Bizarre Bras By Triumph Japan

Triumph has a reputation for making quality lingerie, but Triumph International Japan sometimes makes one off 'specials' to promote their bras whilst raising awareness of important issues of the day.

Some of the best include:-


The Anti-smoking bra is supposed to emit a fragrance that eliminates the desire to smoke. I'm not sure smoking would be the first thing on a chap's mind if he saw his girlfriend in this number anyway.


The Birth Rate Decline bra brings attention to Japan's rapidly ageing population and is decorated with grannies encouraging the younger generation to get on with making babies.



The Chastity Belt Bra comes with a little gold key that the lady can present to her lover. How romantic, awww.

My Chopsticks is a practical idea that features miso soup and rice bowl cups separated by a chopstick rest. Tucked into one shoulder strap is a pair of collapsible, portable chopsticks. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the environmental impact of disposable wooden chopsticks.

The Warm Biz Heated Bra is designed to help save energy. Microwave heated gel packs are inserted to keep one warm in chilly offices. This bra probably isn't what Japanese officials were thinking of with their Coolbiz and Warmbiz campaigns to get workers to dress appropriately for the season, but hey.


This red bustier is known as the Total Surprise Bra. Its purpose was to bring attention to previous Prime Minister Koizumi's post office privatization plans. Wonder if it worked...

Another useful innovation. The Bag Bra is designed to reduce waste - the label on the bottom says something like 'plastic bags are wasteful!'. So be eco friendly, take off your bra and use it to carry your melons home. Genius!

Who couldn't forget to vote with The Voter Turnout Liftup Bra? The bra is made of silver vinyl and labelled 'ballot box', whilst the skirt is made from ballots. I wonder if these would increase voter numbers...

Motorbike Holiday In France

It was going to be a trip to Austria first of all, but unfortunately reality got in the way so now its a trip to the South of France, which is cool anyway. The gsx 1400 has passed its first MOT (phew) and has got new tyres, chain & sprocket, rear suspension, fluids all changed and gawd knows what else, so all we have to do is pack and get going!

Although that is easier said than done. Although the panniers looks huge when on the bike, its still not quite the same as a couple of suitcases... at the moment I need to tow a van behind the bike to carry the extra stuff lol. Well maybe not quite that bad, it'll be fine as long as we can figure out how to use French washing machines.

Shopping is going to be a bit of a problem too, we wont be able to buy a case or two of wine in the Loire valley for instance, or if we did, it'd be back to the van hire solution again. Seriously though, it should be a great holiday and a chance to use the bike for what it was built for.

Holiday Destination Bank Accounts?

After the disruption of flights in April, ash from the Icelandic volcano is once again disrupting air travel in and out of Cardiff Airport and to Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Its making me wonder if it would be a good idea to open a current account or an instant access savings account in Ireland should I decide to visit. There have been many instances of people running out of money due to the unforeseen circumstances, especially for those whose airlines were less than helpful in finding accommodation for stranded passengers until they could be brought home.

Running out of money abroad must be a family's worst nightmare, certainly in the future I'll be looking into ways of obtaining backup funds. One thing was clear from the disruptions was that in general, people on package holidays received better support than those on DIY getaways.