I know there are many parents like me and hubby whose one of the parenting policy is not to give many electronic device to the kids, specially when they are too young. Limited TV view. More physical traditional game, book, natural activities. No cell phone, no portable game device (like PS, Nitendo DS and the alike), not when you are still an elementary school student.

Raisa has been asking me hundreds time when she can get her DS. She said, she is now seven and many of her friends have it. She tried to promote the device is not for playing only, but has many other more educative function like dictionary, diary, book reader, etc. No wonder, Japan is the fertile land for this Tech industry. I know many house wife who keep their DS handy for source of recipe, hint and tips, accountant and many other function.
But I stand firmed in my policy for Raisa: not until you are bigger.
When is "bigger", she asked.
That will be judged later base on your behavior. When I think you are ready, I will buy you. So show me some responsibility, I answered.

In Jakarta, many of kids known to me, as young as five, have the hand phone and I can say addicted to Play Station. I dislike it.
They are tends to concentrate toward the screen only, move less, lazy (body and brain) and get fatter. When I went for holiday in Indonesia last year, Raisa was the "left behind kid" for not knowing how to play the this and that PS game among Indonesians kids.

Some months ago, when Raisa just at the first month at first grade. She forgot that after school she should go straight to the Kids Room (the after school day care for kids with working parents). Instead, she went to one of her friends house, without telling anyone. I ended left the office, drove around the school and parks searched for Raisa after the Kids Room’s teacher called me for Raisa’s no show. We found Raisa at the end, tracking the home of her best friend. When I told this story to neighbor, she said, "You didn’t give her a cell phone? Many kids has it nowadays. It is for safety."

Times like that leave me in contemplation. But so far I still stand toward the no device until later.
Am I too old style? I don’t know if I stand against this super wave of modernization. Specially in this country? I don’t know if this is the best. Raisa might be the minority among the friends in this case. When is the right time to let the IT attack start to flow into my kids? But for now I still feel it is the right thing to delay.

Am I alone? Mommies, please share your experience/view…

For the fusion lover, this gonna be a good stop for you. Hai Feng Long Hao called themselves as "Chinese Asian Mix Restaurant". I went for a quick lunch last week and attracted by their Chinese Avocado Scallop Pie lunch set on the entrance board. The short lunch ended deep at heart. East meet West in all matter. The selection on the menu, the really western portion and decoration, the rich Asian spice that didn’t leave an eternal garlic taste on your tongue.
From traditional dim sum selection, Asian best (Thai roll, Fo, Chilly Shrimp, etc) until super fusion selection prepares by the four chef in the open kitchen at the center of the room. Price set at a reasonable reach, thousand to two thousand yen for lunch set and selection of three thousand yen and up for dinner.
Service was OK and super quick. It took less than five minutes to get my super-sized, well decorated, tempted, delicious lunch plate came with abundance size of green salad on the table.
Should visit for dinner to be able to put great restaurant label to this one. But for now, I am happy with my lunch experience.
Hai Feng Long Hao located at 3rd Floor Lalaport Toyosu, take a window seat for the Tokyo Bay’s view.

Food: ****
Place: ***
Service: ***
Money Value: ****

Photo credit: r.gnavi.co.jp

Hooray for Japanese TV programs for always sharing the practical tips for live. In this busy-compact-all-do-it-by-yourself’s life, this exactly what’s needed.
So I thought I want to share some tips I saw last weekend so it can help the Kitchen Queens (or your assistant).

- How to get rid of all that tears while chopping onions?
Put the onion (as it is, no need to peel) in Microwave for ten seconds. Taste & texture remain the same, and voila! the onion will not make you cry.

- How to make the brownish (oxidized) peeled apple back to fresh apple color again?
Deep that brownish apple in 100% orange juice for 5-10 minutes and the brown color will just disappear. This will work with another high Vitamin C liquid like lemon/citrus juice.

…and if you have some tips too, don’t keep it for yourself, please…

Many people complain on the rise of taxi flag fare in Tokyo started  yesterday. The notorious Tokyo expensive taxi fare (compare to all major cities in the world) increased from 660 yen to 710 yen for first two kilometers. This increase is the first since 1997.

I don’t complain. Other than I don’t use taxi, but here is the fact:

- All public transportation: bus, train, subway, are safe, accessible, reliable, comfortable and affordable.
- Taxi used mostly by specific purpose: people in business, after midnight where train service stops, in rush, drunk, disability, uninformed tourist, extreme weather, lazy, etc.
- Most of the cost paid  to taxi are reimbursed by company (specially for the first two reason above), or if not, most of it came out from the pocket of the rich, or shared among some people.
- The peak price of gasoline, taxi operator has no other option.

Colleagues has been complaining the increase since yesterday. I asked them back a question: " How frequent you ride on taxi? "
The average answer: once in three month.

Doesn’t hurt that much, no?

There are two first-time-happenings recently for me.

First, I won the lottery.
I don’t gamble. Not only religiously it is incorrect, but I don’t buy the idea to pay money for that one in millions probability (even people said my lucky star has been shinning in this kind of field, but no). But being a Roman in Rome, this is a social cost I have to pay. People at the office like to put their bet in Lotto six. Not only bet individually, section/group bets as team (I imagine if we won millions, the whole section will be gone - company should ban this). Sometime this is where the left offer money of team social money pocket that we collect from individual for any social events (dinner, gift,etc) went. Choose six numbers from 1-43, pay two hundred yen (about 2 bucks), officially you will get the chance to win six type of price ranging from a thousand yen to 300 million yen depend how many number of your bet matched. In a sheet of Lotto betting paper, they are slot of five. So a guy at work always go around to get five people choose six number and pay 200 yen. I don’t usually do this. But once in a while only for social tolerance, specially when a betting sheet missed only one more slot to go, and friends beg me to join, so OK. Say once in a year, two hundred yen. I take it as social cost, no expectation.
It turned out that I won. I was the only one in the team who get the hit. My friends said it was not fair since I bet once in a blue moon unlike them the weekly betters. Not that big, but I got thirteen thousands yen. Not bad. 65 multiplication.

Then, I got a parking ticket.
I am a defensed driver, always try to follow the rule to the detail. My driving record has been clean that police granted me a gold license two years ago after six years of no single violation.
It was a normal Sunday and I brought the kids to the park. Raisa demanded to go to a particular park a bit away from home, so I thought better to drive there in this cold weather. The parking was full, so I decided to park on the side way, together with twenty something other cars, and it won’t be more than an hour. Road was wide, no disturbance to the traffic, besides, this was not my first nor even fifth time parked there.
I came back some fifty minutes after, looking in disbelief to the yellow ticket on my windshield. For me, it was not only a parking ticket, but the clean record I’ve build, is now a history…huhuhu…
Japan Police has been privatize the no-parking handling to a company from beginning of this year. I believe the company gets some portion from the fine income. No more fifteen minutes warning (written with chalk on the road near the front right tire) prior to issuing the fine ticket.
I am now due to pay the fine, somewhere between ten to fifteen thousand yen, depends on the instruction in the postcard that will be sent to my address.

A lucky thing followed by a unlucky careless thing, two of no relation things, or, do you believe in karma?