A few years ago, I stopped using my Apple Watch and decided to go without a watch altogether. The idea was to simplify my life. Everything I used my watch for, I could already do with my smartphone. My phone tells the time, has Suica for trains, and acts as a pedometer to track my…
Six Days in Kobe
We usually plan our vacation in September, primarily to avoid Japan’s August summer vacation period when families with kids are traveling, and secondly to escape the peak summer heat. Prices tend to drop after August, while temperatures remain high. However, in recent years, summer has been extending into late September, so next year we might…
Why I’m not Upgrading to the iPhone XS
Ever since I got my first iPhone, the 3G, I’ve been very religious in upgrading my iPhone at least every two years. What can you say? I was an Apple fan boy. I still am. This year, however, even if my iPhone 7 is already 2 years old, and the new iPhone XS just came…
Rainy Kamakura Weekend
In June, we made an early reservation for a beachside pension house for one September weekend. We were hoping we’d be able to enjoy the last few days of summer getting a tan, and staying in a room overlooking the beach. That reservation was for this weekend, and lo and behold, it’s scheduled to rain…
My Boring Summer Vacation
As a company policy, we are required to take summer leaves before the end of September. I scheduled mine this week though I didn’t really make travel plans because my wife had to work and it was only me on vacation. So for one week, I got to experience life without work … all by…
We’re Moving!
One fine day, I received an email about having to renew the contract for our current place, which was fine as it was something we had to do every few years. The difference this time was, our monthly rent would have to increase by 50,000 yen! First thing that came to mind was our happy…
SNS Review 2018
More and more, I am starting to lose interest with all these social networking services. Facebook has lost its appeal because my timeline has started to look like a long boring stream of babies, travels, and get-togethers of people I barely know anyways. Not to mention the persistent articles about Duterte or Trump many of…
Recovering from a TFCC Tear
While playing tennis, I started feeling a slight pain on my right wrist. It did not bother me much as I thought it was just muscle pain, and that it would heal naturally after just a few weeks, just like any other muscle pain. This was in November 2016. A few months later, the pain…
Living with the Apple Watch in Tokyo
After a couple of years trying very hard to stop myself from buying it, I finally gave in and got me an Apple Watch (Series 3 GPS + cellular version). I guess I cannot forever use my strategy of telling myself next year’s model is going to be better. It also helps believing the LTE…
Getting Refund from Viator
“Thing don’t always go as planned. Once we accept this, we become better in dealing with this thing called life.” Enrico Pangan We are heavy users of Viator, and have used it intensively in recent overseas trips. On average, we reserve three tours every trip, and schedule tours every other day. This makes sure we…
Morning Fire Scare
This morning, while getting ready for work, I got a little scare from this alarm sound coming from the security intercom. It was later followed by the sound of sirens outside the building. Been living here almost ten years already, and this was the first time. Fire in the building? This wasn’t exactly what I…
Is my doctor ripping me off?
Is my Japanese doctor ripping me, and my insurance off? This is a question I started asking myself after a few months with this doctor. It started when the results of my yearly medical exams arrived, and they found an excessive level of CA19-9, a tumor marker. Imagine the shock not only from myself, but maybe…
