Do you know what FUGU is?

Tonight, me and my colleagues decided it was time for the year end party. They wanted to offer me a treat and asked me if I’ve ever had fugu.
“Do you know what fugu is?” they asked. I was not sure.
It is the famous Japanese blow fish that contains poisonous parts.
If that fish is not well prepared you can die from eating it……thrilling year end party.
I was totally up for it!

4pm, Tuesday afternoon, done with a business meeting me and my 3 colleagues decided not to go back to the office but instead to go for the year end dinner…..
My colleagues found a place near Shimbashi that serves this fish at an affordable price. For your information, in order to serve this dish, the restaurant must have a special license. It is often a rather pricey meal!
That restaurant served a set course meal for 6800 yens (about 50 euros per person). A good deal (for that dish)!

Fugu
The fishes were swimming in the fish tank (and that was the restaurant’s front window).
We sat down (one of this place where you actually DO sit on the floor, no hole under the table for your legs!!!). My colleagues ordered the fugu set:
- Fugu-sashi : Thinly sliced raw fugu. Served with ponzu dipping sauce (mixture of citrus juice and soy sauce).
- Fugu-chiri :Vegetables and fugu are simmered in konbu dashi soup in a large pot. Served with ponzu dipping sauce.
- Fugu Kara-age : Floured and deep fried.

The most amazing part:
The raw fugu (that we were supposed to cook ourselves in hot water) arrived at our table really fresh……How could I tell?
The fish was cut but some of the bits were still moving…because of its nerves!

Exciting experience. Very good food.

The bonus:
Because we had dinner early (during happy hour?), free beers and sake!

Did I mention the special sake?
Prepared with the fugu’s fins, burnt and dropped in the sake to enhance its flavor (that’s called fugu Hore-zake).

Wow, that was a some kind of an experience.
I love year end parties!

-Nico

What’s your blood type?
Is that a trick question?

As I was discussing very important subjects (!) with my Japanese colleagues, they suddenly paused, looked at me, and very seriously asked: “Nicolas-san, what is your blood type?”.
If it happens to you, don’t panic, you probably don’t need a blood transfusion because of a sudden hemorrhage.
No, the reason is that Japanese people care about blood types the same way some people in Europe care about Zodiac signs.
Blood type in Japan is sometimes used in today as a personality indicator. Now don’t ask me if they go as far as recruiting (or not) people based on this criteria. I don’t know.

Now, you should know that there is no scientific justification to it. It is about beliefs!

Blood type category (excuse me for generalizing and don’t take it personally):
-type A: reserved, mild-mannered, calm, polite, perfectionist, creative, sensitive (sometimes stressed and conscientious)
-type B: specialists in what they do, individualists, relaxed, freewheeling, unconventional….off the wall type
-type O: outgoing, energetic, social, flexible, not too dependable, likes to be the center of attention, self confident. Generally loved by all!
-type AB: said to have a delicate sensitivity and very considerate about other people’s feelings. A type on the inside and B on the outside! AB type in other words!!!

Some stats…
Japan is mainly composed of A type people while the U.S. counts more O types.
Of course most Japanese people know their blood type (are sometimes even tested at school) and they are amazed when a westerner can’t answer the question!!!

Now you know what to do before visiting us in Japan: go and find out your type!

Out of curiosity, what’s your blood type? What do you think of the Japanese description of your type?

-Nico

A Saturday evening at the Design Festa

Karin and Janet took part in the Design Festa last weekend, at the Tokyo Big Sight.
At the end of the day I saw this amazing performance. It reminded of my childhood and the Japanese animation series I was watching as a kid.

People holding air balloons and using them as weapons, jumping all around, running everywhere, yelling, doing all sort of crazy things, it was all about energy! Awesome!
I think that I really got a kick out of it because I don’t understand Japanese and couldn’t figure out what was going on.
It is pretty hard to describe but when I saw the big Roswell fellow hidden behind the stage, I cracked up!
It reminded me of these very simple animated shows, simple but cool.
At the end of the performance, the music switched to this “supernatural” tune and the card board Roswell started waving toward the stage for the final assault….
Nobody survived!

“The truth is out there”

-Nico

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www.karinling.com
www.janetcooperdesigns.com