Health officials say washing your hands between your fingers up to your wrists vigorously for about fifteen seconds helps deter the spreading of the virus. Officials encourage people not to touch their faces, rub their eyes or noses if their hands are not clean.

If you have to go to a heavily populated place or ride on mass transit, wear a mask if you have one available. If you don’t, try to avoid being close to people especially those coughing or sneezing.

The spray from a cough can travel up to about two meters.

If you suspect you may be sick, you should call health authorities before going to a clinic or hospital to ensure you don’t spread the virus in those facilities. Health authorities have designated hospitals and clinics you can visit and may even provide transportation for you to get there.

The H1N1 swine flu virus being spread right now is not virulent and in most cases is light. But precautions do need to be made and people are encouraged to stay home if possible until the virus dies out or has come under control.

Pay attention to the news and keep up to date with what is going on. Staying informed is also a good way to fight the virus.

The World Health Organization is currently monitoring those already infected with swine flu in Osaka and Kobe, and tracing their steps back to find the source. If you go out into public suspecting you are sick with the virus, you may cause others to become infected. While the current strain of swine flu is not as virulent as the original strain, it can be deadly to those with pre-existing health problems like heart disease, diabetes and other major illnesses.

A good way to help prevent the spreading of swine flu or any other disease is to wear a mask. While it is not a cure-all method to spreading the virus, masks do help from passing viruses on to others. If you have to go out into the public or travel by train, bus, taxi or by air get a mask and wear it. If you have a car, drive it instead of traveling by public transportation.

Another way to prevent contracting or spreading the virus is to wash your hands thoroughly. Use soap and water and scrub your hands vigorously getting between your fingers and under your fingernails. Be sure to also wash and rinse the faucets before you turn them off. Dry your hands with a clean towel.

If you suspect you are ill with swine flu, do not go directly to a hospital or clinic. Instead, contact the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Tokyo. They will direct you to a designated facility, hospital or clinic that can immediately care for you and protect others from contracting the virus. They may also send an official car or ambulance to pick you up and take you to the facility.

Swine flu symptoms resemble normal flu-like symptoms; a sudden high fever, coughing, sneezing, fatigue, muscle aches and pains. If you feel you may be coming down with swine flu immediately contact the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare at (03) 3501-9031.

Thanks to hard times at the radio station, staff have had to make adjustments and figure out a better way to keep the hurting radio station alive and playing. The schedule of the music has changed and even more importantly, the music.

Listen to more English music than all the others, and not just the most popular stuff, which at times can be a turn-off. Listen to music from around the world from artists who actually know how to sing and play.

Visit their website and tune into the station today!

89.4 FM-Kyoto

Listen Live Online!

Suryodaya opened their doors to the public in May this year. They are located 5 to 10 minutes from the station, depending on how fast you walk and if you stop along the way window-shopping. The walk is easy and there are only a few turns along the way so it is not confusing. Some places I’ve visited are like walking through a maze. So rest assured, you won’t get lost going there or returning to the station, something you need to think about especially if you drink a lot of alcohol.

Suryodaya has two floors with an upstairs area that seats about 10 to 15 people; great for parties and privacy. Downstairs seats between 30 to 40 people, but don’t quote me on that. The décor, like most Indian restaurants, is dark and colorful. But most people don’t go to an Indian restaurant for the décor. It’s all about the food!

I have eaten at the restaurant two times now. Each time, I ate upstairs where it was nice and quiet and away from other guests. I was able to lean back against the wall, Japanese style on a tatami, and enjoy my food and drink. On my second visit, I was blessed with two cute young college girls who ended up speaking to me in English the whole time. They were both majoring in English at university. One looked Japanese, but turned out to be from China.

The first time I visited the restaurant I had tandoori chicken and fish, mutton curry, garlic and herb nan, beer and a lassi to top it off. The tandoori chicken and fish were accompanied with grilled sliced vegetables cooked with Indian herbs and spices, very nice! The chicken was a whole leg and the fish was about the size of a piece of fillet mignon. The mutton curry was not the normal portion of curry most see at Indian restaurants. It was about the size of two curries in one and beautifully garnished. As for the nan, I can’t say enough about it. And while I’m raving about sizes, I might add that the nan is not the normal size either. It was quite large and cut into about 4 pieces, sprinkled with herbs and spices and very colorful. Delicious!

The second time I had a large portion of chicken masala garnished with herbs, tandoori chicken – you can never get too much tandoori chicken – keema nan, beer and a mango lassi for dessert.

If you want even more food, then go for their all-you-can-eat lunch or dinner. Both are very reasonably priced, in my opinion. I compare their all you can eat menu with most other restaurants and it’s about the same, if not cheaper. Much less than shabu shabu in downtown Umeda.

I highly recommend this restaurant. Go by yourself, take a friend or have a small party upstairs or downstairs. The staff and owners are very friendly, and they might even let you reserve the restaurant if you wanted to have a large party. The food is the best Indian I’ve had in the Kansai area and is very artistically arranged to boot. Go and you won’t be disappointed. It’s great all around!

Visit their website to see more menu items and a map!