OT Rice Cooker

I highly recommend it!

#3 Son just came back from a month in Japan, he highly recommends it too! He liked all of the food he ate besides natto, which is fermented soy beans, which he described as eating spoiled beans.

I like natto in small doses, although I'll admit it is an acquired taste. I figure the first person to try it must have been mighty hungry!

My doctor just discovered I'm pre-diabetic. I'm in denial. He says if I lose as little as 15 or 20 pounds I could reverse this problem. My glucose reading after a fasting is 147, which he says isn't that bad. It should be

80 to 100. There also is a little problem with a certain protein/kidney test. So, if I were to visit Japan it wouldn't be for eating the food.

diabetics should stay away from rice, or carbohydrates. I'm no dietician but its a common knowledge in our family. Anyway dont go to Japan, just go to China and buy chinese herbal diabetic capsules.

My Air Force son has Japan at the top of his 'wish list'.

Just to hold a carrot in front of him, the Air Force had him spend a couple of days in Japan on his way back from Diego Garcia....LOL

I LOVED Japan as did my wife when I took her over on one of my business trips.

I hate to break it to you, but you probably have diabetes....

The worst thing doctor's can do is tell you high glucose levels are not too bad....

Just my humble opinion....

I think you are incorrect on staying away from rice if you are a diabetic.....

My wife and other kids have not been to Japan yet, and I haven't been there in over 20 years! The best way to go is at someone else's expense!

Since Japan is a little far, we're going up to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for a week starting this weekend for a week of canoeing and fishin'

I doubt if the cabin where we're staying has internet access so, qslm, ph@boy, and Danny G will have to give up their day jobs for a week so they can check in here every hour or so to fix cars!

take plenty of deet with ya. It's beautiful up there.

Thanks for the advice! This will be my 3rd trip up there. On the first 2 trips, the mosquitoes were not too bad, but the black flies were going to town during the day. Some friends who went last year said that the mosquitoes were back to the form that the area is famous for, and they had to retreat to their tents at dusk to avoid the clouds of mosquitoes.

I'm bringing 2 aerosol cans & 2 pump bottles of 100% deet plus 2 bottles of some lemon eucalyptus stuff and a can of some other stuff that Backpacker magazine rated highly. I've already tried the lemon eucalyptus, it seems to work very well, but for a shorter time than deet. The advantage is that it doesn't feel as greasy as deet and it doesn't melt the plastic on my waterproof watch band, cell phone, eye glasses, etc.

Thanks, I learned something new.

Anyway, about Japan, I never tried driving a right hand drive vehicle or driven on a right hand traffic, how long before you were able to adjust?

It takes awhile to adjust just as a -pedestrian- where cars drive on the left, esp. in cities. Crossing the street, look *right*; otherwise you can get zapped! In London, there are often messages painted on the streets (next to the curbs - or kerbs! ) at crosswalks, saying "Look right". ;-)

Cathy

I never did.

I always had a Japanese driver and I liked it a LOT better that way....LOL

The ONLY time I did the Right Hand Drive was in an old VW in the Bahamas.

Travel on the trains at rush hour in Tokyo is an experience everyone should have....LOL

Did any windows pop out? ;-)

Cathy

Good damned thing....LOL

That kept us alive!!

Taiwan and Korea drive on the right hand side, but Japan is leftie.

LOL....

I was amazed that they didn't!

I had an unfair advantage, cause I'm bigger than most Japanese. They gave me a micro inch or so of room....

I've been to Sydney, AU and Hong Kong where they use RHD but never driven a car. I cant sit straight next to the window I feel the car coming towards me will hit us. I get neck, and back pains after riding the car since I lean to the center. silly me! Many times have I been "almost" hit at a crosswalk. The train in HK was full in rushhour, and I did get lost. Well, I sometimes still get lost in NY subway even when everything's in english, that explains it. Oh Hell, even with a GPS I miss a turn.

LOL....I can identify with all that!

Sydney is one of my favorite cities. The Aussie's are great people. They will NOT let you just sit in your hotel during a weekend....

Perth is another great city....as is Melbourne....and Adelaide

Did you see the spies on the Star ferries in HK? I swore I saw a few...LOL

Matter of fact this is a pretty damned nice world....mostly!

I've read that it has happened...

Me, too - can usually see over them. ;-)

In an elevator in a hotel (in U.S.), an Asian (Japanese?) man asked how come the buttons panel was so low down. My sister explained that they were for people in wheelchairs - to reach easily. "Oh - thought maybe they were for Asian tourists," he replied. ;-)

They

Another elevator story: One time in an elevator in the Eiffel Tower, virtually everyone else in that car was Japanese. We were squished in like sardines & I definitely felt as if I needed some personal space. They, OTOH, didn't seem to mind in the least. (Probably felt right at home, as in rush hour on the subway.) Different native cultures/surroundings... many of them are used to being packed very closely together - we're/I'm not.

Cathy