two really interesting articles

i've blogged about it before, and i'm doing it again. Tokyo Mango is this awesome blog that has lots of interesting and well-written articles, and 2 great ones have recently been posted.

everyone knows how japanese men somehow have the most amazing hairstyles - and i think you have to come to japan to realise just how many of them have wonderful (or perhaps, more like crazy) hair - but guess what? there are actually wigs that can give you "boyband hair"!! check it out here. (actually i lied. this article was posted long ago, but linked to this recent one featuring one very lucky man whom i agree has hair that guys spend ages in front of the mirror to achieve. have i also ever mentioned my JET friend who has a male student who uses 7 different hair products every single morning? unbelievable.)

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namba in osaka has this street called doyasuji, where you can find kitchen utensils, takoyaki machines, lanterns to hang outside your shop (with the appropriate words like "okonomiyaki" and "udon"), hanging curtains that are placed above your shop entrance and so on. the shops in that place also sell plastic food - the kind you find on display outside japanese restaurants.

i was there about two weeks ago, and you'll never guess that those plastic displays actually cost more than the food that you buy! tokyo mango has a post and a brief introduction to this great article on the making of plastic food. read it and be enlightened!!

technology in Japan

perhaps my lecturers should have commented on the technology in japan. i think it's extremely important considering what a ginormous IT idiot i am.

TokyoMango (http://www.tokyomango.com/) recently featured two articles. The first revealed that handphones in Japan are too complicated and have too many functions:

TOKYO -- Steve Jobs' new iPhone, expected to be unveiled Monday, is headed to Japan by the end of the year. But the device's famed ease of use may actually be a turnoff in Japan, where consumers want features, not simplicity.

Indeed, Japanese handsets have become prime examples of feature creep gone mad. In many cases, phones in Japan are far too complex for users to master.

(read the rest here: http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/news/2008/06/japan_phones)

please pray that i'll find a simple and easy-to-use phone!!!!!

the other one is really interesting and introduces what looks like a really good way to earn some extra cash as and when u're able to:

Ryoji Kaneko is always looking for work. It's been six years since the 25-year-old aspiring actor moved to Tokyo from his home in Hyogo Prefecture, and he's still waiting for his big break. He can't get a regular side job because the auditions and the occasional gig require him to have a flexible schedule. To pay for food, transportation and the occasional fishing trip, Kaneko relies on Otetsudai Networks.

(read the rest here: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nc20080604a1.html)

I really think that ad-hoc jobs like these are quite awesome cos of their flexibility! singapore should have this service..