Posts

I expected more...

  It was a weird week.      It started as normal . My normal working schedule has been back in place since the second week of April . I needed a little adjusting, but otherwise, it was pretty normal.      A friend of mine stayed for two days before going to South Korea.      Toward the end of the week, I checked my upcoming flight information . I have a transfer at Daegu International Airport . There was a notation saying "I need a transit visa." So, as a rational person, I went on to the embassy website to check and get the list of materials I would need.      That is where I encountered the website language can be set to either Japanese or Korean, not English . The website is designed for Japanese and Korean people . For people like myself, who can converse comfortably, but hard time reading Kanjis, the website doesn't service . So , I went to different countries (USA, Singapore, and Mongolia) embassy websites ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A mundane week

     I just checked my BGL and it was normal.       I had carbs (even though I am cutting it out) on April Fools Day. In my defense, there is a time. A time when everybody can sit down and enjoy their lunch and each others' company. April 1st was the day.       For the rest of the week, I ate clean. I had been craving veggie omelet and I had it the majority of the time. I guess, it is becoming warmer and that affects what I want to eat.       I exercised every day this week including weight lifting (simple moves with lighter dumbells). For the first couple of days, my body was sore. Now, my body feels better.       I prepped lunch components (all frozen individually). This makes packing lunch much easier because I can choose and mix in the morning.      There was excitement when I saw my Etsy shop ( if you want to visit: PracticalJapan )  had its first order. However, the b...
Post a Comment
Read more

So many things in a week

     So many things happened in a week.       We are waiting for a business visa for my dad because he established a company in Japan. We have been waiting for a year. Yet, we still have to file for taxes and even pay local city taxes.       I know it is weird to pay tax on a company that cannot operate because the person who established the company hasn't gotten his visa, yet. We cannot open even a company bank account because Japanese banks ask for the owner's residence card. There is no residence card if you don't have a business visa.       In Japan, if you are a business owner, you must file for taxes 3 times. First, it is the national tax. You or an accountant prepare the financial statements and you go to the national tax office for tax filing. You may or may not pay taxes because it will depend on whether you had a good year or a bad one. Second, it is the city tax. It is the tax you pay where you have yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

In hopes of using my brain...

     I have been teaching English where I worked part-time as a student. I accepted a position at another company where I worked (part-time, of course) during the pandemic before moving to my current employer (non-profit organization).       For a couple of years in the beginning, I learned a lot. It is a set of skills for navigating tantrums, conflicts with a toy, or whatever the situation may be. The skill set you have relied on might not work on the next kid. You have to update and refine the skills constantly.       Don't get me wrong, it is rewarding to work with kids, and I am humbled (thankful for their trust) by the fact that the parents are leaving their kids in my care (there are other teachers, of course). However, after a while, once you have gotten the basics of child care and development, everything you are (I am) doing becomes routine. That's where I struggle.       Last week, I had a meeting with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Another week

Image
       It has been a busy week. My parents went home after a sudden trip to Japan. A friend and I helped a co-worker move (which they forgot to get me lunch when I said get me something on the way back). It had been a long tiring week. This week is going to be a busy one as well. However, my friend from Australia and I are gonna catch up when she visits.       It had been a few weeks since I last checked my weight and BGL. However, everything that I am eating is sugar-free. From next week, I am cutting out flour.       Finally, my foot feels like my foot. My calf muscle hurt so much this week. My thinking is that my leg is starting to relearn how much I move. Also, the shittiest part of recovering from a foot injury is that your toenail will bother you so much which it hurt so much this week.       On the positive side, I swam 4 times a week and I didn't snack much. Yesterday, I had a big bowl of salad for d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wrong way to celebrate the International Women's Day

     For as long as I can remember, Mongolia celebrated March 8th. In my teenage years, I found out that it was the International Women's Day. The day that women fought for their rights, today my rights.       On a personal level, I don't care much for celebrations. Basically, I treat them as any normal day.       In Mongolia, celebrations are on different levels. That celebration always means excessive drinking. If the celebrations are about women, that means women expecting, more like demanding, some kind of gifts from their significant others. I find that whole thing bizarre.       Yesterday, my dad was reading the news and pointed out that in Mongolia more than 700 women spent the night in a place we call, eruuljuuleh tub or sobering up centers (roughly translating into English). Based on that, I am amazed at how low Mongolian people get.       It is not just this day. The majority of cele...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting ill from the Lunar New Year Celebration

     Getting home on Sunday evening from our Lunar New Year celebration, I started to feel sick. The funny thing is that I know what I ate that made me ill. It was the good old lamb meat.       Living in Japan, I mostly eat beef, pork, and chicken. Sometimes, I cook internal organs such as the liver or heart.       For the celebration, my cousin and his girlfriend cooked some lamb meat. I had a few pieces along with the famous buuz. Halfway through the dinner, my stomach started to bloat, and it began to feel very uncomfortable. Right then, I knew I was going to be sick.       I got home fine and started to continue working on the small gifts that I was making for my students, who were graduating in a couple of weeks. Slowly, my stomach started to act up. My visits to the toilet increased and I felt sick every time I sat in front of the toilet ready to vomit. After a couple of hours, it happened, everything that ...
Post a Comment
Read more