Cultural Oddities

 Today we are exploring some very different cultural ideas from Japan, Taiwan and Korea. 

 Japanese Vending Machines

     There are so many kinds of vending machines in Japan. Usually, they have these outside and we can use them 24 hours. They are very common so when we came here first time, We were totally surprised because we couldn't find these outside. In Japan, we have 8 vending machine companies. We have also 5.22 million machines all over Japan. So if you visit Japan, you can see these everywhere. I think its quite surprising for everyone who live in other countries.

     They sell water, juice, pop, coffee, tea (including green tea), hot chocolate and corn soup, we can even get hot beverages from a vending machine. We usually buy some hot drinks in winter and it makes us warm. Can you imagine that situation? Moreover we have many crazy vending machines in Japan. For example, we can buy apples, bananas, smart phone accessories, SIM card, rice, hot meal, beer, lettuce, noodles, name cards, sandwiches, canned bread, eggs, ice-cream, cigarettes, crepes, natto, dashi (Japanese soup stock made from fish and kelp) etc. How amazing are these!! If you get a drink, you just pay around C$1.50 in Japan.

   There are totally different about vending machine when we compare between Canada and Japan. No vending machines are outside in Canada, they have private vending machines inside, so the people who live in Canada (especially Vancouver) want to be equipped with these outside, not inside. By  Saori, Hitomi and Saki

'Hanko'

Japanese stamps/seals

  By Yukiko and Haruka 

         In Japan, Hanko is often used instead of signatures as official verification in certain situations.

Hanko is often made of wood or plastic, and our last name is carved into it. It is used with red ink called Shuniku, which symbolizes blood, and good luck. At banks and post offices, there are red stamp pads on the counters. Because Hanko is used, most documents do not have signatures, but a small circle with a single character where the stamps are to be pressed.

        Most foreign countries use signatures. We use Hanko especially for important documents. Many people use official stamps. You may register your Hanko at the municipal office in the area where you live. In some situations when you use yours, you may be asked to provide a personal seal registration certificate to prove that the seal is your registered one. Hanko is very important not only in the business world but also in everyday life in Japan.

Taiwanese Night Market  

By Nick, Abi and Sunny

    Can you imagine how many night markets are in Taiwan? There are more than 300 night markets. But Taiwan is smaller than Switzerland and almost 35980 KM2
Do you know where Bubble tea is from? Of course, you need to know!!! Bubble tea is from Taiwan, and we have a lot of other food from the night markets, And all food is traditional Taiwanese food.
Let’s introduce the top 7 most popular snacks at the night markets.

No 1: Taiwanese Fried Chicken.

It’s made from diced chicken meat, and includes fried vegetables and seafood.

No2: Scallion Cake
It’s fried and made from scallion and flour.

No3: Fried Dumpling
Flour covered pork or different kind of meat fried with vegetables.

No4: Taiwanese Hot Dog

 Roasted pork and rice

No5: Braised Pork Rice
It’s made from ground pork, rice and soy sauce

No.6: Stinky Tofu

It’s pickled and cured tofu.

No.7: Oyster Omelet

It’s a mix of oyster, egg and flour.

Korean Drinking Culture

By Derek, Tim, Lj and Claire

Let us show you the Korean drinking culture. We have lots of special drinks and games that we are creating, special concoctions and absolutely hilarious drinking games for our parties. Why do we do this you ask? We do this because we wanna make a crazy atmosphere and funnier mood.  How does it work? First of all, the special concoction(drink) is made, and then next, the party games are played. For our special drinks we blend Soju and Macju (Korean beer), This mix is famous and very popular in Korea. 

3:1 MACJU(BEER) +SOJU = SOMAC

1:1:3 SOJU : COKE : BEER= SOMACOL

 Alcohol traditions have existed for a long time, but recently Alcohol culture is changing. 

3-3 MACSA(MAKGULLI+SAIDAR) = 1:1

*Makguli is traditional rice fermented wine.

*Saidar is the same type of Stripe.