6:22 p.m. - 10.02.2003
Optimus Rhyme
When I went to the giant Asian supermarket last night, I tried three things. The first was this ice cream desert thingy called Mochi, I believe. It was a ball of ice cream incased in something akin to a fruit rind. Then I had this starburst-like candy, except in the starburst were these little rubber chunks of faux-fruit. I topped it off with this Japanese soda that you have to puncture on top, so that a marble falls down into your bottle, and then you drink your soda with this marble clinking around inside the bottle.
It's inherent in the culture, these items. Take for instance Japan. Maybe it's due to their meteoric rise from agrarian, to fascist, to economic-world power in a wee 70-80 years, but they like the idea of something becoming something else, or something within something else, wanting out.
The Japanese and other Asian cultures seem to be fascinated with hidden treasure. To phrase it more fundamentally and eloquently - they like stuff inside of stuff.
Think about it. All three things I tried last night revolved around the concept of a tasty treat inside or wrapped inside of another tasty treat. It seems to be a common theme in their society. Humbow is BBQ inside of a roll. Fortune cookies are - well you know. Or that new Pearl Tea - the tea drink that has small, mushy flavor balls inside of it. Much like drinking regular iced tea drinks except this one has miniature breast-implant sacs floating in it. They're like small implants for mice in your drink.
They also like Transformers and Voltron and all that good stuff - which revolves around the transformation of one item into being something else from inside.
And although it's not an Asian product, they love Kinder eggs. That German treat of a chocolate egg that you eat to expose a toy inside. In fact, they have their own versions of chocolate with other candies and prizes inside.
Just an observation of mine I wanted to document - that's it. Maybe it's the traditional, gender-role specific nature of their societies. Kinda like how the British hate themselves for being so stuffy and British. Maybe the Asian community (and I know that's a broad statement) feels confined in some way, and they love things that represent how they feel, or desire and transformations they, as a people, would like to make. I dunno - I'm just strecthin' here. I've been drinking, so bear that in mind.
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Twice in two days I saw two different women, on opposite ends of town, walking with a small inner-tube on their arm. Like an inner tube that a child would wear around the waist to swim in, but really small ones - for babies. Was this just a very strange coincidence, or am I missing some new fad or trend with my one TV channel (which is dying on me).
I don't know if it's further coincidence or part of the trend, but these were not "athletic" women. They struck me as cushions you would sit on if you didn't want your butt to touch some nasty public toilet seat - but I wouldn't carry the thing around like a purse, would you? I dunno - just something I saw that didn't even register the first time I saw it, but when I saw it again the next day I had deja vu, and thought something was odd. Thought I'd mention it.
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