Domo tissue dispenser

The husband and a friend and I were hanging out today, and we wandered around a store that I like. And then I saw an item that I then pointed out to them as I was trying really hard not to laugh too hysterically. Thanks to Mox for letting me use the picture he took.






Do I really need to say anything other than: the Japanese are whack.

mark your calendars - July 8 brings the return of more Japanese wackiness

One of my favorite shows made its debut last summer, and it was called "I Survived a Japanese Game Show". It was crazy and wacky and a lot of fun to watch. It's a sort of mix of "Survivor" and those crazy Japanese videos that are so prevalent that show the craziest things being done by Japanese game show contestants. There are challenges and such, but social relationships also figure into it, and some of the rewards are really cool. I was hoping that the show would be coming back for a second season, and sure enough, it is. The second season of the show debuts on Wednesday, July 8, so I'm really looking forward to that.


Host Rome, house mother Mamasan, and Judge Bob are all returning for a second season.


What, you've never heard of the show? Well, here's some more information about it. You can also click on the "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" label on this blog to read my recaps from each of last season's episodes.

Just for fun, here was the casting call for this season.


And it looks like they have new mascots this year. Last year, they had green monkeys and yellow penguins.




This year, it looks like they have green tigers and ... and ... WHAT THE HECK IS THAT OTHER THING? A red monkey spaceman dude? I have no idea. Guess I'll have to see what they end up calling it on the show.

I can't wait! Hai, majide!

the Japanese are whack about their cats

I was looking around the net for something and came across this website that has apparel you can buy for your cat. Since they're mostly all hats, Orkid would never let us put any of them on her.

I think this one is kinda cute.




This one's just funny.




I also like this particular print, which isn't a hat but more like a shawl, so Orkid *would* let us put it on her like with the sailor thing a friend bought for her for Christmas, though actually getting it on her would be a bit of a struggle.



I'm also amused by the descriptive writing about this item. Translations are funny!

not Japanese, but still funky and still cute

OK, I've told you about little boxes of joy, and I've told you about the mostly-defunct Yesterdeer, and I've told you about Domo, and I've told you about Tofu Robot, and I've told you about Gloomy (and yes, Gloomy counts as a cutie), and I've told you about other fun Japanese things.

Well, apparently, the Japanese haven't quite cornered the market on cuteness. A friend came across some products in a store and then found that they're available online. They're a bit more expensive than normal plush, but then, these are hand-made. I also like the descriptive write-ups of each plush.


According to the website, Mummy was "once an Egyptian queen, [but] she’s now content with running the local candy shop and giving out advice."


This is Frank - "He has multiple personalities from all the different people he’s made up of. One day he’s Einstein, the next he’s a little boy."


This is Devil, who has a detachable tail, kinda like Eeyore, I guess.


Gingerbreadman is pretty cute, but he must be pretty tasty because he's got a bite taken out of him!


This is Zombie, who has a bit of his brain poking out, which I think is funny, not to mention that "he is constantly stressed and goes to the mall, but can’t remember why." I wonder if he also likes going to jamborees.


Speaking of Zombie, he happened to have taken a bite out of Brian the brain, but Brian has forgiven him, and they're best friends. Brian's actually my favorite of the bunch.


Bat is pretty cute, but I don't think I want any gifts from her. Yes, if you read her description, you'll understand.


This is Vlad the vampire. Doesn't he look spiffy all dressed up?


Marshy isn't a Peep, but he's still pretty cute, and he's much less fattening!


When I saw that he was named Gimp, I was wondering if he was going to have only one leg or a bum leg or something like that. Nope, so I have no idea why that name was picked for him. I love this part - "His mouth is a working zipper with red satin inside. ... He is hyper, talkative and often has to zip his mouth to keep from saying too much." I know y'all are thinking the same thing about me!


This was something where only two were made, and I found reference to it on CRM's MySpace blog. Nice combo of zombie and bunny! I wonder if that would still scare Anya. She must have encountered some zombies in her time. But then there's that whole "twitchy little noses" bunny thing.


The March 27, 2007 news entry on CRM indicates that a licensing agreement was made with a company to mass produce the plush. Subsequent news entries indicate that the plush was going to be sold at Hot Topic stores in November 2007, so I wonder if they're still carrying them?

finding a home for my Little Boxes of Joy

So as much as I love my Little Boxes of Joy, one problem I still need to solve is how to display them. At the moment, most of them are still in a shopping bag, separated set-by-set and grouped together by style. I still have one case that I haven't opened yet because I have to be careful as I think the individual boxes can be put together to make that sushi kaiten bar that I was so excitedly looking for, and I haven't had the time to do all of that. But, I don't want them to just be in the shopping bag, and really, I'm not even going to want them separated. During one session when I was opening a bunch of boxes (and the husband was helping me), I had a lot of sets open at once, and it was fun mixing all the stuff together. One set came with four oysters on the half-shell, so I was putting those everywhere - on the barbeque grill, in the cookie jar with the biscotti, in the coffee machine, with ice cream. If I want to be able to put a set back together, I still have the leaflet that comes with each set so I know what pieces came in any particular set.

Some time ago, a friend sent me a link to this article, which has a suggestion with pictures of one way to display miniatures similiar to my Little Boxes of Joy. I like them to some degree, though I do find the look a bit cluttered with them strewn randomly on the wall. The effect of having individual rooms is kind of interesting, but I'm not sure that would work with my current collection, which is all cooked food, and I'd also prefer the rooms to not be quite as deep. Once I eventually expand into some of the other lines (like the grocery store and the nursery, if that's still around at the time), the division of rooms would probably work better. The major problem I would have, though, is that the displays seem very static, especially since most are high up and not easily accessible to change. With my current lines of Little Boxes of Joy, I don't want them to be set and unchanging - I'm going to want to change out different foods and such, so the elevated height would be inconvenient for me.

Ideally, I'd like to just have all of them out on a table or counter or something like that, where I could rearrange stuff whenever the whim hit me. However, the major problem with that would be the Godzilla-wannabe that we have at home, otherwise known as Orkid. She is not allowed anywhere near my Little Boxes of Joy when they're out of the boxes, because at best, she would want to bat them around and chase them, and at worst, she would eat them. And most of the food is small enough that she'd have no problem eating them. She probably wouldn't eat the barbeque grill or the big cakes (though she'd definitely gnaw on them), but the sushi and the tacos and the little pastries would just be bite-sized morsels to her. I've thought about using a higher shelf to put all the sets on, but the problem is still accessibility. Orkid can jump from the floor to a shelf that is at least eye-level to me, so what would be accessible to me as far as being able to see it well and move stuff around would be accessible for her to jump to straight from the floor.

The picture in the article does give me an idea, though. Re-ment does sell a sort of one-room house that you can decorate yourself by putting in whatever you want. I've seen it in person, but I can't remember if it's a fully enclosed box or whether it's open on the side that's supposed to be a window. If it is fully enclosed, that would solve the problem of keeping access away from Orkid, and I could get a couple to stack together. At the moment, the only accessory I have is a pastry display cabinet. I didn't have enough similar food to be able to properly set a table so I didn't allow myself to buy any of the tables yet, but I've got lots of little food now. The bigger dining table is what I really want, but I also like the smaller cafe tables too. The next time I'm at my go-to Re-ment store, I'll have to take a better look at the housing accessory.

If the housing unit ends up not being secure enough to withstand Orkid, the only other solution I can think of is that I do have one small shelf that's a little higher than eye-level to me, but I can get to it easily with a step stool. It should be high enough that she can't jump to it from the ground or from any nearby counter, so as long as I remember not to leave the step stool where she can use it, I should be ok. She hasn't shown any interest in that shelf in a long time. I used to have a fish, and that's where he and his fishbowl sat, away from Orkid's prying paws and teeth, but his swimming around would catch her attention. Since my little sets of food shouldn't be moving on their own, she shouldn't even notice them. The only way they would be moving and subject to her eating them is if they got jostled enough in an earthquake to fall off the shelf, but then I figure if we have an earthquake bad enough to make them fall off the shelf, that means we've got way bigger problems than Orkid eating my miniature sushi.

it's a Gloomy world

That's Gloomy. He can often be found in a box, waiting for a good home. Isn't he just adorable? Don't you want to take him home and adopt him?

The husband and I were in Japantown about a week ago, and that's when I learned of the existence of Gloomy. The husband brought over a plush of Gloomy. But Gloomy didn't look like the picture above. He looked a bit more like this next picture.





The husband also showed me that you could just buy Gloomy's bloody arm. As you can see, Gloomy comes in many different colors.





OK, so what's the deal with Gloomy? Well, they also had some grab-bag style little boxes (sound familiar?) with Gloomy merchandise - I think they were keychains. On the side of the box were a bunch of pictures that showed the story of Gloomy. I've found a reproduction of the picture story and am including it below.





So, of course, when we got home, I had to find out more information about Gloomy and Pity, the little boy who adopted him.

Here's a blog entry with more information about Gloomy, including the origin of his name. And here's a blog entry that kind of explains the premise behind Gloomy.

This is the home page of the guy who created Gloomy Bear. Love the animation! :) Click on "main" from the home page. They had the Hannibal Lecter-looking design on one of the boxes, and I thought that was too cool. When you get to where the animation stops, you'll notice that the page is interactive if you click on the picture of Gloomy/Pity. I know, it's sick, but it's funny too!

Here's another article about the Gloomy phenomenon.


Well, in browsing around the net, I found all kinds of cute Gloomy merchandise. Wanna see some of them? Yeah, I knew you would.




Gloomy Halloween. He's my favorite. I might have to actually find him before Halloween.










Gloomy reindeer. He's just too cute!












Gloomy mecha. He looks very different from all the others, because he's mecha. Love the Godzilla feel to his look.











Gloomy witch or wizard, whatever you prefer that Gloomy be. I love the outfit.













Gloomy mummy. I think he looks more like Gloomy bandaged. I wonder what he fought that HE got the short end of the stick?










Gloomy with Pity. As you can see, Pity made a terrible mistake. But he still loves Gloomy nonetheless.












This Gloomy is able to stand, and he's poseable as well!




This is a cute stationery set. If it only had notecards, I would totally get it, but since I rarely ever handwrite letters anymore, I don't need letter stationery.




This mug is just too funny for words. Great use of the heat-sensitive technology. Definitely go and read the description.




Here's a Gloomy hoodie that you can order. I would consider getting this as a Halloween costume, but I think it might just be for kids.




Isn't he adorable? I so want one of these. Here's the article that talks about them. I love the following quote from the article.

Maybe someone dressing him up in a bunny costume was the reason he turned so violent? I know that would turn me gloomy.

And then here's a link to a Gloomy action figure. Again, I love the writing.

Look at the cute cuddly bear! Why is his name Gloomy Bear? He’s so soft and cuddly I bet people give him hugs all the time. That should cheer anyone up. Gloomy Bear what is that on your hands and coming out of your mouth? It looks like blood…why do you have blood on your cute little claws Gloomy Bear? Gloomy Bear why are you looking at me like that? Gloomy Bear…Gloomy Bear you look upset. Gloomy Bear would you like a hug? Oh no….aaaiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! gurgle blurg sploosh death ... If you wanted a softer version of Gloomy Bear you might check this version out. Softer as in plush…he will still kill you.

This is Gloomy with mauling action, which includes a Pity doll.


I stopped by a Power Anime store by work tonight to see if they might have any Gloomy merchandise. They didn't, but I did ask the clerk just to be sure. He said that Dark Horse had U.S. distribution rights to Gloomy, and he was expecting a ton of Gloomy merchandise in about three weeks, so I'll definitely be going back to check.


Here's a Gloomy Bear LiveJournal community that I found. I haven't browsed it too much yet, but from what I've read, it's just a riot.


And of course, Gloomy is on YouTube!


Gloomy bear - sick and funny at the same time.





This video tells the story of Gloomy bear and includes a chat with Gloomy's creator, and there's even a live pink Gloomy!





Here's video of a battery-operated pink Gloomy bear toy that walks around.





And speaking of walking around, I so want a Gloomy bear like this!!!!!!!





Look at this video of him as a walk-around character.



This last picture is from gloomybearstore.com. I think it perfectly embodies the spirit of Gloomy!





Have a Gloomy day!

Silent Library

I was left an anonymous comment on a previous blog entry about crazy Japanese game shows in which I was directed to look up "silent library" on YouTube. Actually, I was told to "youtube 'silent library'", but even though I seriously object to the use of youtube as a verb (Yeah, I know, I did that with twitter, but that's different.), I actually did as was suggested, and I happened upon a treasure trove of videos.

It does not appear that these are actual television shows, though maybe that's where it originated, and these are just how the phenomenon has propagated. The point is that people get together in a place like a library, where you're supposed to be quiet, and they do things that are wacky in and of themselves, but in addition, they have to not react vocally because of the environment, so no yelling, screaming, laughing. You'll notice that a lot of them often have their hands over their mouths to stifle their sounds.

This is the one I've found to be the best so far.



As you can tell, they weren't so much all that quiet. I love the slapping machine one. Who comes up with that sort of idea, and how do you "smuggle" that sort of contraption into a library? Everything else is small ticket items you can hide in a backpack.


Here's one that was done at UCR, which I'm assuming is U.C. Riverside. They use a hidden camera, and there's one part where some kind of patrol is in the room, so they just sit there doing nothing, but it's worth waiting it out.




Here's one done in the Netherlands.




Here's one done in Ontario, Canada, which is really good.




Here's one done in Reno.




I would totally be into doing a silent library as long as I was willing to be subjected to all of the possible punishments. Some of those are things I would definitely never agree to. But I have a feeling I might lose and get kicked out pretty quickly. Suppressing uncontrollable laughter is not my forte.

"Wall-E", "Iron Man" and the Fourth of July

For some reason, "Wall-E" is on my mind today.




A friend sent me the link to this article about an origami Wall-E - made from one uncut sheet of paper. Origami has always fascinated me. I couldn't do it to save my life, but I have a friend who's pretty good at it, and when I was in college, she would periodically mail some to me for my amusement, but not in a Gaff/unicorn kind of way.


But Wall-E wasn't this artist's first amazing creation.




This article shows the origami Iron Man he'd made - the picture above is just of the mask.

And yes, the comments on both articles are funny to read too.



On a separate note, most people have probably made plans on how to spend their Fourth of July next week. For multiple years now, we've spent it at the same place - Disneyland. Yeah, I know, it's crowded - a billion people are there - especially when the Fourth falls on a weekend or at least weekend-adjacent. But we don't actually go on rides or anything - don't be silly! Our main reason for going is to see the fireworks. Disneyland always has an amazing display. They've been particularly good for the last several years, when they've had two new regular fireworks shows that incorporated some pretty nifty new techniques, and on the Fourth of July, in addition to their regular show, they have an added bonus at the end. Disneyland's recent fireworks shows are not your run-of-the-mill kind where shells are just thrown up in the air. Yeah, those are nice too, but Disneyland's current and previous fireworks show are synced with music, so it's really a complete show in the sky. Regular fireworks shows might have music they play during the show, but it's really just background music - in Disneyland's case, the music is an integral part of the show. Well, according to this blog entry, this year's Fourth of July show is going to be even more spectacular. We would have been at Disneyland anyway, but now, I'm looking forward to it even more!

Saturday shopping trip

Last Saturday, I finally had a chance to drop by the local branch of Marukai, the grocery store I had discovered on my J-town shopping trip a while back, and after having a browse around the store, I decided to go ahead and sign up for membership - $10 per year. I got a spiffy card with my name on it, but it's now yet another card I have to carry around. I wish instead they had one of those things I can put on my keychain - I collect those it seems.

When we were in J-town, my friend had introduced me to a line of drinks that she liked which she had discovered on a trip to Japan last year. She's a huge Hello Kitty fan, so I think that's what drew her attention to the bottle in the first place, but she said they were also pretty tasty. I noticed they had a lychee-flavored one, so I had decided to try that at the time.



It was a little sugary, but it had a really nice lychee flavor and was definitely much less alcoholic than my best friend, so I rather liked it. I decided to get one again this time for the drive home. They have a mango flavor one as well that I might try sometime later.


There was a new kind of boxed tofu that got my attention. It comes in a few different varieties, depending on the firmness of the tofu. Here's some more information about that as well as nutritional information. And here's information about the cool new packaging for the tofu. The tofu box itself says the following:

Each Mori-Nu box is a litle tofu 'factory'. A blend of wholesome soybeans, water, and natural coagulant is poured into each Mori-Nu package. Once hermetically sealed, the rich soymilk is transformed into creamy, silken tofu right inside the box. This award-winning package protects our tofu from the effects of light, air and harmful bacteria, and keeps Mori-Nu first day fresh until opened. No preservatives.

Regular tofu spoils within a couple of days, so I thought this was a really good idea, kind of like the soy milk that comes in a similar kind of container so that it keeps for much longer until you open the container.



I wasn't sure if I would like the firm or the extra firm, so I bought one of each to try. Soft is too soft for me for regular eating. And I don't generally like to cook with tofu much - I actually prefer it cold, just putting a little seasoning on it, maybe some seaweed and/or preserved vegetable to give it a little extra flavor. We'll see how I like the taste of this tofu.


I also picked up two jars of kimchee (one was cabbage and one was radish) and a package of Chinese sausages. No, I'm not going to eat them together.


The main reason for the shopping trip had been to pick up some more Crystal Noodle. That was another thing that my friend had introduced me to on our J-town excursion. I had tried two of the flavors and ended up really loving them.

I generally try to keep some food items at work in case I miss lunch or stay late or just get hungry sometimes. That way, I'm not reliant on the little shop downstairs or the vending machines on our floor. Usually, it's cup-a-noodle type stuff, something substantial enough for a meal but easy to keep on hand and make. Part of why I really liked these was because instead of using ramen noodles, they use glass noodles, which I really like. These are thinner than regular glass noodles, so they cook easily just by putting boiling water in the container. I have always been amazed that glass noodles are made from beans, not wheat or what noodles are normally made from, but that's probably also a good thing for anyone allergic to gluten, which I'm presuming beans don't have, but I could be totally wrong on that. Anyway, here's a good description of what glass noodles are.

I had originally tried the 6 kinds of mushrooms and spicy tofu flavors (both had really good flavoring), so I bought some more of those. I also got a couple of the vegetables and eggs to try. They had a fourth flavor, spicy sesame paste, but that didn't sound as good so I didn't get any, but I might get one in the future to try just for the heck of it.


They did have little boxes of joy, but they didn't have very many varieties and none of my favorites. The selection at the J-town store was better in that they at least had one of the sets I'm really interested in.

I picked up my first box in this collection and specifically got this one.




This is the one I really want.




I also got a first box in a new line from a new company called Megahouse which has this division of mini stuff and this set in particular.

This is the one I got today.



I like these ok, but I want to fill out my favorite sets first, so I have to find another place that carries those.


Another good thing about the store is that it's a good place to pick up a free monthly copy of Sushi&Sake.


It was fun browsing around the store. Their produce looked really good, and they had a huge case where they had a ton of different fish and other items you could get to make your own sushi, as well as pre-made sushi platters. I would normally not buy sushi from a supermarket, but in this case, I think it would be ok to make an exception.

Is it Saturday yet?

This morning, I got an email from someone who's trying to help me destroy my life ... I mean ... ummmm ... from a friend, telling me that he came across an article mentioning an event at a store called The Valley of the Dolls.





Oh...my...heck! I am so going to this! I browsed the store website, and they don't have a huge selection of little boxes of joy, but they do indicate they carry a couple lines that I haven't found elsewhere yet, and with a Re-Ment rep there, I can ask about the Disney Cafe line as well as the kaiten sushi bar set, which I'm afraid was probably released ages ago and is no longer available.

The only weird thing is that when I was looking at the on-line store, the little boxes of joy cost $32, but it appears that they sell them in sets of 10, so that's only $3.20 per box. On the one hand, I wasn't planning on buying 10 boxes of one set at a time. On the other hand, even the single box price of one of the sets that I want is only $3.50, so the prices overall are a lot cheaper for little boxes of joy than I've seen elsewhere. Hmmm, we'll see what happens when I get there.

And, this store is just a little over a mile away from MILK, so I'm thinking lunch at MILK and then two hours of little boxes of joy.

It's going to be a good Saturday. If anyone's looking for me on Saturday or wants to join me, you know where to find me.

Thanks, Mox! You might want to stay away from the husband for a little while, though, because he might not be too happy with you for telling me about this. ;)

add one to the downline

As I mentioned last week, Saturday was my day to skulk around J-town in search of treasure. Now, don't get me wrong, I've been to J-town before, on a number of occasions, but it was usually to just wander around for the heck of it or for a very specific purpose - I need this item from this place, go there, get it, leave. In this case, it was going to be a mix of the two - I was going to be wandering around, but not just for the heck of it, and I did have very specific purposes, but I wasn't sure those items would be available, and I had no idea where they might even be if they were available.

My friend and I arrived at Weller Court at about 10:30 in the morning. I'm not usually a fan of paying for parking, but in this case, I had remembered that street parking was metered, and I didn't know how long we'd be there, and I didn't want to have to worry about running back to the car to feed the meter, so I decided to lump it and just deal with paying for parking. It turned out that various establishments in Weller Court validate for parking, but it's usually good for no more than two hours, so because we ended up being there longer than that, I paid the Saturday max, which was something like $6.50, so that wasn't too bad. On future visits, I don't think I'm going to end up being there for more than two hours, so the validation should work fine.

Our first stop was the grocery store that I don't remember being there before - it's been a while since my last visit, and I can't remember what used to be there - and when we looked around and found too many good things, we decided to come back when we were all done so we didn't have to make a special trip back to the car to drop stuff off or carry everything around all day.

We then went to the second floor to the Kinokuniya Bookstore. My friend has recently started reading a few manga series, and she found a book that she'd been looking for. At the front of the store, I found a selection of t-shirts and in browsing, found this Domo t-shirt that I really liked. I ended up finding a similar shirt later in another store, but that one actually said "Domo" above the pictures. I like this more subtle version because it doesn't proclaim who he is. It does say "Domo" on the top back of the shirt, but my hair pretty much covers it.

And it's not like I don't already have a billion t-shirts, but I also saw this one. Again, no clue who, how, what or why, but I just thought it was really cute. I especially love the kitties on the fries. So I got this t-shirt as well. I didn't see this shirt there, otherwise, it would have been hard to decide which one to get. And then I found this online listing. Oh my gosh! How incredibly cute are they! But they're a bit too pricey, even for my tastes. These are really cute too.

In the bookstore, I also found this book. I've read some articles and seen lots of pictures of various really interesting and sometimes weird inventions, so this book was right up my alley. I'm wondering if they really meant to use that for the title or if it was a translation mistake that no one caught.

I also took the opportunity to pick up a copy of Sushi&Sake, which is generally available for free outside major retailers.

After our purchases, we wandered around and looked at a couple of the restaurants on that floor. Curry House is a place that my friend's brother had recommended, and I've eaten there once before and thought it was ok. We'll probably go back sometime to try it. I liked looking in the window because it has displays made of plastic food, and I've always liked that. Hmmm, it's too bad they don't make miniature versions of plastic food. I'm sure that would sell really well.

The restaurant next door to that, whose name escapes me, used to be a favorite of mine when I worked within driving distance of J-town. They're open for lunch only on weekdays, so on occasion, I'd make a dash to J-town for lunch there, ordering the bento box with lots of little tastes of different things. Big surprise that it appealed to me, huh? That was the place where I discovered that I liked raw cabbage. They served it with a side of some kind of miso-based dip that was yummy.

We then walked down 2nd Street, heading for the Japanese Village Plaza and stopping in a store or two along the way to take a peek. Just as we got close to the Plaza, I saw this store across 2nd Street near the Pinkberry that caught my attention. On my last visit to J-town, I had been in search of a store that I'd been to years ago with friends who were Japanese. Their mother would make visits to J-town, and I'd be invited along, and I remembered this store because it had a lot of cool stuff in it - collectibles, dishware, all kinds of neat stuff. When I didn't find it on my last visit, I was disappointed that it appeared the store was no more. When I walked into the store, I was so happy to see that it was in fact the elusive store that I hadn't been able to find last time. (The real irony is that the store is next to a celphone accessory store/t-shirt store that I'd gone into last time because the husband needed to pick up something.) It looked exactly as I had remembered, and now I know where to go when I need the kinds of wares they sell.

We then headed into Japanese Village Plaza and wandered into various stores looking around, including the bakery which had a lot of yummy looking desserts. It was getting close to lunchtime, so the smells wafting out of various restaurants and the pictures of food outside the restaurants was making us a little nuts.

After scoping out various places that we wanted to go back to after lunch, we headed for Frying Fish restaurant. Frying Fish is a place that this particular friend and I had discovered years ago. It's a fairly small restaurant with no tables - just a bar. When we entered, we were taken to seats and our drink orders were taken. Seating can be fairly cramped as the high-back bar chairs are right next to each other, so much so that you pretty much have to pull a chair all the way out to be able to get into it and then try to slide the chair closer to the bar.

The sushi chefs generally make the more popular items and then put each order on a different colored plate, based on the price of the order, and then they put it on the metal conveyor belt (this is referred to as a kaiten sushi bar) that runs the perimeter of the bar, so the sushi goes round and round. They will also generally put a plastic cover over the food. Sometimes, you can see really well through the plastic, and other times, you have to lift the plastic up to really see what each dish is. Whatever dish you want, you just take it off the conveyor belt, and then when you're all done, they count the number of plates you have in each color to determine the price of your meal. They have a list of specials posted on the wall and also a paper menu, so if there's something you want that doesn't come around, you ask the sushi chef, and they'll prepare it for you.

Generally, it's not the most spectacular sushi place I've been to. It's not fancy or anything, which is ok, but they don't have any of the more non-common items that I generally like, but in addition to the nostalgia value of going back to a place that we'd discovered so many years ago early in our foray into sushi, the main appeal is that this is the restaurant where we were introduced to Tres Huevos. I have since successfully managed to get other sushi chefs to duplicate it, but that only works if the chef speaks English well enough to understand what I'm describing. Anyone who orders ikura (salmon roe) or masago (smelt roe) knows that they come in a little hand-made container made from taking a small pat of rice and wrapping seaweed around it that's about twice as tall so there's space to spoon the roe into it. Well, Tres Huevos is a like a combination of the two with an addition. Half of the cup contains ikura and the other half of the cup contains masago, and in the middle of the two, you put the egg yolk of a quail egg. Frying Fish actually includes the entire quail egg, but I'm not a fan of the extra gooeyness from the egg white.

Here's a picture of Tres Huevos that I had re-created at another restaurant.




We enjoyed a nice lunch with good sushi (yes, we did order Tres Huevos, and as far as I can tell, another group of people watched as the sushi chef made our order, and the look of it intrigued them enough that they ordered it right afterward) and good conversation.

So when we'd had our fill, we were waiting for the waiter to come around to give us our bill. One peculiarity I've had when at sushi places with colored plates is that after I'm done, I like to stack them so that the same-colored plates are together. I figured that makes it easier for the waiter to count, instead of hunting through the stack for same-colored plates. After we were done doing that, we sat for a little longer, after which my friend said, "Do you want to stack them in order of price?" There was a display on the wall that had the price right on each color of plate. My response was, "Don't think I haven't already thought about that and managed to suppress that urge." Since the waiter hadn't come yet, I finally gave in, and we re-arranged the stack in descending order of price per plate. When the waiter finally came by, he laughed at what we had done and thanked us for making his job easier.

It was now time to go back to two stores to do actual shopping. A store a couple fronts down from Frying Fish had the little boxes of joy I have mentioned previously. I didn't find the set I was really looking for, but then I hadn't really counted on being able to find it. I'm not even sure it's available in the States.

I picked up two boxes in the Bread & Butter collection, and I was really happy that one of them was the one I've wanted the most.

I also bought one box from this sushi collection. I had briefly told my friend about these collections and sent her the link to the main website, but it wasn't until she saw the boxes themselves that she really understood the appeal of them. Being a sushi lover herself and a purveyor of collectibles, she decided she was going to collect this blue box sushi set. She got three boxes of these and one box of a white set that had different Japanese food. Later, we sat down to examine our treasures. With all the boxes I've purchased so far, I have not yet gotten one duplicate, so that's been nice. This time, my blue box yielded this set, which is pretty cool. This was one of the sets that my friend really liked it and had wanted because she is a lover of ikura like me, so I decided to trade it to her for this set that she got from the white box Japanese food collection. I liked that one too, and I figured I'd be buying more blue boxes, so it wasn't a problem.

We did see one item on display that we both just went crazy over. I've seen the various display cases and kitchen sets and a number of other display items for use with these miniatures. But they actually had on display a kaiten sushi bar setup. You could even see the little marks of the conveyor belt bits, and there were pictures up, and they'd put some of the sushi pieces on the belt. Oh my goodness, this was just too cute and amazing. However, while I did see boxes of various other display cases, I didn't see any of those, and I figured if they had any for sale, it would be out. It was a bit crowded in the store, so I didn't want to take up their time by asking about it. I can't even find any reference to it or pictures online, so I'm wondering if it was something that came out a long time ago and is no longer available. I'm figuring that on a future visit to this place when it's not as busy, I'll ask about it. My friend later started to say to me that if I ever found one of those, to which I cut her off with, "then I'm going to buy it, and if they have two, then I'll get one for you too." Yeah, she's my friend and all, but hey, each collector for herself! ;)

There was another little gift shop that we had to go back to because my friend had noticed that they had tofu plush. She had seen them on a trip to Japan last year but had only managed to get a little one, so she was excited to see them here and more of them. They had them in two different sizes, in a couple of different colors, and they were pretty cute.

I didn't end up finding anything of Yesterdeer, and the bookstore had the Tofu Robot t-shirts I'd already seen online, and an anime store had a vinyl toys of Domo, but I didn't find anything else of those I liked.

We then made our way back to the grocery store that we'd browsed earlier. It was fun to look at all the various items, and we even discovered that we used to eat a lot of the same treats as kids that we'd never talked about before. I bought various kinds of groceries, some I'd had before and some because they looked interesting to try. The J-town location of this store is a membership-optional store, which means you don't have to be a member to shop there. They have one for members only that's closer to me, and the $10 per year membership fee doesn't seem bad, so I might check that one out sometime.

My friend isn't particularly interested in sake, but she likes cool bottles, so she mentioned that she really liked this particular bottle. I figured heck, it's a small bottle, and I'm up for trying different kinds of sake now, so I bought one and told her I'd give her the bottle when I was done. We both laughed, though, when the cashier actually carded me for buying the sake. Are you serious?!?!?!?

We sat at a table in the little courtyard to open and examine our little boxes of joy, so it was nice to sit for a bit after walking around so much, but then, it was shortly time to go.

It was a really fun day, partly because I found some good stuff, partly because I had sushi for lunch, and partly, I had someone fun to share the experience with who is excited about the same kinds of things I am and who shares some of the eccentricities I have.

There are a few places that we saw from across the street that I'd like to go back and see, and there are places a few streets down that I'd like to browse at, and of course, I have to go back to some of the same places. I also just found this list, so you can see there are various other places I'm going to be needing to visit in and around Los Angeles and Orange County.

Hmmm, I seem to be breaking my "one box per week" rule.

wacky Japanese game shows

I was reading something this week about new shows that are scheduled to be on this summer, and I came across this particular show. There's nothing on ABC's website, and this was the only summary I could find of the show. Ever since the Tetris Japanese game show that a friend pointed me to, I've been hearing about all kinds of weird Japanese game shows, so especially since this will be a summer show, I'll have to check it out. It's scheduled to be shown on ABC on Tuesdays at 9pm, premiering June 24, 2008.

From the description, I can't entirely tell if the contestants will be given random cultural-based tests or if they're actually going to be contestants on Japanese game shows. I hope it's the latter, though the geek in me wonders what kinds of waivers they're going to have to sign, and whether or not they'll be completely enforceable. Japanese game shows put people through things that would never fly here, presumably because Japan isn't nearly the litigious society the States are. Even if you sign a waiver that says you understand such-and-such might/will be done to you, there's still a chance the waiver could be overturned.


Speaking of wacky Japanese game shows, here are some of my favorite examples.


Of course, everyone already knows about the human Tetris one.




And if you can do human Tetris, you can certainly do human bowling. However, I would think a gutter ball would really hurt.




Cleaning the floor is not a fun job, but it's harder when you're wearing a wacky suit and the floor is tilted.




Are you scared of mushrooms? Young Japanese girls are apparently terrified of them. The shape of these particular mushrooms is rather interesting.




Can you play soccer wearing binoculars? Apparently, not very well, but it's fun to be a spectator.




I heard about this one from Kevin and Bean. Men have to give the correct response/answer to a question. If they do, great. If they don't, there's a punishment. A severe punishment. A really painful punishment. Pretty much the most painful punishment that a man could endure. Am I getting my point across yet? I can't imagine why these men would agree to go on this show. You're warned if you decide to watch the video.




And lastly, I don't know if this is/was an actual game show or just a skit, but it's funny nonetheless - human Pac-Man!

I think I'm turning Japanese

I have previously posted about my introduction to the most dangerous drug in the world, better known as "little boxes of joy". Well, in addition to them being a gripping addiction, they may also prove to be a gateway drug.

In mid-April, I made a visit to the crack den known as Sugoi Life in the Northridge Fashion Center in the San Fernando Valley. They had a fairly extensive selection of little boxes of joy, but that wasn't all they had. They also had all manner of other cute and interesting stuff that I had to look at and try really hard not to buy. I managed, to some extent.

But then I saw this t-shirt.



I had no idea who or what Tofu Robot was, but I didn't care. They didn't even have my size, only a t-shirt that was at least one size too big for me, but I still didn't care. I had to have it. I love tofu, and I love robots, and he was just the funniest/cutest thing. And come on, how can you go wrong with "soy power"? Tofu Robot apparently comes in several different incarnations. The one I got above is green and is labeled extra firm. There's also a blue one (that might be firm - I can't remember) and a pink one (that's soft). There are also some other oddly-colored ones that I don't really get. And Tofu Robot is involved in various activities as well, including surfing and being born.

There appear to be vinyl toy versions of Tofu Robot, but what I'd really like is a Lego-type version, which I think would be cool. I've seen pictures of what looks like a pvc-version, and that might be ok, but I'd have to see it in person.

There was another thing that I wanted, but it wasn't my own willpower that stopped me. I saw another t-shirt with the cutest design, but in this case, the t-shirt was at least one size, if not two, too small for me. That, I can't do anything about, so I didn't buy that one. The character is Yesterdeer, who can be seen on this sock product. The design on the sock doesn't really do the design justice though. It was that little deer, but it was riding a scooter, and I think it had a helmet, and it might have been riding over a patch of grass. The deer looked a bit like cutie Bambi to some extent. I had found the t-shirt on Spicy Brown's website soon after I'd seen the shirt at the store, but it has subsequently been taken off the website, and I can't find a picture anywhere on the net of it. Again, I have no idea what or why it is - it's just cute. And sometimes, there is no why. That's like asking why Vogon poetry is bad or why the Log Lady carries a log. It just is and she just does, otherwise, she wouldn't be the Log Lady.

Oh, and for the record, on that particular shopping trip, I bought 9 little boxes of joy. And no, that doesn't include the display case. And I added 2 more litle boxes of joy to the collection this past Saturday. But still no duplicates yet.


Then last week, I dropped by a mall near work that I hadn't been to in a while, so it was the first time I'd noticed that a new store was open - a Japanese anime store. And I went in and had a browse. And I wasn't interested in most things because generally, anime isn't my thing. But then I saw this. And I was intrigued. He was cute. Odd. Different. Calling my name. And then I read what the little tag said.

Domo - Who is this mysterious creature that was hatched from an egg? Upon closer inspection we see that his monster-like features conceal a gentle soul with a body of pure fluff. Domo just can't stop watching television. Is this a problem? Perhaps it is if you're already a messy creature whose daydreams often lead to disasters.

After that, you know I had to have it, right?

I have since learned a little more about Domo. I don't know about the "hatched from an egg" thing, but he was apparently adopted/taken in by a rabbit that liked to watch TV, so that's where he got that habit from. Oh, wait, here's a more detailed background on Domo's arrival. The first blurb on this story talks a little about Domo's origins as well as the broadcast of episodes featuring Domo. Then this article mentions that episodes will be shown on Nickelodeon in early 2008 (they may already be showing by now). Since we don't have cable, I'll just hope they're eventually released on DVD that I can see. This website was written on the tag, and I haven't had a chance to look around too much, but it sure looks interesting. They appear to have videos there, so maybe those are some of the episodes.




Here's a t-shirt with Domo on it. I laughed at the little description/background of Domo that's included on that page!


So this Saturday, I'm embarking on a very dangerous endeavour. I will be taking a jaunt into J-town with a friend, in search of little boxes of joy (mostly in search of these), Tofu Robot, Yesterdeer, Domo and other cute and interesting things whose existence I may not even be aware of yet.

I know, it's a dangerous mission, but someone has to do it.

my friends hate me

They want me to ignore all my responsibilities, go around like some drug-addicted crack whore, and watch my life go in the proverbial toilet as my obsession spirals out of control. My entire life has now been derailed.

OK, maybe it isn't quite that bad, but I'll start from the beginning. Several weeks ago, a friend gave me, among other things, two little boxes, which I opened when I got home. They were really cool. And I looked on the box, and in what now turns out to be an unfortunate discovery, I saw that there was a website printed on the box.

I now need to quit my job because I'm going to spend the rest of my life looking for all the different sets of stuff and then creating a spiffy environment for them.

This is one of the boxes I got. It's a grab bag of sorts as there are 10 different sets that can potentially be in the box, but you don't know what's actually in the box until you've opened it.

This is the one I actually got.


I love that the cup has tea in it.


This is the other box I got. It's also a grab bag box.

This is the one I actually got in that set.


We can't figure out what the yellow stuff on the plate is. It looks kind of like tamago, but I'm not sure that makes sense.


I love pretty much every one of that set, but I really want this one.


I love the sweet shrimp, though I prefer the heads fried, and I think it's funny that the tea bag is just floating in the cup.


Here's a page that lists their products.


This is a set that I really like.

I love the little lobster.




And I love the little bbq set.


Everything is just so cute - the hot dog and corn and skewer, and even the little compartmentalized plates. Yeah, I know the scale is off compared to the size of the grill, but who cares.


This apple pie set from another collection is really cute.


It even has a corer with an apple in it.


This jello set is cool - it even includes the molds.




I love this table set-up.



And no, I have no idea what any of that stuff says.


I love this cake.




This whole set is incredible.

The turkey one is cool, but the birthday one with the banana split and cake is awesome.




And then there's cabinetry and stuff to stock them with.




I wasn't sure if I should be down on my knees being thankful to my friend or cursing her name! But then the plot thickened.

About a week later, another friend got me a box in this set, which is so incredibly cool.

This is the one I actually got.


I love the cinnamon roll, though in real life, I prefer it without the icing.


I love this one too.


It's even got a cracked egg in a bowl.


And then about a week after that, another friend joined the party and got me a box from this set, which had the following in it.




However, this box led to the discovery that there was ANOTHER WEBSITE full of more products. Whiskey tango foxtrot.

This is the set I'm really wanting, probably for obvious reasons. But come on, how incredibly cute are they?


I love the Mickey-shaped burger buns and the Mickey-shaped plates and the random Mickeys everywhere.


This is a really cool set, and this is another cool set. And if you're going to be making all those goodies, you've gotta have this set to make all the stuff with and to do other household chores.

I can't read much of anything on the website, but I sure didn't have a problem finding the full products page.

At this point, I was still trying to resist the temptation of going in pursuit of little tiny boxes.


And then yet another friend joined in the fray, and last week, I got from her two boxes out of this collection, which is also a grab bag.

Here's one of the ones I got.


The milk carton doghouse is just too funny.


And here's the second.




I think this one is so incredibly cute.




There are so many more products on this site, which is the Japanese one, than there are on the U.S. site that I haven't even gone through them all. And even though I now own "only" 6 boxes of the stuff, I've already developed a snobbery of sorts - some of the collections are meant for U.S. distribution and the box is labeled with a bit more English. But the ones I prefer are the Japanese version that have very little English on the box, and each also comes with a little square gum, which is taken out for the U.S. packaging. I'm not sure if that's for health reasons or whatever. The first one I got with the Japanese packaging was the Bread and Butter one, and when I opened it, I at first thought it was a little pillow because I didn't know what else it could be. Now that I know - I still would rather believe it's a little pillow. Who needs gum? So I'm finding that I prefer the Japanese-packaged ones, but I'm not sure if everything comes in both versions, and I'm not snobbish enough to only want the Japanese ones.


That being said, I found myself completely obsessing over the entire collection. (No, that never happens, right?) I know that Japantown would have a good supply of them, but do I dare go? Do I dare trust myself to venture into a box-filled store with my credit cards in hand? The boxes are about $5 a piece, which isn't too bad - unless I buy a billion of them. This particular collection really captures my interest because it combines two things I've loved and been interested in for a long time - miniatures and plastic food. So miniatures OF plastic food? I'm toast.

I think I've decided that I'm allowed one box a week - that's not too bad. And then immediately after that, I thought about how much I generally spend on lunch a week, and if I cut back on that, I could instead use some of that money to be able to buy an extra box. Nope, not obsessed at all.

I know that there's a store in the Northridge Mall that carries some of this inventory, and at first, I decided that going there was a really bad idea. Well, I'm supposed to be having dinner with a friend this Friday night, and I've decided I do want to go. By the end of the week, I will technically be allowed to buy 3 boxes - 4 if I pre-buy for the following week. I've not seen the store yet, so I have no idea the quantity of stuff they have there. We'll see if my head just explodes from trying to figure out what I want. Do I buy 4 boxes all in the same set so I have a better chance of getting everything in that set? Or do I buy 4 boxes from different sets so I can guarantee I don't get duplicates? But in a lot of cases, having duplicates is fine. What kind of bakery would only have ONE cinnamon roll to sell?

This whole thing started less than four weeks ago, and it has really escalated, literally, week by week. I am so amazed to have friends who not only know my interests so well as to get me completely addicted to something totally new, but who also share my interest and who contribute to the growing addiction.

Everyone should be so lucky to have friends who hate them this much.