at tokyo now.

[hwaa]

Some of them would appreciate it if you spoke Japanese.

but i only know few words...

sumimasei, arigato, oishi, kawaii, ohaiyo.

i did make some effort to say abit of japanese though.

 

[hwaa]

today went harajuku, the experience was better. those shops that we went in, got much better receptions from the japs.

 

[hwaa]

All Chinese look the same for them. Maybe that why they treated u equally no difference from PRC, Malaysian, Taiwan etc..

especially in asakusa, i see so many signages outside their shops says no eating, pls clean hands before touching, no oily hands, then shops selling food will ask u to eat finish at the boundary of their stall before u continue moving off.

i was thinking... shld be the tiongs.

 

[gentoro]

especially in asakusa, i see so many signages outside their shops says no eating, pls clean hands before touching, no oily hands, then shops selling food will ask u to eat finish at the boundary of their stall before u continue moving off.

i was thinking... shld be the tiongs.

Well, we obey their rule - eat at the stall or tabao back home to eat. I always tell my kids, not buying no touch. They got the habit now just point and see see.

 

[gentoro]

All Chinese look the same for them. Maybe that why they treated u equally no difference from PRC, Malaysian, Taiwan etc..

Usually you see their blacken face lighten up when you flak them with powerful English saying "I from Singapore".

 

[5star_pundit]

must buy danboard from Amazon.co.jp

 

[juxtaposition]

Echerly sales assistants and even cashiers r PRC

Even hotel reception also speak mandarin leh

It is becoming like Seoul

 

[Wood41]

Your look ?
Not handsome ?
Or your feel ?

I usually not bothered even though I met
once before.

I got pushed 2x by 2 old ladies for
blocking their way in Seoul & Jiuzhaigao,China.

4 days here liao, feel like they dont really like foreigners in general, just like us sinkies dont like foreigners as well.

 

[Wood41]

Sounds ‘powerful’ with ‘ I from Singapore ‘ .

Usually you see their blacken face lighten up when you flak them with powerful English saying "I from Singapore".

 

[hwaa]

Your look ?
Not handsome ?
Or your feel ?

I usually not bothered even though I met
once before.

I got pushed 2x by 2 old ladies for
blocking their way in Seoul & Jiuzhaigao,China.

maybe its just me.

 

[hwaa]

Echerly sales assistants and even cashiers r PRC

Even hotel reception also speak mandarin leh

It is becoming like Seoul

really meh. so far i yet to encounter any sales assistant that speaks mandarin.. 5 days here liao.

been to major stores in shibuya, harajuku, shunjuku. never heard any yet..

 

[winningeleven]

especially in asakusa, i see so many signages outside their shops says no eating, pls clean hands before touching, no oily hands, then shops selling food will ask u to eat finish at the boundary of their stall before u continue moving off.

i was thinking... shld be the tiongs.

My last visit to Japan was in early 2016. I was at Osaka and kyoto. I realised a lot of staffs at shisaibashi r actually PRC and no doubt they could speak Japanese quite well too. Previously I was at Tokyo in 2009 N 2011 and There were no much PRC working there.

A Japanese speaking PRC saw me walked into the adidas shop and she could straightaway switch to mandarin and asked me welcome and do u need any help and I replied in English that I just looking around and I could feel She didn't understand what I was saying too. Actually if she didn't speak mandarin to me. I would think she was a Japanese.

 

[hwaa]

My last visit to Japan was in early 2016. I was at Osaka and kyoto. I realised a lot of staffs at shisaibashi r actually PRC and no doubt they could speak Japanese quite well too. Previously I was at Tokyo in 2009 N 2011 and There were no much PRC working there.

A Japanese speaking PRC saw me walked into the adidas shop and she could straightaway switch to mandarin and asked me welcome and do u need any help and I replied in English that I just looking around and I could feel She didn't understand what I was saying too. Actually if she didn't speak mandarin to me. I would think she was a Japanese.

actually i saw a tiong who initiated mandarin to a waitress.

earlier she served me and i didnt thought she could speak mandarin, so when she replied in mandarin to the tiong..i was quite surprised.

so im thinking maybe some can speak mandarin but unless u start if not they will not start.

 

[Ruriel]

actually i saw a tiong who initiated mandarin to a waitress.

earlier she served me and i didnt thought she could speak mandarin, so when she replied in mandarin to the tiong..i was quite surprised.

so im thinking maybe some can speak mandarin but unless u start if not they will not start.

They will initiate if they are unable to explain certain things clearer to you in English. I went into a random 7-11 in Shinjuku to ask for directions to Shinjuku Gyoen (we were not going in from the main gate). There were two staff manning the counter and they were talking to each other in very fluent Japanese. We asked them for directions in English,and one guy tried to explain in English but his accent was bad (he was a Japanese). Then the other guy tried to explain in English and his accent was actually familiar and we understood him better, but we still didnt quite get the directions he was saying, so he suddenly asked if we are from China, in mandarin. We were a bit taken aback because we didn't expect him to know mandarin. We replied back in mandarin that we are from Singapore, but since he now knows that we knew how to speak mandarin, he proceeded to explain in mandarin, which makes everything so much clearer lol.

He got the prc accent when speaking madarin but doesn't have the typical prc look. Extremely friendly and well mannered chap. I wish sg has more of such prcs in sg (but I noticed there are more well mannered prcs living among us nowadays already, so that's an improvement).

 

[thwysg]

They will initiate if they are unable to explain certain things clearer to you in English. I went into a random 7-11 in Shinjuku to ask for directions to Shinjuku Gyoen (we were not going in from the main gate). There were two staff manning the counter and they were talking to each other in very fluent Japanese. We asked them for directions in English,and one guy tried to explain in English but his accent was bad (he was a Japanese). Then the other guy tried to explain in English and his accent was actually familiar and we understood him better, but we still didnt quite get the directions he was saying, so he suddenly asked if we are from China, in mandarin. We were a bit taken aback because we didn't expect him to know mandarin. We replied back in mandarin that we are from Singapore, but since he now knows that we knew how to speak mandarin, he proceeded to explain in mandarin, which makes everything so much clearer lol.

He got the prc accent when speaking madarin but doesn't have the typical prc look. Extremely friendly and well mannered chap. I wish sg has more of such prcs in sg (but I noticed there are more well mannered prcs living among us nowadays already, so that's an improvement).

At least these people tried. Encountered a PRC lady who started talking to me in Mandarin, refused to speak to me in English and hardselling the shoes (NMDs) without even checking with me on the colors that I preferred. Asked her if it’s suitable for sports since I needed a new pair for running, she told me she heard from other customers saying it’s suitable. Hearsay? Don’t even know the products. A lot more in Tokyo. Luckily in small towns, it’s still the locals.

 

[deodorant]

We were a bit taken aback because we didn't expect him to know mandarin.

Yah, nowadays a lot of PRC working in the big cities. Difference is that they integrate well I guess, so for those of us who don’t speak Japanese (well), we can’t tell. I wonder if the native Japanese ppl can tell though, maybe they speak with a tiong accent.

In my last trip one of the gyoza eatery cooks at some random shop we visited was PRC. Then even skiing in nozawa onsen one of the staff asked us something in Jp then when we couldn’t reply she immediately switched to mandarin.

Deo's Travel, Food & Cooking adventures: http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/ HardwareZone Forums app

 

[hwaa]

PRCs go japs they integrate.

wherelse they come here, the mighty one expects us to accommodate them.

what irony.

 

[VD]

so far those we have encountered is very polite, considering the service orientation of the Japanese. We usually look out for PRC to make orders if possible.

 

[winningeleven]

Only the PRC who worked in sg won't bother to learn English to speak to non Chinese here. I went to many European cities and such In Paris. They speak French. In Rome, they speak Italian and I noticed they don't speak English at all except those in Copenhagen where they could speak Danish and better English While on transit at doha taking Qatar airway. I saw a few Prc worked in duty free and I believe they should be able to speak Arab too

 

[cancer81]

this has more to do with human nature, they see Singapore as a Chinese society and this came from their media and stuff they hear...

In Japan nothing works unless you can read and speak Japanese. You notice that the examples you listed speak a single language overwhelmingly? Plus these countries have a much stronger cultural identity. Our own cultural identity is a mishmash and because we need to cater to seniors who can't read english, we got translated signage like everywhere on mass transit. Unless their employers impose a rule to make their employees learn english.... you will see them continue to use mandarin