Random Fun Time Happy-Happy!

Sometimes I worry that there's so much long, drawn-out description that we don't give you enough random factoids about the trip. Because lemme tell ya, we're having a blast and being stupid as it suits us, and for some reason they let us get away with it.
First, I want to introduce two new traveling companions we've picked up. One came from Kiyomizu Temple this morning (No worries, I'll write more about it in the next post, it deserves it) and Stitch-kun, which some of you will probably recognize.
Here are our intrepid little buddies resting in the Tokyo hotel room:
And as you can see, they are having a relatively good time chilling.
The Daruma Hello Kitty caught my eye from across the street on the way down from Kiyomizu this morning and seeing as it combined my love of daruma dolls and Hello Kitty, I scooped it up. If you aren't familiar with Daruma, click here and it'll get you up to speed. He was a cool guy, and they make cool dolls out of him these days. He's the Japanese equivalent of a saint.
And now, on to the random factoids:
~On Okinawa there are pink elves with leather thongs and leaf headdresses set out to denote areas of interest, much like the minehune statues on Hawaii.
~One of our hosts, Chris, will do everything except dig a ditch to avoid getting his picture taken, and that was only because he lacked a shovel. We have photographic evidence of him actively avoiding photos on several occasions.
~Deya is directly at fault for getting me back on my coffee habit, which I had kicked for 6 months before going to Okinawa. Damn you, caramel frappucino, why must you be so tempting and delicious??
~Older Japanese people will smile at you when you smile, but the younger ones look away. I was actually dissed by a baby on the subway in this fashion this morning.
~In Kyoto, Bob and I jumped on the bed for a good two minutes.
~They had no less than 3 native English speakers in Kyoto at our hotel. One was from Scotland, one was from Canada, and the other only ever hailed a cab for us, we never got his story. It was still odd to see.
~Kyoto had more fluent English speakers than Tokyo, despite Tokyo being more "international"
~Shinkansen trains all have a tiny woman pushing a huge snack cart around and on average she will pass you four times each trip, as long as you are going from at least Tokyo to Kyoto or vice versa.
~Lilo & Stitch and Snoopy are extremely popular right now and we keep seeing toys for them everywhere we go (hence Stitch-kun joining our ranks)
~Inari sushi, the pockets of rice in fried tofu, are actually named after the rice god and not the fried tofu they're wrapped in, unlike most sushi. Foxes supposedly love rice wrapped in fried tofu, and statues that show a "ball" instead of "key" are eluding to that fact.
~There is a TV show on TV right now called Mr. Brain sporting a man in a plaid suit with crazy hair. As far as we can see, he's trying to be Dr. Who... except it's a crime drama and there's no Tardis. Mr. Brain currently has been turned in to a cartoon character, and even has his own pastry line. Observe:
Bob tells me it was filled with marshmallow and something that wanted to be peanut butter but wasn't. I tasted it and think it's more like caramel pudding. Either way... it's not good. It's just... not...good.
~You can buy alcohol anywhere in Japan at any time. This includes hard liquor and beer. You can't pick them up out of the ubiquitous vend-o machines, but you can walk in to any quickie mart, super market or drug store and buy beer, even at 8 am. Nobody looks at you funny either way.
~There is a woman selling bento boxes on every Shinkansen platform between Kyoto and Osaka (we can't vouch for anything outside of that.) We have dubbed her the "bento babe". Today she sold us lunch on our way back from Kyoto.
~Tokyo is a very train-centric city, while Kyoto is very taxi-centric. Okinawa is very auto-centric. It's interesting to see the difference in cultures and expectations regarding their transportation.
~Teenagers will make fun of you if you can't balance on the Yamanote line in Tokyo. Older business men will laugh under their breath at you if you can't do it on the Shinkansen.
~If you see someone stumbling around in Kyoto, they may not be drunk. They may be renting a resort kimono and wooden shoes and have no idea how to walk in them. We had to dodge several such instances of this while we were there.
~The sake purchased at the Circle K is sometimes better than the stuff you shell out good yen for at a higher-priced restaurant.
~The Japanese stack their ice cubes in a neat pylon before pouring a drink over them.
~It is perfectly acceptable to grossly discriminate against smokers in Japan. They have mostly been relegated to "smokers aquariums" inside glass rooms or very small areas on a sidewalk in order to indulge in the cancer-sticks.
And finally?
~If you fan yourself with your passport, someone at the front desk will run and get you paper fans covered in tour company promos so you don't appear "ghetto" while in their lobby.

There's more, I'm sure Bob can think of a few. But for now? It's late and it's going to rain in Tokyo. I want to hear the storm hit.