More on Japanese snacks

Words cannot express how much of a sucker I am for Japanese snacks. In America I eat an average of 5 chips a year, and about 10 cheez-its. But as soon as I landed in Japan I was double fisting pocky and jyagariko.

What I like the most are the unique flavors. Melon and apple kit kats, ume and salad jyagariko, milk tea and green tea chocolate.
These are all AMAZING. Here are some pictures of what you should be buying/eating every chance you get.
The drinks are equally creative in flavor. I recommend the ume calpis.

Hotel Fine goes down in the second round...

I may or may not have gone to the Water Hotel recently (www.waterhotel-cc.com) . And it may or may not be just a 5 minute walk west from nanpabashi-right next to hotel dress...

The Water Hotel was classy, but very different from my past favorite - Hotel Fine. For one, what the Water Hotel lacks in the nomihoudai department it makes up for in a fantastic shower and mood lighting with a million+ options. The bathroom is pretty big with a bath tub that has a nice mat next to it for massages and the like. There is no 100 inch projection TV, but the 50 inch flat screen is sufficient enough.

Ordering food was a little different than Hotel Fine as well. Like Fine, you get a free breakfast and a free drink, but it is not dropped off in a little mailbox dealie, you actually have to answer your door and receive it from someone. This is a little strange for a love hotel, but it didn't bother me any. Like Hotel Fine, in this hotel, being a member takes about 1000 yen off the price for the night, however membership costs 500 yen - well worth it.
Even the Karaoke selection was better. And playing 'Taiko no Tatsujin' free was a definite bonus!
My two issues with the hotel were that it was about 9000 degrees in the room when I walked in, but that may be due to it being winter and they wanted the room to be comfortable. The ash trays also didn't say the name of the hotel on them so they weren't worth stealing...

So if you are looking for a classy love hotel in the Nanba/Shinsaibashi area, look no further than the Water Hotel.

1,2,3's

After running out of letters in the alphabet, I guess I will move on to numbers. Here are the 1,2,3's of living in Japan.

1： 一石二鳥 (issekinichou),literally 1 stone, 2 birds. I found it interesting that Japan has the same phrase,two birds one stone. Especially a phrase as dumb as this one.
2: 二人乗り (futarinori),2 people riding, usually a bicycle. you see this often in Japan, though I'm pretty sure its illegal (for scooters anyway). But without a car in Japan, this is the next best way to pick up chicks. Just make sure you buy a bike with the metal seat dealie in the back.
3-3P (sanpi-), threesome. Some things are universal.
4-四川 (shisen),Japanese word for Szechwan, the region in china known for spicy food. I know I mention Shisen Ra-men a lot, but seriously, that place is magic.
5-甘味 (Umami), the fifth taste. Also known as savoriness, this taste classification was first developed by Kikunae Ikeda.
6- 週六日 (shuumuika), 6 days a week. If you are lucky enough to live in Japan but unfortunate enough to work for a Japanese company, this is about how often you will work.
7-七味 (shichimi), blend of 7 spices. The spices include Cayenne and Japanese pepper. Its a popular seasoning and goes great with Yoshinoya.
8-ヤクザ　(Yakuza), the badass organized crime group with a heart of gold. Their name is an abbreviation of the numbers 8-9-3. With the exception of all the gross porn they produce, I think these guys are awesome.
9- 99 (kyukyu). The 99 yen shop, or kyu kyu, is like an American dollar store but with more food. Its a convenient place to stock up on CalorieMate and Onigiri Senbei. There is also a 100 yen shop which is pretty popular.
10-is for 一万円 (ichimanen),10,000 yen. Get used to carrying these bills around...but not for very long.

ペラペラになろう。。。

I stumbled across a news article that gave the ABC's of Japan. Some of the letters were actually funny/informative. Here is the link if you're interested. But I felt that this list was a little lacking and decided to make my own ABC's. I'm sure my list will be WAY more helpful in understanding Japan/Japanese.

A- Asadachi (朝立ち) : Morning wood. Its a funny word and it got your attention didn't it? The two kanji are morning and standing...
B- Ba- (バー) : Bar. Its where a great deal of your time should be spent.
C- CM (シーエム) : Commercial. Heres is a catchy one. Japan is known for their ridiculous and ridiculously expensive commercials.
D- Densha (電車) - Train. You aren't going anywhere without a train in Japan, unless you have 3 grand to drop on a license and about $1.80/L for gas.
E-Eki (駅) : Train Station. This is where you would ride the 電車. Eki (液) also means fluid. As in Aieki.
F-Futsuu (普通) : This is local train that stops at every station. Also used to describe your day when nothing interesting happens...which should be never
G-Gyaru (ギャル) : The more flashy, girly style in Japan. This is the only fashion as far as I'm concerned!
H- Homodachi - Not a real Japanese word but the equivalent of Bromosexual. Younger Japanese can appreciate/understand this word.
I- Izakaya (居酒屋) : A Japanese drinking establishment. A midway between a bar and a restaurant.
J-Jyagariko (じゃがりこ) : Japanese snack similar to a Hot Fry but better and flavors include salad, cheese, and ume. This snack is the reason I say ittadakimasu 10+ times a day.
K- Kaidama (かいだま) : Extra noodles you can order to put in to your Ramen broth. A good word to know if you go to Shisen Ramen, a chain ramen restaurant.
L- Love Hotel (ラブホテル) : You should know what this is by now.
M- Mata (股) : Literally crotch or groin area but its used to describe the 'Gap'. The 'Gap' being the space between Japanese women's legs that goes all the way up. Cho Sexy!
N- pick any N word and you can say it in Japan!
O-Otsukaresama (お疲れ様) : Kind of like 'Good Job' or 'Thats enough, you worked hard today'. You can say it to anyone or anything that just worked hard.
P- Purikura (プリクラ) : Short for Print Club. An amazing photo both experience for about 400円.
Q- This one is a little difficult seeing as Japanese doesn't have anything like a Q, but how about Kyuuri. It sounds like Q-Lee, and is one of my favorites at kappa-zushi. Its cucumber sushi.
R-Rikimaru (力丸) : A chain izakaya (居酒屋) where everything is 300 yen. The portions are small so you can taste a lot of things. I recommend also getting the Ramune Chu-hai or a Suntory Highball.
S- Seibyou (性病) : STD. Just watch out for these.
T- Tokumori (特盛り) : The special size. This is the largest serving size at Yoshinoya.
U- Ume. (梅) : Japanese plum. It is a popular flavor and used to make umeshu, 梅酒, the greatest liquor ever created.
V- Valentine's Day (バレンタインデー) : Celebrated Feb 14th by women giving expensive chocolate to men. Way better than that BS hallmark holiday in America.
W-Wakewakaranai (訳分からない) : Incomprehensible, that doesn't make sense. You'll need this word if you attempt reading any Engrish.
X-Xenophobia : Fear of that which is different from oneself. Luckily this is dying out in Japan, but you may still find some old fogeys bad mouthing you in Japanese to your face. But they will die soon so the jokes on them...
y-Yu (湯) : Hot water, bath. You can find 'ゆ' signs throughout Japan. The sign indicates a public bath where you can sit and relax. I recommend it (and yes, you have to do it naked).
Z- Ze (ぜ) : A sentence end that basically adds force or makes you sound cooler. Its akin to ending an English sentence in 'yo' or 'bitch', it adds emphasis.

Thats it for now. If you would like to further look up some words/kanji, I recommend Jim Breen. Its pretty helpful - I use it all the time.

J電車`s Return

Just when I finally thought I could deal without Japan for a while, I decided to tease myself by going back for a week...damn did I miss Japan. I would encourage you all again to visit but the yen is kicking so much ass right now that its probably not the best idea...

If you are in Japan for longer than 30 seconds, here are some things you will notice.
-When your plane leaves the terminal, the persons working on the tarmac (actually a term for the material used, not the large paved surface itself - fun fact!) bow to you and wave goodbye. But as cool as this is for foreigners to see, it actually has roots in WWII - the pilots got a nice farewell because they were not coming back....so that's kinda depressing
-when people talk about themselves, they point to their face instead of their chest/heart. Not really sure why this is the way it is, but its kinda cool and I noticed myself doing it unconsciously after only a couple days.
-no matter how hot it is in a mall or train station, nobody takes off their coat. This blows my mind. I think I will take the inconvenience of holding my coat over sweating my 金玉s off. But then again, the Japanese probably evolved beyond sweating and discomfort...

Its also getting close to Valentines Day, so there is a plethora of chocolate goodies being sold in Japan right now. But its a little different than the chocolates you see in America. Department stores selling Hershey kiss sized chocolates for about 300 yen each is typical. Chocolate potato chips, liquor and chocolate beer (yes, beer) are sold in conbinis as well. I have seen enough chocolate in the past few days to last me a lifetime.