Randomness.

Today, Eddie and I encountered an incredibly dangerous set of circumstances:

1. We were bored.
2. We had a free afternoon.
3. It was too rainy to go to the beach.
4. We hadn't yet explored the funky mall that is American Village.

Why is this dangerous? Because we always manage to find some way to get into trouble. Okay, we didn't really get into trouble (though we did piss away about $15 worth of Yen trying to figure out how to use Japanese slot machines, but otherwise, we just attracted incredulous looks and eyerolls from the locals)...

Now, the Japanese are known for being very resourceful, particularly when it comes to use of land and space. So apparently, when it came time to install a large Ferris wheel at American Village, some genius thought that the most efficient use of space would be to put it on top of the three story building.

No. Really.

And once we got inside, we found that they don't pull any punches when it comes to decorating, either:
Eddie found a new friend:
And another new friend:
And then he found Star Wars dolls:
At the casino and arcade upstairs, we found an interesting video game. Not sure what it was called. Bongo Drum Hero? Bongo Drum Revolution? No idea. But here it is:
Not that we really needed to spend much time, money, or energy figuring out the video games. The change machine was enough of a challenge:
Horse racing is also a big deal in Japanese casinos. You can either do the live, on-site races:
With not-so-live horses:
Or you can try the telecast version (which is completely animated, as opposed to using...you know...real horses...)
Bored with playing games, we wandered back to one of the little shops, which contained a delightful mix of Japanese culture and overpriced tourist crap. Some things managed to fall into both categories, such as this lovely ShiShi Dog Snow Globe...
Some colored glass ShiShi Dogs:
The obligatory Hello Kitty display:
RUN! It's GODZILLA! (Only $5,250!)
I'm not sure I even want to know the price on this big boy...
Or this life-sized Batman...
I would have asked Display Dude, but he didn't seem to thrilled with my photography, so I decided not to bug him...
Eddie discovers a cache of Japanese candy...
And last but not least, we found the liquor section, where Japanese ingenuity has combined the awe-inspiring ceramic ShiShi dog with the...liquor decanter.
Look, I'm all for culture, but I'm not drinking ANYTHING that's poured out of a dog's butt. Ceramic or otherwise.

And finally, one of the hallmarks of Okinawa, the infamous...

Habu Sake.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Those are snakes (Habu, to be precise), and that is sake. And yes, the jar on the left is roughly $619.50, and the one on the right is $288.75. This ain't cheap sake, my friends.

Some close-ups:


There you have it. Another slice of life in Japanistan. Bottoms up!