Are you a dust panner?

Here in Tokyo it doesn't snow very often at all....one day it was in the mid 50s and very nice, the next day when we got up it was cold snow was coming down. As the day went on it keep coming down and really didn't stop until later that night. We tried to enjoy it because it might be the only time we see it here.

By the time snow was done we had a lot on the ground and everything was white. They are not used to snow like this here. Even though we only got 3-4 inches it pretty much shut everything down. There are no plows to clear the roads and they had to close the main highways running through and around Tokyo. The airports were closed as well as the bullet trains. Not sure if the trains were shut down because they didnt know if they would be able to stop or not, or what the reason was, but they were out of commission for a while too.

We had to go for a run to the store as we needed a few things and it was also evident that people aren't used to driving very often in snow. We followed a cab driver, who you would think would be a good driver as he probably has a lot of experience as driving is his job, but the cabby was having a really hard time. He was spinning his wheels and swerving every time he pushed the gas. There weren't that many people on the roads and I think it was probably a good thing as there would have been many more accidents than there were.
The next day I had to go out again and the roads were a little better as the sun was out melting some of what was left on the roads. As I was driving I saw a few people shoveling their sidewalks. Here it must be okay to throw the snow in the street as pretty much everyone I saw shoveling was doing just that. They would wait for a break in the traffic, if one was needed, and then dump the snow so the cars could run it over. (a little different than back home where they try to clear the streets). And when I say shoveling, I guess I am using that term lightly. I did see some people out with shovels, but I guess the more correct way to say it would be to say people were out dust panning. I saw a number of people with a handheld dust pan clearing their sidewalks, bending way over to scoop the snow off their walks and then flinging it onto the road. This is a little different than Germany where a lot of the people were brooming the snow off the sidewalk, but I happened to find it still just as interesting.....and effective?
Next time you get a big snow where you are, try the Japan-style-dust-pan method and leave me a comment letting me know how it goes

Valentines Day in Japan

How did your valentine's day go? Did all your chocolate, flower, or whatever other dreams you may have had, come true? Did you give or receive something from your special someone? In the U.S. as well as many parts of the world, I would say it is customary for the man to get his special someone a gift, with the lady possibly returning the favor (hopefully, since I am a guy, getting a gift back would be a for certain thing....I'm not much of a chocolate or sweets person though, so a protein bar would do for me :)
Anyway....here in Japan things are a little bit different. Here Valentines Day is a day where the women give the guys gifts.
I found some informaiton online that said Japanese women sometime, at least back in the day, had a hard time expressing their feelings so Valentine's day was a way for the women to express the way they felt toward a guy. One of the players on our team said you really know if a girl likes you if she hand-makes the chocolate.
So thinking about your Valentine's Day by Japan standards how did you fair? If you are a guy reading this does your girl really like you? And if you are a girl, did you hand-make some chocolate to express how much you care about your guy?
Think it may be a little unfair that Valentine's day is basically for the guys to get all the gifts? Dont worry, there is a day in March called "White Day" - March 14th - where the guys are supposed to return the favor and give gifts to the girls.

But what if you randomly received a gift from a Japanese woman? Not all gifts or chocolates are are romance related.  Here is a paragraph I found online explaining this a little more:
(The chocolates you get) might be "Giri-choko (obligation chocolate)." Women give chocolates not only to their loved ones ("A true love" chocolate is called "Honmei-choko.") "Giri-choko" is the chocolate given to men such as bosses, colleagues or male friends that women have no romantic interest in, just for friendship or gratitude. The concept of "giri" is very Japanese. Giri is a mutual obligation that the Japanese follow when dealing with other people, where iIf someone does you a favor, then you feel obligated to do something for that person.

Fishing with a spear?

On Saturday back home in WI a short fishing season opened. In WI right now the temps are pretty cold and most of the lakes have frozen over. With the lakes frozen you cant simply go out and fish like you normally would, so you switch techniques and go ice fishing.

But this weekend the fishing is done a little differently...have a look for yourself.

If you're not sure what ice fishing is....here is a link to the Wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_fishing

Survey question

The big snow storm out east has left many without power and stranded. I ask if things will change down the road because of the storm, but from a little different perspective. What do you think?

You can vote above

Deuce Bucket

When we got to Japan back in August, the first thing I noticed when we got off the plane (other than the fact that Katy, Myla and I weren't in the majority with the way we looked) came in the bathroom. The toilets are deluxe. Here instead of just having a place to rest and do your deeds you have an array of options.

As you can see in the picture the toilet has a little arm that extends out. On the arm are some controls. One of the the buttons will shoot a narrow stream of water towards your back side and with the controls you have the ability to control the strength of the water. This is great if you ever find yourself in the pickle of one or two sheets of tp as it can help you get clean. Some of the toilets even have a button for a powerful deodorizer....I think its obvious why that might be a plus.

If your lucky enough to find yourself perched atop of a more deluxe model, you are blessed with even more controls. Like the basic toilets there is the option for the narrow stream of water. Another button will shoot a non-narrow stream of water towards your back side, covering more area. Again you have the ability to control the strength. The last water-shooting button, I believe is for women, and I think it will basically spray you everywhere with water. I have tried the first two, but haven't pushed that third one. Other options include a fan that will dry your booty, the ability to control the temp of the water that is squirting you, the ability to control the position of the water squirting you (whether it is high or low), and my favorite option of all - the heated toilet seat. I guess this really isn't an option...more of just something that comes with the toilets. I probably should have listed this under the basic toilet as I would be hard pressed to remember the last non-heated toilet seat I sat on. Some of the deluxe versions even let you control the temp of the seat and the toilet is always plugged in so the seat doesn't have to heat up. You always sit down to a nice, warm, cozy and delightful treat for your rumpus.
This is what the control panel looks like on a deluxe version.

If you look back at the first picture in this post. You will see what looks like a faucet sticking out the top of the tank. Its exactly what it is. After you flush the toilet, water comes out of the faucet and fills the top part so it is ready for the next flush. But, since it is not contained inside like the toilets back home and sitting on top, out in the open, you are basically able to wash your hands with the water...then, whether you touch the water or not, it continues down into the tank where sits until the next flush. Heck, you could even use the water for something else....like, to fill up your water bottle............joking. Although you probably could, the whole water, toilet, toilet water thing doesnt really seem to do it for me. Altough it is coming out of a faucet and probably good to go, unless I have four legs, collar, and a wagging tail I think I'll stick to the water from the kitchen faucet or a big bottle from the store. Capish?

And last but not least.....you daily ninja tip.
As you know bathrooms are also called rest rooms. Here in Japan many of the stalls/restrooms are quite small. With that in mind, if you ever find yourself in need of some rest or sleep, here is how you do it.

An egg for what?

Tonight at dinner we ate as team. The hotel we are staying at this weekend provided us with some spaghetti, some meatballs, salad, soup, fish, a pork chop and of course some rice. Rice is probably the most common food here in Japan. It can be eaten for every meal. When we go down for breakfast in the morning there will be a big rice cooker full of rice and many people have it for breakfast. Tonight, as with any dinner we have, everyone was eating the rice. Many of us were eating it with the porkchop and the sauce that was with it. I happened to look over though and see a few of the Japanese guys eating it a little differently. Eating it with egg. Here there are a lot of dishes that have egg with them. There are various noodles that you can get where the cooked egg is on top or the noodles are wrapped in an egg, sort of an omlete sort of thing - very good - I would recommend it if you make it to this part of the world (its called omusoba). This was a little different though. The guys would order and egg from the kitchen and have one brought to them in a dish. They would then crack the egg into the bowl, mix the white and the yolk together with their chopsticks, add a little soy sauce, and after a little more mixing pour it onto the rice...............Raw.    No heat, no cooking, no nothing, just soy sauce and a bare naked, nothing on, can see everything, raw egg.  Yup, it was raw.
 Bon appetit.

Now I like eggs as much as the next person (have them everyday for breakfast), and am willing to try pretty much anything once, but I'm not so sure I am going to dive into this one.
I know in the States the CDC (Center for disease control and prevention) recommends not consuming raw or undercooked eggs for risk of Salmonella, but over here the chickens must be different, or Salmonella isn't a worry, because "everybody's doing it."
Next time you're cracking an egg into a pan or dropping it into a pot of boiling water think about what it would be like to be cracking it straight onto a bowl of rice instead, and if that would fit your fancy.

And who knows, maybe you'd like it with fish eggs too?

Top to Bottom, Right to Left

Here in Japan, books are a little different than in Western countries. Instead of grabbing the book and opening it by grabbing the right side to flip the page, you grab the left side to flip the page. It would be like turning a book over and opening it to look at the last page. Only here, that is how you read. And, with western books your eyes read the horizontal text, left to right, and then work your way down the page, top to bottom, as you read. Here you start in the upper right hand corner, read the symbols going down (vertical text) and work your way from the right side of the page to the left.
The place that we lift at has some magazines sitting on their counter. I have gone to look at them a couple times, only when I lift the magazine up and try to the turn the page like I normally would, nothing happens, as I am trying to turn the spine of the book. Its sort of a weird feeling to flip the page from the left side and know you are going the correct direction and doing it how it is supposed to be done. I think it would take some time to get used to if you were to switch. Glad I really don't have to worry about it, unless I am picture reading, as I can read zero Japanese characters.