WELCOME BACK TO THE 3RD INSTALLMENT OF Stuff YOU Should Know, brought to you by APetGuppy...Today we will address more important issues which deal with our own desires.

!!!!!STUFF TO BUY!!!!!

We are going for shopping in Japan no doubt, but what do we buy? How much should we spend?!!

Well, since most of us are gonna think about clothes first, i'll start with that.

!!!!!CLOTHES!!!!!

Alot of clothes in Japan are expensive. But there is a chain of shops, called Uniqlo, which sells high quality nice looking clothes for very very cheap prices. Plus, its has a large chain of shops, so we'll most probably chance upon one. Also when shopping for clothes don't make decisions too fast. Take your time and look around, you may be able to find good deals hiding here and there! This is like free advertising for Uniqlo. They should pay me. Anyway there are also other cheap clothing lines, you just gotta explore. Don't stick to the brands you're familiar with. When shopping never rush, because if you rush you will always make the wrong choices. Think carefully when you buy stuff coz there's 5 days of Japan, we can't spurlge $150 on 1 shirt just because you have $500 on the first day. Unfamiliar shopping grounds are very good for developing your taste in clothing. Unfortunately I don't think you men like clothes that much...


WELL, LETS MOVE ON

!!!!!FOOD!!!!!

It is not recommended you buy food back from Japan to Singapore. Coz most stuff you see in Japan you can find at your local Ichiban Store. Well, if your really that curious you can buy local food like "wanton flavoured potato chips" for a mid night snack. =P It's a good place to explore with your taste buds and stomachs.

!!!!!!SOUVENIRS!!!!!!

Well, if you're looking for souvenirs, it's pretty simple. You can buy stuff like Green Tea, Kimonos, expensive cut glass pieces, chopsticks(those really pretty kind), UMAI-BO(literally "delicious bars" there are many flavours available and these things are devastatingly cheap.) Mizu-yokan (Soft azuki-bean jelly), which are confectionaries which come in many many flavours and are also devastatingly cheap. Try not to go for those fancy expensive stuff coz it's like, so common. The best souvenirs are always local things which no one back home as experienced before. Thats a real souvenirs, because its bringing back a part of the host country back home.


!!!!!!SO, HOW MUCH TO BRING!!!!!!

I would recommend bringing SGD$400 - SGD$500
This amount would be optimal in order for you to make yourself the happiest! However, please don't feel pressured by me to bring more =). Take what you need. Don't spend just because money is at hand. Anyway, I won't talk about the itinerary anymore because Mr Khoo told me that you guys already did it for a project. So, I'm glad you're finding out more about our destinations by yourselves =D.

Wah...So exciting...I want to board the plane nowwwwww...

Miyajima ,one of japan's three most scenic views, was a town located on the island of itsukushima in saeki district, hiroshima. It has been considered a holy place for most of Japanese history. Since ancient times the island itself has been worshipped as a god. In fact, the island's real name is Itsukushima, and Miyajima is just a popular nickname meaning "Shrine Island" It is famous for the floating trii (or gate), Itsukushima Shrine, Senjokaku (which means "1000 Mat Pavilion"),. And Daisho-in (a major Buddhist temple a short distance above Itsukushima Shrine).

As the island is one of the most scenic place in japan, we are going to film the beauty in the shrine and its one and only torii that stands in the ocean. If possible, we are going to film from the angle of a local deer or monkey…… or else it will be from the tour guide.

Most of us had been to a shrine before; this is a chance for us to understand the Japanese culture, tradition and religion. The most amazing thing is Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines have maintained a close relationship on the island!!! (like the indian temple in chinatown). As the island is described as a place where people and god live togother, I think we can teach a lot from the visit (our presentation).

This place is about the Disaster Reduction Museum, a part of the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, was opened in 2002 to commemorate the tragic event and to educate visitors about earthquakes and disaster prevention.

We will video about the effects of the earthquakes that ravage the country so serverly. We will also video the damages and effects of the worst earthquake that ever hit japan, the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake.

The interesting part of the museum is that it has a large screen theater with realistic images of the earthquake's destructiveness, a documentary film about the recovery process, lots of information about the earthquake and various interactive games about disaster prevention.

We are going to visit Nara Park which is 4km east to west and 2km north to south. We are going to do a feature on the 1,200 dears roaming the area. Which are regarded as messengers of God in the Shinto religion. Killing these deers are considered an offense and punishable by death until 1647.

James Wong/ Keith Ong