The typical Japanese meal comprises of multiple small plates with a variety of different foods. Fish, rice, miso soup and pickles typically make up the core, but of course for more variety other dishes are often added. The dishes are all of a reasonable size, so that you can control how much you eat, but […]

When I was learning Kanji, focusing on having the correct stroke order was of the upmost importance, almost as important as forming the right character (which I think is more important). Knowing what number stroke a single stroke is is also part of the Kanji Kentei tests, although thankfully I think it's only at the […]

When you're in the middle of a creative project, and the ideas stop flowing, I often find it helps to take your mind off the project by doing something completely different. When I'm working on a creative project, like an article or translation, I find that getting away from my work environment and doing something […]

When you say yes to one thing, you are saying no to another. -Peter Mallouk from his Tim Ferriss podcast. By having a list of basic principles or things that you prioritize over others, when someone asks you to do something, you can say no with a bit of confidence. If the person was truly […]

 The Kiwi philosophy of ‘she’ll be right’ is sometimes at odds with Japanese culture, except at the same time it also helps form the basis of one of their core principles. The philosophy of ‘she’ll be right’ is that things will all turn out ok in the end. This is a great philosophy to have, […]

I think I have good control over my temper. Most of the time I am able to keep calm. The problem is when it's just too much and I have no choice but to let it all out. I guess I have to be cognisant of this when it's about to happen, and to take […]

Since the beginning of 2019, I have been blogging daily. I started thanks to advice from Seth Godin, who has blogged daily for around 20 years (if I understand correctly) and has more than 7000 blog posts. I have always been amazed at Seth's ability not just to communicate ideas, but to come up with […]