This weekend was uneventful. Chris and I both decided to stay home and relax, try and save a few dollars. Last week Tim’s dad came to town and has been soaking up Japan. He lived in Japan 30 years ago, in Hokkaido. He notices that Japan has become much more western in the years of his absence.
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I asked him directly, “How has Japan changed since you were here?”
He answered, “Well, there is KFC, McDonalds and Starbucks all over the place.” I think it’s interesting that we often equate the soulless fast food and coffee chains as western. Is it progress to see these places creep up in Japanese cities? They certainly haven’t made their way to the smaller towns in Japan. It’s also interesting to see the change of menu these places have. For instance the theoretically disgusting yet shamefully delicious McGriddle is served here at McDonalds. My favorite menu item, the breakfast burrito is sadly absent. I think in general, the menus are slimmer, offering fewer but more popular choices.
Thursday, we drove up to Unzen, the city on the mountain. The city is known for their Hotels and Spas. It is by all means a small town, and the large hotels seem out of place there. But it turns out people drive in from all over the peninsula to retreat at the spas. We were guided to one spa by one of Tim’s coworkers. The spa was beautiful. It was an outdoor pool, beautifully landscaped and reasonably priced at about 500 yen. It sat uncomfortably below a hotel whose lobby we walked through to get to the spa. The water was cloudy with healthy minerals and was hot enough to sap away tension and frustration. I loved that the spa was outside. When I got too hot, I just sat with my torso out of the water to cool down.
Random photo of your photographer.
We drove back down the mountain to forage for food in Tim’s town. We found a small ramen place with two tables and a bar. One table was occupied by 3 older Japanese men. One of the men was apparently in the Yakuza, which we had seen before. Another man was wholly uninterested in us. But the last man spoke English quite well and grilled us about everything. He tried to convince us to go to another bar then karaoke to sing songs in English. We politely refused but the man was a bit drunk and kept asking. Eventually we just got up and left with a pleasant goodbye.
On Friday, Chris and I spent an exciting night watching ridiculous movies on YouTube. As it turns out there is a vast, worldwide conspiracy perpetrated by non-human shapeshifters in conjunction with the illuminati to impose their will on the unsuspecting idiot masses. Fortunately shapeshifting requires concentration and focus and if you film one of these things you can slow the video down and actually see them slip up. We watched and read about these creatures for nearly a solid hour.
If I turn up dead, it’s because I’ve helped to expose these wretched creatures and their plan to gain control of us. Please inform yourself, and don't forget to build as many Holy Hand Grenades as possible to keep these things at bay.
1 comment:
I laughed out loud at this one! Thanks Paul.
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