Nihongo Wakarimasen. But you are so fine.

[Dialectic]

Lopan, ZG, and I just got back from ten beautiful days in and around Osaka cavorting with the locals, losing yen at Pachinko, and celebrating Sothy's wedding. Best trip of my life.

Random thoughts and stories to come. If anyone else wants to share Japan stories, feel free to post here!

[evil_FUX]

Sweet, what was Sothy's wedding like?

[Dialectic]

Sothy's wedding was absolutely beautiful. The bride wore three dresses: a traditional Japanese kimono, a Sri Lankan/ Indian sari, and a European white wedding gown. The proceedings were in Japanese and English, except for the Shinto ceremony, which involved a crazy Japanese chant and enough sake to get Sothy good and buzzed.

We finally met girls with whom we could hold a decent conversation in English (as the bride deliberately sat us with those of her friends who knew some English), and good times were had by all. Particularly Lopan.

[Random stories to come.]

[cattygurl]

I'm so glad you had fun!

I'm in Kyoto right now. Between dentist and doctor's appts, i'm having oodles of fun. The food is to die for! The girls are so pretty! I'm basically decked out in traveling gear (all function no fashion- built for comfort type apparel) so I feel like a total... well, I feel very plain, which is fine with me, but I do plan on buying some cool clothes while i'm here!

[Dialectic]

The girls in Osaka are SO fine it's UNBELIEVABLE. Me and the boys felt like such unworthy slobs in our ungainly North American bodies and clothes.

[ric]

The girls in Osaka are SO fine it's UNBELIEVABLE. Me and the boys felt like such unworthy slobs in our ungainly North American bodies and clothes.

Whoa Sothy got married?

So this was a AA wedding behind a backdrop of old country japan?

Why 3 wedding dresses? was there some kind of symbolism behind that?

[da Tao]

Spill some beans on what the engimatic Lopan did yo, never get to hear his stories...

[KeJia Sista]

Congratulations to Sothy and his bride!

Cattygurl, enjoy yourself and keep a journal!

Ke Jia

[Dialectic]

I can't get into details, but lemme just say that Lopan is a DOG. I got love, ZG got chocolate Valentines, but Lopan is a DOG.

[Dialectic]

Most surreal moment in Osaka:

One night, about three Thursdays ago, we decided to do a last night out at the clubs before Sothy got married. Members of the crew: me, ZG, Lopan, a Chinese-Canadian buddy of ours named Yun, Sothy, Sothy's older bro Paul, and their New Zealander buddy Jonny (all pseudonyms).

We hit up this one club called Sam & Dave's II (we'd also been to S&DIV another night; there are no I and III, apparently, don't ask), and it was pretty early on in the night, so the club was fairly empty. We stayed a while, I enjoyed the hiphop (Lopan hates hiphop 'cause he's lame), and we started drinking and just sort of took in the scene. For some reason or other, Paul and Jonny, who knew the Osaka night scene best and were leading, decided that we should leave just as the club started to fill up (there was also an aborted attempt by me and Lopan at approaching this table of three chicks when we realized ZG, who was supposed to come with us, was nowhere to be found in the vicinity during approach, so we veered off at the last second and were soundly trumped by three other guys, vastly lower-grade than we were, but one of them actually spoke Japanese so anyway ....).

So I was a little annoyed at this point, but I thought, whatever, we'll be somewhere else in a few minutes. We leave, we start walking, and 15-20 min. later, we still haven't gotten anywhere yet. At this point I'm like, what the fuck is going on? Lopan's getting kinda annoyed and Sothy's sayin we should just go back, or at least go to another club that's close. It turns out Paul and Jonny decided that they needed a bit of the ganj, and so were randomly strolling about Osaka looking for some way to get weed and paper with us in tow.

Now we're standing a random street corner, next to the subway station attached to a giant department store with a bank of elevators, and Paul, in frustration, shouts "Where the hell can we find some paper in this place?"

A pause, and then a deep, rumbling voice out of nowhere: "Y'all need some rollin' paper?"

We all look around, wondering if a Black God just spoke to us in perfect gangsta English in Japan.

The voice again: "Do y'all need some rollin' paper?"

We all look toward the elevator banks, and there, standing half in deep shadow, is a classic thug: bigass pants, big shirt, big jacket, big hat, with a relaxed-as-fuck gangsta lean.

Paul runs to him, "YES, my man, this is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you! I LOVE Osaka!!"

Thug: My name's Shaka. How y'all doin'.

Paul, Jonny, etc.: We're good, man. This is fuckin' great!

Shaka: I'm from Miami. I strayed a long way. Y'all ever need any cocaine or ecstasy, you come to me. Here, someone take my number.

[Cell numbers are recorded.]

Shaka: Where y'all from.

Paul, etc.: Canada, man!

Shaka: I been to Toronto. I DJed at the Docks.

Paul, D, ZG, etc.: Holy shit, he knows T.O.!

Shaka: When you call, just say "Canadian Crew," and I'll remember.

Jonny: I'm from New Zealand

Shaka: A'ight coo, New Zealand too.

[A lot of knuckle-rapping ensues.]

Paul: Good meeting you, man!

Shaka: You too. A'ight take care now. Be safe.

Now at first, I thought Paul and Jonny had deliberately gone to that corner 'cause they knew someone was gonna be there, but it turns out they had no idea. The encounter was totally random, and unfortunately, we didn't even get a photo with our boy Shaka. Now that he would've appreciated or desired that, but damn was it some funny and surreal shit.

[ric]

Shaka?

Is he cuban or jamaican ?

[Dialectic]

Is he cuban or jamaican?

Not sure that applies; he was certainly Black and spoke English like an American Black.

[AngryEthiopian]

oh my gahd.... Dialectic... my role model... you use... DRUGS?!!!

[Dialectic]

No, unless you count alcohol and Nyquil :P

None of us was actually looking for cocaine or e, and only Paul and Jonny were even gonna smoke up. I HATE that shit. Lopan and Toj love it, though!

[AngryEthiopian]

No, unless you count alcohol and Nyquil :P

None of us was actually looking for cocaine or e, and only Paul and Jonny were even gonna smoke up. I HATE that shit. Lopan and Toj love it, though!
but you proliferate with addicts. I am ashamed of you! FOUL BEING!!
JK :) I don't see anything wrong with a little ganja! So long as I don't have to breath it :P

SMOKE! AND BE MERRY!

[JadeDragon]

Good lord, all the stories I could tell about my guy friends' predilection for weed...*shakes head* I don't smoke though, and neither do I drink. Yeah, I know, I'm uncool like that. :P

[Dialectic]

I used to be totally uncool like that, but then Sheki broke my will with litre mugs and pub visits after night classes.

And now the Osaka story you've been waiting for ....

How to Make a Brazilian Hotdog

Sothy's bro "Paul" had been to Osaka for an extended stay a couple years ago, and in that time he met the guy known only as "The Brazilian Hotdog Guy." Now this guy was actually Portuguese, but he purported to make Brazilian hotdogs, and we give him the benefit of the doubt. Two years ago he was selling them out of the back of his van; two weeks ago, we discovered him in the same location selling them for 500 yen each (about USD$5) from an actual hotdog stand: this man was clearly moving up in the world. And his hotdogs were taking him there.

This is how he made them.

Take a standard Japanese hotdog (longer and thinner than North American types), cook it up on a grill, and heat up the bun as well.

Take a frozen vegetable medley of corn, peas, and carrots and heat them up in pan. Pour cheese all over them (I don't remember the type, but pick a white one). Put the hotdog in the bun and pour the vegetable/cheese combination over the hotdog. Add ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. Pour salted potato chips over the condiments. Add tobasco sauce. Enjoy with a bottle of Pocari Sweat or Dakara Life Partner. Repeat.

HEAVEN IN A BUN.

[evil_FUX]

That sounded good until the potato chips came into play.

[lopan]

Have you ever seen really really thinly sliced dried fish on a hot bed of noodles?

They look like they're moving. I thought my plate was alive... and coupled with the noodles, it looked like some sort of freakish animal.

It's pretty tough to phase me when it comes to food, but this time i let out a tiny, "oh my !@#$ it's still moving." and pushed the plate to the side.

[lopan]

I can't get into details, but lemme just say that Lopan is a DOG. I got love, ZG got chocolate Valentines, but Lopan is a DOG.

so?

[maogirl]

i was in tokyo a couple of years back with my bf, and we totally ran out of money in 4 days from eating those crepes with the multi-fillings.

lopan, he really liked those moving dried fish, by the way. i didn't like them, but more because of the sauce. it tasted kind of mayonnaisey to me, and i hate mayo.

we're probably going to go back for a visit with his sister in september. we really loved it there, although we saw an unusual amount of dead pigeons (and at one point, we saw a pigeon being attacked and later eaten by crows).

[Dialectic]

lopan, he really liked those moving dried fish, by the way. i didn't like them, but more because of the sauce. it tasted kind of mayonnaisey to me, and i hate mayo.

They love putting mayonnaise on takoyaki and okonomiyaki; it was very surprising how it was considered the default condiment.

[lopan]

lopan, he really liked those moving dried fish, by the way. i didn't like them, but more because of the sauce. it tasted kind of mayonnaisey to me, and i hate mayo.

My sentiments exactly. It was a freaky, mayonnaisy-tasting monstrosity. NOT the best Osaka had to offer, in my opinion. But there was so much MORE in Osaka that we absolutely fell in love with, so i guess that makes up for it. :wink:

[cattygurl]

Hey, don't be dissin' on my okonomiyaki and takoyaki, dude (although i prefer no tako in my takoyaki- go figure).

That shit is the BOMB! I love it with lots of powdered ao-nori piled on top. you gotta go wild with the ao-nori, dude. HOG. WILD.

I hate mayo but for some odd reason i love it with the above dishes.

[cattygurl]

Oh, and ditto for yakisoba.

[maogirl]

can you get it without mayo?

sorry, but mayo is just really disgusting. when i watched "undercover brother," i was like "YES! I KNEW IT! MAYO IS THE CONDIMENT OF THE MAN!"

[Kuroyama]

Late but gotta post up on this:

For those unclear on the matter;

Japanese mayonnaise should IN NO WAY be referred to with any thoughts of that white ass cream called "mayo" here in the states (no slam on those that eat the US version, but I myself (obviously) do not care for it).

JP Mayo is the absolute SHIZNIT which you can put on just about anything (yeah that includes PIZZA) and it will taste better. Once again, it is NOT that U.S. crap.

The same should be remembered for "mustard" which is "karashi" in Japan. Just imagine yellow wasabi... but a little bit hotter. I dont know how North America managed to fuck up condiments so very badly... but the JP version is yet another one of an ever growing list of reasons why I'd just as soon never move back.

[Kuroyama]

Oh, Ric...

Japanese weddings sometimes change up outfits (from tux and dress to kimono) and there are phases to the ceremony. Sometimes many, sometimes only one (with only the tux thing, or kimono thing). Weddings are a VERY EXPENSIVE and big business here.

Our family is considering setting us up with a shrine gig (we never had a ceremony for them in Japan), but the Grandmother in law is making me hakama (the skirt/pants thing youve seen in movies). The other night the mom in law was discussing having custom geta (wood sandals) made for me. Once again its something I cant get in my size here, but the result should be better than "store bought". I bitch and moan about being married (single fellas TAKE HEED) but honestly, its not terrible, and the in-laws are very cool.

(They werent entirely on-board at first... but I understand why. I just wasnt expecting this level of support even later in the game)

Anyway, My family doesnt plan to waste money on wedding phases. I expect itll just be a very small traditional thing just so the fam can have seen it firsthand.

[Kuroyama]

maybe "waste money" was harsh. Not intended as a stab at those who spend cash that way.

[Sothy]

dude, if you go a shrine, it will be expensive...(unless your in-laws know of a cheap shrine, but that is hard to believe)...

even renting a wedding kimono is a fucking arm and a leg in North American terms.

Weddings are big business for shinto folk as well :x

Yeah, I don't get the Jpn Mayo hate...

[xian]

can you get it without mayo?

sorry, but mayo is just really disgusting. when i watched "undercover brother," i was like "YES! I KNEW IT! MAYO IS THE CONDIMENT OF THE MAN!"

Yup. You can get anything w/o Mayo if you ask, except for pizza sometimes (gross).

The Japanese mayo is even more artificial that American fake mayo--but naturally some people like that. I'm strongly opposed to any kind of fake mayo, but to each their own...

If you don't like mayo, have you ever tried real handmade mayo without all the additives. It's real good. I thought I hated all mayo until I had it.

[maogirl]

can you get it without mayo?

sorry, but mayo is just really disgusting. when i watched "undercover brother," i was like "YES! I KNEW IT! MAYO IS THE CONDIMENT OF THE MAN!"

Yup. You can get anything w/o Mayo if you ask, except for pizza sometimes (gross).

The Japanese mayo is even more artificial that American fake mayo--but naturally some people like that. I'm strongly opposed to any kind of fake mayo, but to each their own...

If you don't like mayo, have you ever tried real handmade mayo without all the additives. It's real good. I thought I hated all mayo until I had it.


:lol: the reason i hate mayo in the first place is 'cause of that damn handmade mayo. i have a really sensitive nose (i can smell a 10-hour-old fart in a room) and i can't deal with the egg smell.

even the super artificial mayo has that sulfury smell. i just...i can't. :cry:

ps. they have tuna mayo pizza with sweet corn in hk at pizza hut, too. :shock:

[Infectious]

even the super artificial mayo has that sulfury smell. i just...i can't. :cry:

ps. they have tuna mayo pizza with sweet corn in hk at pizza hut, too. :shock:

I remember that. The patisseries there had them too in mini size and I hated them.

[maogirl]

even the super artificial mayo has that sulfury smell. i just...i can't. :cry:

ps. they have tuna mayo pizza with sweet corn in hk at pizza hut, too. :shock:

I remember that. The patisseries there had them too in mini size and I hated them.

oh, i used to go to this one (sorry, i can't call them patisseries, unless you count a bakery run by a topless old dude with a white towel over his shoulder a patisserie) which made the best hot dog buns with cheese. then one day, they started putting mayo in there. :cry: the thing is, the mayo hot dog bun is so popular i don't think they'll ever revert back to normal hot dog buns.

[da Tao]

My Irish flatmate spread mayo like jam on bread, and eat it just like that. Not being a mayo-hater, I'd have to say it pretty decent!

*Duck incoming shoe*

Oh come on! It's not like you folks don't enjoy a fruit and potato salad without mayo / miracle whip. (But mostly mayo)

[maogirl]

*slaps da tao with plastic slipper*

*lights cigarette*

mayo hasn't crossed my lips since i was a child and had no control over my food.

[Kuroyama]

<big gasp for air>

I said GODDAMN goddamn!!!!!

MY DSL IS FINALLY ONLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Im writing this from MY place, at 2am, after surfing up info on newly released kung fu flicks, checking apple.com for new movie trailers, and taking my goddamn sweet time to do so because there isnt a 1000 yen per 3 hour charge to do it now!!!!

Sothy,

Dude I wouldnt even CONSIDER renting a kimono unless they were going to pay (Hey we took pics of the wedding back in the states - and Im not flush with cash like that.) The wifes grandmother pretty much made everyones gear (The mothers gear, my wifes, her aunts, my hakama...etc) she did that stuff professionally back in the day and pretty much keeps everything museumed up. She showed me some kind of "license" or something whose name I dont recall which comes from the government when you do some skilled labor like that professionally. She also has one for teaching classical dance. I dont know if that system is still in use, but Ive seen certificates like it in some other businesses (like an old yakitori joint we hit recently....hmm momoyaki and shochu...)

I understand theres some "connection" about the temple thing. For a family thats not driving Mercedes Benzes, they seem to have an awful lot of connections in this town. Im not really sure what thats about, but I have some ideas (493? but dont hold me to that). I learn more as I go.

[Dialectic]

I thought it was 893?

[cattygurl]

493? 893? I'm lost. fill me in, yo.

[Dialectic]

"The word yakuza reflects the group's self-image as society's rejects. In regional dialect ya means 8, ku means 9, and za means 3, numbers that add up to 20, which is a losing hand in the card game hana-fuda (flower cards). The yakuza are the "bad hands of society," a characterization they embrace in the same way that American bikers prominently tattoo the slogan "Born to Lose" on their biceps."

http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html

[The card game is also known as Oicho-kabu, according to other sources.]

[Kuroyama]

I think D may be right, and I wrong, but lets not get caught up in all that. I dont have any proof to back that up. Im just thinking stupidly out loud.

[Kuroyama]

Which brings me to a weird question... about Chinese "triads".

What does "triads" mean? (anyone versed in Chinese sociology) I thouht it was another way to say "mafia", but on my DVD of "Fong Sai Yuk" with Jet Li, Jet joins the "Red Flower Society" and his mother asks his father; "Are you going to let your son join the triads?"

At least thats the english translation/caption. But it gave me the idea that "triads" doesnt translate directly into "mafia". Unless its just a bad translation and Ive read too much into it like I did with Mace Windus purple lightsaber.

My lightsabre theory - later shot to hell
Jedi sabre: blue and green (for 4 movies since 1977) = good
Sith sabre: red = evil
Mace Windu's sabre: purple = NEUTRAL?????

I found out later in an interview that Samuel Jackson just wanted to be different and requested a purple lightsabre. George accomodated him.

Theory holds no water...

Anyway... the "triads" thing...anyone?

[the Good Captain]

I don't know much, however the modern triads apparently originate largely from revolutionary societies, some of which incorporated the Chinese cosmological idea of Heaven Earth and Man. The triad.

The term 'san ba' (3 8) might have something to do with them, since a code word of one of the old skool triads had something to do with these numbers. I don't remember details however

[the Good Captain]

The term 'san ba' (3 8) might have something to do with them, since a code word of one of the old skool triads had something to do with these numbers. I don't remember details however

that should read " 'san ba' (three eight) ". I know nothing directly of the origins of the term so I'm guessing here, since the code word conveniently involves these numbers. This is how vocabulary gets lost, and customs change

[Dialectic]

If I have time I'll research it further (I did a while back but much escapes me); the triads, originally, were Ming dynasty loyalists who fought the British and the Manchus in the Boxer Rebellion. The Brits called them "Boxers" because they didn't have a word back then for the martial arts/ kung-fu.

When the Ming lost, survivors, originally rebels and resistance fighters, went underground, and the groups deteriorated into criminal organizations.

I can't actually remember where the word "triad" comes from, though.

[evil_FUX]

Most of the guys that formed those criminal organizations, I believe, were criminals taught by the monks because they needed back up during that movement or it was because the monks harbored criminals previously, taught them kung fu, and when the movement came to an end those criminals had nothing better to do than make triads.

[evil_FUX]

Follow up:

Good ol wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triads)

[Kuroyama]

Good ole e_F makin me look like web_noobie. I shoulda wiki'd.

fresh back from too much shochu and momoyaki... then on to karaoke. Luckily I held my own tonight. I really need to update my song catalog! The newest stuff I got is "Chemistry" and those boys arent the hottest thing anymore.

follow the drunken reverie with good corner shop ramen at 330 am... thats good stuff bro!

anyway, Ill post again when Im sober. Good night all.

[Sothy]

Actually, everything in Japan leads to a national license, without it you are shit...

but seriously, my wife has a license in kimono dressing (actually a very high level one), one in flower arrangement, and a couple of others actually...(done some tea ceremony, no license I believe though, but has one in caligraphy, etc.)). It is just the WAY in Japan...me, I have a license to drive and that's it, but the culture of getting a license has probably influenced my professional ambitions (given what I want to pull off right now).

Yeah, don't waste money on weddings, but if you pull it off right, you won't spend much (well, a friend made a profit, we didn't but the cost was reasonable), as people in Japan bring cash to wedding receptions as a gift...it helps a lot. Oh, I never went out bling bling in Japan, I just lived closed to the bling bling folk and saw them (maybe in 10 years 8)