Voyage Junkie

Matt here. So for some reason Japan thinks English should be on everything, despite having two alphabets and thousands of ideograms of their own. In much the same way that Western idiots tattoo themselves with kanji they think say WARRIOR OF PEACE but actually read FLAT COMBUSTION CONCERN, the Japanese put nonsense phrases on their signs that ramble on about how THE STYLE WHICH IS UNCOVERED IS BEST or whatever because they think the presence of English adds gravitas. There is a photoblog devoted to it called Engrish (the only slightly racist moniker for this phenomenon) that you can check out. We thought we might keep a running tally of some of the best examples we run across in our travels. So let's start with this, shall we? FUN ENGLISH NAMES Crunky Nude Balls: your new favorite snack food Dog Torimming: a pet grooming place Spic Salon: a hair salon chain (ouch, huh?) Rough Unity: oddly enough, a car place motto Hard\Parts: display title at a discount book/dv...

Gifu exists as a continuous contradiction. The apartment I'm in is the largest one in which I've ever lived, with a spacious living room, balcony, amazing shower and bathtub, a room for the sink and another for the toilet, and two large bedrooms (in which the closets are amazing). However, the kitchen is tiny (on par with Boulder kitchens) and the fridge is doll-sized. As is the food, so it is fitting, though the amount of liquid required to stay alive requires more fridges than will fit in two apartments. This is because Gifu is between 90 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit at any particular moment. Regardless of the heat, or in spite of it, I've been walking everywhere with Matt, exploring. We've successfully navigated the main two (yes, TWO) train/bus stations of Gifu, found an incredible matrix of semi-covered mall space with everything from designer clothes to fresh food markets, exchanged American money for peanuts, and visited a shrine and a Buddhist temple. The...