Another Birthday

I have to admit, April 8, 9, and 10, are three of my favorite days, when I am in Tokyo.

April 8th is the Buddha’s Birthday. You can read up on this one on those Interwebs.

April 9th is normally the prime day for cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo. This might have changed. Who knows?

April 10th is my birthday.

You throw these all together, and you discover that you have given your Japanese friends PRIME EXCUSE NUMBER ONE to get you RIGHT ROYALLY RIP-SNORTING SCHNOCKERD for three whole days. Do I miss this? Partially. There are other things I miss. Little things.

For one, I doubt this changed, but many houses use kerosene heaters. You can smell this kerosene in the streets on occasion. The only other time I smell this is on a flight line, Whether a civilian airport, or a military base. I might be out there on that tarmac, however, I feel like I am in Ome, Kamakura, or Towada City.

Contrary to the American myth about Japan, they tend to have BETTER restaurants than in America. They tend to do better with the chains that American companies brought over. DENNY’S in Japan tends to have a better menu than in the USA, in my opinion. MCDONALD’S fries actually taste HEALTHY. There are other chains, like MISTER DONUT, who claim American roots, however, you see none of their outlets in the USA. Can anyone out there can find a MISTER DONUT in the USA, or send me a PIC? These chains, though their branding might be comical, do not disappoint with regards to what’s on the menu. They even have been getting better at making PIZZA. Now, if they will just stop putting MAYONAISE on them.

Now, I suggest that people go to YAHOO! Japan Directory. Specifically, the Shopping and Services section. (I have hyperlinked it, as you can tell in the orange letters, so you don’t have to navigate through the Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, and Romaji to get to it. I suggest you use FIREFOX so you can see more of the path in the status bar, if you need friendly English navigational help.) You will find some merchants that sell some really neat stuff. I mean stuff you simply do NOT see in America, or, at LEAST, the equivalents in the USA are not as cool.

The majority of places I have been to, whether visiting, or living, in the USA, just don’t match up. I am not much of a holiday celebration guy, but, these are MY favorite three days…

Special mention goes to GOOGLE EARTH, and to DOTNETNUKE.

I now return you to your regular websurf…