Japan’s Fun Facts,, Did you know….?!

1. Japanese like to eat “Nattou” for breakfast. Nattou is a food destined to either be hated or favored for your entire life. It is sticky, salty and “ammoniacally” smelly. If you do happen to eat it for the first time, you will get caught in stringy “natto” spider web. No wonder it’s tasty, since it is partly made out of fermented soy beans, mustard, raw quail egg, and bacteria (Bacillus subtilis natto). The good part: I nearly threw up after chewing 10 times. The bad part: it’s healthy. Itadakimasu!

2. Japanese (female) students like to wear high heels to campus. More than half at mine. Some like to save up to buy Louis Vuitton bags. And while I shiver of the dreaded winter, they have the “heroes” ability of wearing mini-skirts even in those conditions. Envy that! (not the skirts, the ability). Urayamashii yo.

3. Sometimes you can find escalators that are crazily steep, nearly perpendicular to the ground. It’s nearly like an elevator. Not only that, they can also be so long. Beware of the local customs though. At Kyushu-Kanto area we stand still on the left, and walk on the right. In Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, etc), it is the exact opposite. Stand still on the right if you don’t want to be bumped with “Sumimasen!”

4. Bring your passport if you go shopping at Akihabara, which the Japanese refer to as “Electronic City”. We can get discounts by showing a tourist visa (6 months max stay). Too bad my visa was for one year, so no luck for me. Zannen desu ne..
Also be careful in this area, there were crime last year. Kiotsukete ne..

5. For romantic hotspots in the Kansai area, I would go for Kyoto and Kobe. Kyoto’s atmosphere is uniquely, traditionally outstanding. There are romantic paths of Gion area. But be sure to bring money, a (romantic) dinner here on average can cost $120 per person.
For hungry moneysavers, go to Kobe, there is a Wonderful all you can eat restaurant for only $20. They have delicious crab, meat, seafood, Italian food, pudding, ice cream and even chocolate topping if you need to get fat. One plus, the waitress were very fine Another plus, it is located by a lake/sea and we can view Kobe city from there.
Oh, Kobe have significant number of foreigners, and the first mosque built in Japan was in the city of Kobe! Sughoi…!