I FOUND RAMUNE!!! ＼(^o^)／

When I went shopping, a sushi counter had been made in the local supermarket. When I went to have a look at what they had, I found ramune! This is a drink that I have always wanted to try. And I found it!!!

Opening the bottle was not as hard as I had thought. But I was extremely excited to drink it! (≧∇≦）
My opinion: It was amazing! My first thought was 'FIZZY!' But I really enjoyed the drink. I think that my expirience would have been more refreshing if I had drunk it on a hot day.

So if you see ramune in the shop, I highly recommend that you try it!

Ramune!!!

Japan festival ♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪

Hi guys! I thought that I would tell you about the Japan Matsuri. If you go to Trafalgar Square in London, on the 19th September, you can eat Japanese food, see taiko players and take part in many Japanese activities. Here is a poster about the details:

I hope that you are able to go and get a snapshot of Japanese culture.

Summer in Japan- Survival guide

This is my survival guide to staying in Japan in the summer.

1. Escape the heat

Just going to a department store or any building can really help keep you cool. You can also do some shopping while you are there. It can also help you save money on your energy bills too.

     2. Bring a ton of suncream and a hat

As the sun is very strong in the summer, it is very important to put on plenty of suncream so you do not burn or get sunstroke. Hats keep harmful UV rays away from your face, head and neck.

    3. Keep hydrated

On every street, station and building, there is usually a vending machine or a convinience store where you can buy cold beverages. I reccommend unsweetened iced tea because it is tasty and refreshing. I also reccomend a range of juices called 野菜生活 (yasai seikatsu). Yasai seikatsu is a brand of juice that contain a large amount of vegetables and some fruit. They all taste great but my favourite is the 'Fruity salad' juice.

Japanese vending machine with
hot and cold drinks

kyu3 [CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
kyu3 [CC BY-SA 2.1
jp (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en)],
via Wikimedia Commons

Yasai seikatsu Fruity salad juice

4. Have a fan on you

A way that people in Japan advertise is by handing out packs of tissues with adverts and offers on. In summer, some companies advertise with practical objects like plastic uchiwa fans. If see anyone giving out fans, take it!

    5. Eat cold food

During the summer months, eating cold food helps you keep you cool. Somen noodles are Japanese noodles that are very very thin and are made from wheat flour.  It is similar to Angel hair pasta. They are usually eaten cold and dipped in a special dipping sauce made out of soy sauce and dashi. Eating hiyayakko in the summer can also keep you cool. It is chilled tofu and is usually eaten with a little sprinkling of bonito flakes and some soy sauce. Watermelon is a great fruit to eat in the summer. However eating too much cold things can actually stop your body from cooling down. So to stop this from happening, have some warm or hot food once in a while.

Somen noodles with spring onion and dipping sauce
By shibainu (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

Hiyayakko
By Namiwoo (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

 Somen noodles

6. Wear breathable clothes

It gets very muggy so wearing breathable clothes helps you feel more comfortable in the heat. But it is a good idea not to wear skimpy clothes. Sandals are also good to wear outside.


   7. Use an ice pillow

Japanese people do not really use ice pillows unless they have a fever, as they have air conditioning. If you have access to a freezer, there are special pillows that you can put in the freezer to cool. Before you use them, wrap a thin towel around the pillow so you protect the skin that is exposed to the ice pillow.

My ice pillow

If you enjoyed this post, please share it to other people who might enjoy reading this. I have also added a followers gadget, so please become a follower if you want to know when I next upload a post. さよなら。

Summer in Japan- Ramune

Today, I thought that I could write about a popular carbonated soft drink from Japan. This drink is called ラムネ(Ramune)

Ramune comes in a glass bottle with a very distinctive shape. It is sold in many shops in the summer. You probably will not find it anywhere in the winter as it is a summer drink. But there is a specific way to open it. If you are drinking ramune for the first time, you may have problems openingn the bottle.Here is my guide on how to open ramune

How to open Ramune

You will need: a bottle of Ramune

                         a stable and firm surface like a table

                         a lot of force

Step 1: We need to first get the special bottle opener that only opens Ramune bottles. Remove the plastic covering from the top to reveal the piece that looks like a lid, which contains the special bottle opener. Push down on the center of the plastic lid to get the piece that opens the bottle.

Step 2: Put the narrow side of the special bottle opener on the marble

Step 3: Place the ramune on the stable surface and use one hand to hold the Ramune down

Step 4: Use as much force as possible and hit the top of the plastic with your other hand. This should dislodge the marble.

Step 5: When you see the marble drop, you have succeeded in opening the bottle. But this is the important bit. Keep you hand on the lid for 5 seconds before you let go otherwise it will fizz out of the bottle and you will end up with sticky hands. When all the pressure has been released, you can now drink from the bottle.

Step 6: Enjoy your fizzy drink!＼(^o^)／

A bottle of opened Ramune
By Fer1997 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

If these instructions seem unclear in any way, there are many videos on YouTube that demonstrate
how to open the bottle. I recommend the YouTuber Mimei's video on how to open the Ramune bottle.
Click here to go to her video. She speaks in Japanese but there are English subtitles so most people should be able to understand.

How to drink Ramune

Now you are probably wondering why the marble is important. There is a very good reason for the marble being there. The reason will become very clear when you try to drink it.

Ramune bottle indentations and marble
By Rikaris (Own work by uploader. Foto tirada por mim.) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

If you try and drink from the bottle, you may find that the marble will roll to the mouthpiece and stop you from drinking.

If you tilt the bottle, the marble will roll around the middle. If you look at the bottle, you can see two circular indentations. If you roll the marble so it sits below the two indentations and above the narrow middle section and drink, the circular indentations will stop the marble from rolling into the mouth piece and will not stop you from drinking the delicious fizzy drink.

The different flavours of Ramune

The normal flavour of Ramune is a subtle lemon flavour.  But in Japan, you can get many different flavours.

Different flavors of Ramune kept cool in ice and water
By Ruocaled (DSC02657) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Some flavours are:

• Banana 
• Blueberry
• Chocolate (yum :P)
• Grape
• Green apple
• Green tea
• Lychee
• Mango
• Octopus

There are at least 36 different flavors.

Why do Ramune bottles have a marble?

The bottle was invented by an English mechanical engineer called Hiram Codd in 1872. The bottles are actually called Codd neck bottles after him. The marble rises to the top of the bottle under the pressure from the carbon dioxide which seals the bottle without leaking the gas. They are only known as Ramune bottles because they are only used for Ramune.

If you enjoyed reading about Ramune, please comment below. If you want me to blog about something in particular, also leave it the comments.