Pokemon GO Gen 2 Data Mining Says It's Official! Coming Soon

Pokemon Go Twitter asks fans to spread the love for Valentine's event but many asks about Gen 2! It's official Fortune reports that data mining company Silph Road, which successfully mined the game before, has unearthed new skills, new characteristics that are only pertaining to Gen 2 Pokemons have been quietly added to the game through an update patch. Finally, after alienating many hardcore fans, Niantic is working on the most needed update yet. Lifetime Pokemon fans are not going to just like pink Pokemons for Valentine's Day.

To prepare for this change, it's time to really save up on candies! The Valentine's Day event is perfect for doubling the candies and collect candies for pink Gen2's Gen1 counter parts like Chansey, Slowpoke. Don't forget poliwags, evee, horsey, and yes even zubats.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2017/01/18/pokemon-gos-latest-patch-suggests-gen-2s-release-is-imminent 

Challenge: Watch a brief history of Japan (viral funny format) and do not laugh

Prerequisite: You like Japan or you are Japanese.
Challenge Condition: Watch the video but no laughing
Towards the end the video gets very sober.
Enjoy

Ultimate Stationery Store in Japan Itoyah - Japan Tokyo Ginza Travel Destinations

Itoyah is the ultimate stationery store to visit in Ginza, downtown Tokyo Japan. It's a sleek thin multi-floor building with lots of fountain pens, mechanical pencils and fancy designer stationery and writing tools. 

Itoyah stairwell is carpeted with lush Chilenwich high tech woven textile modern plastic carpets

Tripadvisor Itoyah, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan page

How much does wifi cell phone rental from Narita Airport cost? Travel in Japan tips

How much does renting a mobile internet wifi device cost in Japan? We looked for airport wifi and cell phone rental at Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan and found this phone tethering which works via a smart phone's hotspot. It's a Huawei Android smartphone from Telecom Square Inc www.telecomsquare.co.jp for a total of 15,157 yen (1122 yen tax included). A credit card guarantee is a must. Use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees such as the American Express Platinum.

This way we get text messaging (useful in Japan), get a phone number people can reach us with, and get to make calls when running late, need to make travel changes or in other emergencies. It worked well. We were warned that signal might be sparse outside Tokyo in remote places such as suburbs and ski resorts but the cell phone worked well in Hakone (the hot spring heaven), Nara (the old old capital with Toudaiji the Great Temple of the East and it's biscuit eating holy deers), and during most of the Shinkansen travel. See a screenshot of our bill below

We were also warned that Japanese mobile wifi is rarely unlimited like T-mobile or what Verizon has to offer in the United States. And also that there's a limit, a quota of 1-2GB depend on how many number of days we would rent. And that using Google Map extensively in Japan burns through a lot of data in Japan so try to avoid.  In our case we rented for 8 days to be split between two people. We were good on data.

 We were able to use our free unlimited international roaming data - a courtesy of our Tmobile plan (if your plan supports this feature, you will get a SMS text message upon entering the country) -for Google Map and getting directions and train schedules. It was a lucky jackpot. Thanks to Tmobile we saved so much money. If you have T-mobile check if you have unlimited roaming.

 In any case, trains, hotels, food and wifi expenses may just be the fixed costs of traveling in Japan. Not being able to read Japanese, kanji, and make last minute plan changes can really suck. And that Google is very powerful in Japan from getting directions, getting train schedules, to translating, it can really make your travel easy. 

For our rental, we also got full coverage for all the days because the company Telecom Square charged a hefty $300 if the phone is severely damaged or lost. And we really don't want to pay $300 for a Huawei smartphone (it's really a cheap and low-end Android phone). 

If the expense is so high why not just buy a phone in Japan? Japan has a strict regulation that only registered resident can buy cell phones in Japan even prepaid phones, for security reasons. 

Your Japanese buddy needs to offer his or her ID to register on your behalf. It's a big favor that makes a lot of Japanese people uneasy. Plus it costs money to set up and activate. Even the prepaid phone costs $100 and up to buy and set up. It's just not worth the trouble if your stay is short. If you are here for travel, study or teach for the JET program consider registering first, get your resident ID (great for getting free national health care coverage for all in Japan for all residents), and then you have your own ID for purchasing a phone. Try getting it from smaller companies other than SoftBank such as Au for a better price:

Shinise Rouho traditional shops and stores in Japan, tradition Japanese culture

老舗 or a traditional store refers to a specialty crafts, food, store that has been continuing a tradition for quite a while. Other words, it is a treasured historic location. Japanese has a special sentiment towards these kind of shops. And often they are associated with special craftsmanship. For example, in Kyoto, one can find traditional tofu shops that have been in operation for more than 100 years, called 老舗豆腐 or shinise tofu. You can bet the owners and the family members take a lot of pride in operating these shops. Everyone of them is managed like to the sushi ya in Jiro dreamed of sushi. After all, these have been time-tested veteran shops, must be something extraordinary that they have been doing right for centuries.

Nishi Tetsu Inn Shinjuku 西鉄イン新宿 near Nishi Shinjuku station, Japan travel information

 The Nishi Tetsu Inn or "west rail inn" is reasonably priced and conveniently located almost right outside the Nishi Shinjuku station. The Nishi Shinjuku station is only one station after the very busy Shinjuku station.

The hotel is so convenient and literally outside the station, it only took one minute walk to the lobby. We highly recommend this hotel to people who just arrived in Japan for the first time, and need a hotel that is very close to a convenience station. Specially if you are arriving at night and tired, this hotel is very easy to find.

We used the hotel as a touch base point when we landed in Tokyo. And headed to Hakone the very next morning via Shinjuku station's Odakyu Romance Car. 

The Shinjuku station is so crowded and the place was so large it was very difficult to find the right exit and entry points, we preferred Nishi Shinjuku station. 

Just like all other Japanese hotels, this place is small by American Standard. It may even be a bit cluster phobic with all your luggages and two people. Nevertheless, it is a good hotel that is convenient, reasonably priced even during the Japanese New Year's, and clean.

Wagashi Japanese sweets desserts and Japanese snacks

和菓子 pronounced wagashi is a general name for Japanese bite-size sweets. These are extremely intricate, colorful snacks that are so much more than just mochi cakes (mochi cakes have been popular in the US). 

Dango, rabbit manju bread bites, Sakura mochi cakes etc. These are essentially powdered sugar combined with mochi, red bean pastes (and other fruits variations), and flour.