Japanese Government helping singles find love

The Japanese government has set up a dating site to help singles find a life partner. Isn’t that fascinating! You would think that the government would have more urgent matters to worry about that the public’s dating life. I can’t imagine the white house worrying about setting a dating site for American people.

This issue is a highly important matter for Japan leaders – they are concerned of the low marriage and birth rates in the country. They believe that healthy marriages and growing families create stable societies. By matchmaking singles up, they hope to increase the national birthrate.

Earlier this year I had a similar story about the Singaporean government planning to help matchmake their people. Now Japan is following in their footsteps.

The website is JapanDatingSite.com. I had a quick visit to the website, it doesn’t look like a government website. It’s free to sign up. The JapanDatingSite.com is part of the World Friends Network – the leading multi-lingual travel and language network. The website isn’t purely for dating (although the website name suggests that it is) - people can make friends, find language tutors, travel buddies on the website as well.


Source: sbwire.com

The 1st 'Odd Things I saw for 2011' - Japan Hair salon stools for kids

The segment ‘Odd Things I saw’ is back for 2011. This is one of my favourite segments on the show. This is where I share odd things I saw in my everyday life or on holiday.

I came across this photo when I was reading the news. The story was about how the Japanese government is now allowing hairdressers to cut hair at evacuation shelters or makeshift shops, following the disasters. The previous law only allowed hairdressers to work in authorized shops. The disaster had destroyed many businesses, now the government is relaxing this law.

What caught my attention was the cool chair the child was sitting in - a car chair. I thought that was very odd and so cool! They can play with the steering wheel. Children would love getting their hair cut if they got to sit in a car chair. I wonder if there is an adult version?

Singapore Government - The Couple Matchmaker

It's hard finding someone you like in the jungle dating scene, let alone your soul mate. Your family can pester you about settling down and starting a family, now imagine your government hassling you too!

The Singaporean government is planning to do just that - helping unmarried citizens find their match. You must be thinking why would the government want to play matchmaker? The reasons: The Singaporean government is concerned about the country's low fertily rate & how young people are reluctant to get married and have kids.

I think people are just enjoying single life and focusing on their careers before they say 'I do' and produce offspring.

Don't you think it is a bit inappropriate for the goverment to meddle with people's personal lives? On the other hand, they might do a brilliant job at matchmaking - they do have information about the whole population.

The specifics about how the Singaporean goverment matchmaking policy haven't been revealed yet. With their great concern about fertility rate, there will be lots of talk in parliament.

Here are some stats: The percentage of single young women aged 25-29 reached 62% in 2010, this is a huge increase from the 46% of single women in 2000. Interestingly the article didn't quote the percentage of single men in Singapore. Sounds like Singapore will be a great place to meet lots of single people!

What do you guys think? Would you like the government to interfere in your dating life?

Kimchi Crisis

Kimchi is a staple vegetable in the Korean diet and it’s always eaten with every meal. Koreans have a very spicy palette, they love chilli so much they put a huge amount of it in their cooking. I remember the first time I ate Korean food, it was so hot it felt like smoke was coming out of my ears. The kimchi side dish is spicy too, it contains lots of chilli as well but it is quite tasty.


Photo of a typical meal I ate in Korea. Look at all the little side dishes! This is for LUNCH!!!

The traditional kimchi making season has come under threat due to shortage of fresh vegetables! The shortage was caused by unusually heavy rainfall for the past few months. That has resulted in cabbage prices to skyrocket to 10,000 won (10AUD) per napa cabbage, which is four times the normal price.

The prices of other important ingredients in Korean diets like radish and garlic are also experiencing inflation.

Kimchi manufacturers have already raised the prices of their products. Even restaurants have started to charge for kimchi, which is usually a complementary dish in Korean meals.

The traditional kimchi making season occurs at the end of fall. Families will busily make kimchi for the winter. However, due to soaring vegetable prices it is expected to hit the nation right at the hip pocket.

A Korean restaurant owner said, “I’m not sure if I should start to charge kimchi or exclude it from the side dishes. I have never experienced such a shortage of cabbage in my ten years as a chef running this restaurant.”

Many housewives have decided to skip kimchi making season altogether due to the inflated prices.

The government have taken action due to this huge concern; they will lower taxes on some of the vegetables and import 150 tonnes of fresh vegetables from China. These actions will help stabilise consumer prices after they hit a 17 month high in September.

Ref: Korean Herald