Gold card was issued for me.
No, it is not the credit card, nor the club/hotel membership, nor airlines mileage.
It is simply a driving license.
This is my third driving license in Japan. The first(green) and second(blue) ones was valid each for three years. Able to passed the last six years of safe driving record (no accident nor rule break), I got this gold license. This one valid for five years. The benefit: the gold license owner considered as excellent driver so the insurance premium is cheaper, will ’somewhat’ get more trust in the event of unfortunate accident, and less trip to driving license center for renewal.
I got the letter from the police station for the renewal. So I went there in my birth month. FYI, license in Japan valid until your birthday plus thirty days. So those who sit with me in the thirty minutes rule and safety update class before receiving the license, all are the birthday men and women.
If you are not the gold candidate, you got to attend two hours or more class (like my pity-very-safe-driver-husband who got two points mark in his license due to wrong parking, once in Ginza, another was in front of our own old apartment building. What an unfortunate!).

Unlike the two hours class which full of not so appealing picture and movie of traffic accidents, the thirty minutes was full of recent rule updates. Like the rule of no phone while driving, the baby and child car seat regulation, new traffic symbols, etc. Some statistic was there too. The accident number in Chiba has been increasing by 2% in recent years. The fact that 50%+ accident occur within 50m radius of driver resident. Some reminder like if you drive 40km/h it take 22m for car to fully stop from the time you hit the brake. 44m if you speed 60km/h. Seat-belt please: in 40km/h drive, in the event of accident, your body comparable to be pushed by two tons of weight from back toward the windshield. Many more.
Enough to make me talk so much with facts and figures and regulation when sitting next to my driving husband. Rusai (noisy)!!!

Footnote:
I don’t think gold license guarantee good driver as for one license owner that never drive (say, at all) in period of six years but keep on renew the license, s/he will get no violation record for six years: there for entitle for gold….. like one of my friend. 

Am I getting old or what?!
My flight down to Singapore last Thursday was the one of most tough fly for me (number two actually, number one was the flight to Paris two years ago when I was seven month old pregnant–another story). Seven hours (only!) sat down in the economy window seat of SQ011 was a terrible time. Don’t know why, I felt so nausea, freak-out of the idea being placed inside the metal cylinder, freak-out of the fact that I breath the limited not so fresh oxygen shared by another 300 or so people, and worst of all: can’t sleep even for a minute. I used to be the straight sleeper in the flight. The series of new movies in Krisworld in-flight entertainment didn’t attract me. The fat man next to me busy with his video game. He occupied the armrest and worst: he smell so bad and snore so loud. Forget the idea of ‘excuse me can you please give me the way as I need to go to the toilet’, he still sounded a sleep when I tried to wake him (even the stewardess get tough time to wake him up). Time moved so so so slow. The slight turbulence felt like giant tremor. I felt so uncomfortable. What’s wrong?
Having the average 5-6 times a year of long haul flight abroad, flying is business as usual for me. But I felt so bad this time. That bad that I don’t mind to pay my own for upgrade the ticket to business class to fly back home three days after. But poor me the business and first class was fully book for all three flights to Tokyo that Sunday (darn! so many rich people or just too many people feel my bad to fly?!). So again I got to be the sardine in the can for six hours and fifteen minutes (thanks for the 45 minute discount to fly back to Japan!). In Changi airport, the drugstore don’t sell you sleeping pill to fly. In this case I love Sydney airport where if you show your boarding pass of long haul flight the drug store will sell you the sleeping pill according to the number of hours of your flight.
Still bad but the six hours was not worst. At least I could sleep for an hour and got the window seat in the emergency door line so I don’t have to wake anybody if need to go to the loo.
Now, I got to: either preparing my self physically and mentally for the 14 hours flight to Europe next March, or I have to save and spend so so big money to upgrade my economy flight ticket from the office to business class : (
I don’t like this…HELP!

  Snow ! That was the objective of our three days trip to mountain side of Bandai Atami area at Fukushima Perfecture, up north from our residence perfecture of Chiba. It been freezing cold here, but not that much snow so far too piled up. Too bad… (well, for my tropical girl brain).
So the eleven of us, in two cars drove straight highway for five hours. From the one year old Ken, till sixty five years old Ibu Tati who is the mother of my friend, and at the same time the professor in my faculty back at university time=my teacher (isn’t it a  small world?!).
My second time to visit the area. This year snow is much more than two years ago. At the end of December, it was 205cm high. Located at the lap of Mt.Bandai (1819m), Lake Inawashiro remain liquid, it just too huge to freeze. Thousands if not hundred thousands bird migrated from Russia continent for warmer area. This minus five degree is Inawashiro is warm enough for them. The birds covered up the lake bank, amazing view.The landscape was splendid. White, as far as the eye can see with thousands of dried-covered-with-snow pine trees.
We stayed at a small B&B called as ‘pension’ in Japan. A typical small hotel with 8-15 rooms, run by family. So much children and family oriented. The kids enjoy much. The food was delicious, the owner was so warm. As it was Dec 31st we had a old and new party. Groups of pension’s owner arrange the event. It was outdoor at fourteen degree bellow zero. The made a screen by cutting the snow pile, relay the program from Tokyo’s channel for the countdown. We were served a hot bowl of Soba that you need to eat and zip quickly before the hot soup turn to frozen! Everyone hold a firecracker and at zero, boom there were some fireworks in the air. So warm despite so cold. What a perfect way to strat a year. Me and hubby was excited to two things. First, the amazing clear sky that you can view thousands stars…..not in Tokyo! Second, the huge flakes of snow undisturbed by wind that it remain in hundreds type of hexagon flake shape when rest on ground. How excited to observe the Mother Nature creature. Masyaallah!
The next day was the ski day. Grand Deco ski resort’s snow was thick and powdery. Perfect day for ski. Only, Ken is a bit disturb with this white-everywhere-piled-up-cold-and-create-a-funny-sound-when-I-step-on-it thing called snow. So, he didn’t want to release our hug for even a second, terrified of the new phenomena. His first snow exposure. So we spent most of the time in the kids area.
The next day supposed to be the time to enjoy the Goshikinuma (translated as the five colors of lakes) but it turned up that all that small lakes was frozen and covered by snow. We can’t see the different colors. But some people enjoy ice pole fishing.
Rolling, throwing snow ball, sliding, snowman and all. We the tropical people enjoy the snow like crazy.
It was cold, but trust me, when it is snow, you can’t feel the cold. As your heart is melt with happiness.

The snow resort:
http://www.grandeco.com

The pension:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/p-sora/

Local tourism site:
http://www.inawashiro.or.jp/
http://www.tif.ne.jp/eng/index.jsp
http://www.tif.ne.jp/eng/area.dos?areaID=1

Wuff…wuff….yes it is the DOG year!
Japanese follow the tradition of Lunar year and 2006 is the dog year. Everything on the shop are dog decorated. The calendar, the new year card (surely!), posters, apparel, decoration pieces and all. Other than this is the dog year, Japanese really love pet. Dog to be precise. Statistically about half of Japanese household own a dog. Don’t imagine those big barking guarding dog or that tall furry ones. The best seller are those size as big or even smaller than a cat. Perhaps because all small in Japan?
At my Japanese mother’s house, the ash of our beloved Kyonkyon (he was a miniature poodle) is rest peacefully in a silver jar, stand just next to the dining table. Everyday a stamp of flower and a biscuit are put in front of the jar.
When first time I saw dog related service/goods here, it came to my amazed. But now it is normal to me ( I rather purchase some of those things as a present to my loving people’s family (read: dog)). The dog boutique that sell all type of dog clothes from the raincoat, shoes, hairband, until the Gucci brand party dress. The dog store that sell the dog stroller (yes, dog need not to run anymore) the brand ranging from Aprica till YSL. The dog hotel that cost 20,000 yen per night for the suite room (and no, the master can’t stay along cause the room is not bigger than your toilet). The dog cafe that serve many choice of dog food menu that decorated on a fine china the way a French dishes served.  The dog food store selling the low fat, low calorie, low sodium food for dog…and they are packed in a human food like instead the typical tin of dog food.
And yesterday, the article in The Japan Times talking about this dog salon that in addition of cut and shampoo, also provide dog manicure and the full massage and aroma therapy set that cost 9000 yen per hour (huhu..my monthly massage cost me 6000 yen per hour).
So all in all….I wanna be a dog. A rich dog. The Thinkerbell of Paris Hilton, perhaps.

Photo credit: David Beart in thepetproffesor.com