A Moustache in Japan

I forgot to mention that I am beginning my homestay tomorrow.  I will have even less internet access than usual, but I will try to post as sporadically as possible.

By the way, this is the founder of my city.  I don’t even know his name but he is so hardcore.  I hear he would just tilt his head into the troops and shish-ka-bob his enemies.

However, it being Japan and all, his image has turned from fierce warrior to, what else, but furry mascot.

That’s all for now.

I had Pepsi White yesterday, the new Yogurt Pepsi drink. It didn’t really taste like yogurt, but, like practically every drink here, tasted like a liquid version of some solid food I am used to.  It was pretty good, but I cannot yet place it.  I will drink more to let you know what it turns out to be.  I wonder if this is coming out in America, too?

This is the post where I will dump any remaining pictures I have in my desktop folder and talk about anything I can remember.

First of all, this picture is a sewer cover in Osaka.  Self-explanatory, maybe?

Today, our Japanese class spent a good hour practicing our “Japanese skills” with some random middle-aged folks.  I had an interesting conversation with one man in particular, who was practicing his English as well, and he had written this down to present to us.  He are excerpts.

“I retired early, about three years ago.  But, since I retired early, I don’t get benefits, so I don’t really have that much money.  Because of this, I do not eat breakfast.  I am very hungry. [...] My son is a musician and songwriter, and he wants to be famous.  I don’t think he’s very good, though. [...] I play tennis almost every day.  I don’t play Monday or Saturday.  Monday is my holiday.  [Insert huge belly laugh here.] After tennis, I work out and eat lunch.  With beer!”

He was a lively dude.

Drink of the Day!

I know it has been a while since I did these, but the truth is, a few weeks ago I found the perfect drink.  However, it belongs in another post that I have yet to get to.  But, this drink is very old as well.  It is called “Qoo,” and pronounced “Coo.”  It is basically apple juice (there is an “orange” variety too) but it becomes instantly more delicious because of the adorable otter-like creature drinking its own liquid.

6/8

This is the crew I met in Osaka when I went to see Radiohead.  They were from all over - Belgium, Korea, Australia, The Philippines, France, Norway, Japan even.  We all met in a bar and went together, and crazily, the first person I asked if he was going to Radiohead was, in fact, not aware of anyone meeting in that bar.  He just happened to be in the perfect place at the perfect time.  Oh, also there was a guy from Greece who quit his job a year ago and has just been traveling.  I have no idea where he gets the money, but unrelatedly I think I lost a few hundred dollars that night.

This is a store I saw in Hiroshima.  I am kinda speechless.  The concept of the alphabet having its own alphabet confuses me too greatly.  Notice one is clearly dominant with its cursive and upper-caseness.

This is all for Odds + Ends (Volume I) but I will probably be back with exciting pictures and details of this place across the ocean.

I am currently in a Starbucks in Hiroshima waiting for the Night Bus (different than Harry Potter’s) to take me back to my humble city of Hikone.  I have time to finally write so I am mooching internet and here we go.

First of all, it seems every city I go to has a new form of main transportation - Osaka uses the subway, Kyoto uses buses, and Hikone uses bikes.  Hiroshima uses mainly trams.  I am having trouble thinking of the next big city’s favored vehicle, and I can only come up with rickshaws.  But then I forgot that happened to be Miyajima’s.

They also used ropeways.

Miyajima also has a whole bunch of deer just runnin’ around.  I tried to lure them with my mango ice cream, but to no avail.

Also, Mijajima has that famous torii (I forget the English word for “torii” and also frequently for “11th Month” (November, right?)) that you have probably seen everywhere without realizing it has been conquered by my moustache.

That’s about it for Miyajima.  Hiroshima pictures are yet to be uploaded.  I will leave you with the most evil horse in Japan.  I have dubbed him the “Neigh-Slayer.”

In twelve hours, we will be boarding a plane - and I couldn’t let you guys down without a photograph of my moustache and I in action, before we are corrupted by the totally unpredictable culture I hold in my hands.

I hope to get back to Internet soon, with updates on how long my moustache has grown - and why!

Before I forget, I am up for buying you guys gifts if you tell me what you want.  You have to tell me what you want, though, or else I will forget about you.  Also, maybe I won’t get you some if I don’t like you enough.  You can always try, though,

Also, they might all be giant moustaches instead of the gifts you want.  Just a precaution.

So I had to basically do a Japanese scavenger hunt today.  It maybe improved my Japanese?  I don’t have pictures but here’s the story.  Wait, actually, I do have pictures, but they are unrelated.

So I as I am going to Tokyo this week, I thought I would buy a ticket to the famous Studio Ghibli museum, home to all worthwhile anime.  However, while riding home, I apparently lost my ticket (my moustache was in an angry mood and used its telekinesis is my guess) and didn’t realize ’til very late.  I decided to look for it tomorrow (today).

So in the morning, I found a dirtied old ticket that looked like a dirtier version of mine, except what little Japanese I could read didn’t really say “Admit One” so I went to the store I had bought it at and double-checked.  Apparently, I had lost half of what I was supposed to have, and the half I had was the half that didn’t matter.  But, luckily, one of the clerks said “Oh you dropped it by the elevator building, right?” and I had, so she told me something about the police, which sounded to me like the police found it and have it.  I was overjoyed so I ventured to the police station.

Well, they don’t speak English in the police station, so whenever the police I was talking to got lost, he whipped out a dry-erase board and started drawing pictures or letting me write it in English (usually Japanese students learn how to read but not speak or understand.) It turned out they did not have the ticket, but apparently someone had found it and come in to Lawson’s, and then proceeded to say they were going to hand it over to the police later.  Well, I am leaving in two days, and who knows what “later” means in Japanese, so I just bought another ticket.  But I can officially say I have been inside a police station now, which wasn’t really a goal but I can pretend.

I was in a ninja tournament a long long time ago, and have decided to talk about it.  I did not place, but it was immensely fun, and I got katana-shaped letter openers as a consolation prize.  My ninja name was “Kuchi-hige,” the Japanese word for moustache.

These are my ninja garments.  As you can see, they are tailored such that there is a giant tear in the side where my boxers stick out.  This is supposed to happen.

This, not so much.  I kind of tore my pants crawling up a wall but I didn’t lose hope. Basically there were five events; obstacle course (pants broke, got new pants), jump contest (didn’t make the inital jump), the shuriken toss (I did surprisingly well at this), the running-across-water (I fell and got dirty), and finally, the Water Spider (I ripped my pants again, got dirtier, and ended up looking like the picture below.  It was a great time.

I wish I could format these posts better.

Drink of the Day! Special Edition

We have finally reached the most important part of the day, the best drink.  Here it is, in all it’s glory: Match Match.

Technically it’s just called “Match” but the bottle says otherwise, plus it just flows better as double.  This drink has all sorts of ions and things (as advertised on the wrapper) that don’t really mean anything to mean except a false pretense unto which purchase mass quantities.

Let me tell you what Match Match tastes like: Liquid Smarties.  That is all.  Gone are the negative chalky qualities, and all that is left is pure delicious ecstacy.  Sadly, it is not that easy to find (naturally, it must be the most popular thing), but if I could, I would drink it solely.

8/8

Other Drinks!

There are two more drinks I wish to discuss.

Bikkle is not only a scary name but a scary color so I was very hesitant, but as I made it a goal to drink something new at every opportunity, I allowed myself to try it.

I liked it!  It tastes like Orange Creamsicle in a can, but the color is still too weird for it to be perfect.

7/8

Dekavita C boasts of health but again, is sketchy with its ridges and brownness.  Because my internet refuses to post this, I have had to type Dekavita C’s information three times.  Therefore, it no longer gets any explanation and a point lower.

6/8

Moustache you later.

Well, goodbye.  I am back in America and speaking in English is weird.  There are also fewer mountains here.

I will probably keep this travel log here, but all hidden-like in that I will no longer link to it.  I will present you with my final form, taken at a party the day before I left.