I Love You Jimmy Dean

Not to be confused with James Dean of "Rebel Without a Cause" fame, Jimmy Dean is a brand of American sausages. I came across these awesome little fellas a few weeks ago at my local supermarket in Kobe (Port Island Daiei) and stocked up. I bought four or five packs and threw them in my freezer. They are so delicious and totally take me back home in a manner of speaking!


It's quite easy to buy foreign food in this part of Japan. there are so many expats living in the area and Japanese people with an interest in all things foreign that there are many shops that see this sort of thing. I suppose I am pretty lucky for that.

When I first arrived in Asia in early February 2002, I lived in a small city north of Seoul in Korea. When I lived there I was happy about the fact that I could buy ketchup in Korea. As far as other foreign foods went, I was pretty much out of luck. My friends and I would occasionally make the trek into Seoul and the foreign ghetto area, Itaewon. There was a place called Gel's Deli (probably spelled that wrong), which is now long gone(I think). That's where we would buy our very overpriced foreign treats. Now I've heard that there is a much more readily available stock of foreign food goods throughout Korea.

To be honest, I rarely buy foreign food in Japan. I love Japanese food and my wife and I normally cook all of our meals at home. It is great however, to have the option if I want it.

Pepsi Shiso has Arrived!

It's rainy season here in Japan and if you're currently living in Kobe or the Kansai region, you're wishing you were a duck! Yep, it's wet. REALLY wt. Last year's rainy season brought us very little in way of the wet stuff, but it would seem that this year, Mother Nature is making up for last years' shortfall!


In REALLY BIG NEWS...Pepsi's new and bizarre flavor of the summer is here. Pepsi Shiso is on store shelves of today and is ready for the people of Japan to take on. Minty green goodness wrapped up with the flavor of Pepsi!

here I am this evening cautiously eyeing up the bottle of Pepsi Shiso my wife brought home for me. I have been eagerly anticipating it for weeks.



A closer look t this monstrosity. What is Shiso anyway? It's known as Perilla in North America and is a minty leafy herb.

How was it anyway? Not sure as of right now. I'm planning to crack the bottle open tomorrow evening and give it a taste test for You Tube!


Speaking of "The Tube", I posted two short videos last night.





And in some less serious news (because green Pepsi is REALLY serious):

Shoplifter tries to leave store, wearing women's shorts under his pants
HYOGO —

A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting four pairs of women’s shorts from a Hyogo Prefecture supermarket by wearing them under his trousers, police said Wednesday. Office worker Katsutoshi Nishigaki was allegedly caught red-handed while attempting to leave the store in Asago, Hyogo Prefecture, at 4 p.m. Monday.

The shorts he is accused of stealing are worth a total of 5,670 yen. Nishigaki allegedly took the shorts with him into a fitting room to layer them under his trousers so no one would notice the theft, according to police. But his escapade was seen by a female plainclothes security guard who took notice of him when he entered the women’s underwear section, police said.Read original at Japan Today