Weird Stuff In Japan part 2

A: I want to make some meat sauce for my spaghetti. Its too expensive to buy tomatoes fresh and the canned stuff isn't that nice. What ever shall I do now?!

B: It simplez. Buy some sauce in a bag, dunk it in boiling water for 5 minutes, pour onto desired dish and stir. Voila, instant Delicious sauce.

A: But isn't it weird to heat stuff in their bags, in boiling water? It seems strange to me...

B: Eh, well, whatever. It tastes good. You can worry about it later.

A: Ah, right. Oki doki.*

*Note - Any references to real people is a fluke. Converstaion and persons A + B are fictional characters.

Funny sign

Riding to Kawaramachi shopping street today I saw this billboard outside a pharmacy. This sign is way to kawaii and probably wouldn't be allowed anywhere else but in Japan. It is not supposed to be fun to take pills but this character seems to be loving it. 2 thoughts went through my head when I saw this:

1) WTF?!
and
2) "Once you pop, you can't stop"
I now recon that the Pringles slogan should be adapted for the use of selling drugs in Japan!

Doesn't this make you want some happy pillz?

One of the reason I love Japan...

They have these awesome cars, before anyone in the West does. This Evo was parked opposite my dorm and I saw it while biking home in the rain. I just had to get a picture of it. If I only had the money to buy myself one of these... -_-

I want mine in this colour too

Lots of Horsepower requires big brakes!

The kawaii of Japan

Kawaii is everywhere in Japan. Kawaii is cuteness: Hello Kitty things, panda style umbrellas, cute toys for your cellphones etc.

Last week I saw a kawaii frog barrier to stop (drunk?) people wobbling into the road during their night time partying. Reflective eyes FTW!

Induction to Ritsumeikan University

Welcoming speeches and the people who would talk to us about safety.

During our welcome ceremony that included speeches in Japanese and English, there was a group of old ladies that "taught" us how to carry our bags and purses properly while walking in town to avoid getting robbed. Even though Japan is one of the safest countries in the world they were adamant in telling us to hold on to our bags as tightly as possible. Also, if you have a bag in the basket of your bike you should cover it with a net so that a thief can't do a drive(ride)-by and steal things out of the basket. They taught us these things while doing sketches. It was pretty funny to see.

The Old Lady Gang with a bike skit

Yesterday a friend of mine left his wallet in his basket before going into the store. A person outside walked by and saw this wallet and then went into the store where we had parked outside of trying to find the owner. We got it back 10 minutes later, without even realising that it had been left outside. Japanese people are very very nice!

The Police department's judo sensei came and showed us some basic moves in case we were confronted with an evil doer. ^_^

During the welcome ceremony we got food. Free food :) Everyone had a great time. I tried some squid that was tastier than I had expected. Overall, I think we are 99 exchange students for this semester! Lots of 外人 gaijin (foreigners)

For Mattias

Flush -> New water goes via the faucet -> You can wash your hands -> Then it refills the tank.

'本当に便利ですよ!
Really convenient!

First post

So I'm finally in Kyoto, Japan where I will be living for the next 10-11 months. It will be exciting, interesting and difficult and I'm hoping that after this time I'll be much better at speaking Japanese. I will be commenting on daily life here for all my overseas friends and family, make comments on things that happen to me, that I have witnessed or heard from others.

This blog make get a new URL if I can think of anything else. Suggestions are welcomed, so please do leave a comment regarding that if that is the case.

The blog will be personalised as soon as I get the hang of this webpage formating and I'll include pictures where possible.

Also, I've made a promise to myself: to stop being so picky about what I eat. So yes, I'll be blogging about food that I have found tasty and different and also on restaurant experiences in Kyoto. Eventually I'll have a small list of restaurants that I'll recommend with a 5 * rating system. Being an average student with NO money, price may be a factor that can increase or decrease the rating the restaurant gets.