Have you tried Maruchan Seimen?

Well during my last trip to Japan, Me & Celest get to try this Maruchan Seimen. It's an instant noodle, very popular there, & we love it!


While instant noodles has been around for a long time and packaged ramen sales have been decreasing in the recent years, Maruchan repackaged and improved the quality and taste of their noodles and soup in their Maruchan Seimen product line. A huge success,  I was told Maruchan Seimen sales, take up over 10% of the packaged noodle market. So if you have the chance, get one home to try- It's very nice.

Celest bought a whole case back home!!!! It's gone now of course. She has been trying desperately to get people who are going to Japan to get for her....lol..... Addicted!

Casinos replacing Pachinko in Japan ???

For those of you who has been to Japan, have you tried Pachinko there? Pachinko is a game similar to pinball & is very popular in Japan, & Celest became addicted while we were there...lol... Me? no interest.

Well they don't have casinos there, at least not yet but this Pachinko game generates some $200 billion in revenue each year for them , that's about the same as Toyota Motor Corp!!!

Lately some of their politicians plans to legalize casinos in Japan. They argued that Japan could become a profitable gaming center, providing tax revenues to raise the state’s shrinking funds, analysts think. If two big resorts were approved, Japan’s gaming market could be worth at least $10 billion, more than Las Vegas’ $6.2 billion in 2012.wow....

 But as always it's not so easy, many analysts do not think the bill will have enough political support. In 2012, the attempt of introducing a casino bill to raise money for rebuilding northeast Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami failed in the face of a poll conducted in December.

In March, Shinzo Abe said he could see the economic benefits of introducing casinos, but he also said that additional studies have to be made in order to estimate the potential social costs. But whatever it is, will it take business away from our IRs? I hope not. Also why do so many people love gambling so much?

Would you turn off my machine if I'm in a coma?

We were having a fabulous time in Japan last week. Coming back sitting in the wonderful business class seat feeling like a billion bucks, when I chance upon a newspaper from home. I was reading this story  about how in 2009, Suzanne Chin a healthy lawyer , mother of two was living and working in Hong Kong,  suffered a heart attack, was hospitalised in a coma and declared brain dead. The hospital doctors advised  her husband to take her off life support because there was no hope. Then, three days after she was admitted, she woke up from her coma, recovered within a week and left the hospital. Now  she is living in Singapore, still working as a lawyer,  is well, & very much alive.

This story really shook me up !!! It's a close call right? Goodness what if her husband decide to turn off the machine? What if this happen to me? I ask Celest. She said she wont mind if her family turn off her machine if it's her. She hates going back to work after our fabulous time in Japan! Which reminds me, I'll let my family know , they should at least wait for a week or so before they take me off anything!

JetStar

Finally Jetstar offering Business class seats to many cities!!!!
 A round trip for 2 to Japan is around $3700. Not bad!

Celest is flip flopping... now she wanted to go Beijing or even Melbourne!!!

Beijing's air is really bad, but we so wanted to see Forbidden city, Great Wall, Ming Tombs & that Birdnest stadium. We need to book fast as these seats might go fast!!!!

My new year resolution

2012 went by fast.
I didnt get to go Japan as planned because there's no promo on business class seats from all airlines!!!! That's a bumper. And Celest my BFF would not settle for anything else. Ok ......

So this year that's my one big thing! Everyone is telling me the economy is slowing so maybe the airlines will too, so there will be crazy sales. Fingers crossed.

I wanted to get a new car too.... no not a brand new one as the coe is way... high but a second hand sports! Celest is thinking of that too....haha....
I'll repaint it shocking pink! Celest going with baby blue!!!

Christmas Movies you might like too!

1. The Santa Clause, this movie stars Tim Allen .He manages to kill Santa on Christmas Eve of all nights. Next thing he knows he has started to gain some weight and grow a white beard. His ex wife thinks he's playing these tricks to get in good with his son. Except his son knows all about what happened and is thrilled to have Santa for a dad. To me.... this is one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time!!!! a great family movie and should be watched every year.

  2.The Santa Clause 2,  we find Santa (Tim Allen) needing to find a wife or he will no longer be Santa. He has until Christmas Eve to make some lucky woman Mrs. Clause, but that isn't his only problem. He finds his son has landed on the naughty list and must make things right with him. While Santa is away tending to his son the replacement Santa he left to keep things in order at the north pole has started making changes that could ruin Christmas for everyone. This is not as good as the first but it's really pretty good!!!

3.National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, in this great Christmas movie we find the Griswold's preparing for a family Christmas when they're rude obnoxious relatives show up unannounced. If you are familiar with the expression if it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all this fits Chevy chase's character to a T. Everything he tries to do goes wrong. He is depending on the bonus check at work to make his family Christmas extra special and when he finds out the check isn't coming things go from bad to worse. This movie is one of the funniest holiday films out there. This is a must for any Christmas movie fan.
 
  4. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, This is great addition to anyone who loves Christmas movies collection. Jim Carey does an excellent job of playing the Grinch. The story is a little different then the Dr. Seuss book but it's a great tale of how the Grinch learned to love Christmas again. Complete with all of the Who's from WhoVille. The movie also includes some great holiday music as well.
 
  5.A Charlie Brown Christmas, who doesn't remember the sorry looking Christmas tree that Charlie Brown had? This movie is great for Christmas movie fans, it reminds them to think of the true meaning of Christmas. Kids of all ages will enjoy seeing Charlie Brown direct the school Christmas pageant.

  6. Christmas with the Kranks, this has already became a tradition in our house. The Kranks decide since their daughter isn't going to be home for Christmas that they will just skip it and go on a cruise. This doesn't set well with the neighbors, after all the Kranks host a great neighborhood party every year. The neighbors become even more angered when they find out the Kranks will not be decorating their house either. This Christmas movie is hilarious; it stars Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. They could not of cast any better actors for the movie. When they get a call that their daughter will be home for Christmas they have to hurry and get the party together. Can you imagine trying to find food for the party on Christmas Eve? That is just what Jamie Lee Curtis has to do. If you know someone that enjoys watching Christmas movies all year long this is the one to get them.

  7. Surviving Christmas, another great movie to add to the holiday collection. This movie stars Ben Affleck as an executive that is to concerned with his career to have any family or friends. He decides he wants to go back to the house he grew up in this year for Christmas. When he gets there he discovers someone else living in it. So he pays the family to let him spend Christmas with them. There are several comical parts to this Christmas movie. The family he joins has some issues of their own and in the end things seem to have a way of working out for everyone.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas"

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions. Everywhere you go, you can hear the song……. But what does any of this mean? What does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas?

The carol has its roots in 18th-century England, as a memory-and-forfeit game sung by British children. In the game, players had to remember all of the previous verses and add a new verse at the end. Those unable to remember a verse paid a forfeit, in the form of a kiss or a piece of candy to the others.

One theory, however, connects the carol to the era when Catholicism was outlawed in England, from 1558 and 1829. The carol, it is said, was a catechism song for Catholics to learn "the tenets of their faith," as they could not openly practice in Anglican society . While many still hold the idea of a coded hymn to be true, there's no substantive evidence that this was the case, nor is there any evidence that the verses contain anything uniquely Catholic.

Here are the verses of the song, along with their supposed symbolism:

•A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Jesus Christ
•Two Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testaments
•Three French Hens - The three virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity
•Four Calling/Collie Birds - Four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
•Five Golden Rings - First five books of the Old Testament
•Six Geese-a-Laying - Six days of creation before God's rest on the seventh day
•Seven Swans-a-Swimming - Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
•Eight Maids-a-Milking - Eight Beatitudes
•Nine Ladies Dancing - Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
•Ten Lords-a-Leaping - Ten Commandments
•Eleven Pipers Piping - Eleven faithful disciples
•Twelve Drummers Drumming -Twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed

While these verses are what most of us associate with the "Twelve Days of Christmas," the phrase refers to an actual 12-day period. The 12 days of Christmas, in fa­ct, are the days from Dec. 25, celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ, to the Epiphany, celebrated on Jan. 6 as the day when the manifestation of Christ's glory was realized.

While sects of Christianity celebrate the 12 days of Christmas differently, certain ones, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, consider the Epiphany to be the most important day of the Christmas season. Some exchange gifts on each of the 12 days instead of only on Christmas day.