29 May 2013

Honest Japanese

Today is Day 5 of our Japanese holiday and we are in Kyoto.

Our tour guide, a Malaysian married to a Japanese, told us at the start of the tour that the Japanese are the most honest people in the world.

It was grey and rainy today. Everyone needed an umbrella.

After my kids, husband, in laws and our friends had a short sit down on a nice wooden bench, we moved along. The rain had abated and we could put our umbrellas away.

Probably a good 10 minutes had passed before my son asked me if I had taken his umbrella. I hadn't. I gave him the look. The rain was starting up again. So back we (my son and I) trotted to the bench. I didn't expect anything.

There was his umbrella. Lying on the bench with people sitting all round it.

Our tour guide was right. The Japanese really are honest.

The last time my mom left her umbrella in the Priority Banking section of Standard Chartered Bank in PJ, it was gone in under 5 minutes. And morality is actually a subject taught in schools in Malaysia.

7 comments:

  1. That is few more reasons make you think Japanese are honest.
    1. everybody can get an umbrella at only JPY500 at any convenience store nearby, or only at JPY100 at 100Yen shop.
    2. Because of the mentioned reason above, every family member has more than 2 umbrellas at home, they do not want to bring "rubbish" home.

    Few years ago, I dropped my mobile phone (not smartphone) in the train in Japan, so I called my mobile immediately and I felt lucky as someone picked up the call. But after a minute I was mad as he refused to return it to me...

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  2. Hi Kh, sorry to hear that you didn't experience honesty with your mobile phone.

    But mobile phones are also quite cheap in Japan. Maybe the person just liked yours! How did you communicate with the person? Not many people in Japan speak English well.

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    1. emm..... I am staying in Kyoto and speak Japanese, so I can communicate....
      I am also one of the people in Japan does not speak English well, LOL!
      That mobile I registered was only JPY1. I have no idea why he refused to return it to me.

      Long time didn't check out your blog, didn't know you and your family came to Kyoto...since you are a food lover, may be I could take your family to some local Kyoto restaurants.

      I like your blog because I used to stay in PJ and was thinking of moving to Ipoh... :) an invisible connection.

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  4. Hi Kh, wow! You can speak Japanese. Cool.

    Yes, too bad I didn't know you were in Kyoto otherwise we could have met up! My family loves Japanese food! We liked Kyoto very much. Not too big a city, clean, cultural, interesting temples, nice food. We stayed at the Century Hotel next to the fantastic train station in Kyoto. We went there almost every night for supper, but too late to do shopping.

    Thank you for visiting my blog. But why only now you put in comments? Haha...write to me more.

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  5. I love Kyoto very much, I like the small shops, restaurants and cafes located off the main roads. Century Hotel is considered high end western style hotel in Kyoto.
    Japanese do not have supper...what did you have there? Have you tried Ramen at the 10th floor of JR Isetan building? There is a nice Ramen not every far away from your hotel, http://www.shinpuku.net/

    BTW, I am going back to Ipoh next week, will try out something you recommneded.
    It will be a very rush trip, can you please list up the best 3 Ipoh restaurants you like most? :p

    Sorry for being "diver" (kept reading and did not pui in comment) so long on your blog.....but now I am exposed :D

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    1. Hahaha! I like that - "diver". Oklah, now you have come to the surface.

      Ramen was the first thing we ate there! Now some of the Japanese chains have come to Malaysia, so we can eat ramen here too. But of course, much nicer in Japan.

      Wah, 3 best Ipoh food places? Hmmm, that's hard. I don't know what you like wor.

      Never mind, you sure like Kai-see-hor fun so you can go to the old favorites Kong Heng or Tin Chun (next to each other) in Ipoh Old Town for kai-see-hor-fun and pork satay and sotong-kangkung and egg custard.

      Then for the famous Ipoh ngar choy-kai (white steamed chicken with fat, white Ipoh bean sprouts, you can have it with rice or soup hor fun), it is easy to find as there is a cluster of shops selling that (Lou Wong Ngar Choy Kai, Onn Kee or Ong Kee, all on Jalan Yau Tet Shin - people can direct you).

      Now maybe for dinner? Perhaps in an aircon place since you just came back from Japan and will be feeling quite hot. If you like Chinese-cum-nyonya food, try Restaurant 1919 near Tesco. Its food is consistently good - we like to order the ham-tan-sotong (cuttlefish fried with salted egg, if you don't like sotong you can ask for chicken-and-salted egg), antique taufoo, some rendang dish, their mixed beans dish cooked with sambal! Can eat hot or not?

      Of course, you can always have dim-sum in the morning on Ipoh's dim sum street where there are Fu San, Yuk Fook Moon and Ming Court to choose from.

      Phew! I feel very full now talking about food so much. Enjoy!

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