Tea is very important to British people. Incredibly important, any nation that can rename the final, main, meal of the day to “tea” has to be a bit obsessed.  So it doesn’t take long for your average Brit to realise that normal (read: tea from tea bags) tea is just not as good here.

This is easily remedied however, due it’s long staying power it is easy to ask family and friends for supplies. The huge box of PG Tips in my kitchen which has lasted about 6 months is testament to that. I soon discovered there are no good dunking biscuits though.

DISASTER!

In Japan there are none of the brands that a British guy trusts. No HobNobs, no Rich Teas, nothing. The Japanese equivalents just aren’t as good. Perhaps because there is no culture of dunking here, Japanese biscuits just don’t seem to be up to the task.

Japanese tea drinking culture seems to be a bit odd in general. Ice teas are popular enough here, especially Oolong, Jasmin and Lemon. In fact, ice tea plus shochu is very widely drunk. These are all actually quite nice though, unlike the cold milk “afternoon” tea that is sold here. After tasting it I can’t think of any time in the day, afternoon, morning or evening, I would want to drink it again. It’s still strange that I have to specify that I want my tea hot when I go to cafés.

As I wanted to find some sort of biscuits to enjoy with my tea I decided to set up Pepsi challenge style blind independent taste tests. (Hey! Nights are long and I get bored easily).

So 3 brave candidates took the challenge.

Candidate 1, RS, enjoys his tea with milk and 1 sugar. He is Scottish.

Candidate 2, YK, also prefers hers with milk and 1 sugar. She is Japanese.

Candidate 3, MH, likes his tea simply with milk and no sugar. He is an Englishman.

6 biscuits were tested and feedback was as follows,

Biscuit 1: Coconut Sable

Reactions to this one were largely positive, RS commented that it was sweet and sugary while MH added that it was tasty and soft. However it was perhaps too soft for YK who commented that it melted immediately, it should be mentioned though that she instantly went for a second bite. Overall it seems that this biscuit has a good taste but is perhaps too soft for effective dunking.

Biscuit 2: Salt and Chocolate Digestive

Things started badly for this biscuit, with MH wondering if it was orange flavoured and stated that the chocolate and the tea did not react well. YK disagreed and simply exclaimed that the chocolate was delicious. RS gave a more balanced view and said that this biscuit was preferable to the Coconut Sable but really hard to chew. So a mixed reception greeted this one.

Biscuit 3: Homepie Premium.

The runt of the litter, MH said that it had no taste, RS elaborated by saying that it does not add anything to the tea, while YK said it was disgusting. A no go then.

Biscuit 4: Midnight Cookie

The uniquely named Midnight Cookie was also not a hit. YK again said it was disgusting,  RS complemented on the texture but lamented on the fact it turned to mush as soon as it was put into the tea. MH added that it tasted like sand. Overall then not a good dipping experience, it’s just too soft.

Biscuit 5: Oreo

A big hit with the testers. RS waxed lyrical that as soon as he put it in his mouth there was “sweetie goodness”. YK loved it, taking four bites of this one. MH simply added “NOM! NOM! NOM!”. Here I feel the reactions speak for themselves.

Biscuit 6: Pocky

Pocky was a left-field choice, not a biscuit per se but a long pretzel stick covered in chocolate. As MH noted this made it excellent for stirring the tea but he found the taste disappointing. YK felt that the Pocky needed two dips to get the tea to absorb and as a result the chocolate melted. RS felt it was good but would not have it in tea all the time. So the Pocky turned out to be a disappointment, the advantage of the shape was far outweighed by the mess created by the chocolate dripping on the floor.

Biscuit 7: Regular Digestive

This was considered to be a control of sorts, a biscuit readily available in both the UK and Japan would be expected to earn positive but not stellar results. However reactions were surprising, RS wondered if it was a dog biscuit, MH said it was dull and plain and YK was so disgusted that she took her blindfold off and walked away.

I think that the results are clear, Oreos are great in tea.

I may have taken this whole thing a bit too far.

A few days ago, while teaching a class, one of the kids kicked her shoe off her foot and said, “Sunny!”. The other kids giggled and I stopped what I was doing and watched her, a little perplexed. She then preceded to put the shoe back on and kick it off again. This time she exclaimed “Cloudy”.

By now I was a little confused but I let it continue because she was actually saying this weather vocabulary in English, any English practise is good. Even if it is bizarre. So, she put the shoe back on again, for yet another kick. This time she said, “Rainy”. At this point I hit her over the head with a flashcard and continued with the lesson.

Upon recounting this story to a friend, I discovered that what she was doing was an old Japanese game played by kids to find out tomorrow’s weather.

Children kick off their shoe and say “Ashita tenki ni nare” (which I think means something along the lines of, what will the weather be tomorrow?). If it lands the correct side up that means the weather is going to be sunny, if it lands the wrong way round it means it will rain and if on it’s side, cloudy. Although traditionally it was done with a Geta, that old Japanese clog sandal thing.

This knowledge lead to an epiphany for me, this sketch, which I had seen years before, suddenly made a little more sense.

I always thought she threw off her shoe because she was a bit mental. Context is a wonderful thing.

Recently I bought Dragon’s Lair for my iPod Touch. Very much an impulse purchase but I’d always wanted to give it a go since I saw it in an arcade many years ago.

I have since discovered the game is a bit evil. The way the game works is basically that you watch some cartoon sequences and at certain points have to input a direction or press a swing the sword button. If you are a bit late, early or just wrong, you die. So you spend the game dying, over and over again. Luckily there are a huge amount of death animations. For me the joy of the game became watching them, just to see how many ways he can die. So here is my little tribute to Dragon’s Lair, a montage of deaths that poor old Dirk The Daring can suffer, I think I enjoyed every last one of them.

Something strange has been happening recently in Japan, things have started going missing. Now, I’m not talking about my things, they go missing all the time. I’m still looking for my electric shaver’s charger. Important things, like statues, monuments and magazine covers.

I first found out about this when the Moyai head statue in Shibuya went missing, followed by Kuidaore Taro from Dotonbori in Osaka. Something was up and seeing what remained at the scene of the crime made me suspect one person.

That’s right, based on this note the only logical perpetrator can be Lupin the 3rd, the world’s greatest gentleman thief and owner of the world’s greatest sideburns.

How can a fictional character be stealing things in the real world? What is he trying to achieve by it all? And most importantly, what is Inspector Zenegata going to do about it?

I currently have no idea what this is all about, some new film maybe but he has also taken the sign on the side of a department store in Hokkaido and the front cover of a magazine. It’s only a matter of time before he starts going after blogs. If you see him around here, please let me know.

Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana – Shiina Ringo (2003)

“I’m all grown up now,
so permit me to sing today,
to laugh today
I’ll protect what I will.”

Some say that symmetry is akin to beauty. This album takes the notion of symmetry to ridiculous levels. The track list is symmetrical, the running time is 44:44 and the instruments played and those who played them are also the same at either ends of the album. This self produced record is one that you can tell is meticulously planned down the last detail.

However, I have to admit I didn’t really get into this upon first listening. It’s not the easiest thing to digest, there are so many things going on here that it can make your head spin a bit. I stuck at it though and one day it just clicked. The bombastic opening that left me kind of cold at first suddenly began to fill me with delight.

From then on, every listen became rewarding. I would notice small little details for the first time and appreciate the big things even more. So many things are great, the bridges between the songs, recognising one of the ridiculous amount of obscure instruments used (there is a didgeridoo and vacuum cleaner at one point) and the ending of Souretsu

The ending of Souretsu is particularly jaw dropping. I wrote a big long paragraph trying to describe it, then realised I just couldn’t. You really just have to listen to it. So do that, go listen and be amazed.

Best Tracks:
Shuukyou, Meisai, Yattsuke Shigoto, Kuki, Souretsu