Tag Archives: wtf

Summer Festival in Japan

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The first Friday this August we went to a summer festival. I don’t know the official term besides ‘awesome’! Most people wore a yukata (looks like a kimono) or jinbei (shirt and shorts outfit), Fireworks lasted about 90 minutes, and the vendors sold crazy foods. It was about hot, about 85 F (29.5 C) with 90% humidity.

There were breaks between some of the firework explosions to announce sponsors of the event on a loudspeaker. I’ve never seen this before. I wonder how much an ad placement costs. One sponsor was Coca Cola and a big bottle of coke lit up near the end, but I didn’t get a picture of it.

Kids were using a flat paper net to catch goldfish, and turtles! It was ¥100 per try and they were doing great even though the net break easily. Food like grilled meat on a stick, takoyaki, dangly tentacles, and other mystery meat ran ¥400-500. Here are a few pictures.

Summer festival fireworks

Summer festival fireworks

"I like Turtles!"

"I like Turtles!"

Mmm... grilled tentacles

Mmm... grilled tentacles

Takoyaki aka Octopus

Takoyaki aka Octopus

The shoes which took off this place!

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I hit up the local Round 1 with a group of friends for a game night. We had a good time playing video games, ping pong, using the batting cages, karaoke, and one of the coolest places was the relaxation area with massage chairs. I had to get a picture of the sign posted before entering. It kind of looks like somebody used an online translator which is a bit strange because there are companies offering translation services for a small fee (less than $1 a word or $35 a page) to translate Japanese to English.

The shoes which took off this place

Things I’ve never seen before

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Today I’m going to share some pictures I’ve taken of things in Japan that I’ve never seen before in the U.S.

QR Code for Japanese Cell Phone

The picture above is a QR Code. I see them everywhere here, even at McDonalds. They’re on buildings, billboards, magazine ads, product packages, etc. You take a picture with your cell phone and it brings up information or a website.

From Wikipedia: A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The “QR” is derived from “Quick Response”, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. QR Codes are common in Japan where they are currently the most popular type of two dimensional code.

Bottle Keep at a Japanese Restaurant

The picture of the shochu bottles above were explained to me as a “bottle keep” and from my understanding these are unfinished bottles of alcohol. If a person comes in (probably with a group) and orders a bottle but they don’t finish it the restaurant will put the person’s name on it so that person can enjoy the tasty beverage which they’ve already paid for during their next visit. That’s awesome!

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The $20,000 Japanese Coffee Maker

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Out with the cheap coffee maker, in with the …. WHAT WHAT!? I just read this article at the New York Times website and had to share. The Japanese siphon coffee maker at the Blue Bottle Café in San Francisco was imported from Japan and cost more than $20,000 USD (That’s 2,130,399 Yen at the time of this post. See the conversion at Yahoo). It’s halogen-powered and looks like a chemistry set. That’s a ton of cash for the Japanese coffee maker. Are they serious about coffee? I’m going with “Yes” but are they a bit crazy about coffee? I’m going with “Yes” on that one too. Hmmm, I wonder if that cost included the shipping as well.

Ready for some pictures? Click the picture to see the slide show of images at the New York Times showing the step-by-step process of how coffee is made using the siphon bar.

Japanese Coffee Maker Siphon Style

And an awesome quote from the article:

“The whirlpool, it messes with your mind,” said Mr. Freeman, who practiced stirring plain water for months to develop muscle memory before he brewed his first cup of siphon coffee. “There’s no way to rush it.”

Here’s another interesting quote:

“Siphon coffee is very delicate,” he said. “It’s sweeter and juicier, and the flavors change as the temperature changes. Sometimes it has a texture so light it’s almost moussey.”

Here’s an informational siphon coffee machine video I found on youtube which you might find interesting.

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Detox And Lose Weight At Bathtime!

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So… I was watching one of my favorite channels – Shop Channel (It’s like QVC [they have it in Japan too] or Home Shopping Network in the U.S.). People are always working hard and I’ve seen quite a few awkward moments, it’s awesome, I kid you not! What’s the difference of Shop Channel and QVC Japan vs. QVC America? Here’s a quick breakdown.

Booya Japan Style!

  • QVC America tries to sell you crap you’ll never use and takes calls from old people.
  • Shop Channel and QVC Japan tries to sell THE CRAZIEST THINGS I’VE EVER SEEN!

The other day while watching Shop Channel I saw some younger woman wearing a gold moon suit looking plastic bag outfit, reading a book, and relaxing in a bath while sweating her balls off. I’m like WTF! So I took some ghetto pics of my TV and had my fiancee type the words out in Japanese and I hit up Google to find more about this weight loss thing. Here are my ghetto pictures.

Legs in the bath waterCrazy moon suit actionRelaxing and reading a book in the bath while wearing a crazy space suit

Here are some failed Google Translations:

  • Big exercise and sweat bath water-soluble out from the sweat glands, sweat, urine and most of the same component
  • After more than 30 km marathon run, sweat glands and milk served with sweat

Here are some details I was able to make out: Continue reading →

Basho The Sumo Wrestler Table

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I’ve read the SkyMall magazine over and over while waiting for a plane to take off and I’m sure I’m not alone! I’ve never bought anything from the magazine but I did see something that made me go ‘wtf’ the other day when checking out their site… for just $225 you can have your very own Sumo table. You can buy one right here!

Sumo Wrestler Table

“Basho, The Sumo Wrestler” Glass-Topped Table
Add a touch of the Far East with “Basho” (Japanese for “tournament”), a traditional Sumo practitioner of one of the world’s oldest martial arts. Basho crouches in his mawashi (Sumo belt) in these intricate sculpts with wide stances. Our table is topped with a 3/8″-thick, pencil-edged, 27″ dia. tempered glass top for views from any angle. This Toscano-exclusive heavyweight is cast in quality designer resin for display in home or garden.