Mineral water is usually sold in disposable PET bottles, which are made from petroleum oil. More than 17 million barrels of crude oil are used in order to produce the 29 billion PET drinking water bottles required for annual consumption in the U.S. In addition, water sources are drying up due to the mineral water being pumped out of the ground, while the transportation of mineral water requires a considerable amount of energy because of its weight and volume. This "mineral water mileage," as opposed to "food mileage," is not easy to ignore.

As the global market for bottled drinking water has now grown into a 55 billion dollar business, concerns over its ecological burden are on the increase. Many locales are seeing moves to boycott bottled water and drink tap water in its place. Some ecologically-conscious restaurants overseas have stopped serving mineral water and cities in the U.S. and Europe are eliminating budgets for bottled water and encouraging the broader use of tap water.

In France, the birthplace of bottled water, there was a campaign to promote the use of tap water in 2005 and the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, who is famous for conducting various reforms, is calling for the use of tap water at public events. In the U.K., both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Treasury have stopped serving bottled water.

Regrettably there are no such official moves in Japan as of yet. According to a survey conducted on "Water and the Consciousness of People in Modern Society" by Japan Aqua Clara Inc., however, 48.1% of people feel guilty about using PET bottles as water containers. Still, of the 30.3% of people who recently stopped purchasing mineral water, 46.4% cited high prices as the reason. Japanese consumers have complex feelings about purchasing bottled water. 

Although the quality of tap water in Tokyo is said to have improved, many people feel strongly about drinking tap water directly out of the tap. Water purifying systems can be installed at home, but what about when one is outside the home or at the office? Do we have to rely on water in PET bottles? That is where portable water purifying pot "OFFICE ROKA" comes in. It enables you to drink tasty water easily, safely and economically and is currently attracting much attention. It has a fashionable design that makes it look like an ordinary coffee tumbler, but the cartridge-type water purifying filter installed in the center of the pot removes residual chlorine, soluble lead and trihalomethanes in just four minutes. You can drink purified water anywhere there is tap water.

According to the manufacturer and distributer of the pot, Kai Corporation, sales have increased tenfold mainly among women working in offices since the product was introduced into the market in the spring of 2007. Recently, an increasing number of people are taking OFFICE ROKA with them when out for a drive, at the gym or for any outing. The filter will last for two months when used for a liter of water a day, which costs the equivalent of approximately 12 yen a liter, making it not only environmentally-friendly but also easy on your wallet. Above all, its stylish design and slim body are likely the secrets of its popularity among office workers and women who want to be ECO-fashionable. You can also use it as an ordinary coffee tumbler when the inner case is removed, eliminating the need for a second tumbler.

Drinking water instead of soft drinks or canned coffee is essential to staying healthy, but is it still considered a healthy habit if doing so significantly damages the environment? Staying healthy using a method that is environmentally-friendly, easy on the wallet and even fashionable, like OFFICE ROKA, might be a good idea.

*This picture is for illustrative purpose only.

Cooking time: 30mins

Ingredients (for 4people)
200g Tofu lees (Okara)
2/3 Carrot
3 Spring Onions
2tbsp Sugar
2tbsp Soy Sauce
2tbsp Sake
2tbsp Mirin
1cup Dashi soup

1. Cut Carrot and spring onion into thin strips.
2. Heat a pan and stir-fry carrot, spring onions and okara.
3. Put Sugar, Soy sauce, Sake and soup stock and continue to fry in a medium heat till all the liquid is absorbed.

0:00 P.M.

One chilly afternoon in late November, our half-day exploration began from the main exit (Shomen-guchi) of Jiyugaoka Station. There was a huge shopping street with variety of local shops, restaurants, bars and pubs on the right side. When we passed the bus station, we found a shop called ha-na, which has nice and unique household goods.

0:20 P.M.

After looking at some lovely stuff at ha-na, we entered a small alley on the left side of the street. When we were feeling so hungry, we finally got to SODA café, providing delicious lunch at reasonable prices. The interior of the cozy cafe was also as nice as the meals.  

1:20 P.M.

There was another nice shop called COUNTRY SPICE at the opposite side of the café. We found a lot of American antiques and country collections. It may be great idea to visit this shop before Christmas and get some beautiful Christmas decorations.

1:45 P.M.

Next, we were headed to People Tree, a Fair Trade and Ecology shop. There we saw clothes made of environmentally-friendly materials such as organic cottons and natural dyes. We also found two good stores on the way, called smart and BATH. At BATH you can find many colorful custom-made shoes.

2:30 P.M.

After we enjoyed shopping at People Tree, we found an old-established shop called Tozandou, where you can ask the owner to write words on whatever you want with waterborne paint. The peaceful and warm-hearted owner Mr. Yamada said that foreign customers often get one as a gift when they go back to their home countries.

3:00 P.M.

Since we became a bit hungry after walking, we decided to take a rest at LADERACH, having some tasty Swiss chocolates. There is also a cool American bar next to the building, so if you go there in the evening, you should check it out, too!

3:30 P.M.

Now we came back to the neighbourhood of Jiyugaoka station. We found a liquor shop called Yamaya, where you can buy original Shochu bottles. They offer a service with which you can put your own messages on the label of the liquors.

4:00 P.M.

Walking along Jiyu-Dori we finally arrived at Namco's Jiyugaoka Sweets Forest, whose building was beautifully decorated with Christmas illuminations. When we stepped in the sweets forest, we  felt like we were in an amusement park! This is one of the places you should visit during Christmas season!!

First look at direct debit, in which payment for your electric bill is automatically withdrawn from your savings account each month. This requires no effort on your part and you receive a 52.50 yen discount each month. This small savings adds up to a total annual discount of 630 yen.

As for the other two methods, if you pay your bill by credit card you will not receive the TEPCO direct debit discount, but depending on your contract, you may receive points when paying your credit card bill. Also, if you use the TEPCO Switch! Card, you can also pay for water, gas, newspaper, and other services and utilities as well as electric bill and receive double points for all your payments. Before you know it, you may have earned a lot of points just by paying your public utility bills.

Then there's also funds transfer, which takes some effort to make a payment into banks or directly into Tokyo Electric Power Company with a special form. It used to have to wait a week after your meter was read, but recently it is possible to generate the payment form when your meter is read.

Please choose the payment method that's best for you.

Born and brought up in Vancouver in Canada, Wayne Leung, the 35 years old Chinese refers to himself as Canadian more than Chinese, speaking fluent English than Cantonese.  "Vancouver is a great city for outdoor activities. There are many places where you can play sports and is overall a very relaxing city, which is completely opposite from Tokyo." Vancouver will always be his hometown but he thought it was time for a change in scenery. This sparked the idea for him to work in the crazy city of Tokyo, a mecca of videogames, design and pop culture.

When first searching for jobs, Leung quickly found out that without any knowledge of the Japanese language it was a very difficult task. He then decided to search for jobs in San Francisco, Hawaii and New York. One company in Tokyo replied and asked him if he was able to fly out to Tokyo for an interview. He thought to himself, "This would be a great experience," and then booked the next convenient flight.

Even though he didn't speak any Japanese, Leung believes that his graphic design ability mixed with his experience in game development is what caught the company's eye. "In the studio environment, we get past the language barrier with our passion for game development and design. Some of the more technical terms are universal in game development which helps a great deal."  He says with a big grin on his face, "I'm very fortunate that I got the job!!"

Leung currently works at iNiS as a CG designer. At the studio, iNiS has created games for publishers such as Nintendo and Microsoft, specializing in games of the music genre such as Elite Beat Agents, Gitaroo Man and Ouendan 1&2. Leung truly enjoys his line of work because the projects are always changing, facing new creative challenges both technical and artistic. His dream is to start a designer toy and clothing line company.

One thing that was quite different for him from the first day he stepped into the studio was the Radio Taisou routine. "I couldn't stop laughing when I first had to do the Radio Taisou (kind of Aerobics) every morning." It was very shocking for him, because Radio Taisou does not exist in Canada and he had never seen or heard anything about it being done in offices. However, Leung thinks that when people work on computers every day, it is actually good for them to do some movement stretching in before they start the day. He laughs, "I will never forget the Radio Taisou routine."

During his first days in Tokyo, the city was extremely overwhelming. "My head was spinning. I had no idea what hit me," he remembers. However, Leung noticed that even if he didn't understand any Japanese, there were many English signs so that he never really had any struggle getting around Tokyo.　For the first six months, he says he went everywhere in Tokyo to explore whatever guide books recommended. Now that he knows Tokyo a little better, so he would love to travel around other areas in Japan outside of Tokyo.

Leung explains that he never really had any bad experiences here in Tokyo, apart from searching for an apartment. He thinks one of the most difficult tasks for foreigners in Tokyo is renting a good apartment. In his former apartment, he was asked politely to move out because they wanted to renovate the building. He then needed to find an apartment again in a very short time. Now living in Yutenji, Leung is really happy since his apartment manager speaks fluent English.

He likes to spend his free time by going to concerts and art galleries, playing darts and exploring. One of his favourite places to be in Tokyo is Shibuya. "Shibuya has lots of energy and has a good combination of energy, music, design, urban lifestyle and toys."

Since moving to Tokyo, he began to notice that his drinking habit has changed. Back home in Vancouver he rarely drank alcohol. Leung says "I would be drunk after a couple of beers." But now in Tokyo, he can handle a lot more alcohol and actually enjoys it. He thinks this may be because his friends in Tokyo love drinking and always have parties. He also added, "There are far more trendy bars and venues in Tokyo, including Darts bars which do not exist in Vancouver. Having a drink and playing a few games of darts is a great way to unwind after work."

After talking with Leung, most of the people would imagine that he loves everything here in Tokyo so obviously he would say Sushi or Tonkatsu for his favourite food but......he answered with a big smile, "I especially love hamburgers here in Tokyo! They are so delicious. Some of the best I have ever tasted!"

Leung is still searching for his future plan since he has only been in Tokyo for a year. However, he says he would be quite happy to settle down in Tokyo until retirement. "After that I would want to go back to Vancouver to have a slower and more relaxed lifestyle."

URL: www.deviouslabs.net

Although it has a larger LCD screen measuring 5.2 inches, the NV-SB510DT is almost the same size as the existing model, which has a 4.5-inch screen. The system also features a slimmer profile, reducing the weight by 35 g to 275 g.

Equipped with the GORILLA engine, which enables improved operability such as a higher scrolling speed and a better response rate, the NV-SB510DT offers an enhanced response for search and touch-panel operations, in addition to beautifully displayed maps.

Through the use of a large-capacity (4 GB) SSD, the NV-SB510DT stores detailed map information including 34 million addresses, 40 million phone numbers and 4.5 million search categories. It is also capable of displaying road signs as well as intersections and urban expressway entrances in 3D. The high-theft-area alarm function has also been improved compared with the existing model, which only covers Osaka Prefecture. The system now includes 15 prefectures in Japan.

With a built-in 1seg tuner provided as one of the unit's audio-video features, the NV-SB510DT can schedule 10 1seg programs up to one week in advance for recording on a standard SD card. The system also plays back music recorded on an SD card.

*Picture is for illustrative purpose only.

Cooking time: 35mins

Ingredients (for 4people)
12 King Prawns
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
Flour
Egg
Bread Crumble
Vegetable oil

1. Remove the sand vein from prawns.
2. Skewer prawns.
3. Put some salt and pepper on the prawns.
4. Put them in the flour bowl and mix them well.
5. Remove the prawns and dip them well in the beaten egg.
6. And mix with bread crumb.
7. Put vegetable oil in the pan and make it to 170℃.
8. Remove the prawns form the bread crumb.
9. Put 3-4prawns at the time to deep-fried until the colour changes to golden yellow.

The biggest attraction of the Sunday Market is undoubtedly engaging in conversation with the stall owners while shopping. This is a "communication market," where people encounter the dialect and culture of the area and the warmth of the local people. If you become acquainted with the stall owners, your relationship will exceed that of simply customer and seller. You soon find yourself keeping the stall owners informed about your life or discover that the stall owners are throwing in a little something extra when you make a purchase. Even if you are a tourist, you will still enjoy chatting with the local people as they tell you how to cook the local products that they have on offer in their stalls. The eye-catching price tags and explanations of the items reveal the personalities of the stall owners. The stall owners approach the Sunday Market as if they were exhibiting works of art.   

One of the reasons why the Sunday Market attracts so many people is its wide range of merchandise. There is an excellent variety of fresh home grown vegetables and fruits. Indeed, the market has every kind of merchandise on display in the stalls, from farming utensils, antiques and clothing, to forged steel cutlery, plants and seedlings. 

The most popular items at the Sunday Market include blue crabs, the most luxurious crabs in Kochi Prefecture, sweet potato tempura coated with sweet batter and Japanese cleyera shrubs. Specialty products from Kochi, such as Niitakanashi pears, which are known as the "king of pears" for their superb taste, flavor and size, Shihotake bamboo shoots and strong-tasting and very sweet Suishobuntan citrus fruits - all of which are in season now - are available at the market. Some people can be seen looking around the stalls carrying ginger-flavored local specialty drink "hiyashiame," which is sweetened with brown sugar. Even though the number of visitors from outside the prefecture is increasing, the market remains focused on local daily life and hasn't become a market geared toward tourism, which is probably the reason why it continues to attract people from both inside and outside Kochi.    
 
The Sunday Market is open from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every Sunday from October until March. It is best to visit early in the morning if you want to fully enjoy the market, since some of the stalls close around 3:00 p.m.

Reference Website
▽Kochi city: General affairs Department
http://www.city.kochi.kochi.jp/joho/hp/index.htm

Cooking time: 2 hours

Ingredients (for 4people)
80g Dried kintoki beans (Kintokimame)
80g Sugar
1tsp Salt

1. Put the beans in the boiled water and cook.
2. Add some  water when the boiled water is reduced.
3. Continue 2 for 1hour.
4. Pour the sugar & salt little by little for approx 30mins.
5. Turn off the heat and rest at the cool place.