Vending machine record

As already mentioned: here in Japan they have vending machines for drinks (water, softdrinks, icetea, coffee hot and cold) at almost every corner. Lots of them. But what i saw last weekend's a new record:

That's 15 machines next to each other! If you count only 14: the 15th is not visible because it was a little thinner and is covered by the one you see on the left. Anyways, that was the best shot i could get.
I mean, fifteen! It is very usual that two to five of these vending machines stand next to each other in one place, but 15's a bit extreme. After all, at least every third machine is selling the same kind of drink. Oh, and just for completeness: yes, some of them are also selling icecream.
Found this accumulation of vending machines a bit outside of Tokyo, in a street where lots and lots of tourist are walking by. Near a shrine. A week before i was there a certain Obama (this one, not that) had visited that shrine which led to numerous blocked roads etc. for the local population. Aw, celebrities. Luckily, when i was there, everything was accessible again. Just regular tourists around me :)

And now, two random pics from an architectural city tour i did today:


Cheers!

Chopsticks for Dummies

Hello there,

when you come to Asia and you already know how to eat with chopsticks, be prepared to meet a lot of impressed local people. Still surprises me, i mean, it's not like eating with chopsticks was a big deal. Anyways.

If you really, really, can't figure out how to hold chopsticks, this product might be something for you:

I guess the Japanese text says something like chopsticks for inept Gaijins. Here's how you hold these:

Supposedly the same as regular chopsticks, with holding aids and rings. I think i would actually have trouble eating with those. The rings etc. kind of restricted my movement. I definitely prefer normal chopsticks. Well, i guess I'm not a chopstick dummy :D

In case you still want to buy some, i found them at Tokyu Hands Shibuya. Big department store with all kinds of stuff. Besides the usual Hello Kitty-anything, massage devices, erasers or iPhone protective covers in the form of Japanese food, things to keep cats and dogs off your premises (in case the traditional filled water bottles put on your fence or around your house surprisingly won't work), Frosch Reinigungsmittel imported from Germany, here's some more funny stuff i saw there:

Scotch tape that looks like poo. "cappuccino" sounds better but doesn't make it look better, IMHO. Guess that product is also sold in other countries, but whatever.

Humping sake bottle and cups (on the right). The cup has pink cheeks to display a more emotional expression.

My new favourite webcam. Not that i had a "favourite webcam" before, but that one's wonderful. A TIE fighter to clip onto your screen, playing big brother. Not that i had any use for it, my laptop has a built-in camera, but still. Nice.

New forms of Rubik's cubes, in case the classic forms in its 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-variety (were on display left of what is shown in the pic) are not enough to keep you busy.

Assortment of bicycle horns, mostly in the shape of animals. Also mind the Sumo in the middle/right.

Cheers.

Police encounter

Hello there,

i haven't told you yet that i got a bicycle. Nice and practical.
When you get a bicycle here in Japan it is very important that you also register it. Meaning that you have to pay 500 Yen and register it to your name. If you buy it in a shop, like i did, the people selling you the bike will/have to take care of that, you just pay and show them your ID. If you get it from a private person, you need something proving that you are the legitmitate owner and register it at the police (?) yourself.
There will be a sticker with its registration number on your bike.

The reason why this is sooo important is mainly that when the police stopps you, you might/will get into trouble if the bike is not registered to your name.
So here's what happened to me today: riding home from the supermarket, i passed a contruction site with a police station close to it (gotta blog about those lightsaber dudes as soon as i have a good picture of one). So, much personnel standing around, waving with their lightsabers. I also saw some policemen getting on their bicycles while i was waiting to cross train tracks. Anyways, i pass by the contruction area and some meters further two policemen suddenly are next to me on their bicycle and wave somehow, gesturing me that i should stop. All very friendly and smiling. I stop and they stop in front of me. All smiling and speaking in a very friendly tone. I actualy understood most of what they said :) but not completely. Third line of them was the question if i understood Japanese, to which i answered a little. Given the Japanese way that you would never say you are really good at something - maybe unless you are an absolute master - they might've assumed that my Japanese is already better. Didn't really matter, i could see from what they were doing that they just tried to read the number on my registration sticker. And one of them asked me if it's my bicycle, i think. While i was trying to tell them in Japanese that yes, it is mine, one of them was already talking on his radio set, telling the number to someone. Then he asked me for my name. Guess whoever checked the number in the registration system told him the same name, because they were very content.
I almost wanted to get on my bike and ride on, when the one on the radio very politely, almost embarrassed, asked me if i could also show him any ID :D they both looked very curiously at my alien registration card and said something like "oooooh, オーストリア"(oosutoria=Austria) and one of them asked me if i was a student. I told them that i was a student at Tokyo daigaku and pointed in the direction of the nearby campus where i live. That seemed to please them.
Well, in the sense that they seemed happy. Like you can encounter many times here in Japan: people are very curious and happy to talk to foreigners, and their asserting ways while listening to you seems like they are really interested in what you say. No matter what you say.

So, that's that. Much ado/text about almost nothing, my first and rather uneventful encounter with the Japanese police force. Very Japanese (friendly and smiling).

And by the way, about the legal alien thing: yes, i am a legal alien again. And since i am working as a language assistant at the international friday lounge (sounds fancy, huh?) that i already mentioned somewhere in this blog, i had to get an アルバイト=arubaito. German speakers might recognise this word here: Arbeit =) in Japanese it means part-time job, and is mostly abbreviated to just baito.

Cheers.

Wale

Hello there,

short entry: I've seen a lot of interesting things (including Fuji-san, finally!) last weekend, will write more about it later. Just this pic now: i couldn't read what this is, looked like some intestines. Found it in the fish section of a supermarket. My knowledgable friends who were with me at the time were also a little surprised when they read and translated for me: this is wale!
I have no intentions to try it, much less to support Japanese wale hunting by paying for it.

Oh, and it looks quite bäh! Maybe that'd get better after someone with the proper cooking skills prepares it.

:-P

Sexual Harassment Kitty

Hello there,

Since i arrived in Tokyo, i really appreciated that they take really good care of us at university. Trying to support us with all things we might need, and they are very kind and open to help whenever needed.

There are also the proper helping channels in place in case something goes really, really wrong. I got the feeling that in case things go bad, i got the relevant contact places to go. Fortunately i never had to use this support so far.

Another fact about Tokyo in general is that there is Hello Kitty everything. Really.

Anyways, i was quite surprised when i saw this:

I know it's not really Hello Kitty, but it was quite surprising to see such a cute design for such a serious thing. Maybe it's supposed to help victims to overcome their inhibitions and seek help (hope that's correct English, i tried to translate "Hemmschwelle"). Which would be, of course, a good thing.
Strange card, nonetheless. Even for Japan, where you find Hello Kitty everything.

Unrelated to that, i also had a medical checkup at university. It seems that Asia is the country where i have the most medical checkups ever (e.g. in China i did at least three for getting visa and going on my first job). Well, this one here in Japan was pretty standard, and another service of the university, trying to take good care of its students. Anyways, part of it was a "Mental Health Check Sheet". I know these things are also very serious and there to help people with serious issues, nonetheless some questions amused me.

Look at questions 15 to 18:

• Have you ever heard voices other people cannot hear?
• Some people believe in mind reading or being psychic. Have other people ever read your mind?
• and my favourite: Did you have messages sent just to you through the television or radio?

Possible answers: 1.no, 2.yes, probably, 3.once, 4.more than twice.
From now on, i will listen to the radio more carefully, just to be sure. Someone might try to tell me something...

Oh, one more thing of interest happened a week ago: my first earthquake in Japan. Read about it here. 4.7. Fortunately no immediate injuries or damages reported. And personally i can't report feeling anything. At the time i was having dinner with some colleagues in the biggest refectory at Hongo Campus. Which is an underground refectory. Some people from our research lab called us. Up there - 3rd floor - things were shaking.
Oddly enough, on the morning of the same day i woke up two hours too early and had the feeling that my bed was shaking, quake-like. But i haven't found reports about any earthquakes at that time, so let's blame it on the mind being something else when waking up at unusual times. Anyways, good thing i got through my first quake here without any problems.

Cheers.

Videos

Hello there,

short post: i started to upload some videos i made here in Japan. Nothing special. I'll upload more once i have more and need to embed them here.
As for now, you can head over to my videos and watch two short ones i recorded around Harajuku. Search youtube for more videos if you want to see more of that stuff, I'm sure there is lots.

Cheers.

ps: since I'm at it: here's a funny Japanese video about chopsticks.
And a weird video by some Japanese guys - the ones who did the local version of the Get A Mac campaign - pretending to be French who study Japanese.