Adventures in Japan

Tuck In

Just a couple of quick notes to add to Carla's post


First of all, one of the carnival games involves catching goldfish. I have no idea what that was all about. Also, one of the other booths that was giving out prizes had a startling array of prizes. It had the usual cheap fuzzy stuffed animal junk for the kids, but for the grown-ups there were pornographic videos to be won. Right next to the cheaply made stuffed elephant was a selection of videos I can't begin to describe on this website. Please remember that this was on the grounds of the shrine during one of the most important religious events in Japan. That kinda stopped me in my tracks.

Something else that made me less ambulatory than usual: incredibly inexpensive Korean alcohol. Carla, David and I were in a combini (do you remember your Japanese? That means convenience store) discussing the best value for money when it comes to alcohol. Like the fates had aligned, we noticed this bottle of hooch. It may be called Jinro, or that might just be the name of the manufacturer, but it doesn't really matter. What really matters is that you get 1.8 litres of 25% alcohol for under two dollars. How can you beat that? That's right: you can't. So what if it smells like rubbing alcohol mixed with industrial cleaner and tastes slightly worse. And so what if I was cursing it all the next day. Under. Two. Dollars. That's all you need to know.


I'm going to wedge this little aside in here: there was a very lovely pond in the middle of the shrine grounds. Not ten feet away on all sides were thousands of people and bright lights and loud noises and a haunted house, but the pond was quiet and serene. Tucked in the middle of the masses was this little pocket of quiet prettiness.

Did you see what I did there, I tucked the bit about the quiet pond tucked away inside the noise inside my ramblings.

Also, inside my tucked away bit about the tucked away bit was a tucked away reference to a haunted house. That's because there was a haunted house there. I took a picture.


Carla said we could go on it, but we didn't. This leads me to believe that she is a liar.