Food and CDs

Today started out normally.  We had a light breakfast because today, finally, we were going to Majin Buu.  It was definitely going to be open, and we were going to eat so many noodles that we couldn't move when we finished.  Since it's been closed every time we've tried to go before, we were definitely going to enjoy it today.
But guess what!  It was closed again!  We've been on different days every time, so we're just having the worst luck with this place.  That's okay, though  because our secondary choice let me try chanpon, the specialty food of Nagasaki.  It's some kind of noodle that comes with a bunch of other stuff.



I thought I'd show you guys what a menu looks like in Japan, because it's a little different.  In almost every restaurant here, the menu will have pictures of the food.  There may be a description, but more often than not the picture is enough.  If you think about it, any other way of writing a menu is kind of dumb.  People can't get an idea of what your dish is like from text alone.

This is what chanpon looks like.  We apparently got a double serving for everyone, so it's not normally this huge..  Regardless of the size, I ate the entire thing because I was all ready for the huge portions at Majin Buu.

After lunch, we had to go runs some errands, so my host family took me to the beverage store.  It's not just alcohol; it has anything drinkable that you could ever want. 

Since it's now late summer, they also had a bin of fireworks.  Fireworks here are marketed to children because Japanese kids aren't going to aim a roman candle at their friends.

My host family dropped me off at home before they went to the grocery store, and suddenly I was struck with the urge to go to Popola.  When I go there, I usually end up digging through old games, CDs, or figures, and today was really no different.  However, I did notice this for the first time.

Why is this door here?
Where does it go?
Does it only work in four dimensions?

I went to the little arcade on the third floor to finally play Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.  Pac-man's there because it was produced by Namco.  Anyway, unless you have the point card for frequent players, do not play this game.  It's delightful because it's Mario, but 100 yen (about $1) only gets you one turn.  By "turn", I don't mean "once chance to play until you lose", I mean "one race".  Regardless of your final placement in the race, even if it was first (like I got, pictured above), you have to pay another 100 yen to race again.  It's not cool.  I'll never get to see some of the tracks now.

Funny story regarding my CD purchases today:  this morning I was talking to my friend about how I couldn't find the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack anywhere here.  Several hours and a strong compulsion to go to Book-Off later, GUESS WHAT I FOUND.  That's it on the left.  On the right is Klaha's Nostal Lab, which is the solo album he made after Malice Mizer went on their almost-definitely permanent hiatus in 2001.  Klaha is the man with the grey-dyed hair on the black, white, and red poster above my bed at home that says "Malice Mizer" on it, in case you needed a reference.  His solo works were not at all like that; he had switched to a very unique brand of popular music by the time this came out.  I've heard the CD before and it's great, so I thought it'd be a good thing to have (especially for the price I found it).

Tomorrow we're going to get Indian food finally!  It's not hard to find here, but I haven't yet had the time to sit down and have any.  I'm excited!