photo by imelsewhere

Staying ahead of fashion trends often means taking a global view. A look to the East may be one of the quirkiest inspirations there are. And a nine-hour flight to Tokyo is no longer necessary thanks to the internet.

Purchasing Japanese fashions that haven't been re-styled for tamer Western tastes has typically been difficult to do: you must purchase directly from Japan and the majority of Japanese sellers won't ship to addresses outside of the country. Also there’s the matter of currency exchange and conversion. If you’re willing to shop using Yahoo! Auctions, a service similar to Ebay, you’ll be able to get around these restrictions. Companies like From Japan allow Westerners to participate in Japanese Yahoo! Auctions. They’ll place bids for you, inform you if you are in danger of being outbid, and mail you the product once you’ve won. The company will also send  employees to Japanese stores to purchase items which are not available on auction. They charge a small fee for this latter service, and of course you are responsible for international shipping costs, but it’s the next best thing to browsing the stores in person. Who wouldn’t want an outfit which you can tell your friends, “Oh, this? It’s from Shibuya. That's in Japan”?

photo by sharona790

While gambling is a risky proposition that shouldn’t be undertaken lightly, especially if you suspect yourself of having an addictive personality, placing a bet or two for fun can be a way of ramping up the excitement of watching a horse race. It's something to try once at least. If you've never bet on horses, the vast array of options and terms may seem daunting. But there are a few simple bets that you can try that will have you cheering as your favorite horse rounds the final turn.

The easiest horse racing bet is a Win bet. This requires placing a bet for a specific horse to come in first place in a race. If you like the horse but aren’t sure it will win the race, there are two other options for you to play. Betting that the horse will finish the race in either first or second is called a Place bet. If you’re less confident than that you might try a Show bet, which is wagering that the horse will come in first, second, or third.

A Quinella bet is when you guess which horses will be the first and second place finishers of a race. The order that the top two horses finish in doesn't matter in the Quinella. Expanding on this is the Trifecta, which is the betting of the first, second, and third place finishers of a race. A Superfecta involves four horses.

For all of these bets, how much you win depends on the difficulty of the bet, which is reflected in the odds. The odds will change during the pre-race, so keep an eye on them. When the odds are right for you, you can bet online or at the track. Stating your bet is as simple as saying, “$10 to win on (number of the horse as it appears in the program).” Then cross your fingers and pray.