For Chris (and to a lesser extent, Dan)

Smooth Moves

I've finally crossed over

The "Japanese Robert Plant" joked that I looked like Oddjob from Goldfinger. Then everyone laughed. Feels like home.

Chomo Research Late Entry or "My Quest Continues"

Drink Name: Van Houten Cocoa
Maker: Kataoka
Price: 128 yen
Size: 1000ml
Container format: Standard 1 litre carton
Advertised features or distinguishable characteristics: Named after renowned Dutch chocolate maker C.J. Van Houten himself, the inventor of the cocoa press.
Taste: Maybe the most promising of the three so far, but still not perfect. There's a strange chemical-like aftertaste that taints the entire cocoa-drinking experience. Nice aroma but still a little watery. Sir Van Houten would be rolling in his chocolatey grave.

Be water, my friend.

I played a pretty cool show last night with some super fun bands. We were the only band without coordinated costumes. Some photos and videos below (they were taken on a cell phone so mind the distorted sound).

1. Flower Mulu
These girls were cute and played some fun garage rock, 60's mod grooves and so forth. When I went up to talk to them, they introduced themselves with their stage names, each named after a different type of flower. I asked what their reals names were and it turned out that those were much easier to remember. I couldn't really tell how old they were because they were wearing lots of makeup and fake eyelashes, but they said they've been playing together for 10 years. I bought the cd they were selling, which was a compilation of girl groups in Japan. All the songs on the disc have the same stereotypical garage sound, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering you can't really find this type of music in Vancouver. I rather enjoyed it actually.


2. The Mighty Moguls All the members of this band wore cavemen costumes and their lead singer had a voice like a 60 year old smoker. And she was a chick. They were really cool though. Lots of energy. In normal clothes, they look, well, normal.


3. Lemon
From "Heard It On the Grapevine" to some Japanese stuff to "Proud Mary," this diva turned it on.



4. The ParrotsCute bass player. Sgt. Pepper-ish costumes. Matching white coiled patch cords.

Subway Safety

These are dope because the old bald guy is always getting the shaft.

Chomo Research

I like chocolate. I like milk. I like the two together sometimes ("Let us celebrate our agreement with the adding of chocolate to milk"). However, chocolate milk is hard to come by in Japan. 'Normal' tasting milk in general is difficult to find (it just tastes different over here). I have purchased warm cocoa from a vending machine before, but would I be able to find a refrigerated version that didn't taste so watery? This weekend I stumbled onto a liquor/convenience store in Shimokitazawa that sold a particular brand of chocolate milk that I had never seen in any other store before. I also found a small tetra-pak drink made by Hershey's at the local Seiyu. Let's see how they compared in the taste test:


Drink Name: Cocoa
Maker: Hershey's
Price: 69 yen
Size: 220ml
Container format: Slim tetra-pak with plastic straw
Advertised features or distinguishable characteristics: None, though the picture on the front has chocolate milk with an ice cube in it. Gross.
Taste: Pretty watery, with a powdery-cocoa texture. Very sweet taste, almost like milk tea. Similar taste and consistency with the hot cocoa purchased from vending machine.


Drink Name: Milk Chocolate Drink
Maker: Sujahta
Price: 178 yen
Size: 1000ml
Container format: Standard 1-litre carton with plastic spout and flip-off cap
Advertised features or distinguishable characteristics:10mg of GABA, 60mg of Polyphenol, and 1.2mg of Vitamin E. Picture on the front is a chocolate bar pouring itself into a cup. Looks to have potential.
Taste: More of a thin chocolate liquid than a milk (akin to the difference between 'orange drink' and 'orange juice'). Also watery-tasting. Strong dark chocolate-flavored aftertaste.

Verdict: Japanese don't know good chomo.

Rock 'n' Soul Part 1

Might as well keep the theme going

You know that feeling you get when you're biking home at 2am from Kichijoji half buzzed with Hall & Oates playing on your MP3 player, not really caring how long the bike ride home is as long as the Hall & Oates album doesn't end, and though it's a reportedly 3 degree Celsius you're not cold because you have your toque, scarf and mitts on and your legs are constantly battling the random inclines? And you pretty much aren't thinking about where you're going because you know this part of town like the back of your hand? Well, I just had that feeling.