i have a problem.

Okay, I'm not going to lie.

Mango (Miyazaki)

I think my marimokkori collection is getting a little out of hand.

Momotaro (Okayama)

It's not my fault! There are just so many places I really want to visit in Japan, and I want a small memento to remember that trip. Plus, while regional Hello Kitties are super popular and ubiquitous, I wanted to get something that's a little less common and also something that shows when I went there - after all, how long can this well-endowed moss ball dude be that popular for?

Sasebo Burger (Nagasaki)

Then, it happened. A couple of my marimokkoris fell off my phone, meaning my collection was getting smaller. What was I to do but buy another one to replace it? Sounds completely reasonable, right?

Kung Fu Pork Bun Head (Kobe)

Then, what happens if I go to that prefecture multiple times? Shouldn't I get multiple different ones to represent each individual trip I made as well?

Kuidaore Taro (Osaka)

Some experiences aren't regionally based, but I still want to remember them - like teaching at preschool, and going to an amusement park, so might as well get some non-regional (but still equally limited edition) marimokkori to commemorate those as well!

Long-necked ghost

Plus, some are just funny.

St. Francis Xavier (Nagasaki)

Then, my super awesome friends, knowing about my appreciation of all things green and crotchy marimokkori would out of the goodness of their hearts, buy me a keystrap as a souvenir. It'd be totally mean and disrespectful to not accept it, right?

Pearl Diver (Mie)

So fortunately, the first few I got were from places I had been to but before my collection started, so it was totally okay. Then, I got a few more from places I had driven through, which technically counts, since I have been there, just never stopped to see what it's all about.

Hotaru Squid (Toyama)

But, after a while, my friends started going to places I had never been to before. Some of which, I probably won't ever be able to visit, due to time restraints or lack of money. I still can't refuse their acts of kindness, AND, realistically, I'll never be able to go to all the places in Japan. Why deprive myself from getting mementos? If anything, they'll give me an idea of what's famous in each area, and help me decide where I want to go in this next year. If anything, it's helping the economy of these marimokkori places, since it's motivating me to visit these places. And, in a recession, shouldn't we all be doing our part to support people's jobs and stuff?

Sugi Tree (Yakushima)

Like I said, I know I have a problem, and I'm still working on how to get over it.

On a completely unrelated note, If you're going to Takamatsu any time soon, there was something I couldn't find while I was there, so if you do go, let me know...

escape from zombie island

Okay, so we weren't exactly trapped on the island, and it wasn't exactly littered with the living undead. But still, stepping off the boat onto Gunkanjima kinda felt like we were stepping off onto the perfect setting for the next Japanese horror movie.

Seriously, with a name like "warship island", the possibilities are endless! It's a little somewhat disappointing to hear the actual history of the place: It was an uninhabited island until the early 1910s, when they decided to mine the coal from the island until resources ran out, and abandoned it in 1974. Although, it does boast the world's first concrete building, as well as being in its peak, the most densely populated area in the world (about 9 times more populated than Tokyo).

Since it's still relatively obscure, the city of Nagasaki should've made something up to increase its draw of tourists or something. I'm sure that telling tourists that reason it became abandoned was because of the miners uncovering a zombie or curse would be much better.

fuk!

Aaah, Fukuoka. When I first looked up information about what to do in Fukuoka, other than it's "city in a city" shopping centre, not that many sights came up that made me that interested in visiting the city. The only thing came that kept coming up was that they were famous for food. Would that really be enough to entertain me for two whole days?

Oh, how little I know me.

The first night we arrived happened to coincide with a huge fireworks display right across from our hotel. One of the few things that Gifu has to boast about is the fact that they hold two of the largest fireworks displays in all of Japan, which costs somewhere in the millions of dollars and goes for a couple hours. So, fortunately that left us with a perfect opportunity to roam arounds the streets of fukuoka while most other people flocked to the direction we had just come from.

Once we got into the heart of the ctiy, we found some yatai - food stalls with seating set up right on the streets. I would usually associate that kind of food with Thailand or other parts in Asia, so it was an unexpected change from the regular restaurants that I've seen throughout the Japan.

mushroom tempura

We settled for the emptiest one, which turned out to be a the only tempura stall as well. If my obsession with travel/food shows has taught me anything, is that the food places with lines for a reason, and vice versa. But, after talking to one of the other customers at the stall, turns out this place normally attracts a huge line of locals - the locals who all happpened to be watching fireworks - which is why the other tour guide -approved stalls were full.

Oh man, I don't even know where to start with how awesome the place was. It was run by a husband and wife who had been running this stall for 30 years - the husband's father was one of the first families to start up this yatai thing in Fukuoka. The drinks were cheap (5 bucks for like a litre bottle of beer), and the experience of watching this old man make fresh tempura batter out of the back of his truck, fry things in front of us and eat them straight away was amazing. Best tempura ever.

The next day, after making our way to the "city-within-a-city" shopping centre, we found ichiran, a famous chain for their tonkotsu ramen. Though I've been to a Ramen shop with tickets before, this one took their ramen a little more seriously. partitions separated customers with a curtain right in front. the waiters opened the curtain collect the ramen preference sheet and serve the food with minimal talking and eye contact. Apparently, it's to help customers appreciate the flavour of the ramen, though with Ramen this tasty, it didn't really need much help.

Dammit, I was hoping to go to Fukuoka just to say I've now visited every one of the main islands of Japan, but now all I'm thinking about is eating awesome ramen and tempura again.

mii business cards

Okay, so I don't have a business per se, but I just figured I should get some business cards in Japan. After all, people seem to use them here more often than back home when they meet friends and stuff like that. I guess it makes sense, since Japanese writing system isn't completely phonetic, and so just after hearing how someone says their name doesn't mean you'll be able to write down their name properly either. Plus, people's mobiles have their own number and email address, so you can't SMS someone using their phone number. And some phone emails aren't the easiest to remember. A friend of mine has an email address that has 15 periods right in the middle of the address. Just because. So yeah, business cards seemed like the way to go.

And what better way to get business cards than to get them from my Wii? They were free after all, and, at least if they're professionally printed, they should come out better than my failed attempt to make my own before coming to Japan. Sure, it did involve me having to buy enough Nintendo software and stuff to get enough points to redeem for my 30 cards, but they're totally worth it.

Now all I need to do is find someone who actually needs a business card from me. Any takers?