Survival tips

I have given it a long and thorough thought on how I could impart to you some details, no matter how small or odd they are, of my daily life here in Japan, so you would somehow picture how I survive the daily grind of this hustle-and-bustle place. So, I am coining this series (yes, it is!) survival tips. Who knows, some of these may be applicable to you. ;)

Survival Tip #1.
Everybody knows that Tokyo is a heavenly place such that everything are priced up to heaven. So the trick is, if you want to save some of your precious hard-earned yen, is to shop in the right place and at the right time.

Right place. In my area, I know where I can find the cheapest meat or my favorite cornflakes, or our daily Philippine bananas. In effect, I don't shop in only one place. You might think that is a bit tedious. I don't mind at all, for the shops are just a few meters apart, sometimes facing each other, or on my way home.

And, oh, check out also some recycle shops, that is, if you are not so particular with buying slightly-used items. I'm telling you, those that I bought in these shops look like new.

Right time. Discounts are a no-no here, even in the wet market. But the norm here is that when the sun starts going down, so are the prices of the grocery items. This is especially true for perishables like fish and obentos (ready-made meals). Unless it is urgent, I do my grocery shopping in the afternoon (or evening, after work), where I wait for the price of the fish to go as low as 50%.

Right timing is also good for shopping other necessities. I think I have already memorized the prices of the shoes I wanted to buy for my son, and have gone to many shops to compare prices. And just this afternoon, I chanced upon a beautiful kiddie shoes sold at only 450yen! Knowing that the original price was at 2kyen, I grabbed it right away! Once, I bought my son's outdoor shorts for only hyakuen (100yen)!

More survival tips next time! ;)