more advice on japan

it was quite fun to have met up with 2 japanese ladies these 2 days whom i was able to ask some questions regarding japan and osaka.

one of them is an osakan who was introduced to me by another of the women whom i interviewed, while the other was one of the women whom i interviewed for my thesis. she knows quite a few teachers in osaka and hyogo, and passed me some of their contacts. actually, we were meant to meet up for tea or something in april when her committments lightened a little, but we never did till today. haha.

i found out a bit of stuff in talking to them.. osaka is officially hotter than singapore at this time of the year. it's around 37 degrees over there, and Gifu is even hotter at about 40degrees. i told them that 3 of the singaporeans are going there, and they commented that they'll definitely die in the heat.

there're apparently lots of mosquitoes in japan now too! they dont transmit dengue, but still. i have to go there prepared with mosquito repellent. and the cockroaches in japan are very big and can fly! urgh. have to prepare the equivalent of shieldtox and bygon now.. sigh.

also, it was suggested to me that i place a pair of men's shoes at my door and hang a pair of trousers and some underwear together with my clothes to create the impression that i'm living with a guy. haha. interesting! but i have no space to pack any more clothes than necessary..

it's also apparently a better idea for me to commute daily to nara/kyoto/kobe if i want to sight-see rather than to stay overnight in those places, as apparently the inconvenience of commuting from fukushima-ku is worth the money that i'll save on accommodation. hmmmmm. it did occur to me that i can do that for nara (i havent read up on kyoto yet), but i'm also thinking that it would good to venture further out from the main areas in nara to take a look at the burial mounds in asuka, and i have a feeling that doing that would require a stayover somewhere. well! we'll see how it goes :)

i too must apparently use japanese when searching google, else i probably wont be able to find much information! goodness.. the thought itself makes me faint.. :S