Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

As both my blog content and readership expand in size, some negative feedbacks are bound to arise. To be fair, I have been a writer of controversy, and I fully admit this point (and am quite proud of it, despite the "unfriendliness" I sometimes receive). But as a paid full-time white-collar worker that I have now become, the trigger-happiness and the joy of lashing out at anything and anyone I feel like, inherited from my college days, may become a serious liability to my future directions in life, career, and plainly said, amount of cash I will receive. Yes, I am talking about the many job-related posts I have been writing on this blog. All of them have been shared on Facebook, on which I already have many "friends" who are from Rakuten, not to mention some who happen to be in very high places and can easily derail my long-term plans in the company by putting in some light complaints. Right, an easily replaceable new graduate with a big mouth, certainly an unco

In my original motivation to begin , I did mention that I will write at least "a few" posts in foreign languages (i.e. other than English)...It took me literally took me more than 5 months before I actually go back to fulfill that promise. So 76 posts (more than 45000 English words later), I give you my first post in Chinese. The article was originally written with an intent to publish in Taiwan (where I was actually mentioned once in a negative fashion), Hong Kong, or North America. So the article was written in Traditional Chinese, which is used most often outside mainland China. Of course, the decision to put the article on here is also a little SEO strategy to draw more traffic from these areas (Blogger is blocked in mainland China anyways, so no point doing SEO for that market...)

So last week, I finally get my job assignment at Rakuten after two months of "training" that involved brainwashing us with Rakuten ideology. After weeks of anticipation and should I say, annoyance and anxiety, we the new guys were finally given our assigned places at a rather formal-looking ceremony on Tuesday morning. On the surface, everything appeared calm, but below the tranquility some jumped for joy while others quietly shed tears in their hearts. All the poetic stuff aside, I have to say that most of the assignments are, really honestly, quite puzzling in many aspects. Yes, I did mention how the company have absolutely no idea where to place us , but the randomness of the end result goes much beyond just "let's put this guy there and see what happens." Not to mention the language ability and communication problems, the type of work and the field of studies for each individual just see little connection if any. But all in all, it somehow feels that the

Recently, a deadly volley of North Korean artillery shells killed 4 people on a South Korean-held island near the disputed maritime border near the DMZ...South Korean government vowed revenge, American government launched immediate condemnations and sent in an aircraft carrier, while the Chinese called for calm while sending high ranking officials to meet both the North and South Koreans. Amidst all the scrambles for reactions by each government in the aftermath of the bombing, Japanese government seemed to be completely aloof...the only thing it did was agreeing with the Americans on calling for the Chinese to help more and condemning the bombings as inhumane. The all-talk-and-no-action stance of the Japanese government is an obvious contrast to the scheming actions of the Chinese, the North Koreans, and the Americans. Part of the blame is of course the same lack of leadership that plagues the short-lived Japanese administrations, which have largely been ridiculed by all functional

The fact that China and the US is competing on everything from currency to coal mines throughout every corner of the world is no longer a matter of speculation in many ways. The battles of words and speculative skirmishes in the cyberspace is only a sure sign of what will become the biggest national rivalry in the world since the Cold War. But while the Cold War remained largely "with us or against us" for both sides throughout, the current "frenemy" (friend + enemy) relations between the two involves much interdependence and overlap of interest. And in that overlap of interest emerges a group of players largely torn between the two giants, forced to play a balancing game between the two for political, military, and most importantly, economic reasons. Probably the most important of these middling powers is Japan, who sees China as the biggest trading partner (imports and exports) and the US as the biggest political one. To please but not over-pleasing either one

I just came back from a tiring day trip to the city of Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture. The round trip from my home in Kamata took more than five hours; I was totally surprised by how far the place is...but the fall leaves are coming in really nicely in Kairaku Garden, one of the Big Three historical gardens in Japan (with today's trip to Mito, I have now been to all three). But, as is the case for Japan, the transportation fee ate up a huge chunk of the budget, forcing me to withdraw more money to support myself for the near future. I take my passbook (通帳, or the record book that can be used for ATM instead of a cash card) to the local ATM to get some cash...but I show forget my password (a totally random 4 digit number I wrote on a piece of paper in my room) during the use of the ATM. So unsuccessful tries later, I was told that my passbook has been locked and I now need to go to the local bank branch during business hours to get it unlocked and withdraw cash. Now, this whole fiasc

So speaking of traveling as I did in toward the end of the last post , I remembered another classic travel story that may shock the normal person. Witnessing poverty and inequality is perhaps one of the most important reasons that I travel by myself to places not particularly considered touristy in anyways (kind of like what Che Guevara did in his Motorcycle Diaries). But it is these kinds of situations that really makes trip memorable, beyond any exotic cultures or natural wonders. Boarding a Greyhound long-distance bus from New Orleans to Atlanta, I was joined by a young white lad who sat next to me in a usual crowded bus. He was quick to open up. A coal miner from rural Wyoming, he told me about the accidents that took away a few of his fingers and shaky relations he has with his family.“Oh, once I caught two black guys trying to steal my truck, so I killed them with a shovel.” His loud yet nonchalant statement coming out of nowhere instantly sent my eyes wide-open and a chill