Cheers,

I am a person who feels comfortable with accustomed or usual or well-acquainted or familiar things. I like tones of things, if I will be an experiment subject, my likes can be categorized easily. I also like a little repetition. I am not obsessive but on a bad day, I know that I can count on those repetitive habits… A sun salutation makes my body and my mind calmer, listening to loud music makes my mind rest, some reading with a cup of coffee…

I try to celebrate every little moment of life. Most of them are after a finished task or after somethings that I have been awaiting eagerly, happened.

I use a lot of self-motivation tools, motivational quotes, little things that make significant difference in me.

There is the power in every one of us to change ourselves… The inner strengths that we all have…. The joy of celebrating yourself… Just for being yourself…

So I celebrate myself first of all, before anyone else and before anything…

With my repetitiveness and self-celebration habit, my signature in my blogs is “Cheers, Ece”.  I finish it with cheers. After I write cheers, I sit back, take a celebratory sip from a drink, any drink, mostly tea or coffee…  Cheers

I want to share that with you all.  A little celebration :)

Cheers me

Cheers you

Cheers life …

Cheers,

Ece

What time is it?

Since I was a little child, time zones have been fascinating me. Especially on 31th of December…. 24 hours one by one every country celebrates the New Year. I have been watching news every hour on 31th of December since I can remember… Even if I have celebrated the New Year, I always follow with different time zones. And the New Year’s Eve never finishes until all of the world celebrates…

When I was a child, time zone was becoming plausible to me on New Year’s Eve. After moving to Tokyo, it became more comprehensible. My brain designated in itself an area for time calculations.

UTC+12.00 is Tokyo

UTC.0.00 is London

UTC-5.00 is New York

UTC-8.00 is Los Angeles

I try to adjust the time zone that I live in. My family and some of my friends live in other time zones. How can I talk to them? It is not polite to text a friend at 3.00am, right? Unless it is urgent. :)

When I wake up in the morning, Europe is sleeping, US is about to go to sleep. When I go to sleep, Europe is working, US wakes up. We all are not living on the same day. 

 

Tokyo 8.54am

I am refreshed and ready to a new day. My friends in London are still partying or asleep, its 1.00am. If they are awake I can talk to them. Considering the calendar, we are on the same day. If they are sleeping it does not count they are not aware of the day. If they are still awake, it means that they haven’t finished the day. That day is yesterday for me.

Ohh! New York, it is 7.54pm. Perfect dinner time, most of the people starting to get tired. And it is yesterday for me

Los Angeles its 4.54pm. Happy hours start, work is finished, I suppose they are a little tired, there are living my yesterday.  I am starting to work while they are finishing the work day, I envy a little

I can’t call anyone in the morning. I focus on my day.  

  

                                                                  Tokyo 12.05 am

I am just in the mood for friendly conversations, it’s the middle of day am becoming tired but not completely tired. I still have work hours to go and I can work, I have the energy.

London 04.05am. They must be sleeping soundly. If I think more about London, I would consider a little lunch time nap: Same day

Ooh, it is New York again. 11.05 pm just the happy hours. The satisfaction of finishing the errands, all the meals, some drinks with friends… I envy New York at noon.

Los Angeles 8.05 pm. If I am not happy with my lunch, teleport me to Los Angeles for dinner J We all have wishes for teleportation.  New York and Los Angeles are on my yesterday. So it will be not only a teleportation but also a time travel. :)

Lunch time day dream is finished. 

Tokyo 8.41 pm

After I finished my work, my evening is busy, I am more focused on my time zone in the evening, but my time zone calculations begin at 9.00 pm,

London is 12.41 pm, nice, I can talk with Europe.

New York, 7.41 am, I can’t keep up with the new day energy they have. We are all on the same day.

Los Angeles, 4.41 am, good morning, at least they are also on board, on the same day.

In the morning, I am fully on Tokyo mode, ready for the day.

At the lunch time, I won’t mind being in LA or New York for a change, to chill a little… I promise to go back to work after the lunch break, if we had a tele porter/time machine. :)

In the evening, I am just glad that we are living the same day.

I have developed a brain are for time zones. I do this time travel thinking regularly to enjoy myself, to stay connected to others and to be aware of the relativity of time.

Cheers, at what time you may be,

Ece

Women only

Train manners in Japan are mostly similar to worldwide.

Do not talk on the phone.

Let the passengers get off, before to get on the train.

Some rules should be respected such as seats designated to those who are in need, pregnant women, people with babies, elderly, sick or hurt people, etc…

And, respect the women only cars…

Some lines provide women only cars during rush hours. Shinjuku line, Keio line, Keihin-Tohoku line… Those are ones that I know. There are signs to inform potential passengers.

It is very well respected rule. Elementary school students also can get on those cars. Men are not welcome.

The idea behind those cars, is to make sure the creation of a secure area during the crazy busy, rush hours. Most of the time those cars are at far end of the trains.

I am not always observant. Some mornings I am sleepy while commuting to work. On one of those days, I didn’t notice that I was waiting in a line full of women and got on a car full of women. One man was changing cars and passed through the women only car, eyes followed him as he passed. Changing car depending on your destination is really common in Japan. Following angry eyes are not common. That was why I woke up and looked around, pink signs, only women, I checked the time and place, where I was… 100% women car. 

Within a rush, without noticing you may get on a women’s only car. I and my husband had experienced that for a couple of times.  We had a strange feeling. You feel some angry stares, the best thing to do is not moving, not trying to pass to another car during travel, which will only cause more stares, but change the car immediately on the first stop…

Funny fact about women’s car is that the cars before and after the women only care, spontaneously become male dominant cars. Men only cars. The car next to women’s only car, are full of men or at least 90%  :)  It is just selectivity of those two cars, the rest of the cars are mixed.

Countries like Jamaica, Taiwan, India, Brazil…. also have women only cars.

Even if you can’t get on those cars, you can still enjoy your journey… 

Cheers,

Ece

The more the merrier

Modern life makes us busy. Adult life makes me busy.  So, you may speculate that Tokyo as a big metropolis, actually a megapolis, is not making my daily life easy. On the contrary, Tokyo or in general Japan is designed for the busy people. 

There are the vending machines… Every corner, everywhere… Offering many different things…

 Are you rushing from one meeting to another?  Don’t worry about low blood sugar or dehydration…There will always be a vending machine. :)

Are you going to travel on 3 different train to go back home? Don’t worry about getting cranky on the way. There will always be a vending machine. :)

I would like to drink my special brands of coffee every day. I don’t worry, there will always be a vending machine that has my favorites.  :)

You get hot in summer, but don’t want to drink hot coffee on the go? Don’t worry there will always be cold coffee in vending machines. :)

Are you cold in winter, want to have some hot coffee on the go? Yes, there will always be hot coffee in vending machines. :)

Want some ice cream? Want some alcoholic drinks? Want some tobacco? Have you lost your lighter? Yes, there will always be vending machines

All of these items can be bought in vending machines. These are ordinary vending machines.  There are cake, noodle and snack vending machines, I think they are a little special. There are also some rare, famous vending machines for banana or underwear or else. I haven’t seen any of them, so I can’t comment on them.

Tobacco? Alcoholic drinks?         

These are my surprise items in the vending machine. Due to the regulations, I thought it is difficult to put those in the vending machines. There are solutions for every problem. Older than 21 years old in Japan, can apply for cards on their name to use vending machines for tobacco and alcoholic drinks. There goes the regulation. Those are responsible vending machines. So again, no need to worry. :)

I may think like a child. I always find some things incredible, like magic…. And, I see magic in the vending machines…

I moved to Tokyo during summer, vending machines were full of cold drinks… A dream come true…. Then, time pass and autumn arrived, the cold drinks lost the charm they had before. One day in autumn, it all changed… Vending machines, products converted to hot drinks and cold drinks…  That is the magic of vending machines… In spring, those hot drinks become cold drinks. Two times a year, vending machines perform this magic.

 There are many vending machines in Tokyo, many items, some are responsible ones, and some are magical ones... In the end, the more the merrier…

Cheers,

Ece