The Emissary.

I feel totally safe thanks to EMIS. Here is my interpretation of the Emergency Information System for Foreigners in Miyagi handbook/pamphlet given to us at Immigration. 

When an earthquake happens...shrink down to a tiny size and hide under a large table.

To put out open flames...(When your house is aflame) Turn off lights, gas & heaters and unplug appliances.

When a fire breaks out...Call 119 (Japan's 911), ask for an Ambulance then a Fire truck (but don't bother telling me how to say it in Japanese.)

Some advice for evacuation...Don't go to a wobbly Shrine (and pray for redemption); Don't drive or take an elevator; Don't try to catch falling debris from buildings.

Getting to a safe place...Chase after a fleeing family and GO...

Getting to an evacuation shelter...(This one is a tad confusing, going counterclockwise:) Leave the school and get some drugs; go to MacDonalds; get some information;  get some multi-coloured Foreigners and go back to the school; then go to bed.

All very good advice. I feel perfectly safe now.

This has nothing to do with the above, but I'll take this over those damn LOL Cats anytime:

Where's Wally?

Here he is! I never knew that Waldo was called Wally outside of North America nor did I know that he was created by British illustrator, Martin Handford. In Japan, he is known as ウォーリー yet if you Google that,you're more apt to find Wall-E.

Anyway, I popped into the Sunkus conbini to grab dinner and staring me in the face was Wally. You get a free Wally ClearFile with the purchase of two snacks so I grabbed the cheapest ones of course.

These are the ClearFiles I got. Can you find Wally? (Click the pics to Walrusize them.)

I found him right away on this one.

I didn't know this when I bought them, but when I got them home, I discovered that there is a secret flap that you lift with a barcode you can read with your phone and maybe win a present. I won a freebie box of カントリーマアムクリスピーミニ (Country Maam Crispy Mini.) I'll pick it up tomorrow and maybe get the last of the ClearFiles while I'm at it.

Who knew that Werner Herzog was such a fan?

 

ps. Once I removed the Word Verification, my non-blogging friends could Comment more easily. Unfortunately, the Spammers (Bloody Vikings) snuck in and last night I received a dozen of the insidious little buggers. So, alas, I shall have to reinstate the Word Verification (which is a bit of a misnomer considering the Word in question is gibberish.)

Here Kitty Kitte!

I picked up a sheet of Hello Kitty stamps a while back because they are cute and I needed some stamps. Furthermore, stamp is 切手 (kitte) in Japanese so it makes for a delightful pun.

This little sticker is one of 33 you can obtain with the purchase of ヘローキティマカロニ (Hello Kitty Macaroni). I was hoping to eat it last week as part of the Pastafarian movement but I never got around to it. I am impressed that they managed to get her trademark bow on the left ear!

ps. Sorry for the low content today, it's 秋分の日* (Shūbun no hi or the Autumnal Equinox) and thus a national holiday. I spent the whole day doing nothing but suffer with a cold. You may think it's funny, but it' snot.

*AUTUMNAL EQUINOX:  Day One of the most traditional Japanese National Holidays, this holiday seems to have a double origin. One is the celebration of seasonal change typical of an agricultural society: this is the day when the day-time and the night-time are of equal length. The actual date of the Fall Equinox Day may change from year to year due to leap year, but is generally around September 23rd. From this day on the night-time hours will be longer than the day-time hours, until the winter solstice in late December, the shortest day of the year. . This autumnal Equinox Day is also called HIGAN NO CHU-NICHI, which is based on Buddhist teaching. Many Japanese visit their family tombs on this day in the middle of the week of HIGAN to pay their respects to their ancestors. People weed their family tombs and leave flowers, incense and ohagi (sweet rice balls covered with soybean paste.) It is tradition that ancestors' spirits prefer round food!
Japanese consider this period the changing of the season, because it is usually around HIGAN that the summer heat wave covering the Japanese islands weakens, and the weather changes to autumn. There is another HIGAN in spring, at the time of the Spring Equinox. Thus we have a saying "Atsusa samusa mo Higan made" ("Heat and cold last until Higan")
The above was scammed from here.

Moon-Viewing.

I'm not referring to buttock flashing, but rather the tradition to view the full moon right around the Autumnal Equinox. 月見 or Otsukimi, refers to Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon.
Tsukimi traditions include displaying decorations made from Japanese pampas grass (susuki) and eating rice dumplings called Tsukimi dango in order to celebrate the beauty of the moon. Click here for the history according to Wiki.

No need to click that link, just watch this for the whole story!

Today, it is pissing down rain and I just saw lightning flash up the sky so no Moon-viewing for me (unless I watch a naughty video) and hopefully I won't be electrocuted. I was hoping to get a glimpse at the Rabbit in the Moon making Mochi.

 Ever wonder why in 美少女戦士セーラームーン (Sailor Moon), 月野うさぎ (Tsuki no Usagi) is known as Moon Bunny? Well it may have something to do with the legend of the Jade Rabbit. I spoke a little about it a few Easters ago and I truly wish I could see the moon tonight to verify it.

Instead, I'll have to let today's lunch dessert speak for me. I was at my JHS and they handed out red Jelly with a pineapple Rabbit embedded within. Yummy enough and it makes a cute picture, but then I beheld the cover and lo & behold, there were a few different lids. In true Pareidolia fashion, our friendly Mochi-making Hare takes on different guises depending on what country you hail from.
インドではワニに見えるんだって・India sees a Crocodile; 北ヨーロッパではおばあさんに見えるんだって・Northern Europe sees an Old Lady; 南ヨーロッパではに見えるんだって・Southern Europe sees a Crab; and 南米ではワニに見えるんだって・South America sees a Donkey!

Btw, I broke into my box of Koala cookies, and this is how it breaks down...8 lame ones and 2 cool ones. Oh well, maybe next year.

Got A Sweet Tooth?

Well then, this is the post for you. I shall show off my extensive chocolate collection, each little piece came free with a tea, usually Lipton. The only snag here is that most of them are made of plastic and are intended to be used as little straps to hang on your key chain or ケイタイ (keitai or cell phone). Some of these are real and I will intersperse them throughout the collection. Your task is to identify which ones are consumable. (A hint: whenever possible, I have photoshop-cropped off the strap itself, but you can sometimes see a glimmer of metal...that's not edible.)

First let's start off with a video of the Whizzo collection. (Warning: Lark's Vomit!)

Mmmm, yummy. Here is the above sketch performed live. Which do you prefer? 

Start salivating...

What follows is this strange little チクワクン.

See that freaky bear thing, you squeeze it and this rectangular goop with a face pops out.

Answers as to what it is real will be provided in the comments.