Pokemon Cafe in Osaka!

There's finally a Pokemon Cafe in Osaka!!  Of course, I made a reservation as soon as they started taking them in August!  I thought I might be a bit weird being a party of one...but there were quite a few others like me (though I think most of them didn't revert to about 5 years old and start squealing when Pikachu came out).


The Cafe and the new Pokemon Center DX (deluxe) just opened yesterday (along with the entire rebuilt Daimaru department store building), so it was pretty crowded.  I had to stand in line for just the elevator to get up to the 9th floor!  Then I had to line up just to shop in the DX store.  And, of course, the line to check out with my purchases.  But it wasn't too bad, really.  And I think I was reasonable with my shopping!  LOL  I got some nice freebies too.


On to the Cafe! 

The woman next to me came ready for Instagram!  She brought her own plushies to help with the photography!

The tablet on the table in the above photo is the menu and is also how you order your food.  Of course, staff is on hand to help out and answer any questions.  The tablet has settings for multiple languages, so non-Japanese speaking tourists will be able to order smoothly. 

The Gengar grape smoothie has a "mysterious" glow...which the server will warn you to be careful not to swallow!

Sorry I ate your cookie ears, Gengar!  They were yummy!  Your grape flavor was super delicious too!  I guess that brain freeze I got was your revenge!

The Halloween special Pikachu meal plate!  This was kinda 50-50 for me.  Some parts of it were alot more tasty than I was expecting, while others were a bit average.  I wasn't sure if the hat was edible, so I had to ask the Instagram lady sitting next to me (she'd ordered the same thing)!  Edible, but an awful flavor, to be honest...

But then...the highlight of the visit...  An appearance by Chef Pikachu himself!!

We couldn't take individual photos with Pikachu, due to time and space contraints.  We just had to take photos/videos and shake his hand.  I wanted to hug him, but I managed to hold myself back...  He moved to various areas of the cafe, shook hands, did a little dance.  When he walked, we all chanted in rhythm with his steps.  Pi - ka - pi - ka...  In the background, some kind of Pikachu song played (all the lyrics being just Pika Pika).  

 

Oh, the cuteness!!

Unfortunately, my visit ended a bit badly.  The staff at the register had a hard time, for some reason, and it took about 10 minutes.  I don't think she knew how to run a credit card.  I offered to pay in cash, but she was like "No, it's OK!"  But it clearly wasn't!  Or maybe it was because I ordered the meal that comes with the souvenier plate and I wanted to substitute the Halloween Pikachu plate for the regular Pikachu face plate.  The 3rd staff person finally got it sorted out!  3rd!! 


I had finished eating quickly because I knew at 3pm, there would be another Pikachu appearance - this time at the DX store.  And it would be a RARE one... the suit-wearing comedy team twin Pikachus.  They came out while I was still waiting at the Cafe register...and by the time I was FINALLY done, they were gone.  I was sad...  This is all I could capture.

DIY home "renovation"

I keep waiting and hoping I'll have good news to post about buying a house, but nothing yet.  But maybe soon! 


In anticipation of a hopeful move, I decided to "renovate" my dining table and chairs.  I've had them for over 10 years and they have all the scratches and worn down spots to prove it.

Table

Can you see how there seem to be two different colors?  That's not the lighting.  It's been worn down.

Chair on the left has been painted.  The right one hasn't.  You can see alot of the original white has worn off.

Original chair seat on the right.  New seat using "remake sheets" on the left.

Remake sheets are super easy to use, since you can peel them off again if you made a mistake!  I had a hard time with the rounded shape of the seats, but I figured out a good way to fix it.

Finished products!  Took all day....  I know my body is going to ache tomorrow.  If you look closely, you can see that these were definitely NOT done by a professional...but from a casual glance, I think they look nice.


Remake sheets for small products can be found at almost any 100 yen shop, but I used higher grade sheets from Amazon Japan, specifically meant to be used on tables so they'd be waterproof.  Not super cheap, but definitely cheaper than buying a new dining set and hopefully this was last for awhile.
(PS - The paint and paint brush I used for the chairs was from a 100 yen shop.)

Pikachu....THE ICE CREAM

"Welcome to Baskin Robbins.  May I take your order, pika?"

I know alot of people have been blogging about the special new flavor of ice cream at Baskin Robbins.  I've been on a diet for the past few months (with decent results!), so I finally decided today was the day to get some ice cream.  And what better to break my ice cream fast than with the new Pikachu Thunderbolt Fruit Mix flavor!  Plus, you get cute cup and spoon thrown in to sweeten the deal, as it were.

To get the cup, you have to order a double scoop.  In addition to the Pikachu flavor, I decided on Banana and Strawberry.  Unfortunately, they put that one on top, so it was hard to get a photo of just the Pikachu ice cream. 



Other people's blogs/news sites will have much better photos!  But it's yellow with little red chunks of candy to represent Pikachu's red cheeks.  In the official photos, there were also little chocolate Pikachu faces...where's mine?? 

One.  I got ONE little chocolate Pikachu.  And at the very bottom of the cup, no less.  I actually thought a little about complaining...LOL


So, how does Pikachu ice cream taste?  Well....the ice cream part was really good.  I was worried it might be a bit tangy or something, but it was a nice smooth fruity flavor.  I didn't like the red candy bits though.  Mixed into ice cream, they were sticky like hard candy that's been sitting around during the summer.  Maybe if they changed the hard candy to fruit bits instead?  Though, to keep with the red cheeks theme, it'd have to be cherry and I hate cherry so...

Buying a house

Sorry, no fun photos or anecdotes today.  Today, I want to talk about something that's been keeping me stressed out for the past couple of weeks.


Trying to buy a house.


Recently, I'd gotten to thinking that paying rent (especially the amount I'm paying here) is a waste and the same amount of money per month could instead be used as mortgage payments on something that I would eventually own.


Now, if you search for buying property in Japan on Google or something, you'll come up mostly with articles about investment properties.  Or articles about how owning a home in Japan is completely different than in the West because houses here lose value over time.  But this means nothing to me.  For me, a house isn't an "investment".  I buy stocks and bonds for that!  It's a home.  Someplace that's mine - that I can do whatever I want with and not worry about getting charged for it when I move out.  I could have a pet, if I want.  I don't have to worry about downstairs neighbors being upset when my daughter has stomping meltdowns.


In Japan, there are two options:  a house or a "mansion".  Nope, not a mansion like you're thinking of, as in a huge palace with a swimming pool or two.  In Japan, a mansion is basically an apartment that you own.   General repairs are covered through monthly maintenance fees paid by the people who live there, but repairs/problems with your own rooms are your own responsibility.  But there are some negatives to mansions.  For example, the older the building gets, the higher the maintenance fees get - so even after you've paid off your mortgage, you're still paying into the maintenance pot.  Also, should the other owners decide to scrap the whole building and rebuild, if 80% of them vote for it, even if you don't want it...it's happening.  Not to mention, I'd hate spending that kind of money and get stuck with terrible neighbors!  It's not like I could just pack up and move.


So, I really want a HOUSE.  I found the perfect one.  Got rejections from all the banks for a loan.  I thought it was about ME.  I have Japanese citizenship and a good credit record, decent savings for someone in my position...but I'm also a yearly contract worker rather than a full-time "regular" employee.  But today I found out that, beyond any problems banks might have with ME, the problem is the house.  It faces a small "street" that somehow isn't actually a street.  Meaning, it's more like someone's property that is being used as a street.  No bank anywhere will give anyone a loan for this house.


Back to square one...  Not going to tell you how much I cried today, finding out I couldn't get that house.

Tanabata

Today was Tanabata.  Not that we did anything special, but I just wanted to show a few of the special things you'll find during this time at school. 

You will definitely see one of these in front of the 1st grade classrooms.  Sometimes they're displayed at city hall or some shopping centers as well.  Children write their wishes on rectangular pieces of paper and tie them to the branches. 

This kid wants to get better at swimming. 

Some of the wishes can be pretty interesting and they're a good sign of each child's personality.  Many of them want to get better at some school subject or have better writing.  Some of them write what they want to be in the future (soccer player, pastry chef).  Other kids just write something they want, like it's a letter to Santa....  *facepalm*

Kyushoku gets in on the celebration as well.  This is a typical Tanabata soup.  Includes star shaped...whatever the heck that is...and okra (which is naturally star shaped).  Not terribly delicious, in my opinion, but it's tradition. 

Wild boars & monkeys, oh my!

About a month ago, I went to what you might call a state park for a short hike.  I came upon this on the notice board near the entrance.

As if the picture and the red exclaiming-type image weren't enough to figure it out, it says to watch out for wild boars.  There is also advice for if you do happen to run into one.  Put any food you might have into your backpack.  Definitely don't feed it!  Back away slowly.

I guess it depends on where you live, but although there was a wide variety of wildlife where I came from, we didn't have wild boars.  Or monkeys.  But sometimes there are monkey warnings in Japan too! 

This is a monkey warning sign along a highway in Aichi Prefecture.  Those monkeys are no joke!  Check out that over-turned truck!! 

 

Unfortunately, I have never seen a wild boar or a monkey in a public place.  I have been to Arashiyama in Kyoto, where you can climb a small mountain and go visit some monkeys.  You can feed them apple slices from inside a building (through a fence-type window).  Photos from Arashiyama below:

"You're almost at the top.  The monkeys are waiting for you!"

"What is the meaning of life?  Oh wait, I'm just a monkey.  Bananas!"

Student art

A couple of weeks ago, all the 6th grade classes at one of my schools held an art "exhibition" in their classrooms and invited all the other kids to come during the break times.  It was all Buddhist art (I believe they had been to Nara awhile ago and saw the great Buddha there).  Every student's work was different, since there are so many varieties of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.  These two were my favorites.

One of the many-faced, many-armed Bodhisattvas.  I've always liked these kinds of statues.

This one...I have no idea how this was made.  Look at it!  This picture could have multiple interpretations, but I think it's Fudo Myo-o (a kinda angry-looking protective deity).


**Disclaimer: I'm not a Buddhist, therefore any information on this page comes from Google.  If I'm mistaken, sorry!