It’s summertime and flying during Covid can be stressful. I flew a few weeks ago. As I took to my seat, I ripped open the wipe that the flight attendant handed us as we boarded the plane. I diligently wiped down the arm rest, table top, and video screen. Call me paranoid but I figure …
The other day I came across an article about a man who was a ghost hunter. He went into a haunted house and had a mental breakdown. Then he quit his job and retired. Well that about all the information they gave us. We don’t know why he quit his job, it maybe wasn’t the …
Traditions remain strong in Japan and one of the important seasonal events is Obon, or in English they say the Bon Festival. When I was growing up, obon was in mid July, but this year the official date in Japan is in mid-August. But I guess the date doesn’t matter. So, what is Obon? It’s …
“Selling is a skill. And an important skill for business.” I never realized that my Japanese cultural habits affected my business habits…
Is 70 really the new 50? Although, I’m not 70 yet, amongst my friends, I am finding that even as we age, we continue to participate in life through many avenues. These avenues include volunteering at the food bank, joining Toastmasters, traveling, and taking up a new hobby such as learning to play the ukulele. …
A few days ago I was working with Master Hsu organizing his blog posts on feng shui. We started in the early afternoon, and before I realized it, it was already getting dark outside. Since moving to the countryside, as the sun sets, it’s a sign for me to get going before the traffic gets …
Happy 2019! Wishing everyone good health, love, contentment and prosperity! I haven’t posted in a very long time. But with the New Year, there is always new energy, and this year I’m really feeling it. And a lot of it! Our family used to celebrate New Year’s with a big New Year’s Party. We used …
Wishing everyone good health, loving relationships, and much happiness for 2018! In Japan, we follow the Chinese 12 zodiac animals. This year is the 11th animal in the zodiac, the year of the Dog! Just as the dog is known as man’s best friend, people born in the year of the dog are loyal, honest, …
Contribution from freelance writer Jocelyn Brown. For decades, Asian culture has shown an affinity for animation and computer games…
Today March 3rd is Girl’s Day in Japan. I was thinking about this all day today. Girl’s Day. I don’t know any other country that actually has a Girl’s Day celebration. If I’m wrong and ignorant, please let me know. I want to know if anyplace else in the world celebrates Girl’s Day. What a …
A cul-de-sac is a dead end street, often with a circular turnaround. As a feng shui consultant, I’m often asked whether a cul-de-sac is good or bad feng shui, as there seems to be much confusion on this topic. Cul-de-sacs come in a range of sizes and shapes. Most often the main concern is the …
The Japaneses Shichigosan festival celebrates children who are 7,5, and 3. The word, Shichigosan is literally a combination of three numbers in Japanese; shichi is seven, go is five and san is three. This makes it pretty easy to remember what this festival is about! The Shichigosan festival, thought to be over 400 years old, is …
Shichigosan: The Japanese Festival for 7, 5, and 3 Year Olds Read More »
Wishing everyone a very Happy and Healthy 2015! Selling our home in July was a big move for our family. We are still in a small apartment and I just couldn’t get myself into the holiday mood. One thing I learned being in a small apartment is that if you buy anything for your home, it becomes crowded and …
Continuation from Understanding Feng Shui for the Home Part I Over the years, I’ve come to realize that Feng Shui for the home is based on relationships. Relationships between you and your environment, including the location, topography, weather patterns, neighborhood, neighbors and your family. What we have the most control over is our home environment. So how can we …
We live in this digital age where everything is just a finger tip away. Questions on anything and everything can be answered instantaneously. Want to know a meaning of a word? A good restaurant? directions? title of a song? artist? history? Immediate answers have become the norm. From an Asian philosophical perspective, as a society, we …
In karma, your actions whether good or bad will come back to you. Most Asians do believe in karma as it’s part of our culture, imbedded in how we were raised rather than a religious issue. As a young child I didn’t know what karma was but in our Japanese-American home we knew what “bachi” …
