Shinjuku

We went to 新宿 (Shinjuku, Tokyo) yesterday.

Saw the giant Godzilla over the Toho Theater building, went to the 45th floor observation platform in 東京都庁 (Tokyo Government Building) to see the sunset over the city skyline.

And then we went to an 居酒屋 (izakaya restaurant).  While we were there, a big earthquake struck near Tokyo. I’ve experienced numerous earthquakes in Japan over the years…but will always hate them!

When we went home, it took longer than usual because, as we feared, the earthquake caused train delays.

Metal Festivals in Tokyo

Every October for the past ten years, there is a two-day heavy metal music festival in the Tokyo area called “Loudpark“.

This year it is scheduled for 2015 October 10th (Sat) and October 11th (Sun).

Loudpark heavy metal festival; 2015 Oct 10-11.

Some of the major bands that are billed to play are: Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Three of the “Big Four“!

And then the following month, there will be another big heavy metal festival in the Tokyo area!
OzzFest Japan is scheduled for 2015 November 21st (Sat) and November 22nd!

OzzFest Japan 2015 will be held on 2015 Nov 21st – 22nd.

Unlike Loudpark, OzzFest doesn’t have a long history in Japan. This will only be the second OzzFest in this country so far.

The first OzzFest Japan ever was held in May of 2013. I went to it with a friend of mine.
(Click here to read my post about it.)

I saw Black Sabbath, among other bands, at OzzFest Japan 2013…and they were initially billed to headline OzzFest Japan 2015, but it’s been changed for whatever reason…Ozzy will still be playing with his solo band instead.

The main acts of OzzFest Japan 2015 will be: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, KoRn Bullet For My Valentine, and Evanscence.

Western foods that Japanese people find disgusting…

Maybe it’s because I’ve lived my entire adult life in Japan, but I prefer bitter chocolate to milk chocolate too.
And I hate licorice and root beer too.
And I have never put soy sauce on rice.

But, it does disappoint me the way Japanese people peel almost all fruit. The skin on a lot fruit is delicious…especially peaches!!

Peeling a peach is blasphemy!

Random Posts

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog…I especially appreciate every comment!  Please comment on any post, no matter when it was written.

Which leads me to…there is a link in the right-hand column of my blog here that says “Random Post“.

You can click the link and the computer will show one of my many blog posts.

So, by all means, feel free to comment on any random post on my blog!

Gari Gari Kun

It seems that, because of the internet, a number of people know of the myriad of Kit-Kat flavors in Japan.
Click here to read of the posts I’ve written about them.

But many other products, both Japanese and foreign, are sold in unique flavors in Japan.

For example, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-cola. (Click here to see the posts I’ve written about them.

Also, potato chips, chocolates and other snacks…as well as sandwiches and beverages (besides the colas I’ve mentioned above) come in a variety of flavors here.
Japanese pizza and crepe have unique “only-in-Japan” toppings sometimes.

Maybe I’ll write a blog post about some of those one day.
But today, since the weather is getting warmer, I decided to write about a Japanese ice-pop (or アイスキャンデー (ice candy) as it’s known in Japan) that is very popular here in the summer.

It’s called 「ガリガリ君」 (“Gari-Gari-kun“)

Japanese 「ガリガリ君」 (“Gari-Gari-kun”) ice-pop. (This one is “Soda flavor”).

In America, the “Popsicle” brand ice-pop (ice candy) is the most popular…in Japan, it’s “Gari-Gari-Kun“.

And, just like a lot of other snacks here (such as “Kit-Kat“), Gari-Gari-Kun is sold in a wide, diverse variety of flavors.

Here are a few examples:

Tiramisu (Italian dessert) flavor “Gari-Gari-Kun” ice-pop.

みかん (Tangerine) flavor “Gari-Gari-Kun” ice-pop.

Grapefruit flavor “Gari-Gari-Kun” ice-pop.

A few more Kyoto photos

A few more photos from our 2015 May 4-5 trip to Kyoto:

Inside the 新幹線 (bullet train). (That person in this photo isn’t known to us).

A ツバメ (swallow) made her nest in a temple.

Byoudou-in

鯉 (carp) in the pond at Byoudo-in.

Kinkakuji

Kyoto trip

Today is the last day of Golden Week. It’s a series of consecutive holidays in May that are known collectively as “Golden Week”.

We decided to take a two-day trip to Kyoto during Golden Week this year.  So, in early morning of May 4th, we took a fast but comfortable 新幹線 (bullet train) to Kyoto. We stayed in a nice hotel that overlooked 琵琶湖 (Lake Biwa), the largest lake in Japan. And we took the bullet train back to Tokyo in the evening of May 5th.

We had a really good time and got to see many of Kyoto’s famous sites.

Here are some of the photos I took:

We took this 新幹線 (bullet train) to Kyoto from Tokyo on May 4th.

View from the bullet train window.

Even the local trains were a bit different from Tokyo’s.

The famous Fushi-Inari Temple in Kyoto.

1000 torii gates at Fushimi-Inari.

Wisteria at Byoudou-in

The famous Byoudou-in Temple in Kyoto.

This temple is shown on the backside of the Japanese ¥10 coin.

Kyoto Tower

Our hotel had a lovely view of the largest lake in Japan: 琵琶湖 (Lake Biwa).

Delicious dinner at our hotel. 近江牛 (O-mi-gyu Beef)!

The second (and final) day of our trip (2015 May 5th), the weather was much nicer!

The famous 嵐山公園 (Arashi-yama Koen) in Kyoto.

many people wear kimono in the ancient city of Kyoto.

Tenryuuji Temple

The famous 金閣寺 (Kinkaku-ji) Temple is covered in gold.

6PM on May 5th, 2015 at Kyoto Station to take the bullet train back home in Tokyo.

京都駅 (Kyoto Station)…we had a good time!