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| Yuki Izakaya on Frenchman |
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| Went with Jackie and Christopher (her son) |
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| The place is a bit quirky with old Japanese movies projected on the brick wall and rows of Maneki-neko (golden cats) above the bar |
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| Christopher really enjoyed his first bowl of Japanese ramen and shumai dumplings |
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| Jackie enjoyed her Shoyu pork ramen along with hot sake |
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| Five years ago, this summer, I returned from living two years in Japan { the Japanese on this lantern is just the name of a restaurant } |
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| Even now, I enjoy looking back at my crazy life there { me lost in the crowds of Shibuya in Tokyo } |
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| I was introduced to a lot of Japanese culture { imitating a demon deity at a Nikko shrine } |
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| And, I traveled to a lot of Japanese historical sites { at Himeji Castle with friends during Golden Week } |
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| I tried to experience as much of Japan as possible { "women only" Kyoto subway station line } |
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| And, tried some new things I never did back in the US { snowboarding in southern Niigata-ken } |
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| I met a lot of wonderful people from all over the world { one of our many many "nomihodai" (all-you-can-drink) nights } |
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| And, considered my collegues to be a very professtional bunch { my ALT co-workers during the 2006 Tokyo Orientation } |
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| Even though my job title was "Teacher", I felt I learned even more than my students { dressed up for our "Back to School" party in Niigata } |
 { playing around in the Nikko National Park on a girls trip } |
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| I can't believe five years have flown by... { under the vermilion torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto } |
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| and that Japan still has a special place in my heart! { part of the Hakone shrine on Mount Komagatake } |
As an island nation with the world’s highest cremation rate, Japan looks like the ideal spot to ride out a global zombie pandemic, but one expert on the undead says this assumption is dangerously mistaken.
Matt Mogk, Zombie Research Society (ZRS) founder and head researcher, believes Japan would be no safer than other countries in the event of a zombie outbreak and could be even more dangerous.
Japan’s tight border control, which last month denied entry to Paris Hilton, would offer some protection against hordes of rotting corpses brought back to life, but only provided the outbreak starts outside of Japan.
“If the zombie sickness has a long incubation period, hundreds of millions of people could be infected for years, or even decades, without knowing,” said Mogk, who has been sinking his teeth into all things zombie for most of his life. “All we would need is the right trigger to launch an instant zombie pandemic everywhere at once. Japan would not be protected.”
ZRS, a non-profit organization with local chapters on six continents and in Japan, believes a zombie pandemic is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. And Mogk surmises the situation would be particularly bleak if “Z-Day” kicks off in Japan. 
ZRS describes a zombie as “a biologically definable, animated being occupying a human corpse.” Japan has one of the world’s highest cremation rates at 99.85%, according to Cremation Society of Great Britain statistics, so relatively fewer corpses lying around to animate. But according to Mogk, a high cremation rate does not make Japan any safer than other countries that practice standard burial preparation techniques.
“The embalming process destroys the brain of the corpse, so is functionally the same as cremation in terms of preventing a zombie from inhabiting the body,” he said.
The Max Brooks novel “World War Z” popularized the Japanese katana sword as an ideal weapon for fending off the flesh-eating undead. Mogk sees this as another dangerous misconception.
“Bladed weapons in general are not ideal because they will inevitably get stuck in things and become dull,” he said. “A single strike can find your sword jammed in a tree or ribcage, leaving you to pry it free while zombies chew on your neck.”
Have a safe Halloween. 
Curry (カレー) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan and I was craving some like crazy over the weekend. Yes, JAPANESE CURRY too, which is a sweeter milder version of Indian curry! Made mine with chicken, onions, and sweet potatoes. Opted for Nann instead of rice (which really wasn't Japanese) to mix it up a little as well! 
"Nagashi-somen" (flowing noodles) is a festive way to eat somen noodles in which a person places the noodles on a water slide made of cut bamboo trees, and another person tries to grab the moving noodles from further down the stream with chopsticks.
The event, which took place at the "Mitake no Mori" (Forest of Mitake) here on June 13, went off without a hitch, gaining approval by a Guinness World Records observer as the new world record for longest nagashi-somen. Participants will make a formal application for the record soon. 
About 500 bamboo trees were cut and attached to each other to form the half-pipe course, on which a serving of somen noodles traveled for 35 minutes before being caught by a town employee at the end. 
(面白い = 面(omo)白(shiro)い(i) = omoshiroi = Interesting)
The Kit Kats you find in American stores offer a quick fix of chocolate and crispy wafers. But in Japan, Kit Kats go far beyond chocolate, with flavors like ginger ale, soy sauce, creme brulee and banana - just to name a FEW.
Why all the (limited 200 unusual) Flavors???
Well they say b/c . . .
with over 40,000 convenience stores fighting for customers,
they market these odd flavors to win sales and shelf space!
Plus, its fun to see what odd flavors might come out next! 
It's a cute movie by the famous Hayao Miyazaki (who is one of Japan's greatest animation directors) and the story is loosely based off a Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid.
Earlier today I saw the 12:00 parade in Chalmette, Website
Throws included Irish and Italian Beads as well as the customary produce (cabbages, potatoes, carrots, lemons, limes, oranges, onions, garlic, etc.) The Irish/Italian Marching Group, which gave out their usual cane flowers, lead the parade.
This was the first time I've been to Chalmette. It's past the Lower 9th Ward and Arabi, so it's a bit out of the city. The parade atmosphere was a lot more laid-back, so that was nice. I also stocked up on my veggies, so it's like going grocery shopping with a fun twist!
