Project Tetsubō [Day 275]: Gearing Up For Greatness

As the return to Japan in November rapidly approaches, I’ve taken the opportunity to join the Rimowa family. What is the Rimowa family? Well, for the unaware Rimowa is arguably the best luggage brand on the planet. You might find yourself surprised that you’ve never heard of them, they’ve existed since 1898, and whilst LV and Samsonite might be more top of mind, Rimowa is top of the heap.

What makes Rimowa so amazing? Quite simply the build quality of the luggage is extremely high; their in-store service experience is exceptional; and the life-time guarantee on the luggage build seals the deal. I was even offered Evian whilst I waited for the monogramming…

I opted for a poly-carbonate / aluminium hybrid case, because it ensured there was no zippers whilst avoiding the heavy and conspicuous nature of the aluminium case. I had to toss up between 65L (M) or 85L (L) versions. Whilst I was sorely tempted to go large, because of the value for money, I’m used to packing for a carry-on so the smaller version was enough for me.

Learning Japanese: 275-day Duolingo Streak

Day 275 means we are also still learning characters no? Yes – Katakana is kicking my butt. I got through Dakuon which is the addition of symbols to change the sounds; and that made sense. but the next phase is Combo which is adding smaller characters to normal characters to make new syllables.

e.g. Combining キ and ヤ gives キヤ which is sounded as Kiya

But if you combine キャ it is sounded as Kya – so the smaller form of ya removes the i, and changes the sound

That is what is challenging me on a daily basis right now; As we approach 300, I may look to up the lessons to 2 or 3 per day, before enlisting a tutor to start cementing this basic knowledge.

We have just 825 days left of Project Tetsubo, and building an amazing future for those involved.