Giant Dancing Kittens

"The curry is pimped this time!" ~ David


I experienced a wide variety of prototypical "Japanese" things today that I decided to document, such as a giant kitten dancing to happy parapara music at THE most random "museum (???I don't know if it should be called that???)" that I've ever been to. The first floor was half rain forest filled with massage parlors and half Ghost Town. This floor also included Gyouza Heaven, which made up for any and all confusion and hardship caused by moving from relaxation to terror.

I freakin' love gyouza.

The second floor was slightly more confusing as the themes were less clearly defined; it seemed that half was Random Ice Cream Heaven, and half was the American old west. The old west theme managed to incorporate "Engrish" into my day, which is imperative in any stereotypical romp through Japan, including such famous Old West storefronts as "Restaurant Napalm" (that one made me nervous).

Random Ice Cream Heaven was a nice place to wander through, and Eyrun and I even managed to taste some new and exciting flavors. Ice cream is so overdone as a dessert, so we tried out Beef Tongue and Garlic flavored ice creams. I have nothing more to say about that except that it tastes exactly like you'd think it would taste. And that, yes, there were pieces of beef in the Beef Tongue flavored one.

Leaving the "museum (???)", we wandered by a few stores which bring up another important part of the Japanese experience: foreign imports. No one plays traditional-while-still-incorporating-EVERYONE-else's-stuff like the Japanese, and playing around in a Build-A-Bear Workshop and a GAP really help to put that in perspective for me once again.

Being overly-confident about speaking aloud is also important when in Japan; chances are juuuuust slim enough that no one will understand you that you easily slip into not caring if they actually do. Which is why I called out "My bear is gay," while cruising the Build-A-Bear Workshop, and I am still unsure whether or not the small girl who glanced over at me did so because I spoke Foreigner or because she wanted to see my gay bear.

But the largest part of being in Japan is, of course, being confused. So the most definitive moment of the day really was when, after staring at a size conversion chart in the Gap for about 30 seconds, all I could think or say was, "Hm. Centimeters huh?" It had taken me that long to realize that the numbers in front of my face were useless to me.

Thank you, Ikebukura, for summing up the entire last 8 months of my life into one day.