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Engrish at Daiso!
Few things will get me to go to the mall -- I hate shopping -- but I'll make an exception to go to Daiso Japan!
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kennapea and I decided to go to Daiso in the Bellis Fair Mall this afternoon. She needed to get a couple things there, and it's one of the few parts of the mall I actually enjoy, so we made a trip of it.
For those of you who have never heard of Daiso, it's an international chain of Japanese 100-yen shops (think dollar store, except in Japanese). Daiso has about 2,500 stores in Japan, and then about 450 worldwide, including 10 in the U.S. (Wikipedia). By some stroke of luck, Bellingham is one of the 10 U.S. locations.
A trip to Daiso is like taking a cheap trip to Japan. The entire store is stocked ENTIRELY with inexpensive Japanese consumer products, and as often as not, all of the labels are in Japanese. It makes shopping an adventure, because you never know what you're going to find!
(Click photos to enlarge)
For instance, Caramel Apple Soda! How cool! The brand name, Kodomononomimono, is a real mouthful. Plus, the images on the bottles look like little kids drinking frothy glasses of beer, so I've gotta try this! I picked up a bottle to take home -- I'll let you know how it tastes!
Soy Sauce Candy? No Way! At $1.50, I *had* to check this one out. McKenna and I both tried it and... well, ummm, it's exactly what you think it is. Sweet hard candy flavoured with Soy Sauce. (McKenna spit hers out). I usually like sweet/salty combos in food (like chocolate-covered pretzels or pineapple anchovy pizza), but this was... probably an acquired taste. Kind of reminded me of Vietnamese fish sauce, without the fishy taste.
Here's McKenna going all ADHD on me. The store is a visual assault on the senses, so many wonderful and exotic things crammed into a tiny little bit of space and competing for attention. Kind of like Japan itself. Fortunately, the aisles were big enough for McKenna to negotiate her wheelchair. A word of warning: Only go into a Daiso store with someone who is ADHD if you are willing to... OOOOOOOOOOO shiny!
But the BEST thing about Daiso is... ENGRISH!
The store is always chock full of Engrish (English that has been badly mangled by Japanese writers). It's everywhere, on signs, on packaging, emblazoned on the products themselves... For someone with an editor's mind like me, going into this store is a real treat, because I am critiquing everything I read. Here's couple of examples of Engrish that made me laugh:
On the entrance to the store, we find this sign: "Please Fill Free to use our Shopping carts!" Now, it's a store sign, so I'll forgive the bad capitalization, but "Fill?" "Fill Free?" That's classic! Someone wasn't paying attention in Engrish class!
This is a little doggy shirt I just happened to notice (don't ask me why I was looking at the doggy shirts, it just jumped out at me). It reads "long long ago there is a little dog..." Now, it's bad enough you have to embarrass your little doggy with making it wear a cutesy shirt in public, but can't you at least make the tenses match in your sentence?
If you ever have the opportunity to visit a Daiso store, I recommend it. It will blow your mind!
All told, I spent $6 total. That's how cheap the place is. And when I say cheap, I mean CHEAP. In addition to the two frivolous purchases (the soy sauce candy and the caramel apple soda) I bought a couple of things I actually needed: notebook paper and pens for school (They've got a wonderful stationery section).
And remember! Please Let's Enjoy Gel Experience!
My friend
kennapea and I decided to go to Daiso in the Bellis Fair Mall this afternoon. She needed to get a couple things there, and it's one of the few parts of the mall I actually enjoy, so we made a trip of it.For those of you who have never heard of Daiso, it's an international chain of Japanese 100-yen shops (think dollar store, except in Japanese). Daiso has about 2,500 stores in Japan, and then about 450 worldwide, including 10 in the U.S. (Wikipedia). By some stroke of luck, Bellingham is one of the 10 U.S. locations.
A trip to Daiso is like taking a cheap trip to Japan. The entire store is stocked ENTIRELY with inexpensive Japanese consumer products, and as often as not, all of the labels are in Japanese. It makes shopping an adventure, because you never know what you're going to find!
(Click photos to enlarge)
For instance, Caramel Apple Soda! How cool! The brand name, Kodomononomimono, is a real mouthful. Plus, the images on the bottles look like little kids drinking frothy glasses of beer, so I've gotta try this! I picked up a bottle to take home -- I'll let you know how it tastes! Soy Sauce Candy? No Way! At $1.50, I *had* to check this one out. McKenna and I both tried it and... well, ummm, it's exactly what you think it is. Sweet hard candy flavoured with Soy Sauce. (McKenna spit hers out). I usually like sweet/salty combos in food (like chocolate-covered pretzels or pineapple anchovy pizza), but this was... probably an acquired taste. Kind of reminded me of Vietnamese fish sauce, without the fishy taste.Here's McKenna going all ADHD on me. The store is a visual assault on the senses, so many wonderful and exotic things crammed into a tiny little bit of space and competing for attention. Kind of like Japan itself. Fortunately, the aisles were big enough for McKenna to negotiate her wheelchair. A word of warning: Only go into a Daiso store with someone who is ADHD if you are willing to... OOOOOOOOOOO shiny!But the BEST thing about Daiso is... ENGRISH!
The store is always chock full of Engrish (English that has been badly mangled by Japanese writers). It's everywhere, on signs, on packaging, emblazoned on the products themselves... For someone with an editor's mind like me, going into this store is a real treat, because I am critiquing everything I read. Here's couple of examples of Engrish that made me laugh:
On the entrance to the store, we find this sign: "Please Fill Free to use our Shopping carts!" Now, it's a store sign, so I'll forgive the bad capitalization, but "Fill?" "Fill Free?" That's classic! Someone wasn't paying attention in Engrish class!
This is a little doggy shirt I just happened to notice (don't ask me why I was looking at the doggy shirts, it just jumped out at me). It reads "long long ago there is a little dog..." Now, it's bad enough you have to embarrass your little doggy with making it wear a cutesy shirt in public, but can't you at least make the tenses match in your sentence?If you ever have the opportunity to visit a Daiso store, I recommend it. It will blow your mind!
All told, I spent $6 total. That's how cheap the place is. And when I say cheap, I mean CHEAP. In addition to the two frivolous purchases (the soy sauce candy and the caramel apple soda) I bought a couple of things I actually needed: notebook paper and pens for school (They've got a wonderful stationery section).
And remember! Please Let's Enjoy Gel Experience!
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UPDATE: Kodomononomimono
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't anything special enough to blog about. ;-)
Re: UPDATE: Kodomononomimono
it has such a cute name.
Re: UPDATE: Kodomononomimono
"We'll go to Kodomononomimono
We'll get there fast
and then we'll take it slow....."
;-)
Re: UPDATE: Kodomononomimono
no subject