But it was just a retro computing and gaming store with a slice of parallel home computing history I really wish I knew better.pic.twitter.com/NM976DXB4R
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195. I gave Google Translate hard time before, and indeed, things can be rough. (Although I like the idea of a “very button”!)pic.twitter.com/IMdkleEXMT
Google Translate told me about “Moses following children” in a restaurant menu, “The Russians” on an air conditioning panel, and “the peregrine falcon per cent” in a post office.
Some appear and quickly disappear as I slightly shift my position, including this hilariously inappropriate translation of an ATM label.pic.twitter.com/Fd7v9TjVG5
But there are many genuinely amazing moments where I can at least get the *gist*. Walking through the otherwise completely incomprehensible bookstore with it was like having a lens with superpower, like glasses that made *information* naked. (If you know what I mean.)pic.twitter.com/Vb37vbPWeT
Today in a restaurant, the waitress tried to ask me something, and I had no idea. She tried so hard, brought a piece of paper with tons of Japanese, nothing. And then I had the idea to point Translate at it. Turns out and was asking me about my allergies.
A few times I showed others Google Translate they were really impressed; perhaps the only time *I* appeared cool and advanced during this trip. (Otherwise I mostly feel like the attached surreal vignette I witnessed today.)pic.twitter.com/4fdAc1BgUJ
196. Speaking of restaurants, I love little moist hand towels that are always there waiting for you – and also added to your bag whenever you buy food from grocery stores or bakeries. So refined!pic.twitter.com/pTVIpBGdcG
197. If the place is not using a ticketing system or you don’t order at the country, often they’d bring my bill to me immediately, and then I went to the register to pay on the way out.pic.twitter.com/ZGDuwkt9G9
198. In love with cute little shopping baskets to be filled with cute little things.pic.twitter.com/1LHTKtwhFq
199. It was interesting that when listing emergency numbers, marine accidents and incidents were as high priority as ambulance, fire, and police. (From a phone booth. There are phone booths!)pic.twitter.com/iL9l9QANrm
200. There are tons of little delightful melodies. I made a compilation video of a few on the subway and other trains – particularly there, a particular melody can identify a train or a station as you’re traveling. (More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_melody …)pic.twitter.com/0mQ0bgfW6s
(Even the washer/dryer in my hotel played a little melody when it started and when it ended its job. It was such a surprise I wasn’t prepared to record it.)
201. I liked how the owners of the said washer/dryer taped over irrelevant pieces of UI (buttons, drawers), and labeled the remaining buttons A, B, and C just to help me out.pic.twitter.com/0OiaIs3GqG
202. I saw more things like this. Here, the railway clock explains how to embrace the 24-hour time (and NEVER LOOK BACK).pic.twitter.com/PNENEUQmxo
Various establishments announced their support for English.pic.twitter.com/qVpcoFAWyY
This one made me laugh. I almost imagined the exasperation of the people putting it together, trying all sorts of approaches, only eventually to arrive at “very slippery.”pic.twitter.com/LkYQmBLmN5
203. Because otherwise everything’s so gentle and respectful! Instead of “No tampering,” it’s “Is you open this cover, you will be inquired by crew,” for example.pic.twitter.com/Uv8rvmwxpz
It’s actually kind of amazing how many things become humanized here. From cigarettes and lightbulbs…pic.twitter.com/I0NCux9rw3
…through houses and cars on top of BRIDGES. (I wonder what HR has to say about *that* relationship.)pic.twitter.com/cKwvhyCC5W
205. What surprised me quite a bit is that I haven’t noticed any emoji. I sort of have this impression that emoji exist in print and ads in America. Maybe I’m mis-remembering? Because I don’t think I saw any used in that context here in Japan.
206. I have seen this, a lot –
– a symbol for hot springs.
(By the way! I have done many since my first day: open air hot bath under the winter’s sky, and public town hot bath, and I’m now so good at it that I notice other foreigners’ etiquette mistakes. :·) )pic.twitter.com/9ySn0Sq7wr
207. Although it is still impossible for me not to see this as a shrug emoticon face.pic.twitter.com/1WI57cBbdW
Although at some point I came up with my first Japanese typographical joke! Here it is: ¯\_(つ)_/¯ (I’m not saying it’s *good*, but it has to count for something!)
208. This kaomoji rubber mat was pretty cute.
As far as I understand:
Emoji:
Emoticon: :·/
Kaomoji: ಠ_ʖಠpic.twitter.com/bR7LZNhBvM
209. There’s a lot more smoking here. Smoking alcoves, smoking sections at the restaurants and on trains. (I once tried to sit in one as an experiment… I lasted a whole 3 minutes.)pic.twitter.com/Q7FiZtFdAF
210. But people wearing face masks – and a lot of people do, including cops in cars and postal office clerks in their windows – apparently has nothing to do with smoking.
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