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When food quality is high, Food qty is low... and so are obesity levels

Food presentation in Japan is amazing, and I'm not just talking about in the restaurants. Here in Tokyo you can buy better food in the convenience stores than you can get in your average deli back home.

United Nations University Farmers Market

Perfect present for White Day? (Japanese Valentines day for men)

Its not just presentation though, its quality. I'm not sure what happens with the 'damaged' stuff but it certainly doesn't make it to the shelves. Given the Japanese penchant for efficiency, I imagine it makes it way to a cannery somewhere or maybe the huge variety of dried fruits they have. 

Huge array of Mushrooms! Yay!

 This high food quality, low quantity consumption is in direct contrast to the USA, UK and Australia. Also in direct contrast are the obesity statistics. In the latest obesity rankings for the OECD USA (1st), UK (3rd) and Australia (6th) all rank in the top 10 with over 20% of the population considered Obese.  Japan ranks last - 28th with only 3.5% considered obese. Eat better, eat less.

Statistics ourtesy of Nationmaster.com

The finished product, with some help from the local butcher

Japanese apartment: Very small but very cute!

 Study / Lounge / Bedroom

At least I fit in the bed completely

Kitchen & bathroom

 Almost always worried about banging my head on something!

1 year!? Just may go a little stir crazy.

New beginnings and different endings

For as long as we have clouds, sunshine
We will have sunsets and sunrise
For as long as we have early morning risers and star gazers
We will have an appreciation of infinite possibilities.

For as long as we have the crimson, gold
and pink delicacy of a tropical sunset
The azure, green and gold where jungle, sun and sea meet
We will have an appreciation of chance creation

For as long as we have the misty blue haze of mountain silhouettes
and sparkling fire water
The piercing sparkle, razzle dazzle rays and invigorating warmth of an airborne sun
We will have an appreciation of new beginnings and different endings

For as long as we have an appreciation of sunsets and sunrises
We will have an appreciation of infinite possibilities

Climate Deniers strategy to take over the Aussie press

For those that thought this blog post was a touch cynical, it now appears that Gina Rinhearts play for Channel 10 and Fairfax Media has recently been exposed as being highly aligned with a media strategy dreamed up by well known Climate Change denier 'Lord' Monckton and the mining Industry funded Free-market and climate deniers think tank Mannkal Economic Education Foundation. 


Read the ABC article exposing the plot here: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3807130.html


View excerpts of the board-room meeting where they come up with the plan to take over our media here: Scroll down for YouTube Video


After becoming informed, you may even want to make a donation to GetUP to fight the infiltration of our media from self-interest groups.

Our Pollies are so cheap

Seems like Gina Rinehart is set to become Murdoch Mach 2 and our politicians still don't have any back-bone.

Gina Rineheart makes play for media influence

Although the prospect of Gina Rineheart using Fairfax media as her personal mouthpiece is worrying what really astounded me was just how cheap our politicians really are:

"After all, if you really want to buy influence in Australia, the going price is peanuts. The mining lobby spent around $20 million in its campaign against the Resource Super Profits Tax; its most effective media presence was in fact a single salaried lobbyist, the Minerals Council of Australia’s Mitchell Hooke. 


Clubs Australia has managed to roll back poker machine reform for a lousy few million, ruthlessly targeted at Labor MPs. 


The total donations across all the Australian political parties, at $230 million, still only slightly exceed what Rinehart spent for a slice of Fairfax."

Maybe the problem is not the politicians though, maybe its the constituents. Maybe the Australians that are happy earning 14,556 times less than Rina on average have it good enough that they are too apathetic to care.

Leads to the age old adage that all you need to do is feed the peasants to keep them happy.

PS. That will be changing soon too > 'Climate Change precipitates food shortages & unrest'

Review: The ides of March

Watched the Ides of March (Ryan Gosling & George Clooney) the other night.. a good but not exceptional movie. Some things just didn't sit right. A very sharp look at US politics with a very bleak message for idealists like me that may one day consider a career in the great game.


Hated the Ryan Gosling character by the end, much as he did himself as well I suspect.

Enjoying the feel of things

I'm enjoying the feel of things at the moment. I'm not sure if its extra sensitiveness in my hands, or particular focus on the here and now. Maybe its the awareness of an impending departure. I'm not sure, I'm just enjoying the feel of things at the moment.

Enjoying the feel of things


The rough yet soft touch of freshly washed, low-thread count cotton sheets pulled tight every morning
The tiny, rapid percussion of air on my ear drums as the rain beats the roof
The goose-bump inducing caress of a fan propelled breeze over my belly

The contrast between the worn-out smoothness and the grain in the hewn boat boards on my bare feet
The unexpected splash of fine sea spray from the bow on my face and hands,
The heaviness of dew droplets clinging to my eyebrows and eyelashes, the sea trying to close my eyes

The soothing, swaying displacement of fluid in my ears and brain from the swing of the hammock
The inconsistent, gentle buffeting of the storm breeze, tugging at clothes as if demanding attention
The warm play of light through clouds and trees on insistent, relaxed, thankful, closed eyelids

The thick, creamyness of the air in my nostrils in the afternoon
The aroma of impending rain, the fresh bite of cleanliness shortly after and eventually the breathy sigh of the land as it accepts the water into its body

The smooth and deep feel of freshly washed, high-thread count cotton sheets pulled loose at night
The trusting heaviness of a head on my chest
The tickle of tussled hair in my nose

By Special Request

All you muso's should check out Alex Dean:

http://www.tripleJunearthed.com/AlexDean

As an aside: How cool is TrippleJ! Very Very cool. Can you name me another government run media company that dedicates a portion of its budget to youth music and spends months of every year collecting, compiling, testing, supporting and promoting young, upcoming artists?

Price points (Bali & Tokyo)

This time, its refreshing to be in Bali. For my wallet anyway!

Price point comparison of Bali to Tokyo:

	Bali	Tokyo
Cheap accommodation (per night) including pool / onsen	$12	$120
Feed (Entrée + Local staple + Beer)	$6	$23
Back & neck massage	$5	$60

All prices in AUD and estimated/averaged.

Food in Bali: Satay sticks, Nasi Goreng & Bintang (375ml)

Food in Tokyo: Salmon Sashimi, Ramen with Miso sauce, Sapo (330ml)

There is no doubting though that the quality in Japan is much, much higher, although I never bothered to pay the $60 for the massage there. As a travel destination it boils down to what you want, either:

A decent, relaxing but not superb back & neck massage 12 days in a row from a girl who probably learnt from her mum and knows nothing of biology, in a sightly seedy place where you probably never feel comfortable taking your eyes off your wallet or taking your boxer shorts off for fear of sending the wrong message; 

Or

One massage, including complimentary foot scrub, hot face towel and where the massues has a degree in physiology and forces you to take a shower because they don't want to touch your sweaty body. Kimono's are provided after the shower to prevent you trying to send the wrong message.

Apply the same concepts to food, accommodation and public transport and then decide which travel destination is best for you. 

Jung & Climate Change

Compare these two quotes and tell me what you think?

"As a child I felt myself alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of and for the most part do not want to know." Carl Jung.

"As a climate change consultant I felt myself alone, and I am still as a Sustainability Consultant, because I know things and must hit people over the head with ice melt figures, predicted sea level rises, biodiversity tragedies and the death of the great barrier reef to get them to think of things which they apparently know nothing of and for the most part do not want to know." Damian Fuller.

I must admit, the climate change argument is a little old, circa 2009.

Quake? Damn, missed it!

I was in Kyoto on New Years Day with friends visiting a few Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and not so much praying and wishing for good fortune as gobling up delicious Japanese street food.

As a result, I missed the quake experience in Tokyo, which was apparently pretty mild.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Quake+rocks+Tokyo+region+Year/5933751/story.html

I'm sure I'll catch the next one. Or the one after that.