4-29-2011

There isn't a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Japan that doesn't have a statue of the Colonel to scare everyone. It seems he has become synonymous with KFC in Japan and it would be tragic not to have him out front.

Upon occasion, you may spot him dressed up, for Halloween or some such occasion. I'm not sure what the reason was for this cardboard samurai, but here he is...

4-16-2011

I set my caramel egg down because it was too big to eat at once...and after a couple minutes this is what I found. That's never happened to me before...

4-13-2011

Harajuku is known for cutting-edge fashion and pop culture. The displays sometimes go a bit overboard in that respect. This display was in the basement of LaForet. The black paint on the Kewpie dolls is a nice touch, but makes those dolls no less creepy.

4-5-2011

This odd little cocktail of a café drink is rather unique.  Found at the Double Tall Café in Harajuku, it's tea, milk and coke mixed together.  The most prominent flavor when you take a sip is...lemon?  It's an odd drink and that wasn't the flavor I was expecting at all.

In any case it was interesting and I don't regret getting one.  Still, why lemon?

3-19-2011

Today I wanted to help out the Tsukiji market, since I'd heard that they had so much food and so few customers it was going to waste. Turns out they decided to close it after my source article was written and before I went (a span of two days), but it wasn't a total loss. I had some great tuna and saw these quid drying in the sun.

3-3-2011

During my lunch break I explored a new restaurant basement in one of the department stores near my work.  This delightful little novelty café is on B3--yes, that means the third basement level--is completely Alice in Wonderland themed, from the food here to the playing cards attached to the umbrella locks.  It's a place I'll need to go to sometime just for the novelty of it.

2-24-2011

This seasonal sushi is quite delicious. It has a rich, creamy texture, but can be difficult to eat if you think about what it is. Soft roe isn't common in the US, so I hadn't had it before coming here, and thankfully I tried it shortly after coming to Japan, before I found out what it was.

2-9-2011

Finding flags from other countries all over fashion isn't uncommon in Japan. It's not too often you find cars with them though. I wonder if this car belongs to someone Japanese or English.

12-24-2010

Maid cafés are a very well-known eccentricity in Japan. Young women dress as maids and cater to customers' whims. While my friend was visiting from the US, we decided to go to one in my neighborhood. We ordered the "Maid's Choice" dessert and this came to the table.  Later when I ordered tea to go with it the maid stirred the cream and sugar in for me while having us all make cute stirring sounds.

You're not allowed to take photos of the maids unless you pay for the in-house polaroids or the printed headshots sold at the register, but you can take all the photos of your food as you want once you warn them that you'll be taking photos of the food, and the maids will take your picture with your food if you ask (of course, they may ask you if you want one--they are supposed to be maids, after all).

12-21-2010

Melon soda is something that has certainly never caught on in the US, but with this unnatural color, I don't know why not.  Despite the sickly color, it tastes quite good and goes rather well with yakiniku, fast food, and all manner of unhealthy eats.

Unlike ramune, the soda drink, this one is not considered just a child's drink.

12-6-2010

Kita-senju has an interesting atmosphere.  One notable thing that may not always be readily noticeable is the themed shop gates.  When closed the street is lined with fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Here's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  I like that the dwarves are basically elves.

10-4-2010

The detail behind this cat village model intrigued me.  Its purpose still eludes me though...

10-2-2010

Moo Cow and I went to Namjatown in Sunshine City.  There was a haunted house inside with odd little cat lanterns.  Love it.

9-30-2010

A haunted mansion in Japan? Looks kind of cheesy if you ask me.  But the eyes light up, oooooh!

9-18-2010

Up in Kinugawa there are some great hot springs.  Normally they are housed within traditional Japanese-style hotels called ryokan.  This one was in a big, Western-style hotel, complete with giant chandeliers.  It felt completely incongruous to walk into the baths from that setting, but there it was.

8-19-2010

Unusual to say the least (to an American) and hard to find in Japan, I didn't end up getting the Roo Rump.  Ultimately dinner became a seafood chowder 'pot pie' with a Bisquick top crust.  It wasn't photoworthy though so the kangaroo made the cut instead.  A careful eye will notice the lower right is cheesy bratwurst too...

8-13-2010

Before leaving Hong Kong we had dim sum one more time.  Some of the stuff was completely unknown to me, but in this photo you can see chicken feet and tripe.  The third steamer has shrimp dumplings and the other dishes...are a mystery.  I dutifully tasted everything like a good tourist.

8-10-2010

In an area we dubbed "Pet Street" there were many shops where you could buy fish and other pets.  The fish and aquarium life were hanging in plastic bags on screens like this one.  No idea how they handle the oxygen problem if the fish doesn't sell quickly.

7-20-2010

Takarakuji booths, or lottery booths are often surrounded by Maneki Neko.  This cat is a good luck cat in Japan.

7-14-2010

Akihabara (Akiba) really does have everything.  If you wanna pretend to be a maid or...naked you can.

Went to Akiba to buy a new camera.  Hopefully tomorrow's photo will be taken with my new Nikon D40.  There are a few shots I've been trying to take for weeks and haven't had success because of my camera's limitations.  I might need a telephoto lens to reach one of them but we'll see.  In any case the camera was past due.