Farewell to 2008 and welcome 2009 (再见2008;你好2009)

So we are going to say good-bye to 2008 and welcome 2009. My life has changed a lot during the year 2008. Below are some big events :

1) Quit job - leave Citibank after serving the bank for four years!
2) Obtain Japanese PR - Wow, I have been living in Japan for 10 years and Japan has become my second hometown!
3) Travel around Europe - my first time and I visited 5 schengen countries!

For many people, 2008 is a year full of turbulence and the year has seen a historic collapse in the financial market. we never know what will happen but let's do have a bright hope for 2009! :-)

VenusFort becomes a quiet town(台場维纳斯城堡的萧条)

Out for lunch with friend Gaojing at VenusFort last weekend. Normally it will be full of visitors on weekends but it was so quiet - we met up around 12:30 and there are very few visitors inside VenusFort. All the resturants look empty. Wow, this isn't good but we understand people don't want to spend lots of money during the recession. Hopefully things will become better as soon as possible!

周末和朋友高晶又去了台場维纳斯城堡. 馆内和以往相比显得特别冷清. 日本经济的萧条似乎蔓延到了每个角落. 以前可以看到很多韩国和中国游客在台場维纳斯城堡疯狂购物. 可最近好像只看到日本人了. 新年就要到来. 和往年相比节日的气氛没有那么浓. 大家都在期待着经济的复苏. 希望2009年能看到一些光明! :-)

COACH BAG (COACH包)

I have been in love with brand bags recently and purchased a lovely COACH handbag through Rakuten online shopping. Online price is much cheaper than shop prices. I was a bit worried about the quality at the beginning. It was delivered to me yesterday and it looks pretty good! The wrapping is not as formal as buying in the shops but the bag itself is 100% real. COACH bags are popular in Japan due to the lovely design as well as the lower price compared with other brands like LV, Chanel, CD, Gucci, Prada and etc...Women like brands and i'm one of them. i already have LV and COACH bags and thinking of buying something else. ;-)

Cold/Sore throat (喉咙感冒了)

I have got a cold/sore throat which caused me cough a lot. I thought I would be fine if i keep drinking hot water but it didn't help at all. Having a sore throat is painful and I could not sleep well at night... so I went to see a doctor and was told that cold/sore throat is popular recently due to the cold weather. I was told to wear a mask and take the medicine. Wearing a mask is a must in Japan if you catch a cold or suffer from hay fever(花粉症) . I think this is a good habit as it is good for you and others. Thanks to the doctor's medicine and advice, I'm getting better now.