Startin' up 2009

This has quickly become my favorite little treat here. It's just dough wrapped around whipped cream, shortcake, and one lonely strawberry, but for some reason I can't get enough. The dough is thick and chewy, and the whole thing reminds me enough of traditional Japanese daifuku that I've somehow managed to convince myself that it's actually healthy.

Even if it's not (let's get serious -- even though it's not), I am still going to eat a thousand of them until, inevitably, they grow 'out of season' and another seasonal item is brought in to replace it. This is how almost all sweets and drinks work here; you will go to the convenience store, find some new bread or soda that you absolutely love, and three weeks later it's been replaced by something you'd never want to willingly ingest. My saddest example of this was when my beloved "calorie off" (Engrish translation: low calorie) pudding cream bread was replaced by flavorless "honey sticks." The only part of that name they had right was the sticks, really.

I miss my pudding cream bread.

Yesterday, for my January 1st celebrations, I went around southern Osaka on my bike and hit up the three closest shrines. I didn't really want to go to any large, crowded one, but my small neighborhood shrines were bustling enough. I rang the bell at Daikoku Shrine and had someone already trying to push me out of the way so he could go before I'd even put my hands together to pray.

Gotta love southern Osaka folk.

The most impressive of the three shrines, for me, was Naniwa Yasaka Shrine, mostly because of this guy:

I wouldn't mess with that.

Here's another shot of the shrine. The lanterns bear the names of local businesses and companies in the area.

After that, I rode around for another hour before deciding to get some late lunch. Being January 1st, I didn't expect many places to be open, and most weren't. Right before I decided to settle for a Big Mac, however, I noticed that my favorite ramen restaurant was not only open, but also having a "ladies day" sale. Now, I'm not much of a lady, but I'll try and pass for one if it gets me 100 yen off my grub.

I'm getting a little too used to being on vacation now. It's going to be rough going back to work. If you see me posting pictures of my head smashed against a keyboard next Monday, you know why.