Animal Cruelty

Today was a pretty fun day started off by having a lazy breakfast of jam on bread (no toaster) and bananas which was good cos it gave me the carbs for my swim/gym. After exercise I headed into my bank branch to once again try and get the details I need to do IMT (International Money Transfer) from my Australian bank account. The person who conducted my orientation into Tokyo Tech had emailed us with explaining that all large transfers into Japanese bank accounts would require us to call the bank and explicitly answer their questions because apparently Japanese bank accounts have been used for terrorism (I'll explain why that might be so later). She also included in that email two names of people who work at my branch that can speak english, so I walked in quite confident that my queries would be dealt with in a swift, Japanese manner through English communication. But given my luck it just so happens that for some reason that I couldn't quite understand (I'm finding that even if I can actually ask questions in Japanese I may not always understand the answer) they basically were not available. So the lady in the end gave me a ticket and I joined the rest of the people in the queue waiting to be served. The wait time was not too bad I think about 10-15 I don't know I just blanked out until I heard my number quite simply, except when a lady stepped on my foot. Once I was called to the counter using a basic amount of Japanese I relayed my queries of why I cannot use Internet banking, that I wished to change my signature PIN (this particular Japanese bank requires the use of a PIN along with your signature to sign for example a direct debit contract) and what bank details do I need to use from the Japanese bank to be able to transfer my money. The answer to the first was I cannot use internet banking because I have not been in Japan for more than 6 months, she didn't say it on the spot but I read on the website previously that this was a precaution against terrorist or criminal use of Japanese bank accounts. She also provided me with all the details I need to do IMT in the form of a paper sheet written in English so that would be smooth. I've saved the response to the PIN change query till last because I will explain something funny about Japanese banks.

When I was first served by a bank representative I said I had forgotten my signature PIN (which was true) so she actually brought the physical contract I signed and before showing it to me asked for my passport, I gave her my Alien card and she performed an ID check. Then she flashed my signature PIN to me like you would in a game of Memory. After that she gave me the ticket and returned my contract to their filing system. When I was being served at the counter, the lady asked me to write down my previous PIN (I had also provided ID beforehand so she did the ID check first) she then checked that number against the PIN I wrote down in my contract, the same piece of paper the previous lady showed me. After that I was allowed to write a new PIN on that same contract. After doing so she returned my contract to their filing system. Now heres the problem that may be leading to Japanese bank accounts being used for terrorism, um hello? any bank employee and infact any staffmember at Tokyo Tech who helped process my application would have seen my PIN. To compare to Australia when you need a new PIN, they ask for 100 points of ID and then they erase the old PIN and ask for you to enter a new PIN using the keypad. The numbers on the keypad are asterixed as they are on the computer the employee is using. Also when you make your initial application even if you were an international student and say UTS processed your application they would have no way of knowing your PIN because it is generated randomly and sent to you via mail. Which you can then change or accept, which means that to find out your PIN someone has to search through your mail and break the seal on the letter. I kinda expected more lol, anyway enough about banking.

After the bank I headed home to put away my gym clothes and confirm my journey to the Japanese bookstore, Bonjinsha. It's basically a retailer of Japanese language learning and teaching material. When I say confirm my journey, everytime I go somewhere new in Japan I use google maps to map a train route to the nearest station, I also have to translate station names for the interchanges, destination and 'direction indicators' (Rather than having a screen on the platform that scrolls down through the stations that the train will stop at like CityRail the platform signs include the name of two or three stations usually big interchange ones or terminating stations that indicate which direction the train will be going. Whether or not your train actually stops at the station even if your going the right direction must be determined from the train maps). I made it to the new area and found my books without problem and returned to Shibuya. I'm in the market for a camera I want a Nikon D90 but its a bit expensive and troublesome to carry with me just for amateur shots so a few people had suggested the Canon G11. I was set on this but then I realised that the G11 is not a hybrid but more like a half-baked camera. It's more 'pro' than most compact digi-cams that can't have their lens changed, has more manually controllable settings and produces great pictures. But the body of is basically identical in size to that of a D90, its just that the D90 has interchangeable static lenses compared to the G11's retractable. But the G11 certainly cannot fit in your pocket, its not my idea of compact. On that note I've been looking at two promising models that are new and heaps convenient both Panasonic. The Lumix DMC-FP(1,2,3) and DMC -FT2. Now heres a funny thing, the only camera from the FP(1,2,3) series that's on sale in Japan is the FP1 which is the most basic and cheapest model. However in the rest of the developed world the all models from the series from 1 to 3 are available. The 3 series is the one I really want because it has slightly better screen which is also 3 inches compared to the FP1's 2.7. That screen is also touch sensitive, you can touch the screen to tell the camera which points of the photo you wish the focus to be on. The 2 series is....just useless we won't talk about it. But this Japanese company does not sell the 3 series in Japan, yet anyway only overseas, isn't that a surprise for someone who would have thought Japan is the best place to shop for cameras. Heck it's even on-sale at Myer that's just bad, fail Japan, fail. The other contender the FT2 is more than double the price, probably takes only a slightly better pictures (the FP series takes really good pictures already) and has more features, also waterproof, shockproof, coldproof and dustproof to substantial limitations. I'm considering this because those 'proofs' are built for me, I don't think a normal level camera of such size would last with me. But I've resolved to think about it a little more before I spend. Also a final note on the the G11, it has a viewfinder but it crops 77% of the actual picture that is, the picture you get will be wider and taller than what you saw in the viewfinder (super annoying, PASS).

To qualify the title of this post I will explain what I had for dinner. The recipe is pretty much identical to the katsudon recipe except for a few things. The meat used is chopped up chicken instead of deep-fried or shallow-fried (I shallow fry) pork. Cooking time is basically 10 minutes, 1 minute for the liquid to heat up and then the chicken goes in for 3 minutes a side, plus another few minutes with the beaten egg. The advantage of this dish is literally no oil is used, since the soup stock is made from kelp and doesn't use a meat base. The only cholesterol is in the egg yolks of which two were used but I'll try with one next time. Now if you haven't caught as too how this dish is animal cruelty or simply have no clue what I'm yapping about I'll give you a hint in the form of the name of this dish. Oyakodon　親子丼, those of you who learn Japanese or can otherwise read these characters should know by now. For those who are still clueless ill describe the meaning of the characters. The first is for parents, the second is for children and the third basically indicates that this meal is served over a bowl of rice. So in one phrase it literally translates to parents and children, served over rice. This is quite accurate given that in this dish chicken is cooked in chicken eggs, so you've basically taken out a family right there. Somehow I don't think I'll be invited to speak for PETA anytime soon. Despite the weird but accurate name, I like this dish alot since no oil is used and the chicken meat is succulent and tasty from absorbing the stock, sake, mirin, soy sauce, onions, I also added ginger, salt and pepper and skimped out on sugar to add more zing and less sweetness. That's it I hope you enjoyed my latest, hopefully soon this blog will have pictures :D