I Won't Be Drinking This

Look at the can on the top row, second from the right. Yes, it's Deepresso. You can have lots of fun looking at the names of products that sound funny in English in both China and Japan (Ashley and Vickie created a hilarious account of signs in China that I will steal from soon) but at least there are words even those of us who know just a tiny bit of Japanese can read. And those of us who speak English are pretty spoiled, because almost every educated person in China or Japan has to study English and often speaks fairly well, even if they are shy about it. Japanese vending machines are great: they always, always work, providing both what you asked for and the correct change. And they had better, because often you are putting in a coin worth almost five dollars or a bill worth close to ten. (Would anyone in the U.S. trust a Coke machine with a ten dollar bill?) You can get hot coffee in a can or bottle from machines in many varieties: this one I'll avoid. (Shouldn't the caffeine have the opposite effect?) But I do like the Cafe au Lait. If your coffee needs lightening you can use the creamer called Creap. While you eat a Crunky chocolate bar. Or, the world's best chocolate bar (I think they should be imported) with the oddly political name, Rummy. It's rum raisin and dark chocolate and it is delicious. Vending machines, as every visitor to Japan learns, are ubiquitous and offer cigarettes, beer, milk, batteries, and sometimes hot fried food.