing it whenever my budget allows for as long as I can remember. Back in my home city Manila, I would staycation at some of the hotels in the city just so I can swim to my heart’s content at their swimming pools. I’ve even had the swimming pools all to myself a few times during those stays.Here in Japan, I would go on a staycation for a variety of reasons – from wanting to enjoy hot spring baths without hurrying to hoping for a writing inspiration. Because I wasn’t earning much then (still not earning a lot now, just to be clear), I would often go for the business hotels with a dream of one day staying at the ones belonging to major international hotel groups.Before 2021 ended, I realized that one silver lining that can be seen from the closure of Japan’s borders is the significant reduction of hotel rates per night, including and especially those of major chains. With that realization, I booked a 3-day-2-night stay at a major hotel in Narita, Chiba – and thoroughly loved it. For what is probably the first time ever, I ordered room service with no qualms at all, thanks to the fact that ordering in costs just the same (if not cheaper) as dining at the hotel restaurant. When I was staycationing at business hotels, I would still at times go for convenience store food even if my budget can afford better food simply because there were no good enough restaurants nearby.One thing I have observed, though, is that it seems business hotels have better bathroom amenities than the major hotels. I’m very particular with my hair, so I almost automatically pay close attention to hair care amenities at hotels. It is for this reason that I always bring my own shampoo and conditioner on trips – just in case the hotel shampoo / conditioner makes my hair more brittle than when I checked in. There’s one business hotel chain I’ve become loyal to these past few years, and that’s because aside from their reasonable price, somewhat comfortable rooms, good location and overall convenience, this chain has bathroom amenities that are gentle with my hair and doesn’t make my skin dry. In contrast, I’ve stayed at two hotels from a major international chain and their bathroom amenities seem to be inconsistent. While one of them has good-scented bathroom salts and average-quality hair care products, the other has shampoo and conditioner that I ended up not using at all.If I’m particular with hair care, I’m even more picky with oral care amenities, so I definitely use my own toothpaste and toothbrush all the time. Of course, every hotel guest has their own preferences and whims, and I am no exception. So, rather than waste time requesting or even complaining to hotel management to do something about their amenities, I’d just bring my own amenities (some of them, anyway), and enjoy everything else the hotel has to offer – for as long as my budget allows. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4BDJ-livingSun, 06 Feb 2022 17:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4BDJ-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MAyQv-living_money_howtoIn 2018 I wrote a posthere on City-Cost, on how to earn miles for two of your airlines of choice. At that time I was still actively collecting JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) and Delta Skymiles, and have just started working on my ANA Mileage Club (AMC) collection. A lot has happened since then – other than COVID-19. On my end, due to the lack of air travel opportunities I have shifted my mileage collection focus from JMB to AMC, mainly so that I can turn my miles to cash via T-Point. With that shift, I have discovered yet another way to earn miles on two airlines.Since Japan started giving rewards for using cashless payment options in 2019, companies like Rakuten, LINE and NTT Docomo have launched their own digital payment applications. Convenience stores like Family Mart and 7-11 (via PayPay) now also have their own apps supporting digital payment. However, it was not until recently that an airline has launched its own digital payment system. On December 2020 All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched their new mobile payment service called ANA Pay, which can be used from the AMC app. To use ANA Pay, you must first have an AMC account and download the AMC app (or if already downloaded, update to their latest versions). Then after opening the app and logging in, tap the ANA Information Bar where the menu will then be shown. From the menu, tap the ANA Pay icon to proceed to registration of your email address, phone number and setting of your password. ANA Pay can be used at establishments that have either the ANA Pay or SmartCode logos at check out, and can be charged using any JCB card. That means, if you have any airline co-branded JCB credit card, you can earn ANA miles and the airline miles on your card. For example, I use my Delta Skymiles JCB Take-Off card to charge my ANA pay. Currently, other major carriers that have co-branded JCB credit cards are JAL, United Airlines, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana, Thai Airways, and Air France/KLM. Starflyer and Peach are Japan's low cost carriers that also have JCB credit cards.Frankly, I still have to see how many miles I am about to earn on both airlines since I have just made my first ANA Pay purchase last month, at a fast food restaurant. However, just the fact that I have another method to add to my mileage collection excites me no end.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MAyQv-living_money_howtoTue, 07 Dec 2021 11:57:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MAyQv-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MPyxg-livingWhen 2020 ended, many of us could not wait to kick that year out and usher in 2021 filled with hope. This year started rather bleak for most of us - the anxiety due to the uncertainty of things still enveloped us. As we all went into the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the year, things started to brighten up thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines.Whatever our beliefs are on their efficacy, it can't be denied that the vaccines are integral to us slowly restoring our lives. Compared to how we ended 2020, at least we now stand a chance at ending 2021 a bit more optimistic for the years ahead.I must admit luck was on my side during this pandemic, having secured a full time job just before the government ordered its first state of emergency in March 2020. I was able to move into my own place after many years, and I’ve been working only at home for the past year and a half. Though I dread the thought of now having to return to the office, I understand that it is inevitable, and it is a mark of only better things to come.At the beginning of my remote work, I would find myself consistently bummed out for not being able to do that one thing I’ve always loved doing in Japan: domestic travel. Then, after getting my first dose of Moderna, I mustered the courage to slowly go back to that love of mine by staycationing at one of the hotels within my prefecture. Next on my plan is my first air travel in more than 2 years – a flight to Osaka. Hopefully, by next year I can travel internationally so that I can revisit my friends in the US. As for returning to my home country for a visit, that’s also something I’m looking forward to doing, simply because I miss the beaches of Boracay, Bohol and Palawan. However, I choose to wait until the end of election season there in May 2022 before I make my plans. More importantly, I am more eagerly waiting for Japan to finally open its borders to tourists so that my parents can finally come back here. Prior to the pandemic they come here every year (sometimes every 6 months), more to relax than to be with us their kids, hehe.In a few weeks I am returning to face-to-face teaching, though the company I work for plans to resume gradually via a hybrid online/F2F approach. There will surely be hits and misses on this one, and it’s not going to be easy for me and for my students. I’m just grateful that I work with people who are genuinely kind and patient. As for my students, this will be the very first time we’re going to see each other in person – and I’m sure some of them look forward to it, and some don’t. I’ll be honest: I’m pretty much the same. There are those who I was able to connect with on a personal level despite the medium, so I am eager to finally talk to them directly. Yet there are those who I’d rather just see on a screen.Overall, 2021 has been a better year for me compared to the year before. As I already mentioned above, the year progressed beautifully – from a bleak start to a very hopeful end. While things remain uncertain for 2022, I choose to be optimistic about it – and choosebeing the operative term.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MPyxg-livingMon, 22 Nov 2021 17:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MPyxg-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8218-living_money_onlyinjapanFirst, a disclaimer: while I have visited quite a few countries already in my lifetime, I can only claim to have lived in one other country than my own. That country is, of course, Japan. So, all the experiences I have living abroad are only in Japan, and all the comparisons I will make will only be (1) with my home country based on experience, or (2) with other countries but only through information available online.Anyway, when I moved here 9 years ago, I discovered rather quickly that there are two places that close a bit too early (in my opinion): ATMs and Starbucks. You see in most of Metropolitan Manila and other urban areas in the Philippines like Cebu, Starbucks shops close as late as 2:00 in the morning. When I moved to Urayasu in Chiba, I took comfort in (and got excited) with the fact that there is a Starbucks shop near my then house – only for that excitement to rapidly change to disappointment upon finding out that they close at 7 PM. To be fair, Starbucks Urayasu has improved over the years – they now close one hour later. I had the exact same "Starbucks" sentiment with ATMs, only that instead of disappointment, I experienced a rather prolonged frustration. Coming from a country where most ATMs are open 24/7, it took me a while to adjust to the 7:00 PM closing time, especially since I was also working till past that time. To cope, I mastered the skill of quickly walking to the nearest ATM when needed during the day time, and the art of withdrawing enough cash to lessen the trips to the machine. Also, I have come to appreciate the sheer presence of convenience store ATMs which I later on discovered. Again to be fair, ATM closing times have improved over the years (for most of them) – they now close two hours later, and some close as late as 11 PM. Looking back, perhaps it is also good that these ATM booths are not open all the time. In Manila a lot of crimes happen around ATM booths and obviously we see much less of that here in Japan.On the flip side, there are two things that I genuinely appreciate about banking in Japan. One, while it is true that ordinary savings deposit accounts here do not earn interest, they are insured in full (i.e., no maximum amount of insured). Even countries like the US and UK have placed limits on the insured amount of bank deposits. Two, unlike in the Philippines and the US, it is a must for one to have a bank account here in Japan prior to applying for a credit card. If you’re wondering why I consider this a good thing, I can answer that in one word: discipline. Discipline in the sense that I can always keep my spending behavior in check, knowing that I can only use my credit card up to the amount that is in my bank account. I never had a credit card back home; I only had debit cards and as we know, they operate differently. Turns out, this bank account requirement policy is something I needed to encourage me to finally get myself a credit card – aside from the points and miles, of course. In my almost decade-long residence here in the Land of the Rising Sun, I’ve had my share of banking-related frustrating experiences, and I even shared it here at City-Cost. However, while some aspects of it can still be improved, overall, banking here is something I have come to appreciate.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8218-living_money_onlyinjapanThu, 29 Jul 2021 11:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8218-living_money_onlyinjapanhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm1Lx-livingAs a foreigner living in the Greater Tokyo area, I share the same sentiment with the majority of foreign residents about finally staging the Tokyo 2020 Olympics: it is an insane idea for all the obvious reasons (read: COVID-19). When the country – and the rest of the world – learned of that decision, I could not express my disappointment enough. More so because of the (then) slow vaccination rollout nationwide. Good thing that it somehow picked up pace as the Games drew near, but a great deal of improvements can still be made – especially in the local government units. With all of these happening amid the government’s insistence on allowing thousands of athletes to enter the country, I could not see anything good that can come out of holding the Olympics this year.Until it happened.At around 9:00 PM on July 26, 2021 at the Tokyo International Forum, history was made for my home country. For the very first time, the Philippines won an Olympic gold medal. Four-time Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the Olympic gold for us in the Women’s 55 kg category. With this victory of course came our national anthem heard all over the venue. I am sure those who are from nations that frequently lead the Olympic medal board take the sound of their national anthem for granted, but not me. Not now, not ever. Needless to say, I went to bed that night happy – after crying a good deal of happy tears.This moment got me reminded to always see the silver lining in everything, no matter how bleak it may seem.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm1Lx-livingWed, 28 Jul 2021 13:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm1Lx-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G02Kr-living_foodFrom the first time I had this dish at a Singaporean restaurant in Manila, Hainanese chicken rice has quickly become my favorite chicken dish. I simply love the flavorful steamed chicken, the not-so-strong ginger-y aroma and flavor in the rice, and its perfect trio of sauces.When I moved to Japan I almost instantly noticed that it’s not easy to find an authentic Singaporean restaurant here. One has to go to central Tokyo or to other city centers for a chance at getting Singaporean cuisine, and given the current pandemic, dining out is, of course, not advisable. Whenever I crave Southeast Asian (SEA) cuisine, I am often left with only two types of cuisine: Thai and Vietnamese. Between the two, Thai restaurants are more popular here in Japan and yet, they tend to offer pretty much the same thing: gapao rice, pad thai and khao man gai. I rarely even find one that offers papaya salad – and papaya salad is a menu staple in Thai restaurants in Manila. As for Vietnamese restaurants, their staples are often the fresh spring rolls and a not-so-wide selection of pho. So, every time I craved for Hainanese chicken rice, I had to contend myself with its closest alternative, the khao man gai or the Thai version of steamed chicken rice. For a while it worked, until I could no longer deny that the three sauces are part of the joy of eating Hainanese chicken rice. Which is why on my latest order of khao man gai, I made two of the three sauces while waiting for my order to be delivered. I didn’t have to make the sweet chili sauce because it already came with the khao man gai.Here’s how to make the two other sauces:1.For the dark sauce, mix about a teaspoon of oyster sauce with about a tablespoon of dark soy sauce. You can just eyeball to taste.2.For the minced garlic, there actually are bottled options (already mixed with oil) that you can buy at the grocery store here in Japan. The one I used is the Momoya minced ginger, shown below.Once the sauces are ready, you can start plating. This is the one I came up with:Craving satisfied.Honestly, I find it disappointing that even until now SEA cuisine remains limited in this country. I have written about it here in City-Cost a few years back, and clearly not much has changed. It would be nice to see more and more Southeast Asian dishes gaining popularity in this country – and hopefully soon.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G02Kr-living_foodMon, 31 May 2021 10:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G02Kr-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zVXN5-living_medical_health_ichikawa_shi_chibaI'm sure you will agree with me when I say that having a toothache (or any dental problem for that matter) is one of the most troublesome situations any foreigner living in Japan will experience at one point in his or her life. Difficulty in setting appointments (often due to the language barrier), communication problems leading to being unable to completely address the underlying problem/s, uncertainty of whether the clinic accepts insurance, among other issues - can make dental care rather inconvenient in this country.Having a severe toothache during the Golden Week in this pandemic easily multiplies the inconvenience tenfold.And that's exactly what happened to me.The pain began around Tuesday of that week and by then, many dental clinics were already on holiday, of course. So I just took some over-the-counter pain medications and drank ginger lemon tea, hoping it will go away soon enough. Did not happen. Worse, the toothache didn't let me sleep that night.So that same evening I tried to find a clinic that will be open the next day. I was fortunate to find one, and was able to book an early morning appointment.That clinic took an x-ray of my teeth and did a bit of cleaning. No medicines were prescribed at all. While the cleaning provided some relief, it lasted only for a few hours.Overnight the toothache actually got so much worse that the day after, I was already crying in pain when I went to a different clinic in the hope of getting at least a prescription (though what I really wanted at that point was for that tooth to be pulled out).I was almost turned away at that clinic because I didn't have an appointment but seeing my distress, they took me in and I was finally prescribed an anti-inflammatory medicine and a pain reliever. They also advised me to return to the first clinic I visited since they already have my records. While I was grateful for the anti-inflammatory, the pain meds made me mutter "Are they kidding me? I already took 2 tablets of 200 mg ibuprofen before coming here and they're giving me 60 mg?!"Top: The pain reliever I was already taking before I went to the second dental clinic.Bottom: The pain reliever prescribed to me.At any rate, while the new meds somehow allowed me to sleep that night, it again became excruciatingly painful on Friday morning that when I went back to the first dental clinic (thankfully they had an open slot), they finally pulled out that menace of a tooth.Looking back, I learned three things. One is that dental health should never be neglected. Regular cleaning and consultations with our trusted dentists can save us from these stressful situations which, worse, may happen at an inopportune time. Another is on the benefit of keeping a good stock of pain relievers like ibuprofen and paracetamol. I was told that paracetamol works better for toothaches. Finally, I now have a renewed respect for ginger. Ginger tea is now a must-have in my pantry.My current stock of ibuprofen and paracetamol.Helpful ginger teas.I hope this story will teach us all to take better care of every aspect of our health, especially in these interesting times.May we all stay safe and healthy.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zVXN5-living_medical_health_ichikawa_shi_chibaFri, 28 May 2021 09:30:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zVXN5-living_medical_health_ichikawa_shi_chibahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9Z70-livingBefore the pandemic, I was actually spending an equal amount of time at home and outside for work. When I landed on a full-time job in late February 2020, while I was grateful, I also started to mentally prepare myself for the exhaustion that will come with the daily commute and possibly long hours of work.Then the pandemic hit, and along with that the mandate to work from home.Initially I was, of course, relieved and ecstatic. "I wouldn't have to worry about the commute for now", I thought. Then as the pandemic lasted longer, just like everyone else, various negative feelings and thoughts have begun to creep in. I've had those really bad days and worse nights - don't worry, I'm not going to share them here.Though the lazy side of me would also show up once in a while, fortunately the fighter and the creative in me kicked in and never stopped making its presence felt. As a result, one year into the pandemic, I have:1. Learned to experiment more in the kitchen. I discovered that putting a bit of peanut butter and chili is one of the best things you can do to your instant chicken ramen. My version of spicy peanut chicken ramen.2. Bought some appliances and furniture - with the clear promise to myself that I will use them extensively. For the kitchen, I got a slow cooker and a blender fromIris Ohyama. They were really affordable and what's even better is that being the points girl I've always been, I made sure I bought those online via the ANA Mileage Mall- so I was able to rack up points and miles even with not-so-big purchases.My latest purchases were a webcam (the convenience store near my house had a sale and they were selling webcams at 50% off), and two foldable lawn chairs for my balcony. I'm really keen on making full use of the balcony but since I don't have a green thumb, I figured the lawn chairs would be the next best idea. AEON has them for about 1,000 yen each for the arm chairand the mini chair (which I will use as foot rest).3. Explored many areas to possibly use my non-work time on. Studying Japanese is one of them, though I'd be the first to admit it's currently not on the top of my list, for a variety of reasons. I am currently looking into making video blogs (hence the webcam - though I'm still undecided on using that), studying either piano or French, among other things.4. Rediscovered the joy in singing karaoke - via a mobile app. Ironically, my visits to karaoke have become significantly less when I moved to Japan (compared to when I was still living in the Philippines) - for reasons still unknown to me. About 6 months into this pandemic, I discovered the StarMaker app, and from there I realized how much I missed that side of me - singing some of my favorites and the songs that defined my youth. 5. Discovered a way to help my family back home. When I was still working part-time, it was very difficult for me to contribute to the family back home. I had to leave that task to my sister. When I landed (so thankfully) on my present job just before the pandemic, I promised myself that I will now do my share. Thanks to two mobile applications that are mainly for users in the Philippines but somehow I managed to make them work here, I can now help somehow in the family expenses. The best part is that I don't have to pay remittance fees. Of course, there are still those hobbies and interests I've continued to pursue, like writing and playing my points and miles game. As for my great love, travelling, that will obviously have to wait, but one can always daydream, right?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9Z70-livingMon, 24 May 2021 13:09:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9Z70-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83RY-living_money_howtoAs many of you can see from the posts I've written here on City-Cost, I am an avid collector of frequent flier miles. At times I also collect some of the popular shopping points, especially if they help me accumulate miles faster. And while I haven't written about my points/miles collection frenzy lately, I've constantly been finding new ways to grow my points faster.Until this pandemic happened.Aside from those questions that we have already asked ourselves as we contemplate on our lives and futures, one thought that has crossed my mind is on the relevance of my long-held hobby. I mean, I truly wondered if collecting miles is still worth doing, given the changes happening to air travel. Sure, most airlines have extended the "life" of their miles - to the delight of their passengers, of course. However, for someone who collects miles mainly through non-flight means (i.e., credit card usage), the thought of shifting focus to cash rebates or shopping points collection for the time being has definitely crossed my mind.Then I remembered that I can still make use of some of the miles I have collected so far by exchanging it to other means that I can readily use, while air travel is still not a good idea. Good thing that the frequent flier programs of Japan's two main air carriers, ANA Mileage club and the JAL Mileage Bank, have in place alternative ways to use their miles. Let's take a look at those.A. JAL Mileage BankIf you currently have 10,000 miles or more in your JMB and you also have a d-account, you may exchange your miles to d-points at a 1:1 exchange rate. Once exchanged to d-points, you may use them for purchases at shops that have d-barai cashless payments.Conversely, if you have a minimum of 5,000 d-points, you may exchange them to JMBand just hope that you can use them for travel soon. Before your miles expire, though, it is best that you convert those to the e-JAL point, to extend their validity for an additional year. The disadvantage of changing your d-points to JMB is that you can only use your miles or e-JAL points on purchases at the JAL shopping website.It is now up to you on how you want to make use of your JMB miles and d-points. If you don't see yourself travelling soon (be it due to COVID-19 or not), it might be better to put those miles to d-points and use them for payment via d-barai.B. ANA Mileage ClubFor AMC, you may exchange a minimum of 10,000 miles to T-points at a 1:1 exchange rate. If you would like to do it the other way around, 500 T-points will give you 250 miles.If collecting miles remains your priority even in these uncertain times for air travel, of course you may do the T-point-to-miles exchange. Similar to JMB, though, the downside is that the miles will expire after 36 months. While you can extend their validity for an additional year by exchanging your miles to ANA coins, you will only be able to use them on the ANA shopping sites.By converting your miles to T-points, however, you will have more spending power. You may use your T-points as T-moneyor exchange those to actual cash if you have a savings account with Japan Net Bank. Though the exchange rate at Japan Net Bank is not very attractive, I still prefer exchanging my T-points, including the ones from AMC, to cash as this will give me an opportunity to invest it in Japan Net Bank'smutualfunds.If you have the same questions as I did on what to do with your miles, I hope the tips above gave you some ideas. At the moment I have an almost equal amount of JMB and AMC miles, and both are about to reach the minimum for points exchange (to d-point and T-point respectively). While I am still undecided on what to do with my JMB, I am definitely exchanging my AMC to T-points then to cash.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83RY-living_money_howtoMon, 05 Oct 2020 16:39:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83RY-living_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83aY-foodI'm starting this article with a disclaimer. I am not an expert on hamburgers, nor am I a burger aficionado. I'm just an ordinary person who likes to have a satisfying burger every now and then.If there's one thing about Japan that has always disappointed me is the size of their burgers. I mean, unless I dine at those American restaurants that serve big burgers for a hefty amount, I'll never be happy with my burger. Sometimes I'll chance upon some burger shops that serve tasty ones, but the size remains wanting.Until I found one at a restaurant I didn't expect: Gusto.Yes, I'm talking about the Gusto Burger. Have you tried it? You should.Apparently the Gusto Burger (ガストバーガー) was first introduced to consumers many years ago but disappeared from their menu in 2012. Last year, this delectable burger was included in their limited edition menu featuring dishes from Kyushu. This was probably supposed to be their take on the Sasebo burger from Nagasaki. Then early this year, Gusto finally placed it back on their main menu.At its current retail price of 799 yen, this burger is, for me, already a steal. Their beef patty is their signature cheese-in-burger (チーズINハンバーグ), which gives the burger a unique touch.If you will order one for delivery (at 940 yen), the burger will come to you in a non-microwavable yet very recyclable bowl:Again, I'm no burger expert. I'm simply one eater happy with my find.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83aY-foodFri, 11 Sep 2020 17:42:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z83aY-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mdvqk-living_foodA few weeks ago I was craving so badly for pancakes, because we had bananas and strawberries in our fridge. So, I went to three grocery stores closest to my place, in search of pancake mix. To my surprise, they were all out of stock! I wouldn’t mind one but three? I wondered: how could that possibly be? I mean, what does the current pandemic have to do with this pancake mix shortage?In my frustration I called up two of my closest friends in search for an explanation and/or an acceptable reason. My first friend also couldn’t understand what was going on. And because she has known me long enough to figure out that she had to calm me down at that point (crazy as it may sound, I was really upset during that phone call), she did that to me instead.My second friend had some theories - one of which is that because of school closures and children are at home 24/7, mothers are under bigger pressure to come up with tasty and enjoyable meals In the shortest time possible. They probably see pancake mixes as a quick fix. Hmm, “I’m not sure”, I said. I didn’t quite buy it.Still frustrated , I turned to my own quick fix - Google. While I was searching for how to make pancakes from scratch, I came across a recipe for 3-ingredient banana pancakes. I was so happy - ecstatic even - at the simplicity of the recipe that I tried it the very next day.I have absolutely no regrets!I learned a beautiful lesson from this rather silly experience: that in the midst of any shortage - real or nutty, like mine - I can and should always trust in the Divine Providence. Imagine, from what I perceived as a shortage of pancake mix, I was introduced to a healthier, cheaper, and (quite frankly) yummier version of pancakes. I still have to perfect the flour proportions, but I think I’m not going to need pancake mixes for now.Oh, while I’m at it, let me address those who believe pancake mixes are a quick and easy breakfast or snack solution: believe me, this is quicker and easier - not to mention healthier and cheaper.Here are some pictures from my first attempts at making those banana pancakes:To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mdvqk-living_foodThu, 21 May 2020 17:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mdvqk-living_foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GokEv-living_shopping_money_fashion_howtoWhen trying to dispose items that you no longer use, there are several options available here in Japan - the most popular of which would be to sell to second-hand stores, or to online flea markets. At the moment the most popular mobile app is Mercari, a selling site that also has operations in the US and UK. Other flea market apps worth looking into are Rakuma (formerly fril) by Rakuten, and PayPay Furima (PayPay フリマ).While transactions using these flea market apps are pretty straightforward, it is not always easy to make a sale. Also, for every item you intend to sell, you also need to mark it up a bit to cover your shipping costs.Recently, I discovered an alternative to the flea market apps. There is an app that allows you to offer your branded used items for purchase by either an online reseller shop or a discount store network. I am referring to the following: Brandear, Reclo, and Offer. A. Brandear and RecloBoth Brandear and Reclo are online shops that resell popular brand items. At the same time, they purchase branded items from customers who wish to dispose of them from their closets.To begin the transaction, create an account on their websites and then you can immediately request for them to pick-up the items you intend to sell. You can also request for a cardboard for your items, and you can even choose the size of the cardboard. It is also fine to use those cardboards or paper bags that are already piling up in your home. After their courier picks up your items, it will usually take about 3-4 days before these shops inform you of the price they are willing to buy for each item. Once they inform you, you can choose to accept or decline their offer. If you choose to proceed with the sale (of all or just some of your items), you will be asked to provide your bank account details. B. Offer Offer is an app developed for the Hard-Off network of stores. The process of selling your items here is a bit different compared to Brandear and Reclo. Here, you definitely need to download the Offer app after creating an account. The app is necessary for you to upload photos of the items that you intend to sell.Another difference between Offer and Brandear/Reclo is that while the latter sells and purchases only fashion items, Offer also buys kitchen appliances, computers and peripherals, digital cameras and audio equipment, among others. Anyway, the Offer app also has a guide for the type of photos that you must take and upload for each of your items. After uploading the photos, the app will set 3 days for the shops in the Hard-Off network to give you a price offer. If no shop gives an offer after 3 days, you will be asked to delete the item. Not to worry; you can re-upload them at a later time. I did that several times and I got offers for some of my items after a second (and for one item, even a third) upload.Once you receive an offer, the app will prompt you to accept it and you will then be forwarded to their web page, where you will place the date and time you would like them to pick-up your items. You will also be asked to enter your bank details.For both types of shops, aside from entering your bank details into their system, it will also be good for you to provide a photocopy of your IDs and bank book (or ATM card) - just in case these shops have problems with your name. In my experience, Offer often gives a better deal of purchase compared to Brandear and/or Reclo. The main advantage of Brandear and Reclo though, is that it can give you 1 ANA mile per 100 yen of sale (for Reclo) or automatic 300 ANA miles (for a minimum of 1,000 yen of sale from Brandear). The condition is that both sites must be accessed via their respective links in theANA Mileage Mall.I hope you can explore these sites and apps if and when you plan to sell your used items. When you do, I hope you get a lot of good deals.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GokEv-living_shopping_money_fashion_howtoFri, 27 Mar 2020 09:59:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GokEv-living_shopping_money_fashion_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4yNv-living_shoppingWhenever we dine, do our groceries, buy stuff at the convenience stores, or shop at our favorite department stores here in Japan, we show our point cards (if we possess one or some) at the cashier at check-out so we can get our points. After check-out though, what do we do with the receipt? Throw it away, most likely. If you do, then you have just wasted an opportunity to earn additional points. And I don’t just mean points towards your preferred shopping point program. You can earn points towards two or more point programs - just from a single receipt. How, you wonder? Read on. There are quite a number of mobile applications in the Japanese market that provide points by taking images of your shopping receipts. Here are three of them (which I currently use) and the shopping points that you can collect or exchange to: 1. CODE appThe CODE app allows you to collect points on any shopping purchase, which you can later on exchange to dpoint, WAON, or Amazon gift card.You may also exchange the points collected from this app to other shopping points but it has to be done through the PeX website. That means you have to create a PeX account beforehand and link your CODE account to PeX. So it becomes:CODE TAMARU points --> PeX points --> points/miles of your choicePeX allows you to exchange to miles or other points like T-point, nanaco, and Line point. 2. Receika (レシーカ) app This app is developed by Culture Convenience Club Company (CCC, カルチュア・コンビニエンス・クラブ株式会社), the same company behind the T-point. Obviously, only T-points can be collected using this app. 3. Rakuten Pasha Same as with Receika, Rakuten Pasha allows you to collect only Rakuten Points per receipt photo.Now, on how to collect those points:1. CODE appThere are two things that can be collected by using the CODE app: points (which they call TAMARU point) and coins. Only the TAMARU point can be exchanged to dpoint, Amazon gift cards, or PeX points. The coins are still useful in that it may give you access to getting more TAMARU point - but it largely depends on luck. Anyway, first step is of course to create an account immediately after downloading the app. Once you are set, you can now take a picture of your shopping receipt. After taking a photo, you will be prompted to scan the bar code of each product that was on the receipt. Once done and all information has been entered, several “eggs” will appear on your screen and each “egg” will contain either a TAMARU point or a coin. Bonus TAMARU points can also be earned from time to time, via answering one-question surveys.You can exchange to dpoint from 300 TAMARU points. To do that, you need to first link your d-account to your CODE app. You may also exchange to Amazon gift cards from 500 TAMARU points, to PeX from 400 points and to WAON from 300 points.2. Receika appAfter downloading the app, log on using your Yahoo Japan account. Then you can already start taking receipt photos. Photos courtesy of: Culture Convenience Club Company (https://www.ccc.co.jp/news/2018/20180325_005490.html)You can only take up to 3 receipt photos per day (and only one per day on the first 4 days of every month). Also, your receipts should only be 1-6 days old; any day older will not earn T-points. It is quite important to note too, that receipt photos taken on the first 4 days of every month do not earn T-points.Photo courtesy of: Culture Convenience Club Company (https://www.ccc.co.jp/news/2018/20180325_005490.html)3. Rakuten Pasha After downloading the app, log on using your Rakuten account. Then you can start taking receipt photos already. You can only take up to 5 receipt photos per day, and the receipts can only be for purchases made on that day; otherwise it won't earn you Rakuten points. Also, the Rakuten points earned from using this app are only of limited duration or period-fixed points.At this point, I hope you can already imagine how it is possible for you to collect multiple points with a single shopping receipt. Let’s put it into an example:Say I bought an onigiri and a 500ml bottle of water at Family Mart. Upon check-out at the cashier, I presented my T-point card then I paid a little over 200 yen using d-barai. After getting the tape receipt, I immediately took a photo each using the three apps. With the CODE app, I was able to earn 2 TAMARU points. In sum:D-point - 1 (via d-barai)T-point - 2 (1 at the cashier, 1 via Receika app)Rakuten Point - 1 (via Rakuten Pasha)Again, the 2 TAMARU points may not be significant at the moment but once it reaches 300, it can be exchanged to dpoints (or 500 for Amazon gift cards).The whole process of getting more points may be time and a bit energy-consuming, but at least it gets you to reach your target number of shopping points without having to spend more. Why don’t you give it a try?In the gallery are other shopping receipt mobile applications available in the market. While most of them are available on iOS and Android, some can only be downloaded on iOs.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4yNv-living_shoppingThu, 27 Feb 2020 14:19:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4yNv-living_shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDR4L-living_food_moneyWhen I started living in my city about 8 years ago, I noticed that many of the small restaurants near the train station accept only cash payments. In the beginning I would often come to those places for a quick meal. However, when I began making payments using cards (debit/prepaid, and eventually credit), I started going to those shops less - until I eventually avoided them.Recently, though, when I checked out those restaurants, I noticed something. They now have those POS portals for card and/or QR-code and barcode payments!Photo courtesy of www.freepik.com.It seems to me that more and more establishments - at least in my city - are embracing non-cash forms of payment. I now wonder what factors affected this change. Is it the upcoming Olympic Games? Or, did the Japanese government give them incentives to offer cashless options to their customers? Whatever caused these changes, my points-frenzy heart is happy. Now, I can enjoy meals from those food shops I've avoided for years. He he.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDR4L-living_food_moneyMon, 24 Feb 2020 23:44:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zDR4L-living_food_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5l89-living_health_ichikawa_shi_chibaI was having lunch at a restaurant one quiet and lazy afternoon. I was enjoying my salpicao and salad set so much that I began considering getting one of their desserts just so I can stay there a bit longer. Suddenly, an elderly man walked in and sat on one of the tables near me. Then the unthinkable happened. Just a bit after he gave his order, he lit up his cigarette. I did not see him actually lighting it up, but I sure smelled it right away. That immediately killed my appetite for the dessert. I wore my face mask and quickly began preparing to leave. Before I headed to the cashier though, I drafted a quick message in English and pasted it to Google Translate. I then showed the translated message to the cashier as I was paying my bill. I basically said that I really wanted that vanilla-chocolate soft-serve but was turned off by that smoking customer. Furthermore, I told her that I felt so sorry for that one little girl (I’m guessing she’s about 2-3 years old) seated not too far from that old man - as she had no choice but to inhale such deadly air. Note that she and her mother were already at the restaurant around the same time as I, a good half-hour ahead of him.The restaurant apparently has a smoking window between lunch and dinner times, and the man obviously took advantage of it. Had I seen their signs earlier, I would not have entered that restaurant at all. Also, if I were that little girl’s mother, I would have completely ignored those signs and raised hell against them. I mean, why would I allow anyone to slowly kill my young daughter (and even me) with their second-hand smoke?Why is it that even with all the information readily available about the dangers of second-hand smoke, restaurants here in Japan still have those smoking windows? For business? Isn’t it unfair to those diners who just wanted a quiet meal, breathe without smelling anything obnoxious, and simply live?I am not saying that restaurants should stop accommodating customers who smoke. That’s what smoking sections are for, and many restaurants and cafes have those. Isn’t it high time for ALL restaurants to have those, instead of smoking window times? Seriously.The health issue surrounding smoking goes beyond the physical, it seems. It is social as well. The lack of concern of these smokers to those they are affecting is alarming and appalling.Japan is known to have a culture of reading the air - or kuuki o yomu (空気を読よむ)．Well perhaps, this is one “air” smokers should start reading, and fast: If you want to smoke, do it in your own room and make sure you're the only one who can breathe in your filthy second-hand smoke. No one wants to be killed by your unhealthy caprice.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5l89-living_health_ichikawa_shi_chibaWed, 19 Feb 2020 14:07:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/w5l89-living_health_ichikawa_shi_chibahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY5v6-living_howtoCompared to its closest rival airline, Japan Airlines (JAL) has fewer shopping point partners, so on the surface collecting JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) miles takes longer than the competitor. However, one of its shopping point partners, the dpoint, has set up various ways to make its point collection faster, thereby making it possible to exchange to JMB sooner than usual. In this post you’ll get to read about the ways you can collect JMB miles via exchanging your dpoints.The d-point is the point program of NTT Docomo , the largest telecommunications network in Japan at the moment. NTT Docomo subscribers should automatically have a d-account but non-subscribers can still create a d-account. You can exchange your dpoints to JMB at the current rate of 5,000 dpoints to 2,500 JMB miles.Obviously, the first step is to create your d-account. Once created, the next step is to download the d-point (dポイント) app onto your phone. Enter your d-account details and once done, you can now start collecting d-points at stores where d-points can be collected.In convenience stores, you can collect only at Lawson if you have just the d-ポイント app. To be able to collect d-points at all convenience stores, you have to download the d-pay (d払い / d-barai) app. The d-barai is the QR-code payment system inaugurated by NTT Docomo not too long ago. Once you have the d-barai app, enter your preferred credit card and start purchasing.For those who might be worried about credit card fraud that may happen when using d-barai, d-barai requires 3D Secure verification (Visa verified, MasterCard SecureCode, JCB J/Secure) before your card gets approved for purchase.In my case, I entered my AEON JMB credit card in the d-barai app. So now, not only can I earn miles with my credit card transaction, but also dpoints - which of course, I will later on convert to JMB.Now, there is a way to help you reach your required dpoints faster - and it does not involve spending. Through the d-point investportal, you can, as the site name implies, “invest” your points. As with any other type of investment, there is always that risk of losing. At least it’s only points you are losing, not actual money. When you gain points, however, it gets you a tad bit closer to your goal doesn’t it?When you start investing in d-point invest, make a mental note of how much you invested and watched it once a day. If there is even just a one-point gain, withdraw the gained point/s right away. If there is a loss, don’t do anything (just keep collecting via d-barai). Once you have 100 dpoints, immediately add them to the investment. Yes, you can withdraw as little as one point, but you can only add in increments of 100 points. Keep doing that until you reach you target dpoint amount. For JMB conversion, the required amount is 5,000 dpoints.Keep in mind, though, that only the standard d-points can be invested in d-point invest. The period-fixed points (期間・用途限定) cannot be invested, so once you see those points on your d-point app, your choices are only to either use them or let them expire. If you have at least 100 period-fixed dpoints, you can set up your d-barai app to first use those points before charging your transaction to your credit card.So yes, it’s like you got a 100-yen off for your d-barai transaction. And because at the moment the Japanese government Is actively campaigning for people to start doing more cashless transactions, you can get more discounts from using d-barai.I hope these tips will be helpful for you as you work towards getting those JMB miles.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY5v6-living_howtoThu, 06 Feb 2020 10:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY5v6-living_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rxv-living_transportation_jalIn this section of Japan Airlines (JAL) travel stories, much has already been written on JAL experiences at domestic airports in this country. Nothing has been said about a JAL experience flying into Japan - well, until this one. Allow me to share my recent experience of flying JAL back to Narita from my home country.A. Check-InAs I've mentioned in my previous post, this is not my first time to use JAL on an international flight from Manila. JAL flies to and from Manila via Terminal 1 (T1) of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA. T1 is the second oldest and smallest of the four NAIA terminals, yet it has the most number of airlines operating there. Perhaps due to its size and structure, in my opinion this terminal has become a bit too crowded and looks like they're always disorganized. I came home for the holidays last December and stayed for about three weeks. On my return flight, I did my usual practice of coming to the airport at least three hours ahead (a MUST at NAIA, for everyone's guidance). Upon arrival, I noticed right away the long queue at check-in so I told myself "here we go", bracing for the ordeal. Then I remembered that I have already checked-in online, thanks to JAL's Web Check-In feature. As a result, I was able to skip the queue and go immediately to baggage drop and boarding pass pick-up (the boarding pass can't be printed at home, unfortunately). Now, there is one significant change that I noticed right away with their procedure. Compared to my previous NAIA check-ins, this time the JAL counter staff also processed my travel tax refund while I waited! You see, as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), I am entitled to a travel tax refund every time I leave the Philippines provided I submit some required documents. Now, processing this refund in itself takes time - mainly due to long queues. Which is why it was such a relief that the lovely and courteous staff added this to their service. I am truly grateful.Overall, JAL's Web Check-In feature saved me a lot of time, though later on it'll be wasted at the longer queue at immigration - well, that's beyond JAL's control and definitely another story.B. On boardOnce I was at my window seat of their Boeing 787 aircraft, I saw something that I have never seen in any aircraft: the blue tinted windows! Admittedly I never paid attention to the windows, as I've assumed they're all the same - oval-shaped, and with shutters or shades that must be opened during take-off and landing. Well, with this flight, there were no shades to open; just two semi-circular buttons at the bottom of the window that you press to adjust the darkness of the tint.(At this point, I was getting child-like excited with this flight, haha!)The food was not extraordinary, although I did notice the abundance of desserts that JAL serves. Imagine, aside from fruit slices, they also served vanilla ice cream AND a chocolate chip cookie! As someone with a sweet tooth, I should have known that once I got on board, my sugar diet is doomed. Well, if it's any consolation, I did not put sugar on my coffee anymore.Another pleasant on-board surprise I saw was at the lavatory. Let me ask you: would you expect your airplane lavatory to have a bidet? Well, it did not have the shower head-type one, but it sure had the signature Japanese-style 6-button washer! How awesome was that! In addition, the lavatory was also equipped with a diaper changing table. Clearly, JAL continues to exceed expectations when it comes to passenger comfort. With all these new features and services that JAL introduces on their flights ever so often, how can I ever stop flying with them?This post is supported by Japan Airlines (JAL), one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rxv-living_transportation_jalMon, 18 Feb 2019 10:45:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rxv-living_transportation_jalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GW69q-livingI stopped making New Year's Resolutions many years ago. Instead, I create a one-word "theme" for the incoming year. Sometimes I would start thinking of my theme as early as December of the previous year, but I make sure I already have one before the end of January. That theme is basically a realm of possibility that I am creating for my self and for my life. For example, in 2018 I created "victory" as my theme. What it meant is that in any aspect of my life, I would always create and/or try to find victories - big or small - that I could and should celebrate. Taking it one step further, I also saw aspects where it may look like defeats on the surface, but were actually tiny seeds of hard work being planted and victories waiting to happen.For this year, I created romance and passion as my theme. Yes, you have just read it. I am boldly declaring to the universe that I am inviting a lasting, romantic relationship in my life. Hahaha! But there's more to that theme, the way I'm creating it. It also means focusing my energies on activities that bring out my passionate and joyful sides - like traveling and (ironically) studying. I am looking forward to this vacation I'm taking this long Golden Week, because I get to reunite with my best friends from university, who I have not seen in almost 20 years. I am keen on traveling domestically this year as well; Kobe, Hakodate, and Kagoshima are on my list.On the other hand, studying has brought out the passion I once had for my life and for the difference I can still make. Back in October I enrolled myself in a short-term business course that will end this June. In this course, we get to do as a project an actual business plan for a real client. At first I was so worried that the project that will be given to my team will be on a completely different field from my current job. Turns out, not only was our client from the same field but our project was on something that has always piqued my curiosity since I moved to Japan. Needless to say, this project will be the "affair" I'll be involved in - at least for the next few months.The Tokyo Skytree as seen from my business course classroom.My 2019 theme is also about rekindling parts of my identity that I've turned my back on for many years - that "me" that was once hopeful and not jaded. When I went home for the holidays last year, I rummaged through my old cabinet and found a few sheets of paper containing poems - songs, actually - that I wrote back in university. This year I plan to have those transferred to music sheets, once I find someone who can do that for me. See, I don't know how to play any musical instrument - though studying piano is also on my to-do list.And because "romance and passion" is what I created for my 2019, in it I am including all forms of pleasant surprises that will come my way. Money? Game! Love life? I already mentioned that above. Career change? I'm aiming for that! (the main reason I'm taking the business course, actually). Anything! As long as they are pleasant. I am aware that not all surprises are pleasant. Should they come, I hope that I can quickly channel my inner Catriona Gray and have the wisdom to always see the silver lining in my setbacks, so as not to lose this zest I have for life. Let me end this with an invitation: if you are to create your 2019, how would you want it?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GW69q-livingMon, 04 Feb 2019 10:13:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GW69q-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4r6L-foodOne observation that I can't seem to shake off is that Southeast Asia (SEA) is somewhat misrepresented here in Japan - food-wise.There is a popular restaurant chain here in Kanto area that claims to specialize on SEA cuisine. I've dined there more than once, in at least two of their branches. While their selection is actually good, I am personally disappointed overall.When I checked their menu, I only saw Singaporean, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai dishes being served there. As for their beverages, they have a wider range of Asian beers, but in my opinion that still doesn't make them worthy of calling themselves a Southeast Asian restaurant. Allow me to explain. The last time I checked, the ASEAN or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations consists of 10 countries (in no particular order): Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.So, my question is: where's the rest of the ASEAN on their menu?It saddens me to see that the delectable dishes of other ASEAN members are not getting enough recognition in this country. Their exposure is only limited to Asian festivals, and authentic restaurants serving these dishes are rather hard to find.I understand that restaurants, as a business, must cater to the selective taste of the Japanese public. However, perhaps it is also time for the Japanese to broaden their horizons, widen their taste buds, and get to know the rest of Southeast Asia through food. Now that’s on one hand. On the other - and this is for my fellow Southeast Asians - would it be too much of a dream to see the true vibrance of SEA finally getting the recognition (if not popularity) it deserves here in Japan? What would it take, then?Side note: As added info, please check out the gallery below for some of the cultural taboos in ASEAN countries. Images are courtesy of Rappler.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4r6L-foodThu, 15 Nov 2018 13:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4r6L-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GBg13-living_money_transportation_jalIt is not easy to focus my Japan Airlines (JAL) story on a single trip, as I have lots to share in my almost decade-old "relationship" with JAL. In fact, all my air travels within Japan so far have been on JAL and needless to say, I am definitely bent on adding more to my places to visit. Some of my trips back to my home country, including my upcoming one this December, have also been on JAL. A. Domestic trips I have experienced flying to Sapporo (with my family), Hiroshima and Osaka. Also, I flew in to Kyushu the first time via Fukuoka and flew back to Tokyo from Nagasaki. I love Fukuoka so much that I went back last December, this time on a round-trip ticket.The JAL aircraft that I was going to be in on my flight to Fukuoka (the first time), as seen from the boarding gate at Haneda Airport.Our family trip to Hokkaido. July 2017.Copies of my boarding passes for the flights to Sapporo (above) and Fukuoka (below) in 2017.On all these trips, I was able to save a considerable amount on airfare thanks to JAL'sSakitoku fares, which allowed me to lock in my flights for up to six months in advance (unlike other airlines where you can only hold your flight for 24 hours) without having to pay. I was only required to pay about two months before the flight. As if getting less expensive flights wasn’t enough, in came the JAL mobile phone app which I thoroughly enjoyed using, despite my almost-zero kanji reading ability. I used its Mount Fuji view feature in choosing my seats during reservation. As a result, I had the privilege of seeing Mount Fuji from the air – twice! First was on my way to Osaka, and the latest one was on the latest Fukuoka trip (picture below). Hands down, that for me is the best way to view Japan's beautiful treasure. Thanks to free Wi-Fi, I was able to post this early morning Instagram story aboard my second JAL flight to Fukuoka, in December 2017.As a force of habit, I would always come to the airport two hours before my flight – even if it’s domestic – just to realize later that I didn’t have to. Yes, it happens to me each and every time! I don’t mind, of course, since it’s quite easy to kill time at Haneda Airport after the almost paperless check-in procedure. Yes, paperless. My JMB Waon card was all I needed to go through the gates. Once on board, in came another perk – the free Wi-Fi courtesy of Gogo. I am so grateful for that feature because it enabled me to use my time productively and not just sit idly during that early-morning, 2-hour flight to Hakata. I was able to do half of my work that day, and still had a few minutes to take and post on Instagram those pictures of Mount Fuji from the air! I also would have to mention the comfortable legroom – a feature that, on short flights, is often negligible for some but not for others (i.e., long-legged people). Initially I thought of upgrading to a Class J seat for a little more comfort but soon realized that I’d still be fine with the economy seat. Maybe in a future domestic flight. B. Homecoming trips My very first round-trip flight to Japan from Manila was via JAL. It was about 9 years ago and roughly 2 years before I eventually moved here. My parents and I were to visit my sister who, at that time, had already been living in Japan for four years. When I found out that we would be using JAL, I immediately opened JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) accounts for us - just for good measure. My sister had opened her own account way before. As we were living in the Philippines then, naturally our JMB accounts were under the Asia/Oceania region. I quickly transferred mine to the Japan region when I eventually moved here. Looking back now, perhaps my mileage collection "hobby" had already started way before I moved. It just got worse, I mean enhanced, once I got here. Just some of the payment cards I have collected as a result of my efforts to build up my JMB account.Over the years, because of my borderline obsession with mileage collection, I have saved a considerable amount on my subsequent homecoming flights - thanks to the 1:1.5 exchange rate of miles to the e-JAL point (1:1.2 if you prefer the JAL Coupon).On one of those trips, the JAL ground staff offered to check-in the souvenirs that I had shopped for at Narita airport. You see, I am the kind of passenger who would rather not use the overhead bin as much as possible. That gesture from the JAL staff was, for me, such a pleasant surprise that I will not easily forget it. Overall, my flight experiences with JAL have always been pleasant and given the chance, I would love to have more travel experiences with JAL. For now, my quest for ways to build on my JMB account to finance my future travels – er, my “affair” with JAL and JMB – continues.This post is supported by Japan Airlines (JAL), one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GBg13-living_money_transportation_jalWed, 14 Nov 2018 11:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GBg13-living_money_transportation_jalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gy69k-living_transportationOne of the first signs of season change in this country is the prevalence of colds among the young and old. Several other reasons can be attributed to this occurrence: unhealthy lifestyle, improper diet, lack of good sleep, etc.One small thing, however, seems to be overlooked as a culprit in the quick spread of colds in Japan as it changes seasons: train behavior. What exactly? Bear with me here.Let’s begin with snorting on the train. A crowded train. Seriously, why is this behavior acceptable among the locals? Don’t they realize that the sound they make in a pin-drop quiet train is just so annoying? Or, am I just too sensitive for comfort? Either way, they simply don’t care. But more importantly, I think what they should at least be mindful of is the virus they are spreading simply by snorting throughout their trip, without even covering their noses! My understanding of the reason why people wear surgical masks is so they can prevent themselves from spreading germs from their colds. But now, it seems that that logic has to change. From the looks of it, the need to use those masks is more for those who currently do not have the colds than for those who do - to lessen their chances of catching one. People without colds now have to cover their noses just to avoid getting infected by those who carelessly snort their way.Oh, and please don’t get me started with those who sneeze without covering! In a country that has become so dependent on doctor-prescribed cold medicines, it baffles me that there are these kinds of people. I only have respect for those who would rather go for natural cold remedies like drinking lots of liquids and getting enough sleep. That is, if that’s really what these people are doing. Still, I believe that is not an excuse to mindlessly snort and sneeze in a crowded train without any covers.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gy69k-living_transportationTue, 16 Oct 2018 23:31:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Gy69k-living_transportationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1BJj-living_sustainablelifeSomebody had just posted an article right here on City-Cost on how much Japan loves paper. That post focused mostly on excessive printing and manual documentation in offices. Actually, there is another proof of Japan's obsession with paper - and we need not look far to see it. All you have to do is check your mailbox. I don't know about you but not a day goes by that I don't see a flyer in our mailbox for anything - food delivery, plumbing services, newly-built condominiums, different types of classes, etc. There was even a time when, not just a single sheet of paper, but an entire book was in our box! It was a catalogue from a well-known furniture shop. Now, that book was not thin at all, and the pictures in it were in full color! Initially I wanted to keep the catalogue and maybe donate it to a friend of mine who teaches kids (so she can use it for some of her projects with them - or for her own scrapbooking projects), but in the end that thick book filled with nice furniture went to the bin.Japan's special preference for flyers still bewilders me to this day. These past few days especially, I have to admit, I've begun to question how effective these flyers are as an advertising or even as an information dissemination tool - both in terms of intended audience reach and cost. A school manager recently got into a bit of trouble when he got a call from authorities of a bicycle parking lot in front of a train station, saying that a big pile of the school's flyers had been dumped illegally in someone's bicycle basket and that the flyers were floating around the parking lot being blown by the wind and soaked by the rain, making a big mess. The flyers apparently had been placed in individual baskets and people had thrown them on the ground once they came to get their bicycles. The next day the manager went to the bicycle parking lot and apologized for the mess created by the flyers, yet still he was made to call the city hall to explain himself, after which he was warned about putting things in baskets. Most likely that situation is not uncommon. Let's face it, when we see flyers in our apartment mailbox, or handed out to us at the train station, or enclosed in our actual mail, what do we immediately do with those? Ok, we would probably look at them briefly and then what? We put them in the trash, right? And then just after a few minutes, we have completely forgotten what was written on those flyers. Most of us, with our busy schedules and even busier minds, would almost automatically ignore the flyers that come our way. Yes, some might argue that we as readers should probably pay more attention to those written announcements, as they might be important. Just recently, I found out (much to my dismay) that national health insurance premiums increase significantly as we reach the age of 40 here in Japan. I missed out on that valuable information just because I immediately threw away that small brochure that came with my annual pack of insurance bills. (In my defense, apart from my poor Japanese, that detail was written in one of the middle pages of that brochure).Going back. Imagine if all flyer recipients will only throw those sheets of paper, what a waste isn't it? It's a waste of the advertiser's money (or in the case of those government information brochures, taxpayers' money). More importantly, the sheer amount of paper and ink consumed in printing those flyers causes continuous depletion of our trees and adding further damage to our environment.Maybe flyers were effective tools in spreading information and promotions. But times have changed - and so does our climate. Even if these companies start using recycled paper, with everything that has been happening to our dear planet, maybe Japan should start considering other ways to disseminate information. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1BJj-living_sustainablelifeThu, 11 Oct 2018 18:48:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1BJj-living_sustainablelifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/ME5bv-living_money_workTeaching, some people say, is a lifetime job. Now let's put that in the proper perspective. Being a teacher may last a lifetime. I mean, even long after you retire from your teaching job, you would still have the urge or desire to teach someone anything. Because of that urge, some people venture into one-on-one tutoring or coaching, or some would get a pet dog so they can teach them tricks. Well, that may be a different matter. However, teaching as a job, especially language teaching in Japan, is not really a job that you can hold on for your entire lifetime - and even if you can, please try not to do so.Here's why language teaching cannot be a lifetime job: 1. The demands of the profession have been changing exponentially, and as we get older, our bodies simply could not cope up; and2. The mandatory retirement age here is 60, and while in most Japanese companies employees continue to work as "consultants" past their retirement age, rarely are language schools and/or dispatch companies willing to accommodate employees over the age of 60. They would rather look for someone younger. So what does this mean then? Simple. While you are still working, it is imperative that you start preparing for your future - be it in Japan, back in your home country, or elsewhere. Of course, for some of you reading this, one major consideration you have financially is the money you remit back home to support your loved ones. Yes, it is a valid consideration, but it should not stop you from preparing for your future. I would even dare say that saving for YOUR future should be your priority. Another important asset that you should take care of in the present is your health, for it will definitely have an impact on you in the future. I cannot emphasize this enough. Teaching can be a mentally and physically demanding job. There will be days when you will go home so exhausted, that you just find yourself going straight to bed - only to realize just seconds later that you still cannot sleep yet because of your other obligations. As a result, you end up sleeping late and thereby going to work the next day totally sleep-deprived. Now, that was just your physical health. Like I said earlier, teaching can be mentally and psychologically draining as well. In language teaching especially here in Japan, one problem that you may encounter is of loneliness. You may be wondering: how? Let me elaborate.You are teaching a foreign language. You may be able to teach grammar, vocabulary, semantics, syntax, and all the other components of language and figures of speech. However, nuances and context are rather difficult, if not impossible, to teach. In my experience, nuances and context can only be learned and understood by enough immersion into the language. And because these are difficult to teach, these two actually become your obstacles or blocks to being truly understood. Some of your students might be able to talk back to you in English, but unless you translate your true emotions into their native language, they really won't be able to get where you are at. In other words, unless you yourself learn Japanese, it'll be extremely difficult to find a true, authentic Japanese friend - one you can be completely yourself with. Having said that, your better recourse would be to have a network of friends that you can really talk to - ideally those who speak the language in which you are most comfortable.At this point I may have already lost you. You may be wondering: why did she bring up loneliness and lack of sleep in this topic of preparing for the future? To that, here is my answer: In as much as you are taking care of your work, making sure that you always deliver good if not excellent results, it is equally important that you look after yourself - for now and in the long term. Taking care of yourself now - in all aspects - will get you better prepared in facing the unknown.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/ME5bv-living_money_workMon, 08 Oct 2018 09:11:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/ME5bv-living_money_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GR4gp-living_familylifeFor most of us, probably the first feeling that we get whenever we receive news of friends or family coming over is that of sheer joy. Excitement immediately comes after. However, let us also admit: the next thoughts and feelings that would hound us are those of frustration and stress. Frustration because of our inability to spend as much time as we’d like with them due to work, and stress because of so many reasons, including the one that causes the frustration. The frustration of having to prioritize work above family and personal interests often comes from financial needs, especially if these include sending remittances to your home country. For these people who have families to support back home, the pressure of ensuring consistency in their remittances is so huge that they prefer to neglect their own physical and mental well-being just to fulfill those “needs”, which are sometimes more of “wants” and demands.Add to that the popular opinion that Japan has a strong work-centered culture, making it extremely difficult for an employee to take longer days off to be with his or her loved ones. If he does, the feeling of guilt (for either causing work process delays or for causing a colleague to do double work in his absence) could sometimes take him away from being fully present with his loved ones. As for stress, maybe this feeling is the same across countries, but perhaps what makes the situation peculiar to Japan is the lack of space in our residences to accommodate our visiting friends and family. Though their time with us would just be limited, those few weeks could still be an ordeal because we would temporarily have to bear with the crowdedness of our own home and the noise that even the tiniest movements can make. However, much as their visits would bring about a certain degree of pressure and mental strain, it cannot be denied that we need our loved ones to keep ourselves - at the very least - sane. The joy and love they provide us by being physically present easily gets us back on track whenever we reach low points in our lives here in Japan. Or, it helps us to remember why we continue to commit to living our lives in the best ways we know how.Thus, if you really look at it, part of the challenge of living abroad (especially here in Japan) is constantly striking a balance between our financial and our emotional (and even mental) needs. It's a moment to moment choice between the salary we get to earn, and our precious sanity.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GR4gp-living_familylifeSat, 29 Sep 2018 13:12:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GR4gp-living_familylifehttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkLo-living_money_badexperiencesI nearly packed my bags on my first year in this country, and wanted out. It was all because of a terrible experience I had in my very first job as an assistant language teacher or ALT - an experience that even led to a panic attack. This is not an exaggeration. Here is my story. I was referred to an ALT dispatch company by a friend, and within weeks, I was offered a job and assigned to a junior high school (JHS) in the city where I live. I remembered being so grateful for this first job because I have never experienced going to work with just a smooth 20-minute bicycle ride from my place. Back in Manila where the traffic has always been terrible, the daily commute to work is an enormous ordeal. Because I was then just excited to start my new life and new job in this country, it did not occur to me that something was off. Two things, actually:One, the fact that I was immediately asked to report to my school without undergoing any training was not a cause for concern for me back then. I was complacent since I've asked some friends and then new-found acquaintances about being a JHS ALT and they all told me that it's easy and for as long as I come to work early, I can get the hang of it and wing it. Too late did I realize how awfully wrong they were. Two, the employment contract handed to me was for three (3) terms and wherein each term is considered a separate contract. These terms have gaps in between, which makes my service in that company non-continuous. Little did I know that this will have serious consequences in my unemployment insurance later on. Due to my lack of training, zero Japanese ability and plain naiveté, I performed my ALT duties the way I knew how - which, as I discovered later, would not sit well with the faculty in the JHS where I was dispatched. In no time the school officials decided to meet with the executives of my dispatch company at the vice-principal's office - without my knowledge. I just found out by accident when I saw my company's then newly-hired human resources (HR) Manager and 2 HR staff members about to leave the school premises. I quickly approached the HR manager, introduced myself to him (at that time he had not yet been formally introduced to all the ALTs despite having already been in his position for several weeks), and asked if there were any concerns that brought about their visit. They all said none. I then asked the vice-principal and he also said there were no problems whatsoever. On the third week of December of that year, I received a written warning from my company. And immediately the week after, on the last business hour of the last working day of the year, I got a call from my company informing me of my termination. I was not given the opportunity to finish my contract the way it was meant to be completed, nor (at least) be reassigned to a different school or even a different city. This experience left me in shame and heightened emotional distress. I remember going immediately to the Board of Education office in our city, crying, to seek help or at least some advice on what I could do. I was already crying at that point because of panic - I had just started living alone in my small apartment (my sister had gone back to the Philippines just a few months prior) and had barely adjusted to life in Japan. I found myself greeting the New Year hyperventilating and desperately grasping for a paper bag to breathe in. In one of those days after the new year, I mindlessly went to a conveyor sushi restaurant and started binge-eating whatever sushi I could grab from the belt. I only stopped when my sister's best friend and her husband found me. Apparently my sister, after I informed her of what happened, immediately messaged her best friend to watch over me.Over the next few months I started to work on claiming some benefits from my unemployment insurance, believing that I was entitled to some. Not long after, I was in for the worse: my dispatch company had designed my employment contract in a way that rendered me ineligible for unemployment insurance despite having already contributed a significant amount - thus leaving me with no choice but to forfeit my hard-earned money. Good thing that I was also working part-time at an eikaiwa after school hours back then, so I was able to somehow get by and eventually recover from the trauma. Later on I was able to land other teaching jobs such as 3-to-5-day intensive courses at English camps, until I decided to concentrate on teaching adult general conversation English and business English (which I do to this day).Looking back now, had I been rigorously trained by my company before setting me off to "war" - aka, junior high school - I would have stayed as an ALT and would probably be a teacher trainer by now. Because of this experience, I have decided to swear off all ALT jobs and it will take a great deal of persuasion before I could even consider taking another one.If you are contemplating on teaching English in Japan, make sure you come in "armed". A lot of foreigners who come to Japan take up teaching English as their part-time or even full-time job. Sadly, some approach their classes with very little or almost no preparation. While initially winging it may get you by, trust me, it will not help you in the long run. Whether you plan to teach kids or adults, get yourself trained. At the very least, equip yourself with an arsenal of certifications and courses. Moreover, be meticulous in the employment contracts that you will sign. Make sure you get your back covered especially during periods of unemployment.Preparation is not only essential - it may even save your sanity, literally. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkLo-living_money_badexperiencesSun, 23 Sep 2018 16:34:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkLo-living_money_badexperienceshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8VW-livingEvery time I'm in a conversation with friends who are here for a visit, they would always tell me how impressed they are with Japan - both the country and the people. They love the punctuality of public transportation and the politeness of the people, among others. And while I would agree with them on most of the points they raised, I sometimes find myself having to burst their bubble, especially when talking about Japanese people. Differences in opinion are common in friendships, I suppose. But if such differences lead to one's opinion being invalidated, then that's rather sad. I must admit that in my recent conversations with my friends, I felt that my opinions about Japanese culture and people are often being invalidated. Sometimes, this invalidation is even worsened by how they gawk at the beauty and greatness of this country - at the expense of lambasting our country of birth. Truth be told, I feel like I'm being discredited every time I talk about my experiences in this country - and by the people who I treasure, love, and miss terribly, no less. Yes, I'm hurt. Whenever I would tell them something that is not so nice about the things they have come to admire about this country, they would tell me something that goes along the line of "You're just being jaded." But to me, I was simply trying to keep it real. Also, if they can talk about Japan filled with praises and compliments, then how come they could not do the same about their home country? This has led me to thinking: am I already being disillusioned, or perhaps this is just brought about by my lack of Japanese language comprehension?How about you? Have you ever experienced being discredited and/or invalidated for what you have come to know about Japan?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8VW-livingWed, 12 Sep 2018 01:20:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8VW-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9mXv-living_money_transportationHere I am again, writing on this hobby I've only developed when I moved to Japan: collecting frequent flier miles. To be honest, I'm a bit worried for myself already as I am beginning to question if this hobby of mine is already bordering on obsession, haha!Anyway, in my continuing quest to make the most of my expenditures and mileage collection, I recently discovered that there are some ways you can collect miles on two of your chosen airlines - at the same time. You are probably familiar with the classic method of using an airline-affiliated credit card to pay for a flight with a different airline. That still is the quickest way. Of course there is also using code shares in earning mileage. I have experienced earning both ANA and Philippine Airlines miles on one domestic flight from Manila.In a previous article I wrote about using hotel reservation websites like Agoda (via Pointsmax), Kaligo, and Rocketmiles to book your hotels. When booking, choose the airline in which you would like to earn miles, and use a credit card linked to another airline to pay. Recently, I've discovered yet another method of saving miles simultaneously between two airlines: using prepaid cards.All Nippon Airways (ANA) has just introduced its line of Visa and JCB prepaid cards. The ANA Visa prepaid cards are managed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation or SMBC while the JCB prepaid cards are managed directly by JCB. At the moment, applications can only be made online. When applying, make sure to enter your ANA Mileage Club number (if you already have one) before submitting; otherwise, the ANA Mileage Club number will be automatically generated for you. Once you have your prepaid card, you may start topping it up. So how can you earn ANA miles simultaneously with another airline? Simply by charging your ANA prepaid card using an airline-affiliated credit card. In my case, I use my JAL JQ Sugoca Visa card to charge my ANA Visa prepaid card. Just be careful, though: the Visa prepaid cards can only be topped up by a Visa or Mastercard credit card and they have a charging fee of 200 yen per transaction regardless of the amount to be charged. The ANA JCB prepaid card, on the other hand, can be charged by a JCB credit card with no charging fee. Other charging methods such as bank transfers and payment at convenience stores are also available, but of course you'll no longer earn the double mileage.Well, I hope these tips can somehow help - that is, if you are as borderline-obsessed as I am in frequent flier mileage collection. Haha!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9mXv-living_money_transportationThu, 30 Aug 2018 17:03:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/M9mXv-living_money_transportationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK9x1-living_transportation_galleries_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_saga_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamoto_shi_kumamotoDuring the Silver Week in 2015, I embarked on a 6-day, 5-night trip around Northern Kyushu, where I stayed in Nagasaki for about half of that trip, and the rest divided between Fukuoka (only in Hakata) and Kumamoto (also only in the city). I used the highway buses going around the region, as I purchased the SunQ 3-day Northern Kyushu highway bus pass prior. I was so happy being able to save on transportation costs while at the same time enjoy the region's scenic fields. In December 2017, I fulfilled a promise I made to myself and went back to Northern Kyushu, but this time a good friend was with me. This trip, however, was a bit shorter (only 4 days and 3 nights), and we stayed in Fukuoka for the entire trip. I tried to convince my friend to purchase the same bus pass I had but because he already bought the Japan Rail Pass before flying to Fukuoka from Manila, my fervent requests were all in vain. As a result, I had to purchase train tickets in advance via the JR Kyushu website so that I will, at least, stand a chance at getting a discount. I did get some discounts but overall, I still spent more compared to 2015. That's OK, since we were able to experience riding at least one of Kyushu's charming trains.Still working while aboard the JR Kamome train.Now, riding those trains gave us an instant adventure to remember since unlike in Tokyo, Kyushu trains are not as frequent and apparently, are more predisposed to delays.Anyway, we made stops at Saga prefecture to see the Hizen Yume Kaido ninja amusement park, and we got to explore more of Fukuoka prefecture - went outside of the city to see the lying giant Buddha at Nanzoin Temple and visited the underrated (for me, that is) spots in Kitakyushu such as the Toto Toilet Museum, Mount Sarakura and Moji Port. More pictures of these places at the gallery below.So much 90's feels at this shop.After a 20-plus-minute uphill trek from the bus stop near Ureshino hot springs, we finally reached Hizen Yume Kaido Ninja Park in Saga. Here's my friend at the park entrance, obviously overjoyed.I still included Nagasaki City in our itinerary since it was (and still is) my favorite city in Japan, but we only stayed for a less than day. Even so, we still were able to see several historical sites and we got to have the delectable shippoku for lunch.Shippoku. I just cannot pass up on this beauty.Also, on this trip I got to revisit Kumamoto Castle - and this visit was far different from the first time I saw it. In 2015, Kumamoto Castle was standing in all its majesty and bustling with hundreds of visitors. In December 2017 the castle, severely damaged by the earthquake that occurred a year before, was still closed for repairs. Stones that used to line up the moat are neatly laid on one part of the castle compound, all numbered and perhaps waiting to be placed back where it belonged.Kumamoto Castle, September 2015.A portion of Kumamoto Castle, December 2017.Two trips to northern Kyushu, and I still feel it is not enough. As I am writing this, I am also finding myself looking at my calendar for when I can go back. Oh, and I just saw a popular English-language travel website selling the SunQ Kyushu highway bus passes at discounted prices - this just makes it much more tempting! A return to Northern Kyushu won't be too bad, but Southern Kyushu on my next trip perhaps?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK9x1-living_transportation_galleries_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_saga_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamoto_shi_kumamotoTue, 28 Aug 2018 10:04:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK9x1-living_transportation_galleries_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_saga_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamoto_shi_kumamotohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpV4n-living_money_medical Many will agree that Japan - with coverage of at least seventy percent of the total hospital, outpatient consultation costs, and medicines, has one of the best health insurance systems in the world, or at least among developed nations. This is probably one of the reasons why many foreigners prefer to stay in Japan rather than return to their home countries.It is mandatory for citizens and basically anyone who will establish even temporary residence in this country to obtain health insurance, whether through his or her employer, or through the city or town government. As a result, part of the foreign resident's list of bills is his or her insurance premium. With a private health insurance, it is easy to ignore the monthly premiums simply because it's automatically deducted from one's salary. The same can be said for those who are under the national health insurance but are paying through automatic bank transfer. If you are under the national health insurance, you may want to reconsider your automatic payment after reading this piece. Here's why.Your monthly premium may have already increased significantly from the previous year and you have not noticed it yet. There are two main factors affecting this increase:1. Your income - simply put, as your salary increases, so do the taxes you pay and your insurance premiums.2. Your age - apparently the premium increases significantly once the insured reaches the age of 40.Now, perhaps these increases are justified. However, what is alarming is the manner in which they are introduced to the insured. Let me share with you what I have recently experienced regarding this matter.Around the 1st week of August 2018, I received a set of bills for my health insurance this year (Envelope 1). Just a week after, another bill came to my door - and this is for an additional premium which I had to pay in a lump sum (Envelope 2). This was an adjustment made by my city government to my health insurance due, apparently, to the income I've earned the previous fiscal year. In other words, they're asking me to pay more since I earned more. Fine.Just 2 weeks after I received Envelope 2, in came Envelope 3 which contained a new set of bills for my health insurance. I noticed right away that my monthly premium has increased by 2,000 yen. Because the envelope got into my mailbox on the first day of the obon break, I had to wait (anxiously) for at least 3 days before I could go to our city hall and sort these out. When I did, I was in for a bigger - er, more expensive - shock: although Envelope 1 can now be disregarded (and discarded), I still had to pay the bills in Envelope 3, AND the ones on Envelope 2! A simple computation led me to discover that this government is now charging me approximately 40,000 yen more in health insurance premiums for this year!Ok, ok. As we turn 40 we become eligible for additional medical tests that our city government provides us annually. I guess I should actually be grateful for that. However, what I believe doesn’t work in this situation is the ineffective dissemination of information regarding the premium increase. Yes, there are the leaflets that are enclosed with the bills, but let’s face it: these leaflets are often ignored and just go straight into the trash, right?Simply put: had there been a letter (or any correspondence) addressed specifically to the person insured, informing him/her of the premium changes due to the new age bracket, then situations like this (and the stress that went along with it) wouldn’t have to happen.Look, I certainly would not mind paying for health insurance, since I am aware of what great benefit I can actually get - something that I'll never be able to afford back in my home country. In addition, I am grateful that arrangements can be done to be able to pay for the monthly premiums in an easier manner. However, I wonder if there is a more efficient way of collecting our health insurance premiums, without having to receive unwelcome surprises every year. I truly believe that is something the government can - and should - look into. To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpV4n-living_money_medicalThu, 23 Aug 2018 16:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpV4n-living_money_medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mna9J-living_education_workIf you want to teach English in Japan, there are, of course, skills you need to learn and keep on developing. Obviously, there are the technical skills necessary for teaching the language such as a good foundation of grammar, a rich vocabulary bank, and a comfortable level of IT proficiency.And then there are the soft skills, or virtues and ways of being that you must be able to generate for yourself regularly, especially when you are serious about teaching here - be it teaching kids or adults. Here are just some of the important ones:1. Patience. That's usually a given. Teaching (and learning) in any form requires a great deal of patience. But let me describe or expound on patience in the Japanese cultural setting.One of the challenges a language teacher often faces is explaining 'in context' vs. 'literal translation.' This is so magnified in the Japanese setting since generally, the Japanese people are such sticklers for rules, and anything that doesn’t go by the rules has to be thoroughly explained, before they become amenable to it.Simply put, saying “because that’s how it goes” or “because it is what it is” to reason out just doesn’t cut it with them. So, be ready to explain things in context. A good thing to remember when you are beginning to lose patience with a student is that while you are keeping your patience (or sanity) with them - just them - they are also keeping their patience with you AND with themselves.The thing is, as a teacher, your patience will be tested not only inside the classroom, but also outside of it. Meaning, it's not only with the students you’re going to have to be patient with but also with the system in general. It could range from the country’s English education system, to the culture as a whole.With that, what you are willing to tolerate or adapt to will depend entirely on you. Do you have to blend in? Well, frankly, you can try. But I can tell you now, even if you spend your entire life learning and adapting to Japanese culture, you’ll never become “Japanese” enough. That is because to this day, Japan has remained extremely homogeneous. In other words, to them you will remain a foreigner no matter how long you have lived in their country. What I would recommend instead is for you to embrace your uniqueness while at the same time, keep your patience and broaden your mind in understanding them and their culture. You are a foreigner, accept that. Choose that. In choosing and accepting that identity of yours, you are actually arming yourself with a rich and powerful teaching tool that is beneficial to your students. Remember, they are studying a foreign language. Between you and a Japanese English teacher, who do you think is more credible?2. Curiosity. If there’s one virtue that continues to work for me as a teacher, it is that of curiosity. Yes, I like asking questions. Why does this work? Simple: how can you get students to talk if to begin with, there’s no question to be answered? And how can a student continue to speak if there are no questions to keep pushing him or her through? Japanese students are quite infamous for giving painfully short answers - and that is partially due to their native language influence. The Japanese language is considered a high-context language. Meaning, two persons speaking in Japanese can already understand each other even with less words. They quickly understand what is said and even what is not said. The English language, on the other hand, is a low-context language. What it means is that the one speaking is entirely responsible for ensuring that the listener understands what they are saying. So, in order for the students to have a more realistic "feel" of the language they are learning, they have to get used to giving the context of what they are saying in detail - or in other works, speaking longer. As a teacher, you can definitely encourage that by asking questions, and making sure that the students don't fall into their "safe" answers just to end the conversation (some of them do that trick from time to time, trust me).3. Creativity. Teaching, in general, demands creativity. A good teacher encourages creativity on his students at all times, and therefore he himself must cultivate his own creative spirit. So how can you develop your own creativity? In my experience, my motivation to squeeze my creative juices came from one statement I began telling myself each and every time: “I've got to have something to share.” True, your students must talk more than 50% of the time. Most advanced or higher-level students will actually expect that from the teacher. However, when it’s your turn to talk or explain, do you honestly want your students to see (or hear) a teacher who is not well-versed? Or, would you like your students to think that you’ve somehow become one-dimensional, that there’s nothing more to you besides work? I certainly would not want that.Why? Because most of the students that you will encounter - if you decide to teach adults - are already that: one-dimensional. They are most comfortable discussing their work (house work if you have housewives as students), and they are more than pleased to talk about it with pride. Rarely will they open up about other things that they are into, so you as a teacher must encourage them to talk about those. And how can you effectively encourage them if you yourself have got nothing to share? Leadership by example. That’s the key.If you'd like to know some ways you can develop yourself and have something to share in class, click here.4. Tenacity. Tenacity is defined as "the mental or moral strength to resist opposition, danger, or hardship." You can view that as courage or determination. Simply put, don't give up easily. As you teach in this country longer, it becomes so tempting to be resigned to some of the cultural aspects of this country and just consider it as "adjusting". Do not succumb to that quickly, because these cultural factors that you may become resigned to may actually be the factors that are hindering them from fully embracing the language that you have committed to teach. Do not give up on embracing your uniqueness. Continue to be patient, but be resilient because again, they have to get that along with studying a foreign language is accepting a culture that may challenge what they have become so accustomed to live in.5. Self-awareness or self-worth. Why is this important for you to hone? As a teacher you will likely be placed in lots of situations where you will give all the energy that you have, or share all that you are with your students. In the process, you begin to forget who you are and what you truly value in life. You might end up working to the point of losing your ability to make yourself happy or worse, lose your sanity. You are the only one with the power to prevent those things from happening. Know very well what you can tolerate, accept, and/or compromise. Only by knowing your true worth can you compel the people around you to respect you.Another reason why self-awareness is important to cultivate is that if you really look at it, at the core of your desire to improve on anything in life, including your career as an English teacher, is an awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. Being truly self-aware gives you the humility to accept criticisms and advice to improve oneself, and also the grace to acknowledge and appreciate yourself for any good work that you do. True self-awareness gives you access to that balance that you so constantly need in your life. As you can see from the soft skills that you must muster, teaching English here - well, living here in Japan, in general - can and will actually change you. However, it will be entirely up to you on how much change you are going to allow for yourself.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mna9J-living_education_workMon, 20 Aug 2018 10:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mna9J-living_education_workhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkK1-livingOne of the things I love to do whenever I have the chance is watch stage musicals. Broadway and West End are still on my bucket list of places to visit, so I am just glad that at least there are countries in Asia that host international tours of some of the well-loved musicals. Singapore used to be the main Asian destination for these shows but lately I've noticed that my home city of Manila is slowly becoming another popular destination for the English-language production of these shows. Which is why every time I come home, I'd always make it a point to check out any upcoming shows.During my first few years here in Japan, not being able to watch live stage musicals in English was one of my sources of frustration - until I discovered Tokyo Theatre Orb, one of the main venues for English-language stage plays and musicals in Tokyo. Tokyo Theatre Orb is located at the 11th floor of Shibuya Hikarie building.Inside the theatre, you will notice right away the LED displays (vertical or horizontal) placed on the sides of the stage. This is for the benefit of the Japanese audience, who for some reason decided to watch a stage play in English but would still need or prefer to read subtitles.In some theatres of the Shiki Theatre Company, subtitle glasses can be rented out. Apparently, the Canal City Theatre in Fukuoka rents out subtitle glasses in their current production of the Little Mermaid. Two of my friends who visited Sapporo last spring were able to enjoy the Lion King at the Hokkaido Shiki Theatre due to those awesome glasses. When they told me about it, I immediately reserved a ticket for the Lion King at the Shiki Theatre in Tokyo.The subtitle glasses as worn by my friend in Sapporo.To my dismay, the Tokyo Shiki Theatre Natsu does not provide those same translation glasses. Perhaps Tokyo should start taking after their Hokkaido and Fukuoka counterparts, hopefully soon?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkK1-livingSun, 19 Aug 2018 17:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wXkK1-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wkp8L-livingAfter several years of living in Japan, there definitely are certain behaviors that you have observed amongst the people as you do your daily routines. While of course all you do about those observations is just to accept as they are, you sometimes still can’t help but wonder why they do those things they do. Here are some observations I’ve had with people around me in this country, and why I still could not make sense of such behavior of theirs:1. Why do some people stand on trains even if there are a lot of empty seats? It's not that they will get off at the next station. I've had many experiences where I was already about to get off the train - about 4 distant stations away from where I got on - and some people who also got on the train with me at the same time were still there...standing! I just find it such a waste of (their) energy. It's not easy to balance yourself in a moving train, you know. 2. Why do some people tend to crowd others, when they are known to respect one’s private space? For example, of all the empty seats in the train, the person who just got in will choose to sit right beside you. Am I just being too sensitive?3. Why do some women wear high heels when going to theme parks such as Disneyland, Disney Sea or Universal Studios Japan, when they know they will be walking A LOT? Again, waste of energy.4. Why do a lot of people (women, especially) wear not just dark, but black garments during the hottest of summers? And as if that’s not enough, they’d even cover their arms with sleeves that are, you guessed it, black! Seriously, are they not taught in schools that dark colors absorb heat while light colors bounce them off? That actually explains why one can walk barefoot in true white sand beaches at high noon without hurting their soles, and also why the waters in those kinds of beaches remain cool even in the middle of the day.Nowadays when the temperatures often reach hazardous levels, it has become more important than ever to dress in a manner appropriate to the weather, just so people will remain cool with all this summer heat.5. Am I the only one who gets offended every time I am asked “Do you know ___ ?” For example, “Do you know natto?” In class, I try as much as possible to teach the other ways to introduce new information, especially to foreigners. For example, they can ask “Have you heard of ___” or “Are you familiar with ___” instead of “Do you know ___” which is basically just their literal translation of “知っている？(shiite iru?).How about you?To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wkp8L-livingSat, 11 Aug 2018 20:23:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wkp8L-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY7kg-livingWhen I moved to Japan, I have to admit: I easily got sucked in to the convenience of the vacuum cleaner in cleaning my place. So much so that I ditched the use of the broom, even if I grew up in a household where I was taught by my parents to sweep the floors every weekend morning using the traditional soft broom in the Philippines called walis tambo.In my defense, my then apartment had small wooden flooring, and the bigger part was tatami (which I covered with carpet).The walis tambo, the traditional soft broom in the Philippines that is made of tiger grass.However, when my sister and I moved to our current unit, I somehow began missing using the broom in cleaning. Maybe the bigger wooden floor area triggered that feeling in me, or that I sometimes just wanted to clean without having to make any noise. Plus, I remember getting more exercise using the broom compared with the vacuum, because not only my arms are moving but I was also bending and even kneeling. I tend to not do those with the vacuum cleaner.Sure, there are the dust wipes (with its accompanying stick) that I could use, and these are available at nearly all 100 yen stores. But if there is just a bit too much dust, I'd rather use the wipes after I sweep.Despite objections from my roommate-slash-sister, I decided to get us a broom and dustpan. I was surprised to find a set at a 100 yen shop, although from what I recall it was priced a bit more than 100 yen (but no more than 300 yen), which is understandable.Although it's not as soft as the one I used back then (of course, this one's made of plastic), it does give a decent cleaning, so I could say it's worth the price I paid for. What I like the most about this set was that the broom can easily be clipped onto the dustpan, close to the handle, so I can carry and store it easily at the back of our mirror.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY7kg-livingFri, 10 Aug 2018 18:33:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY7kg-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ52L-living_money_medical Many will agree that Japan has one of the best health insurance systems in the world, or at least among developed nations. And because it is mandatory to get health insurance for anyone who will establish even temporary residence in this country, foreign residents like us should really consider ourselves lucky, right? I guess.While good words or compliments can be said about the health insurance system, the efficiency of the health care system here in general is, I think, arguable.Customer service in this country tends to use a lot of words, probably out of fear of not giving all the information that they believe the customer must know. However, they seemed to have failed on this one incident that I just had. Moreover, considering that this involves role players in the health care industry, the lack of compassion was, for me, appalling.I’ve been taking some prescription medicines for more than a year now, and I’ve been getting my medicines from the same pharmacy immediately after consultation with my doctor, without any problems. I just hand in the prescription, and the pharmacy does the rest.On my last consultation I decided to delay buying my medicines by a few days because (1) I still have some left in stock; and (2) I was waiting for my next credit card cycle to roll in. And this was where the problem sets in. The new pharmacy I went to did not give me my medicines because the prescription I had had already expired. Nobody, absolutely nobody told me that prescriptions have an expiration date, that it is only good for 3 days after printing.The pharmacy, probably with their lack of English, simply kept on saying that it is Japanese law, that they can’t do anything about it, and instructed me to have the prescription reprinted by the hospital. One of the pharmacists even had the audacity to instruct me in one word: BACK! (Ugh.)Furious, I literally ran to the hospital and asked for a reprint, which turned out to be a costly and time-consuming ordeal. What I initially planned as a 10-15 minute errand trip became a two-and-a-half-hour tiresome "tour" in scorching Japanese summer heat.I was forced to book a consultation that day with a different doctor (as my doctor was not in), which meant I had to shell out more than 1,000 yen in consultation fees just for a reprint. What an expensive print out that turned out. Worse, while the medicines are still covered by the health insurance, that whole consultation-just-for-a-reprint was not covered. What infuriated me more was that nobody I spoke with - at the pharmacy and at the hospital - could get the frustration I had when all of this was happening. As I was already angry and crying because of all this nonsense bureaucracy, one staff even made it worse by putting me in an isolated room while waiting for my turn for a consultation that, again, I did not need.Through it all, everyone I encountered in this ordeal said the same thing: that it is the national law. So I ended up saying the same thing: nobody told me or warned me about it! Because the prescription came from my doctor, he should have warned me about it. He should have pointed out that section in the paper that indicated the expiration date! What, did he or they expect me to understand all the details there, written entirely in Japanese? At the end of this whole thing, I asked myself: should I consider this as a learning experience about healthcare here? Perhaps, but I will stand that this was one lesson that was unnecessary to learn. Unnecessary because this mishap could have easily been avoided had I been properly informed about this provision on prescription expiry dates. Yes, I am aware that ignorance of the law excuses no one, but I also firmly believe that having this information withheld - accidentally or otherwise - is just as unacceptable.With that, I am making an appeal to the Ministry of Health or to the organization or agency governing medical practices in Japan, to mandate all doctors to ensure that all their patients will be properly informed - in whatever language necessary - of the expiration dates of their prescriptions. Let the buck stop with me.(As for that pharmacy that drove me away, I may have acted irrationally but nonetheless, even if I may not seem to matter to you, fact is: you still have lost one customer. And it will hit right back at you someday, somehow.)*Update:I had my follow-up consultation the other day and was again given a prescription for my maintenance medicines. Pleasantly surprised to see this: Yes! And now the billing staff also would verbally remind the patients of this policy. I just hope other hospitals in this country will follow suit.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ52L-living_money_medicalTue, 07 Aug 2018 10:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ52L-living_money_medicalhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1B21-living_galleries_kyoto_nara_hiroshima_nagasakiI once had a discussion in class about the UNESCO World Heritage sites, and I asked them to list the number of sites that they have already visited inside and outside of Japan. I told them I have only seen two: Vigan City in the Philippines (which I visited a few years ago), and Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture. Turns out, my students knew me better and they quickly corrected my numbers, reminding me of the other places that I have already visited in Japan, such as Kyoto, Hiroshima and Mount Fuji.As of this writing, Japan is home to18 cultural and 4 natural properties inscribed on the World Heritage list, with 8 sites that are on the tentative list:Cultural:Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji AreaFujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspirationGusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of RyukyuHidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki RegionHimeji-joHiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure LandHiroshima Peace Memorial(Genbaku Dome)Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)Historic Monuments of Ancient NaraHistoric Villages of Shirakawa-go and GokayamaItsukushima Shinto ShrineIwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural LandscapeSacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata RegionSacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain RangeShrines and Temples of NikkoSites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal MiningThe Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern MovementTomioka Silk Mill and Related SitesNatural:Ogasawara IslandsShirakami-SanchiShiretokoYakushimaWhile I'm definitely glad that I've already been to more than two of the cultural sites, I realized that I'm not even halfway through the list. Also, while I've already been to Nagasaki twice, I still have not fully explored that prefecture enough to see its much treasured locations. So, I guess this could be my theme or goal for future travels. I definitely need to find time (and money) to get to those destinations, but for now, allow me to share with you the World Heritage sites that I have already been blessed to visit.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1B21-living_galleries_kyoto_nara_hiroshima_nagasakiThu, 02 Aug 2018 10:41:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1B21-living_galleries_kyoto_nara_hiroshima_nagasakihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rrL-livingFact: You do not work 24/7. You may work seven days a week depending on the schedule you prefer to keep, but definitely not 24 hours straight. Obviously, you need to sleep and eat, and you devote time for those. So, in those times and days when you are not working, how do you plan to spend them? Sure, you’ll need to get some rest, but how about getting yourself rested or refreshed while developing yourself as a teacher at the same time? Here are some ways you can add dimensions to your personality, and thereby add to the things you can share with your students: 1. Read. On what? On anything that interests you. Allow your curiosity to grow as you read, so that it drives you to read more on connected topics. As adults we somehow, for some reason, cease to be curious and to seek knowledge. Maybe because society has set an expectation for humans to always know, to always be certain, and to always have a reason. It gives us some sense of security and a certain level of comfort. Once we have the knowledge we need to get by in life, we lose interest in learning and we stop asking questions. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain in being curious and staying curious, like a child. By remaining curious, we expand ourselves, we learn, and we become more interesting to our students. 2. Travel. This is a really good way to develop yourself as you teach English here in Japan, for the following reasons: Most students love to travel, be it domestic or international, and they appreciate it if you, as their teacher, can carry a decent conversation with them about travel; Japanese people are immensely proud of their country. They love inviting foreigners to visit their hometown or favorite destination. It will definitely work in your favor if you can show genuine interest in their travel talk. 3. Develop a hobby. I have a colleague who, as per her own admission, is anti-social. True enough, she spends most of her free time alone, taking care of her beloved pets - guppies and beta fish, marmots and guinea pigs. On other times she also paints (water color is her medium), with her pets as favorite subject. Once, she also painted my 2 dogs. And yet on other times, she does origami - lots of it. Oh, and if she gets bored with all of those activities, she engages in her very first hobby - writing. All of these hobbies of hers, she gets to share in her classes. She is a big hit in our children’s classes because of her creativity. The kids in our eikaiwa just adore her. Now that is someone who claims to be anti-social and (even funnier) doesn’t like kids very much. She once shared with me that her being a teacher of kids has become a running joke in her family back in the US. What is my point in sharing her story? Developing a hobby can definitely give you something to share. Reading and being abreast with what’s going on around the world can make you knowledgeable to your students, but sharing your hobbies with them makes you more accessible, more human. Of course there are other ways to develop yourself as a teacher and as a human being. They all lie on one principle: being interesting. Believe it or not, being an interesting individual can be generated from within - yes, just by you. And trust yourself that you'll be able to figure out how to do, or be that.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rrL-livingFri, 27 Jul 2018 14:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z4rrL-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpVPZ-living_moneyRaise your hand if you have more than one name on your birth certificate. Now, wave that same hand if you include a middle name (aka, your mother's maiden name) in your legal documents (e.g, passport). Now, vigorously wave that same hand of yours if you've experienced troubles in your life in Japan apparently caused by your name.One of the first things that any foreigner will experience as he is about to establish temporary residence in Japan is officially creating his name in katakana. It is that name which will be honored in most government and private establishments, and seldom will you find a company or organization that will allow you to fill in your name as shown in your passport. If you're one of those with only one name, or has no problem dropping the middle name, then filling out forms should be easy and therefore, you can consider yourself lucky. I, however, have a second name and my mother's maiden name is written in both my passport and residence card. As I began to settle in Japan, as a matter of preference I wanted to make sure that the name that will be placed in all the documents that I will obtain will be uniform. That, I didn't realize soon enough, would turn out to be rather difficult to achieve.Let me share with you what happened to me when I once applied for an account with one of the net banks in this country.When I tried to open an ordinary savings account online with one of the net banks, I had to type my first and second names together as their system would not allow names to be separated by a space. I was able to upload the identification documents that they requested me to upload and they approved my application with the documents I submitted. A few days later, I received an email saying my account was approved and my card will be available in a few days, and shortly after that, I got a notice from the post office about my card.When I went to the post office to personally receive my card, the post office refused to release it to me because of a discrepancy in my name. The discrepancies were: (1) there is a middle name in my residence card and none on my application, and (2) there is a space in between my first and second name as written in my residence card, which was not present in the letter I received.I have repeatedly explained myself to the post office personnel and have even asked them to get in touch with the bank. Still the bank would not allow the post office to release my bank card to me just because of those discrepancies.Note that I was already at the post office window, about to receive the card. I already saw the post office personnel holding my card, but still did not release it to me and decided to send it back to the bank instead.Also, note that the bank had previously accepted the identification documents that I have submitted through their website, and it was those same identification documents that I presented to the post office.When I tried to explain my situation via email in simple English, the bank replied that they will only speak to someone who can speak in Japanese. Moreover, they demanded that I find someone who can speak in Japanese before they can attend to me. Worst yet, they sent me mail requesting that I just re-submit my documents. That definitely got me infuriated.I finally got my card after having written stern emails (in English, still) to the Japan Financial Council, with copies sent to some major dailies hoping to raise awareness to (in my opinion) the undesirable customer service situation in the banking industry in Japan.Yes, I believe customer service here, particularly in the banks, remains wanting because even to this day it still feels unwelcoming to, if not discriminatory against foreigners living and working in Japan. One article published many years ago even said that "…customer service in Japan, while good, has become soulless, inflexible and hollow". This is sad since we are actually contributing to the Japanese economy by working decently.To Japan's credit, though, lately companies have been incorporating the alphabet into their forms. More and more establishments have been allowing users to type in their names as stated in their passports. However, I am in the opinion that Japan still has a long way to go regarding their processes of identification data gathering and storage. With the upcoming major sports events where Japan will play host, and also with the ongoing globalization drive plus the country's desire to welcome more migrants, Japan has to start making their online forms more foreigner-friendly, and I am certainly not pertaining to language.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpVPZ-living_moneyFri, 20 Jul 2018 10:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MpVPZ-living_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8oJ-livingI love traveling. Every now and then I ask around for new places to explore around this country, and actually go there whenever time (and budget) permits. However, domestic travel in Japan doesn't really come cheap, and inasmuch as I would like to indulge in my hobby and feel like a tourist from time to time, lately I really could not. Good thing I found a less expensive alternative - going on a staycation.Staycation, a portmanteau of stay and vacation, can be done in many ways depending on your location. For those living in houses with large front and/or backyards, a staycation can come in the form of an outdoor camp if they are into that. Or, simply staying at home and not doing the chores for a day or two. For those in the city or those living near tourist destinations, a staycation can be done by simply booking a room in the hotel nearest your house. When budget is really tight, I opt to just stay at home and order food online but because I don't feel like a tourist that way, I go for the last option which is to book at least a business hotel.Business hotels are the low-budget hotels typically found near train stations with heavy pedestrian traffic, and they provide economical and no-frills accommodationto travelers. Now, just because they are expected to provide basic services doesn't mean they are all created equal. There are those business hotel chains that provide not only good services but also give perks that will simply entice you to stay with them again and again.In my experience of staying at business hotels, I have discovered some hotel club memberships that are worth signing up, based on the following criteria:1. Facilities, amenities and services (of course)2. Perks or benefits available to members / cardholders3. Ability to collect points even if the booking was made through different means (i.e., not booked through the official website or app)4. Ability of points to be exchanged to benefits other than rebates on hotel staysAnd so far, I can only count on two business hotel chains in Japan whose memberships are worth getting. Here are the two, and my reasons why they are on the list:1. Richmond HotelsFor a chain that classifies itself under "business hotel", the Richmond Hotel Group certainly provides services that can almost match up some of the pricier and fancier hotels around. The sheer number of English-speaking front desk staff is a big plus. And even with their presence, the front desk machines still makes checking in and out much faster and more efficient especially for their Richmond Club members.In addition, they have these tiny touches that definitely makes this group stand out on my list. Here's one: you see, most business hotels will only provide one pillow per guest. However, at Richmond, they automatically provide two pillows per guest. And this is not specific to just one of their hotels: I've already had the chance to stay in two of their hotels and their service is pretty consistent. I can also the same about their breakfast buffet. Richmond makes it a point to showcase the products and specialty dishes of their location. I got to try their unagidon (grilled eel on top of rice) at their hotel in Nagoya, and the special rice at their hotel at Narita.Now, about their membership card. The no-enrollment-fee and no-annual-fee Richmond Club membership card gives you the following perks: ○ Late check-out (until 12nn) if staying for 2 nights or more ○ Ten percent (10%) discount on the Royal Group of restaurants (Royal Host, Sizzler, Tempura Tendon Tenya, and Royal Garden Café) ○ A points system where you can collect points equivalent to a maximum of 10% of your hotel rate, and exchange them to gift vouchers which you can use at either the Richmond Hotels or the Royal Group.2. APA HotelsThe APA Hotels and Resorts has more than 300 establishments all over the country and continues to expand internationally, having launched 40 locations in the US and Canada. Their hotels also provide quick check-in and check-out processes through their machines, though their rooms are not as spacious as the Richmond Hotels. Their beds are also comfortable, and though they readily provide only the standard one pillow per guest, a second pillow can be requested for free. Breakfast buffet is not available in all their locations, and unfortunately in my experience staying at their hotels their breakfast choices are somewhat disappointing.However, the free APA Card is still worth getting because of their points system which allows you to exchange points for premium items or cash rebates of up to 10% of your hotel stay. They used to allow their points to be exchanged to JAL Mileage Bank miles, but unfortunately it has been discontinued (personally, this made me truly sad).More importantly, staycationing and getting the club membership at these two hotel chains is worth doing because members can still enjoy their privileges even if their hotel stays were booked using different sites or applications. Which means, if you use hotel reservation sites like Agoda, Kaligo or Rocketmiles to book your room/s, you may also earn your favorite miles or shopping points on top of your hotel membership points.Honestly, if only I could stay at those higher end hotels (and there are quite a lot where I live), I definitely would. In Japan, only the 5-Star hotels will have a swimming pool, and swimming has always been one of my favorite ways to truly relax. Since staying in those hotels will cost me an arm and a leg, business hotels will do for now. After all, these no-frills accommodations aren’t bad at all.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8oJ-livingMon, 16 Jul 2018 00:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Md8oJ-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQbBZ-living_educationIf you love to read, the following places are probably slices of heaven for you: a wide-open spot at the park on a clear day, the beach with the sound of gentle waves, a quiet café, your bedroom or any other favorite spot in your house, or the library.If you happen to live in Japan, you should already consider yourself lucky because most libraries here are quite impressive, always offering an ambience conducive for reading and a wide array of materials for people of all ages. Except that you’re not.That is because majority of these materials are in Japanese and it is extremely difficult for you to appreciate them if your Japanese is limited. As a result, you would rather stay away from the library, or just use it as your free source of air conditioning during summers and heating during the winter, reading a book that you bought with your own money.While it is understandable to find your neighborhood library as useless, I hope you don’t dismiss it just yet because believe me, not doing anything for your library is actually a waste of your tax money. Yes, you read it right: as a taxpayer in your area, you can actually make a difference in your library and it will definitely benefit you as well. Allow me to elaborate.As Japan gears itself for the 2020 Olympic Games and continues to make itself globally informed, more and more Japanese people are beginning to immerse themselves in the current lingua franca which is English. They devote time and allot a certain portion of their budget to studying English. Of course they can also buy books and other learning materials online or at their favorite bookstores, but most likely some of them are secretly wishing that they could just borrow these materials and other English-language books at their library.On the other hand, you could also just buy the latest best sellers or that bilingual book that you fancy to learn more about Japanese culture - except that it will take up space in your small residence once you’re done with it. Now you have a better alternative. What you can actually do instead is to course your next book purchase through your library, meaning request them to buy and have it added to their catalogue - and then you can borrow it afterwards. You'll just need to provide them with the title and the International Standard Book Number or ISBN of your desired book.In this way, you get to help your local government serve its people by providing more English-language resources while at the same time, save you some money. Well, if you really think about it, what you will be requesting your library (if ever) is something you have already paid for - that is, if you are not amiss in paying your city and prefectural taxes. Also, since you will be borrowing the book/s, you are duty-bound to return them after a certain period, thereby lessening the clutter in your home. If you really think further, you are also doing your part in caring for the environment by lessening your paper consumption.I hope that this article has gotten you interested in contributing to your town library and thereby, making it worth visiting more often. Now go apply for your library card; it’s usually free anyway.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQbBZ-living_educationSun, 15 Jul 2018 11:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GQbBZ-living_educationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GLbyV-livingI was once asked during a job interview if I was familiar with "wabisabi", to which I said no. The interviewer then asked me what I think that term meant. Not wanting to admit that I had absolutely no idea - not even one enough to make an intelligent guess - I just said that the term probably had something to do with talking or communication. I have 2 bases for that assumption. One, I was in an interview for a language teaching position, and language is obviously vital in communication, so my answer should somehow make sense, right? Two, there is a word in the Filipino language called "sabi" which means "say" or "tell", so I supposed it could be related. I realized how totally unrelated my answer was to the real meaning after a short Google search on "wabisabi". Needless to say, I was so embarrassed.According to Wikipedia,wabi sabiis a representation of "a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection". Furthermore, thewabi-sabiaesthetic is "sometimes defined as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete." For some, the concept of imperfection as something that is beautiful might be easy to understand. Yet for others, it might be outright impossible. How can something that is not perfect be beautiful?Hmmm, makes me wonder: what is perfection, anyway? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines perfection as "an exemplification of supreme excellence; an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence". Now that got me thinking: that definition is somewhat similar to "ideal", isn't it? And with that kind of definition, it's no wonder that we've come to believe that nothing is perfect in this world, or that NOBODY is perfect. I must admit, up until a few years ago, I believed in that same thing. I realized after some serious talks with a great set of friends, that what I was looking for was the "ideal" - which, of course, doesn't exist.I've decided then, to revise my own definition of perfection. Now, I see perfection as the true acceptance of what is so, not of what it should be. Meaning, a thing or a person is perfect for what it is, and for what it is not.I look at it this way: for the moments in our lives that are good, it's quite easy for us to view them as perfect, simply because it's all good. But even those moments that are not so good can still be viewed as perfect - they happened at the perfect time and in the perfect manner - because they give us opportunities to learn about ourselves, to grow as individuals, and to realize who we are meant to be for the world.Allow me to end this piece with a quote which I heard on TV many years back: "We are born to be true, not to be perfect."To that, I add: It is because when we were born we ARE already perfect, and being completely true to ourselves is simply the expression of the perfection that we already are.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GLbyV-livingTue, 10 Jul 2018 00:16:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GLbyV-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we88n-living_shoppingIn Part Two we laid out the various ways we can make more points simultaneously with every single transaction we make and how these points can be consolidated into T-point. In this last part of the article series, we will talk about the ways you can make full use of the T-points that you've worked hard for.Once you already have enough T-points, of course your next course of action will be to use those. Both the official T-point site (T-site) and Yahoo! Japan offer a variety of options for redeeming points. As mentioned in Part One, you may exchange them for discounts or rebates, or you may directly use it as shopping money (T-money) at a rate of 1 point to 1 yen.Also mentioned in Part One that one way of obtaining a T-point number is by setting up an Family Mart branded ATM account with Japan Net Bank through its dedicated Yahoo! Japan page. I highly recommend this procedure especially if you are after exchanging your points to cash, since this will provide you with more flexibility in the benefits that you can get from T-points. Having an ATM account with JNB gives you the following:1. A Visa-marked debit card, which you can use for domestic and international purchases;2. A T-point-to-cash exchange rate of 100 T-points to 85 yen; and3. If you're not keen on spending money and if you already have at least 10,000 yen in your account, you can make it grow further by investing it in one of JNB's mutual fund products.I have always been clear in myself that my purpose for collecting T-points is for cash which I will place towards savings and investments, no matter how small. Now, if for you cash is not a major concern but would rather collect frequent flier miles for an upcoming trip, then you may exchange your T-points to ANA Mileage Club miles at a rate of 500 points to 250 miles. If you don't see yourself flying out soon but you use public transportation everyday going to work and you already have at least 1,000 T-points, then you may exchange them for 1,000 yen worth of Suica. If you are into Amazon.jp shopping, you may also have them exchanged to 300 yen worth of gift cards starting from 360 points.T-site also offers product exchange for their points. Feel free to browse through their catalogue, where you will also find the required amount of points.Well, I hope the tips presented here and in the previous two articles will be helpful to you as you make the most out of every yen you spend. Happy collecting!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we88n-living_shoppingFri, 06 Jul 2018 23:00:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/we88n-living_shoppinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY492-livingI once asked my Japanese friend how she calls her husband and how she is called by him. She said they just call each other by name. So I asked: "Don't you have any term of endearment for each other, like 'honey', 'sweetheart', 'baby'?" She gave me a puzzled look as if I just did some alien speak.Apparently, the use of terms of endearment does not exist in the Japanese language. My former Japanese language sensei once told me that with some couples the ladies call their beloved anata while the men call their partner omae. Anata and omae both mean "you", and they just utter them with a gentle or sweet voice togive an affectionate feel, but that's just about it.In most English-speaking countries, on the other hand, having terms of endearment is considered rather usual - with termseven for people who are not necessarily romantically involved, like a parent calling his or her child "dear". My sister and I grew up being called "darling" by our mom (she still does up to this day), and back home some couples would refer toeach other as mahal, the Filipino word for love. Until now, I'm still wondering how come people here seem to be too shy or are not keen on expressing affection. Another Japanese friend told me that their ancestry had something to do with their shy personality. Back then, he said, lives were so simple and so plain that there seemed to be no need to communicate closely or intimately with people around them. This cannot easily be dismissed as a language difference - for we know that language is closely tied to culture. Could it be that this particular cultural difference is the reason for the difficulty of the Japanese learner to fully embrace the English language (or any language that uses the alphabet, for that matter)? It seems that the struggle goes beyondadjusting to a differentgrammar pattern, and that their personalityand cultural upbringing have a lot to do with it.The way it occurs to me, Japanese is more of a language of community and conformity, while English is a language that encourages individuality and full self-expression. That earlier observation on using terms of endearment (or lack thereof) led me to realize something else. I got to appreciate the beauty of my two languages - English and Filipino - on a whole new level. These languages of mine allow me to express love fully and creatively, with minimal or almost zero restraints. Now, I studied Japanese intensively for only six months, so you can definitely say that I'm not a good judge of the Japanese language as it relates to culture. What I've stated above were merely my observations based on my limited knowledge. I actually wish I'm mistaken, or that I'd be proven wrong soon enough.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY492-livingMon, 25 Jun 2018 09:52:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY492-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5vK-educationI knew already when I moved to Japan, that I will be teaching English. Although I did try an ALT job and my main work location at the moment is in an eikaiwa or an English conversation school where I basically teach general conversation English, I also knew right from the onset that teaching business English will be my cup of tea.One reason, I would like to believe, is that I have the experience for it. More than ten years of working in business establishments in Manila gave me opportunities to hone all four essential English business communication skills - reading and writing emails, meeting minutes, contracts and other business documents; listening to hours of video conferences; and of course speaking to clients and colleagues coming from a variety of nations.The other reason is that I've often found the Japanese employee - or "salaryman" - many times more driven to improve their English, compared to most other learners. Whether they are motivated by the prospect of promotion or pressured by either a required TOEIC score or an upcoming long-term international assignment, these employee students surely make the most of their English study and expect nothing less from their teacher. Such attitude simply pushes me to always be at my best when facing them in class.A. Teaching beginnersAs I teach here longer, I begin to notice that most beginner-level business English textbooks currently available here are on one end of the extreme: either they are bilingual (which I am never in favor of as a textbook) or are simply too difficult, even if the textbook cover says "Elementary" or "Beginner". Most of these beginner all-English business textbooks already contain vocabulary or references that are quite unfamiliar to the first-time Japanese business English student.Fortunately I was able to find the Business Venture book series by Oxford University Press. It looks like this all-English three-book series is written with the Japanese learner in mind. Their beginner book has simple conversations and exercises, and yet these items were all based on business settings. Quite useful and not intimidating at all, even for the first timer. Needless to say, I use them a lot in my private lessons.B. Teaching advanced learnersIt is easy to assume that the more advanced English speakers no longer need to study business English. In reality, though, these are the ones who I love to teach the most - not because it's easier but more because they are the ones who challenge me the most (and who I also challenge the most). Now, I don't challenge them just for kicks; I feel that I have to do so because while they can speak English, most of these learners have minimal or even zero exposure to the business culture in English-speaking countries (native or second language). Part of learning English for business is becoming aware of the business norms in other countries, and being able to adjust to these norms if and when it becomes necessary.One perfect example of a business area where there is a striking difference between the Japanese and the West is in giving speeches or presentations. They differ in their logical construction which of course, affects the way they lay out their presentation. Apparently, the Japanese often follow the introduction - development - turn - conclusion logic or style. Westerners, on the other hand, first tell the conclusion (as an introduction), then explain the reasons complete with examples (usually in 3 parts), then wrap things up by sort of rephrasing what was said in the introduction. Many of the Japanese employees who are bound for countries like the US and UK would be required to give reports or presentations on a regular basis, and they would have caused confusion, boredom and/or frustration to their international colleagues had they not been oriented on the Western method.A favorite reference of mine in teaching presentations is the Successful Presentations Video Course by John Hughes and Andrew Mallett, published by Oxford University Press. Aside from a good number of insights and tips on each part of the presentation, this book and DVD pack also has a good section on establishing credibility in introducing oneself during presentations - a vital skill that makes the difference between the ordinary and the effective presenter, yet often bypassed by most learners.In both general conversation and business English classes, one of the biggest challenges I would always encounter is on how to keep the students talking and asking further within. At first I really struggled with getting answers from them, especially when I began my questions with "Why?", only to discover later that the Japanese easily get flustered with "Why?" questions. Thanks to the books "100 Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings between Japanese People and Foreigners" by Yamakuse Yoji and Jake Ronaldson (IBC Publishing), and "100 Tough Questions for Japan" by Itasaka Gen (Kodansha International Bilingual Books), I have become more aware of bits and pieces of Japanese culture - which I apply to either the way I would ask questions to my students, or to comparing manners and ways of thinking between Japan and other countries, particularly the West.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5vK-educationMon, 18 Jun 2018 11:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5vK-educationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8Q6v-foodMuch has already been written about Japanese food, especially the best-sellers like sushi, okonomiyaki, and ramen. However, as most of you may already know, Japanese cuisine is not just those three. As you live here longer or visit this country more often, you'll soon have the urge to try dishes other than the usual fare. It's a good thing then that modern-day Japan has dishes that, while obviously have already been influenced by the West, are still characteristically East.At most Italian restaurants here, there are basically four types of pastas served: tomato-based, cream-based, soy-sauce-based, and pepperoncino (basically oil-based with chili flakes). Pesto, more popularly known here as Genovese, is also served but is not so popular. Some restaurants also have combined tomato and cream pastas, and they have pastas with a bit too much sauce (which they call "soup pasta") or are actually served cold.Yet, there are those pasta shops that set themselves apart from others with the variety of ingredients they put in their dishes - including the ones that you won't normally find in traditional pastas, such as eggplants, small types of fish, and fish eggs. In Tokyo and other areas in Kanto region, restaurants such as Jolly Pasta, Yomenya Goemon, and Popolamama serve pastas that are unmistakably Japanese.Imagine: cod roe eggs on your spaghetti. Or, whitebait fish and sea urchin on your pasta with fish-egg sauce. How about this one: spaghetti in natto sauce (I don't think I will dare try this one, though). I once had a crab meat spaghetti, where they even placed the crab shell on top as design. On yet another occasion, I opted for pasta with fish eggs, salmon flakes and corn kernels - which they dubbed as Hokkaido-style spaghetti.The unique flavor of Japanese pasta dishes could surprise any traveler to this country, but should not turn them off and is definitely worth trying out.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8Q6v-foodFri, 15 Jun 2018 17:01:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z8Q6v-foodhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY4K9-living_galleries_ichikawa_shi_chiba_funabashi_shi_chibaThere are many avenues of teaching English in Japan, one of which is teaching English to Japanese employees, or what they call “salaryman”. The demand for these jobs has been increasing due to the country’s globalization drive and also, albeit indirectly, to the desire of some of these learners to communicate more effectively with people from other nations as Japan prepares for the 2020 Olympic Games.A business English teacher can be employed full time or part time, in-house (directly hired by a company) or dispatched from an education services company to various locations. If you happen to be working part-time and perhaps as a dispatch, then most likely you’ll have some time to kill in between your work assignments for the day. If that is the case, what can you do with your spare time?Usually, going home would be the best option - that is, if you live close by. At least you can get some rest before your next job. However, it may not be a good idea if your place is about an hour away from your next work area. Another easy option would be hanging out at the nearest cafe or restaurant with good WiFi - either to catch up on your reading, on reports that needed to be done, or just to check your social media accounts. I do that from time to time, especially when I’m assigned to offices in urban areas like central Tokyo. However, I noticed that having that routine at least once a week for half a year has taken a toll on my wallet, so I figured I had to do something about it.I finally had the chance to save on cafe costs when I was assigned to a research facility in the suburbs. When I had some time to kill, I decided to walk around the vicinity of my work area instead, and got me some exercise in the process. Moreover, it got me to experience and appreciate tranquility in the midst of a busy schedule, in a country where the hustle and bustle is more of the norm.Here are some of the interesting and relaxing places that did not escape my eyes as I wandered around Funabashi and Ichikawa cities in Chiba, waiting for my time to work:To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY4K9-living_galleries_ichikawa_shi_chiba_funabashi_shi_chibaWed, 13 Jun 2018 11:18:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MY4K9-living_galleries_ichikawa_shi_chiba_funabashi_shi_chibahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1Aj4-living_shopping_money(This is the second part of the series of posts on making the most of points collection in Japan. Please read the first part to give you an idea of how to start your points collection game, should you be interested.)In the previous post I introduced the T-point, the point system of Culture Convenience Club, Ltd. We talked about the usual ways of collecting them - which are through their participating establishments and through using Yahoo! Japan sites. Now, in this article we will look into ways of expanding your points collection game; in other words, how you can earn several points simultaneously with just one transaction and consolidate them later on.A: Point Service WebsitesAside from using the Yahoo! Japan and the official T-point participating establishments, there are other ways you can further expand your points collection game here in Japan. One of which is by using point service websites for activities such as shopping, credit card applications, ticket and/or hotel reservations. These websites give out points mainly as marketing tools.Japan's long-time obsession with point systems at most establishments, combined with a strong e-commerce market (currently the 4th largest in the world), has led to a prevalence of online point offering systems. The Japan Internet Point Council or JIPC, a non-profit organization of internet point service providers, has more than 10 participating companies at the moment, with each company operating at least 2 point service websites. Some examples of these websites are:1. Point Exchange, operated by Voyage Marketing, Inc.;2. Point Income, operated by Fivegate, Inc.; and 3. Warau, by Open Smile, Inc.To use, you first have to create an account with a point service website of your choice (for T-point I use Warau because of its ease of exchange). Once done, you can now click on the shopping site link where you would like to shop. For example, if you would like to shop at Lohaco, click on the Lohaco link on the Warau home page and shop as usual. Don't go straight to the Lohaco site; otherwise the Warau points will not be credited to your account.You may use multiple websites simultaneously (i.e., click on the Yahoo! Shopping link from both Point Income and Warau sites) to collect points faster, although in my experience the cookies don't work all the time. B: Mobile ApplicationsAnother way of expanding your point collection is by using mobile phone applications that would provide points every time you shop (online or in a physical shop), or give points for every type of credit card or electronic money transaction. There are quite a number of mobile applications in the Japanese market that provide points by sending images of your shopping receipts. Two of these types are the CODE app and the Recipo (レシポ) app. The CODE app allows you to collect points on any shopping purchase while the Recipo app provides points only for purchase of selected items.The CRECO app, on the other hand, works by giving points for every credit card transaction, be it through swiping or through regular payments such as utilities and gym memberships. So yes, you may collect points from paying your electric bill and even your pension (in case you missed, you may pay for your pension via credit card). For the applications mentioned, aside from their respective accounts you will also have to open an account with the point service site Point Exchange or PeX. These apps do not allow direct exchange to T-point at the moment (only to Amazon Japan gift cards and Waon points), so you will need your PeX account to exchange your mobile app points to, before you can exchange your PeX points to T-point. C: RemindersAt this point in your point collection journey or game, you will discover that the points you collect from the websites and apps featured can also be exchanged to a lot of other point systems like Rakuten or Ponta, to Amazon or iTunes gift cards, to frequent flyer miles, or even directly to cash (deposited to your bank account). This whole game can get really addictive, so I believe some important reminders are in order. As you get the hang of collecting points, you might find yourself spending more than usual just to be able to collect those precious points. Or, you may tend to buy products that you don't really need - at least not right away. Be very careful! Spend only on what you need, because point collection can be addicting.Also, this whole process could be tedious and points will take time to accumulate before it reaches the minimum amount required for exchange. So, patience is key. Don't worry; it’s worth it.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1Aj4-living_shopping_moneyMon, 11 Jun 2018 10:23:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/z1Aj4-living_shopping_moneyhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wk7o7-living_food_shopping_money_howtoAs you live longer in Japan, you will begin to notice that most if not all the shops you frequently visit - whether they are convenience stores or supermarkets - have their own loyalty programs. These programs allow you to collect points for every purchase or transaction which you can later on exchange for either discounts or rebates. Some more flexible shopping point programs allow you to exchange for other benefits such as rebates in partner establishments, electronic money, gift cards, frequent flier miles, or even straight-out cash. Two of the most popular shopping points programs in the country at the moment are the Rakuten Super Point by Rakuten and the T-Point by Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. In this post, I will focus on the T-Point, but some of the tips presented here can also be applied to collecting Rakuten or any other shopping points.A: Collection PrepsObviously you should first have a T-point number. You can get your T-point card for free at participating shops such as Family Mart or Tsutaya. Once you have your T-point number, you must link it right away to your Yahoo! Japan account, if you already have one. If you don't have a Yahoo! Japan yet, create one and register your T-point number on it. It has to be a Yahoo! Japan account; it will not work on a Yahoo account from other countries.Alternately, you can get your T-point number after you create your Yahoo! Japan account, provided you apply for a Family Mart Visa Debit account with Japan Net Bank via its dedicated link. Your T-point number will automatically be generated. Why do I suggest this particular bank account? In case you prefer to have your accumulated T-points exchanged to cash later on, having an account with Japan Net Bank is - as of this writing - the only way to do so (more info to come in a later post).By the way, you will probably realize this much later but let me tell you now: as you go further in your points collection journey, you will discover how dependent you will be on web browsers with automatic translation capability such as the auto translate plug-in of Google Chrome. So this early, familiarize yourself with that browser because although the translation it will provide will not be perfect, it will surely be helpful.B: Usual ways of collecting T-PointOnce you already have your T-point and Yahoo! Japan accounts set up, you can now start collecting. As mentioned earlier, there are many ways in which you can collect T-points. This is made possible by the variety of establishments now affiliated with T-point. For ease of understanding, let's divide the list of establishments into 2: the Yahoo sites and the non-Yahoo establishments.1. The non-Yahoo Establishments: click here for the complete list of the establishments where you can collect T-points. Again, as the websites are only in Japanese, it is highly recommended that you use Google Chrome when you click on the links. You may also click here to view their corresponding accumulation rates.Eneos (for petrol/gas)Welcia (drugstore)Maruetsu (supermarket)Skylark Group of Restaurants2. Yahoo! Japan sites: Of all the Yahoo sites the world over, Yahoo Japan currently has the most content. Not only will you be able to read the latest news and create an email account, but you can also do some online shopping, participate in an auction, rent an apartment, book your next flight and hotel, check the weather, open and maintain a blog, and much more. Click here for the complete list of Yahoo! Japan sites, along with the conditions for points accumulation and usage. Try to maximize the usage of these Yahoo! Japan sites to get as much T-point as possible.Yahoo! Japan Auction and ShoppingLohaco (shopping)C: About getting a co-branded credit card - some insightsAs with most points (and miles), the quickest way to collect them remains to be through signing up with a co-branded credit card. In the case of T-point, there are quite a number co-branded credit and debit cards by T-site itself (click here), Yahoo! Japan (click here), or by the participating establishments. However, in my experience I didn't find it necessary to sign up for one. That is because I was already happy with the credit card I use, which is co-branded with an international airline. Also, much as it looks like it has become a priority, the T-point is for me, still secondary to earning frequent flier miles when I collect anything from my expenses. Moreover, I was able to find ways to still earn T-point even when not using a co-branded credit card.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wk7o7-living_food_shopping_money_howtoFri, 25 May 2018 11:17:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wk7o7-living_food_shopping_money_howtohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ9Z2-living_shopping_money_transportationAs a foreigner living in Japan, one of the important things you should try to save on is money for air travel - especially for homecoming trips. Apart from saving actual money for the airline ticket, it is best for you to also save on frequent flier miles - for that chance of getting a free ticket, or a seat upgrade at the very least.Here are some tips that hopefully will help you get the most airline mileage possible, and in turn, get the most out of your hard-earned money:Choosing the airline (or frequent flyer group)Choose the airline (or frequent flyer group) for which you would like to collect miles very carefully. In choosing, you’ll have to consider the destinations to which you’re most likely to fly frequently (for example, your home country). It would have been easier if you could just remain loyal to a single airline. However, it is not economical to do so since airfares tend to change drastically and no single airline offers cheap flights all the time.So, what you could do instead is choose one airline from the three major frequent flyer (FF) groups:One World,Star Alliance, andSkyTeam. Then, open a mileage account for one airline from each of the groups. Since you're in Japan, it will be to your advantage if you have an account with JAL Mileage Bank (JMB)for One World,ANA Mileage Club (AMC)for Star Alliance; andDelta Airlines SkyMilesfor SkyTeam.Now that you already have those accounts in place, the next thing to look at are the ways to get those miles:Credit cardsAs you may already know, apart from booking actual flights, using a credit card is still the fastest way to earn points or miles. So make sure that the card you choose allows you to collect miles directly with each use (including ― and especially ― payment for utilities), or at least offers a good exchange rate of card points to miles. In Japan, the usual credit card exchange rate is 200 yen for one mile. Some credit cards such as the Delta JCB Card offer an exchange rate of 100 yen for one Delta Airlines Skymile.If possible, try to find a credit card that offers a points-to-mileage exchange option on top of direct mileage accumulation. The JMB JQ Sugoca card used to allow cardholders to earn JQ points and JMB miles every time the card is used, and those JQ points could also be converted to JMB miles.Too bad they already changed the rules in late 2017.Debit, prepaid cards and electronic moneyIf getting a credit card has turned out to be difficult or if you would simply prefer to stay credit-card free, two payment options are still available: debit cards and electronic money (or “e-money”) prepaid cards. Open a bank account that provides debit cards linked to mileage programs. Resona Bank has a Visa Debit Card that is linked to JMB, whileSuruga Bankalso has one linked to AMC.As for e-money cards, JMB members can apply for aWAONcardfrom the JAL website. AMC members, on the other hand can apply for a Visa or JCB prepaid card from SMBC (for Visa prepaid) or directly from JCB (for JCB prepaid).The JMB WAON e-money card.ANA Visa and JCB prepaid cards.Consumer and net pointsSome consumer networks also offer exchange of shopping points to airlines miles. For instance,T-point and Rakuten Point card holders can have their points converted to ANA/AMC miles, whilePonta cardholders can exchange their points to JAL/JMB miles.In Japan, there also are websites that are dedicated solely to point exchange. These sites enable you to earn points by playing games, answering surveys, or shopping online, among other activities. The points, of course, can be converted to your chosen airline miles (rates apply). One such website that you can use isPeX Point Exchange.Now, with PeX, you can further expand your points collection by using websites such as Warau and Point Income. Points collected from Warau and Point Income can be exchanged to PeX points, which of course, can be exchanged to miles. These three sites, unfortunately, are only in Japanese, so it is highly recommended that you use a browser with the ability to auto-translate.Hotels and resortsIf you are a frequent traveler, you are aware by now that most FF programs have tie-ups with major hotels and resorts, in which you automatically earn miles for every stay. But what about the smaller business hotels? Apart from using a credit or debit card, how else can you earn additional airline miles? Well, you may still earn from staying in these kinds of hotels by making reservations through hotel reservation sites such asAgoda,Kaligoand RocketMiles. These websites allow you to choose the FF program with which you would like to earn miles when reserving your hotel room. Using these websites also gives you an opportunity to earn miles on two of your chosen airlines. For example, choose ANA/AMC when you book a room using Agoda or Kaligo and then pay using your JAL/JMB or Delta credit card.Another way of earning miles when staying in hotels is by exchanging hotel points. One good example is that ofRadisson Rewards, the rewards program of the Radisson Hotel Group. Radisson Rewards allows its members to buy a minimum of 2,000 points for $14.00 US, and these points can be exchanged for 200 JMB miles or 200 Delta Airlines Skymiles, among other carriers.A downside to collecting a lot of points and miles is having to keep many cards, which can lead to an illusion of a “thick” wallet. Moreover, there are many account IDs and passwords to remember, which is very important because you need to keep track of the expiration dates of both your miles and points. So, to save you time and effort, try to collect more of the FF miles that do not expire.Hope you find these tips useful, may you have fun collecting, and safe travels! To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ9Z2-living_shopping_money_transportationMon, 16 Apr 2018 10:44:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/MJ9Z2-living_shopping_money_transportationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G63de-transportation_nagasaki_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_isahaya_shi_nagasakiI must admit I am what you can call your modern-day tourist - heavily reliant on travel sites and Google Maps in setting out my travel itinerary. Most of the time it works and I am pretty much ok with it, although I realize now that I could have missed out on something special had I not gotten a bit off-track in one of my travels.When I planned my Northern Kyushu itinerary a few years ago, I listed all the famous spots that I wanted to see in Nagasaki. Included in that list, of course, was the Spectacles Bridge or Megane-bashi. However, when I checked Google Maps, the first Megane-bashi that popped up was the one located at Isahaya and strangely enough I could not locate the more popular one in Nagasaki City. Yes, I am referring to the one that also has that one heart-shaped rock on its walls. Somehow it has become easier to find and locate since then.Can you find the heart?So, naïve and crazy that I was, I decided to head to Isahaya from Nagasaki Station. I could have taken the train to Isahaya Stationbut because I had the SunQ 3-Day Northern Kyushu Pass at that time, I opted for the highway bus. The one-way train fare from Nagasaki Station to Isahaya Station ranges from 460 yen (via JR Nagasaki Line) to 1,280 yen (if taking the JR Kamome express train). The SunQ Northern Kyushu Pass, on the other hand, costs 8,000 yen but provides you 3 days of unlimited rides on the local and highway buses in Fukuoka, Oita, Saga, Kumamoto, and Nagasaki prefectures.From Isahaya Bus Terminal, I then took the Shimabara Tetsudo, got off at Hon-Isahaya Station, and this was where my tiny adventure began.Shimabara Railway.After almost two hours of travel and even a few more minutes of walking (because I got lost soon after I got off at Hon-Isahaya), the only thing I got close to was blaming myself - mainly because I still could not see any sign of the Megane-bashi, or any bridge for that matter. Good thing I came across a nice “musical” stretch of concrete along the way: With an impending rain upon me, I was starting to get more frustrated and tons more upset when all of a sudden, the Megane-bashi was right before my eyes.The Isahaya Meganebashi is actually twice the size of its more famous Nagasaki City counterpart. Originally built over the Homyo River and later moved to its current location after a flood in 1957, this double-arch stone bridge spans across a pond in the usually quiet Isahaya (or Azalea) Park. The Azalea festival is held here every year around the second week of April.The whole area is quite unassuming yet charming, thereby making it a perfect spot for people who would like some alone time.In the end, I could say that I am glad that I made that mistake; otherwise, I would not have discovered such a beautiful - and apparently, important - landmark.Turns out, the Isahaya Meganebashi has been considered as a Tangible Cultural Property since 1958. This distinction was given by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, a special division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology or MEXT.Eventually I got to visit the more popular Spectacles Bridge in the city, and managed to do the tourist-y thing of having my photo taken on that spot’s other “main attraction”: the heart-shaped rock, of course!Whew!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G63de-transportation_nagasaki_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_isahaya_shi_nagasakiTue, 13 Feb 2018 11:51:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/G63de-transportation_nagasaki_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_isahaya_shi_nagasakihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mqrxo-living_transportationJapanese is a difficult language to learn (in my experience, that is), especially if the language that you are accustomed to uses the Roman alphabet. However, in performing some simple tasks, learning how to read and write in hiragana, katakana and kanji is sometimes not necessary. Learning how to say some words in Nihonggo is quite essential, though.When you are a foreigner living in Japan, you will most likely do a lot to travelling - domestic or international. And while it is somewhat easy to navigate the public transport system in this country, if you've got some luggage with you, you'll most likely go for the most comfortable way to get to the train station or airport - by taxi. You are lucky if you can quickly ask someone to hail a cab for you every time you need one, but what if you don't? It is then important that you can call a taxi by yourself. Don't worry; it's not as hard as you think it is. Don't be like me. I was a total nervous freak when I attempted to hail a cab on my own the first time.Before attempting, there are some basic Nihonggo terms that you have to learn first:1. How to say the numbers in Japanese:1 - ichi2 - ni3 - san4 - shi5 - go (short o sound only, not "go" in English)6 - roku7 - shichi or nana8 - hachi9 - kyu10 - ju2. The correct quantifiers for each objects. In the case of cars, especially taxis, the correct quantifier is "dai". So now it becomes:1 car - ichi dai2 cars - ni dai…and so on.3. How to state your name as read in the katakana version. Usually the first thing you will obtain once you set foot here in Japan to live and work is the katakana version of your name. That is usually required when you get your first health insurance card, and it is important that you master writing it in katakana as it will be useful for you later on. It is also equally important, especially when hailing a cab, that you can properly pronounce your name in katakana (which will most likely be different from how you really pronounce your name). Don't worry; just saying your last name is usually enough.4. How to state your complete address. In my experience, most of the times where I need to hail a cab are when I'm going to the shuttle bus station that would take me to the airport.Now you are ready to hail a cab. At this point I will assume that you already know the phone number of the cab dispatch company in your area. If you don't have it yet, I believe you can get that information at your city hall.1. Once the operator picks up your call, say the number of cars that you would need, and end it with "onegaishimasu". For example: "Ichi dai onegaishimas." (one car please)2. The operator will ask for your name, so you'll probably hear "Onamae wa?" or if they are truly polite, "Onamae, onegaishimasu." State your name as pronounced in katakana. Again, your last name is usually enough.3. State your address or current location. It will help if you can give the dispatch company some landmarks, but it's not usually necessary. Just your address is enough. If you live in a condominium or an apartment building, no need to state your room number.4. Listen to the operator. Usually they will say how far out (in minutes) their closest cab is to your location. In Nihonggo, minutes is "hun" or "pun", depending on the number that precedes it. So you might hear "go hun" (5 minutes) or "san pun" (3 minutes) from them. What it all means is you only have those number of minutes to get to the front of your building and wait for your cab to arrive.5. Once the cab arrives, DO NOT open the cab door. Well, that is because you don't have to. The passenger door automatically opens and closes for you. If you've got luggage, the trunk will open first just before the cab driver gets out of the car to assist you with the bags. After he's done with your bags, he will immediately go into the car to open the passenger door from the inside. You also don't have to close the door once you are in; it will also automatically close.6. Once in the cab, state the destination address or name in Japanese; if you can't, have the address written out for you beforehand and show it to the cab driver. Again, end your sentence with "onegaishimasu". Simple, isn't it? Now why don't you give it a try. I'll rather not wish you to have fun hailing a cab, as you might have too much fun, do it a lot, and it will definitely cost you - a flag-down rate of 730 yen (in Tokyo) is no joke! Nonetheless, good luck!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mqrxo-living_transportationThu, 01 Feb 2018 16:32:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/Mqrxo-living_transportationhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GO0Bv-living_medical_urayasu_shi_chibaI live in Urayasu City, probably one of the most interesting cities in Chiba prefecture. Aside from being the city in Chiba that is closest to Tokyo, Urayasu sparks interest among locals and tourists for this one word: Disney.Yes, for those who are unaware, Tokyo Disney Resort is not located in Tokyo. (I'll let that sink in with you for a bit.) Anyway, in my more than five years of residence here, I could say that I have already toured the city by bus, bicycle, and even on foot. One of my favorite walking spots is along that small canal near my apartment which actually goes further down to Tokyo Bay, and on some days when I would have enough energy and/or time plus really fine weather, I could walk or cycle along Tokyo Bay, going around the back of Disney Sea. I was once even lucky to see Mount Fuji, in all its majesty. Tokyo Gate Bridge (or Dinosaur Bridge) as seen from the Urayasu side of the bay. Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney Sea. Metropolitan Tokyo and Kasai Rinkai Park.On other occasions, I would just wander around our city and take random pictures of anything that would tickle my fancy: A random writing on a wooden table. Somebody obviously could not take the grammar mistake anymore.Then there's our city hall complex. I find our city hall worth visiting for three reasons:(1) The library. In terms of structure, the Urayasu City Central Library may be deemed as ordinary. It has ample reading spaces and information resources for various types of people, though with the addition of its own tiny yet cozy cafe. What I truly appreciate about our library, however, is that for us residents, if there is a book that we would like to read but is currently not on their catalog, we can request the library staff to buy the book for us to borrow later on. This speaks volumes to me because I could somehow see where my taxes go (side note: if you are a Filipino reading this, you know exactly what I mean).(2) The folk museum. This free-admission museum's main feature is the "Urayasu no machi", a beautiful recreation of the then fishing village of Urayasu in the early years after World War II. You might be a bit disappointed with the space allotted for the Urayasu no machi - I know I am - because it is rather small. I do hope that the government could expand the museum so it can entice more visitors.Urayasu no machi.(3) The So-Ra Cafe. Located at the 10th floor of the new City Hall building, this cafe has simple yet delectable and affordable dishes on their menu. In addition, their counter table has a nice view of Sakai River as it stretches towards Tokyo Bay: Spaghetti with side salad and red wine for lunch... ...and waffles for dessert. All at a city hall cafe.Here's one thing I realized, which actually led me to writing this piece: to fully appreciate where I am currently residing, I must first create being grateful or being appreciative of everything - within myself - and I am glad I did. You see, all the things I've written above are pretty ordinary, or at least similar spots can be found in probably all cities or towns in Japan. But what inspired me to finally write about the city I've been calling home for more than half a decade is simply, gratitude. This city - which I also refer to as my "huge park" - has provided me with joy and peace of mind at times when I need them - and it requires little or no money.I hope you, dear reader, will also take time to see and appreciate the beauty of where you currently live. I'm pretty sure you'll find some.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GO0Bv-living_medical_urayasu_shi_chibaMon, 29 Jan 2018 19:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/GO0Bv-living_medical_urayasu_shi_chibahttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5rK-food_hakata_ku_fukuoka_shi_fukuoka_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamotoLet me put it it out there right now: much has already been written about the staples of Japanese cuisine - sushi, sashimi, tempura, and ramen. While less popular, the soba and udon have also become familiar with tourists. However, if you think these are all what Japanese cuisine is, I’d have to say you have been missing out. Once you leave the comforts of the popular destinations like Tokyo and Osaka, you'll discover that there are more delectable dishes that Japan has to offer.When it comes to discussions on Japanese cuisine, I believe it is high time that the focus shifts from north to south. Believe me, you have been missing out on the savory Northern Kyushu cuisine. Northern Kyushu consists of Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Saga, Oita, and Nagasaki prefectures. They are about a 2-hour flight from Tokyo and 1.5-hour flight from Osaka’s Itami Airport. There are also international airlines that fly directly to Fukuoka.Northern Kyushu has quite a lot of dishes that they are proud of (as they should), but for this article we will feature just 5 of them:1. Fukuoka - Hakata Ramen Fukuoka prefecture takes pride in its variety of flavorful dishes. Its ramen for example, the Hakata ramen, sets itself apart from its counterparts in other place in Japan with its rich pork broth, firm noodles, and even a unique style of eating it. In one of its leading ramen shops, Ichiran, one can completely customize his ramen - from the firmness of the noodles to the thickness of the pork broth, and of course to what meat and veggies go in and how spicy one wants it. What’s more, one can thoroughly savor its richness in a cubicle counter that kind of resembles a prison visitor booth. The good news is that several shops in Japan’s major cities now also serve Hakata-style ramen. However, having them in the place of origin is still worth an experience since they don’t seem to lose ways of enjoying their signature dish. Try the ramen with a whole mentaiko (cod roe) and you’ll see what I mean. 2. Fukuoka - MotsunabeThe other signature dish of Hakata, motsunabe, is a traditional hot pot stew (nabemono) of pork offal and vegetables in rich miso pork soup. Often enjoyed with alcohol, it can also be a savory meal as champon noodles are cooked using the rest of the soup after eating the offal and vegetables. In Hakata, motsunabe is also served with mentaiko and a small dish of Japanese snacks (otsumami).3. Kumamoto - Horse meatIf you are a horse lover, then you might want to skip this part now. Kumamoto prefecture is known for having horse meat as its specialty. They are either served raw (basashi) or grilled on a hot stone at the table (banikuyaki). In the picture below, the banikuyuki is served with dagojiru, Kumamoto's own dumpling soup.4. Kumamoto - TaipienTaipien, or the Japanese vermicelli soup, is Kumamoto's version of soul food because of its rich yet lightly-flavored chicken stock plus their generous servings of vegetables and fresh seafood. Best to try this hearty dish with yuzu fruit shake.5. Nagasaki - ShippokuNagasaki prefecture is known to most locals for noodle dishes such as champon and sara udon. However, no other dish reflects the culture and history of Nagasaki better than the shippoku. Often dubbed as the first Japanese fusion cuisine as it is a mix of Japanese, Chinese, and Western dishes, shippoku was traditionally served as a course for a large group of people. Nowadays, it can also be enjoyed by solo diners as a full meal course.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5rK-food_hakata_ku_fukuoka_shi_fukuoka_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamotoSat, 06 Jan 2018 13:40:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wm5rK-food_hakata_ku_fukuoka_shi_fukuoka_nagasaki_shi_nagasaki_kumamotohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wr8o3-living_transportation_hokkaido_sapporo_shi_hokkaido_tokyo_kobe_shi_hyogo_nara_fukuoka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_yahatahigashi_ku_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_nagasakiIn Part 1 of the Themed Tour Series, I featured a few of the peculiar museums Japan has to offer. In Part 2, I listed some of the character-themed cafes and restaurants that you can visit. Perhaps after those posts, you are still not convinced to visit at least one museum in your life, nor are you interested in dining at all. Well, I've got another option for a theme that you can do as you embark on your next Japan tour. This will appeal more to the romantics at heart. What can be more romantic than a city or town viewed from way above - at a clear night? Fortunately for us romantics (yes, I confess), Japan has quite a number of breath-taking night views to boast of. Some of them have even made to the list of the best night views in the world. Most of these peaks are accessible via ropeways or cable cars, adding an element of romanticism and awe to the journey leading to the destination. Before we go to the list, here's a fun fact (well, I hope): did you know that Japan actually has an organization that basically oversees their collection of scenic night views? It is called the Night View Tourism and Convention Bureau (夜景観光コンベンション・ビューロー; やけいかんこうコンベンションビューロー). Established in June 2012, the bureau plans and manages events and seminars on night view appreciation, and also issues certificates to the night view scenic sites all over the country. Suffice it to say that they take night view tourism quite seriously. Anyway, so here is a list of some of the night views that are worth visiting, from north to south: 1.Sapporo - from Mount Moiwa Observatory:The Mount Moiwa Observatory is located in the middle of Sapporo City, about an hour from Sapporo Station by subway and the Sapporo Shiden or the city's trams. The Sapporo City night view has recently been chosen as one of the country's three new major night views in a survey conducted by the Night View Tourism Convention Bureau.Unfortunately for me, the clouds were thick and it even drizzled on the day I went up Mount Moiwa, so I just settled on a video and some pictures taken while on the way down:Aside from Mount Moiwa, Sapporo has a variety of other locations where visitors can enjoy the city landscape:•Horomi Pass Lookout Parking Lot•Okurayama Viewing Point•JR Tower Observatory T38•Asahiyama Memorial Park•Sapporo TV Tower Observatory Deck 2.Hakodate - from Mount Hakodate Observatory:Up until recently, Mount Hakodate has always been on the list of the major night views in the country, along with Kobe and Nagasaki. Although Sapporo has taken its spot since then, the beauty and magnificence of the view from Mount Hakodate hasn’t diminished even for one bit, and it still is a place worth visiting. 3.Tokyo - from the Metropolitan Government BuildingTokyo as seen from the Metropolitan Government Building is as breath-taking at night as it is during daytime. On a clear day, Mount Fuji can easily be seen at a distance. At night, known landmarks like the Tokyo Tower add brilliance to the view. You can also have a good overlooking view of Tokyo from the Skytree; however, unlike the Skytree, entrance to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is free. 4.Kobe - from Mount RokkoMount Rokko is actually a range of mountains in southeastern Hyogo, with its highest point at 931 meters ("Rokkosan-Saikoho"), and also includes Mount Maya, Mount Kabutoyama, Mount Iwahara, and Mount Iwakura. Of the entire range, Rokkosan-Saikoho and Mount Maya are the more popular destinations to appreciate the overlooking view of Kobe and Osaka at night. 5.Nara - from Mount WakakusaMount Wakakusa in Nara prefecture has one thing that the other night view destinations on this list don't have: deer. This serene park is a haven for wandering deer in the day time and at night, gives you a spectacular view of both Nara and Kyoto. 6.Kitakyushu - from Mount Sarakura ObservatoryMount Sarakura, being one of the highest points in Kitakyushu, is a favorite destination for paragliders. While it offers a magnificent view of Kitakyushu, for some reason it is not yet as well-visited as its counterparts in other places in Japan. The fastest access to Mount Sarakura Observatory is via a 5-minute taxi ride from JR Yahata station. From there you will ride a cable car and a slope car to get to the peak.7.Nagasaki - from Mount Inasa ObservatoryThe view of Nagasaki City from the top of Mount Inasa was once voted as one of the best night views in the world, along with places known for their skyscrapers like Hong Kong and Dubai.It was also cloudy when I visited Mount Inasa a few years ago, but even with the cloudy weather, I still managed to capture some nice shots: As you can see from the presence (or lack) of pictures on the listed items, obviously there are night view destinations that are still in my travel plans. Again, this list is non-inclusive, and if you discover other beautiful night view destinations in Japan, do share them. Finally, if you’ve got other ideas for a tour theme, please share them with me and others at City-Cost. Thanks for reading, and safe travels!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wr8o3-living_transportation_hokkaido_sapporo_shi_hokkaido_tokyo_kobe_shi_hyogo_nara_fukuoka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_yahatahigashi_ku_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_nagasakiFri, 29 Dec 2017 17:56:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/wr8o3-living_transportation_hokkaido_sapporo_shi_hokkaido_tokyo_kobe_shi_hyogo_nara_fukuoka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_yahatahigashi_ku_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka_nagasakihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zaNJo-food_saitama_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawa_yamanashiIn Part 1 of the Themed Tour Series, I featured a few of the peculiar museums Japan has to offer. Perhaps after that post, you are still not convinced to visit at least one museum in your life. Well, I've got another option for a theme that you can do as you embark on your next Japan tour.In this post we have shops that you can visit for a nice cup of coffee or even for a meal. Of course, these are not your usual coffee shops that were franchised from the US or UK; nor are they the traditional kissaten. These are coffee shops and restaurants inspired by animated or fairy tale characters.It should not come as a surprise that Japan will have lots of character-themed cafes and restaurants; after all, this is the land of manga and anime. However, the inspirations are not limited to Japanese animated characters; they've also got some by foreign animated or TV characters. Here are just some of the shops that are worth visiting - if only to get cute photos of foamed latte with a character printed on top:(Please note that most, if not all of the websites linked to this blog are in Japanese)1. Peter Rabbit CaféThe Tale of Peter Rabbitis a Britishchildren's bookwritten and illustrated byBeatrix Potter.In Japan, Peter Rabbit has become a fixture in libraries, bookstores and is even an MUFJ brand character since 1998.The café located in Meguro Ward (目黒区), Tokyo is about a 4-minute walk from the north gate of Jiyūgaoka Station (自由が丘駅). They serve mostly omelet rice or omurice dishes, but they’ve also got curry dishes, salads, sandwiches, French toasts and scones on the menu.2. Moomin CaféTheMoominsare the central characters in a series ofbooksand acomic stripbySwedish-speaking Finnishillustrator and writerTove Jansson. They were originally published inSwedishby Schildtsin Finland. TheMoomin Caféhas two branches in Tokyo: the Moomin Bakery and Café at the Tokyo Dome and the Moomin House Café at the Tokyo Skytree Town Solamachi. There is also one in Fukuoka, at the Canal City Hakata. Their dinner menu has Swedish and Finnish signature dishes such as the frestelse,lohikeitto, and meatballs served on a hot plate with berry sauce.Lohikeitto or Finnish salmon soupFrestelse, a traditional Swedish casserole made of potatoes, onions, pickled sprats, bread crumbs and cream3. Gaspard and Lisa RestaurantGaspard and Lisa are the canine (or canine-looking) main characters in the series of children's books first published in French in 1999 by Anne Gutman and her husband Georg Hallesleben. It was adapted into a British animated series for pre-school children in 2011. Of all the establishments on this list, this one has the farthest location from Tokyo: inside the Lisa and Gaspard Town (or La Ville de Gaspard et Lisa), adjacent to the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Yamanashi prefecture. Aside from the restaurant, you may also enjoy Gaspard and Lisa-shaped food items at the Patisserie and at the Les Rêves Salon de Thé (The Tea Salon of Dreams) inside the theme park. 4. Sylvanian Forest KitchenThe Sylvanian Families is a line of collectible animal figurines created by a Japanese company but had animated TV adaptations first in the US in 1987 and the UK the year after, before Japan made its own TV adaptation in 2007. The franchise also has seven video games. Though created in Japan, the setting of the Sylvania Families franchise is a fictional village inspired by Great Britain in the 1950s.The Sylvanian Forest Kitchen or Shirubania Mori no Kitchin currently has three branches: at Yokohama World Porters Store, at Lalaport - Tokyo Bay, and at AEON Koshigaya Laketown Outlet Store.I would have loved to recommend that you visit the Shaun the Sheep Café in Osaka, but the cafe has permanently closed. For those who are not familiar, Shaun the Sheep is a British animated television series which is also a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise.So perhaps, I will just share some of the pictures I have taken on my visit there:Again, this list is not inclusive. And to be honest, I still have to visit some of them -- hopefully, soon. For now, I need my coffee.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zaNJo-food_saitama_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawa_yamanashiFri, 08 Dec 2017 18:21:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zaNJo-food_saitama_tokyo_yokohama_shi_kanagawa_yamanashihttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK7b1-food_transportation_education_nasu_machi_tochigi_saitama_tokyo_kamakura_shi_kanagawa_shizuoka_ikeda_shi_osaka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuokaI think many will agree with me when I say that one visit to Japan is never enough. You'll just have to come back for more, if not stay longer. However, obviously it will be a waste of money if you'll do the exact same thing on your subsequent visits. Worse, if you'll do the same "tourist-y" stuff and visit the same places frequented by tourists.What if, you can put a theme into your Japan visit? That will get you to explore other places that tourists won't even think of visiting (poor them). Wouldn't that be a nice idea?So, now the next question is: what theme would it be? Well, it's really up to you! It really depends on what you are into, because Japan has a lot of attractions to offer - from the cute to the interesting to the strange to the out-of-this-world. You can basically come up with any theme and once you do, you may start looking for places in Japan that has those.One tour theme that you may take on as you plan your next Japan trip is a tour of some of its peculiar museums. Now, not everybody appreciates museums. Young tourists, especially, would scoff at the idea of visiting historical museums. However, what is nice about Japan is that it has museums for nearly every thing that they can put on display. This country has at least one museum for every modern-day items or inventions. Here are just some of the museums that would appeal even to the young:Toilet Museum TOTO, Japan's leading company in toilet and washroom products and known for the bidet-equipped Washlet line of products, opened the museum in Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture on August 28, 2015. It showcases more than 900 of its products and fabricated bathrooms.To know more, you may visit their homepage.Where to find it:Teddy Bear Museums Two museums in Japan that are dedicated to the teddy bear are both located outside of Tokyo; one is in Ito, Shizuoka and the other one is in Nasu, Tochigi. The Nasu Teddy Bear Museum has on display teddy bears made by around 100 artists from around the world.For more info, you may check their respective home pages below. Please note that the websites are only in Japanese.Izu Teddy Bear Museum (homepage):Nasu Teddy Bear Museum (homepage):Music Box Museum There are about 8 music box museums all over this country, with half of them located in Hokkaido. All of these music box museums are managed by the Orgel Doh Group. If coming from Tokyo, the closest one would be the Kamakura Music Box Museum in Kanagawa. The pictures here are from the Kamakura museum.Kamakura Music Box Store and Museum:Cup Noodle MuseumsNissin, the company that started the instant ramen, has two museums dedicated to the creative mind of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of the world's first instant noodles. The first one is located at Mr. Ando's hometown of Ikeda in Osaka prefecture; while the other one is in Yokohama, Kanagawa. Both museums feature their signature Chicken Ramen Factory and Cup Noodle Factory, where visitors can create their own instant ramen or cup noodles - including designing their own container cup. They also have an exhibit of instant noodles and cup noodle packages from around the world.Yokohama CupNoodles Museum (homepage):Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum (homepage):Shin-Yokohama Raumen MuseumThe Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, opened in March 1994, features a two-story shop area inspired by 1958 Japan, the year instant ramen was invented. It has about nine shops selling ramen from various Japanese cities and towns known for their ramen, such as Sapporo, Kitakata, and Hakata.Where to find it:Railway MuseumsAs you may already know, the train is an integral part of Japanese modern life - or of any developed country for that matter. Because of its long relationship with the railways - highlighted by the creation of the Shinkansen - it should be no surprise that this country will have lots of museums scattered all over the archipelago. Most of these museums are managed by major railway companies such as Japan Railways (JR), Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd., and Tobu Railway Company.The Railway Museum in Saitama (homepage):Of course, this list is not inclusive. You are free to add more museums, depending on what suites your taste. And again, if going to museums is not to your liking, then there are other themes that you can do. As I am typing this, I am already thinking of other themes for my next trip.At any rate, I wish you a a great journey!To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK7b1-food_transportation_education_nasu_machi_tochigi_saitama_tokyo_kamakura_shi_kanagawa_shizuoka_ikeda_shi_osaka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuokaTue, 14 Nov 2017 16:28:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Weellee/zK7b1-food_transportation_education_nasu_machi_tochigi_saitama_tokyo_kamakura_shi_kanagawa_shizuoka_ikeda_shi_osaka_kitakyushu_shi_fukuoka