Ray wrote:

> On 25 Dec 2003, Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson wrote:
>
> >Ray <sensei_ray@spam.musubi.yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<hfikuvsscbmprg1dvi8paqj3o8u266li31@4ax.com>...
> >> Mele Kalikimaka to everyone here.
> >>
> >> BTW.....does anyone here actually MISS the Christmas rush?  After
> >> seven years here, it still feels kinda weird not too see the huge
> >> crowd of people or the traffic that seem to go on for miles. (G)

I was simply on my way home from house hunting last weekend and was trapped for about 20 minutes on the six lane
road near the local Toys R Us, moving about two car lengths per green light because people were driving so
aggressively and blocking the intersection when the lights changed. I haven't seen driving like that since the
last shopping center grand opening.

> >I guess you didn't try to buy a cake last night after work then? It
> >was sardines at all the cake counters of Hankyu Takarazuka, so who
> >knows what the centre of Osaka was like!
>
> Nah.....I was never into the "Christmas cake."

I don't think of it as Christmas cake. I think of it as strawberry topped chiffon cake. So far this month, I've
made two, bought one, and bought another one to ice and decorate myself tonight because it was just 298 yen at
Daiei.

> Here's a quetion for you regarding Christmas food:
>
> Why is it that the department store like Daie, etc. go crazy with the
> barbeque chicken or whole chicken (cooked or raw) only this time of
> year?

Because that is what the people do. It took some doing for whole turkeys to be offered year round in the US, as
well. Turkeys at Christmas is starting to catch on here, too. The local supermarket had ten roast turkeys for
sale at 5,000 yen each.

> I stopped by several stores recenty and all I saw was chicken,
> chicken, chicken.  Would be nice if they sold whole chickens year
> round.  Then, I wouldn't have to cook so much. LOL

I know three people who are butchers. They say if there is anything you want which you cannot see on display,
such as enormous roasts or thick cuts of steak, just ask in back. They may even have access to things like
mutton.

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Man Chops Off Testicle in Dispute with Wife

Mon Dec 22, 2003; 9:59 AM ET

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan man chopped off one of his testicles in a row with his wife and then walked naked
to a police station to report the incident, police said on Monday.