Random blog fodder
I haven't really done anything blogworthy lately. I tried to go to the Calico Cafe on Saturday afternoon to hang out with the kitties, but I wandered around Kichijoji station for an hour looking for it, and when I finally found it, they asked me (from a handwritten English crib-sheet) if I had a reservation??? There were full, could I come back in 2 hours? If I could've made a little black cartoon cloud appear over my head at that moment, I would've. Maybe I'll try again during the week.
Anyway. I did go shopping today, to get some stuff for our China trip (next weekend!!!). I bought a new wallet. The cashier lady gave me this with it:
I assume the shiny-new 5 yen coin is supposed to go in my wallet as some sort of good luck attract-money thing. I'm sure one of my smarter ex-pat friends will enlighten me in the comments section.
I decided , while I was taking that picture, that you all might enjoy more of my Japan shopping experience.
For instance, I also bought this today:
I've been kind of curious to try it. As you may or may not know, Japan is the land of really hot baths (and they need never go cold - you can reheat them while still soaking!). This product is some sort of bath salts that make your bath even HOTTER because it is good for you to boil yourself alive, apparently. I'll let you know how that went.
When I saw this, I said to myself, no, it couldn't really be for that, could it?
But it was, yes it was. Naaaaasty. They also make them for ears.
And make sure to also use your Etiquette Tweezers, because unsightly hair is just bad manners.
This made me think of those old line drawings of Victorian chin strap devices that we think are so quaint and thank god we don't believe in that quackery anymore (except you, over there watching TV and thinking about buying one of those electric vibrating belts that melts away your belly fat while you relax and watch TV and eat chips).
The rest of these I took awhile ago, but they fit this post well, so we'll start with Ankle Warmers
What else would you find in Japan as an alternative to plastic Army Guys? Why, Plastic Ninjas, of course.
And do you have old people in your house? Great, because the 100-yen store has an entire line of products to help you care for your elderly live-ins. I especially like the utensils for people with bad arthritis. They were really close to the adult diapers, which made me think about the circle of life and how we become babies again in the end and how I'd really like to avoid that if possible.
Gotta have that Buttocks Washing Sheet.
That's it, folks. Today is Macky's birthday (tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu) and Jackie is coming to town on Thursday. Nobody has any idea what to do this weekend. I am open to suggestions on how we could entertain our guest.
Anyway. I did go shopping today, to get some stuff for our China trip (next weekend!!!). I bought a new wallet. The cashier lady gave me this with it:
I assume the shiny-new 5 yen coin is supposed to go in my wallet as some sort of good luck attract-money thing. I'm sure one of my smarter ex-pat friends will enlighten me in the comments section.
I decided , while I was taking that picture, that you all might enjoy more of my Japan shopping experience.
For instance, I also bought this today:
I've been kind of curious to try it. As you may or may not know, Japan is the land of really hot baths (and they need never go cold - you can reheat them while still soaking!). This product is some sort of bath salts that make your bath even HOTTER because it is good for you to boil yourself alive, apparently. I'll let you know how that went.
When I saw this, I said to myself, no, it couldn't really be for that, could it?
But it was, yes it was. Naaaaasty. They also make them for ears.
And make sure to also use your Etiquette Tweezers, because unsightly hair is just bad manners.
This made me think of those old line drawings of Victorian chin strap devices that we think are so quaint and thank god we don't believe in that quackery anymore (except you, over there watching TV and thinking about buying one of those electric vibrating belts that melts away your belly fat while you relax and watch TV and eat chips).
The rest of these I took awhile ago, but they fit this post well, so we'll start with Ankle Warmers
What else would you find in Japan as an alternative to plastic Army Guys? Why, Plastic Ninjas, of course.
And do you have old people in your house? Great, because the 100-yen store has an entire line of products to help you care for your elderly live-ins. I especially like the utensils for people with bad arthritis. They were really close to the adult diapers, which made me think about the circle of life and how we become babies again in the end and how I'd really like to avoid that if possible.
Gotta have that Buttocks Washing Sheet.
That's it, folks. Today is Macky's birthday (tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu) and Jackie is coming to town on Thursday. Nobody has any idea what to do this weekend. I am open to suggestions on how we could entertain our guest.
posted by Sandi at 3:51 PM
3 Comments:
As one of your smart(arse) ex-pat friends, i thought i would enlighten you of the five yen thing.
It's a word play thing.
So, five yen in Japanese is 「ごえん」(go-en). And kanji are 「五円」
However, with different kanji (but the same sound) there is another word 「ご縁」
GO is an honorific prefix.
And EN, means something along the lines of connection or relationship or bond. So, the hope is that your wallet will have a good connection with your cash.
You can also put little frogs (hopefully ceramic - be a bit gross to have a real one stuffed in there...unless you feed it with little insects and stuff, but then your money would get dirty...) in your wallet.
This is because the Japanese for frog is KAERU (カエル・蛙）which also means return or get back (返る).
Isn't Japanese fascinating?
Hope that enlightens your day...
See? I knew someone would speak up. Thanks, MissSin. I knew about the frog thing, but the go-en thing was new. Maybe because I never bought a wallet here before.
What if I accidentally spend it???
I love your blog.. It brightens my day to read all the fun things that are happening over there. I was DYING laughing after the bathtub excitement...
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