What is in your cup?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by desertblues

I know the story of a friend of a friend of mine who travelled there with a sturdy bag......the thieves got at her with a knife to slash the bag....that didn't work and she ended up in hospital as she was cut up.

That can happen. Especially if the thieves are druggies.

When traveling in Central-Asia, China, Iran or other countries that don't have many ATM's or money change facilities: I take cash with me for the whole of the journey

I prefer cash as well. The only reason I used traveler's checks this time was because the amount of cash involved. I still retained about $10,000 USD in Japanese Yen, and converted $1,000 USD into Thai Baht in VERY small denominations. Nothing worse than trying to pay a Thai taxi driver with a thousand Baht bill (about 30$ USD...) or even a Five hundred Baht bill for that matter! A taxi ride might cost about 40-60 Baht.

will have two pockets on the front of my trousers. In the one I stash all money and in the other one my passport, the flap secured with velcro and a safety pin inside.

We've sewn pockets INSIDE our pants, that close with velcro. Outside pockets only get 'daily money.' One side gets the larger bills. B100's and B500s, and the other side gets the smaller B50 and B20 bills, and coins. Inside pockets with larger monies and copies of passports never get accessed publicly when we need to re-fill the outer pockets. A toilet stall gives enough privacy for that.

As I often travel alone, I will not go near a bank or ATM; as not to get into trouble.

It always amazes me that tourist DO go to the ATM's in foreign countries so often. In S.E. Asia, it's very common for thieves to attach card scanners over ATMS during the night to read numbers and pin codes, then remove them the next morning. I watched a Discovery Ch documentary about pickpockets in Italy and Spain, 'working' the tourists, with the children actually standing behind tourists at ATM's and grabbing the cash as it comes out of the machine and running. One kid bumps the tourist just as the ATM drawer opens, and another kid grabs the money and runs. And they keep doing this all day long! Instead of using the ATM, if absolutely necessary, I'll go inside the bank and have a teller run my card and give me the cash so I can secure it while still inside the bank. Even that is risky in some countries, but not nearly so much as using a street-side ATM!

At one time I cruised the USA for a month from one cheap lodging (with coupons) to the next....nothing happened. The traffic was more disciplined and less crowded than in my own country. But the day after I got back home, I did some shopping on my bike and when I left the store, my bike was stolen.....

See? This is exactly why I usually push my motorcycle for the first two miles when leaving the house! The statistics say that most accidents happen within a mile of home! I'm not taking any chances...


Stitchawl

[VydorScope]

In USA the ATM is becoming a dieing breed... we are moving more and more to a plastic system. Many smaller shops use tools like Square to take cards... I can not think of the last store, taxi, etc I have seen that does not take debit and/or credit.

[Stitchawl]

There is a new card that is taking this area by storm. One card, direct to your bank, use for all trains, buses, convenience stores, vending machines, even photo booths and coin lockers in train stations. Auto scan, no numbers to push. It started a few years ago with just one train line, spread to all the different (and there are about nine of them) train lines in the Kansai Region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagano, Nara) then to all the different bus lines. Now there are in almost all the convenience stores, supermarkets, vending machines (here the vending machines sell everything from sake and cigarettes to tea, coffee, books, magazines, umbrellas, sex toys, Cup Noodle, cakes, beer and whiskey... Imagine having a beer vending machine on your corner.... and you don't even need money. Just scan in your card!


Stitchawl

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

There is a new card that is taking this area by storm. One card, direct to your bank, use for all trains, buses, convenience stores, vending machines, even photo booths and coin lockers in train stations. Auto scan, no numbers to push. It started a few years ago with just one train line, spread to all the different (and there are about nine of them) train lines in the Kansai Region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagano, Nara) then to all the different bus lines. Now there are in almost all the convenience stores, supermarkets, vending machines (here the vending machines sell everything from sake and cigarettes to tea, coffee, books, magazines, umbrellas, sex toys, Cup Noodle, cakes, beer and whiskey... Imagine having a beer vending machine on your corner.... and you don't even need money. Just scan in your card!


Stitchawl

I've heard of a similar card in Hong Kong - something like the Octopus card?

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

There is a new card that is taking this area by storm. One card, direct to your bank, use for all trains, buses, convenience stores, vending machines, even photo booths and coin lockers in train stations. Auto scan, no numbers to push. It started a few years ago with just one train line, spread to all the different (and there are about nine of them) train lines in the Kansai Region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagano, Nara) then to all the different bus lines. Now there are in almost all the convenience stores, supermarkets, vending machines (here the vending machines sell everything from sake and cigarettes to tea, coffee, books, magazines, umbrellas, sex toys, Cup Noodle, cakes, beer and whiskey... Imagine having a beer vending machine on your corner.... and you don't even need money. Just scan in your card!


Stitchawl

Doesn't this make theft even easier, if the thief steals your card, they don't even need to know a "pin" number?

Black coffee.

[ProfCrash]

I am so bad about carrying cash with me now. My assumption is that folks take credit cards.

I have my starbucks card registered to be safe. If ti gets stolen, I can report it to them and deal with anything that has been lost on it. I would hope that these cards work the same way. Also, if they are tied to your bank, you should be able to deal with fradulent charges through the bank.

I avoided ATMs overseas when I travelled because they were potentially dangerous and because I was using travelers checks. I don't remember what we did in New Zealand and Australia, I think we just used our credit cards. I don't remember needing cash for much or going to an ATM while we were there.

I have been known to use one of the money belts that you can strap to your breast or around your waste or both. I have stuck money in my bra and normally carry money in my sock when out walking, just in case something happened I had some cash on me.

I love the PAC Safe bags. There is the possibility of getting injured no matter what bag you are carrying. For the most part the thieves can recognize those bags, the materials are different and it is a noticable difference. The thieves are more likely to leave you alone because there are easier targets.

[CRussel]

In Canada, virtually everyone takes and uses Interac, which is a debit card system that all the banks are tied up into. Credit cards are not used nearly as much, but Interac is used for even small purchases.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

Doesn't this make theft even easier, if the thief steals your card, they don't even need to know a "pin" number?

Black coffee.

Yes, they could. The nice thing about living in Japan is that personal theft is so rare, like personal assault. Most crime is on a business level, and the biggest crimes commuted are by the Yakuza.

Think of it this way... There is several vending machines on a dark back street corner, selling beer, sake, and whiskey. These machines are outside, just on the side of the street. In the US, they would be broken into in the middle of the day, every day. In the UK probably broken into in the middle of the night,maybe every night or every other. In Japan, they are never broken in to... Different cultures, different types of crime. Here, child sexual abuse is rampant but rarely reported. Employers overworking their hired help. In S'pore, the rich Chinese severely abuse (both physically and mentaly) their domestic staff. In Hong Kong, domestic staff get a few hour off a week (if they are lucky) and no overtime pay. Different cultures, different crimes.
Time for a Bombay Sapphire, and then beddy bye....

Stitchawl

[CRussel]

There's promise that the rain is gone for a day or two, even though it doesn't really look all that promising yet. But I'm an optimist, so Lion Mountain Keemun for me.

[ProfCrash]

Yellow tea in my cup. Earlier it was Wuyi Shan Red Cape Oolong. In between was Dr Pepper.

Ahhhh the good life

[Stitchawl]

Here they come again, mmmm-mm-mm
Catch us if you can, mmmm-mm-mm
Time to get a move on, mmmm-mm-mm
We will yell with all of our might

Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can

Now we gotta run, mmmm-mm-mm
No more time for fun, mmmm-mm-mm
When we're gettin' angry, mmmm-mm-mm
We will yell with all of our might

Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can
Catch us if you can

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zGvtBCgKeY )

Good morning, everyone! Rush, rush, rush.... Gulping down Taylors of Harrogate's "English Breakfast" tea, eating crab on crackers (clean out the closets and the fridge?) and get the place ready for potential buyers who will be making their second look at the house... a VERY good sign! I've got my fingers crossed. I'd like to have the place sold before we leave.

And it seems someone wants us out of here pretty badly. The delivery man was at the door at 9am with a 'cold pack.' One of our friends sent us a full half kilo of Wagyu Beef! (What you call 'Kobe Beef.") This is the best of the best... Roughly $400 a pound... or the way "I" look at it, $300 for fat plus $100 for meat. Authentic 'Kobe Beef' has only been exported since last year. The stuff sold as Kobe Beef in the US, Europe, and Australia is actually taken from domestically raised wagyu cows crossbred with Angus cattle, to meet the growing demand. Farms in the U.S. and Britain have attempted to duplicate the Kobe style of raising the beef. US meat producers say differences between their less expensive "Kobe-style" beef and true Kobe beef are largely cosmetic, but I disagree. U.S. "Kobe-style" beef tend to have darker meat and a much bolder flavor. Personally, I prefer the US style. In fact, give me a good T-bone cut of Angus beef any day over Kobe fat...er... beef. Beef should NOT be pink!




On the other hand, I won't throw away a half kilo of real Kobe beef... Guess what we'll have for dinner tonight?

Opps! Doorbell! Here they come again....


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

OK, now I am jealous. The fat is the best part.

A bottle of Ridge Ponzi Vineyard Zinfandel to celebrate my sweetie being back home.

[Stitchawl]

I'm buying a round for the house. Landlord, a bottle of your best, please.

We sold the condo this afternoon. Paperwork to be done on Monday, closing on Wednesday, we fly Thursday. May the bridges I burn light the way...

Unfortunately, the couple who bought it are Chinese. Culture strikes again. We put the condo up for sale at a nice price, all things considered. Call it 'just a bit above' the going rate for a condo this size, in this neighborhood, etc. The Japanese would never consider making a counter-offer when purchasing a house. Or almost anything, for that matter. But the Chinese are ferocious bargainers. They came back with a counter-offer that would have rocked the socks off of most Japanese... but not off an American who lived in Thailand for 10 years, where ferocious bargaining is the norm for even a taxi ride or a kilo of onions.... We talked, offer, counter, offer, counter, and finally arrived at the exact price I had set in 'my' mind when my wife and I first put the condo up for sale. While I didn't expect anyone to make a counter offer, (I didn't count on anyone other than Japanese buyers... My error.) I figured maybe someone really wanted to be here... maybe buy a place to put mother or father close by, etc.. and made an asking price just a bit higher than what was really expected, planning that if it didn't sell after the first 6 months, we could always come down to the 'real price'... to just what we sold it for today. Thank you, God.





Stitchawl

[orlok]

Congratulations Stitchawl! Kobe Beef!

Just kidding (though I am a wee bit jealous), well done on the condo sale.

A celebratory Rooibos in my cup.

[red_phoenix]

Congratulations Stitchawl on selling the condo.