School of Rice

Wendy's

Out of all of the American fast food franchises in Japan, I prefer to go to Wendy's because it is relatively cheap, and their burgers are more palatable than the other option (McDonalds). I rely on the 150 yen menu, Japan's version of the 99 cent meal, . Using components from this menu, you can make some pretty badass combos:

Frosty Fries:
I can not take credit for this, as it sprung as a collective idea between me, my brother, and my sisters while cramped in the back of our Dodge Ram Prospecter, most likely headed to or from a vacation to Mammoth. Although counter-intuitive, the best way to enjoy french fries is dipped in a Frosty.

The Chili Bacon Cheeseburger-
Wendy's is the only place I know where you can make a Chili Cheeseburger in Japan. Unlike In-N-Out, you can not order this because they don't have a secret menu. You have to assemble it yourself.

Buy a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, extra packs of ketchup (not only does this improve the taste, but it also contributes to filling your stomach- something I was always trying to do in college), and a small chili. Load the burger with ketchup, and spoon chili on your burger with each bite. Not only is this a fun and less messy way to enjoy chili in your burger, but it maintains the integrity of the ingredients (doesn't sog up the bun or wilt the iceberg) until you are ready to eat them. Why doesn't Wendy's sport a Chili Bacon Cheeseburger already? I don't know, but they're missing out on a great untapped market with great potential.
The only other way to obtain a chili cheeseburger is to go to Mos Burger (although chili cheeseburger-esque, a mos chili cheeseburger's components qualify neither as "chili" nor as a genuine "burger") or to make it yourself.

If you happen to find yourself in Kumamoto City, craving some good genuine American food, drop into Masa's and you won't be disappointed (huge burgers and even locomoco!).

Deja Vu

Well not quite, but the civic that I spotted on the streets of Osaka seemed pretty close to the one in True Crime: Streets Of LA (this game is pretty fun, and mixes genres from GTA and Max Payne pretty well, if you ask me).

On the streets of Osaka.

On the streets of L.A.
Put these kanji on your car, and gain the respect of the racing community.

How to Rice

The official guide to rice is posted in front of the rikuun (equivalent of DMV) in Kobe. I was there today to change my Nara plates to Kobe ones. It was a major pain in the ass.

Daihatsu Microbus

In Japan, there is a micro-subcompact class of cars known as "keijidosha," or simply, "K." Under current regulations their engine size is restricted to 660cc, and their appeal in this land of super expensive gasoline and narrow roads is fairly obvious. They are also cheaper than standard size cars, so it cracks me up when I see a lot of money put into their modification. This microbus mod has been getting more and more popular recently, and on my island alone, I have seen red, orange, yellow, black, tan, and lime green versions of it.

A New Mod For The BMW 760i

I think the Japanese dude who put the spoiler on his BMW 740i should team up with the Chinese guy who installed donkey drive on his Beemer.

Clear Lenses

Clear or yellow-colored lenses (aka "ambers") are one of my pet peeves, because it all seems so high school. I think Options magazine is at fault for popularizing this trend in the states as well as Japan (although I cannot truly disparage this holiest-of-holy publications). I remember my Acura Racing Club pals ordering these parts from Japan for their Integras. That was ten or fifteen years ago, so when I see how many middle-aged men put them on their cars now, it makes me kinda sick. Grow the fuck up already, ya know?.

GooDiet

I think I understand what the creaters were going for. GooDiet is meant to be one of those concepts that takes two (or more) words and splices them together to create a third, previously unknown hybrid. Fugly, fantabulous (coined by Del tha Funky Homosapien), vurp (Tim Allen), and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Mary Poppins) are all good examples of hybrid words that have become, to some extent, part of our lexicon. However, GooDiet is different. Clearly, whoever came up with GooDiet was trying to impart to the consumer that the product was both "Good" and useful if you are on a "Diet". Their splice came out as a Frankenword.

Now, I do think that a diet composed of goo would be an effective diet because no one would want to consume more goo than necessary to function. However, why pay for something that is advertised to be a disgusting product? With so many other options of gel-based squeeze pouches out there (a few include Vaam, Aquarius, and Qoo) I doubt that the Japanese consumer will choose GooDiet as the space-Jello that they will replace their meals with. As for me, I prefer Jello in bite sized squares. Eating Jello through a straw is for people recovering from jaw surgery.

Lowriders of Thailand

These pics are from last year. We pulled into a highway reststop in the Thai countryside and were delighted to find a young entrepeneur selling coconuts from the back of his slammed pickup:

When I say slammed, I mean, look at that hydraulic kit!

Check out the custom paint job - glittery goodness! And the gold door handles are to die for!

Matching gold grille job... This guy probably accessorizes better than his girlfriend!

The Glass Is Half Empty

This isn't a good picture, but you can clearly see why I hate ordering draft beer in Japan sometimes. Where many would argue the aesthetic value of a 70/30 (in this case 50/50) beer to head ratio, I would say that it looks good in a commercial but otherwise I want a full glass of beer. If I saw this in America, I would conclude that the bartender set the CO2 pressure on the tap too high and ask for another. Whoever poured this beer needs to learn how to tilt the glass sideways when they're pouring, or be put in charge of working the bottle opener.

Not Syrup Of Ipecac, But It Might As Well Be

Creamy wasabi dipping sauce??? No thank you.

School Lunch In Rural Japan

I just wrote an entry about kyushoku, or school lunch, on Higo Blog. I would have to say that the school lunches that I had in Ubuyama were much better than the school lunches back in SoCal, but you can't really compare soggy burgers wrapped in foil paper to rice and a broiled slice of mackerel. Then again, in high school I could buy personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. Those pizzas were about the same size as Japanese pizza, more filling, had real pepperoni and sausage (instead of this mayonaisse and corn bullshit! WTF is up with that???), and cost only 3 bucks!

The worst things about school lunch in Japan that I have experienced:

The small candied fish served on top of rice.
Liver stew.
Pickled hotaru ika (firefly-squid).

Purple Haze

I spotted this truck when I was hitchhiking through Nagasaki, but had only one chance to shoot it (cutting off some of the rear) as it rounded the corner and hauled ass to the expressway. I really like this trucks like this. The owner obviously loves it and takes great pride in it, as he should. I love seeing vehicles that are used as giant canvases. Whenever people are stuck in traffic next to this guy, his truck is sure to give them something interesting to contemplate for a while.

This truck reminds me of The Porkchop Express from Big Trouble in Little China for some reason.