Tag Archives: Money

My Dear Enemy

Korean Film Nights

Single, jobless and broke, 30-something Hee-soo is miserable. To get back on her feet she comes up with a plan to track down her ex, Byoung-woon, and re-claim the 3 ½ million won he owes her.
Byoung-woon is also penniless but surprisingly happy for he knows the girls who are willing to give him money. Afraid Byoung-woon may run off before clearing his debt, Hee-soo follows him as he visits many girls to borrow money, so the two ex-love birds set out on a one day journey to collect money, and memory.

KCC Multi-purpose Hall

 

Call Girls part 1

I recently read a book on Thai prostitutes and found their stories and views on their job very interesting.

Bee, 31 years old.

‘I was 25 years old. I was not a virgin. I was not stupid. In Thailand I made 8,000 baht a month working in a shopping mall. As a call girl (in England) I could make 8,000 baht a day. What would you do?’

It makes me wonder what people would do if they could get in a day what they make in a month. Would you work as prostitute? I doubt I would but I suppose in certain cases it could be the best option.

 

Child-free flights? Yes please.

 

I rather see people with children paying more money but for the rest I completely agree with those who would pay more to flight without having annoying children on the plane.

Read on..

A third of Britons would happily pay more for their flights if there were no children on board.

A survey of more than 2,000 Britons carried out by travel site TripAdvisor has revealed that badly behaved children are one of the biggest causes of frustration when flying. Some 37 per cent of those questioned said they were so irritated by noisy children that they would be willing to fork out more money to go on a flight without them.

Having a child kick the back of their seat was the biggest annoyance for 22 per cent of the respondents, while another 22 per cent said parents not controlling their children was their biggest frustration.

A TripAdvisor spokeswoman, Emma Shaw, said that even on a short-haul trip, a stressful flight could have a severely negative impact on the overall travel experience. “Any disturbance when flying is annoying but it seems that unruly children are among the biggest causes of frustration for some passengers,” she said.

The No 1 irritation for travellers, according to 29 per cent of those surveyed, was inconsiderate seat recliners. But opinions were divided over whether young children should be allowed to fly in first-class or business-class areas – 34 per cent said they should be excluded while 36 per cent felt they should not. The rest were undecided. Ms Shaw said: “It’s clearly a topic that fiercely divides opinion.”

Article taken from The Independent.

Then and Now: Japanese Investment in the UK

Sierk A. Horn
Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies, University of Leeds

Monday, 19th September 2011 6.45pm

School of Oriental and African Studies
University of London
Khalili Lecture Theatre
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

Japanese firms have a reputation as influential foreign investors. With this back-drop in mind, Sierk Horn’s lecture examines how Japanese firms are currently developing their presence in the UK. His research finds that Japanese investment behaviour is evolving. While benefiting from a strong presence within Europe, Japanese firms are in the process of reconfiguring their UK presence. Recent surveys show Europe losing ground as a promising region for medium-term overseas business operations. Japanese manufacturers have downgraded the attractiveness of the UK as a business destination. In the last decade the number of Japanese firms in the UK has declined considerably, indicating an appreciable slow-down in interest from Japan.

In light of the continued importance of Japan as an inward investment source country despite investment ‘newcomers,’ most notably from India or China, the long-term commitment of Japanese investors and their contribution to the regional regeneration of the UK represents a useful context in which to examine the current strategies and localisation behaviour of Japanese companies. A comparative and longitudinal analysis of the spatial distribution of Japanese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the UK over the past two decades help explore agglomeration economies, investment and exit scenarios and the changing role of regional industrial policies.

Dr Sierk A. Horn is Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds. He was awarded a PhD in Japanese Studies and Habilitation from Freie Universitaet Berlin. He has published widely in the fields of consumer behaviour in East Asia, international knowledge transfer and strategic management of Japanese and European multinational enterprises (MNEs).

To reserve your place, please call the Japan Society office on 020 7828 6330 or email events@japansociety.org.uk or submit the online booking form

How to save money in London

The aim of this post is to provide some suggestions in how to save money in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I hope you’ll find it useful.

Supermarkets

Central London dwellers miss out many supermarket offers as only big chain supermarkets such as Sainsbury and Tesco have branches here and they mainly have a smaller range of the most popular and more expensive items. Outside the central area there are larger branches together with those of Morrisons and Asda. All of these run special offers and one of the cheapest ways of getting perishable goods is to shop just before closing time especially on a Sunday afternoon, usually before 4.oo pm or 5.00 pm. Other good options are supermarkets such as Netto, Aldi and Lidl (best known as ‘no frills’ supermarkets) to be found in the inner and outer suburbs and are generally cheaper than the well known stores though the range of products is more limited.

Markets

They have struggled in recent years in the face of rising cost and competition from supermarkets selling cheap clothes and fruit. The most central is Berwick Street in Soho, where there may be a chance of picking up unsold food very cheaply at the end of the day. Other more famous markets such as Petticoat lane and Portobello Road now cater more for visitors than for local bargain hunter.

’99p’ and ‘Pound’ Shops

These chain in the last few years have become a familiar sight, except in central London. They offer branded grocery and other goods at much less than other outlets and are also a good source of many household goods. The thing to be aware of is that a few items, because of the standard price, might be dearer than some special offers elsewhere, but they are still well worth a visit for the bargain hunter.

Clothes & Charity Shops

Charity shops are to found on every high street. However, those in the central areas have higher prices and really are more for visitors interested in ‘retro’ clothes. The shops run by national charities often have a corporate and inflexible pricing policy which doesn’t seem to take into account the location. Best bargains are to be found in shops linked to a specific local charity; prices are lower as the managers generally have more discretion. The stock is more mixed as all donations come to that shop rather than being rotated amongst several branches.

Other good places to buy cheap clothes such as t-shirts, underwear and sock, mainstream shops such as Primark and Asda offer the best value, and you can be certain that what you want will almost certainly be in stock.

Information

Londoners have two free morning newspapers on weekdays. The metro carries brief news stories along with TV listings and sports stories, while City AM is very much business orientated. The Standard has been free for a few years and is circulated from about 3 pm. It contains more in depth news and is more politically balanced than in the ‘paid’ days. Local areas have free weekly issues ranging from virtual advert sheets to those such as Camden New Journal which takes a campaigning line with wide coverage of local issues.

If you want internet access, most libraries offers up to an hour free each day to members.

Travel

Travelling is very expensive in London. If you do need to travel often it may be well worth getting an Oyster Card. An Oyster Card will reduce the cost of each bus fare (the cheapest way of travelling in London is by bus) from the extortionate £ 2.20 single to £ 1.30 and you will pay a maximum of £ 4.00 a day for an unlimited number of bus journeys. Day travelcards are cheaper after 9.30 am on Monday to Friday and all day at Weekends and Bank Holidays if you need to use the tube, but can avoid the morning peak.

I hope in the next few weeks to add more suggestions and I’m happy to add yours. Please write to five.countries@yahoo.com and let me know your tips in how to save money in London.

Nihon Kizuna

Worldwide artists contribute to Nihon Kizuna music compilation in aid of Japan disaster relief effort

Over 40 international artists have donated music for the Nihon Kizuna compilation in aid of the Japan disaster relief effort. Nihon Kizuna, or 日本絆 in Japanese roughly translates as ‘bond of friendship with Japan’.

Following the earthquake and tsunami which devastated the northern coast and prefectures of Japan on Friday March 11th 2011, a small group of Tokyo-based artists (from Japan, Ukraine and France) and one visiting London-based journalist (from Italy) decided to pull their efforts and contacts together to do the only thing they could to help the country and its people – sell music to raise awareness of the devastation that hit the area and raise money for its people and the relief effort.

www.nihonkizuna.com