zaichik said...

zaichik at 08:07 AM JST - 19th May

But we're just as broke... lol

In that case, my dear, you must be a very nice chap.

Posted in Downtown's Matsumoto announces shotgun marriage to ex-weathergirl at 08:07 AM JST - 19th May
zaichik at 08:52 PM JST - 18th May

The rate, if it is a good job, is 250,000. It hasn't changed in 10 years. And now lets do the math. 250,000 base -25,000 national tax at 10% -15,000 local tax -2,000 yen unemployment + the new two taxes -25,000 for health -15,000 for pension 168,000 take home.…

Posted in Proposed resident registry card for foreigners creates Big Brother concerns at 08:52 PM JST - 18th May
zaichik at 06:55 AM JST - 18th May

I love Kumamoto - spent a year there as a student in 95-96.

Many years ago on a visit, I was taken to a small restaurant in a side street below the castle and fed some suspicious strips of raw meat by a laughing American resident

Basashi - yum!…

Posted in Suzanne reports on activities as Kumamoto PR ambassador at 06:55 AM JST - 18th May
zaichik at 06:54 AM JST - 18th May

So, after deductions on tax, who is going to work for 150,000 yen a month? That is what the tax home is going to be for full time teachers

Are you seriously telling me that teachers only get paid 200,000 yen a month before tax? I was a shokutaku-shain…

Posted in Proposed resident registry card for foreigners creates Big Brother concerns at 06:54 AM JST - 18th May
zaichik at 05:22 AM JST - 18th May

Hence why some manufactures around the wordl sell humidifiers for keeping people healthly

Believe me, a humid environment does nothing to keep people healthy. Houses here in NZ are often excessively humid, leading to children getting recurrent chest infections. The dehumidifier is a wonderful thing....

The swine flu panic…

Posted in Over 1,000 schools, kindergartens in Osaka, Hyogo to be closed due to new flu at 05:22 AM JST - 18th May
zaichik at 11:12 AM JST - 11th May

I started suffering from dermatitis after I'd been living in Japan a couple of years - tended to get flare-ups in summer, which I attributed to the heat and humidity. Since moving to NZ, I've been absolutely fine, which leads me to believe my climate theory of dermatitis was right…

Posted in Biochemist offers new approach to atopy at 11:12 AM JST - 11th May
zaichik at 09:40 AM JST - 9th May

How many 32-year-olds can claim to have been mistaken for a minor?

I regularly get carded when buying booze in NZ. Makes my day :-)

Posted in Aki Hoshino mistaken for minor at Macau casino at 09:40 AM JST - 9th May
zaichik at 07:34 AM JST - 4th May

This guy could have obtained an NZ passport 2 years after getting permanent residence in NZ, if he got PR before 2006, which I'm guessing must be the case, since the rule is now 5 years after getting PR and 5 years haven't passed since the rules changed. Chances are…

Posted in Foreign man fatally stabbed after brawl in Nagoya at 07:34 AM JST - 4th May
zaichik at 06:24 AM JST - 29th April

I'm surprised that nobody's taken the "Hadaka no O-sama" angle. Perhaps the media isn't sufficiently familiar with SMAP's oeuvre....

Posted in Media continues to smirk over SMAP member's Roppongi impropriety at 06:24 AM JST - 29th April
zaichik at 06:23 AM JST - 28th April

At any rate it'll take everyone's mind off the economy and the train wreck that is domestic politics for the next few weeks.

While staving off recession for the pharmaceutical companies and those producing the masks. What a handy pump-priming measure, which costs next to nothing.

Posted in Sales of masks jump 30% at Narita on swine flu fears at 06:23 AM JST - 28th April