Mantis Shrimp

I laughed for twenty minutes straight. Found on Pinterest and followed to slowrobot.
Happy Tuesday.

Strange

Across from Legoland Discovery Center. No joke.

Right across the boardwalk. Less then thirty feet of space between.

Mini Bikes

Whew! It has been a busy couple of weeks. I have over ten posts that I need to finish and edit. Tons of adventuring happening over here, ya'll. But until I sit down and write about our journeys I must show you this.

While walking on the beach the other day we came across mini bikes. Now this is not a Japanese only thing. But every time I see them I crack up. The singular version of a clown car.

Shower Songs

A conversation this evening:

Dustin (in the shower with the door open): NATALIE! SING ME THE CHORUS FROM OUR SONG!

Uhhhhhh..... (sing-song voice) "Oh, baby, I love your way..."

...............................................

That's all you know?!?!

Well, what comes after that?

Uhhhhhh...... "Oh, baby, I love your way..."

How do we not know our song?!

Go Google it!


So enjoy "our" song.

Digital

Vending machines are a big thing in Japan. They are on every corner and dispense everything from a hot drink to underwear. While traveling around one weekend we came across a vending machine that was a touch screen. I feel like it was very Minority Report-ish.

Hmm?

Here's a test. What is this woman doing? (Besides laughing at me because she is posing for this picture.)

She's checking the smoke detectors! The stick releases smoke. Much better than precariously standing on a stool to push the test button and then have your ear two feet from the device.

Math Fun

I love math. One of my favorite blogs recently posted an observation that I found pretty cool.

See if you can see the pattern.

1/998001 = 0.000001002003004005006007008009010011012013014015016017018019020021022023024025026027028029030031032033034035036037038039040041042043044045046047048049050051052053054055056057058059060061062063064065066067068069070071072073074075076077078079080081082083084085086087088089090091092093094095096097098099100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567568569570571572573574575576577578579580581582583584585586587588589590591592593594595596597598599600601602603604605606607608609610611612613614615616617618619620621622623624625626627628629630631632633634635636637638639640641642643644645646647648649650651652653654655656657658659660661662663664665666667668669670671672673674675676677678679680681682683684685686687688689690691692693694695696697698699700701702703704705706707708709710711712713714715716717718719720721722723724725726727728729730731732733734735736737738739740741742743744745746747748749750751752753754755756757758759760761762763764765766767768769770771772773774775776777778779780781782783784785786787788789790791792793794795796797798799800801802803804805806807808809810811812813814815816817818819820821822823824825826827828829830831832833834835836837838839840841842843844845846847848849850851852853854855856857858859860861862863864865866867868869870871872873874875876877878879880881882883884885886887888889890891892893894895896897898899900901902903904905906907908909910911912913914915916917918919920921922923924925926927928929930931932933934935936937938939940941942943944945946947948949950951952953954955956957958959960961962963964965966967968969970971972973974975976977978979980981982983984985986987988989990991992993994995996997999...

After a while, math is magic...

Tumbleweeds

Just a tumbleweed blowing in the wind...


A short filmed commissioned by the Columbus Museum of Art.

Just for fun!

Pi Tip

I'm such a math nerd.

A Very Bad Day

Can you see why I had a very bad start to a very bad day?

Tip: Look through the glare on the window.

$1M Penny

Dustin is a numismatist. When I met him he was just collecting wheat pennies, but has since expanded to include buffalo nickels, state quarters, and mercury dimes. We also collect silver certificates and older $2 bills.

I recently read an article about how all money contains trace amounts of drugs and fecal material. With that being said, what are we really collecting? Hmm..

Maybe one day we'll make some real money off the money collection.

Kimono Koozie?

While we were walking off our full bellies from Ganesh we found a window display at a restaurant. They were really busy so we had to be sneaky with our picture taking.

Yes, that's right. A kimono bottle koozie. At least we think... I'll have to ask a local to clarify.

Toilet!

Why are bathrooms so interesting? We all know what goes on it there.

The pictures below are of toilets out in town. On base we have Western-style toilets. They are cited as being "extremely sanitary" compared to Western toilets. So here you go. Japanese toilets:

Just in case you are confused, I have drawn footprints as to how you stand. Don't laugh at my right foot.

Ta-da! The toilets!

First Purchase

With the exception of food, Dustin and I have yet to purchase anything here in Japan. We seem to remember the first thing we purchased at multiple times in our lives so we wanted to make it something special.

At Yamadas I found a puzzle. Yes, the first thing we purchased in this wonderful country was a puzzle.

This is from one of my favorite anime movies My Neighbor Totoro. For why I love this movie watch this clip. I'm sorry, Disney won't let me embed.

Vending Machines

They are everywhere! And have anything you could posssibly imagine!

The drinks come out cold. The coffee comes out hot. The selection goes on forever. I had a very good apple tea out of one on the day we got here, but Dustin hit disaster with a green tea he purchased today. Coke products, sodas, waters, teas, milk, coffee, specialty drinks, and even wine are in these things!

Cigarette Machine

The crazy thing is they are everywhere. Corners of streets, major thoroughfares, even the middle of a neighborhood that looked pretty sketchy. Often they are just sitting on cinder blocks near a light pole with an extention cord running up for electricity.

Hotel Discoveries

Some interesting finds in our hotel room:

A tatami (畳) is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core (though nowadays sometimes the core is composed of compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam), with a covering of woven soft rush straw.

Tatami is derived from the verb tatamu, meaning to fold or pile. This indicates that the early tatami were thin and could be folded up when not used or piled in layers. Tatami were originally a luxury item for the nobility. Rooms completely spread with tatami came to be known as zashiki (literally, room spread out for sitting), and rules concerning seating and etiquette determined the arrangement of the tatami in the rooms. It is said that prior to the mid-16th century, the ruling nobility and samurai slept on tatami, while commoners used straw mats or loose straw for bedding. The lower classes had mat-covered dirt floors. Tatami were gradually popularized and finally reached the homes of commoners toward the end of the 17th century. (Source)

The milk is good for more than a month. Today at the commissary I saw milk good for two months!

Our hotel came with one packet of coffee. Apparently the Marine Corps has their own brand of brew. It was not good.

Apostrophe?

I stumbled across this online and thought it was pretty fun... and tricky. After seeing these logos for years I thought it would be a walk in the park. I only got 50%.

What did you get?