Been five months here. Have learned and figured out several things. Found facts which are sometimes funny, sometimes weird, many are nice. Sometimes I'm surprised by facts about myself.
Trains to Yokkaichi stop at Masuo station is always after 12, after 32, and after 52. So if my Japanese class starts at 10 AM, I must take at least the 9.32 train.
I know now that in centimeter, my feet are 23.5 cm. My jeans size in Uniqlo is 24 and if I ever have to buy jeans with different brands and I'm not sure which size, I should use the waist size, which mine is 61 (cm), although my waist is 60 cm. But there is no 60 cm waist size, and the options are 58 and 61, and 61 is absolutely way better than 58, because I can just adjust my belt rather than sacrifice 2 cm of my belly and suffer from short of breath.
The place to get pantyhose with colour matches my skin is Seria in Yokkaichi, a 100 Yen shop in 4th floor of La La Square.
McDonald's is so much better than KFC, which is surprising me. KFC chicken is too greasy.
The place I can get my favourite Pringle's is Meiji-ya in Nagoya. They have jalapeno and spicy guacamole flavours.
I found another fact that I like 7-Eleven's fruits granola which my husband calls "not proper granola for breakfast, suits more for dessert than for breakfast". I still like Kellog's cereal, but of course, I mix it with 7-Eleven's fruits granola.
A fact that is agreed by many people, leopard print is so famous and the most common pattern here. Whatever people opinions about leopard print: cheap, slutty, ugly, don't women here just love it? As you step out to the civilization here in Japan, you'll see leopard print coats, leopard print hats, leopard print skirts, leopard print purses, leopard print gloves, leopard print wallets, leopard print shawls, leopard print eyeglass frames, leopard print shoes, leopard print leg warmers, even leopard print earmuffs! Lucky, I don't like animal prints in general. So I think I'll be safe from leopard print.
Kura Zushi is my and many people's favourite kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place. It's cheap, and their sushis are good.
Thai restaurants are not so many here. There are, if you search, but it's like looking for lice in a cow's body. They are there, but you have to search for them.
And I like oden! It's a funny fact that I can really like this tasteless, basically water and shoyu (Japanese salty soy sauce) with boiled things (boiled egg, boiled clamps, boiled tendons and whatever you like).
And that I'm so in love with tonyu (soy milk). I've always liked soymilk, but in my country, I couldn't find really good soy milk. There was one brand I really liked, Yeo's, which I found first in Singapore, 20 years ago, but this brand is not so many in Semarang, my hometown. But here in Japan, soy milk is everywhere, just like soybeans are everywhere you go. Just ride your bike to a small town nearby and you'll find houses with soybeans in the backyard. My favourite brand is Style One, the cheapest, but really good. Seven-Eleven's fruits granola, Kellog's cereal, and soymilk, there, my favourite quick cereal breakfast.
And I've had it too much of people saying "Sugoii..." in too many situations.
Another interesting fact. You don't have to go the big cities to find a cute guy like you see in Japanese doramas. Here in the combini nearby, 7-Eleven, there's a cashier called Hino, and he's just like anyone in Japanese doramas: Hideaki Takizawa, or any other name. If I could get a picture of him, I'm sure you would scream to see. And hey, he's a real person, not an actor (well, actors are real people too, but chances to talk to them are not so much).