Japan 1: I reeary riked Japan!!

Fun with Signs & Engrish: i didn't take pictures of every funny sign - dammit! but here are a few.

this is a sign on the ground of the subway stations. during rush hour they separate women into their own trains to keep them safe from the dirty pervs - well, at least the male ones... heeeyyoo!!!

this sign might not look like it makes sense, but i did see more than an average share of tranvestites so perhaps those "malewomen" ARE allowed to go in whereas "malemen" are NOT...

oh lordie... i hit the JACKPOT when i came across this beauty in nikko!


haa haa!! fresh roasted kitties!!

 

right: good name for a coffee drink


when i get old enough to have bladder problems, the hospital with the pissing dog mascot is the only one i'll accept

these green signs (2 more below) were on the subway. like public service announcements or something. i love my wrist watch. yes. i love my mobile phone. uh huh. i love my shoulder bag. ok. so yes! i can love my portable ashtray too!

oh man... meg ryan... what a mess! it's funny to see ad posters of US stars who wouldn't dare do it in the west! i also saw way too much of brad pitt, richard gear and cameron diaz....

this is so true... BUMP!
i might be 34, but i'm proud of my 12-year-old sense of humor... FRAGS are FUNNY, dammit!

so start carrying your lit cigaretts in helicopters

maybe this protestor wants homosexuals to pick up the pace... ?

have you heard of the yakuza? the japanese mafia... i've heard stories and seen the black mercedes driving around the hostess club areas of town, but this announcement was in a tourist booklet! there were a few buildings in sapporo (only a FEW) that were designated as safe from mafia!
mmm i ruv my japanese blandy!


the full moon bridge really is gorgeous (page 4)... i guess it's because of the refrection!
 
Fun with Food: gorgeous Japanese presentation made even raw horse meat look delicious!

this is called natto. it's fermented soy beans and is supposed to be healthy and good for weight loss. looks innocent enough, but when you mix it with soy sauce and mustard, it turns into snot! take a look at the pic on the right. people told me it's similar to blue cheese, but it snot! the taste is fine, but the snotty consistency is pretty gross..

benjamin and i mixed the natto with rice and it really wasn't too bad as a meal. but then later... alone... in the darkness of my bedroom... i started drifting to sleep... and had visions of eating snot... maybe the gagging and vomit that comes after you eat snotty natto is what keeps your weight down

and here it is, people... the infamous... the japanese cuisine... the whale meat store! i was intrigued and disgusted. there were little happy cartoon whales all over the store...

hey everybody! i'm endangered and it sucks that japan won't stop killing me and my family! but let me show you how to cook me up... mmm mmm
i should have taken more pictures of supermarkets. above is the squid section

japan's packaging is famous and here's one example of why! it's a single little egg all packaged up for perfection!

right: and speaking of eggs - this is some efficiency! the radiator was heating up the little restaurant while the owners boiled eggs on top of it!

fruit in japan is outrageous - $2-4 for one single little apple! but the boxed fruit is absolutely ridiculous. it's 21,000 yen for one single melon!! in dollars, that's almost $200!!! yeah! ya heard me right: two hunderd buckaroonees for ONE MERON!!

it's raw! it's horse! it's the commonly enjoyed dish of RAW HORSE MEAT!
every once in a while i got a hankering for american food. so i slid into a denny's for some fries and pancakes thinking i'd get a little taste of home... the pancakes were as big as a quarter. and the fries came with this special dipping sauce - mayo mixed with fish eggs!!!
this is the famous fish. not sure why, but my friend tom informed us that it was famous in japan and we had to eat it. it's some kind of waffle-like dough on the outside (cooked in a waffle iron shaped like a fish, of course) and inside is this sweet bean paste. deeeerrriiicciiiooouuss!!

boobs!! ha ha! benjamin ate these a lot... he was usually alone in his room with them for a while first (if ya know what i mean...) it's mochi stuffed with cream and a juicy red strawberry
ferix and i are enjoying some hot black sesame puff dessert thing at the chinese new year celebration - also quite dericious!
these little fish that look like they're screaming for their lives are everywhere

this is just one little section of an outdoor market selling dried fish. if you look closely you can see the dried squd at the bottom on the right. it reminds me of korea when we were served a tastey appetizer of dried squid and mayo!
ok so these are just oysters, but aren't they pretty? the food was presented perfectly eveywhere we went.
i forget what meat this was - lamb? but it was cooked on a leaf at our table!

peach kit kat!! PEACH!!! they also had cherry and they had a kit kat that was layered with that sweet bean paste and wrapped in white chocolate. kit kat also had a premium version sold in black boxes.

see what i mean about presentation? all this was was a plate of fish - but it was served in this lovely wooden boat lookin thing! the fish on the left was still twitching when it came to the table... (how i survived there for 3 months i'll never know... )

ok so this isn't food, but someone PLEASE tell me that the horse soap and ostrich soap is named that just because the japanese people think horses and ostriches are pretty... PLEASE?!