5 More Things I Hate About Japan

This is a continuation of yesterday's blog that took an ironic look at various things I "don't" like about Japan (irony folks...just in case you don't realize it).

1. The sense of safety: I can leave my laptop on a coffee shop table while I go to the washroom and when I return I know it will still be there. That pisses me off! I can leave my bag on the train and there's a very good chance it will be placed in lost and found. That's just ridiculous! Where I come from there would possibly be a fight in the coffee shop because too many people would try to steal my computer at the same time. I mean, at Christmas, when my wife bought me a Tim Hortons coffee tumbler, she was warned by staff not to leave it on a table unattended because someone will steal it. I expect the same level of thievery here in Japan, but it just doesn't exist. So disappointing.

2. Convenient and efficient public transportation: This is something that really chaps my ass. I want to be left waiting I freezing weather while unreliable buses don't show up on time. I want to live in a place where, I don't have a car, I'm pretty much screwed for getting around the city. Give me that Japan!

3. Japanese ramen: I hate it so much because it is so delicious. Every mouthful is packed with so much flavor that I want to eat it everyday. If I did eat it everyday I would most certainly die of a massive heart attack within the next 6 months!

4. Japanese green tea: Hey there Mr. Green Tea....you're full of anti-oxidants, your tasty and warm me up on cold winter nights! Get over yourself you fancy schmancy drink!

5. Really fast Internet speeds: I want the "snail paced" speeds that Canadian "high speed" Internet offers. I mean...come on, you don't even throttle people's Internet like back home. If I want to download something it happens in the blink of an eye. That's just bullshit if you ask me!

There ya go folks. 5 more things about Japan that I "hate." I you liked this post and the previous post, come on over to a new blog "experiment" mine. I'll make one short daily post about something I "hate" in life (The I Hate Project). Eventually all the posts will be compiled into a silly eBook of sorts!

HK court sentences man to 16 months for Kobe watch theft

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong man who pleaded guilty to trafficking eight stolen Rolex watches from a Japanese department store last year was on Thursday sentenced to 16 months in prison by a Hong Kong district court.

Lee Kui-man, 47, was charged with handling stolen goods after he was arrested at a border checkpoint on route to mainland China in January with nine stolen Rolex watches. Eight of the watches were later confirmed to be among those that went missing from the Daimaru Kobe department store in June last year.

‘‘Based on the nature of the offense, I find two years an appropriate starting point’’ for a prison term, Deputy District Judge Gary Lam said. In light of Lee’s guilty plea, the sentence was reduced to 16 months.

The eight watches, carrying a wholesale price worth about HK$500,000 (about $64,300), were among 83 Rolex watches that went missing from the department store’s Rolex counter after a hole was found drilled in the adjacent wall of the counter.

In addition to the Kobe theft, Lee also pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary that happened between 2002 and 2003 in Hong Kong. Read original at Japan Today



Body found on Beppu mountainside identified as missing Kobe nurse
OITA - Police said Monday that DNA testing has revealed the remains of a woman found strangled on a wooded mountainside in Beppu on Sunday are those of Hiromi Yokote, a 28-year-old nurse from Kobe who had been reported missing.

According to police, Yokote, who worked at a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture, told her family she was going on vacation to Kyushu alone. Yokote left her home by car on Aug 28 and her family reported her missing on Sept 1 after they became concerned that they could not contact her. Yokote’s car was found near her body a short distance from Beppu’s famous hot spring resort. Read original at Japan Today