Fulfiling Week in Tokyo

For money exchange, I only went to Novena Square, not all the way down to Orchard (S$350.50=¥27,000).

It was my first trip to Japan since June 2009. Back in Singapore yesterday as scheduled. And I had a fulfilling week in Tokyo, learning new things myself and meeting those guys I had met here. I'll be back in Tokyo again in a month.

Just as My Life Has Been

Early evening today, I was to go out to the Orchard area to buy some Japanese yen for my trip to Tokyo. But I stopped myself at the last moment. “Surely there is a money changer here probably at Thomson Plaza,” I thought. I quickly checked the Plaza’s website and found one. I went there only to find the place empty with a makeshift shop in front of it manned by a man and a woman selling something that I don’t remember. Anyway I asked at the information counter if there was any money changer. “They are coming back in August” was the answer. This is just as my life has been. Prepared and failed. Tomorrow I go down to Orchard and come back here to prepare for my late evening flight.

This Afternoon, I Called Nippon Nenkin Kikou

午後、日本年金機構に電話した。最初、Skypeで電話したら、向こうの声はよく聞こえるのに、どうもこちらの声がよく聞こえないらしく、携帯でかけなおした。たずねたかったのは、海外の金融機関が発行したクレジットカードで国民年金保険料の支払いが可能かどうか。「できます」という回答だった。よかった。とは言っても、この方法では支払い遅れ分は納付できない。いま、何年遅れになっているのか、「ねんきんネット」からの「ユーザＩＤ」の到着を待って確認しよう。年数は少ないが、厚生年金に加入していた時期もあるし、しっかりした情報を得てから、日本に住所を残すべきか、はっきりと海外転出届けをするかも含めて、今後どうするか考えたい。

Pension System and E-Government in Japan: Very Inconvenient

日本の年金システム、もっと便利にしてほしい。海外在住邦人で、日本企業に籍を残している厚生年金加入者は問題ないが、国民年金加入者で海外在住だと困ったことになる。

海外転出届を出しているかどうかに関わらず、国外に在住している場合、家族、親族、知人、友人の協力なしに一体どうやって支払えるのか？

クレジットカードの使用が認められているが、海外の金融機関を経由したクレジットカードでの払い込みはどうやらダメのようだし、遅延した支払いにはきっと利用できない。確認しようにも、問い合わせは電話かファクスのみでしか受け付けられていない。Ｅメールでの問い合わせ方法は日本年金機構のウェブサイトに記載されていない。

それから、申請や変更に必要な書類が多そうで、また実際に社会保険事務所に行かないと手続きできなそうで、大変猥雑かつ不便な印象。まだまだ電子行政は整備されていない。

IAN-FU Issue and Hypocrisy

この慰安婦問題、本当にもどかしい。イライラする。慰安婦募集や慰安所の状況を伝える日本人慰安婦の証言、慰安所を使った朝鮮人日本兵の証言があれば、あっさりと片付く話だろう。そんな証言が出てくるはずもないが。人道を訴える韓国政府の追求の仕方も巧妙で日本は苦労する。ベトナムで韓国兵士は何をしたのか、アメリカ兵は朝鮮、ベトナム、日本で何をしたのか。参院選を前にして橋下市長は言うべき時期を誤ったように思うが、その内容は支持されるべきだろう。偽善に満ちた世界が見える。日本軍の性需要に応じて女衒が慰安婦を商売として働かせたと言えばいい。明治大正時代の唐ゆきさんとどこが違うのか？賠償を求めたり、外交問題にした唐ゆきさんがいたのか？そう言えば、この国で売春はまだ合法だった。売春婦はみんな他国の人だろうけど。

Desk. Chair, Cap and Futon

Yesterday, my desk and chair for work arrived. Now I don’t have to use my laptop on the top of my laps.

This afternoon, I went to the nearby post office to pick up a Nankai Hawks cap sent from Japan. I see the N+H mark is slightly different, therefore wrong actually, from the original though the cap seems certified as the official one by the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Organization as the cap has the NPB logo. Just like the New Era version, the mark appears vertically too elongated. I wonder if the design right of the real N+H mark belongs to someone and the right holder is refusing to let anyone else to use it.

Tomorrow, I’ll get my futon and a thin mattress. I’m hoping they provide me easy and happy sleep. I’d better be careful of mold which can grow on the futon. Eight boxes still remain.

I Ordered Futon and Mattress!!

Today, I kicked my own ass very hard to go out to buy a futon and a matching mattress. I went to Marina Square near Esplanade, 13th MRT station from Marymount, which is the nearest from this place. The shop had no stock of the futon and suggested that I go to its ION Orchard branch, which had it, and gave a reservation slip. I walked to City Hall station from the shop for the Red Line to go to Orchard. At City Hall, I had to pass two trains because they were so packed. Finally I found my futon and mattress there to be delivered only on 10th, Wednesday. Until then, I will continue to sleep on the floor. And a bed? Let me forget about it for now. If it is really tough to sleep on futon and mattress, I will think about getting one. But it’s been already more than a week since I moved in and I’ve been sleeping on the floor. So what’s the matter?  Things are getting better slowly and little by little.

Big Mess Still

I’m still living and sleeping on the living room floor with my laptop on the top of my laps.
A modern swimming-pool-equipped apartment with this stone-age life. I’m wondering if I really need a mattress and a bulky bed. My thinking goes like “I will move again someday. In a year or two or three I don’t know. But think about how much work I have to do for packing again. Do I really need a bed and big bookcases?” I know this sounds ridiculous but this is the thinking I do now. And when I was a kid, it was a floor-based life with low tables, zabuton and futon. It may be interesting to recreate that kind of life here though it seems a small sofa is a must. I know there’s another reason why I’m kinda unwilling to do all-the-way shopping. That’s because I’ve spent much this month already for booking a two-way flight ticket for my work in Tokyo. Well, the expense will be refurbished later by the client. But then… This is a real headache.