The Engrish Post!

Today is Engrish Post! I love Engrish so very much, that I felt inspired to make a post after a recent trip to the mall. Now, for the most part, there is a fair bit of research before people attempt to put English on a t-shirt. Most words are spelled correctly, and even sentences are oftentimes correct. But the devil is in the details, and English sentences are no exception. Even though the spelling is correct and the sentence structure is close, it's the nuances in the language that make things strange. This is the case for most Engrish shirts I find. But this post is not about those shirts. Those shirts are not worth my time or film. No, This post is about the "WTF were they trying to say?" shirts. And I found one perfect example, and actually, 90% of the shirts I am showing you are from one store. This tells me that the owner of this store does not believe in "Research".  I bring you: 

For the Prideful person in all of us.

I don't even know where to start.

Comes in multiple colors.

How did they know about my mom?

"Ok. I'll read one half, and you can read the other."

Ah, American Idioms. So close, yet so far.

Yes, this is printed across the crotch. Yes, this is my new Catchphrase!

My favorite part is the + in place of a t.

Because Canada is so well known for their Mattreses.

Kawaii!!

The Food Post

Ok, you guys, Today's post is about food. I'm still alive, which means that I have been consuming said food. But it's not extremely eventful, so I've skipped it in my previous posts. But not today, Bitches! Today you hear about the food!
So, lets start off with something that screams "traditional Japan" and that would be: "Tea Ceremony".
I attended an authentic Tea Ceremony with the Tea Ceremony Club on our school campus. It was really neat, cuz we were set up in a traditional house-looking floor on campus (I have no idea if that makes sense to you), and everyone was dressed up in traditional clothing (Yukata).

We were set up in a square formation and offered tea in a very polite, quiet, and intimidating atmosphere. I was the first to enter the room and the first to receive the tea, Therefore, I was also the first to screw up everything. But I was excused from it all on account of my being white.  We were fed a little cake, and then given the tea. When you receive the tea, you must bow to the person who presented it to you. You then pick up the bowl with your right hand, and place it in your left hand which acts like a plate. You then spin the bowl two times with your right hand. And then you are allowed to drink it. I didn't bow at first, but I was politely reminded by my company and every subsequent step was preceded by me looking around with "help me!" eyes.  But it was a lot of fun and it was a nice experience. After the ceremony itself was over, we were led into the next room to try making the tea ourselves. I thought the tea was delicious, not too bitter, just perfect. You don't add sugar, but it is good anyways.  What you do is you take a bitty little spoon, which is just a stick really, and you put one scoop of "Matcha" (finely powdered green tea) in the bowl. You then add one ladle-scoop of hot water to the bowl. You take a little bamboo whisk and quickly whisk/beat the matcha and water into tea. You need to do this fast enough to create a green foam on the top of the bowl. I couldn't get my wrist to go fast enough at first, but I received a quick lesson and then everyone commented on how quickly I improved. lol!

Myself making some tea. The Ladle is sitting on top of the water pot. The Small red container has the Matcha powder inside. The stick/spoon on top is what you use to scoop it with. And I am mixing the tea with the bamboo whisk.

This is my friend "Kilo" drinking the tea I made. Cuz you're not allowed to make your own tea. You can only make it for others.

And a couple of days ago I went to this little restaurant in nearby Fujiidera and on the menu I found "Marbled Horsemeat Sashimi". After I saw that I had to look no farther, for I had found my meal for the evening. It was fate. Nothing could keep me from my horsemeat.

It was delicious by the way. It is kinda like beef, but a lot smoother... and tastier. I loved it. I actually bought two, even though it was a little pricy. But it only came with 5 pieces, so...

Oh, and Sashimi means raw. Yes, I was eating raw horsemeat. And It's only been about a week since I had it, and I'm already craving it. And when I get home and drive past the horses around the corner, I'm no longer gonna thing "cute", but instead I will be thinking "Ooh, Yummy!".  Improvement?

And last week we went to a local Indian food restaurant. It serves curry and naan. I had both for the first time, and I loved it. I actually have never had Indian food of any kind before in my life, but this place was excellent. So, as of so far, I do like Indian food.

It's actually kindof funny, cuz the owner of the Indian restaurant we met at the airport on our first day in Japan, and then we ran into his restaurant which is in the same town we are living in, and we keep running into him just on the street and stuff. He's really nice and loves chatting with us. He's been living in Japan, and running his restaurant for over 20 years. He also speaks his Dialect of Indian, Japanese and English. So we have fun talking to him. Plus his food is just delightful.

And last night a group of us went out to a chicken restaurant, it is the same restaurant from my second post. But this time I was able to get some of the more exotic things on the menu. They include: Chicken necks (some cartilage included), and chicken hearts! It may sound gross, but I loved the taste and texture of hearts. Yes, I know I'm a little bit creepy.

I will tear out your throat!...

And eat your Heart for Breakfast!

Myself, "J", and "J". :)

And today, we went to a Conveyor Belt Sushi place. What happens is: you sit down at your table, and along the wall is a conveyor belt which brings little plates of sushi past your table. So if you see something you like, you can just pick it up and it's yours.

There is also a little interactive menu screen above the conveyor belt that you can order stuff from if you're not seeing what you want on the belt. The special orders are placed on an additional plate, so that other tables know not to pick it up.

The sushi is on different color plates, and the different color plates stand for different prices. So at the end of your meal you just count the number of plates you have, and that is what you pay. It's actually really cool. And because this is Japan, each plate of nigiri/sushi was only about $1.05. I ate my fill of nigiri for under $10. I love you, Japan.

This was what our table looked like after we were done.

Osaka Castle

So, the week between the Nanba Parks mall/Tennoji Temple trip and the following Saturday was pretty calm, a lot of us were playing catch up with things because of all the running around the first week. But come Saturday, we packed up for a trip to Osaka Castle and the nearby History Museum. I learned a lot and it was really fun.

Old-Timey Clothes!

Old-Timey food!

First we went to the History Museum and checked out some of the exhibits. They centered a lot around on everyday life and architecture of the time: the late 1500's and 1600's. It featured a lot of miniature models of the landscape and what it would have looked like 500 years ago. It also featured quite a few exhibits of fashion and accessories, as well as lifestyle settings with wax figures.

1920's Fish Market

Miniature of a Theatre and Play.

My personal favorite was the interactive exhibit that displayed a doll/puppet that was used in plays and entertainment. One puppet was operated by three people. One controlled the head and right arm, one person controlled the legs, and one person controlled the left arm. Here you can see video of my friend "D" being part of the exhibit.

You can see two of the three puppet masters with hoods on their faces as to not draw attention.

After the museum we walked across the street and went to Osaka Castle. It had started raining while we were in the museum, but we knew this so our entire group had umbrellas. What we didn't expect was the amount in which it would rain. I was shocked at the volume of liquid falling from the heavens. My "beathable" athletic shoes proved to be a poor choice, cuz within minutes my shoes were soaked through, and when I wiggled my toes I could feel currents of water swishing within, and with every step you could hear a "squish, squish".

But the rain didn't matter cuz I was looking at an awesome castle It is so pretty on the outside. The grounds are very well kept. Everything was green. On the inside there were various exhibits about the history of the castle and the people who lived within.

I learned that the people who lived within were very influential and did many cool things, like influence how people wrote poetry of the day. There is also the story of a lord who had a small tea room (only three tatami mats large) that was gold plaited. It could be disassembled and reassembled, and he took it everywhere he traveled. He eventually gave it away as a gift. This turned out to be a good thing cuz soon the castle caught fire and burned most of the way down. It was rebuilt only to be burned numerous more times and partially destroyed by bombs in WWII. So, the castle that stands today is entirely recreated and none of the original castle remains. The only original standing structure is a well outside the castle. It's only about 30 feet away, but it managed to escape all the flames and bombs of the past.

By the time we left the museum and got to the top of the castle a thick fog was rolling in, and it made the surrounding city look very surreal. :)

It was a very educational trip, and I liked seeing every bit of it.

Miniature of the Osaka Castle area. Located in Osaka Castle.

Buddhist Temples and Shopping Districts

Ok, so, today's post is a big one cuz it was a Jam-Packed day. It actually happened last Monday (6/10) but I'm such a busy bee, I'm only now getting to tell you all (sorry).
The day started out with going to school, and after classes ended, we all headed out to go to Tennoji Buddhist Temple in Osaka.

The grounds were so pretty, there was no grass, it was all dirt, but it was weed-free and all the paint looked fresh and nothing looked horribly weathered. So it was really pretty. There were a bunch of old buildings and shrines, and monuments. It was so amazing. I ended up buying an Omamori (a good luck charm) that said I wouldn't die in any transportation accidents (bonus! ;) ).

Shrine across a bridge. It is fronted by a Tori Gate and surrounded by a moat.

A Statue of a Buddha.

This is a pool of water, you're supposed to wash your hands before entering the Temple Area.

Praying. Step 1: Ring the Gong at the top of the Rope.

Step 2: Clap your hands twice and pray.

J, Myself and A. (LtoR)

There was also a turtle pond which had hundreds of turtles in it. They were all so cute!

We were feeding them bread bits and they were swarming!

Pretty Groundskeeping

After the Temple we headed off to the Nanba shopping district. It has two distinct shopping areas. One, the Nanba Parks Mall, I saw a picture of a couple months ago and wanted to go. The building is open to the sky in the middle and is all squiggly. We did walk through, but we didn't stop. It also looks like I wouldn't have wanted to stop. All the stores looked very mature and boring. But the architecture was pretty cool-looking.

Courtesy of Google Images: This is the Nanba Park mall from the sky. I entered from the Parking lot on the right, and exited towards the more awesome shopping-district in the bottom left.

Outside view by parking lot.

Inside: Facing up and towards the parking lot.

Facing away from the parking lot

Looking up from the middle of the mall.

The other area is very busy and is filmed often.It's the shopping area that has the giant crab on the side of a building, and a giant Glico man on another. It was so busy! This shopping area is directed towards young people. It had so many young, hip and fun-looking shops (not that I got to actually shop in them, more on that in a min).

I finally saw all the crazy looking people I had heard were in the busy cites. I saw a lot of Host boys (Men you can pay to party with) I had never seen any before, but there was no mistaking them once I had seen them. They were so plastic. In expensive shirts and accessories. They had big, gelled hair, and they looked so pretty. You knew instantly that they were the man whores. I didn't get any pictures, cuz I was so shocked I didn't think I could do it discreetly. Dont worry. I am going back soon so I will get one then. I also saw cute little Lolita women. All ruffle-y and adorable! Same thing, I was too mentally helter-skelter to get pictures.

Busy Busy!

The River running through the middle.

All Lit Up!

I was super annoyed at the people who brought us though. She brought us to one of the biggest shopping centers in the world, and then told us that we had a half hour to look around and then we had to leave. So I'm going back to do some shopping and I'm gonna take my sweet time while doing it!
This area also has a river running right through the center of the shopping district, so there is this great bridge in the middle. And while we were there, there was a movie or something being filmed just a few hundred feet away. It was pretty cool to see them in action!

Action!

Anyways it was a great day. I saw a lot I had wanted to see. Osaka is awesome. I love being so close to all the action of this unique part of the world!

Manhole Cover in Nanba area.

This is an automated parking structure. You roll your car in on the bottom of the skinny side, and a machine takes your car and parks it with space efficiency! Pretty cool, if you ask me.

The men with the "White Gloves" at the train station. They are only at the really busy stations, and they are there to "Pack" people in the trains when it's too busy. They do it to fit as many people on a train as absolutely possible. 

On the outsides of many restaurants there are plastic displays of the food offered.

A few shrines on the streets of Nanba.

This is a typical school lunch. It's very filling (I can only eat about half) and it comes to about $3!