Random Notes 2-6-13

OK, so I haven't written in forever.  I had once spent an enormous amount of time on a blog about Aaron in Japanese school (will re-write for future publication) and then it just disappeared.  That had turned me off to the process for awhile.  Then I just didn't feel like I had the time or didn't feel like doing it.  I think it's like e-mailing someone after you haven't communicated with them in a long time--you feel this need to write every detail and then it becomes overwhelming when only a "hello" would suffice.  So I am making a conscious effort to reconnect via my blog.  It might require me to rethink my initial strategy of writing an entry per event.  Going forward I may break up my blogs into "installments" which would allow me to to publish smaller entries on a more frequent basis.  I'm still working on what will work best for me.  I'll have to sit down and work on some goal setting.  (Incidentally, if you want to work on some goal setting, I recommend you read an archived blog entry, "The Art of Goal Setting", by my friend Nicole.)

To get back on the blog horse, so to speak, I am starting off 2013 with this "Random Notes" entry.  It has no cohesive flow.  It is just filled with photos and factoids of things we have come across in our seven months here (ten months for Matt) that don't warrant their own blogs.  Most of them are just funny; some are just weird.  Enjoy!

Shopping
Today Aaron and I went to the 100 Yen Store (think Dollar Store).  Some 100 Yen stores are bigger/better organized than others.  This particular one is very well organized and when we came across the "travel" section, this display caught my eye:

I didn't know there was a market for men's disposable panties.

 

In October, they had Halloween costumes.  Always a classic:

Japanese Elvis!

The 100 Yen stores are not only place to find interesting things.  At Aeon, which is a big chain department store here, I found what I thought was a craft item.  Upon closer examination, I realized it had another purpose:

These are seaweed punches, not paper punches.

Grocery stores can be very interesting...or very disgusting.  I am sorry, but even if I liked seafood I would not find this appealing:

Hard to see because it rotated my picture and because of the plastic, but

this is squid.  And yes, the head, with the open eyes, is still attached.

In fact, next to the squid (and octopus), there is a whole

refrigerated case of fish in the non-fillet form.

Japanese grocery stores also sell prepared food just like in the US.  Because Japanese people do not use forks and knives, food on a stick is quite popular:

Yakitori, anyone?

Although being able to hang on to something when the food is too big /heavy for chopsticks makes sense, this still kind of freaks me out:

Yes, that is fried fish with tails intact.

Aaron is just getting into eating pizza but we saw this today and decided to take a pass:

Seaweed and corn pizza, anyone?

Even the commissary on base makes for some interesting shopping sometimes:

"I don't know why they call it Hamburger Helper; it works just fine by itself."

-Cousin Eddie, National Lampoon's Vacation

Food
Piggybacking off the grocery store, I can tell you there is a lot of food I could show but as you might predict, we pretty much stay away from "photo worthy" food.  It is interesting what they put in pouches.

"Qoo juice" is made by the Coca Cola company.  There are

different flavors of blended juices.  Aaron is not a fan.

Aaron is a fan of soft-serve ice cream in a pouch.

Fountain drinks feature many flavors of Fanta, and not just orange and grape.  I have yet to try this flavor (unless it is at the World of Coca Cola and then I'm sure I have).

Melon Fanta is bright green and very popular.

Signs
Signs are our favorite.  Especially the ones on the road although obviously most of the time we can't photograph those.  We haven't got photos of two newer favorites.  One is a diagonal yellow sign with a picture of a boar on it--wild boar crossing.  The second is a "don't drink and drive" sign.  They use LCD signs on the highway quite a bit for different things.  Around the holidays, we saw one that would have a picture of what appeared to be a sake bottle, then a circle with a slash followed by some angry-looking Kanji or Katakana writing. 

Weather is frequently indicated on the LCD signs.  When it's sunny, there is a sun.  When it is rainy, there is an umbrella.  This is our favorite:

Windy, windy, windy

We mostly drive the toll roads now, but when we first arrived and took the "free"way, we passed this restaurant:

We were not aware Indiana had world-famous cuisine.

Quite a bit of the humor we find in signs stems from translation issues, typos or the trouble with "R"s and "L"s.

Matt saw this on the way to work one day.

Yummy!

 

"...defective large size hot cops" reminds me of the Friends episode where

Danny Devito was the stripper at Phoebe's bachelorette party.

Sometimes, things are interesting as a result of perspective.  Do you know when you are at a zoo and in the area where they have the name of the animal written plus all the other pertinent info (diet, habitat, etc.) there is usually a map?

I never paid attention before, but in the US, the Americas were

always on the left.  Here in Japan, they are on the right.

Vending Machines
Vending machines are everywhere in Japan.  EVERYWHERE!  Most are beverages.  Some are food.

Ramen, anyone?

I was even surprised to see these:

I guess if people can smoke in restaurants why can't

they buy their cigarettes from a machine?

I have not seen but I've been told there are vending machines that sell rice, fruit and even ladies undergarments.  (You can be sure if I see any of those there will be photos taken.)

There are more random items but this is as good a place as any to take a break.  Life in Japan is interesting, especially as we explore a little more.  It's the everyday life that is fun to compare and contrast.  I hope your everyday life is interesting too!