Room for …..

When I go to a coffee shop, I often order a café latte. The other day, I ordered regular coffee. It had been awhile since I had last ordered regular coffee. The staff asked me whether I would need some room for cream. I said that I didn't need it. He poured coffee up to the brim of the cup and handed it to me carefully. It’s common to see really full cups of coffee at coffee shops in the U.S., but I have never seen a cup which is filled to the brim at a coffee shop in Japan.

Every time I see a coffee cup filled to the brim, I recall the first time I was asked if I needed cream at a coffee shop.

The staff asked me, “Do you need room for OOOOO?” I was not able to catch the word OOOOO. Since the coffee shop was packed and most of the seats were taken, I thought that he had suggested there were no tables. I answered him, “No problem. I’ll take it to go.” Of course, I didn’t know the expression, “Do you need room for OOOOO?” The staff paused for a second with a surprised expression and asked me again “Do you need room for cream?”

I understood what he needed to know! I answered, “No thanks”, blushing in shame. He handed me a coffee cup, which was filled to the brim. Needless to say, I took it to go.

It’ not common to fill beverages to the brim in Japan, but there is one exception. At a Japanese-style pub, sake is served in a glass with a small saucer. The staff fills and spills the sake on purpose.

Here is how to drink it.

1. Watch while the waiter/waitress pours sake into the glass.

2. Make sure if the waiter/waitress spills some sake. If he/she doesn’t, you should request some more.

3. Drink sake from the glass first.


4. When there is enough room in the glass, pour the sake which was spilled on the small saucer in to the glass.

5. Enjoy the remaining sake.

Making good use of sake is the basic idea of this custom. It’s not only a gift for the customer from the pub but also lets the customers express appreciation to the brewers and the farmers. Many Japanese people enjoy this custom at the end of a day.

Unfortunately, this Japanese custom doesn’t work for me. Since I’m not big drinker, I can’t handle a glass of sake. Instead, I’m a coffee lover. Every morning, a full cup of regular coffee makes me happy.

Farmers' Market

There are many farmers' markets in the San Francisco Bay Area. The term “farmers' market” is suggestive of fresh food and reasonable prices.

Before I came to the U.S, I read about the San Francisco Bay Area in some travel magazines. There were articles about farmers' markets in all of the magazines. The pictures were great and the articles strongly recommended going there.

When I went to the farmers' market for the first time, I was really excited. There were many vendors which were selling vegetables, fruit, seasonal foods and beverages. Because of the full-of-life atmosphere, I bought a lot that time. After I came back home, I checked how much I paid. It was almost double compared to the prices at the supermarket. It was even more expensive than the average prices at an organic grocery. How was the taste? The taste was good but was nothing special.

What was shocking was that I found the exact same products, for example breads, honey, pasta, and olive oil at the organic grocery. What’s more, the price at the organic market was low!

I like the atmosphere of the farmers' markets, but I’m more likely to be cautious after that experience. I think many people have had the same experience. I recently read an article about a farmers' market in a Japanese community magazine. They said that farmers' markets do not always sell good quality and reasonably-priced products. In terms of content, it was a totally different article from the travel magazines which I read in Japan. It was written from the viewpoint of consumers in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I quote the definition of farmers' market from Wikipedia. “Farmers/producers sell directly to consumers, minimizing profit loss by circumventing the middleman”.

According to this definition, it seems that one of benefits of the farmers' market is high profit for farmers. Are the farmers’ markets farmer-friendly or consumer-friendly?

Unlucky Number

Every culture has unlucky numbers. For instance, the number 13 is regarded as an unlucky number in many Western countries. Many people avoid using unlucky numbers in their life. It’s not unusual to avoid room number 13 at a hotel.

I have one episode in which I saw a big cultural deference between Japan and the U.S. and California in particular.

After I purchased my car, I needed to apply for a new license plate by myself because the salesperson at my car dealership was too lazy. When I purchased my car, the front license plate wasn’t attached. Normally, a dealer is supposed to apply for the missing license plate to the DMV, but he totally forgot about it. I think I could post an entire blog post regarding this episode, but I’ll stop this time….

I went to the DMV, and I filled out a lost form for the license plate. The DMV officer was very kind and friendly. She said that she would choose a lucky number for me. She looked into her inventory for a minute and handed me the new license plate, saying, “Here is a perfect number for you!” I was surprised when I saw the number because last two digits of the license plate were 49.

In Japanese, “4” and “death” are pronounced with the same sound, and “9” and “suffering” are pronounced with the same sound. Because of the pronunciation, it is said that the combination of the number 4 and the number 9 is the worst unlucky number in Japanese. In addition, it is said in Buddhism that 49 days after death, the soul of a dead person will head to the afterworld. It’s common to organize another funeral ceremony 49 days after death. That’s why the number 49 is reminiscent of death for many Japanese.

I asked the officer why the number 49 was a lucky number. She explained that the gold rush in California started in 1849, and many people believed the number 49 was a lucky number. She explained that there were a lot of things which were named using the number 49, such as State Route 49 and the San Francisco 49ers.

I didn’t refuse her proposal for the license plate. Since I live in the U.S, I thought that I should believe that the number 49 is the luckiest number in California. Different people have different customs.

Are you finicky about lucky and unlucky numbers?

I don’t care anymore.