Mind Boggling Stuffs I Bought From Japan

Well, it's normal to buy stuffs during travel. I would buy things that I normally wouldn't buy when I was in a foreign land and I bought a lot of things that don't even make sense of myself. I bought a lot of accessories in Japan, the problem is I don't wear accessories, I don't even use key chain, I only use a ring to hold all my keys. Now, all of these accessories are wrapped in a plastic bag and kept under my bed, I will occasionally take it  out to admire before putting it back. Hahaha!

I got the below accessories, brooches and key chains in a shop in Kobe, it was having sales! I think every simple piece cost 500 yen, since it looks cute and not so expensive (I was earning in Japanese yen then), I bought all that! 

accessories

Shiseido Aqualabel Prefect Protect Milk UV (Blue) & Moist Protect Milk UV (Red)

After I had a very bad sunburn from just one day of snowboarding, I realised the importance of applying sunscreen. My first sunscreen was from Nivea (can be used on both face and body), it was not expensive too, however, I had to stop using that on my face because my eyes were irritated by the sunscreen, everytime I applied the Nivea sunscreen, I would have itchy eyes. So, I went shopping for another sunscreen. Since I was using Shiseido products on my face prior to that and it was ok, I decided to get a Shiseisdo sunscreen, I didn't go for the expensive one though, I bought a drugstore Shiseido sunscreen, a Aqualabel Prefect Protect Milk UV SPF 50+ PA+++.

Initially, I felt it was too heavy for me, however after around a week, I got used to the texture. After that, I got another sunscreen from the same line, a Aqualabel Moist Perfect Milk UV SPF 28 PA++. The Moist Perfect Milk has a lower SPF and PA, but it is more runny and for the same price, 5ml more! The Perfect Protect Milk has higher viscosity than the Moist Perfect Milk too. So, before applying the Perfect Protect Milk, there is an instruction to shake well before use "よく振ってから、お使いください". (There are metal balls inside the bottle)

Now I am using both interchangeably, and the Perfect Protect Milk is almost finish. I think I will buy the same sunscreens after I clear up these 2 bottles. 

Aqualabel Protect Milk UV

Make A Gif From Video Using VLC & PhotoScape

I am quite free today, so I decided to learn how to make a Gif from video. I have installed Photoscape in my computer already, however Photoscape can only make Gifs from pictures. So, I googled around, netizens provide a lot of ideas and tips. There are many online editors that are able to convert video file to Gif file directly, however I am afraid that those free editors are malware. Finally, I found out that VLC player can convert video file to multiple screenshots. I didn't have VLC player, so I downloaded and installed it in my computer. 

*I have confidence on VLC player because many people I know are using it.

my first Gif on wind up tin robot!

There are 2 options to screenshot in VLC

1. one screenshot at a time
2. multiple screenshots as the video file is running

Souvenirs from Japan

There are many things to buy in Japan as souvenir. However, most of the time, I would stick to food items because it is cheaper and easier to distribute to colleagues. Due to the 'omiyage 御土産' tradition, most Japanese people will buy souvenir for colleagues, I ate a lot of omiyage during my two years working in Japan. Well, I also bought packets of souvenirs during my travel for my colleagues. (contribute back!)

*omiyage = something like local produce

Due to that omiyage tradition too, one can find many nicely packed cookies or sweets (菓子) in beautiful boxes in the shops in tourist attractions. Normally, it came in 30 pieces per box. The one I bought range from 5 pieces to 40 pieces. One box normally costs around 1050 yen. From 1st April 2014, the sales tax will increase from 5% to 8%, so it would probably costs 1080 yen per box or the retailers will absorb the cost themselves, which I think is very unlikely!

Below photo shows some normal souvenirs. Normally, one can find similar products like below photo, boxes of cookies wrapped in cute packaging related to the place one is visiting. In Kumamoto, the normal (not so expensive and affordable with high quantity) souvenirs are cookies wrapped in packaging with Kumamon photo. This is the type people normally buy to give to colleagues. 

souvenir from Kumamoto (utilises Kumamon)

Travel

I like to read on the backpackers on-line forum and one of the discussions is about travel companions. A lot of people agreed that there's no bad travel companions, just incompatible travel companions. Well, that is so true.

There are all kinds of travellers out there, some are into relax mode, some just want to go shopping, some are budget travellers, some of them need rice for every meals, some don't eat beef (like me!), some are vegetarian, some want to go to all the tourist attractions in a very short span of time, etc.

Well, I have never travel alone. For all of my trips, the minimum headcount was two, the maximum was ten. I had only separated with my travel companions for maybe half a day when we had different targets during a long trip. And I had been the planner for a few of the trips. I wouldn't say that all the trips went without a glitch, but it all ended well. 

Postcard

I was not the kind of person who would send out postcard during travel, however, my travel mates love to send postcards. So, I sent out a few postcards too, mainly to myself and my parents. Nowadays, when looking back at these postcards, reminiscence back the journeys, I feel calm.

In Japan, to send a postcard to a domestic address, one just need to buy a 50 yen stamp. To send out a normal postcard to another country, the stamp needed is a 70 yen stamp. Stamp is very easy to get in Japan, just go into any post-office (some even open on Sunday) or convenience store and ask for 'kitte' or 'sutanpu'. The funny thing is I always said the wrong word, instead of 'kitte', I would ask for 50yen or 70yen 'kippu', then the convenience store staff would look confuse and he or she would ask around, somehow, someone would be able to guess what I want, hahaha! 

*kitte = 切手 (stamp in Japanese)

*sutampu = the way stamp is pronounced in Japan

*kippu = 切符 (ticket in Japanese)