How I Ended Up In Japan...
And Made A Website About Tokyo...
If you've come to this site, it's because you have a passion for traveling.I can truly relate to that, because I'm exactly the same. Put me in one place for more than 3 months and I'm a nervous wreck. Give me a 12 hour flight, and I sleep like a baby. I started traveling when I was 20, and never really stopped since then.
Well…a couple of years after the babies were born did slow me down a bit.
But now I'm a proud mother of 2 keen young travelers, who have visited more countries than they can count on their fingers (toes included). I love traveling, and I've traveled half the world, but Japan was very different.
I fell in love with Tokyo and the Japanese people, and decided to stay. I lived in Tokyo, and immersed myself completely in the Japanese culture (I hope you can feel that reading my site). I didn't know a word of Japanese. I didn't know how to ask for directions. I didn't even know what was in their soups (luckily, because I was a vegetarian back then).
My Japanese Journey Begins... In Japan I got into some of the most hilarious and embarrassing situations of my life.Remember how your mother always told you not to make noises while eating? Imagine my surprise when everyone around me was making loud slurping noises while eating their noodles in Tokyo Restaurants…
Its fine when it comes from a group of loud teenagers, but the real shocker comes when finely groomed middle-aged ladies sporting a Channel bag and a silk scarf slurp too.
Turns out that in Japan it’s considered a compliment to the chef to make slurping noises. Years of western manners (hi mom) did their job and I never really learned how to slurp properly. Toilet seats in Japan are a big thing.
I was surprised to find out that they make "white noise" if you like to mask out any embarrassing sounds. They can be heated to your favorite temperature, they will even wash and dry. A bit like the automatic car wash machines.
After a while you get so used to this incredibly pampering invention you can’t live without it.
How this piece of equipment never became a hit outside Japan is a mystery to me. I know a couple of friends who lived in Japan for a few years and took back home a Japanese toilet.
You'll find these toilet seats everywhere in Japan: hotels, restaurants, high-end Tokyo malls and even subway stations. Turning your back to someone in a higher status than you is a big No-No in Japan, even if you're saying goodbye at the end of a long and Alcohol-loaded evening.
This leads to hilarious and crazy situations where people go out of a business dinner and say goodbye going backwards, bowing and still going backwards and more bowing and backwards.
Then they'll enter the Taxi with their backside first, still bowing and very very drunk.
About This Site I know you came here to learn about Tokyo, but I decided to add this section because I get a lot of questions about why I give away so much information for free.Ever since I discovered that I can make a living from traveling, I said I would teach others how to do it too. I use a web host called Site Build It. It helps beginners, build their first site, but its also for experienced folks too. For instance - I built my second site with Site Build It too, because its so convenient. It takes the fear out of building that first website by providing an action guide, design templates (no web developing experience necessary), search engine ranking help, etc. More importantly it shows you how to make a little cash with your site.
SBI made it clear that the key to a successful, earning website is to WRITE words that can sell. "I can do that"...I thought. I didn't feel like I was taking too much risk, since SiteSell.com refunds you 100% within the first 90 days of purchase. Here's what SBI walks you through...
- Picking a profitable website topic
- How to generate traffic to your site
- How to build your website
- And, most importantly, how to make money!
Even though the information on this Tokyo Attractions site is free (and will always be!), SBI has showed me how to earn a profit with Google ads and other affiliate programs. I give away so much for free, but the reward comes back to me through these affiliations. So instead of it costing me to maintain this website, it actually returns a nice profit. You probably found this site by using a search engine. Well that's what SBI helps me with. It showed me how to build pages that rank high in the major engines so I can get as much free traffic as possible. I don't like the phrase "easy money", but it's the closest I've ever come to such a concept in my life!
Cool Success Stories
Here's some of my favorite Site Build It! stories
My goal was to work from any part of the world and build an online business that would generate at least the income I was earning in corporate life.
That was in December 2008.
Today, I maintain 2 websites which generate a 4 figure monthly income whether I work, visit my friends in Tokyo, or spend summer vacation with my family on the beach.
Just Give it a Go! If you've got some spare time, you should try it. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't use it myself. My advice is to pick a topic that you have a personal interest in. Think about your hobbies or passions.Do you have the solution to a problem that can help people? Weightloss? Make-up? Gardening? Dating? The topic can be anything. Just make sure you are interested enough in the topic to build a useful, informative site - otherwise you'd get bored and abandon it.
I am not a travel agent. I simply write about my favorite destination. I remind you, SBI, is completely risk free. SiteSell.com will give you a FULL refund if it's not for you. They can honor a great guarantee like that because they know they've got an outstanding product and the success stories like mine to back it up.
Try SBI when you get some time
If you have any questions about SBI (SiteBuildIt), if you're still skeptical about SBI or my story, please feel free to
contact me.
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