Happy Me no Hi.

October 10th is a special day for a couple of reasons. As one student pointed out to me, it's EYE DAY (目の日 = me no hi. "me" sounds like "may") because 10/10 looks like a pair of eyes.

It's also National Cake Decorating Day and World Mental Health Day but neither of those pertain to moi. Me no Hi can also refer to the Day of Me (me as in the first singular personal pronoun, pronounced as "Do Re Mi"). Why is October 10th particularly important to me? Because it was on this date TWENTY YEARS ago that I first stepped off a plane and landed at Narita Airport beginning my two decade (so far) life as a teacher in Japan. To celebrate that auspicious occasion, I did something unusual and went to Izumi Mandai for a bit of Otaku Shopping.
(Say, Michael. Don't you go there regularly anyway?
Quiet you!)

I treated myself to a purple Rodan made in '93 by Bandai. It cost me ten bucks and that link is selling one for 55$ so I think I made out all right. (Too bad mine isn't Mint with Card.)

After my purchase, I was given one free shot at UFO Catcher, which is a great gimmick for you to waste your coins after your freebie.

Surprisingly, I won this guy in only 7 tries including the freebie.

I also scored a couple of Titans for 50 yen!

They hang around nicely on my Godzilla cup.

After that I went to a nearby BookOff. I found a couple of Godzilla books and a Star Wars Monsters book for a buck a piece. Woohoo!

 

I even scored a cheap Puffy CD that I don't think I already own.

(While listening to it, it does sound awful familiar though.)

I was looking for more Eko Eko Azarak books or DVDs at these places to no avail. So I'll just post today's postcard without further ado.

I didn't feel like cooking so I decided to do something really Japaneasy and dine on sushi. I went to my local Conveyor Belt sushi place but the fish weren't floating around, I had to order them freshly made.

I only ate 6 plates, some soup and karaage so it cost me 1500 yen and I didn't stuff myself.

Finally here's a link to today's Cryptkeeper, Monster Movie Kid.

Suzie Sushi.

I was at an elaborate dinner last night (Tohoku Electric Friends of Canada latest shindig) and although delicious, the menu* didn't include this.

That is just one tender piece of sushi, ウニの軍艦 (Uni or Sea Urchin) wrapped around 妄想おねえさん. She looks delicious.

You can buy your own set of Mousou-oneesan here. I suspect that I found an old Gacha Capsule machine for there is now a new series of Japanese delicacies available.

Or perhaps fast food is more to your liking.

If you aren't into cannibalistic sushi, perhaps you'd prefer something more feline.

Some people don't like sushi (weirdos) and consume vegetable-parrots instead.

 Or Banana-birds.

Speaking of bananas, once you've eaten them, did you know that they turn into ghosts?!?

By the way, for those who enjoy pictures of real food, here are some pictures from the *menu mentioned at the top of the page.

All the dishes contained Canadian produce. Pork with a honey-mustard dressing.

My favourite was a salmon chowder.

Cod and shrimp in a green sauce (I lost my menu so I can't remember specifics.)

Yuzu sherbet. Sour and yummy.

Chicken and what appears to be asparagus but is some kind of cress.

And for dessert, some phlegmy flanny thing.

Afterwards, I also received some cool chocolates from a friend for Valentines. Russian Skulls!

Flavours include Plane (sic), Raspberry, Orange, Earl Grey, and Danger. Danger was very spicy hot!

Bon appetit!

Trained Sushi.

Just as I was about to leave work, a co-worker stated, "Are your tires okay?" They looked fine to me but now I had the earworm of doubt in my head all the way home and checked them 3 times ultimately going to my car dealer who gave them a clean bill of health. Thanks for your concern.

Well, on the way home, I decided to pop into a nearby Sushi joint and partake of some fish in the raw raw fish.

This place is one of those rotating/ revolving/ Lazy Susan/ conveyer belt joints

I had about 10 plates of two pieces each and went away quite sated.

Even the plaice mats were floundering in the fish tank. Oh cod, that smelt. Please feel free to add your own fish puns in the comments.

As I drove home, I thought how cool it would be if they delivered this sushi on a model train. Surely there must be somewhere that does this. Sure enough, a FB friend found one:



I popped into a Family Mart and they had a couple of goodies for half price. So I grabbed a Fate and an Exorcist and of course I got some of the cheaper prizes. But I must say that the Fate-figure is rather creepy and the Exorcist-clear files are quite nice as well. I don't know anything about Hunter X Hunter but I can always use another towel.

What will tomorrow bring?

Mecha Mecca!

I took a short bike trip to Shichigahama, about 2 hours one way but with lots of stops along the way. I hit a couple of bookstores en route but the main reason for the trip was to go to Mandai (022-361-0844), I think there's a used clothing shop on the 2nd floor but I've never made it off the ground level. It is wall-to-wall otaku heaven! Thousands of toys&games&figures&manga&anime&etc! I managed to make it out without spending more than 20 bucks but that's only because I had limited space in my bicycle carriage. This is what the exterior of the joint looks like:

After my little spending spree, I continued on to the ocean but apart from a few harbours, I couldn't see the sea so I head back home.

I did espy some interesting mini-caves though and I swear that one of them is Mickey Mouse's skull.

En route back, I visited a little bar but it wasn't between Dusk & Dawn yet, so it was closed. It's too bad, I really could have gone for a Drunkard Drink! The price is a little steep though I promise to go there some night, but I suspect it will suck.

I popped in for some  回転寿司 (kaiten-zushi or conveyor belt sushi) also called くるくる寿司 (kuru kuru sushi or sushi-go-round) and scarfed down a ton of raw fishies.

Let's take a look at some of the loot I picked up at Mandai, shall we?
I got a trio of Apes (well, two apes + Nova), a Godzilla and a Ghidorah figure, Spock's head and a mini-Mothra.

Then I picked up a grab-bag for 3 bucks and grabbed quite a bagful!

I got some Gundam toys, a Woodstock holding a blunderbus, some Onion stickers, a Pon de Lion strap, a Stitch, a random Kubrick, an XM177 Assault Rifle, Vincent as the Fly, a pair of Dinosaurs, some odd balls, and a cool Mommy-Mummy and her family.

I also got a Yog! Y'know, I've never seen Yog, Space Amoeba, I'll have to track it down.
Hmm, whatever shall I get up to tomorrow?