Laughable

Every week I encounter a number of bizarre things that catch my eye and make me chuckle. Usually I don't have my camera on me, one of the many reasons why I will never be a professional blogger, so I just snap a quick shot with my phone. This usually draws the curious stares of other shoppers as I whip out my phone and start snapping shots from different angles. Oh, well!

Here are a few gems that I snapped in the past while:

FaFa laundry detergent, which I am pretty sure is the same as the Snuggle brand we have back home (unless it is just a massive rip off), has a comical line of international scents. I have always thought the Snuggle bear was super cute and being dressed up makes him just that much cuter.

Finnish gnome Snuggle frolicking with bunnies amongst the mushrooms

Arabian Snuggle sandboarding

and Russian Snuggle with these cute little matryoshka dolls

Cephalopods. Maybe not the best word choice if you are going for tasty or descriptive.

I am pretty understanding of most English typos but this one was a bit excessive:

and though this English was written perfectly, number 43 seemed just a tad bit forceful for a family restaurant:

We just couldn't resist trying out these oddly named snacks:

This sign is announcing a butter shortage. This happens all the time and even though it is slightly annoying, the concept of a butter shortage always makes me smile. 

Here is a selection of on the go snacks available at your average convenience store. The boiled wrapped corn cobs always make me chuckle.

This cafe near the library has a vaguely threatening, mafia-esque name:

Here is one of the outdoor public restrooms at the Fukuyama library green space. I would feel just a tad exposed using that urinal, especially at one of the many public events that draws hundreds of people to the green.

Baby spats? Are you trying to dress your child as a Dickensian character or Scrooge McDuck? On a side note, did you know that spats is a contraction of the word spatterdashes? 

and lastly, this ridiculous car:

Sparkle Phone

Kawaii

Yesterday evening I finally got a cell phone. I have had one off and on in the past few years but I found that I never used the cell phone when I had it, and I didn't really like people being able to reach me at all times. I much preferred people calling my home phone, leaving a message, and leaving it up to me when, or if, I would call them back.

My loathing of cell phones increased when I worked for a year as an apartment manager and had to have a work cell on me at all times. The phone was constantly ringing day and night and when my stint there was finally over,  I felt absolutely freed to not have a cell phone any longer

I really haven't noticed or cared that I have had no way of getting a hold of people in the two weeks I have been here, but since we don't plan on getting a landline, and the cell phone plans are freakishly cheap compared with Canada, I decided to go ahead and get one. The one I picked is ridiculously cute, as most things in Japan are, but at least has a user's manual in English.

Theo seems to really like it and calls it my "sparkle phone". He has spent most of the morning pretending to order us pizza with a variety of bizarre toppings like strawberries and squid.