Blissminton Event: Takinogawa Gym Direction Map from Kaminakazato Station

 

Blissminton Event: Tabata JHS Gym 2F Direction Map

 

My 2020 Story: The Year that Made You STRONGER

<< written on December 31st 2020 >>

It is so funny and still surprising to look back and reflect on what has happened this year. A year that no one has ever expected, everyone realized that they needed to cancel or postpone their new year resolutions and plans just after creating them. A year that is difficult for probably almost everyone, except mask manufacturers and Zoom engineers :p, #jk. A year that is unexceptionally difficult also for me. 

A weird start of the year: beginning of 2020 (Jan - Mar)

It was also a personally weird way to start this year. I started the year with deep grief after losing my last and beloved grandparent, my grandma. All the year-end trips last year were canceled. I ended up rushing in and out to the hospital and funeral home, went straight away back to Japan after cremating her while Jakarta was covered in flood and blackouts. I remembered that I needed to pack my baggage during the blackout on the night of January 1st after the cremation because my flight was in the next morning... No trumpet, no overnight year-end party, no more than just new numbers on the calendar.

Coming back early to Japan was I thought the way to move on more easily from what had happened back then in Indonesia. Although I knew that coronavirus was first reported back in late 2019, I never thought that it was going to be the main theme of this year. Thinking (planning) another "normal" year would come and spend the last few new year holidays peacefully were the firsts on my to-do list. I still (randomly) believed that the good rhyme of "twenty-twenty" would bring good fortunes to me. But watching TV news was like climbing the peak of a roller coaster track, slowly but surely terrifying. 

• Kobe Bryant's death? Ooh, what a bad start to the year... 

• First coronavirus case in Japan? Ooh.. still not a great deal, isn't it?!

• Wuhan lockdown? Oh come on, what's this shit...

• Corona Diamond Princess Cruise in Yokohama? The shit is coming broo... be prepared..

• A late WHO pandemic declaration? Ooh, a teddy bear (read: Tedros) haha.. useless..

• Toilet paper, rice, and masks become scarce in supermarkets? Wtf 2020...

Wearing a mask slowly became a "passport" to go outside. Mask hunting became a new weird normal. A weird year had come, robbing and destroying many dreams, looting in the US ha..ha..ha..

One of my favorite corona memes :)

Meanwhile, on another track of my life (read: my work life) things also got rough. The talk about closing down the company had become more serious than ever. The company had some serious problems to take care of and began to see stopping the business would be the best option. This was a heartbreaking point this year, or probably in my life, not only because of losing a job, but mainly because of realizing that a person whom I think is on my side can stab your back, and a dream that was once believed can turn into bullshit.

A new bottom of my life: mid of 2020 (Apr - Jul)

Here I am at the new dark bottom of my life. Pandemic? Who cares?! I have no job! #jk. Of course, I cared (most probably more than you), looking for a new job in the middle of the pandemic is a different and unknown monster.

• Coronavirus? What is this shit?

• How long is it gonna last? ...

• Seeking a new opportunity outside Japan? Not sure... With the virus, it seems not a good idea...

• HIRING FREEZE IN BIG COMPANIES?!? Uwaaaa let me CRYYYY......

As some of my friends and people tell me that I am a (little too) optimistic type of guy, of course thinking of losing a job as "A Whole New World" (Alladin, read: new opportunity) was easy. But come on people! Not in the middle of this pandemic... Honestly, there always is a little dream in some corner of my head to travel countries or have a long trip before my next job (or in this context, this is just me running away from the reality). But... but... but... cannot lah...  

can't describe better than this :)

One beautiful thing that I realized, that I am grateful for and really thank myself for doing it and thank people who taught me how to, was saving. That was the MOTM (man of the match) and a game-changer of this year. I can't imagine how big my monster was if I didn't have enough savings even though I knew that I could receive 3 months of unemployment insurance (around ¥200,000 / month) here in Japan. Not only job hunting, the first few weeks I was busy making sure that my condition did not violate my current visa and learning how to get my unemployment insurance. I think that being financially secure this year gave me space and time to think slowly and more clearly to sort things out and solve them.

So what now? I started asking for help from friends who can refer me, updating my LinkedIn and CV, and applying for jobs. It does not sound as easy as saying (writing) them. It was a 4 months gap between my previous and current job. Since I was also a little bit picky about choosing my next job, I managed to apply for 15 companies, but 10 of them did not land me any interviews mainly due to the hiring freeze or just simply ignored me. 

However, despite all the problems, to be honest, I kinda enjoyed my 4 months "reset" period. I had never had this kind of quite a long time to think about myself, but also do some fun and meaningful activities from my looong bucket list. I finished 4 online courses, read 2 books, discovered new hidden gems (read: good restaurants) in Tokyo, and moved to a better apartment, of course after my first job offer in mid of July :).

Night view from my apartment

A brand new start and surprising first (corona) hospitalization in Japan: end of 2020 (Aug - Dec)

Here I am on the new page of my life. A new apartment, a new workplace, and a new heartbreak (it did not go well also with my previous GF) were quite overwhelming. There were so many boxes in my new apartment since the size doubled from the previous one and I barely had furniture. Going to my new office in Nihonbashi was also the new normal. Just entering the fifth week of August, which is also my birthday week, I had my first fever in this pandemic year.... (jeng jeng jeng -> screaming piano sound)

Going back from office at night

To fast forward (or I can write this experience in another post), I got my Corona PCR test on September 7th and the result was positive. I had clear symptoms: headache, fever, cough, loss of smell, and noticeable chest pressure. Some (light) pneumonia was also found. Then, I got hospitalized on September 9th.

Corona positive news was shocking already, but to have it during the probation period in my new company gave me another headache haha. I was in a mental game prioritizing my health and my job. At the lowest point of this period, I said to myself to stop caring about anything except this corona shit and focus on the treatment. I was blessed that my company still supported me during this difficult period although I still felt bad because I was a new guy there. At that time, I just couldn't believe what 2020 had brought me. I just couldn't ask for a worse scenario. 

My room at the hospital before going back home :)

The best meal during the isolation

Nevertheless, time passes by and life goes on. Things got more stable and I started enjoying the last third of 2020. Buying a lot of stuff (lights, curtains, sofa, tv cabinet, monitor, etc) for my new apartment, buying proper winter outfit, removing or selling old and unused stuff, learning so many new things in the new company, cooking more because of remote work, playing badminton again after the reset period, going to a hot bath after badminton, meeting a few old friends, finding and watching Kimetsu no Yaiba :), and so on...

A blessing in disguise of 2020

It was a long journey of 2020, yet it felt so quick like riding a roller coaster. I feel like time jumped from March to December with January and February being the waiting time for the roller coaster ride haha. Here I am after the ride, sitting down writing a review for the ride (read: reflecting). I just could not find a better way to close this year by saying many thanks to people who helped me survive this year: my family, my friends (especially whom I directly asked for help and job referrals), my old and new colleagues, doctors and nurses out there especially who carefully treated me, and the loving God. (Of course, I also gave myself credit for being a tough guy he..he..he..)

2020 has changed the way people live. Despite all of the difficult things that have happened or are happening to us, these are the things that I am grateful for from surviving 2020:

1. better communication with my family and extended family

• Since the online meeting boom this year, my family has actively participated in this. We ended up having more frequent online meetings :).

2. realizing a deeper meaning of the saying "Saving is important!"

• It was just simply MOTM of this year. (please read the whole post for this :) )

3. finding a new job and having a great mentor in my new company

• It was not easy to find a suitable job this year, but I believe I am in a better place now with a great mentor.

4. genuinely kind people around me who helped me during the career transition
5. getting reminded of the importance of health

• This slapped me on the face when getting corona during the probation period. Highly appreciate doctors and nurses out there fighting for us.

6. realizing that getting an education at Canisius College (my high school) is probably the best gift I could ask for from my parents

• By looking at how many talented and global people in my network and looking at the distribution of US presidential voters this year, I am pretty much sure that I got one of the best education in Indonesia.

7. enjoying the great work of Kimetsu no Yaiba :)

Image from : https://tower.jp/article/news/2020/07/07/tg011

Experiencing all these things this year has positively changed me and made 2020 an unforgettable one. This year has taught me to stop, contemplate, and reflect. All the hardships have definitely made me stronger and I hope you think of 2020 the same way. Thank you 2020 and happy new year 2021! Have a great year ahead!

You Just Don't Know Yet -- A positive story --

Hello para pembaca! Udah lama banget nih gw ngga nulis di blog gw ini hehe.. Beberapa bulan yang lalu gw dapet mention di twitter kalo ada orang yang menunggu post baru di blog gw ini, kaget dan seneng juga, semoga hal-hal yang gw tulis di sini bisa bermanfaat bagi teman-teman yang membaca. Btw sekarang gw udah bukan mahasiswa lagi, semoga gw jadi punya lebih banyak waktu untuk mengayunkan pena di sini.

Kali ini gw mau menulis mengenai hal yang ngga terlalu berat hehe.. Ini based on my personal experience dan cukup mengena di hati gw.

Jadi beberapa minggu yang lalu, gw diundang untuk makan bakso di rumah seorang teman dan senior lama orang Indonesia. Teman ini adalah teman saya ketika berorganisasi di PPI ON. Untuk yang ngga tau, PPI ON itu adalah Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia Osaka-Nara. Gw pernah diamanahkan menjadi ketua periode 2015/16. Nah teman ini juga pernah menjadi pengurus PPI ON, sudah berkeluarga, menikah dengan teman saya juga yang juga mantan pengurus hehe.. Sekarang mereka udah punya 1 anak, kerja di Toshiba dan Hitachi, greget deh pokoknya :)

Setelah makan bakso, kita punya waktu untuk ngobrol-ngobrol santai dengan temen cowo gw ini (kita kasih inisial mas A aja biar gampang). Mas A ini dan istrinya adalah lulusan S3 dari Osaka University. Untuk sedikit latar belakang aja, cari kerja di Jepang itu lumayan susah-susah gampang, tingkat kesulitan dipengaruhi beberapa faktor yang salah satunya kemampuan bahasa Jepang. Selama gw bertugas sebagai ketua PPI, banyak tuh teman-teman yang nanya tips-tips shukatsu (就活, cari kerja) di Jepang, curhat-curhat karena keunikan dan kesulitan tata cara shukatsu, atau minta tolong diterjemahin CV-nya. Ada juga cerita sedih teman harus pulang karena ngga dapet kerja, pokoknya lumayan rempong deh.

Nah karena mas A dan istrinya keren banget bisa kerja di perusahaan ternama di Jepang, pas ngobrol-ngobrol santai gw nanya donk ke dia penasaran gimana dulu prosesnya dari Osaka bisa sampai ke Tokyo, karena gw dulu yang duluan pindahan ke Tokyo, kira-kira begini percakapannya.

Gw: Wih kok lu keren sih sekarang bisa kerja di Toshiba, dulu gimana tuh prosesnya?
Mas A: Wah kan lu dulu yang post lowongannya Cos, wkwk (Orangnya emang suka ketawa dan bercanda)
Gw: What? Serius lo?
Mas A: iya dulu pernah di grup PPI, kayaknya itu elu deh.

Gw kaget dan seneng juga. Jujur gw juga ngga inget pernah ngepost lowongan Toshiba di grup PPI. Emang pas jadi ketua PPI itu, pastinya lu dapat banyak info dari pihak luar yang minta diteruskan ke anggota, karena komunitasnya lumayan besar, anggotanya sekitar 80-100 orang, sehingga info-info tersebut harus di pilah dan yang penting kita teruskan ke milis atau grup chat anggota. Tapi karena emang lumayan banyak, kita jadi emang forward aja, tanpa pikir terlalu panjang apakah info itu berdampak atau ngga.

Terus gw lanjut bertanya,

Gw: Terus istri lu gimana tuh prosesnya? Hebat juga loh kerja di Hitachi.
Mas A: Nah kalo dia dari TOP Career Cos, itu juga elu yang post haha.
Gw: ... (speechless)

Kalo si TOP Career ini gw inget! Emang pas gw mengemban tugas ada salah satu agentnya yang selalu ngontakin gw buat minta di-forward-in lowongan-lowongan atau job fair nya mereka. Tapi gw beneran ngga nyangka ada yang nyangkut kerjaan dari situ, soalnya cerita sedih cari kerja yang gw bilang di paragraf di atas juga berhubungan dengan TOP Career. Gw makin kaget dan pastinya seneng juga mendengar jawaban dari Mas A. Kaget dan seneng karena ternyata dari suatu hal kecil yang terkadang males gw dan tim pengurus lakuin, berdampak lumayan besar buat kehidupan seseorang.

Moral cerita: Terkadang lu tuh ngga tau, suatu hal positif yang lu lakukan, biarpun kecil, bisa berdampak besar untuk kehidupan orang lain. Gw bisa aja dengan mudah meng-ignore agent TOP Career atau membiarkan lowongan-lowongan kerja yang masuk ke inbox gw, karena waktu itu gw memang lumayan sibuk kuliah. Tapi dengan pengalaman kecil ini, gw jadi lebih termotivasi untuk melakukan hal-hal positif lainnya, yang mungkin gw ga tau apa efeknya di kemudian hari. Gw cuma berharap, keberadaan gw di dunia ini bisa berpengaruh positif buat orang-orang di sekitar gw, dan harapan inilah yang menjadi kunci motivasi gw untuk terus berkarya dari hari ke hari, sehingga pengalaman yang gw jabarkan di atas adalah pengalaman menyentuh dan berarti buat gw.

Khusus untuk para ketua dan pengurus PPI di luar sana yang masih mengemban tugas, gw berharap cerita ini juga bisa menjadi motivasi untuk terus berjuang dan berkarya, karena gw mengalami sendiri senang-susah dan sibuk-sibuknya jadi ketua PPI. Gw juga pernah berada dalam kondisi kritis dan aga stress dengan tekanan kesibukan kuliah dan beban jadi ketua PPI. Ini juga alasan kenapa gw mau menulis hal ini di blog gw ini hehe..

Tentunya, I also want to give the credits to my team! Setelah gw liat-liat lagi websitenya, ternyata masih ada gambar susunan kepengurusan pas gw mengemban tugas, untuk yang berminat liat bisa klik link di bawah ini.

Susunan kepengurusan PPI ON 2015/16

I really wish them doing well in life, karena jujur gw udah ngga terlalu sering ngontak mereka, apalagi setelah gw pindahan ke Tokyo. They were a great and really helpful team. I also wish Mas A and his family a happy life, biar tetep greget dan keren :). Terima kasih juga untuk kalian yang udah baca sampai habis dan sampai sekarang, apalagi untuk yang udah nungguin artikel baru di blog ini.

Always BE POSITIVE! :)

大阪大院入試で問題ミス 合否影響なし 受験者１４６人全員正解に

大阪大は２３日、大学院の博士前期課程一般入試で、筆記試験の問題文に誤りがあったと発表した。誤った記載に関連する設問について、受験した１４６人全員を正解とし、合否に影響はなかった。

　大阪大によると、７月３０日に行われた「情報工学」の筆記試験で、アルゴリズムとプログラミングに関する問題文中の英数字に誤りがあった。

　試験後の８月３日に受験者から指摘があり発覚。誤った記載が影響する２問（５００点中５０点分）を全員正解とした。受験者にはホームページや謝罪文の郵送により説明する予定。

　大学は「問題作成者以外によるチェック体制をさらに強化する」としている。

http://www.sankei.com/smp/west/news/160823/wst1608230055-s1.html

[工学部ブログ] Summer in Japan = Fireworks!

Summer in Japan is really hot, even for me, who is Indonesian. Sometimes it gets to around 38 degree C and the felt temperature is even higher because of its humidity. Although it feels so hot, I still think summer is still better than winter. (笑)

One thing that makes summer in Japan different than any other place is the existence of fireworks. I think it is a tradition in Japan to have firework festivals in each prefecture or area to compete with others. And I also think Japanese firework is one of the best in the world. I have ever seen one in Tokyo that showed Pikachu's face after its burst. I was very surprised when I saw that one.

This summer I have been very busy with experiments, grad school entrance exams, Indonesian Student Association things so I decided not to go to any of the festival. But, 2 weeks ago I had a chance to view the fireworks from Kujiraya, the curry canteen located in Suita Campus. It was very beautiful and slightly reduced the tense of this year's summer.

I will show you the picture, but because of the limitation of my camera, it doesn't look similar to the real one. So big isnt it? :P

See ya.

Important Advice for Driving Safely in Japan: One Day Driving Insurance

Since I had a driving license in Japan, there are so many requests to me to help someone driving a car. It could be a rental car or someone else’s car. It is fine to drive a rental car, but it might be scary to drive someone else’s car. Why? Here I will explain.

As a pedestrian, you may look Japanese traffic condition as heaven. So many people are obedient to the traffic lights, speed limit, and other rules. But on the other hand, sometimes it means hell to the drivers. We have to be extra careful to make sure that accident won’t happen or we will be in a very serious problem…

In Japan most of accidents will not be finished without police getting into it and it means you have to pay amount of money to cover what you have damaged in the accident and it is extremely expensive. If someone get killed in an accident, according to my japanese friend you will have to pay around 2 oku en (200.000.000 yen). So, you will be in a serious problem if you are not able to pay or as foreigner you can get deported from Japan. Therefore, it is very important for japanese drivers to get covered by insurance but it might be a problem for someone who drives someone else’s car because normally you can not get insured for driving another’s car.

So for solving this problem, I wanna share my experience about taking the one day driving insurance! I was also surprised when first knowing this insurance because I think there is no such one day insurance in Indonesia. It is a perfect insurance for you who are requested to drive or drive another’s car. I think this information is not so well known among the foreigner so I think I need to share this.

So this insurance is held by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group (三井住友海上火災保険) and offers you 3 kinds of plan related to the one day driving insurance (note: there is also insurance for motorcycle and bicycle). There is A, B, and C plan which cost you 500 yen, 1500 yen, and 1800 yen respectively. Each plan covers different range of damage of the accident. The more expensive the plan, more you get covered. But the 500en insurance is enough to cover the damage you made excluding your car.

How to apply:

Thanks to japanese konbini, you can apply this insurance by going to seven eleven fotocopy machine and there will be a button written 保険 (insurance) and can input your details there. Or you can also input your details on the internet and just print out the insurance detail from there and then pay to the cashier. Unfortunately, all procedures are conducted in japanese.

Print out details and receipt of the insurance

For more info you can check the link below:

http://ehokenstore.com/oneday/

Happy driving!

Beasiswa untuk Belajar di Jepang

1. Beasiswa Monbukagakusho (http://www.id.emb-japan.go.jp/sch.html)
2. INPEX Scholarship (http://www.inpex-s.com/)
3. Nitori International Scholarship Foundation Japan (http://www.nitori-shougakuzaidan.com/en/)
4. Honjo International Scholarship Foundation Japan (http://hisf.or.jp/english/sch-f/)
5. Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Japan (http://www.apu.ac.jp/home/life/index.php?content_id=30)
6. Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship Japan (http://www.api-fellowships.org/body/)
7. Panasonic Scholarship Japan (http://panasonic.net/citizenship/scholarships/pso/requirements/)

Irasshaimase! – Lessons from being a waiter in Japan

It’s been almost three and a half year since I came to Japan as an international student. I can’t say I’m still the same person as I was in Indonesia three years ago.  Ya, sometimes I unconsciously behave like Japanese: bowing when greeting people, bow & re-bow & re-re-bow when saying goodbye to older people (lol), keeping my schedule packed, having dreams in Japanese, etc etc… But still I’m an Indonesian! Indonesian who likes martabak (it IS very good food) no matter how delicious sushi really is, considers traffic jam as a normal thing, and believes being different is not a weird thing.

Have I ever had a really serious culture shock? Not really. Most of the cases I just don't really care if others do things not in a way I usually do. I do respect differences, despite it is often hard for me to understand them. Surely it’s easier for you to socialize with Japanese if you behave the “Japanese way”. I think I’m still in the phase “understanding the Japanese way” in spite of my fourth year living here. Ya, to understand a culture is not as easy as I thought before.

Oh wait?! I think I had a culture shock. It happened when I was in Bandung, Indonesia while buying a set menu of a burger, French fries, and a cup of coke in a very well known restaurant. So I ordered, paid, and received my burger and coke. The waiter said  to wait the French fries at the table because they just started to cook it. So I happily went to a table, started eating and talking with my friend. But after my burger was finished, the French fries hadn’t come yet. So I got suspicious about this and asked the waiter who told me to wait earlier. And the “shock” starts here. Here is part of dialogue between the waiter and I (in Indonesian):

Me             : “ Excuse me, but I haven’t got my French fries yet.”

                     (Misi mba, saya belum dapat kentang goreng saya nih.)

Waiter        : “ Ah ya,  forgot.”

                     (Oh ya, lupa.)

Me             : &%’($#&#

Okay, let me explain this first what made me feel annoyed that time.  First, I was still okay with the fact that she forgot my French fries. BUT, I don’t feel that she needed to tell me that she forgot to deliver my French fries and no guilty feeling was shown from her body language. I don't know if you feel that I exaggerate this too much but I can guarantee you 99.99%, based on my experience, this kind of thing, won’t happen in Japan.

Have you ever been to Japan? Regardless what your answer is, I believe that not few of us think that Japan is a developed country, Japan is better than your own country, Japan is a nice place to live, and so on, and so on. Is that true? I can’t tell you. But I do want to tell you that you should not believe something without clear proofs or reasons (including this post). Ya, to think critically is an important thing.

Before it gets more serious (previous story is just an intro, haha), I posted my journey travelling around Japan quite often and want to tell you where I got the pocket money from haha. After having that “shock” and a notion, which says that Japan offers the best service in the world, I became very curious what happens inside Japanese business. And the easiest way for me to taste that is to be a waiter here. Fyi, it is very common for student of even shakaijin (it’s the way Japanese say to a person who is not a student and is working or looking for a job) to have part time job. I have never tried to become a waiter in Indonesia and it was my first experience (I have already quit because of some reasons after 2 months) and I want to share what I learned here.

There’s a notion that says customers are king in Japan. I can say this is fairly true. Here are the basic rules when dealing with customers in Japan.

Basic Rule 1: The “special” language

Japanese people have honorific language (尊敬語: sonkeigo) and humble language (謙譲語: kenjougo) to deal with customers (For me it is sort of different language to “normal” nihongo, haha sorry I’m still a foreigner). It was pretty frustrating for me at first but because they are regularly used I got used to the standard sonkeigo and kenjougo. This rule is very basic and you will be considered not “really” polite if you don’t use them. Okay to make it clearer I will explain how this works.

Let’s say you want to say “sorry to make you wait”. This is how you say it.

Saying to a friend with the same age or younger (not formal):

お待たせ。 Omatase.

Saying to a senior or older people (sonkeigo):

お待たせしました。Omataseshimashita.

Saying to a customer (kenjougo):

お待たせいたしました。Omataseitashimashita.

Or if you want to make it humbler:

大変お待たせいたしました。Taihen Omataseitashimashita. (It means: very sorry to …).

Frankly speaking, it is one of a quite simple sonkeigo and kenjougo. Sometimes it has different vocab just to say pretty simple thing like to say (言う becomes 仰る), to go (行くbecomes参る). It surprised me that Japanese have special short word for saying “sorry to make you wait” but it surprised me again when I know that they have the humble form to say it! I often use the sonkeigo one, but never really realized that the waiters here use kenjougo. Well, I learned a lot to use them while working there. Hufft…

Basic Rule 2: No tipping!

It’s a common thing in the U.S or Indonesia to tip. But in Japan tipping is really not their culture and sometimes considered to be rude. Japanese think they have to calculate all the services they give and give a definite price to their customers so they think they are fair to every customer.

I did say this based on my personal experience. So I was the only waiter who could speak English in restaurant where I worked. Then came tourists from the U.S so I started serving them. After they finished, they gave me 900yen as tip for good service :p. But what happened? The owner knew it and took it from me! My question: who is more rude? I would say the owner HAHAHA, just kidding. But really, it was quite hard for me who had my first tip (in my ENTIRE life) with the same amount with my hour wage to get over this. But honestly, I prefer no tipping culture because of some reasons I couldn’t simply explain here or it will become a very long post.

Basic Rule 3: No drinking, no eating, no sitting in front of customer

It also comes with other basic rules like no chatting and no touching your mobile phone rule. It seems very simple rules but after working several hours you want to drink water or sit for a while. You can only do these things in the staff room or place where customer can’t see you.

Those are basic rules you need to know to deal with customers. Now let’s go to more specific rules or rules I learned during my part-time job.

Rule 4: The way saying “Irasshaimase”

Welcoming customer with saying “Irasshaimase” (いらっしゃいませ simply means “welcome”) is a very typical way in Japan. But it couldn’t be more crucial after my restaurant owner told me that it was possible for Japanese to leave a restaurant if waiters didn’t say “irasshaimase” quick enough. “Irasshaimase” is not a meaningless welcome. It gives sign to the new customers that you are ready to show them their seats because it’s not common in Japan for customer to come and just sit where they like. You NEED to show them where they sit so saying “Irasshaimase” is an important thing. It also means that you know that there are customers waiting for you at the entrance so the customers are also willing to wait. Very crucial, isn’t it?

They way of saying it can sometimes be bothersome too. Basically your body has to face the customer (or at least turn your face to the customer) which means you have to stop things you are doing. It could be troublesome when they are few waiters and you are taking orders and have to welcome new customers. You have to stop listening and welcoming the new customers first and ask how many people are with them. It’s a very typical way to welcome customers in Japan or they will just leave your restaurant or shop…

Waiters are also expected to send the customers until the entrance when they have finished and leave the restaurant, also say thank you (ありがとうございました) and please come again (またお越しくださいませ) with smile and a bow (lol).

Rule 5: The “both hand” rule

It is considered to be rude if you serve a plate or a glass with a single hand. I have ever been scolded for this because I didn’t know. You are expected to put your food tray somewhere else and serve the food one by one. This rule is also applied when you are receiving money (when there is no change tray) or returning the change.

Rule 6:  Measure, measure, measure!

Japanese people do like measuring (hahaha). I was once responsible for making the drink and it was hard to remember all the procedures to make the drinks and at last I had my own note about all the procedures.

Japanese products are well known as good quality products. Why? Because they have a very good quality control system and follow a lot of procedures. Believe me, it’s not an easy task. Make 3 cups of drink could be an easy task, but making 100 cups of drink with the same quality is surely a hard task without clear procedures. I’m a type of person who tends to break or at least question rules and procedures, so now I know why those troublesome rules were created.

Kirin Chuuhai Glass

 If you look carefully to kirin chuuhai glass (commonly used glass in Japanese bars), there are dots on the body so you can measure how much syrup or sake you put into the glass. And if you know the hot Japanese sake can (ちろり), it is also a measuring glass with Japanese volume unit called gou. 1 gou (一合) is equal to 180.39 mL (according to Wikipedia). The customer will ask you for more sake if you serve less than it should be.

Hot japanese sake can: chirori

 Other subtle rules

The choice of your words and sentences do matter! Instead of saying “please wait a minute (少々お待ち下さい/humble form)”, it is better to say, “I will soon come to you (すぐ参ります/humble form)”. If you say please wait here and there the customer will think when they will be served, but if you say “soon come to you” the customer will believe or at least understand to wait if you are busy with something and it gives a good impression also. It’s indeed very simple thing, but I had never thought it deeply before worked as a waiter.

Besides those things, I also learned other precious things such as the manner of using your time card, the technique of distributing brochures, time management, and coping with customer complaint (which sometimes is not because of your fault (~~”7)). I could say I had a wonderful experience while working there.

All the staffs minus one person sleeping in the secret chamber

To end this long post, let me say few things. I’m not a person who likes to compare things even though sometimes it intuitively happens in my head. I’m definitely not saying that Japan is better than Indonesia or the opposite. It’s also hard to compare because it’s just a tip of an iceberg called culture. I could easily write things I don’t like about Japan with the same length to this post. But it feels nice when you know how to do things differently and you can also improve yourself by trying them. That is the main reason why I’m sharing these experiences to you. What do you think? Please leave any comment! Thank you. =D