Hair Product Resupply!

Been a year since I bought hair gel. Now, once again, I have my Long-Keep GEL Super Hard. But.. luckily, I found another handy product.

Morning Hair Fix Water

Sometimes the Japanese translation is all you need to know. Worth $5 just for the bottle.

Cars of Tokyo

Subaru mini-compact



Subaru mini-compact

I strongly doubt this little buger adheres with Subaru's US all-wheel marketing strategy. They also make mini pickup trucks and vans. Small cars are honestly needed here because there's many roads where a medium size car won't fit.



A very sporty (looking) Toyota wagon



CLOSE UP: A very sporty (looking) Toyota wagon

"As enjoyable as communing with Nature is the comfort of cruising through the tree-line boulevard."

... Comparing with Engrish on t-shirts, I'm guessing that Engrish on cars goes through at least one grammar check by a native speaker. This gives me all kinds of ideas for my next car. ^_^



Smart! (designed by Mercedes)



a-hem, "Green" Smart, that is. I doubt this leaf laminate is supposed to be peeling off.



Cute matching interior

I'm guessing the interior was the motivation behind the zany leaf-pattern laminate. I don't know if these cars would be safe on US highways, but they are perfect for city driving. Wish I would see more on the streets of Tokyo. (I've only ever seen 3 in the 2 years I've been here.)

One Smokin' Problem.

Click to zoom in--trust me!

Somehow, the news that smoking is bad for your health has not yet made it to Japan. Suckin' down a pack a day of vanilla flavored lung cancer is normal for many girls and guys--especially 20-something girls and any age guys. And apparently it's more-or-less expected on the job in the salaryman crowd and for construction workers.

It reminds me of recordings from old radio commercials: "I'm a doctor, and I smoke Philip Morris!" ... Time warp city! There's the whole "magic line" smoking/non-smoking section too--that is, if there's a non-smoking section at all. About 10% of places I go to have a smoking section. Only 1 is non-smoking--an American rotisserie place (Roti, in Roppongi, highly recommended!)--but they have outside seating where I've even smelled a cigar once.

I'm on a soccer team with a 50/50 mix between Japanese men and foreigners, and a few of the guys suck down a "to-ba-ko" in between games. That even shocks other smokers!

I'm sure some day that Japan's collective conscious will wake up and decide smoking is bad. But when will that be?

You've got a straw!



LONG STRAW FOR DRINKING

... In case you were wondering what you'd use a long straw for..

Quiz! What's this fruit?

Bonus Question!! What bodily fluid might it taste like?

ouch

Where it hurts

concussion: n. 1.) An injury sustained after a blow to the head, where the brain has impacted against the skull, resulting in dizziness, headaches, and possibly many other worse things if it's bad enough. 2.) One of several annoying* injuries you can get playing soccer.

{*Annoying: when the symptoms exist but are not as obvious as visible blood [which hardly hurts in comparison], and so the game doesn't stop, and no one cares really, and even a doctor can't do anything about but say "rest--oh, and be careful." Other annoying injuries are broken bones in the foot.}

Unexpected head-butt at soccer practice, 3 days ago. It happened right at the end of the hour: it was quick, so no one saw it. And the other guy (very shy, quiet Japanese guy, & kinda weird) apparently wasn't hurt at all, so everyone just thought I was tired. ==>No pity! But it wasn't that bad: nowhere near strong enough to loose consciousness, and I got ice on it fairly quickly, and I took the afternoon off... and now I feel much better.

However, the smack was really hard!! Right between the eyes--I think the symmetry of it added to the pain. Remaining symtoms: the occasional headache, and as you can see in the photo, there's some red flecks on my forehead. The skin there feels rough & a little itchy today. (I never paid so much attention to my forehead before.) If it turns blue I wouldn't be surprised--that skin was really crushed!!

If e'er a more blatant cry for overseas blog pity there was, me eyes seen it naught.