I remember when we had Shockwave and he was broken in the most inappropriate place that that little Decepticon could be broken. That's exactly the kind of thing an asshole country in Africa would do to him.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Reminscing II - This Time on Transformers
I remember when we had Shockwave and he was broken in the most inappropriate place that that little Decepticon could be broken. That's exactly the kind of thing an asshole country in Africa would do to him.
Two Dead Animals
Angry Squirrel Finished Off by Crutch
BERLIN (AP) -- An unusually aggressive squirrel attacked three people in a German town before its last victim finished it off with a crutch, police said Wednesday.
The rodent jumped through a living-room window in Passau, on the Austrian border, on Tuesday and bit its first victim. With the squirrel hanging on by its teeth, the woman ran out into the street, where she managed to shake the animal off.
The squirrel then bit a builder before fleeing into a nearby garden, where it bit a 72-year-old man who eventually killed it with his crutch, police said.
The dead animal was to be tested for rabies.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
=,(
And now for this story, which is not as traumatic to the HOchies but perhaps plenty to others -
Turtle causes Parkway wreck, then dies
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, June 20th 2007, 9:38 AM
UPPER TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Why did the turtle cross the road?
We'll never know, but it sure caused one heck of an accident.
A woman who swerved to avoid hitting the amphibian as it crawled across the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway Tuesday afternoon lost control of her car, crashed through a guardrail and tumbled down an embankment before the car flipped over onto its roof.
Saranne Goldinger, 65, of Cape May, was wearing a seat belt and was not critically injured, State Police said. Her car, however, was heavily damaged.
The turtle fared even worse. A vehicle that had been driving behind Goldinger flattened the critter.
"All of that for nothing," Trooper Scott Farkas told The Press of Atlantic City for Wednesday's newspapers.
BERLIN (AP) -- An unusually aggressive squirrel attacked three people in a German town before its last victim finished it off with a crutch, police said Wednesday.
The rodent jumped through a living-room window in Passau, on the Austrian border, on Tuesday and bit its first victim. With the squirrel hanging on by its teeth, the woman ran out into the street, where she managed to shake the animal off.
The squirrel then bit a builder before fleeing into a nearby garden, where it bit a 72-year-old man who eventually killed it with his crutch, police said.
The dead animal was to be tested for rabies.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
=,(
And now for this story, which is not as traumatic to the HOchies but perhaps plenty to others -
Turtle causes Parkway wreck, then dies
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, June 20th 2007, 9:38 AM
UPPER TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Why did the turtle cross the road?
We'll never know, but it sure caused one heck of an accident.
A woman who swerved to avoid hitting the amphibian as it crawled across the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway Tuesday afternoon lost control of her car, crashed through a guardrail and tumbled down an embankment before the car flipped over onto its roof.
Saranne Goldinger, 65, of Cape May, was wearing a seat belt and was not critically injured, State Police said. Her car, however, was heavily damaged.
The turtle fared even worse. A vehicle that had been driving behind Goldinger flattened the critter.
"All of that for nothing," Trooper Scott Farkas told The Press of Atlantic City for Wednesday's newspapers.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Reminiscing
The Cowboy Bebop soundtrack really is phenomenal and that series was and still is, one of the best I've seen.
Currently listening to: Bad Dog No Biscuit by Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts
Currently listening to: Bad Dog No Biscuit by Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Tokyo-Ho Japan to New York-Ho (or is it just Ho, in that case?) Chronicles - Day 14, Almost. And The Japan Wrap Up
We gained a day flying back. It was awesome but has me completey wrecked.
Day 14, Saturday, June 9th.
We awoke before 6 AM to catch our flight back to NY. There's nothing truly worth mentioning on this day other than the breakfast that was served to us before we left Homeikan. So. Much. Food.
Ugh.
The Day's Eats:
Here's a list of all you saw above - miso, rice, tea, egg, sweet red beans, ham, and cold tofu.
And so ends the Japan Adventure. I can't wait for all of us to make the trip in the future. It'll be fun, fun times.
Next up is the H1 and Or 2 London Adventure.
This is for everything I missed or need to re-cap:
1. Japanese people smell. And not good either. At least, this is what I've discovered of some of the males.
Said males especially enjoy sitting next to me on the plane.
On the flight to Japan, this man with B.O. sat right next to me. I was actually concerned it had been me and kept sniffing my armpits but figured out 10 hours in that it was indeed that dude.
On the way coming back from Japan, the man next to me smelt, not of B.O. but would constantly let out these rank farts. Seriously, beer is evil.
And where was Beetchie in all of this? That's right, she was safely sitting by the window while my senses got all the foulness and she was shielded.
I hate her sometimes...
2. In keeping with point 1, the Japanese have created the most fantastic thing ever. I won't go into the details now since I have to first distribute the presents I have for you lot but I'd like to point out now before I forget, it doesn't work on your shit.
3. If I had heard Avril Lavigne one more time in Japan, I was going to have to bitch slap them all. Like I said, foward thinkers they are but not so much when it comes to their love of crap music like AL.
4. When we do said trip in the future, remember to bring lots of money and/or lots of access to money.
5. Toilet Misadventures in case I missed them:
a. First there was smell of mildew in the toilet at the Kyoto Ryokan. Everytime we into the stalls, it stank. But as soon as I would get into one stall, everything would be alright but Beetchie would always leave the stall next to mine complaining up a storm. It turns out mildew may have been growing only in her stall.
b. Beetchie was convinced that our ryokan in Kyoto was haunted. I felt that nothing was wrong with our room but we both agreed that walking the long hallway to the toilets on the first floor was a creepy deal everytime. That part may have been haunted but upon reflection, it could have been the mildew... Mildew always makes you feel scuzzy and spooked.
c. The Bidet Incident.
"When in Japan, do as the Japanese do! And what better place to try a bidet than in this really high class, clean Starbucks?" - Beetchie. She came out of the bathroom at a local Kyoto Starbucks in our area one morning looking very sheepish.
"What happened?" - Me
"Nothing...I just tested out the bidet." - Beetchie
"...and...?" - Me (asked nervously)
"Oh, nothing. It was...strange. I didn't realize you could press this button for stop and there were puffs of air but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't stopping." - Beetchie
"::shaking head in embarrassment::" - my reaction and response
6. Japanese television is great. They're into reality tv but it's all centered around food and/or animals. We also watched whatever the latest "Power Rangers" is being aired in Japan, and got into it. Sue me, I like the new Red Power Ranger! He's so stupid...
7. For some reason they're still obsessed with the "Dragon Ball" Series and "Neon Genesis Evangelion". I was slightly confused by it all and I'm wondering if there's some sort of new EVA thing coming out.
8. Japan is all about pork. I must have eaten pork almost every day for at least 2 times out of the day. It was great times. I kind of miss that. I feel oppressed in this house!
9. The Japanese really do all do the 'victory' sign for their pictures. They're so frickin' lame and hilarious. Gotta love them. Beetchie and I, however, refused to do it with Hello Kitty. We Devil-Horned that Wholesome Betch.
Confessions I'd Like To Make Now. I'm Ready To Be Ridiculed:
1. I have to admit, I actually really enjoyed holding Hello Kitty's hand. When she stared at me with those blank eyes, I was hooked. I wanted to let go...but I just...couldn't bring myself to do so...
I was strangely comforted.
Day 14, Saturday, June 9th.
We awoke before 6 AM to catch our flight back to NY. There's nothing truly worth mentioning on this day other than the breakfast that was served to us before we left Homeikan. So. Much. Food.
Ugh.
The Day's Eats:
Here's a list of all you saw above - miso, rice, tea, egg, sweet red beans, ham, and cold tofu.
And so ends the Japan Adventure. I can't wait for all of us to make the trip in the future. It'll be fun, fun times.
Next up is the H1 and Or 2 London Adventure.
This is for everything I missed or need to re-cap:
1. Japanese people smell. And not good either. At least, this is what I've discovered of some of the males.
Said males especially enjoy sitting next to me on the plane.
On the flight to Japan, this man with B.O. sat right next to me. I was actually concerned it had been me and kept sniffing my armpits but figured out 10 hours in that it was indeed that dude.
On the way coming back from Japan, the man next to me smelt, not of B.O. but would constantly let out these rank farts. Seriously, beer is evil.
And where was Beetchie in all of this? That's right, she was safely sitting by the window while my senses got all the foulness and she was shielded.
I hate her sometimes...
2. In keeping with point 1, the Japanese have created the most fantastic thing ever. I won't go into the details now since I have to first distribute the presents I have for you lot but I'd like to point out now before I forget, it doesn't work on your shit.
3. If I had heard Avril Lavigne one more time in Japan, I was going to have to bitch slap them all. Like I said, foward thinkers they are but not so much when it comes to their love of crap music like AL.
4. When we do said trip in the future, remember to bring lots of money and/or lots of access to money.
5. Toilet Misadventures in case I missed them:
a. First there was smell of mildew in the toilet at the Kyoto Ryokan. Everytime we into the stalls, it stank. But as soon as I would get into one stall, everything would be alright but Beetchie would always leave the stall next to mine complaining up a storm. It turns out mildew may have been growing only in her stall.
b. Beetchie was convinced that our ryokan in Kyoto was haunted. I felt that nothing was wrong with our room but we both agreed that walking the long hallway to the toilets on the first floor was a creepy deal everytime. That part may have been haunted but upon reflection, it could have been the mildew... Mildew always makes you feel scuzzy and spooked.
c. The Bidet Incident.
"When in Japan, do as the Japanese do! And what better place to try a bidet than in this really high class, clean Starbucks?" - Beetchie. She came out of the bathroom at a local Kyoto Starbucks in our area one morning looking very sheepish.
"What happened?" - Me
"Nothing...I just tested out the bidet." - Beetchie
"...and...?" - Me (asked nervously)
"Oh, nothing. It was...strange. I didn't realize you could press this button for stop and there were puffs of air but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't stopping." - Beetchie
"::shaking head in embarrassment::" - my reaction and response
6. Japanese television is great. They're into reality tv but it's all centered around food and/or animals. We also watched whatever the latest "Power Rangers" is being aired in Japan, and got into it. Sue me, I like the new Red Power Ranger! He's so stupid...
7. For some reason they're still obsessed with the "Dragon Ball" Series and "Neon Genesis Evangelion". I was slightly confused by it all and I'm wondering if there's some sort of new EVA thing coming out.
8. Japan is all about pork. I must have eaten pork almost every day for at least 2 times out of the day. It was great times. I kind of miss that. I feel oppressed in this house!
9. The Japanese really do all do the 'victory' sign for their pictures. They're so frickin' lame and hilarious. Gotta love them. Beetchie and I, however, refused to do it with Hello Kitty. We Devil-Horned that Wholesome Betch.
Confessions I'd Like To Make Now. I'm Ready To Be Ridiculed:
1. I have to admit, I actually really enjoyed holding Hello Kitty's hand. When she stared at me with those blank eyes, I was hooked. I wanted to let go...but I just...couldn't bring myself to do so...
I was strangely comforted.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 13
Day 13 - Friday, June 8th
After a not so restful night at the capsule, we ventured off to find the last of our sleeping quarters which was by far our most expensive, traditional quarters.
I wonder if part of the tradition is that you couldn't find that damned Homeikan?!
We got lost... In the hottest day in Tokyo since we'd been there... On practically our last day. It was not fun times but whatever, we managed to get there in one piece and lived to blog about it.
At least it was quite aesthetically pleasing.
We went to Harajuku again so that I could find that coat I wanted. I didn't quite get what I wanted but got something I like. If any of those spots for the Harajuku Girls' becomes available, I'm ready for it.
I also finally found a good capsule machine and it was of Bleach pins! But my ass had to get a damned Mayuri pin. Why wouldn't I? Ugh, that freakin' Mayuri but hey, at least it wasn't Tousen - worst Bleach Character in the Bleach Universe.
We contemplated going to Akihabara to spend our last hours at the arcades and ufo catcher machines but decided that that was money we didn't have. Next time though, when I make it back to Japan with you guys, you can go off and do the touristy things but you'll find us at the UFO catchers.
So we had a quiet evening back in our neighbourhood, where we had a mini-foodie adventure which almost turned out to be a misadventure.
Things We Observed This Day - Volume IX
1. a 5 minute walk to the Japanese is in actuality a 30 minute walk for us. 5 minutes from the train station to Homeikan my ass! Even in the taxi it took about 15 minutes. Those liars.
2. Beetchie noted that everything tastes 'watered-down' in Japan. Especially their beverages. That might be true. I had some cocoa from the vending machine and it was not that impressive. I still drank it like it was good times though. I was thirsty, okay?!
The "OOPS" moment of the Day:
We took off our shoes like good guests before stepping on their wooden floors but we forgot to put on the slippers provided to us. The concierge was quite mortified by our behaviour and hurriedly brought them to us.
The Day's Eats:
1. Korean food. Can you believe the little Japanese girl mixed up my food for me like I was a kid? She may have been appalled by the fact that I wasn't eating it 'Korean style' so she badgered me and mixed my food for me and asked me if I didn't like spicy food. Clearly she doesn't know Trinis. Except for you, TD5, you fake pi you.
Sometimes I enjoy having my food segregated especially when I was trying to keep the raw egg from getting into my bowl. That B. mixed all that up in my rice.
2. Suspect ramen that was black. Beetchie thought maybe it was squid ink that gave it that colour. I just think the way they curried that broth was not very appealing to me. It certainly was better than most curry we had but those curry noodles still got overwhelming. I must be the only crazy to think that though because that little noodle house was very packed, with a line out the door.
After a not so restful night at the capsule, we ventured off to find the last of our sleeping quarters which was by far our most expensive, traditional quarters.
I wonder if part of the tradition is that you couldn't find that damned Homeikan?!
We got lost... In the hottest day in Tokyo since we'd been there... On practically our last day. It was not fun times but whatever, we managed to get there in one piece and lived to blog about it.
At least it was quite aesthetically pleasing.
We went to Harajuku again so that I could find that coat I wanted. I didn't quite get what I wanted but got something I like. If any of those spots for the Harajuku Girls' becomes available, I'm ready for it.
I also finally found a good capsule machine and it was of Bleach pins! But my ass had to get a damned Mayuri pin. Why wouldn't I? Ugh, that freakin' Mayuri but hey, at least it wasn't Tousen - worst Bleach Character in the Bleach Universe.
We contemplated going to Akihabara to spend our last hours at the arcades and ufo catcher machines but decided that that was money we didn't have. Next time though, when I make it back to Japan with you guys, you can go off and do the touristy things but you'll find us at the UFO catchers.
So we had a quiet evening back in our neighbourhood, where we had a mini-foodie adventure which almost turned out to be a misadventure.
Things We Observed This Day - Volume IX
1. a 5 minute walk to the Japanese is in actuality a 30 minute walk for us. 5 minutes from the train station to Homeikan my ass! Even in the taxi it took about 15 minutes. Those liars.
2. Beetchie noted that everything tastes 'watered-down' in Japan. Especially their beverages. That might be true. I had some cocoa from the vending machine and it was not that impressive. I still drank it like it was good times though. I was thirsty, okay?!
The "OOPS" moment of the Day:
We took off our shoes like good guests before stepping on their wooden floors but we forgot to put on the slippers provided to us. The concierge was quite mortified by our behaviour and hurriedly brought them to us.
The Day's Eats:
1. Korean food. Can you believe the little Japanese girl mixed up my food for me like I was a kid? She may have been appalled by the fact that I wasn't eating it 'Korean style' so she badgered me and mixed my food for me and asked me if I didn't like spicy food. Clearly she doesn't know Trinis. Except for you, TD5, you fake pi you.
Sometimes I enjoy having my food segregated especially when I was trying to keep the raw egg from getting into my bowl. That B. mixed all that up in my rice.
2. Suspect ramen that was black. Beetchie thought maybe it was squid ink that gave it that colour. I just think the way they curried that broth was not very appealing to me. It certainly was better than most curry we had but those curry noodles still got overwhelming. I must be the only crazy to think that though because that little noodle house was very packed, with a line out the door.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The Kyoto-Ho to Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 12
Day 12 - Thursday, June 7th
The last thing that happened in Kyoto was that we got liquored up at 10 AM on our final day there. Thanks to some sake happy old women selling the good stuff at the market in Kyoto Mall, we were drunk off 3 samples of high class sake. Fun times with the cute old ladies. Oh those bitches will try to sell you anything after they've made you proper drunk.
We took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and this time the kids next to us were not noisy. It was fairly uneventful save our sushi bento boxes we ate for lunch on the train.
Once we got to Tokyo, we made our back to Akihabara to the Capsule Hotel to drop off our gear, then headed off to Ginza to go to Japan Sword.
Japan Sword, according to Frommers, is one of the most well-known sword stores in Tokyo and is like a museum of antique swords and armour. They weren't kidding. We got the tour and I couldn't gaze for too long because that place was beautiful and their collection was nothing short of amazing and that's an understatement. I was unworthy. Also, the prices on those antiques made my head hurt.
The main point of this trip was to buy Bunji his functional katana. And although I promised him a Hattori Hanzo from Okinawa, I didn't quite make it and decided this was second best. It's not due here until the 18th, so we'll see... I'm nervous that he won't like it. But at least it's not zinc alloy! It'll have to do until I can afford the real thing.
After much stressing about dropping all that cash, (and who am I kidding, I stressed the entire rest of the day), we made our way back to Shinjiku so that Beetchie could check out the Gay scene once more now that we had more time.
Oh did we see plenty of the gay boys. They were fabulous. We hung out there for a while with a bunch of English speakers (all theatre actors) from all over including Europe and America. Those boys were bitchy but cool. And we ran into celebrity when we met the voice actor for Zero from Tekken 5! Ha.
And then it all went downhill. We met a bridge and tunnel rat. But he posed as a New Yorker, tricked us and touched us. ::shudder:: Just kidding. That Jersey-ite was cool enough and very happy to see us as we were him.
We returned to our capsule and settled in for the night - our second to last in Japan.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
The Cost of our 100 yen piggyhs rose. We may have won 7 pigs for 100 yen but the pain, grief and suffering of carrying said pigs more than took its toll on us. Beetchie was ready to ditch their little piggyh asses when we got back to Tokyo because the locker we offloaded them in tricked us and cost us so much money to bail them out, it wasn't even funny.
We were under the impression that every day after the initial 4 days would cost 100 yen. Oh, were we wrong. The total cost of the extra 2 days those pigs were in the locker came up to 2000 yen.
WTF.
But, I, being a lover of pork, could not leave their little porky selves behind. Not to mention I had some presents in the locker with the piggyhs that could not be left behind. I like to feel that I went to Sanrio Puro Land for a purpose other than trauma.
The Shooed Away Incident Count:
2 times -
1. For some reason the ever so reliable Japanese metro was not so reliable! It got to a station stop before the one we needed and for some reason could not go further. We were booted off the train because of course, we didn't understand that we had to get off until the conductor came around and gave the sign for no, which oddly likes like you're going to get your head chopped off.
2. This time we actually we got shushed and yelled at. Apparently this woman thought we were speaking too loudly (we were talking in hushed tones) when she was trying to sleep at a capsule hotel.
And then I heard in perfect English, mind you, that "some people had to work". Yet, 10 minutes after we went to bed I didn't hear anything when two other girls came in practically shouting to each other for five minutes.
Racist effin' Japanese biatch.
I could very well respect her need to go to sleep because of work but the attitude was highly unncessary. Seriously, you're at a capsule hotel and you don't expect to hear noise? The fact that you're in a cube surrounded by other cubes in extremely close quarters with a place with no curfew, means your ass is going to be disturbed by people shuffling around with their coming and going.
And I did not need to hear about people and work. I know about work and I know about going in for 7 AM and leaving the next morning at 4 AM only to go back to work 2 hours later. On a Saturday. Whatever, her stupid cranky ass should have found itself home or in a better hotel if she was so concerned about waking up at 7 AM after going to bed at 10 PM.
That stupid bitch is still making my blood boil. Could you tell?
The Day's Eats:
1. A Cheese stick. Which was kind of like a cheese cake/cream cheesey thing on a thin layer of sponge cake.
2. My high class custard roll.
3. Sushi Bento. That was some good sushi. And it was a lot.
4. Shabu Shabu. Oh the good times. We had the kimchi broth and the pork broth. And we ate 25 pieces of beef and pork per person. 25 pieces of meat each! Ugh. It was 2100 yen for all you could eat in 90 minutes. Those peeps cut us off after the 4th round but luckily for them, we couldn't handle much more after that.
The last thing that happened in Kyoto was that we got liquored up at 10 AM on our final day there. Thanks to some sake happy old women selling the good stuff at the market in Kyoto Mall, we were drunk off 3 samples of high class sake. Fun times with the cute old ladies. Oh those bitches will try to sell you anything after they've made you proper drunk.
We took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and this time the kids next to us were not noisy. It was fairly uneventful save our sushi bento boxes we ate for lunch on the train.
Once we got to Tokyo, we made our back to Akihabara to the Capsule Hotel to drop off our gear, then headed off to Ginza to go to Japan Sword.
Japan Sword, according to Frommers, is one of the most well-known sword stores in Tokyo and is like a museum of antique swords and armour. They weren't kidding. We got the tour and I couldn't gaze for too long because that place was beautiful and their collection was nothing short of amazing and that's an understatement. I was unworthy. Also, the prices on those antiques made my head hurt.
The main point of this trip was to buy Bunji his functional katana. And although I promised him a Hattori Hanzo from Okinawa, I didn't quite make it and decided this was second best. It's not due here until the 18th, so we'll see... I'm nervous that he won't like it. But at least it's not zinc alloy! It'll have to do until I can afford the real thing.
After much stressing about dropping all that cash, (and who am I kidding, I stressed the entire rest of the day), we made our way back to Shinjiku so that Beetchie could check out the Gay scene once more now that we had more time.
Oh did we see plenty of the gay boys. They were fabulous. We hung out there for a while with a bunch of English speakers (all theatre actors) from all over including Europe and America. Those boys were bitchy but cool. And we ran into celebrity when we met the voice actor for Zero from Tekken 5! Ha.
And then it all went downhill. We met a bridge and tunnel rat. But he posed as a New Yorker, tricked us and touched us. ::shudder:: Just kidding. That Jersey-ite was cool enough and very happy to see us as we were him.
We returned to our capsule and settled in for the night - our second to last in Japan.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
The Cost of our 100 yen piggyhs rose. We may have won 7 pigs for 100 yen but the pain, grief and suffering of carrying said pigs more than took its toll on us. Beetchie was ready to ditch their little piggyh asses when we got back to Tokyo because the locker we offloaded them in tricked us and cost us so much money to bail them out, it wasn't even funny.
We were under the impression that every day after the initial 4 days would cost 100 yen. Oh, were we wrong. The total cost of the extra 2 days those pigs were in the locker came up to 2000 yen.
WTF.
But, I, being a lover of pork, could not leave their little porky selves behind. Not to mention I had some presents in the locker with the piggyhs that could not be left behind. I like to feel that I went to Sanrio Puro Land for a purpose other than trauma.
The Shooed Away Incident Count:
2 times -
1. For some reason the ever so reliable Japanese metro was not so reliable! It got to a station stop before the one we needed and for some reason could not go further. We were booted off the train because of course, we didn't understand that we had to get off until the conductor came around and gave the sign for no, which oddly likes like you're going to get your head chopped off.
2. This time we actually we got shushed and yelled at. Apparently this woman thought we were speaking too loudly (we were talking in hushed tones) when she was trying to sleep at a capsule hotel.
And then I heard in perfect English, mind you, that "some people had to work". Yet, 10 minutes after we went to bed I didn't hear anything when two other girls came in practically shouting to each other for five minutes.
Racist effin' Japanese biatch.
I could very well respect her need to go to sleep because of work but the attitude was highly unncessary. Seriously, you're at a capsule hotel and you don't expect to hear noise? The fact that you're in a cube surrounded by other cubes in extremely close quarters with a place with no curfew, means your ass is going to be disturbed by people shuffling around with their coming and going.
And I did not need to hear about people and work. I know about work and I know about going in for 7 AM and leaving the next morning at 4 AM only to go back to work 2 hours later. On a Saturday. Whatever, her stupid cranky ass should have found itself home or in a better hotel if she was so concerned about waking up at 7 AM after going to bed at 10 PM.
That stupid bitch is still making my blood boil. Could you tell?
The Day's Eats:
1. A Cheese stick. Which was kind of like a cheese cake/cream cheesey thing on a thin layer of sponge cake.
2. My high class custard roll.
3. Sushi Bento. That was some good sushi. And it was a lot.
4. Shabu Shabu. Oh the good times. We had the kimchi broth and the pork broth. And we ate 25 pieces of beef and pork per person. 25 pieces of meat each! Ugh. It was 2100 yen for all you could eat in 90 minutes. Those peeps cut us off after the 4th round but luckily for them, we couldn't handle much more after that.
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Osaka-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 11
Day 11 - Wednesday, June 6th
This entire day can be classified as a WTF Moment.
We Shinkansened it to Shin Osaka Station. We weren't sure what the heck was up with Shin Osaka as opposed to Osaka.
Well, whatever the case, all thoughts of going to the Osaka Station were thwarted when we got to the Shin Osaka station and stepped outside.
Oh, it was shady. As all hell.
A Brief Summary of Osaka is as follows,
Bunraku and Love Hotels is a dangerous, and ugly combination.
I rather enjoyed violating people's privacy by getting their pictures at midday visiting the love hotel but what i did not enjoy was the plethora of lewd santas. Oh, wrong.
Ha. We didn't hang about for too long but just caught our Bunraku Puppet Play at the National Bunraku Theatre. It was fabulous but slow and most of the dialog escaped us because it was purely Japanese. We also were admist an audience of only high school children. Again. With the children. Most of them were annoying and needed to be slapped but whatever. At least the puppets were very awesome as was the storyteller. He was quite the emotional actor and amazing at his job.
We went back to Kyoto for our last night there and visited the mall at Kyoto Station. It was lame, much like Kyoto Tower.
Things We Observed This Day:
1. Baruse?
2. Carnival Pepsi?
The Day's Eats:
1. Takoyaki
2. Sukiyaki - Beef, udon, veggies, simmered in pot with rice
3. I had to cook my own pork! It was pretty good though and one of the tastiest things I ate in Japan.
4. Noodle bao and regular pork bao. That Noodle bao was far from good times. That makes me sad.
5. Big Mac
6. Carnival Pepsi. This was also disgusting. It wanted to be orange soda with a pepsi aftertaste. Bleck. Nothing carnival about it! Not that I would know being displaced and all.
7. Oatmeal raisin cookies from the plane
This entire day can be classified as a WTF Moment.
We Shinkansened it to Shin Osaka Station. We weren't sure what the heck was up with Shin Osaka as opposed to Osaka.
Well, whatever the case, all thoughts of going to the Osaka Station were thwarted when we got to the Shin Osaka station and stepped outside.
Oh, it was shady. As all hell.
A Brief Summary of Osaka is as follows,
Bunraku and Love Hotels is a dangerous, and ugly combination.
I rather enjoyed violating people's privacy by getting their pictures at midday visiting the love hotel but what i did not enjoy was the plethora of lewd santas. Oh, wrong.
Ha. We didn't hang about for too long but just caught our Bunraku Puppet Play at the National Bunraku Theatre. It was fabulous but slow and most of the dialog escaped us because it was purely Japanese. We also were admist an audience of only high school children. Again. With the children. Most of them were annoying and needed to be slapped but whatever. At least the puppets were very awesome as was the storyteller. He was quite the emotional actor and amazing at his job.
We went back to Kyoto for our last night there and visited the mall at Kyoto Station. It was lame, much like Kyoto Tower.
Things We Observed This Day:
1. Baruse?
2. Carnival Pepsi?
The Day's Eats:
1. Takoyaki
2. Sukiyaki - Beef, udon, veggies, simmered in pot with rice
3. I had to cook my own pork! It was pretty good though and one of the tastiest things I ate in Japan.
4. Noodle bao and regular pork bao. That Noodle bao was far from good times. That makes me sad.
5. Big Mac
6. Carnival Pepsi. This was also disgusting. It wanted to be orange soda with a pepsi aftertaste. Bleck. Nothing carnival about it! Not that I would know being displaced and all.
7. Oatmeal raisin cookies from the plane
The Kyoto-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 10
Day 10 - Tuesday, June 5th
Another easy day in Kyoto. One that involved our going to a ghetto zoo. The Kyoto Zoological Park was quite sketch and once again, we found ourselves surrounded by school children. It had a petting zoo section for crap's sake!
There were no alligators which made it lame. And as per usual, I end up at a zoo on a really hot day so the red pandas refused to show themselves. But the vulture was really damned hilarious to me. He lumbered around like nobody's business. Beetchie enjoyed the multiple fowl because according to her, if it's a bird, it's edible.
After the short-lived zoo visit, we made our way back to the maze strip mall and couldn't find the movie theatre we had seen the day before. Why did we want the movie theatre?
We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End.
Look, don't judge us okay? We wanted a movie experience in Japan and it was really hot that day!
Anyway, the movie theatre impressed Beetchie due to something about the high resolution screen and reserved seating. I was impressed by the fact that I could eat caramel popcorn as my choice of popcorn and it was good too. A choice in popcorn that isn't extra butter! It was a little burnt but still, it was fantastic. I was confused by the hippo mascots and the fact that the Japanese were very quiet in the theatre.
As for the movie itself, it was better than part 2 save that whole stupid role of that "jamaican" woman. Ugh. But TD5, we need to discuss.
Next we hit up Gion Corner, which literally was a corner. Those Japanese can be so humourless sometimes though alright, maybe I found that slightly amusing. Unfortunately we arrived too late as the Geisha had already retired for the night. It was only a little after 8 p.m. but who am I to judge a Geisha? They certainly know how to reel in the money. Damned rich Gion...
Things We Observed This Day - Volume VIII
1. Frankly, we'd observed this a long time before but the Japanese are all about day trips and school trips for their kids. I question whether the children go to school at all. Look at those children, the real animals at the zoo!
2. We had nothing but bus misadventures on this trip. Even when it wasn't our fault, we still mananged to hold up the bus because their stupid machines didn't want to read our 500 yen.
The Day's Eats:
1. Takoyaki.
2. Bad Hot Dog/Onion Cheese Bread.
3. Maple, condensed milk sandwich.
4. Caramel Popcorn.
5. Ramen with really fatty pork.
Obligatory Animal Picture for Beetchie:
Here's your squeaky toy sounding bush-dog, Beetchie. I'm sure he had a WTF moment of the day when you insisted on wakin' his tired ass. 'Thanks. Thanks for waking me.'
The Shooed Away Count:
1. The bus driver kicked us off his buss for holding up his bus. I think I got a free ride off of him or Beetchie. It wasn't our fault the stupid change machine wasn't working properly!
Another easy day in Kyoto. One that involved our going to a ghetto zoo. The Kyoto Zoological Park was quite sketch and once again, we found ourselves surrounded by school children. It had a petting zoo section for crap's sake!
There were no alligators which made it lame. And as per usual, I end up at a zoo on a really hot day so the red pandas refused to show themselves. But the vulture was really damned hilarious to me. He lumbered around like nobody's business. Beetchie enjoyed the multiple fowl because according to her, if it's a bird, it's edible.
After the short-lived zoo visit, we made our way back to the maze strip mall and couldn't find the movie theatre we had seen the day before. Why did we want the movie theatre?
We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End.
Look, don't judge us okay? We wanted a movie experience in Japan and it was really hot that day!
Anyway, the movie theatre impressed Beetchie due to something about the high resolution screen and reserved seating. I was impressed by the fact that I could eat caramel popcorn as my choice of popcorn and it was good too. A choice in popcorn that isn't extra butter! It was a little burnt but still, it was fantastic. I was confused by the hippo mascots and the fact that the Japanese were very quiet in the theatre.
As for the movie itself, it was better than part 2 save that whole stupid role of that "jamaican" woman. Ugh. But TD5, we need to discuss.
Next we hit up Gion Corner, which literally was a corner. Those Japanese can be so humourless sometimes though alright, maybe I found that slightly amusing. Unfortunately we arrived too late as the Geisha had already retired for the night. It was only a little after 8 p.m. but who am I to judge a Geisha? They certainly know how to reel in the money. Damned rich Gion...
Things We Observed This Day - Volume VIII
1. Frankly, we'd observed this a long time before but the Japanese are all about day trips and school trips for their kids. I question whether the children go to school at all. Look at those children, the real animals at the zoo!
2. We had nothing but bus misadventures on this trip. Even when it wasn't our fault, we still mananged to hold up the bus because their stupid machines didn't want to read our 500 yen.
The Day's Eats:
1. Takoyaki.
2. Bad Hot Dog/Onion Cheese Bread.
3. Maple, condensed milk sandwich.
4. Caramel Popcorn.
5. Ramen with really fatty pork.
Obligatory Animal Picture for Beetchie:
Here's your squeaky toy sounding bush-dog, Beetchie. I'm sure he had a WTF moment of the day when you insisted on wakin' his tired ass. 'Thanks. Thanks for waking me.'
The Shooed Away Count:
1. The bus driver kicked us off his buss for holding up his bus. I think I got a free ride off of him or Beetchie. It wasn't our fault the stupid change machine wasn't working properly!
The Kyoto-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 9
Day 9 - Monday, June 4th
Kyoto had the biggest, frickin' strip mall ever. That damned place was never-ending and scary.
We mostly just hung out around the giant mall and had many good time meals. We also got presents for a lot of you peeps including checking out a music store for the latest in Japanese music. And oo! I found my boys MUSE and Arctic Monkeys on the second floor of Juegia CD store. Awww. Sorry. They make me happy. Stop judging.
Now on to the food because it was the great thing of the day!
The Day's Eats:
1. There was a squashed custard bun incident that I'm trying to forget.
2. Takoyaki
3. X, yep - we did a Sushi Conveyor Belt. Mmmm, we ate 14 plates of sushi with 2 to a plate for 1990 yen. Good times, right X?
4. And now for one of the best eats of the trip and certainly the most expensive meal - the Kobe steak. We had a five course meal that included grilled mushrooms that were fantastic but it was all about the Kobe. Beetchie says it melted in the mouth and it did. It really did. And for 115 dollars, that damned steak better have melted in the mouth!
That's the shoddy picture of the kobe. I was in a high class place, people, I couldn't exactly be flash-photographing the chef and the kobe like a stupid American.
Things We Observed and the WTF Moments - Volume VII:
1. If I hear Avril Lavigne one more time...I'll kick a Japanese person. They are obsessed with her and I cannot understand it for the life of me. Stupid ass, Japanese and their love of stupid Canadians.
2. Those Japanese like to keed. We found this store that claimed it had the funniest things from America. Either the Japanese don't know funny or are trying to rub it in our faces that we're not funny. I hardly find this amusing at all -
3. Beetchie ate the fugu. I actually pointed it out to her like the good friend that I am. She got high off of it.
Kyoto had the biggest, frickin' strip mall ever. That damned place was never-ending and scary.
We mostly just hung out around the giant mall and had many good time meals. We also got presents for a lot of you peeps including checking out a music store for the latest in Japanese music. And oo! I found my boys MUSE and Arctic Monkeys on the second floor of Juegia CD store. Awww. Sorry. They make me happy. Stop judging.
Now on to the food because it was the great thing of the day!
The Day's Eats:
1. There was a squashed custard bun incident that I'm trying to forget.
2. Takoyaki
3. X, yep - we did a Sushi Conveyor Belt. Mmmm, we ate 14 plates of sushi with 2 to a plate for 1990 yen. Good times, right X?
4. And now for one of the best eats of the trip and certainly the most expensive meal - the Kobe steak. We had a five course meal that included grilled mushrooms that were fantastic but it was all about the Kobe. Beetchie says it melted in the mouth and it did. It really did. And for 115 dollars, that damned steak better have melted in the mouth!
That's the shoddy picture of the kobe. I was in a high class place, people, I couldn't exactly be flash-photographing the chef and the kobe like a stupid American.
Things We Observed and the WTF Moments - Volume VII:
1. If I hear Avril Lavigne one more time...I'll kick a Japanese person. They are obsessed with her and I cannot understand it for the life of me. Stupid ass, Japanese and their love of stupid Canadians.
2. Those Japanese like to keed. We found this store that claimed it had the funniest things from America. Either the Japanese don't know funny or are trying to rub it in our faces that we're not funny. I hardly find this amusing at all -
3. Beetchie ate the fugu. I actually pointed it out to her like the good friend that I am. She got high off of it.
The Kyoto-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 8
Day 8 - Sunday, June 3rd
We had a holy day of Temple Shrine Hopping. I didn't feel very holy though after those biatches made us pay to get in to see their shrines!
We did lots of walking and lots of getting lost along the way until we discovered that the easiest way to get around Kyoto is via their bus system and that it'd take you to whatever tourist spot you needed to see. I don't even take the bus in NYC, so the fact that Kyoto forced this upon me was criminal! But for 220 yen, we could pretty much tour Kyoto's major spots if we just stayed on the bus. And we did the day after but not because we wanted to but because we just had to make a roundabout as we got on the bus going in the direction opposite what we wanted.
Sadly, we never got to Nijo Castle. And the ninjas remained in hiding.
Not much more to say so just look at the pretty pictures!
But by far, the best temple we visted that day and perhaps for our entire journey, I felt (and not because it cost nothing to go to) was the one that was involved quick healing and safe travels. The atmosphere there was peaceful and felt special...
...ah yes, Goo Shrine. You cannot have anything but love and respect for a temple dedicated to pigs.
WTF Moment of the Day:
1. Seriously, 400 yen for the Golden Pavillion and 500 yen to see a tiny zen rock garden that lied to me in the pictures?! Those rocks were not as white as in the brochure!!!!
Things We Observed This Day:
1. The Japanese are trusting when it comes to the bus. I mean, if there's one thing you're taught in NY, it's that you should always have exact change for the bus. This is not needed on the Japanese bus. The bus actually has a machine to give you change! That's crazy.
Also, they do everything backwards and here's why they're 'trusting'. You get on the bus in the middle and you don't pay until you get off. They're insane.
The Day's Eats:
1. Pizza buns/bread
2. Green tea and vanilla Soft Serve Ice-Cream (which was fabulous)
3. Melon Cream Soda (which was a crime against nature)
4. "Regular" food - pasta, fries, baked pork with sweet sauce? Oh but was it good times.
5. Japanese Teriyaki pizza. (Gross. The chicken, the rice cakes, the mayo and corn. Ugh.)
We had a holy day of Temple Shrine Hopping. I didn't feel very holy though after those biatches made us pay to get in to see their shrines!
We did lots of walking and lots of getting lost along the way until we discovered that the easiest way to get around Kyoto is via their bus system and that it'd take you to whatever tourist spot you needed to see. I don't even take the bus in NYC, so the fact that Kyoto forced this upon me was criminal! But for 220 yen, we could pretty much tour Kyoto's major spots if we just stayed on the bus. And we did the day after but not because we wanted to but because we just had to make a roundabout as we got on the bus going in the direction opposite what we wanted.
Sadly, we never got to Nijo Castle. And the ninjas remained in hiding.
Not much more to say so just look at the pretty pictures!
This here is the Golden Pavillion. It's pretty golden, right?
Some Zen Garden Goodness
And please notice the duck, will you?
He argued with me the entire time I was there.
Asshole animals strike again!
I prefered the Ryoan-ji Zen Garden to the Golden Pavillion, even if I did get heckled by a duck. It's okay though, I paparrazi'd his ass.But by far, the best temple we visted that day and perhaps for our entire journey, I felt (and not because it cost nothing to go to) was the one that was involved quick healing and safe travels. The atmosphere there was peaceful and felt special...
...ah yes, Goo Shrine. You cannot have anything but love and respect for a temple dedicated to pigs.
WTF Moment of the Day:
1. Seriously, 400 yen for the Golden Pavillion and 500 yen to see a tiny zen rock garden that lied to me in the pictures?! Those rocks were not as white as in the brochure!!!!
Things We Observed This Day:
1. The Japanese are trusting when it comes to the bus. I mean, if there's one thing you're taught in NY, it's that you should always have exact change for the bus. This is not needed on the Japanese bus. The bus actually has a machine to give you change! That's crazy.
Also, they do everything backwards and here's why they're 'trusting'. You get on the bus in the middle and you don't pay until you get off. They're insane.
The Day's Eats:
1. Pizza buns/bread
2. Green tea and vanilla Soft Serve Ice-Cream (which was fabulous)
3. Melon Cream Soda (which was a crime against nature)
4. "Regular" food - pasta, fries, baked pork with sweet sauce? Oh but was it good times.
5. Japanese Teriyaki pizza. (Gross. The chicken, the rice cakes, the mayo and corn. Ugh.)
The Tokyo-Ho to Kyoto-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 7
Day 7 - Saturday, June 2nd
Well this was fairly exciting!
We traveled on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. The usual 8 hour trip by regular rail was only 2.5 hours on the Shinkansen.
The Shinkansen was not only super fast but also super quiet. It was quite amazing how smooth a ride it was. But while fast and impressive, that couldn't stop noisy little bastard children from invading our car. We would be the ones to get the noisiest children in Japan. There's nothing worse than a train riddled with brats, save the one bitchy fat assed baby who sat in his own chair and grimaced like nobody's business. Damned future Yakuza.
Misadventure number 1 of Kyoto was finding our Ryokan. We eventually found it by following a kind old lady who lead us to the place but not before accosting a plain clothed police officer? We're not sure what he was but he was awesome and his accent was awesome. He could have been from Osaka. He managed to help us some, even if all he did was direct us to an old lady after 15 minutes of listening to his prattling off about something. He wouldn't let us go for a while there.
The Ryokan was nice and was run by Yumiko, a woman we did not want to mess with.
Bad shot of our room -
And then came the communal bath which was quite sketchy. I tried to make a pact with Beetchie, who refused to shower the same time I wanted to until of course, she had to go clean her tattoo and begged me to come with her.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
For some reason the toilets were quite smelly. We later discovered that was due to mildew but man, was that nasty everytime we had to use the bathroom.
The Day's Eats:
1. Pork and rice for breakfast, salmon and rice for breakfast minus the natto this time.
2. Shrimp Fillet sandwiches laden with onions and potato salad sandwiches also laden with onions.
Well this was fairly exciting!
We traveled on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. The usual 8 hour trip by regular rail was only 2.5 hours on the Shinkansen.
The Shinkansen was not only super fast but also super quiet. It was quite amazing how smooth a ride it was. But while fast and impressive, that couldn't stop noisy little bastard children from invading our car. We would be the ones to get the noisiest children in Japan. There's nothing worse than a train riddled with brats, save the one bitchy fat assed baby who sat in his own chair and grimaced like nobody's business. Damned future Yakuza.
Misadventure number 1 of Kyoto was finding our Ryokan. We eventually found it by following a kind old lady who lead us to the place but not before accosting a plain clothed police officer? We're not sure what he was but he was awesome and his accent was awesome. He could have been from Osaka. He managed to help us some, even if all he did was direct us to an old lady after 15 minutes of listening to his prattling off about something. He wouldn't let us go for a while there.
The Ryokan was nice and was run by Yumiko, a woman we did not want to mess with.
Bad shot of our room -
And then came the communal bath which was quite sketchy. I tried to make a pact with Beetchie, who refused to shower the same time I wanted to until of course, she had to go clean her tattoo and begged me to come with her.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
For some reason the toilets were quite smelly. We later discovered that was due to mildew but man, was that nasty everytime we had to use the bathroom.
The Day's Eats:
1. Pork and rice for breakfast, salmon and rice for breakfast minus the natto this time.
2. Shrimp Fillet sandwiches laden with onions and potato salad sandwiches also laden with onions.
Why Haven't I Eaten This?!
Burger King Puts Spam on the Menu
By Jaymes Song, Associated Press
HONOLULU — For many Americans, spam is a four-letter word for unwanted e-mail. In Hawaii, Spam is a beloved comfort food, with cans of the pork bricks found in virtually every cupboard.
Hoping to cash in on Hawaii's love affair with the canned meat product, Burger King (BKC) last month began offering Spam for breakfast — going head-to-head with rival McDonald's (MCD), which has offered Spam in the islands for years.
Burger King is offering the Spam Platter — two slices of Spam with white rice and scrambled eggs. The fast-food giant also offers the Croissanwich or Biscuit Sandwich with Spam.
Denise Yamauchi, Burger King managing director in Hawaii, says sales have been "very good and very promising."
Putting Spam on the menu, alongside Burger King's traditional items, such as the Whopper, has been in the works about a year, and corporate headquarters finally signed off on the idea.
"It's something that was a little unique and a little different for them, so it was a bit of a hard sell to bring to Hawaii," Yamauchi said. "But they finally realized it is a unique flavor and something the locals really like."
At a Burger King near downtown Honolulu, where a poster in the window proudly advertises "Spam in the A.M.," the Spam Platter was selling for $3.49. The nearly identical Spam, Eggs and Rice plate across the street at McDonald's was $3.39.
Melanie Okazaki, marketing manager for McDonald's Restaurants of Hawaii, said Spam has been offered at the chain's 75 island restaurants since 2002.
"In Hawaii, it is a very popular menu item, and we will continue to offer it to our customers," she said.
Burger King's latest offering runs counter to the chain's push to offer healthier fare, including salads and the meatless BK Veggie Burger. But no one can deny Hawaii's appetite for Spam.
Despite being one of the least-populated states, Hawaii leads the nation in consumption of the Hormel Foods (HRL) product. It's been a hit since World War II. Island residents consume more than 5 million pounds of Spam a year, an average of about six cans for every man, woman and child.
Spam "musubi" — a slice of Spam atop a block of rice, wrapped in seaweed — is a favorite at nearly every convenience store, including 7-Eleven. And Spam fried rice is a local classic.
There are more varieties of Spam sold in Hawaii than anywhere else. There's Spam Garlic, Spam Bacon, Spam with Cheese, Spam with Tabasco, Spam Turkey and Spam Lite, which features less sodium and less fat.
"We're pleased to see more and more restaurants adding it to their menu, providing Hawaiians additional opportunities to experience the savory, salty-sweet taste they love," said Dan Goldman, Spam's product manager.
Are you a Spam fan? What's your favorite Spam recipe?
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Why haven't I had Spam Bacon?! You people saw that right? Spam. Bacon. Oh the awesomeness that must be.
Let's go to Hawaii!
By Jaymes Song, Associated Press
HONOLULU — For many Americans, spam is a four-letter word for unwanted e-mail. In Hawaii, Spam is a beloved comfort food, with cans of the pork bricks found in virtually every cupboard.
Hoping to cash in on Hawaii's love affair with the canned meat product, Burger King (BKC) last month began offering Spam for breakfast — going head-to-head with rival McDonald's (MCD), which has offered Spam in the islands for years.
Burger King is offering the Spam Platter — two slices of Spam with white rice and scrambled eggs. The fast-food giant also offers the Croissanwich or Biscuit Sandwich with Spam.
Denise Yamauchi, Burger King managing director in Hawaii, says sales have been "very good and very promising."
Putting Spam on the menu, alongside Burger King's traditional items, such as the Whopper, has been in the works about a year, and corporate headquarters finally signed off on the idea.
"It's something that was a little unique and a little different for them, so it was a bit of a hard sell to bring to Hawaii," Yamauchi said. "But they finally realized it is a unique flavor and something the locals really like."
At a Burger King near downtown Honolulu, where a poster in the window proudly advertises "Spam in the A.M.," the Spam Platter was selling for $3.49. The nearly identical Spam, Eggs and Rice plate across the street at McDonald's was $3.39.
Melanie Okazaki, marketing manager for McDonald's Restaurants of Hawaii, said Spam has been offered at the chain's 75 island restaurants since 2002.
"In Hawaii, it is a very popular menu item, and we will continue to offer it to our customers," she said.
Burger King's latest offering runs counter to the chain's push to offer healthier fare, including salads and the meatless BK Veggie Burger. But no one can deny Hawaii's appetite for Spam.
Despite being one of the least-populated states, Hawaii leads the nation in consumption of the Hormel Foods (HRL) product. It's been a hit since World War II. Island residents consume more than 5 million pounds of Spam a year, an average of about six cans for every man, woman and child.
Spam "musubi" — a slice of Spam atop a block of rice, wrapped in seaweed — is a favorite at nearly every convenience store, including 7-Eleven. And Spam fried rice is a local classic.
There are more varieties of Spam sold in Hawaii than anywhere else. There's Spam Garlic, Spam Bacon, Spam with Cheese, Spam with Tabasco, Spam Turkey and Spam Lite, which features less sodium and less fat.
"We're pleased to see more and more restaurants adding it to their menu, providing Hawaiians additional opportunities to experience the savory, salty-sweet taste they love," said Dan Goldman, Spam's product manager.
Are you a Spam fan? What's your favorite Spam recipe?
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Why haven't I had Spam Bacon?! You people saw that right? Spam. Bacon. Oh the awesomeness that must be.
Let's go to Hawaii!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 6
Day 6 - Friday, June 1st.
We left the security of the Oakhotel Inn for our new digs in Akihabara. Ah yes, the Capsule Hotel. We got lost over there trying to find it and had the dude at the front desk run out to come get us. Luckily, we were close by so he didn't have to leave his post for long. We were only allowed to drop our bags off at that time so more on the Capsule sleeping situation later.
This day found us at Harajuku. Yes, MC and TD5, this shit is bananas. Yes. The one and same. And the girls were out in their sometimes ridiculous outfits. That place was crowded. Not much to say about Harajuku - Snoopy Town's over there, lots of clothing stores but oh, it was awful because you've got the punks on one street then the Japanese Hipsters on the other! Stupid hipsters... stupid no matter what the country.
We were accosted by some punks in Harajuku who were interested in Beetchie's Green Day shirt and we were shown pictures of Green Day themselves visiting that particular store we were in. Lots of musicians and such were there apparently. That was kind of cool. We tried to tell them to listen to Mindless Self Indulgence if they were looking for new music so we'll see if MSI catches on in Japan. You know, we have to do our part to rid of them of that awful J-Pop, much like I try every day to rid the U.S. of pop over here.
Beetchie also got a tattoo! Yep, a little wispy Japanese fart cloud. Uh, I mean regular cloud. It's pretty cool and caused her much paranoia and grief for a few days after but we think it's going to heal just fine. It's pretty cute.
We then headed over to Shinjuku where Beetchie attempted to find the gay district and a lesbian bar.
It was there I had a breakdown. And it's not that I was very sad but you know how when you start tearing, you just can't stop tearing if someone tries to ask you what's wrong? Well that happens to me. At this point in the trip, I felt that I had been in Tokyo forever. I missed home and I even missed my little boobey-head. So I broke down in a lesbian bar and what's worse, it was very tiny so of course, now all the lesbians in that bar probably think that Beetchie was breaking up with me.
But you guys saw my true plan right? I wasn't really sad. I was just trying to ensure that Beetchie didn't leave me stranded in Shinjuku by going off on a late night rendevouz with a Japanese lady she found!
Ah, yes. Crying. One of the best thwarting tactics around.
But H1's right, it wasn't fair because as she pointed out, if I had seen my man Matt or my Clown Hooligan boy Alex T. in Japan, I probably would have bailed on Beetchie. Heh. Well in my defense, I knew Alex was not going to be in Japan until August and Matt's currently preparing for Wembley Stadium!
We rushed to catch a train back to Aki. (the trains stop running after midnight) for our stay at the Capsule Hotel. Those things are sweet. It's not coffin-like because they're quite spacious. It's got a tv in there. My only complaint was that it's kind of hot and well, 'communal' showers suck. But the sleeping space itself is pretty awesome.
Catching some Zzzz's in the Capsule 809-
Now get me the fudge out of nyo!
WTF Moments of the Day:
1. Studio Cafe Strawberry.
It's one of many Maid Cafes in Akihabara and I couldn't take pictures or see the real thing in action but ugh.
Apparently for 500 yen we could dress up in a selection of ridiculous outfits and play games with the maids in three different settings. This particular cafe had the "School Classroom", the "Children's Playroom" and the "Doctor's Office".
Perverted? Thankfully we left right before a troop of guys came in. I wasn't sure if I was alright watching those little maids, complete in French Maid Outfits get on their knees to ask their 'masters' if they wanted anything off the menu. Ugh. So damned dirty. I feel so incredibly dirty typing that out.
Just like the dirty men going down the shady little staircase to the cafe:
2. Japanese and Hip-Hop do not mix. I don't know what their deal is but it's troubling.
Things We Observed This Day - Volume VI
1. Another toilet incident. This time, we went to use the tattoo parlour's bathroom, flushed the toilet and couldn't find the sink to wash our hands. But no! Trickery! Because as you flush the toilet, it triggers water to come out from the faucet attached to the top of the toilet! You'd think I'd be highly appalled but I was actually very fascinated by it. Beetchie on the other hand was disgusted.
The Incident of the Day:
1. The Failed Pachinko Experiment.
One of the main things Beetchie wanted to do was play Pachinko. That night we met Hattori Hanzo and the band of Japanese business men, one of them who was quite the avid player of Pachinko we gathered, had said to us that as a minimum we should put down 30,000 yen at a machine. We...were confused and informed him that 300 USD was quite a bit and our cap was maybe 1000 yen or 10 USD.
That Friday in Aki., we discovered what the hell the man was talking about. For 1000 yen, we got two balls. Two. Two silver balls in that slot machine is about as valuable as a baconless hamburger.
Now let us never speak about it again.
The Day's Eats:
1. Tonkatsu Sandwich; Turkey/Cheese Sandwich from our good, close friend in Japan - Lawsons, which is like a Seven Eleven.
2. Chocolate bagel with white chocolate chips; Soy & Edamame Bagel
3. Pizza Bao
4. Banana, Vanilla Ice-Cream, Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce Crepe
5. Cheese Bacon Bread which tasted like a cheese paste sandwich and this is my reminder to ask H1 to make me some cheese paste with bacon in it.
6. Chicken Hot Dog
7. Some kind of honey drizzled dessert that I can't quite recall right now. And some sort of refreshing beverage from the same maid cafe... lemonade? grapefruit drink? I don't remember.
We left the security of the Oakhotel Inn for our new digs in Akihabara. Ah yes, the Capsule Hotel. We got lost over there trying to find it and had the dude at the front desk run out to come get us. Luckily, we were close by so he didn't have to leave his post for long. We were only allowed to drop our bags off at that time so more on the Capsule sleeping situation later.
This day found us at Harajuku. Yes, MC and TD5, this shit is bananas. Yes. The one and same. And the girls were out in their sometimes ridiculous outfits. That place was crowded. Not much to say about Harajuku - Snoopy Town's over there, lots of clothing stores but oh, it was awful because you've got the punks on one street then the Japanese Hipsters on the other! Stupid hipsters... stupid no matter what the country.
We were accosted by some punks in Harajuku who were interested in Beetchie's Green Day shirt and we were shown pictures of Green Day themselves visiting that particular store we were in. Lots of musicians and such were there apparently. That was kind of cool. We tried to tell them to listen to Mindless Self Indulgence if they were looking for new music so we'll see if MSI catches on in Japan. You know, we have to do our part to rid of them of that awful J-Pop, much like I try every day to rid the U.S. of pop over here.
Beetchie also got a tattoo! Yep, a little wispy Japanese fart cloud. Uh, I mean regular cloud. It's pretty cool and caused her much paranoia and grief for a few days after but we think it's going to heal just fine. It's pretty cute.
We then headed over to Shinjuku where Beetchie attempted to find the gay district and a lesbian bar.
It was there I had a breakdown. And it's not that I was very sad but you know how when you start tearing, you just can't stop tearing if someone tries to ask you what's wrong? Well that happens to me. At this point in the trip, I felt that I had been in Tokyo forever. I missed home and I even missed my little boobey-head. So I broke down in a lesbian bar and what's worse, it was very tiny so of course, now all the lesbians in that bar probably think that Beetchie was breaking up with me.
But you guys saw my true plan right? I wasn't really sad. I was just trying to ensure that Beetchie didn't leave me stranded in Shinjuku by going off on a late night rendevouz with a Japanese lady she found!
Ah, yes. Crying. One of the best thwarting tactics around.
But H1's right, it wasn't fair because as she pointed out, if I had seen my man Matt or my Clown Hooligan boy Alex T. in Japan, I probably would have bailed on Beetchie. Heh. Well in my defense, I knew Alex was not going to be in Japan until August and Matt's currently preparing for Wembley Stadium!
We rushed to catch a train back to Aki. (the trains stop running after midnight) for our stay at the Capsule Hotel. Those things are sweet. It's not coffin-like because they're quite spacious. It's got a tv in there. My only complaint was that it's kind of hot and well, 'communal' showers suck. But the sleeping space itself is pretty awesome.
Catching some Zzzz's in the Capsule 809-
Now get me the fudge out of nyo!
WTF Moments of the Day:
1. Studio Cafe Strawberry.
It's one of many Maid Cafes in Akihabara and I couldn't take pictures or see the real thing in action but ugh.
Apparently for 500 yen we could dress up in a selection of ridiculous outfits and play games with the maids in three different settings. This particular cafe had the "School Classroom", the "Children's Playroom" and the "Doctor's Office".
Perverted? Thankfully we left right before a troop of guys came in. I wasn't sure if I was alright watching those little maids, complete in French Maid Outfits get on their knees to ask their 'masters' if they wanted anything off the menu. Ugh. So damned dirty. I feel so incredibly dirty typing that out.
Just like the dirty men going down the shady little staircase to the cafe:
2. Japanese and Hip-Hop do not mix. I don't know what their deal is but it's troubling.
Things We Observed This Day - Volume VI
1. Another toilet incident. This time, we went to use the tattoo parlour's bathroom, flushed the toilet and couldn't find the sink to wash our hands. But no! Trickery! Because as you flush the toilet, it triggers water to come out from the faucet attached to the top of the toilet! You'd think I'd be highly appalled but I was actually very fascinated by it. Beetchie on the other hand was disgusted.
The Incident of the Day:
1. The Failed Pachinko Experiment.
One of the main things Beetchie wanted to do was play Pachinko. That night we met Hattori Hanzo and the band of Japanese business men, one of them who was quite the avid player of Pachinko we gathered, had said to us that as a minimum we should put down 30,000 yen at a machine. We...were confused and informed him that 300 USD was quite a bit and our cap was maybe 1000 yen or 10 USD.
That Friday in Aki., we discovered what the hell the man was talking about. For 1000 yen, we got two balls. Two. Two silver balls in that slot machine is about as valuable as a baconless hamburger.
Now let us never speak about it again.
The Day's Eats:
1. Tonkatsu Sandwich; Turkey/Cheese Sandwich from our good, close friend in Japan - Lawsons, which is like a Seven Eleven.
2. Chocolate bagel with white chocolate chips; Soy & Edamame Bagel
3. Pizza Bao
4. Banana, Vanilla Ice-Cream, Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce Crepe
5. Cheese Bacon Bread which tasted like a cheese paste sandwich and this is my reminder to ask H1 to make me some cheese paste with bacon in it.
6. Chicken Hot Dog
7. Some kind of honey drizzled dessert that I can't quite recall right now. And some sort of refreshing beverage from the same maid cafe... lemonade? grapefruit drink? I don't remember.
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 5
Day 5 - Thursday, May 31st
We set out to the Tokyo Sea Life Park. I was expecting more sharks but otherwise, it was pretty decent. The space itself was nice and the displays were alright. I guess the big deal was the tuna exhibit, which I suppose was rather impressive. Those things are huge and scary. I've decided if I need to get a true Aquarium experience, I'd have to have H1 take me to see Marvin at The Shed Aquarium. Also, I can visit the Sunshine Aquarium on the next trip to Japan.
Anyways, look at them mean ass tuna!
After a billion photos taken at the aquarium, we headed over to Akihabara - Anime, Video Game and Manga Central.
We were quite happy to see this here building in true anime/gamers nerdy fashion:
However, after waiting all our short little anime lives (which really isn't that short - what's it going on for you now, Beetchie? 12 years?) to hit up this place/Electric Town, we found it to be kind of sad. We didn't find goods that we really wanted from our various anime series and what's worse, all the cool toys that we would have wanted all had release dates pegged after our trip to Japan, ie on Tuesday the 12th of June or September!
They rob me of the new anime love of my life, L! Those rat bastards.
So now I'm off on a mission to find the mini 5 piece chibi "L" figure collection that I want badly (and isn't out yet but already sold out over there), the new Bleach Soundtracks which come out in a few weeks, and my "Knights of the Round" Final Fantasy VII figure set.
Am I a nerd? Yes. Do I care what Frass has to say about it? No. I care about nothing Frass has to say and no Frass, no matter what you think, I am not Rosie O' Donnell and it is not a coincidence that she went off The View the same time I was out of the U.S. You insult me, and yet I still get you presents from Japan. But as I discussed with MC, your present is not one of meaning unlike his. Anyway, I'll give it to you when I see you next.
The UFO Catchers pretty much kicked our asses that day save the Kon and Ryuk plushies we acquired but oh was Beetchie angry by that L plush that escaped her. No worries though, she owned it the day after.
Things We Observed in Japan - Volume V.
1. Tokyo's one noisy place. Everytime you enter a store, every worker will greet you and bid you farewell when you're leaving. The constant babbling makes me wonder if they feel incredibly tired and have dry throats by the end of the day.
*2. Exactly how things might look if we were to use an Eastern Style Toilet...
The Day's Eats:
1. Japanese black curry with beef. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. If there's one thing the Japanese do not know about, it's curry. Ugh.
2. Hamburg Steak with rice and fries. The Hamburg tasted like frozen meatballs. Bleck.
3. Sukiyaki, a chain restaurant provided us with more bad Japanese curry. It was pork this time but not black but that really didn't matter.
4. This day began the string of Takoyaki eating that Beetchie set out to do. Those little octopus filled flour batter balls made her happy. They were good but I was never really hungry when she ate them despite her theory that I hate them.
Obligatory Photo Post of Ugly Fish For Beetchie:
*To protect our identities, since we do have enemies floating about on the internet, I will be inserting wacom-drawn bao heads where I deem appropriate. They are not loads of poop with stink lines. They are pork bao with steam lines. Please do not judge my drawings.
remember, b-a-o-s.
a like so:
We set out to the Tokyo Sea Life Park. I was expecting more sharks but otherwise, it was pretty decent. The space itself was nice and the displays were alright. I guess the big deal was the tuna exhibit, which I suppose was rather impressive. Those things are huge and scary. I've decided if I need to get a true Aquarium experience, I'd have to have H1 take me to see Marvin at The Shed Aquarium. Also, I can visit the Sunshine Aquarium on the next trip to Japan.
Anyways, look at them mean ass tuna!
After a billion photos taken at the aquarium, we headed over to Akihabara - Anime, Video Game and Manga Central.
We were quite happy to see this here building in true anime/gamers nerdy fashion:
However, after waiting all our short little anime lives (which really isn't that short - what's it going on for you now, Beetchie? 12 years?) to hit up this place/Electric Town, we found it to be kind of sad. We didn't find goods that we really wanted from our various anime series and what's worse, all the cool toys that we would have wanted all had release dates pegged after our trip to Japan, ie on Tuesday the 12th of June or September!
They rob me of the new anime love of my life, L! Those rat bastards.
So now I'm off on a mission to find the mini 5 piece chibi "L" figure collection that I want badly (and isn't out yet but already sold out over there), the new Bleach Soundtracks which come out in a few weeks, and my "Knights of the Round" Final Fantasy VII figure set.
Am I a nerd? Yes. Do I care what Frass has to say about it? No. I care about nothing Frass has to say and no Frass, no matter what you think, I am not Rosie O' Donnell and it is not a coincidence that she went off The View the same time I was out of the U.S. You insult me, and yet I still get you presents from Japan. But as I discussed with MC, your present is not one of meaning unlike his. Anyway, I'll give it to you when I see you next.
The UFO Catchers pretty much kicked our asses that day save the Kon and Ryuk plushies we acquired but oh was Beetchie angry by that L plush that escaped her. No worries though, she owned it the day after.
Things We Observed in Japan - Volume V.
1. Tokyo's one noisy place. Everytime you enter a store, every worker will greet you and bid you farewell when you're leaving. The constant babbling makes me wonder if they feel incredibly tired and have dry throats by the end of the day.
*2. Exactly how things might look if we were to use an Eastern Style Toilet...
The Day's Eats:
1. Japanese black curry with beef. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. If there's one thing the Japanese do not know about, it's curry. Ugh.
2. Hamburg Steak with rice and fries. The Hamburg tasted like frozen meatballs. Bleck.
3. Sukiyaki, a chain restaurant provided us with more bad Japanese curry. It was pork this time but not black but that really didn't matter.
4. This day began the string of Takoyaki eating that Beetchie set out to do. Those little octopus filled flour batter balls made her happy. They were good but I was never really hungry when she ate them despite her theory that I hate them.
Obligatory Photo Post of Ugly Fish For Beetchie:
*To protect our identities, since we do have enemies floating about on the internet, I will be inserting wacom-drawn bao heads where I deem appropriate. They are not loads of poop with stink lines. They are pork bao with steam lines. Please do not judge my drawings.
remember, b-a-o-s.
a like so:
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 4
Day 4 - Wednesday, May 30
I waited up or tried to until 12.55 AM to catch Death Note as it aired. I watched a few minutes and gathered that Near was freakin' out for some reason. That was cool for all of 5 minutes until I fell asleep. I so need to play catch up in that series. It's almost done and I'm three episodes behind! ::sigh:: That also reminds me, I can't wait to eat my L Death Note Chocolate Cake.
The Day of Cheap
This was the day I discovered that my ATM was not going to be working in Japan and all I had for money was the 1000USD I converted for food, travel and whatever else. Oh the love of the credit card until I see my bill.
And this was the day we were traumatized and it's something we'd rather not remember, yet I still took video footage...
We call it, "Sanrio Puro Land".
There was a boat ride, a ton of children, a kiddie show and pink. Lots and lots of pink and of course, Hello Kitty. Everywhere. We went to her house. That cat's living the good life and apparently loves to watch Britney Spears videos in her den. Odd. We also took pictures with the cat herself. She held my hand. I am still very confused and feel slightly sullied and unusual.
Here are some pictures and yes, a video of the boat ride (which shames me to admit was one of our finer Tokyo moments - alright, don't judge me!) so you guys can join in that madness we experienced not that you could ever understand.
No Sanrio related blog of mine would be complete without Badtz Maru!
Why didn't you guys ever tell me about that male kitty that Hello likes to hang out with? He's fantastic! And um, trapped in a cage. Ahahahahahahahaha. Whatever, he's still awesome.
And I thought this was a kids' show! This villain is the stuff of nightmares. Though, the entire Sanrio Puro Land is the stuff of nightmares really.
And the boat ride footage. Okay. It's 2.45 minutes long and not even the entire thing, so you don't have to watch it all. In fact, I can guarantee not many of you will sit through this thing. But as I said before, I actually liked this. It was confusing and cracked us the hell up:
Gen and Battler, I went for you guys and came out with some stuff for you and that's all that matters.
It was raining lots when we got out, so after Sanrio, we just walked about and visited another arcade. It wasn't Sega Joyopolis but it was a Sega Arcade World. We did the usual but then we also did some of the things all the girls are into over there - those damned picture poses with your friends. It was fun times but ridiculous.
We then hit up a department store in that area in search of a bag for the pigghies and found a grocery. There we got some fugu sake. It's gross. It has a little piece of fugu floating in it. It's Clownie's present and he can drink it at his own risk.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
1. On the Virtual Adventure Trip we had to Digimon Digital World ('cause you know, I love those Digimon to this day), why did we get sprayed with mysterious puffs of smoke?! It reminds me of that Bidet incident I need to blog about in a future post...
Things We Observed That Day - Volume IV:
1. If you ever need assistance at a ticket machine in the subway, it's the funniest thing. You hit the assistance button and out of no where, from the wall pops open this little trap door and a little Japanese guy will pop up and start talking to you. And then he'll prattle off something crazily, slide the trap door shut and come out from the magical room behind the ticket machines, invisible and unknown to all.
2. The Japanese love them a clear umbrella. For the love of crap, why couldn't I get one that'd fit in my suitcase?! I'm so sad.
The Day's Eats:
1. Onigiri - bacon, salmon, pickles, tuna roe.
2. Street Pork Bao. Mmm.
3. Wendy's - The worst chicken nuggets ever. I'm not even sure it was chicken at this point.
4. Beetchie had a blue flavoured popsicle, which she swears is the best flavour ever.
5. Mister Donut - it was unimpressive and kind of dry actually.
6. Gyoza chips and peach & orange wine coolers in a can.
The Obligatory Photo of the Day (I mean, I really couldn't just post about Sanrio Puro Land and not post a picture of the betch herself, right? Here she is with my boy):
I waited up or tried to until 12.55 AM to catch Death Note as it aired. I watched a few minutes and gathered that Near was freakin' out for some reason. That was cool for all of 5 minutes until I fell asleep. I so need to play catch up in that series. It's almost done and I'm three episodes behind! ::sigh:: That also reminds me, I can't wait to eat my L Death Note Chocolate Cake.
The Day of Cheap
This was the day I discovered that my ATM was not going to be working in Japan and all I had for money was the 1000USD I converted for food, travel and whatever else. Oh the love of the credit card until I see my bill.
And this was the day we were traumatized and it's something we'd rather not remember, yet I still took video footage...
We call it, "Sanrio Puro Land".
There was a boat ride, a ton of children, a kiddie show and pink. Lots and lots of pink and of course, Hello Kitty. Everywhere. We went to her house. That cat's living the good life and apparently loves to watch Britney Spears videos in her den. Odd. We also took pictures with the cat herself. She held my hand. I am still very confused and feel slightly sullied and unusual.
Here are some pictures and yes, a video of the boat ride (which shames me to admit was one of our finer Tokyo moments - alright, don't judge me!) so you guys can join in that madness we experienced not that you could ever understand.
No Sanrio related blog of mine would be complete without Badtz Maru!
Why didn't you guys ever tell me about that male kitty that Hello likes to hang out with? He's fantastic! And um, trapped in a cage. Ahahahahahahahaha. Whatever, he's still awesome.
And I thought this was a kids' show! This villain is the stuff of nightmares. Though, the entire Sanrio Puro Land is the stuff of nightmares really.
And the boat ride footage. Okay. It's 2.45 minutes long and not even the entire thing, so you don't have to watch it all. In fact, I can guarantee not many of you will sit through this thing. But as I said before, I actually liked this. It was confusing and cracked us the hell up:
Gen and Battler, I went for you guys and came out with some stuff for you and that's all that matters.
It was raining lots when we got out, so after Sanrio, we just walked about and visited another arcade. It wasn't Sega Joyopolis but it was a Sega Arcade World. We did the usual but then we also did some of the things all the girls are into over there - those damned picture poses with your friends. It was fun times but ridiculous.
We then hit up a department store in that area in search of a bag for the pigghies and found a grocery. There we got some fugu sake. It's gross. It has a little piece of fugu floating in it. It's Clownie's present and he can drink it at his own risk.
The WTF Moment of the Day:
1. On the Virtual Adventure Trip we had to Digimon Digital World ('cause you know, I love those Digimon to this day), why did we get sprayed with mysterious puffs of smoke?! It reminds me of that Bidet incident I need to blog about in a future post...
Things We Observed That Day - Volume IV:
1. If you ever need assistance at a ticket machine in the subway, it's the funniest thing. You hit the assistance button and out of no where, from the wall pops open this little trap door and a little Japanese guy will pop up and start talking to you. And then he'll prattle off something crazily, slide the trap door shut and come out from the magical room behind the ticket machines, invisible and unknown to all.
2. The Japanese love them a clear umbrella. For the love of crap, why couldn't I get one that'd fit in my suitcase?! I'm so sad.
The Day's Eats:
1. Onigiri - bacon, salmon, pickles, tuna roe.
2. Street Pork Bao. Mmm.
3. Wendy's - The worst chicken nuggets ever. I'm not even sure it was chicken at this point.
4. Beetchie had a blue flavoured popsicle, which she swears is the best flavour ever.
5. Mister Donut - it was unimpressive and kind of dry actually.
6. Gyoza chips and peach & orange wine coolers in a can.
The Obligatory Photo of the Day (I mean, I really couldn't just post about Sanrio Puro Land and not post a picture of the betch herself, right? Here she is with my boy):
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 3
Day 3 - Tuesday, May 29th
We'll call this day the Great Yokohama Piggyh Adventure.
Sure we did other things than this but this was by far the most memorable thing that happened to us that day.
And so the story goes...
We went out to Yokohama and before entering Chinatown there was this Arcade. It was the first real one we had seen, so we went in after 9 AM to hit up some Taiko Drum Master (which is my new favourite game and at least, the one that was most fun at the arcades) and to test our hands at some UFO Catchers.
For 100 yen, we managed to grab one pig from the second row of white and black piggies and out came tumbling that pig dragging 6 others with him! It was hilarious. There were pigs all over the ground! My head hurt from laughing so hard and we made our escape from the Arcade, with two bags of pigs, a previously obtained gloomy bear, and a monkey, with the girls working at the arcade watching us slink off like dirty criminals! But hey, Beetchie won those pigs fairly. Ah, they must have hated having to re-arrange that UFO Catcher Machine.
We then headed to the Doll Museum. It was cool yet scary as expected from a Doll Museum.
::shudder::
Also, I now have questions as to who "Licca" is (not that crazed scary betch in the picture above) as she seems to be the Barbie of Japan.
Our next destination was Chinatown. The problem with this Chinatown was that while it was the dirtiest part of Japan that we had seen and would see for the entire trip (yes, even the fish market was cleaner), it was still not at the level of NYC Chinatown dirt, taking away a vital feeling of what makes Chinatown what it is.
The other thing missing was the people on the street trying to sell you CD/DVD or Louis vitton on the sly.
As far as we could tell, there were no Chinese people in Chinatown but if they were, they were all speaking Japanese. It was very odd.
Also, the Chinatown in Japan has seen it fit to bastardize pandas. They've been exploited by trying to make them marketable. Save the Pandas! By buying some useless panda junk!
Here's that damned monkey in a panda suit:
But like our Chinatown, there's a tiny section in Chinatown that some Europeans have called home. It's not Italians but Ukkers. Ah, Ukkers. I was happy to see them.
Our last stop to that day took us to a residential area not far from a busy train station where we scared some kids and made them nervous as they hurried off to their parents. We were actually a little bit lost trying to find the Ramuen Museum.
Ah, Ramuen Town. It was shady and a re-creation of a dirty little ramen-serving town with multiple ramen shops. It was small but cool and quirky. Beetchie loved it plenty.
The WTF Moment(s) of the Day:
1. I don't know what's up with that Hokkaido Mascot and its relation to Ramuen but yeah. That thing was obscene.
2. WTF's up with the 'u' in 'ramuen'? I need to wiki that.
The Casualty Count:
1. The little sumo guy I bought Beetchie fell off her bag and almost lost to Yokohama. Fortunately, due to his large ass in red sumo undies, I managed to spot him on the grey ground but he, ::sniff:: sadly lost an arm.
2. Beetchie's virtual puppy that she could not walk and later was attacked by a larger dog. Let us all have a moment of silence...
Things We Observed This Day - Volume III
1. Those goddamned Japanese bicyclists are crazy! Many times did my life flash before my eyes.
2. Licca, unlike Barbie, has had many man whores. Ken's got nothing on her.
3. I can't slurp ramen. 10+ years of ramen eating habits could not be broken in 2 weeks, no matter how polite in Japan it is to slurp.
The Day's Eats:
1. That weird breakfast with a not fully cooked egg, kielbasa sausage, salad, seaweed, miso soup, and rice. The even weirder breakfast that Beetchie had. It's not the fact that she had grilled salmon for breakfast with rice, it was the natto that made it not so good. She has now deemed herself Nattofan. It was god awful but she says that activating it was fun.
Let us all be revolted by the following picture:
2. Pork ramen from Ramuen Town. Oh that was greatness.
3. Dim sum in Chinatown. It was not the same as dim sum here because there are no carts zipping around but there are set meals that have lots of dumplings, gyoza and shumai. I was not too impressed by those dumplings because I have to say curry should never be in a dumpling. At least they were nice to look at. Stupids! I'd rather have a happily filled stomach than happy eyes when it comes to food!
4. Shumai on a stick. Mmmm. Street shumai.
5. Absinthe and a 'cranberry'/vodka combination that actually turned out to be a 'grapefruit' juice/vodka combination. Much like the T-shirt and tie combination, it wasn't that impressive. I probably should have thrown a hissy fit but they were so sweet, how could I?
Currently listening to (as I revise the draft): Man of Mystery by MUSE.
We'll call this day the Great Yokohama Piggyh Adventure.
Sure we did other things than this but this was by far the most memorable thing that happened to us that day.
And so the story goes...
We went out to Yokohama and before entering Chinatown there was this Arcade. It was the first real one we had seen, so we went in after 9 AM to hit up some Taiko Drum Master (which is my new favourite game and at least, the one that was most fun at the arcades) and to test our hands at some UFO Catchers.
For 100 yen, we managed to grab one pig from the second row of white and black piggies and out came tumbling that pig dragging 6 others with him! It was hilarious. There were pigs all over the ground! My head hurt from laughing so hard and we made our escape from the Arcade, with two bags of pigs, a previously obtained gloomy bear, and a monkey, with the girls working at the arcade watching us slink off like dirty criminals! But hey, Beetchie won those pigs fairly. Ah, they must have hated having to re-arrange that UFO Catcher Machine.
We then headed to the Doll Museum. It was cool yet scary as expected from a Doll Museum.
::shudder::
Also, I now have questions as to who "Licca" is (not that crazed scary betch in the picture above) as she seems to be the Barbie of Japan.
Our next destination was Chinatown. The problem with this Chinatown was that while it was the dirtiest part of Japan that we had seen and would see for the entire trip (yes, even the fish market was cleaner), it was still not at the level of NYC Chinatown dirt, taking away a vital feeling of what makes Chinatown what it is.
The other thing missing was the people on the street trying to sell you CD/DVD or Louis vitton on the sly.
As far as we could tell, there were no Chinese people in Chinatown but if they were, they were all speaking Japanese. It was very odd.
Also, the Chinatown in Japan has seen it fit to bastardize pandas. They've been exploited by trying to make them marketable. Save the Pandas! By buying some useless panda junk!
Here's that damned monkey in a panda suit:
But like our Chinatown, there's a tiny section in Chinatown that some Europeans have called home. It's not Italians but Ukkers. Ah, Ukkers. I was happy to see them.
Our last stop to that day took us to a residential area not far from a busy train station where we scared some kids and made them nervous as they hurried off to their parents. We were actually a little bit lost trying to find the Ramuen Museum.
Ah, Ramuen Town. It was shady and a re-creation of a dirty little ramen-serving town with multiple ramen shops. It was small but cool and quirky. Beetchie loved it plenty.
The WTF Moment(s) of the Day:
1. I don't know what's up with that Hokkaido Mascot and its relation to Ramuen but yeah. That thing was obscene.
2. WTF's up with the 'u' in 'ramuen'? I need to wiki that.
The Casualty Count:
1. The little sumo guy I bought Beetchie fell off her bag and almost lost to Yokohama. Fortunately, due to his large ass in red sumo undies, I managed to spot him on the grey ground but he, ::sniff:: sadly lost an arm.
2. Beetchie's virtual puppy that she could not walk and later was attacked by a larger dog. Let us all have a moment of silence...
Things We Observed This Day - Volume III
1. Those goddamned Japanese bicyclists are crazy! Many times did my life flash before my eyes.
2. Licca, unlike Barbie, has had many man whores. Ken's got nothing on her.
3. I can't slurp ramen. 10+ years of ramen eating habits could not be broken in 2 weeks, no matter how polite in Japan it is to slurp.
The Day's Eats:
1. That weird breakfast with a not fully cooked egg, kielbasa sausage, salad, seaweed, miso soup, and rice. The even weirder breakfast that Beetchie had. It's not the fact that she had grilled salmon for breakfast with rice, it was the natto that made it not so good. She has now deemed herself Nattofan. It was god awful but she says that activating it was fun.
Let us all be revolted by the following picture:
2. Pork ramen from Ramuen Town. Oh that was greatness.
3. Dim sum in Chinatown. It was not the same as dim sum here because there are no carts zipping around but there are set meals that have lots of dumplings, gyoza and shumai. I was not too impressed by those dumplings because I have to say curry should never be in a dumpling. At least they were nice to look at. Stupids! I'd rather have a happily filled stomach than happy eyes when it comes to food!
4. Shumai on a stick. Mmmm. Street shumai.
5. Absinthe and a 'cranberry'/vodka combination that actually turned out to be a 'grapefruit' juice/vodka combination. Much like the T-shirt and tie combination, it wasn't that impressive. I probably should have thrown a hissy fit but they were so sweet, how could I?
Currently listening to (as I revise the draft): Man of Mystery by MUSE.
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 2
Day 2 - Monday, 5/28
We awoke at 5 AM to go to one of the largest and best Fish Markets in the world - the Tsujiki Fish Market. It was a bit underwhelming at first but we weren't exactly sure we had run across it. The streets are filled with little shops selling packaged goods from seasoning to dried fish.
I was half expecting fresh fish strewn about in these stalls but found nothing at first. As we walked further we realized we were exactly where we needed to be. I found my fresh fish eventually including a bunch of other strange things I'd never seen before and can still not properly identify.
I guess for 200 yen you really can buy nothing but bullsheet. Just kidding of course. Man, if someone were to prepare this for me, I'd be all over it.
I managed to not be killed on those busy streets but I did not escape my foot being caught on a plastic thing on a shady corner and taking a really bad spill that had my knees badly bruised and hurting for a few days. I also twisted my foot which seemingly cleared up after 2 days but I must have busted it up something fierce because it started to hurt again 3 days ago. I'm in pain as I write this. Weak. We can catagorize that as the 1st incident/misadventure for the day.
Next we went to Asakusa for the giant temple there, known as the Sensoji Shrine.
Sensoji is crowded, has tons of tourist stalls selling all manners of trinkets to traditional clothing and of course, street eats leading to the giant shrine, pagoda and gardens.
At the entrance of the actual temple is this massive lantern that could kill a small village if it fell on it. On either side, are the Japanese gods of Wind and Thunder. It's a great spot and here are some pics for you guys to see. I'll send the entire set when I upload them to shutterfly sometime this week.
Incident number 2 involved Beetchie drinking the shrine water when really all you are supposed to do was intake, spit and not swallow. You'd think that swallowing the germs of millions of people would deter anyone but anyway....
We then went to Ginza to catch a Kabuki show but a wrong turn took us not to the Kabuki theatre but a high class theatre featuring Japanese Traditional Dance. We went, and were amongst of sea of upper class Japanese elite all decked out in suits and many of the women were wearing kimonos. And in we bounced, two kids from NY looking like two hot messes. Yeah, we were stared at but that's okay because our yen paid for our seats...up in the balcony...off to the side but whatever!
The show was decent. Beetchie's convinced it was a slow version of the L-Word.
Our day ended on a high note. We ate at this little place in the area near our Oakhotel Inn.
Quote of the Day:
"The Holy Water, it burns!" - Beetchie
Things We Observed This Day - Volume II:
1. Those Japanese wrap everything up. Everything! They enjoy present wrapping, I guess. And it's so easy to be conned by two little old people when they're so sweet. Curses on them!
2. The Subway is on time. Always. Though I mean, I did see a minute late train. Shameful! Transfers are rough though and costly. It costs you to transfer subway lines. Ugh.
3. You may not be able to smoke and walk but you sure can smoke and bicycle. Those bullshitters.
4. 230 dollar pair of chopsticks that I really wanted but could not justify spending that money on them. Oh but how that pure silver sparkled...
The Day's Eats:
1. Sushi donburi breakfast at 6.30 AM from the Tsujiki Fish Market. Yes, X. Fresh fish from one of the best fish markets in Japan that early in the morning = good times.
2. Sweet potato soft serve ice-cream and tofu soft serve ice cream
3. Street eats of fresh red bean soft cookies
4. I finally ate manju on a stick! and hated it. The coating of that weird bean powder really didn't sit well.
5. Beetchie had a No. 6 which was a Teriyaki McDondalds Burger which turned out to be a weird sausage patty and anything but beef. I had a No. 2 which was an Fillet o' Ebi. I'd have to say I got the better eats this time around.
6. Flan from the high class cafe in Ginza.
7. Awesome food from the man we now fondly refer to as Hattori Hanzo. He fed us grilled mackerel, various meats on sticks and some bad assed fish balls - yum, and for some reason scalloped potatoes with pasta sauce?
The For No Reason Picture(s):
1. Here, have a ninja on a rooftop!
2. And this thing!
The Shooed Away Count:
2 times -
1. At the Fish Market.
We ended up in an area we were not supposed to be at which was closer to the warehouses for arrival of the fish and shipments. Yeah. I knew it was too busy for us to be there! Beetchie made us get shooed away not to mention almost killed.
2. Our trip to try Pachinko in our neighbourhood.
The place was closed and we barged in there, wondering why it was so hard to get in. Beetchie insisted we push our way through the giant curtains and my ass almost tripped again.
We awoke at 5 AM to go to one of the largest and best Fish Markets in the world - the Tsujiki Fish Market. It was a bit underwhelming at first but we weren't exactly sure we had run across it. The streets are filled with little shops selling packaged goods from seasoning to dried fish.
I was half expecting fresh fish strewn about in these stalls but found nothing at first. As we walked further we realized we were exactly where we needed to be. I found my fresh fish eventually including a bunch of other strange things I'd never seen before and can still not properly identify.
I guess for 200 yen you really can buy nothing but bullsheet. Just kidding of course. Man, if someone were to prepare this for me, I'd be all over it.
I managed to not be killed on those busy streets but I did not escape my foot being caught on a plastic thing on a shady corner and taking a really bad spill that had my knees badly bruised and hurting for a few days. I also twisted my foot which seemingly cleared up after 2 days but I must have busted it up something fierce because it started to hurt again 3 days ago. I'm in pain as I write this. Weak. We can catagorize that as the 1st incident/misadventure for the day.
Next we went to Asakusa for the giant temple there, known as the Sensoji Shrine.
Sensoji is crowded, has tons of tourist stalls selling all manners of trinkets to traditional clothing and of course, street eats leading to the giant shrine, pagoda and gardens.
At the entrance of the actual temple is this massive lantern that could kill a small village if it fell on it. On either side, are the Japanese gods of Wind and Thunder. It's a great spot and here are some pics for you guys to see. I'll send the entire set when I upload them to shutterfly sometime this week.
How I can just kill a man...or tiny village, or two little girls from NYC.
Various shops when you get inside!
All part of the temple grounds.
We then went to Ginza to catch a Kabuki show but a wrong turn took us not to the Kabuki theatre but a high class theatre featuring Japanese Traditional Dance. We went, and were amongst of sea of upper class Japanese elite all decked out in suits and many of the women were wearing kimonos. And in we bounced, two kids from NY looking like two hot messes. Yeah, we were stared at but that's okay because our yen paid for our seats...up in the balcony...off to the side but whatever!
The show was decent. Beetchie's convinced it was a slow version of the L-Word.
Our day ended on a high note. We ate at this little place in the area near our Oakhotel Inn.
Quote of the Day:
"The Holy Water, it burns!" - Beetchie
Things We Observed This Day - Volume II:
1. Those Japanese wrap everything up. Everything! They enjoy present wrapping, I guess. And it's so easy to be conned by two little old people when they're so sweet. Curses on them!
2. The Subway is on time. Always. Though I mean, I did see a minute late train. Shameful! Transfers are rough though and costly. It costs you to transfer subway lines. Ugh.
3. You may not be able to smoke and walk but you sure can smoke and bicycle. Those bullshitters.
4. 230 dollar pair of chopsticks that I really wanted but could not justify spending that money on them. Oh but how that pure silver sparkled...
The Day's Eats:
1. Sushi donburi breakfast at 6.30 AM from the Tsujiki Fish Market. Yes, X. Fresh fish from one of the best fish markets in Japan that early in the morning = good times.
2. Sweet potato soft serve ice-cream and tofu soft serve ice cream
3. Street eats of fresh red bean soft cookies
4. I finally ate manju on a stick! and hated it. The coating of that weird bean powder really didn't sit well.
5. Beetchie had a No. 6 which was a Teriyaki McDondalds Burger which turned out to be a weird sausage patty and anything but beef. I had a No. 2 which was an Fillet o' Ebi. I'd have to say I got the better eats this time around.
6. Flan from the high class cafe in Ginza.
7. Awesome food from the man we now fondly refer to as Hattori Hanzo. He fed us grilled mackerel, various meats on sticks and some bad assed fish balls - yum, and for some reason scalloped potatoes with pasta sauce?
The For No Reason Picture(s):
1. Here, have a ninja on a rooftop!
2. And this thing!
Within the vicinity of a Temple, no less. For shame.
The Shooed Away Count:
2 times -
1. At the Fish Market.
We ended up in an area we were not supposed to be at which was closer to the warehouses for arrival of the fish and shipments. Yeah. I knew it was too busy for us to be there! Beetchie made us get shooed away not to mention almost killed.
2. Our trip to try Pachinko in our neighbourhood.
The place was closed and we barged in there, wondering why it was so hard to get in. Beetchie insisted we push our way through the giant curtains and my ass almost tripped again.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The Tokyo-Ho Japan Chronicles - Day 1.5
Yes. Tokyo-Ho has returned.
Let the slew of blogs begin!
Day 1.5 - Saturday May 26 (New York Time)/Sunday May 27 (Tokyo Time)
We will start with the incident at the airport while waiting for our departing flight to Japan. Before I continue, it should be noted that you all should expect many 'incidents' because as you all know by now, when Beetchie and I are together, we have some mini and some not so mini-misadventures.
The incident involved Beetchie kicking a Japanese flight attendant, too polite to cry out in pain but could only utter a muffled "ya ta ta" while hopping on one foot. We're not sure though if Amy Winehouse the Flight Attendant lost that tooth due to meth. use or after she was kicked.
Japan Airlines, I must say, has crap in-flight entertainment (and not just because I almost destroyed my in-flight entertainment remote control by getting it stuck on the side and later on destroying my fingers trying to get it out). Being affiliated with American Airlines will probably do that to you though. And here's hoping that Virgin Atlantic does not screw me over come Thursday (after I boasted about it for months).
The food sucked and was questionable, and we're convinced gave me the belly heebie jeebies. Ugh, it was not good times.
As you can well imagine, getting off the near 14 hour gruelling flight of bad food, bad entertainment and broken sleep, with a heebie jeebie belly was not fun. And then to discover that the nearest bathrooms were Eastern style,
was also not fun.
We needed to find that Oakhotel Inn quickly while navigating the Subway system but thanks to a Subway Smart NYC kid Beetchie, we were able to get our bearings and find our way to the Oakhotel without much trouble.
Oakhotel Inn was cute. We now value the greatness of private bath so much more but we were still naive to that reality being that we had no idea how much that place spoilt us until Day 5 of the trip. More to come in that future blog post...
Quote of that Day:
"I'll get used to it..." - Or 2, everytime a train on the other track passed the limited express from Narita Airport. I'm not sure if I got used to the sound of another train 'hitting' our train as it passed by but if you heard that sound that came out of no where, you'd be unnerved as well.
Things We Observed in Japan - Volume I:
1. The multi-coloured roof tops of Japanese houses on the way from Narita Airport to Tokyo Central was very awesome. There's nothing wrong with a blue-roof.
2. The Japanese and their subway order. They have arrows pointing to what side you should be on when walking through the subway platforms. For instance, if you're going up the stairs, you should stay on the left. We of course, walked through people instead of with them and confused those poor Japanese greatly. "Stupid Americans!" is what I'm sure they were thinking.
3. The Japanese's insistence on staring at me because I'm brown. Beetchie thinks I may have confused them some with my asian features yet big, wavy hair. I especially didn't like that one little child who get staring at me. So he knew no better but still. It was unnerving.
4. The toilets. The toilets had incredible flushing power which is always a concern for me. But not only that, they all have two settings for flushing! To the left for a big flush and to the right for smaller business. I always flushed to the left because of my fear of clogged toilets, even if my business was small.
5. Another toilet observation - the toilet paper's perforations are singled out at either 2 squares or 4 squares and never 1.
6. Beetchie smells like an Asian pear, which surprisingly smells just like watermelon jolly ranchers.
The Day's Eats:
We got our food ticket and paid for the meal out of a vending machine. Those things are quite popular and luckily for us they all had pictures on it so we had a fair idea of what we were in for.
I had fried pork cutlet and shrimp tempura with limitless access to rice, and miso soup.
Let the slew of blogs begin!
Day 1.5 - Saturday May 26 (New York Time)/Sunday May 27 (Tokyo Time)
We will start with the incident at the airport while waiting for our departing flight to Japan. Before I continue, it should be noted that you all should expect many 'incidents' because as you all know by now, when Beetchie and I are together, we have some mini and some not so mini-misadventures.
The incident involved Beetchie kicking a Japanese flight attendant, too polite to cry out in pain but could only utter a muffled "ya ta ta" while hopping on one foot. We're not sure though if Amy Winehouse the Flight Attendant lost that tooth due to meth. use or after she was kicked.
Japan Airlines, I must say, has crap in-flight entertainment (and not just because I almost destroyed my in-flight entertainment remote control by getting it stuck on the side and later on destroying my fingers trying to get it out). Being affiliated with American Airlines will probably do that to you though. And here's hoping that Virgin Atlantic does not screw me over come Thursday (after I boasted about it for months).
The food sucked and was questionable, and we're convinced gave me the belly heebie jeebies. Ugh, it was not good times.
As you can well imagine, getting off the near 14 hour gruelling flight of bad food, bad entertainment and broken sleep, with a heebie jeebie belly was not fun. And then to discover that the nearest bathrooms were Eastern style,
was also not fun.
We needed to find that Oakhotel Inn quickly while navigating the Subway system but thanks to a Subway Smart NYC kid Beetchie, we were able to get our bearings and find our way to the Oakhotel without much trouble.
Oakhotel Inn was cute. We now value the greatness of private bath so much more but we were still naive to that reality being that we had no idea how much that place spoilt us until Day 5 of the trip. More to come in that future blog post...
Quote of that Day:
"I'll get used to it..." - Or 2, everytime a train on the other track passed the limited express from Narita Airport. I'm not sure if I got used to the sound of another train 'hitting' our train as it passed by but if you heard that sound that came out of no where, you'd be unnerved as well.
Things We Observed in Japan - Volume I:
1. The multi-coloured roof tops of Japanese houses on the way from Narita Airport to Tokyo Central was very awesome. There's nothing wrong with a blue-roof.
2. The Japanese and their subway order. They have arrows pointing to what side you should be on when walking through the subway platforms. For instance, if you're going up the stairs, you should stay on the left. We of course, walked through people instead of with them and confused those poor Japanese greatly. "Stupid Americans!" is what I'm sure they were thinking.
3. The Japanese's insistence on staring at me because I'm brown. Beetchie thinks I may have confused them some with my asian features yet big, wavy hair. I especially didn't like that one little child who get staring at me. So he knew no better but still. It was unnerving.
4. The toilets. The toilets had incredible flushing power which is always a concern for me. But not only that, they all have two settings for flushing! To the left for a big flush and to the right for smaller business. I always flushed to the left because of my fear of clogged toilets, even if my business was small.
5. Another toilet observation - the toilet paper's perforations are singled out at either 2 squares or 4 squares and never 1.
6. Beetchie smells like an Asian pear, which surprisingly smells just like watermelon jolly ranchers.
The Day's Eats:
We got our food ticket and paid for the meal out of a vending machine. Those things are quite popular and luckily for us they all had pictures on it so we had a fair idea of what we were in for.
I had fried pork cutlet and shrimp tempura with limitless access to rice, and miso soup.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
