On March 11th the 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sendai sent a tsunami which destroyed much of the coast and killed thousands of people. In Tokyo, the largest city in Japan and home to over 12 million people, the earthquake had a slightly different effect. It forced people to …
Toilets – The Japanese take pooping very seriously. How many people do you know in North America willing to spend $5,000 on a crapper? In Japan, that is quite common. The toilets are a bit different than the ones we have here. For instance their flusher has two settings, “small” (小) …
Zuimei and I had lunch with a couple of his friends from Taiwan at a fancy restaurant called Ukai-tei. Our hosts took us for teppanyaki, which for those unfamiliar with the term is the Japanese style of cooking where the chef cooks on a hot grill at your table. I …
I captured this photo before I left for Japan. I think you would be hard-pressed to convince anyone with a lick of sense that Earth Hour is something other than a big advertising exercise. Hypocritical to say the least.
inducWhy do we have an Earth hour? The earth is going to be here for billions of years, long after we are all gone. I guarantee it. If we pollute the world, to the point of no return and all human life ceases to exist, the planet will continue until …
From CBC’s live blog: Disaster in Japan The man standing beside the photos is Yosuke Oda, who lost a friend in the disaster, as well as his house. He has decided to collect photographs from the rubble and put them together on a sidewalk so that people who recognize themselves …
One night President Obama and his wife Michelle decided to do something out of routine and go for a casual dinner at a restaurant that wasn’t too luxurious. When they were seated, the owner of the restaurant asked the President’s Secret Service if he could please speak to the First …
I spoke to Zuimei last night about getting out of Tokyo. To close the bar for two weeks and take his parents to Beijing or Hawaii. He noted there are no flights to be had; most of the flights out of Tokyo are booked. I asked if he needed food …