Pepsi Salty Watermelon and Dwarves

Although I tend to find that serious and somewhat controversial topics (or at least ones I am very honest about) get the most views on this blog, sometimes I just have to keep it light and fun. I can't always be serious.

Here are two videos I have made in 2012 about two very odd and distinctly Japanese products. Both deal with beverages and both were fun to make!



This video was sort of a cliched video if you will. Japan is known for many weird things such as strange seasonal flavours of Kit Kat chocolate bars and Pepsi Cola. It is almost a right of passage for all newbie video bloggers in Japan to make videos about these food products. Although I am one of the most grizzled veterans of the Japan blogging scene, I decided I still wanted to make a video about Pepsi Salty Watermelon.

Earlier in the Spring, there was a type of tea sold in Japanese convenience stores that came with a rather odd omakae. "Omakae" is essentially a free gift you get when purchasing something. You can see for yourselves why I thought the free gifts were odd if not a little gross!

Japanese Bicycle Polo

During my 4+ years in Japan I have seen many weird and wonderful things. Bicycle polo was definitely one of them. I saw these guys playing this rather unusual sport a few nights ago while out on an evening run. They were playing in downtown Kobe, Japan.



I'm glad I had my phone with me at the time to capture this odd, but cool looking sport!



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Japanese Eats: Pepsi Energy Cola

It is summer around the northern hemisphere of this big ole ball we refer to as "earth"! It is sumer and if you live in Japan (and many other places), it is freakin hot! It is really hot. In order to get us folks through the summer, the fine people at Pepsi begin getting a little creative. Each summer, Pepsi comes out with some new, and often whacky, summer special flavours.

A few years ago we had Pepsi Shiso. then there was Pepsi Azuki. Now there is Pepsi Caribbean Gold and well as Pepsi Energy Cola. I first saw Pepsi energy Cola a few weeks ago at my local Lawson convenience store and had to grab a can. i quickly realized that it was an energy drink akin to Red Bull. I HAD to try it.

Here is my review of a limited time "in Japan" drink:





Here is my 2 year old review of Pepsi Shiso:

Koreans Vacuuming Grass

Life abroad can be one filled with excitement, new discoveries and often, things that make you raise an eyebrow. In different cultures, people often do things in a very different way than you might in yours. It may not be culturally acceptable to spit in one country, but perfectly fine in another.

Different cultures also have different standards and definitions for things such as beauty and cleanliness. We eat our food in different ways. We behave at concerts in different ways. We create in different ways.

Cultures are different and the following photos are no exception to this. I lived in South Korea for more than five years, but never came across something this weird. While surfing around a former colleague's Facebook page, I came across these pictures of Korean cleaning staff outside of a store in Mokpo, Korea. I almost couldn't believe what I saw. I had to email him for clarification and then permission to use these pictures.

These are pictures of Korean cleaning staff at a store vacuuming the grass! That's right! They are actually cleaning the real grass on the lawn with a vacuum cleaner.

Bizarre as it may seem to me, this sort of thing apparently happens in Korea.







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Cool Japanese Shoe Dryer

One of the great things about living abroad is that things can be different than in your native country. This is especially the case if you are a curious person always on the look out for something cool. I suppose that as a blogger/video blogger, I look at the world in a slightly different way. I am always searching for something that would be interesting enough to snap a picture of or film.

The other day while on a break, I went for a brief walk. I wandered through a fairly nondescript residential neighborhood. I came across a coin laundry (laundromat). That alone wasn't particularly interesting, but the sneaker washing/drying machine in front of it was:


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