Sun 9 Feb 2003
My first visitor!
Posted by Marc under Travel Tales
My friend Scott Embree from college in Rochester came to visit me yesterday. He was on a business trip near Tokyo, and decided to come down for the night! He booked a room at the Osaka Hilton (very nice, if anyone’s thinking of visiting) and we got together around 7:30 or so. I had had a really busy day at work, so I went to his hotel room (5 mins from my school) to change and shower. Then we went out for “okonomiyaki”, an Osaka specialty. It’s kind of like an egg pancake with fish, meat, and vegetables mixed in. It’s cooked on a grill right in front of you so you can watch. I really liked it and so did Scott. Check out the pics.
 
 
Then we met up with my training buddy Craig and one of his students, Yuki (yes, Michele, Yuki). We found the COOLEST bar in Shinsaibashi, the clubby area. It was called “Gas Light” and it was run by this great old guy who loved that we spoke Japanese. He had the widest variety of liquor I’d yet seen in Japan. I had a Jameson’s and it was delicious. Pics:
 
 
One wierd thing about Japan: there are hardly any napkins! I end up using tissues for everything, which is a huge waste. I was doing the paper math yesterday with my co-worker Rebecca: 4 tissues = 2 napkins = 1 paper towel. WTF? Why are they so scarce?
And another thing: the barber pole is, for some reason unbeknownst to me, universal! The spinning red, white, and blue pole means “get a haircut here.” Why?
I bought a bike! And a parking spot! Now I can bike to the express train station, and park. And I found a real supermarket somewhat near my house. And I went to K-mart in Japan. It’s called “Konan” and it’s terrific.
Please everyone wish Michele a very happy birthday on Feb. 11th. It’s Japanese Constitution Day too! Woo-hoo!
February 9th, 2003 at 10:32 pm
Neph, M,
I LOVE your journal!!!!
And, look forward to checking for new entries about your adventures.
And, I am SO jealous…
But, I am enjoying a definite vicarious thrill.
So glad you are my neph.
Love, Auntie L
February 11th, 2003 at 4:13 am
From “A Short History of the Barber Pole” :
The origin of the barber’s pole appears to be associated with his service of bloodletting. The original pole has a brass basin at its top representing the vessel in which leeches were kept and also represented the basin which received the blood. The pole itself represented the staff which the patient held onto during the operation. The red and white stripes represented the bandages used during the procedure, red for the bandages stained with blood during the operation and white for the clean bandages. The bandages would be hung out to dry after washing on the pole and would blow and twist together forming the spiral pattern similar to the modern day barber pole.
The bloodstained bandages became recognized as the emblem of the barber-surgeon’s profession. Later in time, the emblem was replaced by a wooden pole of white and red stripes. These colours are recognized as the true colours of the barber emblem. Red, white and blue are widely used in America due partly to the fact that the national flag has these colours. Another interpretation of these barber pole colours is that red represents arterial blood, blue is symbolic of venous blood and white depicts the bandage. After formation of the United Barber Surgeons Company in England, a statue required barbers to use a blue and white pole and surgeons to use a red pole. In France the surgeons of the long robe placed a red pole with a basin attached to identify their offices. The barber pole - a historical link with surgery.
February 11th, 2003 at 6:25 am
YUKIE? YUKIE?
FINE.
That’s some birthday greeting … Yukie, indeed. Humph.
February 12th, 2003 at 1:53 am
Marc,
Aren’t there people handing out tissues outside all of the subway and trainstops? When I was in Tokyo you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting someone from a local restaurant, cell phone company, or karaoke bar handing out tissue packs (tishu) at train stations.
Take advantage of the free-bees where they are.
February 12th, 2003 at 1:53 am
Oops. That last post, about the tissue, was me.
February 16th, 2003 at 4:29 pm
Paul,
Wow. I guess that’s Google for you, right? Cool, thanks for the info.
Matt,
Yeah, those crappy tissues are everywhere, but they just don’t have the same picker-upper power as, say, a roll of Bounty. I use 10 times for tissues that paper towels.
August 17th, 2003 at 4:27 pm
would love some more info on Gas Light - never heard of it.
August 18th, 2003 at 8:38 pm
Joe, I’d love to give you more info but I don’t think I will ever find it again. I’d had too much to drink and even if I wanted to go back (which I do) I can’t find it.