Digital Art: Flare

If God had Photoshop, it wouldn't have taken him as much as seven days to create the world...

Eating Your Own Pants

Don't get sick in Japan if you're poor. Because if you do, you'll have to eat your own pants.

Foreigners complain a lot about the health care system in Japan. A Peruvian friend said something about "medicines as effective as tap water", a Thai friend echoed his sentiment; others have something to say about the mechanical, unfriendly doctors. Whether or not these claims are true, are rather subjective and should be taken with a pinch of salt. After all, they come from foreigners. You know, they complain too much.

There is, however, one thing that even a typical Japanese would agree - the high cost of medical fee. And as a poor guy who has recently got substantially poorer, thanks to the doctors, I think I have the right to have my say in this matter.

Two weeks ago, with a half-lucid mind and looking almost like a pot-smoking hippie, I dropped by at the hospital. At the reception, I was greeted by a lady who was suffering from a bad case of PMS.

Shichi-Go-San

It was 15 November, Shichi-Go-san. For the second time in the month, I found myself at Meiji Jingu. The place was teeming with families visiting the shrine. Most of the kids were dressed up in kimono, some in Western style formal wear. In front of a building within the shrine's compound, I spotted a pretty young girl posing for shots. A number of photographers gathered around her, firing their shutters away.

Shichi-Go-San is a traditional festival in Japan, celebrated by three- and five-year-old boys, and three- and seven-year-old girls. Parents bring their children to the shrine to pray for their wellbeing. In the olden days, the celebration was observed by the nobles and the samurai class, but since Meiji period, the tradition has passed down to the commoners as well.