Japanese-style marriage proposals #didyouknow #not-so-known-Japan

"Can you prepare my miso soup everyday?"

"Can you shine my shoes everyday?"

"Can you be my miso soup?"

If a "Gaijin" does it in Japan, it could be like this:

Nothing Jolli about this one! #Japan

Thanks to Okada-san for the photo!

On one hand, I love Atsugi because there's a lot of nature here. It's a "suburb of Tokyo," after all; i.e. it's far from being a mostly-concrete jungle. Lots of trees, not so much wide roads and consequently, not so much cars. And consequently, not so much pollution. Lots of fresh air. Plenty of stars are always visible and bright when it's a clear night sky. At Downtown Atsugi (Hon-Atsugi), there's enough variety of stores and restaurants and pubs/bars and entertainment if you're missing the city life. But even there, the buildings aren't even 10 floors high.

On the other hand, there really are plenty of bugs here. You know it's summer when they start to appear. Yes, mosquitoes, cockroaches, cicadas (which they call semi here), bees, flies, ants, spiders. Bats even. Well, spiders are probably around the whole year round. But anyways. Here's a bug that is really huge; its body is about 2 inches long. And it was hanging out just outside the restroom (toilet) doors on our floor. My friend took this photo about 2 meters away with a zoom lens. Meanwhile, I just use the restroom on the next floor. Around this time, people here are encouraged not to use air-conditioning, and so instead, we leave doors and windows open for natural ventilation. I only hope it doesn't fly to our office room!

There is nothing Jolli about this one.

Chokoreeto! #3: Choko Baamu

I guess this is a Bourbon brand snack. The Japanese characters read "funwari choko baamu." Funwari, I believe, means fluffy. Choko is short for chokoreeto, chocolate, of course. Baamu is short for baamukuuhen / バームクーヘン, which is the Japanese form of baumkuchen (pronounced baum-coo-hen), a German word (and probably now also an English word) for the type of layered cake similar to the one in the photo above, except it's usually made in a donut-like shape that is then cut to pieces such that they become almost square/cube-like in shape and become easier to eat without having to use a knife and a fork. This type of cake is actually quite popular here in Japan. I even saw some being sold at the Narita departure area. I guess it's for the Japanese who might miss their dose of baum as they visit other countries. I am not sure though how baumkuchen tastes in other countries - like in Germany. But all the baumkuchen I've tasted here are quite yummy, this included. This one actually comes with two flavors; "choko" (chocolate, obviously) and "howaito" (white - white chocolate, I guess). I have two of these, one of each flavor, for breakfast together with coffee and a banana. Actually, I usually have chocolate chip cookies, but since there weren't any the last time I went to the grocery, I had to settle for this. But, like I said, they're yummy.

If you're staying in one place in Japan for more than a week, you should probably try their baumkuchen here. If not, I suggest you just try the more traditional Japanese fare.

Bento! #95: Cheapest (ham+"soft salami") pizza in Japan

I love pizza. A typical 12" pizza here though would run me around at least 1500 yen. And that probably wouldn't be the typical pizza I'd eat elsewhere; it would probably be more suited to the Japanese palate. I do know of this place near Meguro which serves Sunday lunch buffet for just 1000 yen (or at least, two years ago when I last went there, they were doing that), and their pizza is quite good. Meguro though is like a 2-hour commute from home so I don't go there often. Only when I go to the church there. I do have friends who are members of CostCo, the popular American members-only store. At CostCo, a very delicious 16" real pizza is only around 1000 yen. While there's one that's just about an hour from my place, I don't get to go there that often because I am not a CostCo member. So, how do I satisfy my craving for pizza? Well, I settle for this:

I buy this pizza from the supermarket. Guess how much this sells for. It's just 250 yen. Or well, it's fluctuated between 238 yen and 258 yen. It's not yet exactly ready-to-eat, though. So I use my microwave/oven-toaster (many microwave ovens here are microwave and oven toasters in one), and have it toast for about 7 minutes (there's just one temperature setting, typical of small oven toasters). I leave it in the oven for about a minute to let the heat cook it just a little bit more, and then voila. I sprinkle some parmesan cheese, black pepper, and Tabasco sauce, and I have me a pretty heavy breakfast or a light, quick lunch. It has a very thin crust, and what I usually do is fold it in half and eat it like a sandwich or a taco. If it's for lunch, I usually eat it with Coke or Pepsi so that I can feel full sooner. In this case, I ate it for lunch with some lettuce and bell pepper salad with Caesar dressing (and parmesan and black pepper). Totally, that's a pretty good meal for under 400 yen. Yum.

The toppings on this pizza I got is "ham and soft salami." Next time, I'll show you the sausage/weiner version, and the four-cheese and "margherita" versions. I forgot the exact brand name of this thing, but it seems that at every supermarket I've been to, there's always something like this that is between 240 to 260 yen in price. Before buying, make sure you have a microwave+toaster thing first, though!

Lastly, I should warn you. So I have one (or two) of these at least once a week. When I went back to the Philippines (or went to visit CostCo) and was able to taste "real" pizza, you really get to feel the difference. But yeah, at 250 yen, and out of my love for pizza, that's reason enough for me to buy this thing at least once a week. It makes for a very cheap, quick meal, too!

Not-so-known Japan: Premium Outlets!

My first experience of outlet malls were in Northern California, practically 20 years ago already. I remember US$1.00 GAP t-shirts and what not. Not having that much money then though, I think I just settled for a GAP cap (I love owning GAP caps) and I think a belt and maybe one or two shirts. It might have all cost me just under US$20. This is 20 years ago, though. During that time maybe those GAP shirts were selling for like $5 to $7? Unfortunately, that's what I look for still - shirts for a steal. Nowadays, GAP shirts are like $10 to $20 or more, and I'm happy to find $5 shirts at outlet stores or on clearance sale racks.

I also look for shoes at outlet stores, and I'd usually go for $40 shoes (that were previously as high as $150 maybe), and if there's something I really want I can go for as much as $60 on shoes. Any more than those prices, no way. I might have bought watches, too, and maybe I would have $40 to $60 upper limits on watches as well.

I've had outlet mall experiences in other parts of California, as well as in New Jersey where I think there's no tax on wearable items. I've had some outlet store experiences in the Philippines as well. But basically, I have my $5 and $40 limit on shirts and shoes and watches as I mentioned. Now when I heard about the Premium Outlets in Japan, I got sort of excited.

But that excitement didn't last very long. The nearest one is in Gotemba. It's at least an hour and a half from my place. Too far. That's the one problem with these outlet malls, though. They're in far away places because they need the really low real estate values so that they can still realize profits. However, a couple of good friends visited Japan, and they wanted to tour the Fuji-Hakone area. They found out about the Gotemba Premium Outlets, and wanted to go make a side trip there as well. As you might know, I already posted my Odawara-Hakone-Gotemba-Fuji video a few weeks back, and to the Premium Outlets we went indeed.

Guess what stuff I found and bought? Nada! Everything was still way expensive. The cheapest shirts I can find were $10. And these are plain, meant-as-undershirts kind of stuff! Anyway, even the restaurants there, except for McDonald's maybe, are a bit on the expensive side as well, and we just settled for Tully's Coffee hotdog sandwiches, which we could find all around Kanagawa and Tokyo as well.

So we went home with nothing except... And this is the best part. And you've probably seen this already in my O-Ha-Go-Fu video: The best views of Mt. Fuji! I think with the trip to the Premium Outlets practically "free" since it was just a side trip for our Hakone Area tour which was already paid for, I think it was worth it. Unfortunately we did get there when there were more clouds in the sky already and so it wasn't the most optimal sighting of Mt. Fuji. But it felt great nonetheless. Imagine, (window) shopping with Mt. Fuji in the background.

From carbonaramara.com

Anyway, if you wish to go to the Gotemba Premium Outlets from the Kanto (Tokyo/Kanagawa/Saitama/Chiba) area, check out their website by clicking this ad-supported link. Or just take the Odakyu Line express or rapid express train bound for Odawara, get off at Shin-Matsuda Station, walk towards the JR Matsuda station and take the JR Gotemba Line for Gotemba. At Gotemba, there are free shuttle buses to/from the outlet mall. The last bus from the outlet mall going back to Gotemba Station is around 7pm, so make sure to catch that or else you will need to take a taxi. From Tokyo, Saitama, or Chiba, just go to Shinjuku Station to get to the Odakyu Line. UPDATE: If you are taking the Odakyu Hakone Free Pass like we did, it's a free ride around Hakone as well as to the Gotemba Premium Outlets as well.

Not-so-known Japan: Ajisai Matsuri (Hydrangea Festival)

From Wikipedia

It's around this time that "Ajisai" is in bloom. The festival itself is at different dates at different locations. For this one near the Shin-Matsuda station of the Odakyu Odawara Line (southeast of Tokyo), it's only until 6/17. Check out their official website.

Not-so-known Japan: Tobu World Square

Replica of Tokyo Sky Tree
at Tobu World Square

More than two years in Japan and I thought I pretty much know all the tourist spots from Nikko down to Himeji. Of course, I know some stuff about Hokkaido and Kyushu and Okinawa, but those are rather far away from where I am, I'd rather just spend on a trip home to family. Anyways, I said I thought I knew all tourist spots from Nikko down to Himeji, but this is something new I discovered just recently. And this one is in Nikko. So if you're coming to visit Japan, and more particularly have some time to spend in Nikko other than the UNESCO World Heritage Site there and Edo Wonderland, you might want to consider this:

Tobu World Square.

If you're from the Philippines and old enough, you've probably been to the Nayong Pilipino Park near Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, where they recreated almost all of the Philippines' natural wonders. If Nayong Pilipino was to the Philippines, Tobu World Square is to the world. Almost.

There are 1/25 scale replicas of different wonders from around the world, old and new, like Ankor Wat, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon, the Statue of Liberty, the Tokyo Tower, the Eiffel Tower, the White House, even the (old) World Trade Center's twin towers, La Sagrada Familia, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, and much more.

The full list of replicas is here: http://adf.ly/8V4fc

Check out the photos in this interactive webpage: http://adf.ly/8V4Zs

The home page in English is here: http://adf.ly/8V4UK

Admission is only JPY 2,500 for junior high school students (12-year-olds?) and older, JPY 1,200 for ages 4 to 12. There are discounts for groups and persons with disabilities.

Cup Noodles Museum

Comes with a bonus footage of Minato Mirai at dusk.

Sankeien Garden, Yokohama

If the University of the Philippines' Diliman Campus has a "Sunken Garden," Yokohama, Japan has "Sankeien Garden." It would have probably been best to come here during fall or during sakura season. We didn't have time though to go around the whole place because we were still going somewhere that might be closing early (see the next episode's video). Entrance fee: 500 yen.

Sanja Matsuri (Three Temples Festival), Asakusa, Tokyo

I went to Asakusa in Tokyo to meet some friends, and what do you know, there was a festival going on! I looked it up and apparently it's called the Sanja Matsuri (literally Three Temples Festival). Incidentally, it is three days long, starting on a Friday and ending on the 3rd Sunday of May. They say this is one of the most attended festivals attracting over 1 million locals and tourists over its three-day course.



NOTE: The video was "enhanced" using tools provided by YouTube.