Watermelon Flavoured Kit-Kat
Verdict: Surprisingly good
Read more...July 24, 2008
July 6, 2008
Oh the humidity!
July is here and the air is full of moisture and horrible biting insects. Other than that, not much of note happening really. Mindbendingly slow week at work, but went to a welcoming party on Friday.
Went walking round Osu Kannon (a lively shopping district-type part of Nagoya) with a friend yesterday. We found a tattoo parlor named, I kid you not, "Boobies". The mind boggles. Despite the name, they showed no evidence of any kind of specialization in mammarian tattooing. Why not visit their website? (beware, crappy flash intro)
The government has evidently started a campaign to promote rice as a breakfast food, as a bowl of rice in the morning is said to improve energy levels and concentration throughout the day. I can't decide if their campaign is cute and funny, or just scary. Either way there's more wackiness to be had on the Ministry of Agriculture's website (and you can view the TV spots here).
June 24, 2008
Hello
How is everyone?
My 3rd summer in Japan is looming ominously on the horizon...we are currently in the rainy season and the heat/humidity/sweatiness levels are well and truly on the rise...I am slowly becoming more and more thankful that I will be spending the majority of the summer in a nice air-conditioned office. My blood's too thick for Nevada, er Nagoya. Always work a Hunter S. Thompson quote in if you can, that's what I say.
Still, the evenings are rather pleasant so I walk home after work most evenings. Which reminds me...I have created a short Google maps tour of my immediate surroundings. Check it yo!
Also, against my better judgement, I have uploaded several photographs taken by myself during work outings.
I seem to be reading random Wikipedia articles in my idle moments (yeah, I know, it's inaccurate, but I never remember the details so who cares, hehe). I happened across the story of abandoned former coal mining facility Hashima Island (aka Battleship Island, pic left) and found it quite interesting. It's probably, like, a metaphor and stuff. Gnarly slideshow and more sober description here.Also, I hate to sound like the Wikipedia front page, but did you know that Japan still has the death penalty (for homicide and treason only)? I didn't, until they hanged a 1980s serial killer shortly after the recent Akihabara massacre. Read more...
June 8, 2008
Reporting in
Evening all!
The weather is slowly but surely increasing in temperature...as is the humidity...luckily I have my new Hello Kitty hand fan to keep me cool (see left...maybe you can't quite tell from the photo but she has a fan in her head...yes I was slightly drunk at the time of purchase, thanks to a friend's leaving party at work...it's amazing what they sell in convenience stores nowadays).
Just got finished watching a very bizarre movie (Japanese movie? Bizarre? Surely not) named Party 7, lent to me by my lovely workmate Ikeda-san. Plenty enjoyable though, especially Captain Banana. Also made me want to watch more Japanese movies, for language acquisition purposes. If anyone has any recommendations, let me know.
Still buying records on occasion. Whereas everyone else is clamoring after the latest iPod Nano or what have you, I seem to have gone in completely the opposite direction. I am consistently amazed at how collectible certain slabs of vinyl can be...rooting around in a used record store earlier today, I saw one record displayed with a 100,000yen price tag (about $1000 USD)...it seemed to be some hideously obscure private pressing put out by an avant-garde theater troupe in the 1970s...scary. I've been playing a slightly less rare 1976 LP by sultry chanteuse Yoshiko Sai (佐井好子) rather a lot recently...very lovely, comes heartily recommended if anyone out there fancies hunting down the CD re-issue...
Been playing lots of Nintendo DS games (I'm quite tempted to buy a Wii but I'd have to get a TV first)...including a rhythm game for children based around the vaguely disturbing anime character oshirikajirimushi (ass-biting insect):
May 21, 2008
Word o' the day
The Japanese word for "solar eclipse" - 日食 （にっしょく） - consists of the characters for "sun" and "eat", thus evoking a sense of the sun being eaten rather than obscured. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway.
If any of my Chinese-speaking friends still read this thing, perhaps you could tell me if the word comes from Chinese? Is it rooted in mythology? Perhaps the ancient Chinese saw an eclipse as the sun being eaten by a huge dragon or something? Hello?
On a completely unrelated note: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/21/lost.parrot.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
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