The Siamese Connection

~After getting off of work today, I was stopped in the street by a middle-aged Japanese couple. It turned out that they had also been on the bus tour a few months ago and remembered me from the drift-net fishing, seeing as how I am so very memorable over here (i.e., I stick out like a sore thumb).

I talked to them for a few minutes, and the man told me (in exceptionally good English) that he was planning on opening a cooking school in Nagaoka. He plans to teach four different national cooking styles, but primarily Vietnamese, his favorite style, saying that the Vietnamese restaurants in Japan are not authentic and are far too expensive! I told him that his idea is great and said, "Ganbatte!" (good luck!).

Shortly after that, I noticed this on the exterior wall of a large department store:

^ At first I thought "SIAMESE CONNECTION" was some kind of Japanglish, but it turns out that this sign is indeed accurate. In plumbing terms, a "Siamese Connection" connects a large building's internal fire protection plumbing to a fire engine, and allows two fire engines to simultaneously pump water through a single hose. It would also be an interesting name for a rock band.

By the way, did you know that the original Siamese Twins, Eng and Chang, settled down in North Carolina in the late 1830s and lived there until their deaths in 1874? Talk about "East Meets West"... ~Oyasumi!