More on Shizuoka....

Japanese people love Americans. In high school, I think it was sophmore year in World History with SMEK (Sister Mary Eileen Kenney), I saw a picture of modern Japan in our history textbook. It had a picture of some Japanese kids roller skating down a sidewalk with a caption saying that the Japanese imitated US culture. Wow... crazy, I thought. There it was 1987 and NO ONE was roller skating anymore... how passé (unless, perhaps, you lived in LA).


However, now, 20 years later, I see just how much the Japanese have truly embraced western culture, and in so many ways they have improved on it. Mariko and I did a little shopping in downtown Shizuoka today. I broke down and bought the Godiva Chocolixir, much as I made fun of the overpriced drink. We also picked up a couple of pieces of Godiva chocolate since Mariko insists that it's so much better than the Campbell™ distributed, Made In USA-Godiva marketed and sold in the US. I think it was moderately better-tasting, but I'm just not a Godiva fan. For my taste, skip all the nonsensical marketing for the masses (the sheep) and give me a quality product.


Mariko and I with the Chocolixir.


Back to walking down the street... we came upon a little plaza where we sat the first sultry night upon our arrival in Shizuoka for the "Night Fair" and there were a bunch of Japanese, American-styled cheerleaders carrying on with amazing energy and enthusiasm. I was really impressed with their intensity. Check out a little video.



Here's Mariko walking around. Note, Starbucks on the left. Starbucks... everywhere.



We went to a French restaurant for lunch. In typical French fashion, a reasonable portion of food was NOT included with your meal.... and I'm a small eater. Maybe they just want you to come back for dinner. I never understood this about gourmet French restaurants. Even the Japanese, who stay so thin, offer reasonable portions of food in their restaurants.





Mariko got a lunch platter, and no choice of teacup. On her plate, some Japanese beef, pumpkin soup with milk (all cold), bread, salad and a little fruit. Maki is in the background. She got the potato soup too and was really excited to eat it.



I got a smoked salmon and cheese sando. I could taste the salmon but sometimes I couldn't see it. I ate my sandwich with chopsticks since I really haven't seen Japanese people eat with their fingers. They said it would have been OK to use my fingers though.



After lunch we found this place selling 10-yen manju. I bought 30 and scarfed down a dozen before bedtime. Can you say YUM?!?!?






One thing I did like about the French restaurant was that you got to pick your tea cup for lunch, and there was a large selection. I was torn between the Mt. Fuji cup and the "Turampu" (Trump) cup. I chose Trump. Of course your drink tastes better when you can drink it from your favorite glasses.



When you buy treats in Japan the stores pack them with ice packs. This is a nice touch and perhaps something for the western pastry shops (US, Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy) to consider.



Woody House. No further comment.



Mariko liked this sign. She calls me "Kura". There's also the FreakyShow, the Bar Esta noche, and the SettleDown Boutique.

"Honey, can I buy this?"

"No, now SETTLE DOWN!".







This is Mariko's "countryside" neighborhood. There's a CircleK right by her house. I have never even been to a CircleK in the US, but I can assure you it's not as clean, well-stocked or organized as this store. I like going there to pick up one of the great variety of drinks sold in this country or a tasty snack (bento box, yogurt, onigiri [riceball], etc.)
You can see the roof of Mariko's house just left of center, behind the apartment building. It's just off Rt. 1. as seen below.



This is "Route 1". It starts in Tokyo and goes to Osaka. It's like Northern Blvd. on steroids.