tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1413166059304552489.post4952579349421655007..comments2018-08-15T19:38:19.498+01:00Comments on A Shimmin Abroad: Street walkin' manShimmin Beghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1413166059304552489.post-48731274818596353772014-08-05T16:10:09.121+01:002014-08-05T16:10:09.121+01:00The omnipresent vending machine is a Japanese icon...The omnipresent vending machine is a Japanese icon. I heard that in Japan you can get bento boxes, cooked crabs and bananas from the almighty machines. Here is a disturbing thought about buying a girl friend from a vending machine…<br />I like the taps in the open, I guess it is used for pets and washing mud off your shoes…not convinced it is for human consumption.<br />I did not like overly installed pelican pedestrians either and I could see how annoying they are for joggers! <br />In terms of the hotchpotch, it is like in China where you have shops, barbers, drycleaners, tailors, and restaurants all packed in giant square block, convenient but at the same time, confusing. Have you yet discovered the famous golf court roofs in your city? <br />Momohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16092840007615313314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1413166059304552489.post-7865457633395441472014-08-02T08:46:14.590+01:002014-08-02T08:46:14.590+01:00Let us be grumpy together! Some of my grump is be...Let us be grumpy together! Some of my grump is because I don't understand the etiquette around this red-light-turning and this tends to result in both me and the car stopping and staring at each other in bemusement. It just seems like a bad idea in general, though.<br /><br />Good use of GCSE knowledge. I think that's basically what's going on, yes. A bridal shop is generally uncommon enough that you'll make a trip there deliberately, so while you might well get walk-in punters, you probably won't miss out on much possible clientele. There are a lot of upper-floor beauty parlours and hairdressers around here, which also makes me think that people maybe prefer the privacy in a way that's less important in the UK.<br /><br />One consequence is that it adds orders of magnitude of difficulty for dim foreigners trying to find specific kinds of shop, but I may talk about that later.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1413166059304552489.post-39639190910784474682014-08-01T02:29:37.093+01:002014-08-01T02:29:37.093+01:00"ground floor restaurant, first floor hairdre..."ground floor restaurant, first floor hairdresser, second floor bridal shop, third floor apartment"<br />This makes me think back to GCSE Geography and low-order vs. high-order shops (although that's not quite going on here). On the ground floor you have the business that benefits most from the walk-by-and-in trade, the next floor has something you visit frequently but to a schedule, and the upper floor has something you'd visit only on occasion.<br /><br /><br />"As in so many countries, cars are apparently allowed to turn left on a red light" - well, it's mostly right, because most countries on that side. But yes, it's weird and results in too many encounters for comfort. And cars behind you honking their horns because they don't appreciate you can't see into the road because of the car beside you, and hence have no wish to pull blindly out into traffic. But I feel this is now about me, not you.TomWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453251490705724225noreply@blogger.com