Day 376

JAPAN - FOOD FOOD FOOOOOD

You probably know this about me, but I love food.  I LOVE IT.  Now I don't have an instagram and I don't have any fancy filters to make my food look crazy cool, but I think I'm making up for that in weirdness.  I tried a lot of foods in Japan.  Some were strange, some were good, some were awful.  I love trying new foods!  I'll try to describe all the foods, and rate them from 1-10.

These were popped pieces of rice covered in cheap chocolate.
2/10

Matcha milk is surprisingly good!  It's milky but not too sweet.
Also, you have to label all your food in a hostel.  Or else.
7/10

I tried some dango, which is a popular food made from glutinous rice powder.  They're basically the same as the rice cakes in Korea.  The rice balls themselves are flavorless, so dango is put on a stick and covered in something to give it flavor.  (In Japan, the bun hairstyle is called 'dango' because it looks like the food.  In Korea, they call it 'dung,' because it looks like poop.  I think I'll stick with 'dango,' thank you.)

Dango!  These dango were in some sort of sesame sauce.  It wasn't very sweet, but it actually tasted pretty good.
5/10

They're rice cakes on the inside, so the only flavor is the sauce.

Sushi variety.  Cheap and simple.
7/10

Okinawan fruit called Goya.

It's very bitter, and is used in stirfrys.  

Apparently it's really good for you, but... ew.
0/10

Here's that Okinawan sugar candy that the old ladies kept feeding me.  It's called 'kurozato' (which means 'black sugar') and it's made from sugar cane.  It's made by boiling down the juice of the sugar cane and adding a wee bit of lime.  Because it's not very refined, it apparently has some health properties?  I'd take that with a grain of salt.

Pretty tasty... for the first few bites.  After that it's too much.  8/10
Photo from kyotofoodie.com.

There's a lot of variety in appearance!
Photo from okinawatourism.ti-da.net.

And of course, the alcohol.  I love how cheap traditional alcohols are in Asia.

These are traditional Japanese liquors!

They have unusual lids.

This is awamori, the traditional Okinawan liquor.  It tastes exactly like water, and barely has an aftertaste.
Honestly, you could probably pass this off as water if you gave it to an unassuming person.
2/10

This is sake of some kind.  It was milky and had goopy chunks in it.  Bad bad bad.
-2/10

I kinda went crazy with the candy at the grocery store.  All this stuff was less than 75 yen (about $0.75) so I didn't feel guilty about buying any of it.  Let's go counterclockwise from top left.

Awww yeah variety.

Okay, first up, top and left, is the cheeseburger-flavored snack.  It didn't taste like a cheeseburger as much as it tasted like cheesy chili fries.  There were four or five of the flat, round crisps inside.  This bite was the only bite I took.  They made me feel bad inside.

Cheeseburger chip: 1/10, would eat if I were stranded and this was the only edible thing I had.

Next up was this apple-shaped thing.  It came in a few other highlighter colors but the green looked the most appetizing/least toxic.  I thought there would be an easy-open pull tab or something, since these are for kids, but I ended up having to cut it open.  I thought it would be a juice inside, but it was actually more like extra-gummy green jello.  It wasn't apple flavor, or any other flavor I'd normally associate with the color green.  (You know, like lime, or... are there other green flavors?)  Kinda gross.

Too solid, weird flavor.  1/10.

Next up, these little cuties!!!  So cute!!!  Inside each one was a little bag of BB-sized chocolate balls.

Awww!  Chocolate balls get 7/10.  Packaging gets 10/10.

I somehow lost that long strip in the middle and never got to try it, but next up is the chocolate pancake sandwich.  It's two tiny round pancakes with a chocolate-flavored gel in the middle.  The chocolate flavor is not doing such a great job of imitating the chocolate.  The pancakes were soft though.

Weird fake chocolate flavor.  3/10.

Next up: mochi.  The brand name is mochitto, which sounds adorable.  Mochi are Japanese rice cakes with filling.  The red letters next to the price tag say that this particular one is ichigo (strawberry) flavor.

Mochitto are kinda cute.  Look at their little bunny logo!

It's a little flour-colored ball that appears to be covered in cornstarch.

Strawberry filling on the inside!  Pretty good, but very sweet.
8/10

There's also a 'purin' flavor.  'Purin' is the Japanese word for 'pudding.'  Little cups of flan-like pudding were popular and cheap, and I ate a lot of them.  This purin mochi wasn't great.

Not as good as the strawberry flavor.
5/10

Next up is another type of dango.  Dango and mochi can look very similar.  The difference is that  mochi has filling inside, but dango doesn't.

No filling.  I can't tell if it's cornstarch or powdered sugar on them.

Stoplights!  I couldn't really tell if they were different flavors, they were just very sweet.
4/10

The other stuff in the photo: the blue bag had chocolate-covered peanuts, and the pikachu block was basic chewing gum.

This looks like an ice cream cone, and looks is the key word here.  This was not frozen, or even refrigerated.  It comes in a bag.  The 'cone' is actually a very thin piece of flavorless, edible cardboard.  I have no idea what that stuff in the cone is, but it ain't ice cream.  It had the consistency of beaten butter or warm whipped cream.  It also kinda tasted like beaten butter.  So wrong.  Why, Japan, why would you make this?

Looks are deceiving.  -5/10

I've already shown the Okinawan tacos on another post, but here's another look:

The vending machine where you order the Okinawan taco.

Many of the buttons are the same.

The Okinawan taco looks like it was made by someone who had only heard a vague description of a taco.  It's rice on the bottom, meat and shredded lettuce, topped with crushed Doritos.  It's pretty good!

Yum!  10/10!

You can order with bacon (actually just ham, pictured below), cheese, eggs, ketchup, and/or avocado.  

Why is 'bacon' never bacon outside of America?  Is it really so hard to make it a little crispy?

Within 24 hours of getting into Japan I had eaten ramen twice.  I had just gotten into the country and was hungry, so my first was a bowl from Family Mart (the ubiquitous convenience store of Japan and Korea, although it's called CU in Korea).  And it was gross.   Like, so gross that I took it outside and dumped it.  I think it was fish flavored.  I also had green tea chocolates that were gross, and a purin (pudding) cup that was the only saving grace of my dinner that night.

Green tea chocolate: 1/10, I gave this away.
Ramen: 1/10, what the heck, this was nasty!
Pudding (actually it says "custard"): 10/10, delicious!

The next day, after touring the Narita-san temple and doing a spot of shopping, I found a real ramen restaurant and ordered soy sauce ramen with pork and a side of gyoza (dumplings).  SOOOO GOOOOOD.  That ramen noodle block that comes in a plastic bag bears zero resemblance to this masterpiece of fine food.

So much flavor... and sodium, probably.  That pork was delicious.
Everything in this photo gets a 10/10.

If you're my friend on facebook, you've probably seen my Kit Kat photos.  Japan is famous for having a lot of strange and unique flavors of Kit Kat chocolate bars, but they seem to be sold only at the airport.  I am not proud of the amount of money I spent on Kit Kats in Japan.   I bought every flavor they had, which was five.  (Actually that's not quite true... there was a sixth flavor, dark chocolate, they I had already tried and it wasn't anything worth writing home about.)

Ichigo (strawberry) flavor, easily my favorite.  10/10.

Green tea flavor.  5/10.
It has a strange taste that I don't care for but everyone else seems to love.  This was the favorite among my coworkers.

Green tea and cherry blossom flavor.  8/10.

Passionfruit flavor.  0/10, ew.

Blueberry cheesecake gets 3/10.  On top of green tea cherry blossom.

So for those who can't read, that was:
1) Strawberry
2) Green Tea
3) Green Tea with Cherry Blossom
4) Passionfruit
5) Blueberry Cheesecake

There's also that dark chocolate flavor but it was boring so I didn't bring it home.

The blueberry cheesecake is missing from this photo.

The green tea flavor got a bit melted.

The strawberry flavor is by far the best.  The green tea/cherry blossom flavor is second, and green tea comes third.  Blueberry cheesecake is okay, and passionfruit is downright bad.  No really, it's gross.  That's why I'm giving it away to my students.

And now, I've saved the best for last.  In Korea they sell these cute little coffee drinks that are about 5% coffee.  My favorite is the mocha flavor, which is like chocolate milk with juuuuust enough of a hint of coffee that I feel okay about drinking it in the morning.  Unfortunately there were no mocha coffee drinks in Japan, just regular lattes and whatnot.  However, they did have this, and it was the best thing ever:

OH MY GOD SO AMAZING.
10000/10.

This is a mint chocolate chip ice cream drink.  Actually it says "chocominto dorinku", or "chocolate mint drink," so they're not even pretending that it's a coffee drink.  It tastes like a melted milkshake made of Baskin Robbins mint choco-chip ice cream.  I must have had ten or fifteen of these while I was here.  They were so refreshing and addictive!  I'm kind of glad they don't sell them in Korea because I think I'd become poor, fat, and diabetic from drinking these constantly.

I think that sums up most of the interesting foods I ate or attempted to eat/put into my mouth while in Japan!

Cheers,
Ashton

Day 371

MORE PLASTIC SURGERY

YES, IT GETS SCARIER

I recently learned about a 'new' type of plastic surgery in Korea called the "smile lipt."  The term 'lipt' is apparently a combination of the words 'lift' and 'lip.'  I know, it's bad.  But hey, when you 'invent' a new type of plastic surgery, you get to name it, I guess.

I've talked about plastic surgery in a previous post, but it's such an interesting topic that I felt compelled to do a little more research.  Imagine trying to explain the concept of plastic surgery to aliens or an isolated tribe in the Amazon.  "Well, when people have a body part they don't think is good-looking enough, they can have it surgically altered.  Usually the body part works perfectly fine, it just isn't pretty.  The surgery is expensive and carries risks like permanent disfiguration, tissue death, and even death!"  They'd probably think humans were crazy.

Now I'm not hating on plastic surgery here.  If somebody has a body part they don't like or that makes them unhappy, and they believe that altering that body part will make them happier, then I say go for it.  If I thought that plastic surgery would make me happier--and if I could afford it--I'd certainly consider getting it done.  Fortunately I'm pretty happy with all my pieces, and I feel very lucky about that.

I've learned a lot about plastic surgery since I came to Korea, and I think it's incredible how we can surgically alter the human body.  Maybe most people already know about these procedures, but I feel like I'm always hearing about new and fascinating surgeries.  There are surgeries to change your nipples, to get skinnier calves and thighs, and even to change the length of your toes.  Amazing!

That said, I think plastic surgeons are waaaay overaggressive.  I've never been to a plastic surgeon myself, though I know several people who have had elective plastic surgeries, as well as medically-necessitated operations.  I've heard stories of patients going in for a consultation on one body part and being told that they 'needed' a bunch of other procedures.  You don't even have to go into the surgeon's shop to get your daily dose of body hate.  There are ads in newspapers, magazines, and I've even seen them in that ridiculous Skymall catalog.

Here in Korea, there are plastic surgery ads everywhere--for example, the subway stations have posters and video ads for a number of plastic surgeons and clinics, and more than seven million people use the Seoul subway system every day.  And that's just the subway.

Which brings us back to the 'smile lipt.'  A popular Korean plastic surgery firm called AONE, pronounced "A-one," has released a video about the surgery and has even translated it into English so that the entire world can feel bad about their smiles!

If you've got twelve minutes to kill and/or want an exercise in self-loathing, watch the video yourself:

If you're busy or (like me) are frightened by the way the narrator keeps repeating "MOUTH CORNERS" then let me sum it up for you.  It starts out with a montage of people smiling for cameras--most of these people are white for some reason.  The narrator explains that your mouth is the most important part of making an impression.  If you have a nice smile, then people like you.  If you have sagging lip corners though, you are an evil and hideous creature and no one will ever love you.  (If you think I'm exaggerating here, let me assure that while the narrator may not use those exact words, that's definitely what she is saying.)

She then goes on to point out all the possible flaws your smile can have.  This list includes sagging lip corners due to age, a too-small mouth, asymmetry of the lips or facial muscles, and showing too much gum in the smile.  

So what is the solution?  "Smile lipt," of course!  As the narrator explains, the surgical procedure basically consists of cutting out some of the muscles that pull your lip corners down, which makes your upper muscles comparatively stronger.  They seem to usually make the mouth wider too, which looks a bit strange because the lips end before the mouth does.

Let's see some photos from AONE's facebook page!  They have an entire album dedicated to before-and-after photos of their 'smile lipt' patients.  Many of the photos have heart-crushing descriptions.  Almost all of them will remind you of the Joker. 

Her smile at the bottom is kinda scary, right?
They described this as "Incredibly beautiful result of Smile Lipt!"

Here's a 50-year-old woman.  

It's not just for the ladies!  According to the photo's description:  "Recently, even men have heightened interest in mouth corner lift.  However, for men it's better not to raise the mouth corners higher than women.  It’s because they could look like a ‘fopling.’"  I have no idea what a 'fopling' is.

Well I suppose he does look a bit happier?

Another "beautiful smile."

This reminds me of the sharp part on the dental floss container that cuts the floss.

Here we can see the dreaded pre-surgery gummy smile:

And another:

Apparently this surgery (like all plastic surgery) is not without its risks of bad results.  Here's an unfortunate photo of a very unlucky young woman:

This photo appears to have started on Reddit and is making the rounds on the net.

As you can see, her lip corners are now curling upward and back toward her nose.  I hope this is fixable because that looks horrible.

American doctors don't seem to think this 'new invention' is all that new, according to an article by ABC News.  According to Dr. Barry Epply of Indiana,  “The Smile Lipt procedure mentioned is just the traditional corner of the mouth lift done to give patients a permanent smile or mouth curls.  By American standards the Asian mouth curl result would be considered unnatural and exactly the 'complication' from a corner of the mouth lift that we would want to avoid.”

The surgery apparently costs around $2000.  What a low, low price to look like the Joker!

Cheers,

Ashton

P.S.:  If you ever feel less than amazing about your looks, I have a fool-proof way to feel gorgeous.  Do an image search for various ocean creatures.  Try humphead parrotfish, elephant seals, or actually just look for ugliest sea creatures.  Being a marine biology student has its perks when it comes to self-esteem!

Day 369

JAPAN - DAYS 6 & 7

Like almost every other day on this trip, I didn't have a plan for my last day in Okinawa.  I knew I had to be at the airport around 5pm for my flight, and I had already learned that you really only need to be there about 20 minutes early for Air Asia flights, so I had a lot of time.  Not wanting to waste my last day on an island paradise, I woke up early and went snorkeling before the sun got too strong.

I saw (and chased) another sea snake:

Look at that cool tail!

And some barracuda:

This poor striped surgeonfish is missing a chunk out of his head:

Poor thing.

An assortment of parrotfish, whose teeth scare me just a little:

Some wrasses:

I'm not personally a fan of feeding the fish, since it trains them to rely on humans for food AND makes them try to bite you.  But that doesn't stop me from taking advantage of a prime photography opportunity.

DO YOU SEE THE TEETH?  AHHHH.

My new favorite butterflyfish, the Latticed Butterflyfish.

I just like this photo because you can see the detail of the scales.

Again with the teeth!  These guys eat coral, which is like, pretty freaking hard.  Wouldn't want one to bite my finger.

Okay, enough of the fish photos.  After it started getting hot, I packed up my stuff at the hostel and decided to stop at interesting things on the way back down to Naha, where the airport is.  There was another castle on the route, so I went there.

Katsuren Castle is on the east coast of the island on a little peninsula.  It was very easy to find, and there weren't many people there.  (Probably because it was so darn hot.)

Walking up to the castle.

Not bad, not bad!

Panoramic from the front.  Remember, click to make any photo bigger.

Katsuren Castle was an Amawari castle built in the 13th century.  It has three levels and no remaining buildings.  It's free to visit, but the trek up is pretty steep and slippery.  I almost lost my flipflops (and my balance) a few times.  The view is beautiful!

On the first level.

From the top level you can see the empty first level and the remains of a building on the second level.  There was once a rectangular building, and all the stones on the second level were supports.

This is the view from the top level.

Also from the top level.  Click to make me bigger.

A little wider view.  The ocean is beautiful from here.

A closer look at the second level.

From the bottom again.

From the side.  The cones are marking a well.

Katsuren Castle was nice, but it didn't take very long to completely check out.  I decided to drive to a beach farther south.  Based on my previous experience with Okinawan beaches, I wasn't expecting much.  But it was my last chance to get some sun and swimming in!

On the way, I saw this.  It's a 24-hour flea market, basically.  I was compelled to stop.

I love me a good flea market.  Once inside, I found the typical flea market stuff.  Lots of small shops selling cheap, poorly-made goods.  A used video game/trading card shop.  But among the crap was a gem: a used bookstore.

Japanese comic books are called 'manga' and they're an excellent way to learn the language.  The kanji always have pronunciations next to them, and there are pictures to help you understand what's happening.  The language is usually casual and the sentence structure/grammar/etc. is usually pretty simple.  Bonus: everything was SUPER CHEAP.  Most of the books were Y100 (about a dollar) and the most expensive ones were about Y450.  They also sold sets of books for cheap.

I am fairly sure that "BOYS LOVE" is a section for very pretty homosexual romances,
not things that most boys actually love.

This painting, "Girl With A Pearl Earring," is really popular in Asia.  I see it on all sorts of stuff.
(Yes, I know a painting's name.  Don't act so surprised.)

I wanted to buy everything, because these are hard and expensive to get in the States, but I was still trying to at least look like I was following the 7kg (~15 pound) weight limit on my carry-on.   I ended up buying just three books and I was very proud of my self-control.  (I would have bought tons of stuff and shipped it home, but sadly it was Saturday and the post offices aren't open on the weekend.)

After the flea market I finally made it to the beach.  It was still sunny, but clearly was going to get cloudy in the near future.  I spent maybe two hours there relaxing in the sun before I realized I should probably shower and get going.  Fortunately the facilities there were pretty good!

I had to return the car, but the rental company had failed to provide me with an address or special-GPS-phone-number.  I basically drove around until I found it.  On the way I stopped and filled up the tank for the first time.  I drove 300 kilometers (about 175 miles) and I put $36 of gas into the tank.  I have no idea what the gas mileage of that car was, but it must have been incredible.  My old gas-guzzling Jeep in the States would have needed at least $100 of gas to get that far.  I'm starting to see the benefit of buying a new car!

I got on my flight--almost had to weigh my bag, but fortunately I got out of it--and with the help of about seven people I finally found my hostel for the night.  Their sign isn't lit up at night, it was really hard to find!  The next morning I tried to do a little last-minute souvenir shopping, but I needed to leave at 11 and nothing opened until 10.  While waiting, I stumbled upon two interesting things.

1)  Cigarette vending machines.  I'd heard about them, but to see them in person is... depressing, actually.

Didn't find any of the fabled used-panty vending machines, but I'm not complaining about that.

2) Also a small but efficient cemetery.

Very, very efficient use of space.

Lots of fresh flowers.

Lots of the graves had flowers (fresh and not-so-fresh) or drinks.  Some drinks were in cute cups, like below...

Hmmm what are those cups?

Please put these on my grave someday.

The drinks appear to be things that the dead person would have liked in real life, mostly soda and cheap booze.

Another drink in a nice cup.

Mostly soda at this one.

Soda again.  Don't bring me this crap when I die.  Leave me an offering of rum, please.

There are some cheap brands of sake (the traditional Japanese liquor) that come in a little glass cup with a removable lid, and a lot of the graves had those.  Many of them were moldy.  It was my understanding that some families would come have picnics at the grave sites, but frankly this place was way too small and cramped for that.  I did see a family meticulously cleaning a grave though.  Nice to see people respecting the dead and all.

After that it was back to the airport and off to Korea!  Keep an eye out for a post about all the wonderful and terrible things I ate while in Japan.

Cheers,
Ashton