Showing posts with label Japan Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan Life. Show all posts

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Japan Life : Sending Food to Japan by post

Hello, I'm back! Just a quick post. My colleagues are moving to Japan soon, so I've prepared this simple list for them and I'm sharing it here too. I know it's not the most comprehensive or perfect list, but I hope it can benefit any one of you who stumble of this blog as well :)
 
Sending Food to Japan by post?
When it comes to sending food items abroad via courier, the rules are relatively simple: You cannot send any food items that are classed as perishables (things that can go off or that can spoil during transit). This is the most important rule of all, and as long as you stick to this rule, you will be just fine.

 What Store Bought Food Can be shipped?
 1. Foods must be in the original manufacturers packaging.
 2. Food packaging must be sealed and not tampered with in any way.
 3. Food label must list all ingredients.
 4. Foods must have a shelf life of longer than 6 months from the date of shipping.
 5. All foods that have a shelf life of less than 6 months will be classed as perishables, and cannot be sent via courier, even if store bought.

 How to Ship Food Items
 1. Don’t send food items that must be kept in a temperature controlled environment in transit (refrigerated, frozen or chilled) as they will spoil by the time they reach their destination.
2. Don’t expect your food parcel to be kept ‘this way up’ during transit.
3. Don’t send foods that are restricted for import into the destination country.
4. Always ensure your food items have a label clearly displaying all the ingredients and the ‘use by date’ because customs authorities may check these upon import.
5. Always package your food items so that they can withstand the parcel being placed upside down during transit, and always wrap individual items separately inside your parcel for optimum protection.
6. Always check the import restrictions in the country you are shipping to, to avoid sending foods that are prohibited at the destination.

My notes (based on my past experiences)

1. Basically, ALL TYPE OF DRY food is OK to post @ courier to Japan.
2. Kicap/Sos/Jem : better choose the plastic bottle type. It’s quite risky to post those is glass bottle but if you wrap them properly with bubble sheet it should be OK.
3. Hazardous item, flammable – NOT OK
4. Some cases of posting MILO drink is NOT OK. Confiscated by Custom Japan, I'm not sure why.
5. Medicine from Malaysia – Panadol, balm, cough syrup, etc is OK for personal use. (From my personal experience, please bring some with you because Japan Hospital medicine is generally mild compared to Malaysia dosage)
6. Homemade biscuits, cakes, kerepek, etc – Pack them properly in container & seal them. If you put label it will be better too.
7. List out clearly what you put inside each boxes in the post office declaration form.
8. Different country, different rules. Check with your local post office too.
9. More useful forum website:

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Japan Life : Enquiry about working in Japan

Salam from Malaysia!!
Just came back a week ago, and my stuffs haven't arrived yet from Japan. Huhu!
I want to share this email that I received last month from Adam (bukan nama sebenar..hihi) who will be undergoing his Industrial Training in Kanagawa soon. He wanted to know some know-how for Muslim working in Japan, hopefully it can benefit you too!

On Saturday, March 14, 2015, fatimah shamsuddin <fatimah-shamsuddin@hotmail.com> wrote:
Waaalaikumsalam WBT.

Hello Adam. Sorry for my late reply, I was quite busy coz I'm going back to Malaysia soon.
I was so surprised but honoured to receive your email.I will try to answer your questions as per my experience though it might not be suitable with your situation. As you know, I lived in Kyoto so I am not familiar with Kanagawa area. But if you look at Japan map, Kanagawa is very near to Tokyo.^b^
So here it goes!
1. When I googled Kanagawa, it stated that it is the main manufacturer of pork - should I be bothered with it?
Err..I don't think you should worry too much...Maybe in Kanagawa, they have variety of pork menu compared to other places, but that's all. My advise is:
- When you want to buy food at the supermarket or 7-E (konbini), etc, make sure to check the label carefully. If there is kanji like  豚 (ぶた),  ラード (lard), ショートニング (shortening),  just don't buy it.
- If you are eating outside, ask the cook first..."Sumimasen, syuukyou no tame ni, o'niku, doubutsu abura, aruko-ru, o'nuki dekimasu ka?" (Because of  religious reason,  can you not add any meat, animal oil and alcohol?) If they say yes, then just read bismillah and makan..:D. The rest is tawakkal.
2. I am still able to have halal food, right? (I might get a personal room during my internship, so I might be able to cook my own meal)
Of course! I'm sure there'll be 1 or 2 halal groceries shop where you can buy frozen halal meat, etc. But if you can't find any, you can buy online from www.baticrom.com. Their office is in Tokyo. You can order from their website and they will deliver to your house in 1-2 days! My advise is, as soon as you settle down in Kanagawa, try to locate the nearest Muslim centre, masjid or muslim community as soon as possible. That will help you to adapt fast!

3. Is Japanese employees ok about us having to perform prayers while working? How do you usually perform solat during work? Can we perform jama' & qasar?
Did you informed your employer about the things that you need when you apply for the internship? Like solat, muslim friendly food, culture, etc..
If you haven't, please do so before you come to Japan! Before I came to Japan, I made a list of things that I will need, the do and don't as a Muslim, etc..So I never faced much problem at work. My lunch time is from 12pm-12.45pm. I normally eat until 12.30, and the balance 15min I will do my Zuhur prayer. My boss let me use the filing room to do my prayer. My advise is, set a fix time for your Zuhur prayer everyday (jgn tukar2..) so that your collegue will also be aware of it. We must show good example and we can't be as "suka hati" as in Malaysia where people can go for prayer time as they like. Then you can do your Asar after working hours. About jama' & qasar, I don't do it on a normal days, only when I'm on a long journey business trip/travelling. Sometimes, I also faced problems such as stuck in long meeting, couldn't find proper place for solat when I'm on the go, etc, etc..in this case I will do jamak, but not qasar bcoz it's not related to the distance (~90km). Sorry I can't explain much about this..it is better you read the explanation from an ustaz..like Dr. Maza, UAI, etc.
Have you heard about nomikai (飲み会)or drinking party?? In Japan, it is common for co-workers to go for drinkign alcohol after work. If you are going to one, tell them you can only drink non-alcoholic drink. Orenji jyusu kudasai! :D. I go to nomikai all the time because it is the nature of my work. At first, I hesitated to but a friend advises me during the nomikai, try to 'selit' about Islamic values. Example, why Islam forbid us to drink alcohol and eat pork, why Muslim have to pray 5 times a day, and any other things..Japanese people are really interested to know about Islam! So this is the chance for you to explain to them. :D  
4. My Japanese proficiency is weak (N5 passed, N4 failed), do I need to work on my Japanese language? Can I survive in the work environment with that level of proficiency? (Please be honest, so that I could prepare myself early! T^T)
I will be honest with you. There is a HUGE difference between laymen Japanese and bussinese Japanese (sonkeigo). I have only JLPT level N3, and it is NOT enough for me to survive in my line of work. I work in the Purchasing Department, so we deal with Japanese suppliers in JAPANESE. (-_-).   I would have packed my bag and balik kampung long time ago if I don't have the google translater with me 24-7. Huhuhu.
BUT! It depends on the nature of your job as well. Some of my friends don't even have JLPT, but they can managed bcoz they uses mainly English than Japanese (system engineer, overseas sales, etc). If you are in enginering, please try to learn the common terms, machinery terms, parts and material name in Japanese. I keep a small note book to jot down  when ever I don't understand a Japanese word. It helps me to memorize faster.
Last but not least, if you face any difficulty in Japan later, don't be shy and ask for help! You cannot survive being a loner..(though I like travelling alone..hihi.) And do enjoy Japan as well..It is a very beautiful & systematic country, there's alot of things we can learn from them.
 I wish you all the best!! 頑張ってください!
~Kak Tim~

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Japan Life : Winter Holiday in Japan 2014

This is my last winter holiday in Japan. I went travelling all around Japan with a friend from Malaysia. I had to brave the cold, the wicked snow, the high fever and non stopped runny nose for 1 whole week. I can say it was the worst holiday ever for me. There's not much of my photos because I looked half dead. Japan was a bit gloomy and snowy but beautiful, as always.


ODAIBA DRIVE CITY, TOKYO.










GUNDAM ROBOT



















HAKONE.

 




BIWAKO VALLEY ROPEWAY

BIWAKO VALLEY SKI PARK



HARRY POTTER WORLD, USJ.





HARRY POTTER WORLD, USJ.


Snowy morning view from 88HIROSHIMA HOUSE.



PEACE MEMORIAL PARK, HIROSHIMA.



TOKYO SKY TREE


TOKYO SKY TREE VIEW

TAKESHITA SHOPPING STREET



OMOTESANDO HILLS SHOPPING STREET, TOKYO.



SHIBUYA CROSSINGS




AKIHABARA ELECTRONIC CITY


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Japan Life : Halal Food and Prayer

I believe some of you might wonder how do I find halal food and perform my daily prayer in Japan right? Well, there are a few tricks and know-how that you've got to learn not just in Japan, but in any other non-Muslim countries as well. It's kind of hard at first, but slowly you'll get the gist.

In Japan particularly, the food labels are written in Japanese kanji, so it's difficult to know what are the ingredients. Before I came to Japan, I thought it would be easy to find halal food here since I love seafood so much. But I didn't know that Japanese lurrrrve their "SAKE" or traditional alcoholic drink so much they would add it into everything. (sushi, desserts, sweets, etc). And when the menu says vegetable spaghetti or vegetable curry, you would easily find pieces of PORK in the dish as well. Even after living in Japan for 2 years this still traumatizes me, like what the phish??!! I ordered a vegetarian menu!! Haha, no they didn't do this on purpose. It's just that majority of the people in Japan don't really understand vegetarian food let alone halal food.

Groceries
You could always find halal stuff in the international grocery shop in Kyoto (Ex: Jupiter Kyoto (https://www.kyotostation.com/porta-underground-shopping-mall/ ) but for shopping in the normal supermarket or 7-E, it is advisable to memorize some simple kanji characters such as below :
豚肉 (buta niku) : pork
牛肉 (gyu niku) : beef
鳥肉 (tori niku) : chicken
お酒 (sake) : Japanese alcohol
味醂 (mirin) : Japanese sweet cooking wine (contain alcohol)
醤油 (syou yu) : soy sauce (*most Japanese soy sauces contain alcohol)
乳化剤 (nyukazai) : food emulsifier  (normally derives from animal unless stated as soy-based大豆 or plant-based 植物
ショトニング : shortening (normally derives from the animal)
ゼラチン : gelatin (normally derives from the animal)
ラード (la-do) : lard

There are many more, but basically, I will stay away from products with these kanji written on the packages. I think the most difficult part is the 'nyukazai' thing because they use it in almost everything, especially in their bread and cookies.

On the other hand, if you do not want to go through all those hassles, then you can just shop from below halal online markets. They will deliver everything to your doorsteps in just 2 days, and you can pay them by COD (着払い @ ちゃくばらい@ cyakubara-i) or credit card. The downside is, you need to shop for more than JPY7000 to get free shipping costs.
www.baticrom.com
http://halal-food.jp/

Eating Out
If you are eating outside (other than a halal restaurant), it would be impossible to confirm these details. So what I normally do is I would just tell the restaurant please don't add any meat, animal oil and alcohol AT ALL inside the dish (肉、動物油やアルコールぬき). Other than this, I will leave it to God (tawakkal), because Allah knows best. I have done what I could.

Fast food chain (vege and seafood menu)
In case you cannot find Halal restaurants, some of the menus at the fast-food chain restaurant below can also be consumed by Muslims, but they are NOT halal certified. You can find the shops almost everywhere in the Kyoto area.
Sushi-Ro : http://www.akindo-sushiro.co.jp/en/  (kaiten sushi, super cheap! I personally won't take the soy sauce because the ingredient on the bottle shows it contained alcohol)
First Kitchen : http://first-kitchen.co.jp/ (shrimp burger)
Lotteira :  http://www.lotteria.jp/index.php (shrimp burger)
Gusto : http://www.skylark.co.jp/gusto/menu/index.html (corn pizza)
Saizeriya : http://www.saizeriya.co.jp/menu/grandmenu.html
(vege & seafood menu. But you have to ask carefully. They often added pieces of meat/ham in the dishes..)
Vie De France : http://viedefrance.co.jp/index.shtml (bread and pastries, but only the plain types)
Manneken Belgium Waffle :  http://www.manneken.co.jp/ (delicious waffle, but some contained alcohol so please ask)

Also, this website was shared by my Japanese colleague. List of Muslim Friendly Shop around Kyoto (NOT Halal certified) http://kyotomuslimfriend.jp/en/ I have yet to try it though.

But if you do have a choice, I suggest that you go to the halal restaurants where you can just eat heartily and peacefully. Below are very useful website with a list of halal restaurant around Kyoto:
http://kyoto.travel/muslim/en/hotel.html
http://www.mikansjapan.com/food/halal-kyoto.html

Coffee
For those who know me, I am a coffee JUNKIE like big time! I could drink coffee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But to know that most canned coffee in Japan contained 'nyukazai' is just mind-boggling! What am I supposed to drink then? Well actually the 'nyukazai' comes from the dairy product, added into the coffee. So if it is black coffee or no milk coffee it's not a problem to drink. But I love my milk coffee so much I'll go crazy without them. Luckily there are some coffee brands that omit the use of 'nyukazai' or substitute it with fresh cow milk instead. There aren't many, but I've managed to survive my daily life thanks to them. Some of the choices are as below:
Coffee shops: Tullys, Doutor, Starbucks.
Canned coffee: DYDO, Blendy, Nescafe, Wonda (caffe au lait), Kirin (Cafe latte), 7-E Hikitate (Esspresso and cafe latte).

Halal Apps/Websites
It's pretty difficult to remember all these things so what we normally do is download halal apps on our smartphones. There are also some volunteer groups on Facebook surveying halal products in Japan to help those who can't read kanji. I normally refer to these two:
http://halalminds.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Halal-Japan/503821533010825
https://www.facebook/com/Serijaya-Indonesia

Prayer Apps
I believe nowadays most people would download prayer apps on their smartphones. I did that too when I first came to Japan (I never owned a smartphone in Malaysia!) and it is very helpful especially when I'm on the go. Some of the common apps are Athan and Muslim Pro. You can download it from below:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.athan
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitsmedia.android.muslimpro

Where to pray?
Whenever I'm on the go (traveling or business trip), I would try to do jamak or qasar prayer as much as possible if I have the chance. However, when I'm out shopping or hang out with friends on the weekend, normally I would use the below tips.

1. Fitting room
Just find any shopping mall, grab a pair of shirts and go straight to the fitting room. Nobody will disturb you there unless you are taking too much time. Malls with Uniqlo or GU shop is much preferred. :D

2. Garden or park
When we go out for a picnic or sightseeing, this is what we normally do. We would find a spot under the trees or near the resting area and perform our prayer here. It's a bit open, so there will be a lot of curious Japanese lookers, but if you are with friends it's less awkward.

3. Stairs
Whenever I couldn't find a fitting room at the mall, I would go to the stairs area, spread my praying mat and pray. Big space, fewer people (or no people at all).

4. Breastfeeding room
Haha. I know!! It's not appropriate, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

5. Kyoto Masjid
Actually, there is one Masjid here in Kyoto, managed by the Kyoto Muslim Association. It is located in Koujinguchi and you can access it by taking buses no 7, 14 and 205 from Kyoto Station. I normally would go there like once a month. They have a masjid, halal shop, and a halal restaurant (Kyoto Rose Cafe) just a few steps away from the masjid. Please drop by when you visit Kyoto later okay! Here is the website: http://kyotomuslim.net/access/index.html

Wudu' (Ablution)
This could be a problem too because it can be a bit uncomfortable to take wudu' in a public toilet in Japan. The sink will get wet with splashes of water here and there, so I need to dab a whole bunch of tissues for it. Washing my feet while everyone is watching is also, err..uncomfortable.

Nowadays, I will make sure to take my wudu' BEFORE I go out. So when I need to renew it later, if the situation doesn't permit me to take wudu' as per normal, I will not take off my shoes but just splash some water on it instead. This is called 'khuf', one of the 'rukhsah' for us which I read in this book 'Mengenai Solat' written by Ustaz Rohidzir Rais. This blog's explanation is also very helpful:
http://fiqh-sunnah.blogspot.jp/2007/11/055-bagaimanakah-berwudhu-dengan.html

You don't have to splash gallons of water all over your body like we normally practice in Malaysia when taking wudu'. Just spreading the water slowly & evenly onto the skin surface is enough. When I'm at work, I even fill up water into a spray bottle to take my wudu'. Really useful and worry-free! Then again, some of us could care less about Japanese people's opinions, but being the only Muslim in the company with 2000 over employees, I am not that carefree. (May Allah have mercy)

That's it. Finished this post, finally! I hope my humbling experience could be a help to you too. Now I can go and enjoy my Doutor coffee. Mata kondo ne!



P/S: All of this informations are based on my PERSONAL checking and information I got from senpai (senior) who lived in Japan for many years. If you are not satisfied, please contact the shops directly or do your own reconfirmation.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Japan Life : Introduction

Salam..
Oh my god, I have only about 7 months to go before I say sayonara to Japan, for good!
I can’t believe that I didn’t even blog about my new life here. All the small and exciting things about Japan that I wanted to share with whomever that might come across this humble blog! Yes, talk about work stress and PROCRASTINATION! But it is better late than never. Yes, let’s do it. Where shall I begin? Hmm.
Maybe I should recap a little bit how I end up in Japan in the first place. I actually moved to Japan for a staff transfer program at our headquarter office. Every year a few employees will be selected from our overseas affiliate companies for such programme. Depending on the requirement, the training period differs from 6 months up to 2 years. My training duration is of course, 2 years. And plus another 6 months attending a full time language course at the Kyoto Japanese Language School.

On Oct 2012, I flew alone from Malaysia, reached Kansai International Airport in Osaka in early morning, and managed to find my way to our HQ office in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto. Actually there were 5 other trainees from Thailand in my batch. We are all from different departments but we are required to take the compulsory language course before start working. The reason is, Japanese speaks minimal English. MINIMAL. We need to master  the basic level of Japanese language in order to survive.

So for the first 6 months, every day we had to travel about 45minutes from Nagaokakyo by JR train and subway to our school in Imadegawa. The school conducts various programmes such as summer classes, university entry prep class, business class and intensive course such as ours. Mainly, the students come from China and Europe. As I recalled the memories from my Language School day, it made me cringed! It was a fun school, but I couldn’t catch up classes properly. It was so stressful that I lost weight and even fell ill a few times. As someone who uses English and Malay Language my whole life, I was clueless and scored the worst mark among all. The teachers had to go really slow with me, the trainees from Thai were not much of a help either as they converse mostly in their mother tongue. But, even though I was a slow learner, I managed to shine (or maybe sparkle..) at what I do best, TALKING! Despite the difficulties, I was selected to join the school Japanese speech contest and I was the best presenter during our final presentation test. Once I've finished my language course, my 2 years life as a 社会人 (members of the society) in Japan begins.
Graduation Day!
Before coming to Japan, I was already informed by my company that I will be the first Muslim staff to work in the headquarter office. So I had to be prepared mentally and physically in order to quickly adapt to my new environment. Being a person who wears hijab, it is a huge challenge for me (even until now) to meet people's weired stares and suspicious look where ever I go. On a good day, I'll just smile back or look away pretending I didn't notice them. But as time goes by, especially on a bad bad day, I will stare back at them my head held high.

Still, Japanese are such a good people. Polite, high discipline and full of courtesy. But they are not very open yet to other cultures. They do not know much about Islam, and some don't even know where is Malaysia...(cry!!). Since the beginning of this journey, I have set a personal mission while I'm here, I'm gonna try to mix with as many Japanese people and promote more awareness about my religion and my country, even with the smallest gesture. I always believe that when you work overseas, no matter how small it (your work) is, you are carrying your country’s flag. 
At Tokyo Dome. My routine whenever I goes to Bigbang's concert.

When people ask me how do you feel working in Japan? Well I can say, I do feel proud but it can be very depressing as well especially because of the huge language barrier. What I've learned in school was only basic. Business Japanese is like a whole different level of the language. It took me almost 1 year to at least feel confident enough to speak in front of people in the language. You got to have thick skin and high sense of survival to adapt, it's not just sweet and candy talk.

So yeah, language is a big issue if you want to work in Japan it's no joke. But it is such a beautiful country that all your sufferings and dreads could disappear simply by enjoying it's nature and excitement!

To be continued...

Mount Fuji in Winter.
Cherry Blossom in Spring.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Japan Life : Hotel Forza, Fukuoka

 Last time I went for a business trip to Fukuoka. My colleague and I stayed at a small business hotel called Hotel Forza Fukuoka, which is just opposite the Hakata Train Station. I loved it so much! Small, classy and comfy. Everything was in orange color and vibrant! It has everything that I needed including a board-style iron (which I couldn't really figure out how to use it properly but my shirt's a good to go). And most of all, it's company-paid. LoL. They even use high quality bathroom product with essential oil which made me very happy and satisfied after my shower. Oh!I forgot to snap pictures of the bathroom though..










highlight : IPAD!!







Sunday, March 30, 2014

Cherry Blossoms..

I did the unthinkable! Finally I made my first solo backpacking trip in Japan to see the magnificent Mount Fuji in Shizuoka! With just 2 days prior of planning, the journey took me 5 hours from Kyoto to Shizuoka by train, 4 times transit, and voila! やった!It was an early birthday gift (to my self) for 2014 , and I'm glad I did it! It now opens the door to many more new adventure!! (To be continue....)
Daisypath Graduation tickers