Minimalism - Online Income - ESL - Japan
I was looking through some old photos and found this picture of Mami and I dancing at a Christmas party in 2004. Although we met earlier that year, I think this is the oldest picture of us together and for that reason it deserves a place here on my blog. I think she thought I was quite a catch! 😛 If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I’d love to hear from […]
Some of you know that all I need a fridge for is beer, cheese and chocolate. At least, that was until I married Mami and we moved into together. It wasn’t long before her mum bought us a new fridge for our wedding present, and Mami filled it up with everything I should eat. As well as the lovely orangey colour, this fridge is extra special becuase its door opens in […]
A few weeks ago I talked about children’s bedtime stories, and then later said that a baby approaching three months old has very acute hearing and if you read to him everyday, he’ll become familiar with the rhythm and intonation of your language. This week, I started reading the first Harry Potter book to Rikuto. Of course, he’s not going to understand it, but it’s an opportunity to immerse him […]
While I was browsing the news section of Yahoo Japan, I spotted what I thought was a really huge billboard hanging off the side of a building. On closer inspection I realized the building was the Sony Ginza head office in Tokyo. A bit more research revealed that Sony hired top graphic artists, Hajime Yoshio, ZanPon and Ryuji Otani, to design three unique skins for laptops, cell phones, media players and headphones. The items are limited edition, […]
For the last few years, I’ve lived in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan. Gifu is mostly made up of the old provinces of Hida and Mino, and has historically been the center of swordmaking. More recently though, with the opening of Chubu International Airport and the completion of the Tokai Loop Expressway, a large number of companies have been establishing themselves in the prefecture. Gifu governor, Hajime Furuta says: The Seki Techno […]
Last time I went Sightseeing in Second Life Japan, I showed you Kumamoto Castle, Osaka Castle and Tokyo Tower. This time, Aleister Kronos pointed out that a faithful reproduction of Himeji Castle is under construction. Himeji Castle is part of Japan’s great cultural heritage located around 650 kilometers west of Tokyo. The castle is nicknamed “White Heron” because of its white plaster walls, plaster being a useful safeguard against fire in […]
I can’t believe it has been exactly 20 years since the Great Storm hit the south-east of England in the early hours of October 16th, 1987. I’ve been through plenty of typhoons in Japan, but none of them come close to the “hurricane” that knocked out our electricity and water, blew over the trees in our garden and completely obliterated our greenhouse. During the hours of darkness the storm swept across southern England. The […]
Next week, our son Rikuto will be three months old. I previously posted the video Is That My Hand? in which he realized that the hands flapping about his head were actually his own, and he could contol them! Now that he can control them, he does what every baby does - he tries to eat them. Thank goodness he doesn’t have teeth yet! If you like, you can find me on […]