Books you might want to read, that I have recently read myself:

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Tuesdays with Morrie (aslo a movie with the guy who is Homer Simpson's voice)

Tokyo Confidential by March Screiber

The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones (UK release)

The Prodigal Summer and The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Aquariums of Pyongyang: 10 Years in the North Korean Gulags by Kang Chul Hwan

My Year of Meat by Ruth L. Ozeki (about Japan)

Pecked to Death by Ducks by Tim Cahill (Travel Writing)

Basket Case by Carl Hiassen (UK Release)

Porno, Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting Sequel)

Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan by Alex Kerr

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

The 27th City by Johnathan Franzen

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierce (OZ author)

When Broken Glass Floats: Growing up under the Khmer Rouge by Chanrithy Him

Listening for Coyote: A walk across Oregon's Wilderness by William Sullivan

Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future
By Rampton and Stauber

The Fourth Hand by John Irving

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon by Chuck Palahnuik (Fight Club Author)

If you know of any others that are fit for this list, let me know.

Last week I ate some wasabi and seaweed-flavored french fries at the chain called 1st Kitchen. Really tasty, actually.

Wasabi is the infamously potent Japanese Horseradish normally found between the rice platform and piece of raw fish that comprises most sashimi.

Wasabi went well with potatoes, although when I triend it mixed with vanilla soft-serve last summer during a visit to Mastumoto Castle, that was not as good of a match.

Here is the label of something I bought at a FLETS! 100 Yen Shop.
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Hiroco's Hard Biscuit!

Proud of Hokuriku

it is the biscuit with which the resistance to the teeth which built the delicacy of wheat carefully became brave. Have the delicious and great biscuit which colors your table gaily pleasing.
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And who said shopping isn't fun?

Most travelers have realized that some frachises are multinational and pop up in the most unexpected places. When entering a familiar franchise, say 7-11, the similarities to items sold in the U.S. begins to fade.

For example, I have yet to find a Big Gulp, Slurpee or Hostess pink Snoballs anywhere in my fledgling travel experience. It is quite fun, in my world, anyway to pop round the 7-11 and see what local products are being sold. At Thai 7-11's I find their canned juices to be lovely, and in Korea, the banana-flavored milk tastes much better than it sounds.

While you will see familiar logos for American-based franchises in many countries, it is the differences in menus and what items are for sale that is tribute to different cultural preferences, and such difference are the gems of being able to discover unfamiliar places.

I thought I would take you on a virtual tour of my working neighborhood in Nishinomiya, Osaka. Lacking a webcam or such technical contraptions, I will just describe it for you.

Within a 5 minute stroll I can dine at: McDonald's, Starbuck's and AMPM.


On another(and certainly a non-hydrogenated)note, there is a nice public square with large cherry trees and wooden benches.

One thing I have realized is that since my arrival I have been reading Japanese books in the wrong direction. Books in English are published front to back. Not so in Japan, where one begins at the end.

Another fact you can say you now know.

You can, a wise local has told me, read from top to bottom vertically, beginning on either the left or right side.

On the train, however, many people tend to be seen reading quasi-porn comic books called manga.

Today I was perusing the local Hankyu Department store and saw a waffle stand. Belgian waffles in a variety of flavors. Not too titillating, except the name for the waffle stand was Mannekin. You know, the plastic folks who model clothing for you.

Perhaps this is where retired mannequins end up: as waffle filler!

In response to seeing the ABC nightline episode where all the names of the dead from the Iraq "war" were read, Our President tried to string together some words into a sentence. Not shockingly, he failed. Shouldn't the leader of the free world be tested to determine if he can talk like a normal, rational middle-aged adult? In all fairness, he mumbles and stutters less when he has the teleprompter.

Students across America should watch the Nightline episode, and honor the 738 men and women, most from poor backgrounds, who died for an administration full of men who in fact have never seen combat themselves, but are profiting immensely from the invasion of Iraq.

Isn't that ironic? Paul, Don, Dick and George being unprecedented mega-hawks while having never been put into harm's way?

Cram Schools: A Study

Here in Japan many parents have lost faith in the public education system, for any number of reasons that won't be meddled with here. The solution, say some is the cram school, also a big hit in South Korea. Students go to cram schools to learn test-taking skills, memorize facts, and naturally, to improve their odds at said standardized tests at their public schools.

Coincidentally, as I also finish work around 9 in the evening, so do a froth of pent-up, sugar fed youth burst forth from the neighboring building (yes, a cram school) causing pandemonium and the occasional startled senior citizen to gasp as crammers mow down unsuspecting bystanders in their bid for freedom.

Can you imagine finishing school at 9 p.m.? Stolen childhoods, lack of personality development, public nuisance, financially plagued parents succumbed to the elusive goals of competition and report card bragging rights. Oh, woe is the world where kids aren't allowed time to play anymore.

(Foryou language buffs, the Japanese word for cram school is "juku.")

Donuts and Smoking

One popular pastime in Japan is frequenting the Mister Donut chain, having a few cigarettes and enjoying what is basically the best source of fresh donuts in the Orient.

But this begs the question: Isn't smoking and eating donuts slightly dangerous? Some dieticians might even leap to say this environment is 100% anti-longevity...or perhaps 100% anti-artery.

To each their own, but I long for a day where the air at Mister Donut outlets is haze-free, so I can get down to business and enjoy my deep-fried ball of flour, sugar and a healthy coating of Carnuba wax.

Signed, a confessed donuteer...

Greetings: I am back after re-entering the working world. Let's job, as the Japanese say.