Mashup Post: 10/03/2010

OK, so I haven’t made a lot of posts over the last week, since I’ve been so busy with school beginning, and friends throwing parties, and going around but not bringing my camera, so heres a Mashup post, including basically most of the things that have happened recently. Heeeeere we go.

OK, so I ALMOST had an awesome JWeird Post. The title was going to be “Cat Cafes”. As I’m sure you’ve all heard, Japan has numerous cafes, some of which are maid cafes, in which people dressed as maids serve you, and smile at you, and talk to you, etc, etc. A little less known (though a Japanese friend of mine has told me that this is NOT a normal Japanese place people go to), is the CAT CAFE. Yes, it’s exactly as it sounds. You go in, PET CATS, and eat/drink ridiculously overpriced food.

I think it’s Cat Prostitution. Really. Do a comparison between regular old prostitution and this “cat cafe” business, and I’m sure that you’ll see the similarities are glaring, too. But anyway, how did I ALMOST get a good post? I didn’t go in.

Yeah, I can hear your boos, but heres my defense: at the time, I have 1000 yen to my name, and the entrance fee was 900 yen. Could YOU justify spending 90% of your remaining assets to WALK IN o a place where you pet cats and eat? Nevermind the fact that I wouldn’t be able to eat anything once entering. I didn’t think so.

Anyway, here are the pictures I snapped of the place:

Heres the street sign for the cat cafe. You almost wouldn't know what it was. It's the store called *Calico*

This was the sign in front of the door. Yeah, I am aware it is becoming more and more dissapointing to look at the pictures of the place I did NOT go into.

Almost like those flyers cards you get with obscene pictures and services on them, heres a sign that was up, showcasing all the kinds fo cats you could get your hands on.

OK, well, the next few shots are kind of related, but kind of not, and I guess I could make a joke about it, but I won’t. They’re all cranes. One, I saw walking to school, the other I saw in an arcade.

Unfortunately, this was all I was able to get with the DSLR. I guess I need a better lens... Or maybe next time I'll just make up the distance by foot.

Another crane.... Man there are a LOT of toys in this crane game.

ANOTHER crane game (there were at least 10 of them) I thought 2 pictures was enough to get the feel.

Now, some random shots I took… They’re spread out over a couple days, and some are attempts at art… Bear with me as I finally get this stuff off my todo list.

Guiness hat... Bought it at Kohls, and I can only wear the hat a couple weeks after cutting my hair.

I cannot believe I was going to do a feature on this. It is only a gum packet.

This guy and this dog ran past me at a pretty brisk pace. Unbelieveably, he wasn't laughed at or mocked, people just wanted to pet his dog. Maybe I should get a dog that's the complete opposite of me (maybe a small poodle?), and run with it.

I saw this Mercedes on the same street as the guy and the dog.... A very nicely done Mercedes with a little camber. I like.

I now know why asians play violin and piano. This looks like an ONLY violin/viola shop. ONLY violins and violas. I had the urge to go in there and ask if they sell saxophones.

A city shot... of the City. It was overcast this day, as is obvious.

I saw this beetle after a night out with my friends. As a testament to my sobriety, I realized this beetle was rare, and got a pretty good picture of it, despite all the people that were around. Go me!

And now, for a truly weird and disturbing look into the NOT DANGEROUS side of Shinjuku. I feel like I need to repeat, I hadn’t even WANDERED into the bad part of town yet (assuming there is one), and I saw these signs.

Sketchy club I ran into in Japan.

Another picture of the sketchy club I ran into in Japan.

So, what’s the big deal? Why are these pictures so important? It looks like your usual parlor of promiscuity. OK, so this didn’t shock me (which I guess is a win for the Japaneses society, and a loss for me), but the name of the place is. I tried my hardest to translate it a different way, but it translates to “Hu ai to bi- chi”. In regular speak: White Bitch. Yes. The name of that store, is White Bitch. Unbelievable. That’s all I have to say about it, I just felt it was important to post. I wonder if the person who thought up the name of this business was even aware of what it meant.

And with that picture, that’s the end of my mashup post. Sorry for being lazy, but at least now I have a clean slate, and can take some more pictures, without making a million posts to categorize them all.

Car Snaps: Delayed Sightings

Been a little while since I put up some content, but that’s because I’ve been far too lazy to edit all my shots, and work them in. I’m actually going to join the motorsports club at my university here, so I’m sure I’ll be able to get even better pictures from now on.

But, I’ve finally done the batch that I’ve been meaning to get around to, so enjoy.

This mix is pretty varied, hope you like some of them. I do happen to run into a bunch of nicely modded Subaru Legacies though…

Heres a blue legacy that's usually parked close to where I live... It's a nice legacy, and I thought the shot came out pretty good.

Though it's no Legacy Day, heres another legacy that was parked in my neighborhood-around.

Return of the VIP? No, not really, but I did see this, and it struck me, so I shot it (yeah, there are puns).

Though this Merc isn't new to the Car Snaps section (it's been sideview shot before), I saw it again (the owner must work at or own the store it is close to), and it looks even better from behind. I guess I am a butt guy.

Another Subaru! This wagon, I thought was awesomely styled. Though I am not realy into wagons, I know this one is very well done. Picture came out alright, also.

One of my favorites pictures of the batch, this R32 I actually spotted out of the corner of my eye and had to go get a shot of. The rims are sick, low offset of course, and the car just has a great stance. Nothing too crazy, but definitely turned my head.

Not a car, but this is the kind of motorcycle I want to ride, if I ever get a license. I think theres something to that american freedom type of feeling bike. Dunno how to put in words, though.

Another motorcycle in the same area, also the kind I like (though there is nothing wrong with crotch rockets, I like them too)

I was really dissapointed with myself for not being able to get a good picture of this mini, but it was actually lowered, and had some other tidbits on the outside to oogle at. Unfortunately, by the time I decided it was worth shooting (it is getting harder to tell), and got my camera out, the light had turned green already, so I could only get this out of focus, garbage shot. Sorry...

I really cannot tell if Mercedes are rare in Japan anymore, because I just see so many, but I thought this one was worth shooting. Still an expensive, luxurious car. I tend to see less of these with low offset wheels added or anything. I guess it's better not to mess with the best?

Probably my favorite shot of the bunch (because I think the perspective is good, the car is nice, etc). I despise golf/rabbits because of how easy they are to make look nice (a slight drop and some meshes or any other nice rims), so I will not say much more...

A little random, but I thought this car might have been a drift victim. I guessed this because of how I could see the subframe at the back was dropped, and it looked like someone was working on it right before it started to rain.... Usually, people who own nice looking cars like that do not really drop subfames... Though I guess that is kind of a stereotype, I think it is true. So, as far as I know, this is a drift victim.

Ran into this Chaser (right?) on my way back home... Thought it was nicely done.

And I also ran into a stretched scooter. Yes, you have read correctly, a stretched scooter. If you can’t even imagine it, that is the sort of place Japan is. I wasn’t able to snap a picture, because I was coming back from the supermarket, but my eyes just about dropped out of my head.

Car Snaps: Wagons, VIP, and an exotic

Quite a varied Car Snaps feature we have today. Finally, not just VIP cars, but the cars that I got a picture of yesterday were pretty varied. One I definitely DIDN’T expect to see in Japan, that was a treat.

Yesterday me and some friends went to Shinjuku to get phones (and do some other stuff, post on it is forthcoming), and that’s where these beauties were sighted.

A VIP Van I spotted on the way to our destination that day, note the balleroffset wheels!

Just a Dodge Dakota, so what? Well, I guess this Dakota in particular was surprising to me because I just did not think that Japanese people had American cars... And yet, here one is. I guess I need to broaden my horizons.

Though I kind of expected to see this SRX in Japan, since Escalade is pretty much World-class luxury, This is probably the first one I saw.

And with that, this post is finally free of VIP cars. Time for some of the DIFFERENT stuff I saw.

Yeah, a Ferrari Enzo. A Ferrari Enzo. I took the picture in real life, but you are seeing it on the web. So you still can't say you've seen one in real life. Sorry.

Another shot of the Enzo, a little magnified. Yeah, it is an Enzo. Wonder who in the world was driving it? A rich businessman? A spoiled kid? An old man who sold his house and spent all his savings on an italian supercar?

Yet another shot of the Enzo. I took a lot more, but only decided to post three... Is that too many shots? I thought that to myself, then realized, it is a Ferrari Enzo.

Note – There are no more Ferrari’s/Extremely rare cars in the rest of this post. I apologize.

I doubt this Mercedes wagon is really common, so I took a quick shot of it. Some might disagree though...

A Prius Taxi... I'm not sure I've seen any Prius taxis in the US (maybe some at LAX)... If they're common enough to be taxis, why is it so hard to get one in the states?

I'm not sure if this even exists in the state, but this WRX Wagon is pretty sweet. I guess I've just never seen one with 4 doors, if the states do have it. Maybe I should spend more time looking through Subaru's catalogs.

K for Kappuchino (Though I can't remember if it started with a C instead), but that's the type of car this is... realy small and light. I think it's really cute, in a sporty kind of way.

A very clean BMW Wagon. Man the germans are just spot on sometimes when it comes to styling.

Oh, and yes, I took that shot at eyesight height, and those are Japanese heads at the bottom of the picture. That’s just a tiny sliver of what my experience entails.

I was walking in a smaller tunnel through the town, when I saw some Japanese pondering out loud if I would hit my head on the ceiling, and touching it with their hands to get a feel for how far away it was for them versus how close it was to me. I was wondering too, I couldn’t blame them.

Well, that’s it for yesterday’s snaps… I still need to go to some shops/tracks, blah blah blah, stay tuned until then!

EDIT – Somehow, I forgot to include this IS wagon that I saw:

A Lexus wagon in Japan? Not the rarest thing. However I still think it's sweet.

EDIT 2 – Somehow, I ALSO forgot to include this Porsche I saw… Looks like my memory is going a little early. Maybe it’s because of that double down I had this year. The surgeon general should make KFC put some sort of warning on that thing.

A random porsche, rolling through the city. I guess my stereotype of the cars you could find in Japan have been blown out of the water.

Car Snaps: VIP

It seems like VIP cars are quite popular in japan. I’ve come across many of them, and I guess I should consider it interesting to say the least that people here buy expensive cars, and seem to make sure to put deep dish VIP wheels on them… Kind of different from America (with the exception of escalades, many luxury cars usually roll on nice looking stockies).

Though obviously it’s not every luxury car.

I haven’t yet planned some trips to shops (Autobacs, RE Amemiya, ETC), but maybe once I do, I’ll have some really awesome shots to share.

For now, you’ll have to settle for the cars I come across (while I have a camera in hand).

Another mildly styled VIP car. Offset isn't crazy, wheel gap is there, but the car definitely stands out, or at least looks interesting.

Another random Honda? Yeah... I know the feeling, I felt it too. But I took this picture because this Honda actually has a bunch of subtle (good) style flares and changes that I haven't seen before. Maybe it's a 2011 model and I just haven't seen the newer accords (which I'm guessing this is)... but it was kind of mean looking. For an Accord.

Though Japanese people like to support Japanese things, I guess top of the line is top of the line, no matter where you go, as far as luxury is concerned. This Mercedes was looking stunning... Though I wasn't quite able to capture it well.

Theres a slightly modded (outside at least) Evo right around my neighborhood, look forward to some snaps on that, it looks REALLY photogenic.