One of my friend, Inge who work in Japan said she need an article to plan her money..  and from google, I found Flea Market. ^^



Flea Market sell some used clothes, accessories, toys, shoes, books, potteries, pictures, and lots more. You might be able to find good souvenirs at good prices. Flea markets are held at parks, parking lots, department stores, shrines, temples, and so on. Many large flea markets are organized by associations like Japan Garage Sale Association (06-6362-6322), Japan Flea Market Association (06-6531-8417), Tokyo Recycle Campaign Citizen's Association (03-3384-6666), and Recycle Campaign Citizen's Association (03-3226-6800).

Most of the flea markets are held irregularly, so make sure to check schedules before you go. Also, flea markets aren't usually open when it rains.

Flea Markets in Osaka:

Tsurumi Ryokuchi Flea Market
Location: Ryokuchi Koen Tsurumi-ku Osaka-city
Access: Subway Tsurumi Ryokuchi Station
Admission: 300 yen (adults) / 100 yen (elementary students)
Open irregularly.

Nankou The Flea Market --- about 300 booths.
Location: Cosmo Square
Access: New Tram Tecno Port Line Cosmo Square Station
Admission: 300 yen
Open: The second and forth Sundays

Minoo Kayano Hiroba Flea Market
Location: Kayano Hiroba Minoo-city
Access: Take a bus from Hankyu Minoo Station to Kayano-chuo Bus Stop.
Free Admission / Open the second Sundays

Minatomahi River Place Flea Market
Location: 1-3-1 Minatomachi Naniwa-ku Osaka-city
Free admission / Open irregularly.

*Schedules and locations are subject to change without notice.

Yeah..  in there, they sell used items but it have a good price. So, if you want to save your money.. you can go there, nge.. do you already visit it? hohoho...

Madame Tussauds is a famous wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was set up by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud.

Marie Tussaud (1761–1850) was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.

Tussaud created her first wax figure, of Voltaire, in 1777. Other famous people she modelled at that time include Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the French Revolution she made wax death masks of prominent victims. She would search through corpses to find the decapitated heads of the citizens which the death masks were to depict. When Curtius died in 1794, he left his collection of waxworks to Marie. In 1802, she went to London. As a result of the Franco-English war, she was unable to return to France, so she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. For a time, it was displayed at the Lyceum Theatre. She established her first permanent exhibition on Baker Street in London in 1835 (on the "Baker Street Bazaar").

One of the main attractions of her museum was the Chamber of horrors. This part of the exhibition included some victims of the French Revolution and also newly created figures of murderers and other criminals. The name was given by a contributor to Punch in 1845. Other famous people were added to the exhibition, including Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott. Some of the sculptures done by Tussaud herself still exist. In 1842, she made a self portrait which is now on display at the entrance of her museum.

The museum moved to its current location on Marylebone Road in 1884. In 1925 a fire destroyed many of the figures, but the moulds survived, allowing the historical waxworks to be remade.

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become a major tourist attraction in London, incorporating (until recently) the London Planetarium in its west wing. It has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Las Vegas, New York City, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Washington DC, with additional locations scheduled to open in Berlin in July 2008 and Hollywood in 2009. Today's wax figures at Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. Known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe), they are owned by a leisure company called Merlin Entertainments, following the acquisition of The Tussauds Group in May 2007.

uhh... wanna to go there..... ^^

Source: wikipedia - Madame Tussauds

Did u get flowers on Valentine's day?
these simple care guidelines will help keep them vibrant and long lasting.

• Check Your Flowers Daily
Keep the vase, container or liner filled with fresh water. Even if the container has floral foam, you should keep the water level high to promote long lasting flowers. The container's water has a fresh flower food added to it. If you completely change the water, you should also thoroughly clean the container. Add fresh water mixed with a commercial fresh flower food. These flower foods may be supplied by the florist who delivered your order and they contain the correct ingredients to properly nourish the flowers, keep bacteria at bay (which can block the stems and prevent them from absorbing water), encourage buds to open, and lengthen the life of the bouquet. It's one of the best and easiest ways to extend the life of your flowers, but be sure to follow the directions on the package correctly. Improperly mixed flower food can actually do more harm than good.

• Re-cut Their Stems
Every few days, remove the flowers from the design and re-cut the stems. Remove 3/4" to one inch from the bottom of the stem and be sure to cut the stem at an angle to allow the flower the best chance to take up water. Use a sharp knife or sharp floral cutter or scissor. Avoid smashing or piercing the stems, as this can destroy the water vessels in the stem and prevent water absorption. Remove any spent or damaged blooms or foliage that falls below the waterline in the vase.

To avoid disturbing the stem placements in a vase arrangement, tie the stems with twine just above the vase's edge before taking them out of their vase. Hold the tied arrangement at the twine-bound point to re-cut the stems. Then place them back into the clean vase with the fresh water and a flower food.

• Change their water, and add additional fresh flower food
Be sure to clean the vase before refilling it with room-temperature water mixed with the proper amount of fresh flower food. Be sure no debris is floating in the water (such as leaves and stem parts) as this could promote the growth of bacteria which can shorten a flower's life.

• Display them in a cool spot
Most flowers prefer temperatures between 65 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 22 degrees Celsius) and are best displayed away from direct sunlight, heating or cooling vents, directly under ceiling fans, or on top of televisions or radiators, which give off heat and can cause flowers to dehydrate. Avoid placing fresh flowers near ripening fruit, which releases tiny amounts of ethylene gas that can age them prematurely.

2 days left before Chinese New Year 2008.. hoho.. ^^

Hmm... Chinese New Year is a time to gather with family, honor ancestors and celebrate with a big banquet that symbolizes prosperity in the New Year.

Most of the dishes served during Chinese New Year (also known as Spring Festival) are symbolic of something positive and hopeful.

Dishes are also chosen based on homonyms--words that either are spelled the same or sound the same as other words. Fish (yu) is served because it sounds similar to the Chinese word for plenty; whole fish represents abundance. Turnips are cooked because their name (cai tou) also means "good luck."

Another popular Chinese New Year dish is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. In some areas of China, coins are placed in the center of jiaozi. Whoever bites into one of these dumplings will have an exceptionally lucky year.