Hello Jaws Of Life

The blank look and huge scissors is a... calming effect??

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And now for a Japan version review, were we sample brands made a little different to suit the unique taste of Japanese customers.



Max Air. ? It's not a product listed at MountainDew.com (ie, Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew caffeine-free, Diet Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew LiveWire, Mountain Dew Baja Blast, AMP, Mountain Dew MDX, or Dew Iced [apparently a flavor at Cold Stone--eww! bleh!]).

So.. how's it taste?

Tastes like a less sugar, slightly bubblier version of Mt. Dew. Less syrupy, and less overall Dew-taste. Still smells like Dew, but a definite step towards 7-up. I like it.

Hear ye

In lieu of a real post, I direct you to http://www.japundit.com/ Good stuff.

tokyo-style auto-support

Can't think of a better title at the moment. Definitely a "Tokyo Style" post, and definitely automobile-related.



Because, as everyone knows, the sound of a moped is "Bun Bun." I'll have to put a new onomatopoeia in Japan post soon.. my recent favorite is "bisho bisho." Any idea what that officially sounds like in Japan?


How rich people park.


They can afford the house with street access, but they can't afford to pay an architect to give them a full sized garage. They didn't do this by choice--the car's back bumper is undoubtedly 1cm away from the back wall. Of course there's the space issue, but there might be some kind of squirrely tax reason for why builders/owners do this because I've seen this a lot.. ..it seems to be the norm.

Lazy day off

What do you do on your day off?


$4 at 7-11 (counting the beer, of course)

This is the not-oft publicized summer holiday of OBON. It is a day to remember your ancestors who have passed on. There is a traditional OBON dance, which I haven't actually ever witnessed, and old people go to cemetaries to cry. It's really pretty sad. Especially because the news photographers have the camera 2 inches from the folk's faces...

Anyway, I was pretty impressed with my pre-painted WWII bomber model. If I read the literature correctly (big assumption), this was the bomber model in the early/middle part of the war. Seats 3. At least, the pastic version does. :)

Sand Salad

Engrish constantly surrounds me, and I've grown immune to it. If it weren't bits of Engrish in the weekly customer email from www.jbox.com, I wouldn't have snapped a photo of this one:



At first, I thought it was a try at "We got beach food!" ... but now I realize what it really is. What do you think?

I'll post the real answer after a few of you give it your best shot ;) I think any Japanese people reading know it already..

Unit bath rapture

If I haven't complained enough about my cramped, plastic, you-just-showered-the-toilet-paper bathroom, it's because I'm turning Japanese and I've realized that the best way to cope with a "less than satisfactory but admittedly functional" situation is to ignore it completely. (Turning Japanese also enables one to write overly-long sentences.)

But now I can shower while standing up!!
 

Before this weekend, I had no shower curtain. I had the idea to buy one when I first moved in, but I couldn't find anything to match my active/American/computer-geek/bad-taste type of style. I might have even seen the above selection at the store but passed, considering the crayon-sunbathers-on-beach-towels too normal for my bathroom.

But then I realized that I couldn't stand up while taking a shower. The splatter and spray of the water bouncing off my body would get everywhere, including my toilet paper. That's just wrong. My vision of toilet paper is "sterile", and damp soggy soapy mushy stuff does not qualify. I don't even like to use "previously wet" toilet paper--the tell-tale water wrinkles and rougheness decrease my bathroom experience.

So I got into the habit of "squat mode shower". This is the mode Japanese people use at onsen, while washing every last bit before getting in the super-hot natural spring soak tubs. Sit on your haunches, crouch over, and get to work with the soap & shampoo using the shower wand. (One advantage of this geometry is access to .. well, parts that are arguably hard to wash in a western style shower--thus the proliferation of shower wands.)


Improvized twist-tie technique

But now I can stand! I can use the wall mount for the wand! Makes washing the backs of my knees easier, and I can use both hands while washing my face/hair. Joy!

..and not to mention stylish! Wouldn't you admit, my previously mono-tone off-white unit-bath hell is now up there in the runnings for Best Unitbath Decor of the Year!?! To quote Borat, "Nice!"