A good friend called Ema
At many a shrine, rows and rows of wooden votive plaques are hung up in various places. They’re called ema (the kanji literally mean ‘picture horse‘.) Visitors write their wishes, hopes and dreams on the ema in the hope they’ll come true. Aww. How optimistic. I wonder how many trees have been sacrificed to the […]
Purpose-built blog post with excellent hyperlinks
Ah, the nuanced and implication-drenched language of estate agents, hoteliers and landlords. It’s rustic and full of charm: don’t turn the door handle too forcefully or it’ll come off in your hand. Attractively compact: get out of bed and straight into the shower! Three-minute walk from the station: if your name happens to be Usain […]
Things look different around here
They say the camera adds 10 pounds. I don’t remember eating a camera. Hello! Yes, this is me. Living it up in Japan. As if you’re not sick of me telling you. I’ve been here three months now, and at a conservative estimate I’ve put on three kilos. It might even be four by now. […]
Tr-hoot-h in advertising
Hukulou Coffee is an owl cafe. It’s famous in the Osaka area specifically for being an owl cafe. The word ‘hukulou’ is (sort of) Japanese for owl. I think it’s also a parody of local cafe chain Honolulu Coffee, but let’s not go there. Fuku, the bird in question, can apparently sometimes be seen with […]
It’s all about perspective
“This balcony has got to be bigger than my entire bloody flat.” Is what I thought when I arrived at a friend’s birthday party the other week. Considering the balcony was holding a massive paddling pool, a hammock, chairs, a sofa, a fridge and a barbecue, I’d put money on being right. Seriously, look at […]
It’s a pizza cake!
I’ve introduced you all to my Mum before. The woman I’ve been waging emoji war with for months on end. She has even more talents than just the incomprehensible texting, I assure you. When it comes to birthdays, Mum doesn’t muck about. Her mantra is ‘you’ve got to make sure people have something to unwrap’. […]
