Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Japanese Dog Treats
And this is why I buy AJ's treats online. Although I'm interested to know if he would eat them....
My Japanese iPhone
This is what my inbox looks like on my iPhone. I am constantly receiving text messages in Japanese, mostly from our carrier Softbank and our Wi-Fi box Fon, but I have no idea what they say. At first I was a bit confused, so I would go in and talk to the Softbank lady
, and she would smile and tell me not to worry. But I was a bit worried, since Sprint used to send us important messages regarding our account through text messaging. They have a cell phone kiosk on base, with English speaking saleswomen, to ease the communication barrier. While it was helpful having an English speaker, the process was still confusing and we left not understanding what we had signed. But we had new iPhones, so we were happy! I asked a lot of questions, and the woman just smiled and told me not to worry about it. In the end, we gave up and signed our contract (that we couldn’t read) because we figured everyone else was doing it. We had a laugh with the JAG about it later, because he felt the same way. He was asking questions that weren’t being answered so he finally just signed because everyone else was. The cell phone plans are opposite of those in the US. Our free minutes are from 1 am to 9 pm, and our calls are only free if we are calling other Softbank users. If we call any other number (which is most of Japan and on base), then we are charged 17 cents a minute. If we call to listen to our voicemail, we are charged 40 cents a minute, so we just don’t check our voicemail. Plus, we can’t figure out how to change it to English, so we aren’t really sure how to check it in the first place. We don’t get cell phone service in our house, or in any building on base, so the actual phone part of our iPhones isn’t that useful. Even so, we use Wi-Fi in the house to use the internet, and we get service out in town which allows us to use google maps GPS. This is the most useful app ever, and James and I would be lost without it (literally).
, and she would smile and tell me not to worry. But I was a bit worried, since Sprint used to send us important messages regarding our account through text messaging. They have a cell phone kiosk on base, with English speaking saleswomen, to ease the communication barrier. While it was helpful having an English speaker, the process was still confusing and we left not understanding what we had signed. But we had new iPhones, so we were happy! I asked a lot of questions, and the woman just smiled and told me not to worry about it. In the end, we gave up and signed our contract (that we couldn’t read) because we figured everyone else was doing it. We had a laugh with the JAG about it later, because he felt the same way. He was asking questions that weren’t being answered so he finally just signed because everyone else was. The cell phone plans are opposite of those in the US. Our free minutes are from 1 am to 9 pm, and our calls are only free if we are calling other Softbank users. If we call any other number (which is most of Japan and on base), then we are charged 17 cents a minute. If we call to listen to our voicemail, we are charged 40 cents a minute, so we just don’t check our voicemail. Plus, we can’t figure out how to change it to English, so we aren’t really sure how to check it in the first place. We don’t get cell phone service in our house, or in any building on base, so the actual phone part of our iPhones isn’t that useful. Even so, we use Wi-Fi in the house to use the internet, and we get service out in town which allows us to use google maps GPS. This is the most useful app ever, and James and I would be lost without it (literally).
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Chocolate Mushrooms
Okay, so these aren’t really mushrooms. They are just chocolate cookie treats shaped like mushrooms (yummy). These little fungi are by far my favorite treat in the Japanese candy aisle to date! So cute!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sushi-Go-Round
I never imaged my lunch involving a conveyor belt, but sitting in our booth at the local Sushi-Go-Round, that’s exactly what happened. As we sat down, I was mesmerized by the yellow and white plates slowly moving past me with bright oranges, reds, whites, and pieces of fish I couldn’t decipher sitting on perfect rectangles of rice. How fabulous! 
We pulled cups from the stand above the conveyor belt, and an old Japanese man sitting behind us motioned for us to get water out of the faucet at our table. We filled our tea cups with scalding hot water, and were then instructed to pour two scoops of green tea powder into the mizu (water), which he demonstrated for us. Hai, Domo arigato gozaimasu! Though he also laughed at me a few times, he was extremely helpful. I thought he was going to fall out of his seat laughing when I dropped a piece of sushi that didn’t quite reach my mouth from the chopsticks. I’m sure he told all of his friends about the funny American girl who couldn’t eat sushi with chopsticks. But, after he stopped laughing at me, he motioned for me to eat it with my hands. So I followed suit and found it to be much easier.
Sushi-Go-Rounds are fast food sushi restaurants, where you literally pick the sushi you want off of the conveyor belt. James, Cliff (one of James’ co-workers visiting from the states), and I enjoyed a fast-food sushi lunch before heading to
an office barbeque. While it’s not the best sushi you can get in Japan, it’s fast, cheap, and convenient. The best part about the Sushi-Go-Round is you can try something without having to order a lot of it. Each plate has one or two pieces of Sushi on it, depending on the type. And if you don’t like it, no worries! The sushi chef isn’t there to offend, so you can just leave it on the plate. It gives you the opportunity to be adventurous without having to spend a lot of money and without having to eat something you don’t like. The perfect combination for us! Our local Sushi-Go-Round is on the 2nd floor of the grocery store, and each plate is only 105 yen. That’s basically a dollar a plate. There are other things besides sushi on the conveyor belt, like sides and desserts, and those have different prices associated with them. At higher end Sushi-Go-Rounds, the color of the plate will coincide with the cost. When you have finished eating, you ring the bell for the waitress to come, and she counts the number of plates you have eaten. In her hand held device, she punches in the number, and out comes your bill. It is a must see in Japan, and I can’t wait to take all of our visitors to experience our local Sushi-Go-Round!
We pulled cups from the stand above the conveyor belt, and an old Japanese man sitting behind us motioned for us to get water out of the faucet at our table. We filled our tea cups with scalding hot water, and were then instructed to pour two scoops of green tea powder into the mizu (water), which he demonstrated for us. Hai, Domo arigato gozaimasu! Though he also laughed at me a few times, he was extremely helpful. I thought he was going to fall out of his seat laughing when I dropped a piece of sushi that didn’t quite reach my mouth from the chopsticks. I’m sure he told all of his friends about the funny American girl who couldn’t eat sushi with chopsticks. But, after he stopped laughing at me, he motioned for me to eat it with my hands. So I followed suit and found it to be much easier.Sushi-Go-Rounds are fast food sushi restaurants, where you literally pick the sushi you want off of the conveyor belt. James, Cliff (one of James’ co-workers visiting from the states), and I enjoyed a fast-food sushi lunch before heading to
an office barbeque. While it’s not the best sushi you can get in Japan, it’s fast, cheap, and convenient. The best part about the Sushi-Go-Round is you can try something without having to order a lot of it. Each plate has one or two pieces of Sushi on it, depending on the type. And if you don’t like it, no worries! The sushi chef isn’t there to offend, so you can just leave it on the plate. It gives you the opportunity to be adventurous without having to spend a lot of money and without having to eat something you don’t like. The perfect combination for us! Our local Sushi-Go-Round is on the 2nd floor of the grocery store, and each plate is only 105 yen. That’s basically a dollar a plate. There are other things besides sushi on the conveyor belt, like sides and desserts, and those have different prices associated with them. At higher end Sushi-Go-Rounds, the color of the plate will coincide with the cost. When you have finished eating, you ring the bell for the waitress to come, and she counts the number of plates you have eaten. In her hand held device, she punches in the number, and out comes your bill. It is a must see in Japan, and I can’t wait to take all of our visitors to experience our local Sushi-Go-Round!
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