Good Sign

I am impressed with the clear and precise signage showing the direction for people with disabilities in a shopping complex. This is commendable as many of such signs were placed in not visible area or disconnected.

We should encourage others to emulate.

Recycling Practice

I noticed these when attending a wedding reception in Triang, Pahang recently. The restaurant owner practices recycling in daily operation. I thought this is good practice for promotion when it comes to 3R. While photo on the left shows that bottle was used to cover the sauce container from flies, the right one shows the wine carton was cut to half as ash tray.

Dispenser with Time

I noticed this dispenser in the toilet. It is dispensing the perfume to get rid of the odours. What amaze me is the time shown on the screen. I wonder what the purpose of having the timing. Is that for supervisor to monitor the frequency of dispensing the gas? Is that for patrons to look at the time? I cannot figure out the purpose and thought this might be unnecessary feature.

Innovation

I took this picture in the toilet of a Bak Kut Teh Shop in Old Town last week. I was surprised to notice the innovation the shop owner has in controlling the in flow of water supply. While the gadget is commonly used in the water tank of toilet for flushing, to fix it in the container must be new, at least for me. This shows that innovation and creativity is not exclusive for certain people and place, but can be any where and by anyone.

Recycling Box for SDA

This is the recycling box for small domestic appliance places in Japan. The SDA includes computer, mobile phones, camera and etc. The appliances will be collected by the recycling factories once it is full. It is a trial project since no specific legislation unlike the home appliances has been drafted. The economic return from recycling the appliances will determine how this project will go on. No businesses are interested in doing this unless it is profitable.

Restaurant

This is a typical Japanese restaurant in Japan. It is abnormal because of its location at the city centre of Tokyo, a common scene in Japan. We can notice a lot of such restaurants in the big cities in Japan. The wooden structure with ancient design and decoration served with authentic Japanese food is unique because the eating place is sandwiched by many concrete and high rise buildings. The existence of these wooden structure and restaurants is a sign of Japanese value towards history and culture conservation. Perhaps this is what we Malaysian should learn. We always see the old building being demolished for new building or being renovated for modern facade. I presume we like new structure and have no attachment for old value.

Kita-Kyushu Market

This is the wet market of Kita-Kyushu. It is covered and lined with stalls. It is clean, dry and odourless. The stalls are typical the same with Malaysia. Many groceries and food stalls apart from the vegetable and meats. I wonder if we can have similar environment in our traditional market?

Vehicle

This is the transport commonly found in the fish wholesale market of Tsujiki. An electric-driven vehicle with trolley at the back is very tiny and flexible moving around easily within a limited space. The drivers are so skillful that loading and unloading is becoming an easy job. This is the first time I saw such vehicle.

DIY Photos Developing Machine

I notice this machine at basically every busier street in Tokyo. This is self help machine for developing photos from our Sd card, pen drive, hard disk, mobile phone memory card and others. The instruction shown on the screen of machine is very precise and clear in which basically everyone can develop photos on their own. This modus operandi and the popularity of digital camera will revolutionaries the whole filming especially the photos shop industry world wide. We might one day witness the closing of many photos shop, and this trend is inevitable unless the traditional photos shops reinvent themselves. Perhaps the trend of DIY is coming very soon to Malaysia, but of course for safety reason, it will not be on the streets but guarded area like shopping centres.

Scrap Metal

Can you imagine what is the cube that i am holding? It is the outer body of a car after hard press process. It is scrap metal, the final output at the automobile recycling factory at KitaKyushu City I visited last Friday. After dismantling the engine, windows, coolant, seats, tank, carpet, battery, bonnet, lamps, doors, wires, the car is hard pressed into ferrous scrap before sending for melting for steel.

Amazing isn't it?

Building and Nature

I found this shop while walking my way to the YoYoGi-Uehara Station of the Chiyoda Line. The placing of flower pots along the narrow street and junctions no only beautify the area and it is very refreshing.

If similar scene is happened in Malaysia, I believe either the plants will be removed and confiscated by the authority or be run over by the approaching vehicles.

Urinal Bowl

When I saw this toilet urinal bowl, it reminded me the comment made by the children during a forum recently. The children commented that many public facilities have been provided without taking into consideration of their needs. For example, the height of the toilet urinal bowl is normally beyond the reach of kid and at time difficult for them to "do" it right. These bowls were found in a hotel at a heritage building in Penang. Perhaps older generation is more thoughtful when it comes to considerations of need.

This is not a vending machine for beverages or snack, but a machine for hand phone battery chargers. I found this in the lobby of a hotel in China. It is interesting as many of us might experience the hassle of hand phone running out of battery while having an important conversation. It is frustrating.

It is win-win-win situation, while the advertiser can have their advertisement, the users can enjoy the services and the hotel operator is portraying their care and responsibility.

When are we having this Malaysia?