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Slightly twisted sign on a takoyaki shop`s shutters in Kyoto. Takoyaki is fried pancake balls with a small piece of octopus in the middle. They are Kansai`s speciality and Reiko`s soul food.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog, Takoyaki

Well as I was suffering from writer`s block or bloggers block or whatever you call it, I thought I would change around the template a bit. I changed to a three column blog originally to get more things like the google ads visible straight away but a drawback was that it wouldn`t let me post the pictures too large. This one will.

It`s a bit low tech this template but I`m hoping you`ll focus on the content rather than be blown away by the presentation? Oh dear. If you experience any problems with this template please tell me. Cheers.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog

This is an old guardian I found at a shrine. I curse myself that I managed to cut off his horn on his head

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog

I`ve hit bloggers block. Please forgive me.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog

The heady neon lights of Osaka reflected in the Dotonburi river.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog, Dotonburi

Long exposure shot of Umeda, central Osaka.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog, Umeda, Photo

I don`t want to get all “We must save our fragile children. Oh the humanity.” on you yet I saw this in the Japan Times here:

SAGA (Kyodo) Kidsbeer, a nonalcoholic brew aimed at children, is catching on with young drinkers and is posting monthly shipments of 75,000 bottles, according to maker Tomomasu Co.

The beverage, one of whose ingredients is the Latin American plant guarana, sells for around 380 yen per 330-milliliter bottle. The bottles themselves are colored brown to make the drink look even more like its more potent counterpart, the company said.

The drink started out as Guarana, a cola beverage that used to be sold at the Shitamachi-ya restaurant in Fukuoka, run by 39-year-old Yuichi Asaba.

Asaba renamed the sweet carbonated drink Kidsbeer, a move that made it an instant hit.

And the best quote I think I have ever heard makes the title of this post but it deserves repetition:

“Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink,” reads the product’s advertising slogan. Excellent.

Follow the link for the article.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Beer, Beverage, Children, Child

This was found via Japandit so I`ll let them do the talking.

Are you one of the many people who feel that Tokyo is among the cleanest big cities in the world?

Click here to view an amazing video of what happened in a Tokyo subway station when a worker sprayed insecticide into an opening of a manhole after a few cockroaches climbed out of it.

It really makes you wonder what the heck else is going on down below!

Via news.3yen.com

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Cockroach, , Insect, Infestation, Subway

Every nation likes to believe their own country is the best. There`s an interesting advert on Japanese TV for a shampoo called Asience with nationalistic overtones. In my opinion the Japanese are being conned as knowing how China and Japan don`t get on so well, I think this is a Chinese company or originally a Chinese advert. Let me describe it for you.

An Asian woman is very nervous on stage about to sing a song. Then it cuts to two blond Western woman in the audience looking on with scorn. Then to save the day another Asian woman comes on to join in.

She starts by singing the words “Asian Beauty” and then proceeds to start singing in Chinese. The two Western women in the audience are so impressed they start to applaud and one suspects renounce their nationality and join the motherland.

The shampoo is very popular. We had some in our house and I used it with positive results. To tell the truth, I was surprised it didn`t react to the fact I wasn`t Asian and start to act like Holy Water on vampires. But why are they singing in Chinese and not getting lynched unless this was a Chinese advert?

The most recent one is also amusing. When asked what her secret is she replies Inner Beauty and then dances around the stage flicking her red dress in the eyes of the two disgusted blondes. Is this a metaphor for the Chinese dragon taunting America?

Follow the link for the advert. It can be found on the left sidebar of the linked page by clicking on 2004.12.20. There are two others in the series above it as well.

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Asience, Shampoo, Advert, Commercial, Hair, Beauty, China

This is a guardian at a shrine. Notice the fire burned mouth. Beware!

Technorati Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Blog