Chimney

The Chimney is a room humidifier.... the air gets very dry with air conditioning and also in Japan its extremely dry so something like this will help your throat, nose, and general feeling.

The good thing about this one is that it also has a cool design unlike most of the horrible little box ones you can get in electric shops.....

The tank holds about two litres of water which will keep it working for about 8 hours... not that I need to leave it on for 8 hours, my house fills up with a cool water mist hanging in the air...its interesting but you have to be careful that you don't raise the humidity too much, otherwise you can get mold and other nasty bacteria growing everywhere...

Polar Bear Juice

Just what you have always wanted, a Polar Bear drink made from 100% juice...



Well no not really its just another strange energy drink from Japan, Hokkaido to be precise.




What does it taste like? Hmmmm has a cold, strong taste with a hint of fur...

Hedgehog

Picked up this rather interesting wooden hedgehog a while back from Muji. Actually i think i was more attracted by the box but that said once open i kind of like the actual thing too.. and at 990yen a bargain....





What's it for? Hmmmm well its a toy for kids, I'm sure not enough kids get to play with wooden hedgehogs ............................................. don't you?

Jaeger-lecoultre

Not well known in Japan which for me is a good thing but I love my Reverso by Jaeger-lecoultre



The watch can reverse sides with two different dials one black one white... the white one has a seconds indicator and the black one a day night indicator.... all without taking it from your wrist.

What makes it more special is that it runs off one movement, so the hands on the white dial are fixed normally to the movement whilst for the reverse side there is a system which enables the hands to run in the correct direction (if they were simply attached to the bottom of the movement they would run in reverse)

The black dial also enables you to display a different time zone from the front... the small button de-clutches the mechanism and shifts if forward an hour or more, as many as you need. (handy for the traveller)

Finally its a mechanical movement (no batteries and a power reserve in the form of a spring) , and also a square movement, not common amongst wrist watches...... I never get tired of it and really the photos do not do the thing justice, the workmanship and art deco inspired design (the original Reverso was designed in 1931) are amazing.

Paella

Paella is a great dish, possibly my favorite... had this one a couple of days ago at a small Spanish place. They had a couple of options, the traditional seafood paella (which can be seen here) or the Valencia paella which has chicken instead of seafood and is served in the inland areas of Spain.



The restaurant also had some interesting tableware (its a jug for Sangria)... after a few glasses however it seems to make increasingly more sense :-)

Nespresso

Had this coffee machine for a while now, I can't do without good coffee although my stomach probably could. The great thing about this machine is that it makes a superb Espresso, Latte, or Cappuccino but also at the same time looks good and is easy to use.






Check out the web site for more info, George Clooney did an advertisement about a year ago which was really great but unfortunately its now been removed from the site....

The machine uses coffee capsules




which come in a variety of different types, all distinct variants each sealed for freshness........ nice :-)
................. and the best thing is it still works out cheaper than Starbucks or similar!

Japanese medicine

Medicine is a little strange in Japan,...or should I say different. This is an example of a cute character advertising your medication of choice, in this case one for a bad stomach after eating or drinking too much...

Knowing that you have this little guy alongside you fighting to make you feel better of course makes all the difference :-)

Rain

Oceans 13 today. It was OK.....parts were very good but not all. I guess the first one is always going to be the best one but never mind. It was nice weather this morning but then by the afternoon felt like rainy season all over again...... doesn't Shinjuku look nice in the rain?
OK the second picture isn't Shinjuku at all but another place famous for rain......somehow we don't seem to mind.....

Rainbow Six

I'm not usually a video game fan but succumbed to getting a PS3 a couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about the Wii but was impressed by the overall visuals of the PS3 and that it had HDMI. Anyway Rainbow Six Vegas is great, music, graphics and controls/strategy makes for a challenge but fun at the same time :-) Yet to check out the multi player options.......

Japanese politicians - conservative?

Now its well known that Japanese in general are fairly conservative and reserved ...... then possibly with the exception of the ex-prime minister the politicians here are even more so... So then was mildly amused to see this candidate on the local election boards about a month ago.. Did he win? ermmmm well no... but I would have voted for him, if i could vote :-)

Back...with a penguin

Been a hot summer, haven't really had so much to write about and then probably have been too lazy to keep up to date but will try to do better. As you can see I have a penguin.... ermm.. lost my mind maybe but really love penguins. This one is actually a small cushion and was ridiculously expensive but couldn't resist....oh never mind.