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As well as the consistently excellent Trivia No Izumi whilst I was eating my dinner this evening I watched the interesting program Ito-ke.

This program is targeted at the mighty Japanese obaachan with tips on how to resize jumpers that have shrunk in the wash (using hair conditioner), ways to reuse a photo album and ways to get a cleaner saucepan. But these average hints were far surpassed (in my mind at least) by the revelation on how to make the inside of an egg white and the outside yellow as in the picture above.

There are two ways to do this - The first way is to make a hole in the egg with a pin and stick a paper clip with the end segment bent 45 degrees into the hole and stir vigorously as in the pictures on this page.

Secondly and far easier is to put the egg in a pair of stockings and clip either side right next to the egg. Then holding tightly at either end of the stockings, spin the egg around. This mixes the yolk and gives a greater success rate than the first method.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, EnglishEggIto KeTV

I went to the Ebisu festival a couple of weeks ago. This is a festival held in Imamiya in Osaka. Ebisu is the God of Luck and Merchants and you are given bamboo stalks for good luck as shown in the picture above. These are free but you are expected to adorn them with the trinkets like the fish and the other objects hanging from it to enhance the luck. These items go for 1000 Yen each (which is about five pounds or ten dollars.) You put them in your place of business for the year and if all goes well it`ll have good fortune. When the next festival comes around a year later, you bring back the shoot and trinkets to be burned and get a new stalk and trinkets to replace them.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Ebisu

I had a good time in Hong Kong though there was a permanent cloud hanging over the city and a continuous cloud from the traffic at ground level as well. The only way to escape it was to become part of it by taking a bus or other public transport. As there are many islands, there are regular ferries which shuttle you between them for just 20p.

The best thing was the shopping. Having belonged formerly to the British Empire they had large bookshops full of English books only. I spent a long time in a few. It is really hard to get English books in Japan unless the movie version has recently come out or it`s a classic like Dickens and there is nothing like the same sort of scale as Hong Kong.

We ate Dim Sum of course and it was lovely. I also saw famous Japanese pro wrestling star Antonio Inoki in a hotel we went into for dinner.

And EVERYBODY could speak English near-fluently.

The above picture is the view of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak. I`ve made a Flickr set of some of the pictures I took.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Hong Kong, Holiday

The thing that struck me the most about Hong Kong, and I presume this applies to China as well, is how different the level of service in restaurants is. In Japan waiters practically bend over backwards to ensure that everything is satisfactory to you. In Hong Kong, it seems as if your entire presence is a burden to them. They throw down menus and plates as if to scare you away, queries are answered with a “Ha?” and then their questions are barked at you.

I don`t know if it`s their hardworking desire to get on with their job as quickly as possible, disdain for all customers (tourists?), or par for the course in a Chinese society. I suspect it`s the latter but it was a shock after the customer centred Japanese approach.

See also Kottke`s excellent description of Hong Kong

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Hong Kong, Waiter

Contortionist beggars, speedy escalators, foreigners, Indians, mosques. English football on the pub TV, mounds of peanut shells on the floor, a permament light grey sky, smoke from endless buses, smog, clouds. Ferries, golden jewellery shops, towering turquoise apartment blocks. Hong Kong.

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

I got flack from my family about an earlier picture in which I appeared to be wearing two jumpers whilst the schoolchildren appeared to be wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. I let them know as I am letting you know now as well that I wasn`t wearing two jumpers, I was wearing a t-shirt, a long sleeved t-shirt, another t-shirt, a shirt and tie, a jumper and another jumper.

There is a reason why they are able to withstand such temperatures in such flimsy clothing. The first is of course that they are near super-human and feel no fear from the cold. The second (and more accurate) reason is the marathon. Two or three times a week between the second and third period, the whole school gets out and runs around the playground for ten minutes as in the photo above.

It definitely saves on the heating bills.

But it is impressive they can survive so easily in so few clothes. When I wake up I can see my breath when I exhale. When I wash my hands at home or at a school, I do so in ice cold water. I had a feeling that it`s a life of constant pain living in Japan. In the winter it`s freezing cold and in the summer it`s a life of oppresive heat and mosquito bites. No wonder there is a massive foreigner exodus out of the country at Christmas and in August.

Amy Chavez an American living in Japan who writes for the Japan Times puts it all more eloquently than I ever could when she says:

In Japanese houses, you’ve probably noticed that central heating does not exist, and instead, central refrigeration is the way of life. On one hand it’s nice because you can unplug the refrigerator and spread out all the vegetables on the bed. No more things rotting in the back of the fridge because they’re out of sight. On the other hand, you probably did not take the Eskimoing 101 elective in college, so you’ll need to learn a few things about living in a walk-in refrigerator.

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

After my jaunt to Tokyo two weeks ago, I`m off to Hong Kong on Sunday for two nights. For those who think I`m taking too many holidays may I remind you that very soon I won`t be able to take a holiday for 18 years at least.

Thanks to the failure which was my request for recommended places in Tokyo to see, could you improve on your record by suggesting any places in Hong Kong I should visit? Thank you.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Hong Kong

Here is a truly terrifying picture of the spawn. I like and fear the picture on the right side due to the eye cavities and seemingly evil grin on its face.

I`ve been seeing a lot more families around with babies lately whether they be in the streets, restaurants or supermarkets. The baby boom must have been of truly epic proportions 50 however many years ago for they are seemingly unescapable even now.

Perhaps that should be I`ve taken more notice of them than before for in six months that person will be me. It`s a sobering thought. I saw a young family on the train to Tokyo - a snapshot of a scene I will be in in the very near future. Spoonfeeding it, calming it down when it`s agitated or I don`t know what.

It was a strange feeling when I saw the picture. My God that`s its head. The whole ultrasound experience is like a journey into another world. The misty wave view at the start like in a flashback sequence in the movies, the searching around for the body and then the focus onto the head and grin. The best thing is knowing that it`s healthy, has a seemingly fully functioning (or at least forming) head and is of a healthily average weight. What more can you ask for?

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Pregnancy

An Englishman in Osaka has some hilarious Japan related t-shirts for sale at www.spreadshirt.com including
english teecher four hire and regarding the Japanese obsession with knowing your blood type (anyone know mine?) there is the my blood type? Red and runny one as well. Please take a look and/or buy one

No I`m not on any commission.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Funny, T-shirt

Whilst we were in Tokyo we went to the Tsukishima area. This area is famous for monjayaki. A sort of Japanese snack food in the Tokyo area similar to but less (substantial)to the Kansai area`s okonomiyaki.

This is the wall of the monjayaki restaurant we ate at where Brad Pitt also once dined.

See also Japanese cuisine

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Monjayaki