Election in Japan

While the election in Malaysia have been dragging on for almost a year now (I think even the fortune tellers were running out of months to predict), Japanese will have their election on 16th December 2012. My colleague told me that she will vote on that day and she seemed very enthusiastic. 

16th December 2012 - Election day in Japan

I only felt the election heat today when I saw the current Japan Prime Minister's photo in advertisement next to summary of a Chinese online romance novel. It was above the hair removal advertisement too. I actually laughed out loud! The campaigning is on almost every website I go from various political parties. Gone were the days when the politicians had to go door to door to meet the voters. Now, they are campaigning online.

election campaign next to summary of romance novel

Kyoto and Nara 3 Days Trip - Day 2

20th November 2011

Second day of the trip. We took Keihan train 京阪本線 from Gionshijo 祇園四条駅 to FushimiInari Station 伏見稲荷駅. FushimiInari is a temple with many torii 鳥居. It is very interesting. There is a row of torii leading to the hilltop, so me and my friends hiked through it. By the time I reached the hilltop, I could barely breathe.

Fushimi Inari Station 伏見稲荷駅

Okinawa 4 Days Trip - Day 4 (Tug of War 那覇大綱挽)

7th October 2012

This is the collection of photos about 'Naha Tug of War 2012'. So interesting!

First part is the parade before tug of war.

Mayor of Naha City making an appearance before the parade

Fuel mileage with the Idle Stop Function

Idle Stop	Odometer Start(km)	Odometer End(km)	Fuel(ℓ)	Fuel Mileage(km/ℓ)
off	4466	4839	15.27	24.43
on	4839	5194	14.75	24.07

After an accident that left my rental Daihatsu Move dented, the rental car company replaced it with a Suzuki Alto. That was the first time I saw a car with idle stop function. However, in my thought, it is not so suitable for brief stop. It is only a 15 minutes ride to my work place, and there are lots of traffic lights, the stop usually won't last more than one minute. On off engine will use more fuel in a short span of stopping time. To test it out, I decided to count the fuel mileage.

I filled my gas tank full after I jot down the reading on the odometer. Did it twice, once with 'idle stop function' off and another on. However, I was surprised that it doesn't change much. Maybe the sample size was too small. Anyway, that's it. This experiment ends now. To get an accurate result, I refrained myself to switch on the heater, it is damn cold now. (I started this during September, the weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold, so I didn't switch on air conditioner!)

Top: Suzuki Alto dash board on the top (the engine signal is cold)
Below: the Idle Stop Function Switch

Persimmon tree

Persimmon was considered an expensive fruit in Malaysia. So, my mother would only buy it during Chinese New Year and it was an item on the prayer list for the prayer on the Chinese New Year eve. Since I did not get much chances to eat this fruit, I will buy whenever I saw this in Japan. In Japan, I have seen 3 types of persimmon. One is the normal orange hard type, one is in green colour (the texture almost same with the orange type, but taste different) and one in reddish orange (very soft in texture, found in Kawaguchiko). I am ok with the hard type only, the soft type is kinda "soft"! Have to eat with a spoon!

Although I like persimmon for a long time, I did not know how it looks like. A house near my apartment has a tree, when it started to bear fruits, I thought it was mikan (蜜柑, a kind of citrus fruit, orange in colour too). So, I was surprised that it turned out to be persimmon! It looked so inviting and I were very very tempted to pluck it. However, finally I bought some from supermarket to satisfy my craving. Hahahah!

A persimmon tree near my apartment

a green skin persimmon and the persimmon cut into pieces (bought from a stall in Takachiho)