Karaoke stripper
A lot of karaoke machines display a “Calories” rating after each song to show how well you sang the somg. Some are a bit more fun. One night in Sasebo, our hosts took us to a bar where the karaoke … Continue reading
Fugu
At the same restaurant in Sasebo where we ate live fish, we were treated to some fugu, the famous blowfish that is supposedly fatal if incorrectly prepared. It was good, with an exquisite texture, and there were no ill effects … Continue reading
Eating live fish
We were taken to a very nice restaurant during the new year. Among the many delicacies we had were a fish that had been freshly filleted and turned into sushi. The rest of the fish was artfully arranged on the … Continue reading
New Year in Sasebo
Japanese new year in Sasebo (Nagasaki prefecture). Sake, sashimi, rice cakes, temples, cats, snow. Link to website Continue reading
Whale meat
I tried a bit of whale at somebody’s house at new year. It was nice enough, if a bit chewy, but it seemed odd eating whale (even thought it was presumably killed purely for scientific research purposes). All my life … Continue reading
Harry Potter to Himitsu no Heya
In deference to the small Japanese children in our party, we went to see “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” dubbed into Japanese. It seemed a bit slow, but maybe that’s just because I only understood every 20th word. … Continue reading
Waking Life
Amazing animation, though Joanne found the pervasive floatiness a bit disorienting. Lots of interesting talk about dreams. Link to website Continue reading
Eternal Youth — Future Bible Heroes
Not as good as their first album Memories of Love, but still with those mordant lyrics and cheesy synthesizers. Link to website Continue reading
Chocolate Beckham
Following the trail of rumour, we mounted a search for the giant chocolate statue of David Beckham. We found him in Shibuya, complete a with long queue of people waiting for a photo with their chocolate hero. It was pretty … Continue reading
Amazon.com
Huge, famous, but quite good for stuff you can’t buy locally. Of course, this is just a ploy to get you to buy stuff through my link so I get a commission. While you’re there, see if you can find … Continue reading