My secret weapon in this was Bob himself, a man embedded in Japan for 30 years, deeply conversant in the ways and cuisines of the country and, by great good fortune, my college roommate.

我的秘密武器就是老友鲍勃，他在日本生活了30年，对这个国家的饮食人文深有浸润。 我曾与他大学同窗，真是幸何如之。

youdao

He went to Japan and soon made a big fortune.

他到了日本，不久便发了洋财。

youdao

Three weeks on, Christchurch is still digging out from the 6.8-magnitude earthquake (though perhaps acknowledging the good fortune to be spared Japan-like devastation), the worst natural disaster New Zealand has experienced in its short history.

FORBES: New Zealand Whine

Call it proof that there's a global wireless karma equilibrium, if you will, that needs to be maintained: China Unicom has warned that its net profit for 2009 will be down a whopping 50 percent, while one of its doppelgangers across the Sea of Japan -- NTT DoCoMo -- has encountered exactly the opposite fortune on news that it has posted a 48 percent year-over-year improvement in black ink.

ENGADGET: China Unicom profits down 50 percent, NTT DoCoMo up by the same margin

For Japan's export-driven economy, it's a change of fortune that underlines the economic troubles of the past year.

CNN: Hit by disaster, Japanese city sees spending soar