Lioness in Japan

Yeah, weird eh?

This is not a “portaloo” where it is a box where you answer the call of nature at an outdoor event. It’s an actual loo you can unfold and you can actually sit on it.

I found this at Tokyo Hands when I was shopping one day after the earthquake. There was an entire section dedicated to disaster prevention — beepers to scare stealthy characters away, radiation suits, helmets, canned food, groundsheets etc.

I did a close up of the uses of a portable toilet (translating the pictures) — during an earthquake (or rather after an earthquake when you don’t have access to a loo); stuck in a traffic jam; camping; at a construction site; and in a hospital (I thought they had bedpans but after what a friend who was hospitalized told me, I’m not surprised you have to bring your own toilet; now that is another story for another day…).

Apparently there is a special powder that is used along with this portable toilet where you are supposed you dump it over what came out of you and it will solidify and eliminate any noxious odours.

My friends and I debated if we would re-use this portable toilet but decided against it. Imagine using it, pouring the powder over it, closing it, folding it up and putting it into your bag. Gross!!!

Seems to me, it’s a whole lot of trouble to use it just once…I would just look for a bush to be honest.

Tokyo #28: No shoes in the changing room drew a few curious comments and giggles so I thought an apt sequel to that would be to introduce the face cover in ALL Japanese clothing stores.

If you want to try any piece of clothing on, you’ll be given a face cover so that your makeup won’t stain what you are trying on. I think it is weird at first glance and I would always pause for a couple of seconds before deciding how to put it on — the face cover looks like two pieces of cloth sewn together at one end, and strangely, one end is always twice as long as the other. I have tried putting on the short side over my face and the long side over my face and my conclusion is that the long side should go over the face because that’s the “danger zone”. I figured that when you slide the top or dress over your head, you would need more of the face cover to protect the said piece of clothing from makeup stains.

The upside to this weird face cover is that Japanese stores would let you try on anything and everything. I remember in Singapore that white tops are no-gos and it is always a bummer to have to guess how it looks on you.

Anyway, how do you wear the face cover? Long side up front or short side?

Photo credit: here

Tokyo is such a developed and urbane city that I get surprised when I see stuff that is more down-to-earth and “gritty”, like roadside stalls and sweet potato trucks. You would easily spot these in Bangkok but it’s quite a rare sight in Tokyo.

I snapped a picture of a middle-aged man tending to his humble mobile cart that is a small kitchen and a seating area for maybe two to four people, just outside Meguro JR station last summer. Unfortunately, my iPhone didn’t do this quaint scenario any justice so I dug some up from the Internet…

I think temporary roadside stalls are more common during festive seasons like hanami or hanabi but they are in parks or by rivers where people are picnicking.

But this is certainly a rare sight because I’ve been to Shinjuku numerous times but I’ve not seen this stall there. I love the juxtaposition of the towering skyscrapers in the background and the tiny wooden stall in the foreground.

And this one is just plain amusing — a bunch of salary men and office ladies (?) crowding around the mobile stall just hanging loose in their office togs.

Photo credit: here, here, & here

Today’s nugget is about changing room etiquette in Japan. I have to clarify that this is not true for all changing rooms in stores here but I think it happens enough to warrant it to be part of Japanese culture.

In certain boutiques and department stores, you have to take your shoes off before you step into the changing room proper. I guess it’s like the custom they have where you should take your shoes off before you enter someone’s home.

I’ve been to some that allow you to wear your shoes into the changing cubicle but you are warned not to step on the carpeted area with your shoes. And since most places have curtains that do not reach the floor, you cannot avoid this because the sales assistants can see whether you have your shoes on or not.

I suppose you could stand outside the carpeted square in the cubicle and keep your shoes on while trying on clothes, but as I said, people outside can see that and I’ve a very strong feeling it would be deemed as “seriously weird gaijin behaviour” to do so. So just take ‘em off!

When I was a newbie gaijin, I used to stumble thoughtlessly onto the carpeted zone and had distressed sales assistants stop me in a flurry. That was when I didn’t understand Japanese well enough so I didn’t pick up from their speech that I was supposed to take off my shoes.

But there are some stores that allow your shoes on, like H&M and Zara (note that Uniqlo doesn’t; this chain attracts tons of tourists! So FYI). I’m not sure if I can spot a pattern on why some shops have them and others don’t. So here’s just a tip anyway: if you hear the word “kutsu”, it means shoes, so it’s likely you have to remove them.

I wish I could find a photo of carpeted dressing rooms here that do not allow shoes but I guess it’s not such a big deal to most people! LOL! Hencewhy, this is filed under “Tokyo Nuggets”…

Photo credit: here

When I first heard “KY, KY” in Japan, I was like, “Why are they talking about petroleum jelly?”

KY means kuukiyomenai, that translates as “(someone) cannot read the air”, and is often used to refer to people who are thick about a certain unsaid situation and continue to offend by being clueless. In Singapore, we call people like that “blur”, or sometimes even with affection, we might say, “blur like sotong” (or blur like a squid; I suppose squids look like they don’t have a lot going on in their minds….? I don’t know why squids can be “blur”, they have eyes and can see…).

For example, I was at a hotel bar in Sado Island that was closing and the staff came by to tell us they were shutting in a few minutes. But being pumped by wine and excitement, we continued chatting and drinking even after the lights went on full force. A couple of Japanese girls in the group giggled and went, “KY, KY!” So we finally got the message and buggered off to our respective rooms.

Now let me give you another example where I was on the receiving end of KY behaviour. I was running with a group a few weeks ago and a certain older gentleman ran next to me for a lot of the time. He was pleasant enough and spoke only Japanese at that point. I usually don’t like running and talking so running and speaking in Japanese takes even more out of me.

After 10km, my will power was really being chipped away, so I discreetly put on my iPod ear plugs while he paused. Unfortunately, he still continued asking me questions and tried to make conversation. I even panted a little harder to hint that I was struggling, but he powered on with questions like, “Are you okay? Do you want to stop?” And he also suddenly started speaking in perfect English which by then I felt really cheated (childish, I know, but I was under a lot of physical strain; and yes, I know it was great that I had a chance to speak Japanese) and I just wanted him to shut the f— up.

He was damn KY. Thank goodness the run ended when we reached 15km. It took all my humanity not to find a sharp tree branch to poke him and shout, “OI, KY YO!!!!!!”

Photo credit: here

I chanced upon this funny article in the Japan Times recently about the strange lack of public seating in Tokyo.

After reading it, I was like, “Yeah, that’s true.” The journalist opened his article by painting his first attempt to buy some food in a department store in Shinjuku but only found seats at a busy bus terminal where he ended up getting stared at.

Yup, that’s weird. And I’ve been there before. I remember when I first arrived, I assumed that there would be seats inside or outside department stores or somewhere nearby where I could enjoy an al fresco style snack in a similar vein. I walked and walked and couldn’t find any suitable seats or wall or public square!

Apparently, there is no such thing as a public square in Japanese law, and seats should not be built on foot paths which are meant for walking. The only exceptions are pathways near hospitals where senior folk may frequent and would need a spot to rest.

That’s not to say there are no public seats at all — just in parks. Other than that, there aren’t many around. If there are, they are set up in newer shopping malls like Roppongi Hills and Tokoy Bay’s Lalaport which are privately owned.

So… You will never see this in Tokyo…

This was taken at UE Squre in Singapore where an office lady was tucking into her mee siam (thin rice noodles in a spicy curry broth) before heading off to work. I was waiting for Cold Storage to open and had 10 minutes to kill so I sat at this public seating area and somehow was drawn to snap this photo. I thought to myself, “You would never see an OL eating in public like this in Tokyo!” And it’s been years since I ate something hot, soupy, and savoury for breakfast, too!

I took a photo of this sign at my local station. Yeap, due to the enormous number of gropers on the train at peak hour, there’s a women-only carriage from 7.26 to 930am. I’m all for women-only cars but it starts at 7.26am? I had to chuckle.

It’s also a clue that the Japanese are sticklers for punctuality. I must say I’m eternally grateful to Japan for curing my seemingly incorrigible habit of being late. Coming from Singapore, where things are more relaxed and easy-going, I used to regard time as fluid which has its good and bad points — spontaneity versus flakiness.

What I love in Japan is that you can pretty much count on people and things to turn up on time.

The shoe sizes I’m familiar with are single digit ones (US) and 30-something ones (EU), but in Japan, your shoe size is the length of your foot in centimeters.

I’m a size 23.5 (size 6.5 or 7; 36.5 or 37) in Japan, if anyone cares.

I always find it amusing that shoes are lined up on the shelves according to sizes in Japanese shoe stores. I guess it’s an efficient way to show what they have in your size. If it’s there, it’s there. If the design is not available in your size, it just won’t be on the shelf. Also, both shoes in the pair are on display, which is not the case in Singapore, so you can just try them on both feet without having to call for any assistance — cool.

Another only-in-Japan thing: you don’t need to pay at the cash register at a department store. The salesperson would go to the cashier and get the receipt and you just need to wait where you were when you asked for service. You can then keep browsing as you wait and that’s certainly more interesting than standing in a queue.

As you can see, I’ve been bitten by the kawaii bug in Tokyo. I can’t help but break out of my staid colours and solid backgrounds.

When I was at a stationary shop buying an adult and serious-looking folder, I spotted these adorable notebooks:

I was smitten by the hand drawn to-do list in the blue notebook. I’m a die-hard list-maker and cannot navigate my way through the day without one or two.

Since I don’t have a portable blackboard as a teacher, I use notebooks to scribble explanations to help my students understand me better.

Awww…Well, all my students are women so I think they wouldn’t mind looking at these while I’m imparting grammar rules to them.

If I had to teach salarymen, I definitely would lose all credibility if I used these notebooks…

In the month that leads up to spring (yay!), the weather goes a bit wonky in Japan — some days actually feel like spring and others are chilly and windy.

There’s a saying for this and it’s called, 三寒四温（さんかんしおん；sankanshion) that literally means three days cold, four days warm.

The winds on the cold days can be huge, whippy ones, as if winter is being pummelled out of the city. On warm days, people out on the streets wear light coats and pretty colours, as opposed to the sombre tones of last season’s.

As I’m writing this, it’s a cold day. I checked the weather report for this week on Yahoo Japan and sure enough temperatures are low for three days and go up on the fourth.

Photo credit: here