Underpass Art - Neko-chan

Mess with the kitty, get the claws.

Automatic Ice Maker

Our refrigerator here is interesting in many ways, but the most useful in the midst of the sweltering summer weather has been the automatic ice maker. What's so neat about it is it's not one you hook up a water pipe in your house, it has a smallish removable water container (probably 1 - 1.5L) which you fill up in the sink, then pop back in a special compartment in the fridge. The appliance draws water from this chilled reservoir to  run the automated ice-making process, spitting out fresh ice cubes into the freezer drawer at the bottom.

While I'm sure it's a necessity for most Japanese homes that don't have the plumbing to support a dedicated line to the fridge, it seems like it also eliminates a lot of the potential problems (like leaks) US fridges could be susceptible to.

Underpass Art - Seasons

Underpass Art

We live a few blocks from a major road, which features a pedestrian
tunnel so non-motorized traffic doesn't have to wait to cross. The
walls of this tunnel have been decorated with paintings that appear to
be the result of a school project. Please enjoy a curated selection of
images from this venue over the coming days/weeks!

Junk mail - Pizza ad

Japanese pizza is kind of a mixed bag. Sometimes there are great
sounding unexpected combos, while other times you get Tunamayo Corn.
(Kids love it!) To put the prices in perspective, that large size
would cost over $31.

To be fair, it's probably not that bad tasting. If a delivery person
showed up at the house right now with one I would eat it. I just can't
imagine getting a hankering for a tuna mayo corn pizza and then
seeking one out.

One last note on toppings: the white rings are squid.

Ban on battery shipping

I fully expected to be able to use the Galaxy Nexus I'd purchased in the US as my phone here rather than buying something new. It supports all the correct frequencies, it just needed a plan from a Japanese carrier. Unfortunately it turns out that's something they're reluctant to supply. Saying 'reluctant' diminishes the degree to which they wanted to steer customers away from that option - it turned out it was cheaper to get an iPhone 4S for free with its associated service plan rather than have a less inclusive, more expensive plan with the foreign phone I already owned. I can't say it makes much sense, but there it is.

Coming into unexpected possession of a shiny new iPhone, I was left with an unused cutting-edge [superior] handset. My plan was to return it to the US where it could be returned to service, but when I went to ship the thing it turns out the Japanese postal service has a ban on shipping lithium-ion batteries like the one in the phone. Ack! Easy enough for me to remove the battery before going to the post office again, but you'd be out of luck if your device didn't have a removable battery. (iPhone)

Worlds Fair Ferris Wheel

A and I went for a walk down to the Aichi Expo grounds this afternoon.
Quite a hike for a random outing, about 5 miles round trip.

Not Traveling

We haven't been traveling or exploring much this summer because 1) The heat takes away the fun and 2) It is too expensive to drive without the toll road discount promotion that was going on last time I was here.  In the absence of travel I have been playing with this.

Low Altitude Aerial Combat

Woah. I've noticed there are some seriously large hornet-like creatures around here, but they're usually there and gone so quickly they're not much cause for alarm. Let me emphasize their dimensions - they are large. When you catch one out of the corner of your eye it's like seeing a hummingbird.
This might be the kind of creature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_giant_hornet

I just saw one of them involved in a dogfight with a bird outside my window. The two were bobbing and weaving only a few feet about the ground for several seconds. Ultimately the bug got away, but I was surprised by the agility of the much larger bird.

It reminds me of a web comic... (Profanity disclaimer)

Japan is hard on umbrellas

They brought the bed in through the window

Like it was nothin.

Trip to Atsumi Peninsula

The beach near Tahara looks really cool.

Ume!

Special sale at Apita, get yours today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_mume

More weird food: Honey Mustard Bacon

Would you believe Alice was actually the driving force behind this purchase? Probably not after those Salami Doritos, but it's true. Behold the honey mustard bacon:

The box said it all: bacon + mustard seed + honey + can = canned honey mustard bacon

There's a section at the grocery store where the booze lives, and within that there's a sub-section for snacks to eat while drinking. Canned bacon is thus categorized as a drinking snack. I was a little disappointed the honey wasn't gooeyer. The consistency was really more of a gloppy gel. The bacon was pretty tasty though, having been cut into thick cubes rather than thinner slices.

Will I buy it again? I will not. How could I justify it when there are so many other strange things to purchase and consume! Am I glad I devoured the canned bacon? I am indeed.

Hug the Corner

Having learned to drive in a country where the traffic rules, for the most part, must be obeyed was a major advantage for the Japanese license conversion test.  There was, however, one rule that was completely new to me even after having driven in Japan for one year on my international license.  The rule is "Hug the Corner" and it goes along with "Bike Check."  The basic issue is that when stopped at an intersection waiting to make a left turn (think of right turn if you drive on the right side of the road) motorcycles and mopeds will try to pass you on the left.  The countermeasure is not to stop the bikes for this dangerous practice, but to instead train drivers to "Hug the Corner."  This means that once you put your left turn signal on the next step to to look over your left shoulder for bikes and then position your left tires on the white line making giving bikes no space to pass on that side.  During the driving test the examiners expect that you continue to keep the left tires on the white line (without hitting the curb, which is an automatic failure) for the entirety of the turn. This practice doesn't come naturally for me yet, but I have a year to practice.