I come across a lot of odd signs in Japan. Some are just down right funny, some just don’t make sense and I guess some are just a bit creepy.
Found at Koganei Koen, Tokyo
Maybe I’m just used to the more familiar signs you see in parks like, “Beware of Pickpockets” or “Pick up your dog’s poop” that I find the sign above a bit creepy. The sign above says, “Beware of Perverts”.
Something I will definitely take in mind.
Today marks my 2nd year of living in Japan. And to commemorate, I have decided to write some of my own odd experiences of living in this rather crazy country.
While living in Japan may not always be pleasant, I assure you that it is always interesting.
Case in point 1: The Square Watermelon
The picture above was taken in Koriyama-shi, Fukushima, Japan
So okay, square watermelons, great – but I mean, WHY? Seriously. With Japan’s food self-sufficiency problems and all the extra effort needed to create, must I dare say, a freak of nature, why square watermelons?
Doing a bit of research, I found out that square watermelons do have a purpose and are not just for eye candy.
Given Japan’s limited space (for everything), a farmer in Zentsuji came up with the idea of a cube-shaped watermelon for easier packing and storage. Ingenious!
That makes sense but is all the trouble worth it when you can just cut it all up and put it in a container or the easier way, just eat it all up in one sitting?
Is the square watermelon also worth dumb-founding a well known fact, taught as a kindergarten that a watermelon is supposed to be round?
This beautiful piece of work may have been already taken down and there may already be about a billion pictures of this amazing robot in the net but I’m still uploading mine 
Life-size RX-78 Gundam at Odaiba
To all those who have seen it, this moving, life-sized Gundam replica was truly an amazing sight!
(And from the looks of it, it seems like the world-wide recession means nothing to the Japanese. The RX-78 Gundam spits on recession’s face!)
Went to catch the Terminator Exhibit being held at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation/ Miraikan in Odaiba, Tokyo last Saturday. In conjunction with the Terminator Salvation release and I suppose as a celebration to the fragile bond between Man and Machine, an exhibition of the robots, artworks and actual costumes used in the Terminator movies and series are being displayed until June 28.
I was expecting more props and robots to be showcased but nonetheless, the exhibit was still interesting and the robots and production tidbits were enlightening. It was a cool experience to see the actual robots and artworks used in some of the most unforgettable movies of all time. I’ll be back.
Terminator Exhibition – Battle or Coexistence?
Terminator Exhibit ・ターミネーター展(Ta-mine-ta-ten )
T-800 Endoskeleton
Appearance: The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator Salvation
T-800 in the flesh
“Death rendered in steel” as James Cameron would put it. The T-800 is designed to look and act like human. Made of a yet undiscovered, ultrastrong alloy, the T-800 likes to wear dark glasses and has a knack for spilling unforgettable, comical one-liners.
Appearance: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
T-X
The T-X appeared in the what I think is the worst Terminator movie in the pack. A combination of the skeletal T-800 and the mighty morphing T-1000, this Terminator is the first to bring future weapons back to the present. T-X portrayed by Kristanna Loken is also the hottest Terminator to date.
Cameron Phillips
Appearance: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Cameron Phillips (TOK715)
Named after Terminator’s creator, James Cameron, Cameron Phillips/TOK715 is the Terminator sent to protect John and Sarah around 1999. The TO715 is disguised as a beautiful, petite, teenage infiltrator.
T-1
Appearance: Terminator3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation
The T-1 is an autonomous military robot with a rather anthropomorphic head, sensor eyes, gatling guns for arms, a torso that swivels like a human and caterpillar tracks for legs.
Hydrobot
Appearance: Terminator Salvation
Hydrobots are serpentine aquatic units that move in swarms and patrol the waters.
T-600 Endoskeleton
Appearance: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Terminator Salvation
The sinister-looking T-600 units are covered in a sheet of rubber skin meant for espionage and infiltration purposes. The T-600′s are superseded by the newer and more advanced T-800s.
Moto-Terminator
Appearance: Terminator Salvation
Moto-Terminators are high-speed pursuit units using motorcycle chassis. In the Terminator Salvation scene where John Conner reprograms a Moto-Terminator for use, I just can’t help but think of Batman’s Batpod and wait for Christian Bale to spill his line: “I’m Batman.”
By the way, In the movie John Conner also uses a Vaio UX Micro PC. 
Actroid-DER3
Other highlights of the exhibit were the Actroid DER3 and a creepy, almost real-looking moving arm. The Actroid DER3 is a humanoid robot with strong visual human-likeness developed by Osaka University and manufactured by Kokoro Company, Ltd. The Actroid DER3 can move and talk – like, whoa!
Isn’t this robotic arm just amazingly creepy!
Moving Robot Hand
More pictures can be seen here.
The Sinister Blowfish
Swimming through the tank
He dreams of being caught and
Poisoning the chef
This is listed as one of those things I just had to do before I die. Well, hoping not exactly right before I die but a little way before allowing me to live and share my experience in the least – eat some deadly blowfish.
I first read about the fish and the art of risking one’s life in eating it in some National Geographic magazine we had when I was kid. Fugu it was called and was a delicacy found in Japan. Fugu was of such high praise that the Japanese pay millions of yen a year and actually endanger their very lives to eat it. They knew of the impending peril and even inspired haikus such as (translated):
“I cannot see her tonight
I have to give her up
So I will eat fugu”
and
“Last night he and I ate fugu,
Today I help carry his coffin”
- Anonymous
and such maxims as
“To throw away life, eat blowfish.”
but still ate fugu anyway. I became very intrigued with what was with fugu that was just to die for. I swore to taste some before I die. Again, hopefully not exactly right before I die.
Being an expat to Japan, I had a lot of opportunity asking friends around how fugu was like. Unfortunately, the fugu reviews of my friends were mostly underwhelming – the fish was bland and well, they didn’t die 
However, the thought of playing Russian roulette with fugu still has its pull on me, so when my friend, Justin invited me for some fugu dinner, I gave a definite yes
Fugu Dinner Buddies
Clockwise: Koike-san, Justin, Tha, Jem
We went to this fugu specialty restaurant in Chofu-shi called とらふぐ (to-ra-fu-gu: tiger blowfish). Apparently とらふぐ has a lot of branches and was quite popular which made our choice rather safe and lessened the odds of our premature deaths
とらふぐ (To-ra-fu-gu) or Tiger Blowfish
Fugu was a bit pricey compared to an ordinary Japanese dinner-out meal but it wasn’t as pricey as I had expected. I was expecting to spend more than 10,000 yen (~$100) for my fugu dinner as most western websites I’ve read said it would cost an arm and a leg but it only cost me around 5,000 yen. However, I think 5000 yen is still freaking expensive given that it might already cost you your life
Justin spent the most among us since he was also the bravest to try some 白子 (shirako) or Fugu sperm sac. Well, he didn’t know what he ate until he got home and searched it in the internet though 
7,380 Yen for a Fish?!
Most of us ordered the fugu 6-course meal which included 皮刺し (torafugu skin sashimi)、とらふぐ刺し身 (torafugu sashimi) 、とらふぐなべ (torafugu nabe)、なべ皮 (torafugu skin nabe) and 雑炊 (rice gruel).
Before actually going to the restaurant I did a couple of research and found that one fugu has enough Tetrodotoxin (pufferfish poison) to kill 30 people. Tetrodotoxin is 100 times deadlier than cyanide and is 160,000 times more potent than cocaine. Tetrodotoxin is also used in the voodoo art of zombification and causes nerve paralysis which can lead to a very painful death via aphyxiation. Some 14 people died from fugu between 2002 and 2006 and in 1975, fugu liver cost Japan’s then living national treasure, Kabuki actor Bando Mitsugoro VIII his life. Nevertheless, what the heck. I still want to eat fugu.
Alas, To Taste Death
I am rather adventurous when it comes to anything but this is the first time I’ve actually put my life in the line for food. I was anxious.
皮刺し (Torafugu Skin Sashimi)
The waiter first served 皮刺し (torafugu skin sashimi) which looked rather like colorless rinds of orange peel. It was time to dig in. Alas, to taste death! I have been waiting for this moment for about 18 years. I took my first bite and savored it. What followed came as a shock. Death tasted like… well it didn’t taste like anything. It has no taste at all. It was also firm and crunchy It reminded me so much of the gulaman in the Filipino refreshment sago’t gulaman
What was the big fuss? Did I just blow 5000 yen on something I could get the same satisfaction with sago’t gulaman? I savored eating more of the fugu skin. Torafugu Skin Sashimi is eaten with spring onions and ponzu sauce. It was growing on me. Hey, what do you know, it was delicious!
Up next was the semi-translucent とらふぐ刺し身 (torafugu sashimi) which was served elaborately arranged to form a chrysanthemum. Ironically, the chrysanthemum is also the Japanese flower of choice for funerals I’ve read somewhere that the chrysanthemum is also Japan’s national flower and fugu is also the only dish forbidden to be eaten by the emperor. Fugu is indeed ironic.
I’ve read that fugu sashimi is supposed to be as “subtle as the fragrance of spring rain dripping upon a stone”. I had absolutely no idea what that zen crap actually meant but it was again time to dig in.
とらふぐ刺し身 (Torafugu Sashimi)
Torafugu Sashimi is eaten with chives and spring onions and dipped into the same ponzu sauce (dark soy sauce + mirin + lemon juice) served with the Torafugu Skin Sashimi. I’d say I like the Torafugu Skin Sashimi better. After finishing the plate, I couldn’t still quite get the “subtle as the fragrance of spring rain dripping upon a stone” thing but it’s mild taste together with the sauce’s flavor was delicious nonetheless.
And what do you know, I am still alive
"Subtle as the fragrance of spring rain dripping upon a stone"
とらふぐなべ (torafugu nabe/torafugu hot pot) and なべ皮 (torafugu skin nabe/torafugu skin hot pot) was served next. The soup was to be cooked in a paper basket which I thought was really cool.
Cool Paper Cookware
The fugu meat was still moving when it was served which was a bit freaky but was also awesome thinking of how skilled the chef was at his art
It's still alive!
Fugu meat looks a lot like chicken and the fugu skin imprints are snake like. It doesn’t look anything like fish at all. It looked more like some alien creature from another galaxy. Since the meat was still moving when it was served, I kind of felt sorry for the fugu when we put them inside the boiling water
Fugu Meat
The fugu nabe was tasty. Fugu meat however was a bit tough. My lips were also starting to itch Was this supposed to be the addictive, tingling, novocaine-like effect that comes with eating fugu? I don’t think the itchy feeling was addictive, though and it sure didn’t feel like novocaine I sure was feeling pretty happy though 
雑炊 (Rice Gruel)
After we’ve finished the last piece of our fugu nabe , rice, eggs, onion leeks and some more herbs were put into the our fugu nabe’s remaining broth. The outcome looked so much like doggers But don’t let the appearance fool you. The Rice Gruel was tasty and as hobbits would say would “fill in the corners” of your tummy.
It was a fun night spent with friends. No one broke into seizures which made the night rather normal but fugu is by no means underwhelming It was aslo Justin’s birthday the next day and he is still around to celebrate yet another year
I’ve survived fugu! I’m still around to tell about it. Maybe I’ll try some fugu liver someday for more action. Now that would be exciting
Sakura Flowers
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One of the things I’ve been looking forward to most ever since I came to Japan is the sakura or the cherry blossom season.
Up until now, I have only seen sakura from movies or pictures and has always thought that the falling petals would evoke a strong feeling of sentimentality and would make you ponder on the transience of life. I blame it all on Makoto Shinkai’s anime, 5 Centimeters per Second (秒速５センチメートル) and Yamazaki Masayoshi’s song, One More Time One More Chance.
I don’t know if I’ve just become dense but I did not find the season as sentimental as I thought I would. Maybe it’s because the actual sakura flower viewing or Hanami (花見） is actually a festive event and is marked by drinking booze and merry making starting at noon
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Sakura at the Musashi Koganei Park
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Nonetheless, the blooming sakura trees are indeed a breath taking sight. My poor photography skills did not do them justice
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Father and Child Appreciating the Sakura, Tachikawa Park
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Come to think of it, when you do really ponder on it, life is indeed like the sakura, beautiful and fleeting.
Tabaka /Табака - Russian (Georgian) Version of the Lechon Manok
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Went to meet with my Jap class friends to check out a new Russian restaturant Mayuko-san,our Jap class teacher, found in Kichijouji. Since we all loved Russian food the first time we tasted it in Smetana in Kunitachi, we headed to Kichijouji to sample more of this exciting cuisine. The theme from 007 From Russia with Love can’t stop playing inside my head
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Cafe Russia Menu
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The restaurant’s name was Cafe Russia. The name screams of its ethnicity so you won’t be able to miss it’s Russian The restaurant is actually Russian-Georgian but being the uncultured me, I wouldn’t have known the difference The restaurant is just a 5-minute walk from the Kichijouji station so catching the last train going home would not be a problem.
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Nas-chan and Me
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The restaurant has a relaxing cozy pink interior. Marina-san (the owner, I think) came all the way from Moscow and it was very amusing to listen to our friend Nas-chan speak her native tongue to place our orders 
It pays to have a Russian friend who can choose everything to be ordered since we have absolutely no idea what should taste good Love you, Nas-chan 
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Borsch/борщ - The Sweet, Sour and Salty Russian Red Soup
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Nas-chan ordered the Russian soup borsch/борщ which is a red vegetable soup made from beets, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and onions topped with smetana/сметана or sour cream cheese. This soup, served hot is sweet, sour and salty (♪ nanonano… ♪). The sour cream cheese makes it perfect. It is by far one of the best soups I’ve tasted in my life. I loved it
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Georgian Appetizers - Mushroom Pickles and Ajapsandali
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Our appetizers were mushroom pickles whose name I forgot and can’t somehow search in the internet 
and Ajapsandali, Georgia’s version of the Ratatouille . This is by far the best ratatouille I’ve ever tasted. The combination of eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes and seasoning was perfect. We ate these with Georgian rye bread and Pirozhki/пирожки, baked buns filled with meat or vegetables. Pirozhki is not far from the Empanada
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Suluguni(?)
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Other stuff we ordered were beef stroganoff (about the “safest” one we ordered ), Suluguni (I’m not sure about this name though ) – baked tomato topped with a thick layer of cheese and Russian Kebab which according to Nas-chan is called Comlula. All of these we downed with Georgian sparkling wine and that despite of already having poor results in my liver exam I can’t help but get more refills because they were just so damn sublime
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Apple Cake and Russian Tea with Rose Jam
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We ended our meal with Russian apple cake and Russian tea with rose jam. The jam was to be put into the tea to act as its sweetener. It was my first time to taste rose jam or any jam from a flower for that matter. I didn’t know flower jams actually existed. I never thought rose petals could taste that delicious either. I’ve tasted my mother’s roses when I was a kid and don’t remember them as pleasant I liked the rose jam so much that I bought a whole jar for myself to enjoy during my tea time
It was a great night spent with great friends. I would definitely go back to try more of their dishes. Perhaps I’ll muster enough guts next time to sample their scorpion vodka which has a real scorpion being fermented in it’s bottle. The scorpion could be eaten if requested. Now, that would be a some experience 
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Cafe Russia details:
Location: B1 Building Nine 1-4-10 Kichijouji Honmachi, Musashino City, Tokyo
〒180-0004 東京都武蔵野市吉祥寺本町1-4-10 ナインビルB1
Tel No: 0422-23-3200
Business Hours: 11:30 am – 12 mn
Average Budget: 3000円
Reservation: Recommended (it was crowded when we got there)
Map and access can be viewed here.
Happy eating
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What to do when you’re drunk and on board the empty 終電 (shuuden or last train) going home from a late night karaoke – dance like crazy in the empty car! 
Keiō Sagamihara Line – Minami-Osawa to Keiō Nagayama.
Takejiro is just plain crazy
You can get a glimpse of Jem towards the end of the video.
It was also Tha- the videographer’s birthday. Weee, happy 30th birthday, Tha!
We scared the wits out of the only other passenger inside the car.
Hahaha, I would never forget this night. We better have a better choreography next time and let’s do it at the Yamanote line 
Meemax and I En Route to the 2008 Tokyo Game Show
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Meemax and I decided to do our own cosplay minus the anime or game characterization and the result can be seen from the picture above. My feet hurt like freaking hell as I am not used to wearing high heels and Meema’s apartment and the Game Show venue was a good walk away from the nearest train stations. It was worth it though because we both looked sizzling hot and passers-by looked at as with jaw dropping amazement
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Yeyenman the Booth Babe - photo taken by Meemax
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At the Tokyo Game Show site itself, otakus gawked at us trying to figure out if we were portraying some character. Some photographers particularly foreigners who I think were not very familiar with anime or game characters even asked us if it was okay to take our pictures. Others just snapped their cameras away without permission. I felt very self-conscious but also very gratified (my feet endured agonizing pain for this cosplay-thingie for crying out loud!). Somehow, I felt how it was like to be one of the booth babes or cosplayers It was a very interesting experience
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Tokyo Game Show Booth Babe
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Come to think of it, my costume was very similar to one of the booth babe’s as can be seen from the picture taken above by Lau. Maybe I’ll plan my costume ahead next year and actually portray a real character 
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Cosplayers at TGS 2008 - photo by Ramil
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Because I woke up particularly late that day, we ended up going to the site late and were only able to catch a handful of cosplayers 
But it wasn’t really such a total waste though since we were still able to catch a couple of interesting ones
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Cosplayer - photo by Meemax
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The day ended with M joining us for a drinking session and movie marathon at Meema’s apartment. What a day 
I swear to go earlier next year. And for that costume… who to portray, who to portray 
More photo’s can be seen here.
ASTRA Bioman at Mt. Fuji's 5th Stop
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The Philippine Assistance Group of the Cultural Section of the Philippine Embassy organized a Yamanashi-Ken (Mt. FUJI/Kawaguchi Lake/Grape-Picking/Mercian Winery) tour and 22 people of the Kaladkaran gang confirmed to attend. The bus was said to have a seating capacity of 45-50 so that meant the Kaladkaran gang would take up almost half of the bus space I guess a lot of us were intrigued with the chance of seeing Fuji-san and experiencing wine tasting. I thought it sounded so classy
Meeting time was said to be 6:30am sharp at Harajuku so everyone did their best to wake up early as Harajuku was a good 40 minutes away from where most people live. Much to everyone’s annoyance (Tinats being the most annoyed for waking up a bit late and deciding not to come with us), one of the organizers was freaking late 
and the departure was delayed by around 40 minutes Thus the Pinoy-ness of this all pinoy event started
On board the bus, the organizers did a little pep talk and made us introduce ourselves. One of the organizers claimed that she was from Colorado or was that North Carolina (?) and was faking an American accent that sounded really horrible. Her grammar was also so bad that it took me a tremendous amount of self control not get out of my seat and tell her off to speak in Tagalog instead 
First stop was at Mt. Fuji’s 5th stop. Since it was still summer then Fuji’s 5th stop was swarming with hikers. Made me want to climb Mt. Fuji’s top, too. Hopefully I’ll be able to climb Mt Fuji summer this year.
We spent about an hour at Fuji’s 5th stop. There was nothing much to do so we just spent the time taking pictures
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Kaladkaran Levitation Attempt - photo taken by Tha
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Next stop was at the Kawaguchi Lake. This is where we had our lunch. Lunch was all Pinoy and in all Pinoy regala – was packed in huge tupperwares. The food I think was cooked by one of the organizers. The food wasn’t fantastic but having woken up early and not eating any breakfast the food was well – FOOD. The Kawaguchi Lake view would have been beautiful if the spot we chose to eat wasn’t making me and a lot of my Kaladkaran friends a tad bit self conscious. We ate outside the lake side’s restaurant’s patio and I wasn’t very sure if the organizers asked for permission Anyway, I felt rather ashamed since we didn’t buy our food from the restaurant and we stayed there for free. I also couldn’t help not noticing the restaurant’s patron’s curious if not piercing gaze towards our direction. Kind of made me feel conscious about our Pinoy-ness and how we project our image to the world 
I don’t want other nationalities to think that Pinoys are that dense.
That didn’t stop us from taking more pictures, though. Yes, we are indeed Pinoy!
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Yamanashi Lake - photo taken by Gabby
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Third stop was grape picking and wine tasting at the Mercian Winery. The grape picking was fun but I realized that it wasn’t really my thing. I just wanted to eat grapes not pick them
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Grape picking - photo by Kaye
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Finally, the moment I have been looking forward to the most – wine tasting. And because I have been looking forward to this particular event, it has greatly disappointed me. When wine tasting was said to be part of the tour, I had in mind cellars, wine glasses and maybe a little introduction of how the winery started and how they ferment their wine and perhaps a little lecture on the how-to’s of wine tasting. It turned out that the “wine tasting” the organizers were referring to was just sampling the wines in disposable plastic cups and drinking as much as you can in an hour. Arrrgh. It was no different than the “free tastes” you see in supermarkets
The trip was overall a disappointment. A big horrible disappointment. The experience would make me think a hundred times over before joining anything organized by PAG or any Pinoy organization ever again.
The day ended with dinner at an exorbitant Spanish restaurant in Shinjuku.
It was one of those days you just had to charge to experience.
Links to pictures can be seen here: