Wednesday February 15, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

zaichik's past comments

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zaichikDec. 23, 2008 - 05:17PM JST

You might be disappointed, Zai.

:-) Ah well, my chances of getting a date with him were never that great anyway! He's still easy on the eye....

Posted in: Wentworth Miller makes first visit to Japan to promote season 4 of 'Prison Break'
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zaichikDec. 23, 2008 - 05:07PM JST

Why would they ask a professor in Niigata for an opinion on a case in Chiba?!

Posted in: Murder suspect's lawyer says female reporter confused him
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zaichikDec. 20, 2008 - 10:34AM JST

Fair point, Nessie.

And I agree with Flammenwerfer about this being particularly useful in Japan (had never before realised that U2 were singing about Japan....) I've used it to good effect in NZ too.

Posted in: Group seeks to scrap Google's Street View
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zaichikDec. 20, 2008 - 10:28AM JST

Can't quite decide which I prefer - Christmas in Japan, or Christmas in NZ where it's warm (doesn't feel right, somehow).

Anyway, this year my parents are visiting us over Christmas, so it'll feel special whatever happens.

Am working over New Year - have to get up at 5am on New Year's Day, so no more than a wee dram on NYE. Still, at time and a half and a day in lieu, I'm not unhappy!

Posted in: A very Japanese Christmas
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zaichikDec. 20, 2008 - 10:21AM JST

oil prices remain high, so is imported whiskey

Imported single malt used to be cheap as chips at Yamaya 2 years or so ago. Have prices increased or are you just shopping in the wrong place?

Posted in: Japanese consumers enjoy benefits of strong yen
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zaichikDec. 18, 2008 - 02:03PM JST

Wentworth Miller - yum! Hope he's on pic of the day on JT v.soon.

Posted in: Wentworth Miller makes first visit to Japan to promote season 4 of 'Prison Break'
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zaichikDec. 17, 2008 - 01:45PM JST

Just read the small print about cancellation and date change conditions carefully before you buy one of these tickets.

Posted in: Jetstar to expand Gold Coast-Tokyo service
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zaichikDec. 17, 2008 - 05:18AM JST

nearly 200 dead in a subway fire in Korea in 2003(arson in that case but with fire and smoke in an isolated area how it starts makes little difference).

The horrific Kings Cross underground station fire in London was caused by a smouldering cigarette. You'd think maintenance workers would have more sense....

Posted in: Smoke from cigarette butts stops 2 Tokyo subway lines
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zaichikDec. 16, 2008 - 03:43PM JST

Hmmmm....the only thing more wooden than Keanu in your average movie is the set.

I did like him in The Replacements, though (but I liked Rhys Ifans better!)

Posted in: Keanu Reeves goes way of the samurai in '47 Ronin'
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zaichikDec. 16, 2008 - 01:39PM JST

I'd prefer the Stephen Fry alarm clock, personally

http://www.voco.uk.com/

Posted in: Moving alarm clock
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zaichikDec. 16, 2008 - 09:27AM JST

What do you associate with NZ? Paua tat Greenstone tat Kauri tat Kiwi tat Pukeko tat Possum-fur tat Overpriced woollen tat All Blacks tat

NZ news: 2 minutes of national news, 10 seconds of international news, 27 minutes of sport news....

Posted in: Tourism New Zealand launches innovative marketing campaign
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zaichikDec. 10, 2008 - 07:21AM JST

Didn't know there was such a thing.

Broad, yes; rich, no.

more purple-Hermes-tie-wearing drunken Aussie English teachers kicking up a ruckus in Shinjuku.

Ah yes, I wonder how that chap's doing these days.

The yen can continue strong, as far as I'm concerned - the Japanese tourists visiting NZ get more dollars for their yen and my freelance earnings from Japan go a lot further too.

Posted in: Waiting for the snow and yen to fall in Hokkaido
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zaichikDec. 10, 2008 - 06:56AM JST

How come every defence lawyer allocated to these high profile cases looks like a nutjob ?

Because the accused are usually from the lower end of society and can't afford a decent lawyer. I suspect Joji Obara's lawyer was altogether better presented....

Posted in: Peruvian to be retried for murder of 7-year-old girl in Hiroshima
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zaichikDec. 09, 2008 - 10:03AM JST

How come Japanese people remain so childlike, even when they grow up?

Because the government wants them to be that way so designs the system accordingly.

Posted in: Many citizens confused by upcoming lay jury system
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zaichikDec. 09, 2008 - 10:00AM JST

Wise words from Terrie, as ever. My partner was made redundant in September after the company he worked for lost a big contract with Microsoft (another casualty of outsourcing to India). He was laid off with a month's pay in lieu of notice (although we'd been aware for a couple of months that this was likely). There was no element of choice or severance package in Mr Zaichik's case, but fortunately the CEO put in a good word for him with a company in a similar line of work, and he was able to get another job with better pay less than a month after losing the first one. Fingers crossed that this one proves to be more permanent....

Posted in: Is taking redundancy a good idea?
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zaichikDec. 09, 2008 - 09:32AM JST

Hmmmm....I'd like to try it - matcha Kitkat was surprisingly good. Pineapple Kitkat, on the other hand, was vile....

Posted in: KitKat Oshiruko flavor
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zaichikDec. 08, 2008 - 05:15AM JST

Best non-furist - should have been timed to coincide with the best furist the other week....

Posted in: Aya Sugimoto makes PETA's best dressed list
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zaichikDec. 04, 2008 - 07:31AM JST

This review hasn't made me want to rush out and find a copy of the book....

Read a couple of Kirino Natsuo books (in translation) recently - Out and Grotesque. Grotesque didn't really do it for me (narrator was VERY annoying), but Out was really rather good.

Posted in: The Diving Pool
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zaichikDec. 01, 2008 - 05:37AM JST

I think we've been over this one before and there was a wide range of experiences cited then.

I didn't have a problem getting a Nicos Visa in 2002. I was married to a Japanese chap at the time, although our combined household income was less than the 7 million yen cited above as the minimum threshold. Even after we got divorced, and I no longer had a Japanese family name, I still had no problems getting other credit cards.

My partner, who is Russian, got his first credit card (from Yamaya - not playing up to any stereotypes there!) in 2003 without problems, using his alien card as ID. He did apparently have to state his employer and how long he'd been working there, but as he'd been with the same institute for 10 years (though on a succession of one-year contracts - they wouldn't give permanent contracts to foreign employees at the time), that wasn't going to be a problem. His household income was also well below 7 million yen at the time, and he didn't have to provide a Japanese guarantor. He had no problems getting other cards subsequently, either.

Posted in: Try to get a credit card in Japan
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zaichikNov. 29, 2008 - 05:30AM JST

coup de ta

Coup d'état.

Don't talk to me about the Thai situation. Every day we're getting dozens of calls from people stuck in Thailand because of this mess. People aren't going anywhere until Dec 8th at the earliest, according to what we're hearing from people on the ground.

Posted in: Thai Airways International revises checked baggage policy for flights to U.S., Canada